WORDS

Buddhapālita-mula-madhyamaka-vrtti

2012-02-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

What is the reality of things just as it is? It is the absence of essence. Unskilled persons whose eye of intelligence is obscured by the darkness of delusion conceive of an essence of things and then generate attachment and

hostility with regard to them.

—Buddhapālita-mula-madhyamaka-vrtti

Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 24:18

2012-02-05T21:42:00.001-08:00

“

Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being a dependent designation,
Is itself the middle way.

”

—Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 24:18

Kathāvatthu

2012-02-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

Kathāvatthu (Pāli) (abbrev. Kv, Kvu), translated as "Points of Controversy", is a Buddhist scripture, one of the seven books in the Theravada Abhidhamma Pitaka. The text contrasts the orthodox Theravada position on a range of issues to the heterodox views of various interlocutors; the latter are not identified in the primary source text, but were speculatively identified with specific schools of thought in the (historically subsequent) commentaries. The original text is putatively dated to coincide with the reign of King Ashoka, but this, too, is debatable.^{[citation needed]}

^Wikipedia

India Picture – Hindu Temple Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

2011-12-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

India Picture – Hindu Temple Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

2011-11-15T05:49:00.001-08:00

How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging?
Herein, monks, a monk thinks, "Thus is material form; thus is the arising of material form; and thus is the disappearance of material form. Thus is feeling; thus is the arising of feeling; and thus is the disappearance of feeling. Thus is perception; thus is the arising of perception; and thus is the disappearance of perception. Thus are formations; thus is the arising of formations; and thus is the disappearance of formations. Thus is consciousness; thus is the arising of consciousness; and thus is the disappearance of consciousness."^[48]
...Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, "Mental objects exist," to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus also, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging. (Nyanasatta, trans., 1994.)

- The Buddha

2011-11-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

Thus the Buddha advocated viewing a "being" simply as a process of attachment to desire, passion, delight, and craving. And it is precisely this attachment to craving that allows for rebirth after death:

[The Buddha:] "Just as a fire burns with sustenance and not without sustenance, even so I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance and not of one without sustenance."

[Vacchagotta:] "But, Master Gotama, at the moment a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, what do you designate as its sustenance then?"

"Vaccha, when a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, I designate it as wind-sustained, for the wind is its sustenance at that time."

"And at the moment when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, what do you designate as its sustenance then?"

"Vaccha, when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, I designate it as craving-sustained, for craving is its sustenance at that time."

— SN 44.9

2011-11-08T16:53:00.001-08:00

"For a monk practicing the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma, this is what accords with the Dhamma: that he keep cultivating disenchantment/distaste with regard to form... feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness. As he keeps cultivating disenchantment/distaste with regard to form... feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness, he comprehends form... feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness. As he comprehends form... feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness, he is totally released from form... feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness. He is totally released from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is totally released, I tell you, from suffering & stress."

— SN 22.39

2011-10-30T20:05:00.001-07:00

4. "Knowing, monks, covetousness and unrighteous greed to be a defilement of the mind, the monk abandons them.[4] Knowing ill will to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing anger to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing hostility to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing denigration to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing domineering to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing envy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing jealousy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing hypocrisy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing fraud to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing obstinacy to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing presumption to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing conceit to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing arrogance to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing vanity to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing negligence to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it.

The Buddha

2011-10-29T02:09:00.001-07:00

AN 8.54

PTS: A iv 281

Dighajanu (Vyagghapajja) Sutta: To Dighajanu

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Alternate translation: Narada

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Koliyans. Now the Koliyans have a town named Kakkarapatta. There Dighajanu [1] the Koliyan went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, "We are lay people enjoying sensuality; living crowded with spouses & children; using Kasi fabrics & sandalwood; wearing garlands, scents, & creams; handling gold & silver. May the Blessed One teach the Dhamma for those like us, for our happiness & well-being in this life, for our happiness & well-being in lives to come."

[The Blessed One said:] "There are these four qualities, TigerPaw, that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life. Which four? Being consummate in initiative, being consummate in vigilance, admirable friendship, and maintaining one's livelihood in tune.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in initiative? There is the case where a lay person, by whatever occupation he makes his living — whether by farming or trading or cattle tending or archery or as a king's man or by any other craft — is clever and untiring at it, endowed with discrimination in its techniques, enough to arrange and carry it out. This is called being consummate in initiative.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in vigilance? There is the case when a lay person has righteous wealth — righteously gained, coming from his initiative, his striving, his making an effort, gathered by the strength of his arm, earned by his sweat — he manages to protect it through vigilance [with the thought], 'How shall neither kings nor thieves make off with this property of mine, nor fire burn it, nor water sweep it away, nor hateful heirs make off with it?' This is called being consummate in vigilance.

"And what is meant by admirable friendship? There is the case where a lay person, in whatever town or village he may dwell, spends time with householders or householders' sons, young or old, who are advanced in virtue. He talks with them, engages them in discussions. He emulates consummate conviction in those who are consummate in conviction, consummate virtue in those who are consummate in virtue, consummate generosity in those who are consummate in generosity, and consummate discernment in those who are consummate in discernment. This is called admirable friendship.

"And what does it mean to maintain one's livelihood in tune? There is the case where a lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income.' Just as when a weigher or his apprentice, when holding the scales, knows, 'It has tipped down so much or has tipped up so much,' in the same way, the lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income.' If a lay person has a small income but maintains a grand livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This clansman devours his wealth like a fruit-tree eater.'[2] If a lay person has a large income but maintains a miserable livelihood, it will be rumored of him, 'This clansman will die of starvation.' But when a lay person, knowing the income and outflow of his wealth, maintains a livelihood in tune, neither a spendthrift nor a penny-pincher, [thinking], 'Thus will my income exceed my outflow, and my outflow will not exceed my income,' this is called maintaining one's livelihood in tune.

"These are the four drains on one's store of wealth: debauchery in sex; debauchery in drink; debauchery in gambling; and evil friendship, evil companionship, evil camaraderie. Just as ifthere were a great reservoir with four inlets and four drains, and a man were to close the inlets and open the drains, and the sky were not to pour down proper showers, the depletion of that great reservoir could be expected, not its increase. In the same way, these are the four drains on one's store of wealth: debauchery in sex; debauchery in drink; debauchery in gambling; and evil friendship, evil companionship, evil camaraderie.

These are the four inlets to one's store of wealth: no debauchery in sex; no debauchery in drink; no debauchery in gambling; and admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie. Just as if there were a great reservoir with four inlets and four drains, and a man were to open the inlets and close the drains, and the sky were to pour down proper showers, the increase of that great reservoir could be expected, not its depletion. In the same way, these are the four inlets to one's store of wealth: no debauchery in sex; no debauchery in drink; no debauchery in gambling; and admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.

"These, TigerPaw, are the four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in this life.

"There are these four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in lives to come. Which four? Being consummate in conviction, being consummate in virtue, being consummate in generosity, being consummate in discernment.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in conviction? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones has conviction, is convinced of the Tathagata's Awakening: 'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine and human beings, awakened, blessed.' This is called being consummate in conviction.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in virtue? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abstains from taking life, abstains from stealing, abstains from illicit sexual conduct, abstains from lying, abstains from taking intoxicants that cause heedlessness. This is called being consummate in virtue.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in generosity? There is the case of a disciple of the noble ones, his awareness cleansed of the stain of miserliness, living at home, freely generous, openhanded, delighting in being magnanimous, responsive to requests, delighting in the distribution of alms. This is called being consummate in generosity.

"And what does it mean to be consummate in discernment? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones is discerning, endowed with discernment of arising and passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress. This is called being consummate in discernment.

"These, TigerPaw, are the four qualities that lead to a lay person's happiness and well-being in lives to come."

Heedful at administeringor working at one's occupation,maintaining one's life in tune, one protects one's store of wealth.A person of conviction,consummate in virtue,magnanimous, free of selfishness, constantly clears the path to security in the lives to come.Thus for one who seeks the household life,these eight qualities, leading to welfare & happinessboth in this life & in lives to come,have been declared by the one whose name is truth.And this is how, for householders,generosity & merit increase.

Notes

1.: = "LongShin".
2.: Commentary: one who shakes more fruit off a tree than he can possibly eat.

Is perfect wisdom beyond thinking?

2011-03-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

Subhuti asked: "Is perfect wisdom beyond thinking? Is it unimaginable and totally unique but nevertheless reaching the unreachable and attaining the unattainable?" The Buddha replied: "Yes, Subhuti, it is exactly so. And why is perfect wisdom beyond thinking? It is because all its points of reference cannot be thought about but can be apprehended. One is the disappearance of the self-conscious person into pure presence. Another is the knowing of the essenceless essence of all things in the world. And another is luminous knowledge that knows without a knower. None of these points can sustain ordinary thought because they are not objects or subjects. They can't be imagined or touched or approached in any way by any ordinary mode of consciousness, therefore they are beyond thinking."

- Prajnaparamita

You Are That Someone

2011-01-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

When it is everyone’s shared responsibility,
is it no one’s personal responsibility?

- Stonepeace (Paradox of Responsibility: Part 1)
The day before yesterday, s/he yelled:
What is that banana skin doing on the floor?
Who threw it there?
Where is the one responsible?
When will it be cleared?
Why isn’t anyone doing something?
How can this be!

Too many needless questions.
Too few needed answers.

Yesterday, s/he yelled again:
What is that banana skin still doing on the floor?
Who threw it there?
Where is the one responsible?
When will it be cleared?
Why isn’t anyone doing something?
How can this be!

Still too many needless questions.
Still too few needed answers.

