"Ultimately,
life is very short. Even if we live one hundred years more, that is
still very short. We don't have time to hate anybody. We don't have time
to judge anybody. So how are we going to spend the rest of our life
from this moment on? This is a good question. 'How am I going to spend
the rest of my life from this moment on?' We must realize that life is
extremely short. It is like the snap of
our fingers until the time we die. So we have to realize that ultimately
there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Ultimately there are no
enemies, there are no friends. There is not even any 'I.' From this
moment on the only thing that matters is to live life from compassion,
awareness, and wisdom."
-- Anam Thubten, "Are We On the Right Track?" from "No Self, No Problem"
Friday, November 14, 2014
Via JMG: LA Galaxy Sign Out Soccer Star Robbie Rogers To Multi-Year Contract Extension
Via press release:
RELATED: Last month ABC green-lighted a sitcom based on Rogers' life. The show is tentatively titled Men In Shorts.
Reposted from Joe Jervis
The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has signed defender Robbie Rogers to a multi-year contract extension. Rogers, an MLS veteran and former U.S. Men’s National Team member, joined in Galaxy in May 2013 and has made 30 appearances and 22 starts as a member of the Galaxy. “We are excited that Robbie will remain a part of our organization going forward,” LA Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena said. “He has proven to be a dynamic player in our League and an integral part of our success this year. We look forward to his continued contributions in the years to come.” Rogers, 27, has made 15 appearances for the Galaxy this season in addition to recording two assists. After making the move to defense full-time with a start against Chivas USA on June 8, the Galaxy have gone 10-2-7 in all MLS competitions in which Rogers appeared, including MLS Cup Playoffs.(Tipped by JMG reader Benjamin)
RELATED: Last month ABC green-lighted a sitcom based on Rogers' life. The show is tentatively titled Men In Shorts.
Via Mountain Stream Meditation Center:
Often
when we feel we don’t know, we want to do something right away. We want
to impose our little intelligence on Reality. Without trust habit
dominates. With trust there can be a willingness to not interfere, to
not try to change things, to not manipulate them, to not push and pull
at them. Instead we allow things to emerge. This opens us to the
possibility of surrender and to the guidance of our more essential
nature.
~~Frank Ostaseski
Via JMG: Happy Purple Marriage Map
JMG reader Jay Sheckley has sent us an alternative map to the Wikipedia
version posted here several times a week in recent months. Embiggen for
the details.
Reposted from Joe Jervis
Flower of the Day: 11/14/14
“The
phase of the journey that we call the ABC’s of Spirituality where we
heal and transform the lower self involves becoming aware of the parts
of ourselves that are denied or that we have not yet come into agreement
with. This healing process has phases, and the first step is to
identify these parts within ourselves. We go on following these steps
until we enter the abyss of denied feelings. Here, it is necessary to
learn how to navigate the dark waters of the ocean of fear, until all
fear can be dissolved.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Dialy Dharma
Life in the Present Moment | November 14, 2014
We’re afraid all the time of what the future will bring—afraid
we’ll lose our jobs, our possessions, the people around us whom we love.
So we wait and hope for that magical moment—always sometime in the
future—when everything will be as we want it to be. We forget that life
is available only in the present moment.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, "Free From Fear"
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Flower of the Day: 11/13/14
“Bad
habits open the doorways for evil to enter our lives. Little by little,
our consciousness diminishes and we become more and more dense. The
first symptom can be detected in our dreams when we begin to have
nightmares and lose our presence. I am referring to bad habits in
relationship to food, various behaviors and ways we relate to others,
and even the places we sometimes go to. The more sensitive you are, the
more attentive you should be, because your tendency to absorb the
energies from those around you is greater. With time, you will learn how
to deal with this: you learn to walk on fire without getting burned.
But even at this stage it is necessary to know your limits, or to know
how long you can stay in a place vibrating in cruelty without getting
contaminated. A sensitive person is like a delicate flower – any
mishandling of it can hurt it.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma: BLOG: DON'T JUST SIT THERE, DO SOMETHING
Ever since Western converts began adopting Buddhist traditions, their community has sought a balance between the quest for personal peace and tranquility and the sense of social engagement. That seemingly irreconcilable conflict made itself felt when several generations of Buddhists came together for the 2014 National Gathering of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Via Daily Dharma
Thoughtful Conviction | November 13, 2014
To question is unbelievably powerful. But if you question all the
time and you remain in doubt, going first this way and then that,
conviction is absent. If you develop a line of inquiry and learn from
your experience, conviction grows.
- Segyu Rinpoche, "Buddhist Training for Modern Life"
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Thich Nhat Hanh: On Homosexuality
Posted on March 29, 2009
Thich Nhat Hanh, the noted Zen monk, poet, teacher who is the inspiration behind Deer Park Monastery and the Plum Village tradition, shares these words about the Buddhadharma’s view of “homosexuality” in the latest book, ANSWERS FROM THE HEART.
Q. What is the Buddhist view of homosexuality?
A.
The spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness. Looking deeply into the nature
of a cloud, we see the cosmos. A flower is a flower, but if we look
deeply into it, we see the cosmos. Everything has a place.
The base-the
foundation of everything-is the same. When you look at the ocean, you
see different kinds of waves, many sizes and shapes, but all the waves
have water as their foundation and substance. If you are born gay or
lesbian, your ground of being in the same as mine. We are different, but
we share the same ground of being. The Protestant theologian Paul Tillich
said that God is the ground of being. You should be yourself. If God
has created me as a rose, then I should accept myself as a rose. If you
are a lesbian, then be a lesbian. Looking deeply into your nature, you
will see yourself as you truly are. You will be able to touch the ground
of your being and find peace.
