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The Insight of Impermanence | October 22, 2014
To those whose knowledge is developed,
everything within and without oneself, within and without one’s house,
within and without one’s village and town, is an object at the sight of
which the insight of impermanence may spring up and develop.
- Ledi Sayadaw, "Meditation en Masse"
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Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
Flower of the Day: 10/22/14
“It
is necessary to have an ego to live in this realm. This is one of the
laws of this world, just like gravity. We need to have a mediator
between the inner and outer world, and the ego is this mediator. It is
formed from the impressions we receive from the outer world which give
us an idea about who we are. But it has a very important role within the
game, because the ego is the one that makes the journey. The ego
identifies the lower self and becomes identified with the divine self.”
Sri Prem Baba
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Flower of the Day: 10/20/14
“I
see many spiritual seekers who disregard the possibility of
somatization, developing physical symptoms due to spiritual or emotional
distress. They believe that everything occurs in the subtle bodies, so
they don’t take enough care of their physical bodies. The opposite is
also true: some people are so identified with their bodies that they
fall into despair when they cannot find the causes of their symptoms.
The middle way is of sensibility. When you are on the path to
self-realization, you may have transcendental experiences as well as
challenging ones, but it all depends on the amount of blockages you
carry.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Cultivating Equanimity | October 20, 2014
Classical mindfulness, unlike popular
mindfulness, is all about the cultivation of equanimity. One is able to
experience both pleasure and pain without clinging to anything in the
world.
- Andrew Olendzki, "The Mindfulness Wedge"
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
Wildness of Mind | October 19, 2014
The wildness of mind that we experience
when we sit quietly noticing our body and breathing for five minutes is
the result of everything we’ve been doing before those five minutes.
- Gaylon Ferguson, "Fruitless Labor"
Flower of the Day: 10/19/14
“The
denial of our feelings is our main poison. We can only open up to
experiencing all of our feelings once we have understood enough about
ourselves. If we have not yet cognitively understood our inner workings,
we won’t allow ourselves to dive into this experience of our feelings.
We don’t have any control over our feelings because they are completely
protected by fear, arrogance and other aspects of our lower nature.”
Sri Prem Baba
Saturday, October 18, 2014
JMG HomoQuotable - Matt Stolhandske
Labels: Christianists, HomoQuotable, LGBT rights, Matt Stolhandske, Oregon, public accommodations, religion, WaPo
Flower of the Day: 10/18/14
“Many
of the games of our lower nature which cause destruction in our lives
and in the lives of those around us come from our inability to feel
gratitude. Ingratitude results from a lack of understanding about the
game of life. This feeds the victim within us who sees fault in
absolutely everything, not just in difficult unpleasant situations, but
also in the good things of life. One of the main characteristics of the
victim is complaining and lamenting. This turns into an addiction which
is oftentimes more powerful than even the addiction to chemical
substances.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Defining Emptiness | October 18, 2014
Emptiness simply means an absence of
reactivity. When you relate to somebody, there's not you and me
and your little mind running its little comparisons and judgments. When
those are gone, that is emptiness.
- Charlotte Joko Beck, "Life's Not a Problem"
Friday, October 17, 2014
Flower of the Day: 10/17/14
“We
see reality subjectively, since we look at it through colored lenses
that distort our perception. These lenses are our mistaken ideas and
false beliefs. For example, say that your mother was betrayed and
therefore became resentful. She might have then transmitted her belief
to you that ‘men cannot be trusted because they betray you.’
Consequently, you would end up attracting men who cheat on you, because
your energy was vibrating at this frequency and these beliefs acted like
magnets. When you look at men you always become suspicious, and this
activates the worst in them. That’s how we confirm our beliefs and
maintain our limited perception of reality.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
The Principle of Renunciation | October 17, 2014
The principle of renunciation is not to
encourage a state of lack, but to establish as complete a state of
simplicity as possible.