Today, when s/he slipped on it, s/he yelled again:
What is that banana skin still doing on the floor?
Who threw it there?
Where is the one responsible?
When will it be cleared?
Why isn’t anyone doing something?
How can this be!

Still too many needless questions.
Still too few needed answers.

When it is no one’s personal responsibility,
is it everyone’s shared responsibility?

- Stonepeace (Paradox of Responsibility: Part 2)

Questions:

Why ask needless questions instead of being the answer?
Why not just be that someone doing what’s best for all?
Why not make the changes you hope to see in the world?
Why blame everyone else if you are also part of everyone?
Why neglect banana skins which might return to haunt you?
What is more disgusting? Banana skins or neglecting them?

Related Article:

You Are That Someone
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thedailyenlightenment-excerpt/message/116

ENRICO MACIAS (Adieu Mon Pays)

2010-10-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

Don't rum from challenges

2010-10-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate.

- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

The wise eschew thought but not phenomena.

2010-10-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

Many people are afraid to empty their minds lest they may plunge into the Void. They do not know that their own Mind is the Void. The ignorant eschew phenomena but not thought; the wise eschew thought but not phenomena.

- Huang Po

Stay Awake

2010-10-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

Staying awake means continually reevaluating the ground on which we walk. Buddha wasn’t trying to be humble when he told us to think for ourselves; it’s the very essence of his teaching:

"Do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with logical inference or with weighing evidence or with liking for a view after pondering over it or with someone else’s ability or with the thought, “This monk is our teacher.” When you know in yourselves, “These things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness,” then you should practice and abide in them."

—From the Kalama Sutra

Paroles Puisque C'est Ma Rose

2010-05-02T22:37:00.001-07:00

Vous ne ressemblez pas a ma rose
même si un passant ordinaire
pouvait pretendre le contraire
vous n'êtes rien encore
personne ne vous a apprivoisé,
vous n'avez apprivoisé personne
tant que vous n'avez pas d'amis, vous n'êtes pas unique au monde.

vous êtes belle mais vous êtes vide
on ne peut pas mourrir pour vous
et a elle toute seule ma rose compte bien plus que tout
puisque c'est elle que j'ai arrosée,
puisque c'est elle que j'ai protégée,
puisque c'est elle que j'aime écouter
puisque c'est ma rose.

pour nos adieux voici mon secret:
on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur
il faut comprendre l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux
si les hommes oublient cette vérité,
toi tu n' doit pas l'oublier
c'est le temps perdu pour ta rose
qui fait ta rose si importante
tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoiser

alors me voici responsable de ma rose a jamais.

puisque c'est elle que j'ai arrosée (arrosée)
puisque c'est elle que j'ai protégée (protégée)
puisque c'est elle que j'aime écouter
puisque c'est ma rose (puisque c'est ta rose)
puisque c'est elle que j'aime habrité (habrité)
puisque c'est elle que j'aime rassurer (rassurer)
puisque c'est elle que j'aime aimer
puisque c'est ma rose (puisque c'est ta rose)
puisque c'est elle
puisque c'est ma rose

Mind of Equanimity

2010-04-17T00:53:00.001-07:00

Keeping a mind of equanimity does not mean being inactive or passive. You still need to fulfill your responsibilities.

Sentient beings are illusory, but we still need to help deliver them. A place of practice is like the reflection of the moon in the water. It’s not real, but we still build monasteries so we can deliver sentient beings. This is our responsibility. We must try our best to fulfill our responsibilities, without being attached to success and failure.

- Chan Master Sheng Yen, "The Wanderer"

No Such Thing as a Stranger

2010-04-16T23:31:00.001-07:00

Lovingkindness is extraordinary precisely because it can embrace all; no one falls outside of its domain. That is why, when we encounter people who have developed this capacity to a great extent, we sense their tremendous kindness toward everyone. Lovingkindness is a feeling that blesses others and oneself with the simple wish, “Be happy.” The Japanese poet Issa [1763–1828] expresses this openhearted feeling so well: “In the cherry blossom’s shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger.”

- Joseph Goldstein, "Triumph of the Heart"

The Truth of Nonduality

2010-04-14T06:06:00.001-07:00

Money coming or going, harmony, wisdom, and health can all turn upon a single thought. With a single thought, poverty can be overcome; with a single thought, disease can be cured; with a single thought, you can embrace and help others. Because mind is infinite, it can embrace the universe and still have room left over. Thus, if you understand the truth of nonduality, you can completely embrace everything. If you raise one thought that is calm, noble, and humble, and do so without any trace of like or dislike, or of “I,” then that thought begins to manifest in the world and becomes medicine for all suffering. All energy will follow and work together with this kind of thought.

Daehaeng Kun Sunim, "Thinking Big" (

Whole-Hearted

2010-04-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

I try to relate the Dharma to 21st-century human beings. As Einstein said, we human beings utilize only five to ten percent of our brain’s capacity. In the same way, we use only five to ten percent of our heart’s capacity to love and feel kindness. Instead of boxing in our hearts, loving only me, me, me—the smallest box—we must try to slowly expand that box till we’re able to love all humanity, all sentient beings. When we use our maximum intelligence to access these deeper levels, to go beyond the material, then we become wise. We realize interdependence and the transitory nature of existence—this is how we free ourselves from suffering. Then we can bring a lasting peace and happiness to the world.

- Nawang Khechog, "Elevated Music"

Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing the Diamond"

2010-04-06T06:25:00.001-07:00

We plant merit with our minds, and we commit crimes with our minds. With our minds, we imprint images. This one mind is like an artist. It can draw anything, and what it draws is realized. If you surrender your impressions, ideas, thoughts, and so on at the moment they arise without imprinting them on your mind, your minds will not be tainted, just as the lotus flower is not tainted by the muddy water whence it grows.

- Jae Woong Kim, "Polishing the Diamond"

Understanding Is Like Water

2010-04-06T06:15:00.001-07:00

Understanding is like water flowing in a stream. Wisdom and knowledge are solid and can block our understanding. In Buddhism, knowledge is regarded as an obstacle for understanding. If we take something to be the truth, we may cling to it so much that even if the truth comes and knocks at our door, we won't want to let it in. We have to be able to transcend our previous knowledge the way we climb up a ladder. If we are on the fifth rung and think that we are very high, there is no hope for us to step up to the sixth. We must learn to transcend our own views. Understanding, like water, can flow, can penetrate. Views, knowledge, and even wisdom are solid, and can block the way of understanding.

Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Heart Sutra” (Spring 1992)

Overcoming the Tug of Desire

2010-03-31T01:38:00.001-07:00

Mindfulness practice offers the restraint necessary to overcome the tug of desire upon the senses. As we notice the mind wandering off to explore a gratifying train of thought, or as we notice the body’s urging to nudge ourselves into a more comfortable position, we gently abandon the impulse and return attention to the primary object of awareness. We do this again and again, until the mind becomes content with being fully present with what is manifesting here and now in the field of experience, rather than rushing off for some other form of stimulation. As the mind settles down it becomes considerably more powerful, and thus more empowered.

- Andrew Olendzki, "The Ties That Unbind"

The Ideal Practice of Solitude

2010-03-30T02:03:00.000-07:00

Being alone means you are established firmly in the here and the now and you become aware of what is happening in the present moment. You use your mindfulness to become aware of every feeling, every perception you have. You’re aware of what’s happening around you in the sangha, but you’re always with yourself, you don’t lose yourself. That’s the Buddha’s definition of the ideal practice of solitude: not to be caught in the past or carried away by the future, but always to be here, body and mind united, aware of what is happening in the present moment. That is real solitude.

- Thich Nhat Hanh from "The Heart of The Matter" (Winter 2009)

Diamond Sutra; Four notions that affect all our views and perceptions.

2010-03-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha Talks about four notions that affect all our views and perceptions. These four notions need to be thrown away. The first notion we need to throw away is the notion of self. There is the idea that i am this body, this body is me or, this body is mine and it belongs to me. We say these things based on the notion that "I am." But a better statement would be, "I inter-am." It's closer to the truth in the light of interconnectedness; we see there is no separate self that can exist by itself. You cannot exist without your parents, your ancestors, food, water, air, earth, and everything else in the cosmos. By looking deeply into the nature of reality, we can throw away the notion "I am."

The second notion the Diamond Sutra advises us to throw away is the notion of person or human being. When we look into the human being, we see animal ancestors, we see plant and mineral ancestors. A human is made of non-human elements. If we take away the non-human elements, the human being would no longer be there. This is the oldest teaching on deep ecology. In order to protect the human being, you have to protect what is not human. Discriminating between human and nature is a wrong view. The third notion is that of living beings. We distinguish living beings from non-living beings. We distinguish humans and animals from plants and minerals. But looking deeply into living beings, we see elements that we call non-living beings: plants and minerals. You can see that plants and minerals are also alive. After meditation we see there's no real frontier separating living beings and so-called non-living beings.

The fourth notion to be thrown away is the notion of life span. We believe that we're born at one point in time, that we shall die at another point in time, and that in between is our life span. Most of us believe we'll spend sevety, eightly, nnety, one hundred years on this planet and then we'll be gone. But when we look deeply, we see this is a wrong perception. In our mind, to be born means that from nothing we become something, to die means that from something we become nothing; and from someone we become no one. But a cloud can't be born; it has come from the water in the rivers and oceans, and dust and the heat of the sun have helped create it. A cloud can never die; it can only become rain or snow. A piece of paper can't be born; it's made of trees, the sun, the cloud, the logger, and the worker in the paper factory. When we burn a piece of paper, the paper is transformed into heat, ash, and smoke; it cannot be reduced to nothingness. Birth and death are notions that cannot be applied to reality. These four notions are at the foundation of our fear, discrimination, and suffering. When we are able to see them as wrong views, ignorance and suffering will no longer touch us. We'll no longer suffer because of our wrong views.