If
you’re a victim of discrimination, then your way to emancipation is not
simply by crying out against injustice. Injustice cannot be repaired by
recognition alone, but by your capacity to touch the ground of your
being. Discrimination, intolerance, and suppression stem from lack of
knowledge and lack of understanding. If you’re capable of touching the
ground of your being, you can be released from the suffering that has
been created in you through discrimination and oppression.
Someone
who discriminates against you, because of your race or the color of your
skin or your sexual orientation, is ignorant. He doesn’t know his own
ground of being. He doesn’t realize that we all share the same ground of
being; that is why he can discriminate against you.
Someone
who discriminates against others and causes them to suffer is someone
who is not happy with himself. Once you’ve touched the depth and the
nature of your ground of being, you’ll be equipped with the kind of
understanding that can give rise to compassion and tolerance, and you
will be capable of forgiving even those who discriminate against you.
Don’t believe that relief or justice will come through society alone.
True emancipation lies in your capacity to look deeply.
When you
suffer because of discrimination, there’s always an urge to speak out.
But even if you spend a thousand years speaking out, your suffering
won’t be relieved. Only through deep understanding and liberation from
ignorance can you be liberated from your suffering.
When you
break through to the truth, compassion springs up like a stream of
water. With that compassion, you can embrace even the people who have
persecuted you. When you’re motivated by desire to help those who are
victims of ignorance, only then are you free from your suffering and
feelings of violation. Don’t wait for things to change around you. You
have to practice liberating yourself. Then you will be equipped with the
power of compassion and understanding, the only kind of power that can
help transform an environment full of injustice and discrimination. You
have to become such a person-one who can embody tolerance,
understanding, and compassion. You transform yourself into an instrument
for social change and change in the collective consciousness of
mankind.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses To Life’s Burning Questions (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2009), 119-122.
Via Lions Roar: A Bad Day at the Airport
What better place to work with your mind?
Here is a practice I have been working with for more than a decade. I recite, usually silently, these two sentences:May I meet this moment fully.These blessing phrases cultivate and sustain a mind of peace and goodwill. For me, they represent the promise of practice. “May I meet this moment fully” expresses my faith that an alert and balanced mind is a possibility for human beings. “May I meet it as a friend” reminds me that my mind’s natural benevolence is my best refuge. Although most of my daily practice has always been the simple practice of alert attention to changing experience, I often begin periods of simple sitting with some repetitions of this two-phrase mantra as a kind of mood-setter, an incliner of my mind toward relaxing.
May I meet it as a friend.
In recent years, I find this blessing comes to mind naturally in times of stress as I go about my life. Recently, I decided to track its activity through a particularly stressful day:
I arrive at the airport well in time for my early morning flight to Orange County, where an old friend has taken quite ill. I notice the flight is delayed. I feel myself starting to cry.
May I meet this moment fully.I realize that I am feeling sad because I love my friend, and am sad to be losing her. I think about how long we’ve been friends. The pleasure of that thought settles my mind.
May I meet it as a friend.
Then, I hear the announcement that the flight has now been cancelled. I ask about the next available flight and am waved in the direction of a long line, where I’m told I need to wait for the next available agent. “If I wait in that line, it will be too late for the next flight. I already have a boarding pass,” I say. “You need to be in that line,” I’m told again.
I feel mad. I think, “I’ll write that letter on behalf of all passengers who should be treated more respectfully!”
May I meet this moment fully.I realize that everyone needs to wait and that I feel particularly sensitive because I’m sad. A helpful person standing in line says, “If we phone the airline while we stand here, we can probably get faster service.” I decide to do that. I dial. The phone rings and rings. I am feeling irritable.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.I am told, electronically, that my call is very important to the airline and that an agent will be with me soon. That message repeats many times. I hear my mind again composing indignant letters to Customer Service.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.My mind calms down and I realize that I am disappointed with myself because my friend is sick and I am indulging myself in indignation. “Really, Sylvia! What are you thinking?”
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.The line progresses slowly. I repeat my phrases slowly, paying attention to what I am saying. I look around at the other travelers and wonder where they are going. In my mind, I begin blessing them.
May I meet it as a friend.
May I meet this moment fully.It is my turn at the ticket counter just at the point that my phone call is answered and so I hang up. I realize I’ve calmed down. The agent is courteous. I learn that all the flights until mid-afternoon have been cancelled because of the thunderstorms. I rebook for the next day.
May I meet it as a friend.
The airport bus for my trip home arrives just as I emerge from the terminal in time to board it. I’m grateful, and a little bewildered from the morning of hurrying up and waiting and ultimately going back home. But I’m all right. Just a little tired.
May I meet this moment fully.I travel without difficulty the next day to be with my friend.
May I meet it as a friend.
Flower of the Day: 11/12/14
“The
process of unveiling love requires commitment and redirecting the
vectors of our willpower. Our will is the greatest power of the soul.
Without it, we are unable to cross the sea of illusion because the
opposing forces towards unveiling love are so great in this realm. The
power of will is built with discipline, dedication, commitment, and
comprehension. It will only make sense to direct the vectors of the will
in one particular direction when you have gained comprehension of where
you are on your path.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
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The Two Extremes | November 12, 2014
These are the two extremes, O bhikshus (Religious Wanderers) which
the man who has given up the world ought not to follow—the habitual
practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy, vain
and fit only for the worldly-minded—and the habitual practice, on the
other hand, of self-mortification which is painful, useless and
unprofitable.
- The Buddha, "Wake Up, Episode Five" |
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