- Ajaan Amaro, "Just Another Thing in the Forest"
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Flower of the Day: 10/16/14
“Maturity
comes from comprehension. Growing spiritually means increasing your
understanding of things. A mature person is someone who understands, and
this understanding allows him or her to accept the game of life. In
this way, they can experience peace and silence, calmness and
tranquility.”
Sri Prem Baba
A buddy of mine posted this on another post:
In relation to a discussion about the Catholic Church possibly becoming more tolerant my Gay Baha'i amigo, Gary wrote:
In the end, all the very conservative religions and political parties are going to have to make a decision whether they want to cater to old people who are dying off or young people of the progressive future. The answer is, of course, obvious, but not to them. Because until now, the older fearful bigoted population was larger and more powerful. So they unwisely catered to that group (short term thinking, which also infects western capitalists). For greedy short-term easy gain, they made the worst possible long-term choice, to be conservative rather the progressive (which is what religion is supposed to be). And in doing so, they have made themselves irrelevant. And they may very well go out of business because of their refusal to adapt to an evolving world. Just like the guy who refused to stop betting on buggy whips when the automobile was first introduced. My own life is a perfect example of this huge mistake made by religion. My religion belittled and scorned me, despite my lifelong devotion to it. So I drifted away to be my true self, at a time when most of society also scorned me. And now all these years later, much of society has come around to accept me, but not my religion. In the meantime, my ordeal taught me I actually prefer my life without the religion. My life is actually much better. So now, even if the religion were to catch up with society, I would not go back. I am just one example. I can only imagine how many others have been similarly impacted by this process. It's too bad religions and political conservatives got themselves caught up on the wrong side of history in the gay civil rights movement, but they did, and they did knowing full well what the repercussions would be and they were also sufficiently warned; they did it anyway. They now will pay the price.
In the end, all the very conservative religions and political parties are going to have to make a decision whether they want to cater to old people who are dying off or young people of the progressive future. The answer is, of course, obvious, but not to them. Because until now, the older fearful bigoted population was larger and more powerful. So they unwisely catered to that group (short term thinking, which also infects western capitalists). For greedy short-term easy gain, they made the worst possible long-term choice, to be conservative rather the progressive (which is what religion is supposed to be). And in doing so, they have made themselves irrelevant. And they may very well go out of business because of their refusal to adapt to an evolving world. Just like the guy who refused to stop betting on buggy whips when the automobile was first introduced. My own life is a perfect example of this huge mistake made by religion. My religion belittled and scorned me, despite my lifelong devotion to it. So I drifted away to be my true self, at a time when most of society also scorned me. And now all these years later, much of society has come around to accept me, but not my religion. In the meantime, my ordeal taught me I actually prefer my life without the religion. My life is actually much better. So now, even if the religion were to catch up with society, I would not go back. I am just one example. I can only imagine how many others have been similarly impacted by this process. It's too bad religions and political conservatives got themselves caught up on the wrong side of history in the gay civil rights movement, but they did, and they did knowing full well what the repercussions would be and they were also sufficiently warned; they did it anyway. They now will pay the price.
Dazzled by Technology | October 16, 2014
People today are dazzled by advances in
science and technology and take human progress to be identical with
scientific discovery. This is the fundamental group stupidity of our
modern times. We must clearly distinguish between scientific advancement
and human progress.
- Kosho Uchiyama, "The Chimera of Human Advancement"
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
Touching Enlightenment | October 15, 2014
My sense is that there is a very real
problem among Western Buddhist practitioners. We are attempting to
practice meditation and to follow a spiritual path in a disembodied
state, and our practice is therefore doomed to failure. The full
benefits and fruition of meditation cannot be experienced or enjoyed
when we are not grounded in our bodies.
- "Touching Enlightenment," Reggie Ray
Flower of the Day: 10/15/14
"The mantra Prabhu Ap Jago
is a ripe fruit from the tree of consciousness. Its power is
impressive when it is sung from the heart. It is a fragrance of the
Being, imbued with notes of compassion. This is a prayer that comes from
the depths of one’s emotional center. It is a request for God to awaken
in everyone, everywhere, and to illuminate the game of joy."
Sri Prem Baba
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