Solving Conflicts

2010-03-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

In order for us to practice the virtue of forbearance, we must have strength, wisdom, and compassion. We must be willing to settle differences or disputes by means of reason and kindness. We must believe in tolerance and restraint as signs of goodness and bravery. Therefore, if we want to succeed in life and bring about a more peaceful world, we must learn to control our emotions and not to be affected by a moment of anger.

- Master Hsing Yun

“Reflect, Without Thinking”

2010-03-20T03:09:00.001-07:00

Practice implores us to do the simplest yet most difficult thing: to sit still and simply be present. In meditation, we let whatever comes up, come up. We invite it in. We welcome all of it, including the resistance, the boredom, the judgments, and the endless spinning. We let it all come up and just watch it.

- Ezra Bayda “Reflect, Without Thinking”

The Core of Practice

2010-03-18T02:49:00.001-07:00

“The core of Buddhist practice is the transformation of suffering (dukkha) and its roots into wisdom and compassion. As the Buddha pointed out, we all experience physical and emotional pain. We all get sick, lose people we love, and each of us will die. Our practice is not to try to get rid of this pain, which would be impossible. Rather, it is to avoid constricting around our pain, or blaming ourselves or others for it, or lashing out when we feel attacked—somehow believing that by so doing we will get rid of or resolve the initial hurt.

This cycle of reactivity is called suffering. The task of our practice is to transform such reactivity and the greed, hatred, and delusion that fuel it. It is to realize that it is possible to experience pain without suffering, without passing on the pain to ourselves or others.”

—From Donald Rothberg

Kusala Sutta

2010-03-16T18:09:00.001-07:00

"Abandon what is unwholesome, oh monks!
One can abandon the unwholesome, oh monks!
If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do so.
If this abandoning of the unwholesome would bring harm and suffering,
I would not ask you to abandon it.
But as the abandoning of the unwholesome brings benefit and happiness,
Therefore, I say, 'Abandon what is unwholesome!'
Cultivate what is wholesome, oh monks.
One can cultivate the wholesome.
If it were not feasible, I would not ask you to do it.
If this cultivation of the wholesome would bring harm and suffering,
I would not ask you to cultivate it.
But as the cultivation of the wholesome brings benefit and happiness,
Therefore, I say, 'Cultivate what is wholesome!' "

Kusala Sutta

Kusala: wholesome

True Seeing

2010-03-08T01:19:00.001-08:00

Zen ethics is grounded in the realization that one does not know what s right. This not-knowing is the refuge from which all moral action originates. It s a refuge that can t be relegated to the role of moral abstraction and remains a free and alive expression of the moment. What s offered us in the place of moral certainty is doubt and love, which are nearly synonymous. Doubt wears the hard edges off our best ideas and exposes us to the world as it is. When the great Zen master Ikkyu was asked, What is Zen? He replied, Attention! Attention! Attention!

This very attention to a world that s not of our contrivance is an act of love, for we can only love what we truly see.

- Lin Jensen

Switching Off Automatic Responses

2010-03-06T01:22:00.001-08:00

The crucial factor influencing how well we can respond in any given situation seems to be the level of mindfulness we can bring to bear upon the moment. If we don t care to be present, unconscious decision-making systems will function to get us through to the next moment, albeit in the grips of (often flawed) learned behaviors and conditioned responses. If, on the other hand, we can increase the amount of conscious awareness present by manifesting mindfulness, we expand the range of our possible responses. Even if disposed to anger, we can choose to act with kindness. This is the essence of our freedom in an otherwise heavily conditioned system.

Andrew Olendzki, "Karma in Action,"

Not Too Taut, Not Too Loose

2010-03-05T18:47:00.001-08:00

The Buddha emphasized the Middle Way, which he likened to the successful playing of the lute, the strings being not too taut, not too loose, but with just the right amount of pressure. We all need to seek a way to bring forth such balance in our own lives.

I deeply believe that it is vital to our spiritual practice that we become spiritually disciplined. Without spiritual discipline we are never going to wake up or advance on our soul s journey through this life. But our discipline must be wedded to joy, and we must find pleasure in the myriad wonders that this life offers.

Joan Gattuso

'Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha'.

2010-03-05T02:16:00.000-08:00

Avalokitesvara's mantra is 'Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha'.

'Gate' means 'gone'. Gone from suffering to the liberation of suffering. Gone from forgetfulness to mindfulness. Gone from duality into non-duality. 'Gate gate' means 'gone, gone'. 'Paragate' means 'gone all the way to the other shore'. So this mantra is said in a very strong way. Gone, gone, gone all the way over. In 'parasamgate', 'sam' means everyone, the Sangha, the entire community of beings. Everyone gone over to the other shore. 'Bodhi' is the light inside, enlightenment, or awakening. You see it and the vision of reality liberates you. And 'svaha' is a cry of joy or excitement, like 'ah!' or 'hurrah!' 'Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to the other shore, enlightenment!'

Unless out of Bodhicitta...

2010-03-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

Unless out of Bodhicitta,
wanting to create something external
is a sign of internal imperfection,
incompletion and discontentment.

Bodhicitta: In Mahayana Buddhism, the intense ontological aspiration to save all beings by following the bodhisattva path to enlightenment.

Sublime attitudes

2010-02-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

It s easy to feel goodwill, compassion, and empathetic joy for people you like and love, but there are bound to be people you dislike often for very good reasons. Similarly, there are many people for whom it s easy to feel equanimity: people you don't know or don't really care about. But it's hard to feel equanimity when people you love are suffering. Yet if you want to develop the brahma-viharas ("sublime attitudes"), you have to include all of these people within the scope of your awareness so that you can apply the proper attitude no matter where or when. This is where your heart needs the help of your head.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu

he Brahmajala Sutta

2010-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

The Brahmajala Sutta opens with an incident where two wanderers happened to be travelling along the same road with the Buddha and a retinue of 500 monks. The duo were arguing for and against the worthiness of the Triple Gem (the Buddha, the Dharma/Dhamma; his teachings, and the Sangha; the dedicated community of Dharma practitioners). One was hurling insults while the other was singing praises, as they contradicted each other. Drawing the attention of monks, they discussed about the two the morning after. Hearing this, the Buddha joined in and the following dialogue ensued (tr. Maurice Walshe, paraphrased):

‘Monks, if anyone should speak in disparagement of me, of the Dhamma or of the Sangha, you should not be angry [hateful], resentful [vengeful] or upset on that account. If you were to be angry or displeased at such disparagement, that would only be a hindrance to you [due to aversion]. For if others disparage me, the Dhamma or the Sangha, and you are angry or displeased, can you recognise whether what they say is right or not?’ The monks replied, ‘No, Lord.’ The Buddha continued,

‘If others disparage me, the Dhamma or the Sangha [with insults or false accusations], then you must explain what is incorrect as being incorrect, saying: “[For this or that reason] that is incorrect, that is false, that is not our way, that is not found among us.”But monks, if others should speak in praise of me, of the Dhamma or of the Sangha, you should not on that account be pleased [proud], happy or elated. If you were to be pleased, delighted or elated at such praise, that would only be a hindrance to you [due to attachment]. If others praise me, the Dhamma or the Sangha, you should acknowledge the truth of what is true, saying “That is correct, that is right, that is our way, that is found among us.”

The above should not be mistaken as encouragement of indifference to blame and praise. If it is so, all Buddhists should simply pretend to be unmoving Buddha statues when we hear slander of the Triple Gem! But to let unjustified remarks go unchecked can prove damaging to the perpetuation of the Buddha’s true teachings. What the Buddha advocated is calm, clear, equanimous (free of attachment and aversion) and matter-of-factly recognition of the nature of others’ comments, followed by clarifications of the erroneous and the affirmations of the right. Only with right mindfulness can we discern what needs to be addressed and respond appropriately with patient compassion and uncompromising wisdom. – Shen Shi'an:

Let you be the one who views the movement of..

2010-02-23T16:38:00.002-08:00

If you seek after truth, you should investigate things in such a way that your consciousness as you investigate is not distracted by what you find, or diffused and scattered; neither is it fixed and set. For the one who is not swayed, there will be a transcending of birth, death, and time. Whether you walk or stand or lie down, Stretch your limbs or draw them in again, let you do all these things attentively, Above, across, and back again. Whatever your place in the world, let you be the one who views the movement of all compounded things with attention.

- Itivuttaka Sutta

Let you be the one who views the movement of..

2010-02-23T16:38:00.001-08:00

Let you be the one who views the movement of..

2010-02-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Speaking the truth

2010-02-21T20:38:00.001-08:00

For most of us, the hardest precept to honor is to speak the truth. I m not talking about staying clear of bald-faced whoppers that cover up sordid affairs or some headline-grabbing misdeeds, but about our everyday exaggerations, self-aggrandizements, and self-image facelifts. In other words, what usually happens when we talk uninterrupted for more than a few minutes. Besides, even when we do speak the truth, are we able to listen to whoever is talking without an agenda or obsessing about what we re going to say next? And how comfortable are we if there is nothing to say?

Like surfing, staying present is always a challenge, but doing it while interacting with others tends to be like managing in choppy, cross-current seas. We have not only our own thoughts and impulses to contend with but also those of our conversational partners. So if we can stay present and compassionate when, say, a coworker is kvetching, odds are we can do it anytime.

- Marshall Glickman,

Being in the moment!

2010-02-14T15:02:00.001-08:00

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."- Buddha

How right...... !

Each Moment

2010-02-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

What primarily concerns me is the necessity for a student to learn to be as awake as possible in each moment. Otherwise it can seem as if the point of practice is to have breakthroughs. The usefulness of these openings exists only if they clarify life and our ability to live it and serve it. But until mind and body - usually through years of patient practice - cease to want an ego-centered life, the openings and their teachings cannot be distorted into ego successes. Only when mind and body are mostly free of reactivity can a true understanding of what life is become possible - not through a momentary breakthrough, but through an open and compassionate living of life.

Charlotte Joko Beck

The Lady of Shalott

2010-02-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Lady of Shalott
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Part I
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."

Part II
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

And moving thro' a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed:
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.

Part III
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.

The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

Part IV
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.

And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance--
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right--
The leaves upon her falling light--
Thro' the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross'd themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."

The Lady of Shalott
Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Loreena McKennitt – The Lady of Shalott (LIVE)" ♫ http://blip.fm/~krk1j

http://blog.naver.com/undeuxtrois/120101675002

Neither attachment nor detachment

2010-02-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

Don't cling to anything and don't reject anything. Let come what comes, and accomodate yourself to that, whatever it is. If good mental images arise, that is fine. If bad mental images arise, that is fine, too. Look on all of it as equal, and make yourself comfortable with whatever happens. Don't fight with what you experience, just observe it all mindfully.

- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Hiri and Ottappa

2010-02-09T02:56:00.000-08:00

The Guardians of the World

According to the Buddha, the human world is protected by twin guardians, two forces in the mind that watch over and guide moral behavior. The first guardian of the world is hiri, a word that connotes conscience, moral intuition, and self-respect. It refers to that within the human psyche that knows the difference between right and wrong, between what is noble and ignoble, between what is worthy of respect and what is not. Each of us has within us an innate moral compass, and it is the view of the Buddhist tradition that religion is not the source of this but rather a form by which it is given expression. The second guardian of the world is ottappa, which comprises such notions as social conscience, a cultural or collective sense of morality, and respect for the opinions and the rights of others.

Buddhism teaches that anything we do that is wholesome will be done with the support and guidance of these two inner guardians. Conversely, everything we do that is unwholesome can only be done when these moral guides are disregarded. So if there is something morally reprehensible occurring in an individual or in a society, it means that we lack sufficient clarity of awareness of what we are doing. It means we are temporarily blinded by our greed, hatred, or delusion, or by some combination of the three, such that we refuse to attend openly to the deeds we are committing. When attention has been brought to bear on the matter in sufficient amounts, with sufficient intensity, and with sufficient honesty we will naturally shy away from doing harm to ourselves, to others, and to both.

- Andrew Olendzki from "Removing the Thorn" (Fall 2005)

http://blog.naver.com/undeuxtrois/120101501762

Understanding the 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors

2010-01-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

Compared with most animals, we humans engage in a host of behaviors that are destructive to our own kind and to ourselves. We lie, cheat and steal, carve ornamentations into our own bodies, stress out and kill ourselves, and of course kill others. Science has provided much insight into why an intelligent species seems so nasty, spiteful, self-destructive and hurtful.

-- LiveScience Staff and Contributors

Gossip

We humans are evolutionarily set up to judge and talk about others, no matter how hurtful it might be, researchers say.

Here's how Oxford primatologist Robin Dunbar sees it: Baboons groom each other to keep social ties strong. But we humans are more evolved, so we use gossip as social glue. Both are learned behaviors.

Gossip establishes group boundaries and boosts self-esteem, studies have found.

In many instances, the goal of gossip is not truth or accuracy. What matters is the bond that gossiping can forge, often at the expense of a third party.

"When two people share a dislike of another person, it [gossip] brings them closer," says Jennifer Bosson, a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida.

Gamble

Gambling, too, seems to be in our genes and hard-wired into our brains, which might explain why such a potentially ruinous behavior is so common.

Even monkeys gamble. A study that measured monkeys' desire to gamble for juice rewards found that even as potential rewards diminished, the primates acted irrationally and gambled for the chance to get a wee bit more.

A study published in the journal Neuron last year found that almost winning activates win-related circuitry within the brain and enhances the motivation to gamble. "Gamblers often interpret near-misses as special events, which encourage them to continue to gamble," said Luke Clark of the University of Cambridge. "Our findings show that the brain responds to near-misses as if a win has been delivered, even though the result is technically a loss."

Other studies have also shown that losing causes gamblers to get carried away. When people plan in advance how much to gamble, they're coldly rational, a study last year found. But if they lose, rationality goes out the window, and they change the game plan and bet even more.

Stress Out

Stress can be deadly, raising the risk for heart problems and even cancer. Stress can lead to depression, which can lead to suicide -- yet another destructive behavior that's uniquely human (and glaringly not on this list).

But exactly why we stress is difficult to pin down. These truths will resonate with many, however: The modern workplace is a source of significant stress for many people, as are children.

More than 600 million people around the world put in 48-hour-plus workweeks, according to the International Labor Organization. And advances in technology -- smartphones and broadband Internet -- mean a blurring of the lines between work and free time. About half of Americans bring work home, according to a recent study.

The stress of being a parent while also working is borne out by a 2007 study that found older people feel less stress.

"Many older workers are empty-nesters," says researcher Gwenith Fisher, an organizational psychologist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR). "They don't have the same work-personal conflicts that younger and middle-aged workers deal with, juggling responsibilities to children along with their jobs and their personal needs."

Health experts suggest exercise and adequate sleep are two of the best ways to battle stress.

Nip, Tuck, Plump and Tattoo our Bodies

By 2015, 17 percent of U.S. residents will be getting cosmetic procedures, the industry predicts. Some would call it self-edification, of course, or art, or a way to kill time or perhaps rebel against authority. But in general, and given that people have died from cosmetic surgery procedures, what makes so many people so intent on artificially remaking themselves?

First, it's worth noting that while options at the body shop have never been more varied, the practice is ancient, often tied to cults and religions or power and status, and in fact much of the modern nip, tuck, paint, poke and plump procedures are benign compared with some ancient practices. People have reshaped their heads, elongated their necks, stretched their ears and lips, painted their bodies or affixed permanent jewelry for thousands of years.

Perhaps the strongest motivations nowadays are to be beautiful, however one might define that, or simply to fit in with a particular group.

The lure of beauty can't be denied as a prime motivator to nip and tuck. Studies have shown that shoppers buy more from attractive salespeople; attractive people capture our attention more quickly than others; and skinny people have an easier time getting hired and promoted.

"There's this idea that if you look better you'll be happier. You'll feel better about yourself," says psychologist Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families. "And logically that makes so much sense, because we live in a society where people do care what you look like."

A sign of the times, as Baby Boomer age: While cosmetic surgery sales sagged during the recession, wrinkle-blasting laser treatments have skyrocketed.

Bully

Studies have found that half or more of grade-school children experience bullying. A European study in 2009 found that children who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home. That led a researcher involved in the study to speculate that bullying behavior often starts at home.

"It is not possible to tell from our study which behavior comes first, but it is likely that if children behave in a certain way at home, bullying a sibling for instance, if this behavior goes unchecked they may take this behavior into school," said Ersilia Menesini of the Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.

But bullying is not just child's play. One study found that almost 30 percent of U.S. office workers experience bullying by bosses or coworkers, from withholding of information critical to getting the job done to insulting rumors and other purposeful humiliation. And once it starts, it tends to get worse.

"Bullying, by definition, is escalatory. This is one of the reasons it's so difficult to prevent it, because it usually starts in really small ways," says Sarah Tracy, director of the Project for Wellness and Work-Life at Arizona State University.

Experts say to combat workplace bullies, respond rationally, specifically, and consistently.

Why do we do it? To gain status and power, psychologists say. And for some, it may be hard to resist the behavior. Researchers have seen bullying behavior in monkeys and speculate that the behavior may stretch way back in our evolutionary tree.

Lie

Nobody knows for sure why humans lie so much, but studies find that it's common, and that it's often tied to deep psychological factors.

"It's tied in with self-esteem," says University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman. "We find that as soon as people feel that their self-esteem is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels."

Feldman has conducted studies in which people lie frequently, with 60 percent lying at least once during a 10-minute conversation.

And lying is not easy. One study concluded that lying takes 30 percent longer than telling the truth.

Recent studies have found that people lie in workplace e-mail more than they did with old-fashioned writing.

It's a whole other matter whether people really mean to lie in many instances. Figuring that out requires coming up with a complicated definition of lying.

"Certain conditions have to be in place for a statement to rise to the level of a lie," explains philosophy professor James E. Mahon of Washington and Lee University. "First, a person must make a statement and must believe that the statement is false. Second, the person making the statement must intend for the audience to believe that the statement is true. Anything else falls outside the definition of lying that I have defended."

Animals are also known to be capable of deception, and even robots have learned to lie, in an experiment where they were rewarded or punished depending on performance in a competition with other robots.

Cheat

Few human traits are more fascinating. While most people would say honesty is a virtue, nearly one in five Americans think cheating on taxes is morally acceptable or is not a moral issue, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. About 10 percent are equally ambivalent about cheating on a spouse.

People who espouse high moral standards are among the worst cheats, studies have shown. The worst cheaters tend to be those with high morals who also, in some twisted way, consider cheating to be an ethically justifiable behavior in certain situations.

Cheating on spouses by celebrities and politicians thought to be moral leaders has become rampant. The behavior has a simple explanation, experts say: Guys are wired to want sex, a lot, and are more likely than gals to cheat. The behavior may be particularly likely for men with power.

"People don't necessarily practice what they preach," says Lawrence Josephs, a clinical psychologist at Adelphi University in New York. "It's not clear to what extent people's ethical values are actually running what they do or don't do."

Steal

Theft can be motivated by need. But for kleptomaniacs, stealing can be motivated by the sheer thrill of it. One study of 43,000 people found 11 percent admitted to having shoplifted at least once.

"These are people who steal even though they can easily afford not to," says Jon E. Grant of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

In a study in 2009, participants either took a placebo or the drug naltrexone -- known to curb addictive tendencies toward alcohol, drugs and gambling. Naltrexone blocks the effects of substances called endogenous opiates that the researchers suspect are released during stealing and which trigger the sense of pleasure in the brain.

The drug reduced the urges to steal and stealing behavior, Grant and colleagues wrote in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Theft may be in our genes. After all, even monkeys do it. Capuchin monkeys use predator alarm calls to warn fellow monkeys to scatter and avoid threats. But some will make fake calls, and then steal food left by those that scattered.

Crave Violence

Violence is found throughout recorded human history, leading some researchers to conclude that we crave it, that it's in our genes and affects reward centers in our brains. However, going back millions of years, evidence suggests our ancient human ancestors were more peace-loving than people today, though there are signs of cannibalism among the earliest pre-history humans.

A study in 2008 concluded that humans seem to crave violence just like they do sex, food, or drugs. The study, reported in the journal Psychopharmacology, found that in mice, clusters of brain cells involved in other rewards are also behind their craving for violence. The researchers think the finding applies to human brains.

"Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food," said study team member Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "We have found that the reward pathway in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved."

Many researchers believe violence in humans is an evolved tendency that helped with survival.

"Aggressive behavior has evolved in species in which it increases an individual's survival or reproduction, and this depends on the specific environmental, social, reproductive, and historical circumstances of a species. Humans certainly rank among the most violent of species," says biologist David Carrier of the University of Utah.

Cling to Bad Habits

Perhaps everything else on this list would be far less problematic if we were not such creatures of habit. In fact, studies have found that even when the risks of a particular bad habit are well-known, people find it hard to quit.

"It's not because they haven't gotten the information that these are big risks," says Cindy Jardine of the University of Alberta. "We tend to sort of live for now and into the limited future -- not the long term."

Jardine, who has studied why people cling to bad habits, cites these reasons:

-- Innate human defiance

-- Need for social acceptance

-- Inability to truly understand the nature of risk

-- Individualistic view of the world and the ability to rationalize unhealthy habits

-- Genetic predisposition to addiction

People tend to justify bad habits, she says, by noting exceptions to known statistics, such as: "It hasn't hurt me yet," or, "My grandmother smoked all her life and lived to be 90."

A Christmas Story

2009-12-30T02:41:00.000-08:00

This provides an example of the meaning of Christmas and shows the things we should do in our lives to honor Christ and his mission to save all mankind as well as the way God uses each of us to give some joy, love and gifts...

Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible.. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. "Come on, Matt," he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out tonight." I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what..

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. "I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he said. "Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. "Pa," I asked, "what are you doing?" You been by the Widow Jensen's lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what?

Yeah," I said, "Why?"
"I rode by just today," Pa said. "Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood, Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I asked. Shoes, they're out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, some we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?"

Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children - sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire up to size and heat this place up." I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd never known before, filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us."

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes..

Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell." I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will."

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand."

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children.

For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.

- The source of story is unknown

The Art of Loving - By Erich Fromm

2009-12-19T02:35:00.001-08:00

Love is not a sentiment which can be easily indulged in by anyone, regardless of the level of maturity reached by him. All his attempts for love are bound to fail, unless he trys most actively to develope his total personality, so as to achieve a productive orientation; that satisfaction in individual love cannot be attained without the capacity to love one's neighbour, without true humility, courage, faith and discipline. In a culture in which these qualities are rare, the attainment of the capacity to love must remain a rare achievement. Or - anyone can ask himself how many TRULY loving persons he he known.

If two people who have been strangers, as all of us are, suddenly let the wall between them break down, and feel close, feel one, this moment of oneness is one of the most exhilarating, most exciting experiences in life.

It is all the more wonderful and miraculous for persons who have been shut off, isolated, without love. This miracle of sudden intimacy
is often facilitated if it is combined with, or initiated by, sexual attraction and consummation. However, this type of love is by its very nature not lasting.

The two persons become well aquainted, their intimacy loses more and more of its miraculous character, until their antagonism, their disappointments, their mutual boredom kill whatever is left of the initial excitement. Yet, in the beginning they do not know all this: in fact, they take the intensity of the infatuation, this being "crazy" about each other, for proof of the intensity of their love, while it may only prove the degree of their preceding loniness. There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love. If this were the case with any other activity, people would be eager to know the reasons for the failure, and to learn how one could do better - or they would give up the activity.

The first thing we have to learn is that love is an art, just as living is an art; if we want to learn how to love we must proceed in the same way we have to proceed if we want to learn any other art. Maybe here lies the answer to the question of why people in our culture try so rarely to learn this art, in spite of their obvious failures: in spite of the deep-seated craving for love, almost everything else is considered to be more important than love: success, prestige, money, power - almost all our energy is used for learning of how to achieve these aims, and almost none to learn the art of loving.

Could it be that only these things are considered worthy of being learned with which one can earn money or prestige, and that love, which ONLY profits the soul, but is profitless in the modern sense, is a luxury we have no right to spend much energy on?

Man can only go forward by developing his reason, by finding a new harmony, a human one, instead of the prehuman harmony which is irretrievably lost.

Man is gifted with reason; he is life being aware of itself. This awareness of himself as a separate entity, the awareness of his own short life span, of the fact that he will die before those whom he loves, or they before him, the awareness of his aloneness and separateness, of his helplessness before the forces of nature and of society, all this makes his separate, disunited existence an unbearable prison. He would become insane could he not liberate himself from the prison and reach out, unite himself in some form or other with others, with the world outside.

The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety. Being separate means being cut off, without any capacity to use my human powers. Beyond that, it arouses shame and the feeling of guilt. This experience of guilt and shame in separateness is expressed in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve... who, by recognising their separateness they remain strangers, because they have not yet learned to love each other; Adam defends himself by blaming Eve rather than trying to defend her.

The deepest need of man, then, is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness. The absolute failure to achieve this aim means insanity, because the panic of complete isolation can be overcome only by such a radical withdrawal from the world outside that the feeling of separation disappears - because the world outside, from which one is separated, has disappeared.

In society the union with the group is the prevalent way of overcoming separateness. It is a union in which the individual self
disappears to a large extent, and where the aim is to belong to the herd. If I am like everybody else, if I have no feelings or thoughts which make me different, if I conform in custom, dress, ideas, to the pattern of the group, I am saved; saved from the frightening experience of aloneness.

The dictatorial systems use threats and terror to induce this conformity; the democratic countries, suggestion and propaganda. But in spite of this difference the democratic societies show an overwhelming degree of conformity.The reason lies in the fact that there has to be an answer to the quest for union, and if there is no other or better way, then the union of herd conformity becomes the predominant one. One can only understand the fear to be different, the fear to be only a few steps away from the herd, if one understands the depths of the need not to be separated.

Most people are not even aware of their need to conform. They live under the illusion that they follow their own ideas and inclinations, that they are individualists, that they have arrived at their opinions as the result of their own thinking - and that it just happens that their ideas are are the same as the majority. The consensus of all serves as a proof for the correctness of "their" ideas. Since there is still a need to feel some individuality, such a need is satisfied with regard to minor differences; the initials on the handbag or sweater, the belonging to the Democrate rather than the Republican party, to the Elks instead of the Shriners become the expression of individual differences. The advertising slogan of "it is different" shows up this pathetic need for difference, when in reality there is hardy any left.

Union by conformity is not intense and violent; it is calm, dictated by routine, and for this very reason often is insufficient to pacify the anxiety of separateness. The incidence of alcoholism, drug addiction, compulsive sexualism, and suicide in contemporary society are symptoms of this relative failure of herd conformity.

This desire for interpersonal fusion is the most powerful striving in man. It is the most fundamental passion, it is the force which keeps the human race together. The failure to achieve it means insanity or destrution - self destruction or the destrution of others. Without love humanity could not exist.

Mature love is union under the condition of preserving one's integrity, one's individuality. Love is an active power in man, a power which breaks through the walls which separate man from his fellow men, which unites him with others; love makes him overcome the sense of isolation and sepateness, yet permits him to be himself, to retain his integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.

Spinoza arrives at the conclusion that virtue and power are one and the same. Envy, jealousy, ambition towards any kind of greed are passions; love is an action, the practice of human power, which can be practised only in freedom and never as a result of a compulsion.

Love is primarily giving, not receiving. Giving is the highest expression of potency. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the
expression of my aliveness.

Whoever is capable of giving himself is rich. He experiences himself as one who can confer of himself to others. He gives of himself, of the most precious thing he has, he gives of his life. He gives what is live in him; he gives his joy, his intrest, his understanding, his knowledge, his humour, his sadness, he gives of all the expressions and manifestations of that which is alive in him.

In thus giving of his life, he enriches the other person, he enchances the others sense of aliveness by enchancing his own sense of aliveness. In giving he cannot help bringing something to life in the other person, and this which is brought to life reflects back to him and they both share in the joy of what they have brought to life.

Love is a power which produces love. You can exchange love only for love, confidence for confidence, etc. If you wish to enjoy an art, you must be an artistically trained person; if you wish to have an influence on other people you must be a person who has a really stimulating and furthering influence on other people.

In the Book of Jonah, God explains to Jonah that the essence of love is to labour for something and to make something grow, that love and labour are inseparable. One loves that for which one labours, and one labours for that which one loves.

Care and concern imply another aspect of love. Today responsibilty is often meant to denote duty, something imposed on one from the outside. But responsibility, in its TRUE sense, is an entirely voluntary act; it is my response to the needs of others. The loving person respondes.

Responsibility could easily deteriorate into domination and possessiveness, were it not for a third component of love, respect. Respect is not fear or awe; it denotes the ability to see a person as he/she is, to be aware of the unique individuality. Respect means the concern that the other person should grow and unfold as they are. Respect, thus, implies the absense of exploitation. I want the loved person to grow and unfold for their own sake, and not for the purpose of serving me. If I love the other person, I feel one with him or her, but with them as they are, not as I need them to be as an object for my use. It is clear that respect is only possible if I have achieved independence, without having to exploit anyone else. Respect exists only on the basis of freedom, for love is the child of freedom, never that of domination.

To respect a person is not possible without knowing him; care and responsibility would be blind if they were not guided by knowledge.

Knowledge would be empty if it were not motivated by concern. There are many layers of knowledge; the knowledge which is an aspect of love is one which does not stay at the periphery, but penetrates to the core. It is possible only when I can transend the concern for myself and see the other person in his own terms.

Care, responsibility, respect and knowledge are mutually interdependent. They are a syndrome of attitudes which are to be found in the mature person; that is the person who developes his own powers productively, who wants only to have that which he has worked for, who has given up narcissistic dreams of ominiscience and omnipotence, who has aquired humility based on inner strength which only genuine productive activity can give.

If a person loves only one other person and is indifferent to the rest of his fellow men, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment, or an
enlarged egotism. Yet most people believe that love is constituted by the object, not by the faculty. In fact, they even believe that it is proof of the intensity of their love when they do not love anybody except the "loved" person. This is the same fallacy which I have already mentioned above. Because one does not see that love is an activity, a power of the soul, one believes that all that is necessary to find is the right object - and that everything goes by itself afterward. This attitude can be compared to that of the man who wants to paint but who, instead of learning the art, claims that he just has to wait for the right object - and that he will paint beautifully when he finds it. If I truly love one person I love all persons, I love the world, I love life. If I can say to somebody else, "I love you," I must be able to say, "I love in you everybody, I love through you the world, I love in you also myself."

The most fundamental kind of love, which underlies all types of love, is brotherly love. By this I mean the sense of responsibility, care, respect, knowledge of any other human being, the wish to further his life. This is the kind of love the Bible speaks about when it says: Love your neighbour as yourself. Brotherly love is love for all human beings; it is characterized by its very lack of exlusiveness. If I have developed the capacity for love, then I cannot help loving my brothers. In brotherly love there is the experience of union with the whole of mankind, of human solidarity. Brotherly love is based on the experience that we're all one.

The differences in talents, intelligence, knowledge are negligible in comparison with the identity of the human core common to all men. In order to experience this identity it is necessary to penetrate from the periphery to the core. If I perceive in another person mainly the surface, I perceive mainly differences, that which separates us. If I penetrate to the core, I perceive our identity, the fact of out brotherhood.

Love of the helpless, the poor and the stranger, are the beginning of brotherly love. To love ones flesh and blood is no achievement. The animal loves its young and cares for them. Only in the love of those who do not serve a purpose, does love begin to unfold. Compassion implies the element of knowledge and identification. "You know the heart of the stranger," says the Bible, "for you were strangers in the land of Egypt;... therefore love the stranger!"

The greatest impediment of mankind is not desease.. it is dispair.

Extracts from - The Art of Loving - By Erich Fromm

The mind-door

2009-12-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Take the sunset: What happens when we see it? Ultimately, we don't. When the eye contacts a visual form, we merely see color, not a three-dimensional thing. In fact, the tint, along with the consciousness seeing it, dies out in a split-second, but we fail to catch the dissolve. Why? Because delusion blurs the separate moments of perception together, making experience look seamless. After the color sparks out, subsequent moments of consciousness replay the image from memory, dubbing it "sunset." This process takes only a fraction of a second. Nevertheless, by the time we name it, the original image is already gone. "Sunset" is a concept perceived through the mind-door, not the eye. We mistake this product of mental construction for something irreducibly real. Without the tool of mindfulness the trick is too fast to see, like trying to catch the separate frames of a running film.

-Cynthia Thatcher, "What's So Great About Now?"

The Normal Mind

2009-12-18T22:04:00.001-08:00

Tung-shan was asked, "The normal mind is the way; what is the normal mind?" He replied, "Not picking things up along the road."

If he is liberated by this transcendence and nonattachment...

2009-12-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

The Buddha was asked: "To what extent can a person be a speaker of the way?" He answered: "If a person teaches the way in order to transcend the tyranny of material things and to teach how to transcend feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness--teaching nonattachment with regard to these--then that person can be called a speaker of the way. If he is himself trying to transcend the pull of the material world and to feel nonattachment toward it, then it is fitting to say he is living in accordance with the way. If he is liberated by this transcendence and nonattachment, then you can say he has found nirvana here and now.

- Samyutta Nikaya

Ken Wilber et l'immobilité

2009-12-15T21:29:00.001-08:00

Ken Wilber et l'immobilité

Je lis en ce moment le journal de Ken Wilber pour l'année 1998 :

C'est un excellent livre, très interessant.

Je suis tombé sur ce passage où Wilber parle de l'immobilité de notre être véritable. Ce que nous sommes vraiment ne bouge pas.

"Mercredi 4 juin

J'ai décidé d'aller faire du jogging ce matin derrière la maison. Si vous restez en tant que Témoin pendant que vous courez, vous ne bougez pas, le sol bouge. Vous, en tant que Témoin, êtes immobile, plus précisément, vous n'avez aucune qualité du tout, aucun trait, aucune mobilité et aucune agitation, puisque vous reposez dans la vaste vacuité que vous êtes. Vous êtes conscients du mouvement, c'est pourquoi vous, en tant que Témoin, n'êtes pas le mouvement. Ainsi quand vous courez, c'est comme si vous ne bougiez pas du tout ; le Témoin est libre du mouvement et tranquille, ainsi le sol simplement se déplace. C'est comme si vous étiez dans un cinéma, ne bougeant pas de votre siège et pourtant voyant la scène entière bougeant devant de vous.

C'est facile à faire quand vous conduisez sur l'autoroute. Vous pouvez simplement resté assis, relaxé, et voir que vous ne bougez pas, seule la scène bouge. C'est souvent suffisant pour faire basculer les gens dans l'état de Témoin réel dans lequel vous allez simplement vous reposer comme conscience sans choix, regardant le monde s'en allant, et vous ne bougez pas du tout. Ce centre immobile de votre pure conscience est en fait le centre du cosmos entier, l'oeil ou le Je-Je du cyclone du monde. Ce centre immobile ( il y en a seulement un dans le monde entier et il est identique dans tous les êtres, le cercle dont le centre est partout et la circonférence nulle part) est aussi le centre de gravité de l'âme.

En tant que Témoin, Je ne bouge pas à travers le temps, le temps bouge à travers moi. Juste comme les nuages flottent dans le ciel, le temps flotte à travers l'espace ouvert de ma conscience primordiale, et je reste intouché par le temps et l'espace et leurs exigences. L'éternité ne signifie pas vivre toujours dans le temps, ce qui est plutot une horrible idée, mais vivre dans le moment qui est atemporel, avant le temps et de avant son désarroi.

L'infinité ne signifie pas vraiment un grand espace, mais une absence d'espace. En tant que témoin je suis sans espace, en tant que témoin, je suis hors du temps. Je vis dans l'éternité et j'habite l'infini, simplement parce que le Témoin est libre du temps et de l'espace.

Donc ce matin, je suis allé faire du jogging et rien du tout n'a bougé, sauf la scène sur le film de ma vie." Ken Wilber

At the Crossroads

2009-12-15T02:54:00.001-08:00

At each point in our lives, we are at a crossroads. We are the fruit of our past and we are the architects of our future. When we ask, “Why did this happen to me?” it is because of our limited view. If we throw a stone up in the air and forget about it, when it falls down on our heads, we shouldn't complain, although we usually do. We have this notion that what happens to us is somehow independent of our own actions. We can ask, why did this happen? but the more important question is, what we are going to do about it?

If you want to know your past, look at your present circumstances. If you want to know your future, look at what is in your mind. If we know that our fate is in our hands, then the quality of our actions becomes a central issue. The whole point of karma is to recognize how our actions determine our future, so that we can begin to act properly. It's not just a cosmological or philosophical matter. It's entirely practical. The main point is not to get in trouble again.

-Matthieu Ricard, "Karma Crossroads,"

The Farmer: A letter from Jirisan.com

2009-08-19T00:43:00.001-07:00

한 농부님을 만났다.
짧은 만남이었지만
만나고 싶었던 바로 '그 농부'였다.
돌아오는 길에 확신했다.
오늘 나는 보석을 발견했다고.
시간을 두고
그에 대한 이야기를 찾아 갈 것이다.

4dr@naver.com
2009년 8월 19일 보낸 편지

I met a farmer.
It was a short encounter,
but he was the farmer whom I'd always wanted to meet.
And I was certain, on my way back home,
that I discovered a jewel.

Taking my time
I shall call on him for his stories.

A letter from Jirisan.com
Translated by Aejin Song

Existence in the moment..

2009-07-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

As recorded in the Ananda Sutta, a wanderer called Vacchagotta once asked the Buddha if there is a self, to which the Buddha remained silent. Next, he asked if there is no self, to which the Buddha also remained silent. Upon his departure, the Buddha's attendant disciple Ananda asked why didn't he answer either questions. The Buddha replied that if he were to say there is a self, that would conform to eternalism, which is the mistaken view that there is an eternal unchanging soul. If he were to say there is no self, that would conform to annihilationism, which is the mistaken view that with death is the annihilation of consciousness. And if he were to say there is a self, that would not be aligned with the realisation that all phenomena (mind and matter) are not-self. And if he were to say there is no self, the bewildered Vacchagotta would have become more bewildered as to whether the self he used to have does not exist now.

Eternalism proposes that there is a part of our being that does not change from life to life. This the Buddha clearly did not endorse, as he had analysed our being into the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousnesses) in the Anattalakkhana Sutta - all of which are fluxing and dissatisfactory, thus unsuited to be a substantial self. Annihilationism proposes that there is no part of our being (aggregates) that remains from life to life. This the Buddha also did not endorse, because the aggregates do exist - in terms of change. That is to say, though our forms, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousnesses are not fixed from one moment to another, they exist in the moment. In this sense, there is ultimately no fixed self (Anatta) to speak of, while conventionally speaking, there is a self that we need to relate to practically; albeit not cling to, since it changes.

The Buddha taught a subtle 'Middle Way' truth between the erroneous extremes of eternalism and annihilationism, as based upon the truth of impermanence (Anicca).Though we have body and mind (conventional self), we have no fixed body and mind; we are ultimately not-self. As such, the questions of whether there is a self or not could not be answered simplistically. Perhaps the Buddha didn't explain the above to Vacchagotta because he was too attached to wanting yes or no answers despite the complexity of the truth. As such, even if the Buddha elaborated on the meaning of his silence to him, it wouldn't be useful - which is why silence became the best answer - for him to contemplate its intention. Vacchagotta was probably not sharp enough to discern and reconcile differences between the relative truth of a conventional self and the absolute truth of ultimate non-self. Are you like Vacchagotta too? - Shen Shi'an

Describing His Awakening...

2009-07-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

"Describing his awakening, the Buddha said: 'Coming to be, coming to be! Ceasing to be, ceasing to be! At that thought, monks, there arose in me a vision of things not before called to mind. Knowledge arose--such is form, such is the coming to be of form, such is its passing away. Recognition arose--such is its coming to be, such is its passing away. And the state of abiding in the understanding of arising and passing away--that too arose.'
- Samyutta Nikaya"

Open Yourself to Yourself

2009-06-30T13:40:00.001-07:00

When you don't punish or condemn yourself, when you relax more and appreciate your body and mind, you begin to contact the fundamental notion of basic goodness in yourself. So it is extremely important to be willing to open yourself to yourself. Developing tenderness toward yourself allows you to see both your problems and your potential accurately. You don't feel that you have to ignore your problems or exaggerate your potential. That kind of gentleness toward yourself and appreciation of yourself is very necessary. It provides the ground for helping yourself and others.

Chögyam Trungpa, The Sanity We Are Born With (Shambhala Publications)

Passing on Ego

2009-06-23T02:43:00.000-07:00

"Just as energy can be used for many different purposes, so can pure existence be experienced in relation to any phase of life—anger, hatred, or jealousy as well as love and beauty. Every human action must be carried on through the ego, which plays a role comparable to that of a pipe or channel through which energy is conducted for different uses. We usually think of the ego as a kind of constant, unchanging entity. In fact, however, it is simply a succession of physical and mental events or pressures that appear momentarily and as quickly pass away.

–Katsuki Sekida, from A Guide to Zen (New World Library)"

What is Mindfulness?

2009-06-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

"Was there ever a time when you felt suddenly alive? It was like the doors of the world opened for a minute and you could see directly into life. You were able to touch life directly and were not lost in your fears and worries. This experience may not have been during a big event like performing in a play or playing in a championship game; it may have been while walking in the woods or talking to a friend. All of a sudden you felt alive, awake. This quality of waking up, or penetrating into life, we could call mindfulness. Mindfulness simply means being aware, being present. When you are breathing and know that you are breathing, that is mindfulness of breathing.

–Soren Gordhamer, from Just Say Om! (Adams Media Corporation)"

Be Who You Want To Be

2009-06-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

"Happiness is possible when you are capable of doing the things and being the things you want to do and to be. When we walk for the sake of walking, when we sit for the sake of sitting, when we drink for the sake of drinking tea, we don't do it for something or someone else. Awakening means to see that truth—that you want to know how to enjoy, how to live deeply, in a very simple way. You don't want to waste your time anymore. Cherish the time that you are given.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Answers from the Heart (Parallax Press)"

Bring Your Spiritual Traditions Together

2009-06-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

Many Westerners attracted to Buddhist practice have abandoned their own spiritual traditions. They reject the churches and clergy of their own traditions because they feel constricted and uncomfortable with the attitudes and practices they have encountered there. They have suffered within their own tradition and so have sought another. They approach Buddhist practice with the hope of replacing their own tradition and may wish to break away from their own tradition forever.

According to Buddhist wisdom, such wishing is in vain. A person severed from her own culture and traditions is like a tree pulled out by the roots. Such a person will find it hard to be happy. Buddhist practice can offer effective means to heal, reconcile, and reunite with one's blood and spiritual families, in order to discover the precious gems in one's own traditions. Thanks to the practice, people will see that Buddhism and their own spiritual tradition have many things in common, and therefore it is not necessary to reject their own spiritual tradition. They will see that there are things that need to be transformed in Buddhism as well as in their own tradition.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Teachings on Love (Parallax Press)

As It Is, Not How We Want It to Be

2009-05-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

Rather than worry or obsess about enlightenment, why not be honest and accept that we will have our good days and our bad? We will have some enlightened moments of loving-kindness, as well as some dull ones. This encourages all of us to stay real and experience the moment as it is—not how we want it to be.

–Donald Altman, from Living Kindness (Inner Ocean)

Open the Doorway of Impermanence

2009-05-16T02:54:00.000-07:00

Reflecting on our own impermanence helps us stop following the dissatisfied mind of desire whose impulses are seen as without meaning in the face of death. When we don't face impermanence and death, our lives become busy, complicated, and stressful. When we do face them, our lives become simpler and more full of meaning. Our fear of or aversion to facing these subjects is a trick that the mind plays on itself, which keeps us caught in the trap of self-centered, compulsive, neurotic egotism. The illusion that we exist as solid, permanent entities is in fact a trap or prison for our hearts; facing the truth about impermanence is the doorway out.

–Lorne Ladner, from The Lost Art of Compassion (HarperSanFrancisco)

Finding Our False Assumptions

2009-05-14T02:49:00.000-07:00

It's only when we examine the mind correctly that we discover how many false assumptions we have—false assumptions that, for the moment, are completely unnoticed. We cling to things as though they were permanent and will last forever. This is the measure of our delusion, tightly fettered as we are by this so-called “I” of ours—this “I,” in the interests of which, our mind enslaves our body and our speech, and creates all sorts of difficulties and hardships.

When we arrive at a correct understanding of the mind, we can see that our present thoughts are just like waves on the water. At one moment they arise; at another they dissolve. And that's all there is to it: the mind is nothing but thoughts.

–Dudjom Rinpoche, from Counsels from My Heart (Shambhala)

Make Space for Words

2009-05-12T04:14:00.000-07:00

Make Space for Words

Often we are taught that in order to become successful it is necessary to be persuasive. Leaders mesmerize us with their inspiring words. Celebrity talk shows feature glib and witty guests. We argue and debate instead of sharing thoughts. The problem, however, is that as soon as we fall in love with what we say and how we sound, we stop listening. We even forget the value of not speaking at all. Forbearance, and extreme forbearance, makes space to listen without judgment—without resorting to snap decisions about “right” and “wrong.”

–Donald Altman, from Living Kindness (Inner Ocean)

Compassion

2009-05-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

"Adopting an attitude of universal responsibility is essentially a personal matter. The real test of compassion is not what we say in abstract discussions but how we conduct ourselves in daily life.

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 'Imagine All the People'"

Give your mind a seat

2009-05-08T04:12:00.000-07:00

Give your mind a seat

When we speak of “taking your seat” for meditation, we often imagine sitting down in the lotus position—but more broadly, the true meditation seat is any posture used mindfully, and so it also includes sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. More broadly still, the seat is also the attitude you bring to practice. The body can sit down, and the mind must sit down too.

–Arnie Kozak, from Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants (Wisdom)

The Illusion of Change

2009-05-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

At times it may seem that if only we could call a “time out” from the continual demands on our attention and energies, if we could somehow just take a break from constantly having to deal with one thing after another, then perhaps we might get a glimpse of what we were looking for. And so we may attempt to shift gears: a change of scene, a vacation, a new hobby, some alteration in our usual routines. We make some outward change in the hope it will bring us closer to some peace with the outer world, equilibrium within, or a vantage point from which we will be able to make more sense of our lives, to see ourselves more clearly. But inevitably the vacation ends, the novelty becomes familiar, and the change, routine. Thus the merry-go-round begins again.

–John Daishin Buksbazen, from Zen Mediation in Plain English (Wisdom)

What Lies Beneath

2009-05-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

Intellectually we may realize that we need to look deeply inside, yet we don't really know it. There are people we laugh at because they can't see the most obvious things about themselves. Well, those people are us! We have to acknowledge that we often simply don't want to see the aspects of ourselves that cause us distress. We basically want life to please us—to feel comfortable and secure. Our last priority is to expose our own shaky supports, the tenuous beliefs that stand between us and unknown territory. Why? Because investigating ourselves at this level doesn't necessarily feel good. But until we become aware of all the ways in which we keep ourselves oblivious to what lies under the ice, we will continue to simply glide along with no direction.

–Ezra Bayda, from Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life (Shambhala Publications)

You are not your emotions

2009-05-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

You are not your emotions

A fire reflected in a lake cannot burn the water. Neither can emotions disturb the mind when you don't get involved in them. Don't identify an emotion as your self. The fear or anger is not you, only and impersonal phenomenon. Mentally pull back from the emotion and turn your awareness around to observe it. When in the grip of negative emotion we tend to believe it will never end. But emotions are no more permanent than thoughts. With continued practice you'll find that you only have to wait and any emotion, whether pleasant or unpleasant, is bound to change.

–Cynthia Thatcher, from Just Seeing: Insight Mediation and Sense-Perception (Buddhist Publication Society)

Excerpt: Should We Strengthen Our Sense of 'Self'?

2009-04-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

Excerpt: Should We Strengthen Our Sense of 'Self'?

True self-improvement culminates in realisation of non-self. - Stonepeace

Q: Psychotherapists tell us we should have a healthy sense of self. Should strengthening our sense of self be part of Buddhist practice?

A: People working in the field of psychology often speak of our having a sense of self. But when there is a self, one tends to compare it to other selves. Out of that comparison come the ideas of low self-esteem, high self-esteem, inferiority, superiority, and equality. Low self-esteem is considered to be detrimental. We're told to strive for higher self-esteem. But high self-esteem can also be harmful. The complex of superiority brings unhappiness. It's not a compliment to say, "He's full of himself." The person with high self-esteem can make himself and others suffer. The desire to be equal, to be "just as good as" someone, also brings unhappiness. Only the person who is empty of self is happy; he has no jealousy, no hatred, no anger, because there is no self to compare.

According to the Buddha's teaching, the self is the foundation of sickness. There are many negative mental formations; when they manifest they make us and others suffer. And there are many positive mental formations that can improve our quality of being and increase our concentration and insight. We practice in order to strengthen these positive mental formations, rather than to strengthen our "sense of self." The practice of mindfulness will help these energes to manifest, and you will have a better equality of being... Mindfulness is the energy that helps us to be truly present. When you are truly present, you are more in control of situations, you have more love, patience, understanding, and compassion. That strengthens and improves your quality of being. It can be very healing to touch your true nature of no-self. Psychotherapy can learn a lot from this teaching.

Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses to Burning Questions (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Over the edge

2009-04-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

Over the edge

Through the disciplined precision of our efforts, we'll come again and again to our edge—the difficult places beyond which we've previously been unable to move. Through the willingness to soften and surrender to what is, we learn that we can gradually move beyond that edge. It is only through this interplay of hard and soft, of effort and letting be, of will and willingness, that we learn to our amazement that we can emerge from the lifelong tunnel of fear that constitutes our substitute life into the nitty-gritty reality of our genuine one.

–Ezra Bayda, from Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life (Shambhala)"

Independence

2009-04-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

"Independence is never given to a people, it has to be earned; and having been earned, it has to be defended.

- Chaim Weizmann, modern founder of Zionism"

Suffering Ends with Compassion

2009-04-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

Suffering Ends with Compassion

Compassion is the wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and its causes. Like love, this is generated on the basis of seeing everyone's happiness and suffering as equally significant. Whereas there is a power differential in the case of pity, none exists when we have compassion. With pity, we see ourselves as being superior and with condescension and false care, have pity on those who we consider inferior to us. Compassion, on the other hand, is very direct and equal. Suffering is to be removed no matter whose it is, and if we have the opportunity to help in a small or large way, we will.

–Thubten Chodron, from Buddhism for Beginners (Snow Lion)

Faith and Questioning

2009-04-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Faith and Questioning

There is a paradox between great faith and great questioning. We need faith to anchor us and questioning to open us. With faith only, we might stagnate and become narrow-minded, with questioning only we might become disturbed and agitated. These two qualities balance and support each other.

–Martine Batchelor, from Principles of Zen (Thorsons)

May I Be Mindful Thus on My Deatbed

2009-04-24T02:34:00.000-07:00

Realisation: May I Be Mindful Thus on My Deathbed

If you cannot be mindful of any Dharma, be mindful of the Buddha, who embodies the Dharma. - Stonepeace

May I be mindful of Buddha
May this take my mind off any pain
May this allevate all pains

May I be mindful of Buddha
May I let go of aversion to pain
May I let go of attachment to wellness

May I be mindful of Buddha
May I entrust my life and death to Amituofo (Amitabha Buddha)
May I be born in his Pureland

May I be mindful of Buddha
May I have peace of mind
May this bring peace of mind to my loved ones

May I be mindful of Buddha
May I let go of the above
May I now be mindful only of Amituofo

Amituofo...
Amituofo...
Amituofo... - Shen Shi'an

'Mindfulness of the Buddha' provides peace of mind - not just from oneself but from the Buddha too. - Stonepeace

Follow the Difficult Path

2009-04-24T02:26:00.000-07:00

Follow the Difficult Path

Our difficulties are not obstacles to the path; they are the path itself. They are opportunities to awaken. Can we learn what it means to welcome an unwanted situation, with its sense of groundlessness, as a wake-up call? Can we look at it as a signal that there is something here to be learned? Can we allow it to penetrate our hearts? By learning to do this, we are taking the first basic step toward learning what it means to be open with whatever life presents us. Even when we don't like it, we understand that this difficulty is our practice, our path, our life.

–Ezra Bayda, from Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life (Shambhala)

Understanding

2009-04-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

So understanding implies that the mind, the brain, the whole structure of the mind, listens not only to the words but goes beyond them and sees the deep meaning of that particular statement... So insight implies a mind that is quiet, willing to listen, to go beyond the word, and to observe the truth of something.

From 'To Be Human' by Krishnamurti

It's Caring that arouses Understanding is what we need in our human life. AJ

Consciousness is More Than Knowledge

2009-04-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

Consciousness is More Than Knowledge

Knowledge and theories about wisdom are like carrying books on the back of a donkey. We may carry around many ideas of worthwhile changes that we would like to make in our life. To evolve, we must put those ideas into practice or they will become a weight for us. We need to look into every area of our daily existence. It would be a pity to live an unexamined life and only rely upon external voices of authority and our inner conditioning to tell us what matters and what to do with our life. For consciousness to evolve, we must commit ourselves to living a conscious life. To know ourselves, to go deep into ourselves, awakens the mind.

–Christopher Titmuss, from An Awakened Life (Shambhala Publications)

Facing the enemy

2009-04-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

Facing the enemy

Look deeply, not just while on your meditation cushion but wherever you are, whatever you are doing. Living mindfully is the best way to prevent accidents and protect yourself. Recognize your deep desire to live in peace and safety, to have the support you need, and to practice mindfulness. You might like to write down some of your observations and insights. The Buddha said that once we realize that we are the closest and most precious person on Earth to ourselves, we will stop treating ourselves as an enemy. This practice dissolves in us any wish we might have to harm ourselves or others.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Teachings on Love (Parallax Press)

"Let Go of the Daydream, Embrace the Day

2009-04-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

"Let Go of the Daydream, Embrace the Day

Reflection on impermanence and death is an excellent opponent force for worry and for craving. When we reflect on impermanence and our own mortality, our priorities become much clearer. Since we know that death is certain but its time isn't, we realize that having a positive mental state in the present is of utmost importance. Worry can't abide in a mind that is content with what we have, do, and are. Seeing that all things are transient, we stop craving and clinging to them, thus our happy memories and enjoyable daydreams cease to be so compelling.

–Thubten Chodron, from Taming the Mind (Snow Lion)"

Gratitude to all beings...

2009-04-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

"Ingratitude to man is ingratitude to God.

- Samuel HaNagid, 'Ben Mishle'"

"The Power of One

2009-04-18T00:28:00.000-07:00

"The Power of One

One compassionate word, action, or thought can reduce another person's suffering and bring him joy. One word can give comfort and confidence, destroy doubt, help someone avoid a mistake, reconcile a conflict, or open the door to liberation. One action can save a person's life or help him take advantage of a rare opportunity. One thought can do the same, because thoughts always lead to words and actions. With compassion in our heart, every thought, word, and deed can bring about a miracle.

–Thich Nhat Hanh, from Teachings on Love (Parallax Press)"

Separating Good and Evil

2009-04-17T01:14:00.001-07:00

We see ourselves as divided and separated from experience. We see ourselves as experiencers of “that, out there.” And when that, out there, seems to please or protect us, we call it good. Similarly, when it appears threatening or strange or terrifying, we call it evil. Thus our feeling of separateness is precisely what creates notions of good and evil in the first place.

–Steve Hagen, from Buddhism: It's Not What You Think (HarperSanFrancisco)

Upajjhatthana Sutta

2009-02-05T02:21:00.000-08:00

Upajjhatthana Sutta.

"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ..."
'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions,1 heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...

Thich Nhat Hahn translated these this way:
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

The Way to Divinity

2009-01-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

If anyone speaks ill of you,Praise them always.
If anyone injures you,Serve them nicely.
If anyone persecutes you,Help them in all possible ways.
You will attainimmense strength.
You will control anger and pride.
You will enjoypeace, poise, and serenity.
You will become divine.

- Swami Sivananda

Kalama Sutta

2008-10-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

Do not believe in anything (simply) because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything (simply) because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conductive to the good and benefit of one and all then accept it and live up to it.

Gautama Buddha, Kalama Sutta

Ancient Taoist Ode

2008-09-26T02:35:00.000-07:00

Hearing the sound of flowing water nourishes my ears;
Seeing the green of trees and plants nourishes my eyes;
Studying treatises explaining the principles nourishes my mind;
Playing the lute and practicing calligraphy nourishes my fingers;
Wandering about on foot with staff in hand nourishes my feet;
Sitting in tranquility nourishes my original nature;
Harmonizing the breath and qi nourishes my sinews and bones.