A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Puzzling
over the metaphysics of the self, the Buddha said, pulls us away from
what really matters, and from posing the question about ourselves that
really matters: what can I do, right now, that will lead to lasting
well-being and happiness?
“Wisdom seems to sprout from the most unusual places and in the most unexpected moments.”
“If you want to find your way, you must become lost. Generously so.” I asked, “How does one become lost?” He replied, “Shall I turn you into a goat?”
The fire hissed softly as another piece of coal collapsed into white ash, overcome by the steadying flames. Still African to my bones, and quite used to warmer climates, I was grateful for the heat the juvenile bonfire emitted. But even its heat was no match for the wintry sternness and eeriness of the ‘Wodge,’ Schumacher’s Forest School site in Northwoods, Dartington. Except for the amber glow that danced uneasily across the faces of the cohorts in the circle, the whole place was dark and silent, with only tall proud trees and the bits of sky that fell through their interconnecting branches that bore witness to this hushed ring of seekers.
Fire. Witnessing trees. A desperate chill. And a whiff of collective madness. These were the elements that ordained this mysterious circle of 17 persons.
Manish signalled to me that it was time, so I went first — not before telling the group that one of the edges we had to explore in the days ahead was disgust, and how the things we feel repulsed by hold clues about the kinds of social-material frameworks we already inhabit. I then sat on a log of wood, raised my head to meet Manish’s gaze, and held out my hands as one would do when making supplication to the gods above. For what I was about to receive in return for my prayerful gesture, the moment was thick with perverse irony. Clad in a camo winter jacket, awkward head gear, and a blanket-scarf, Manish stirred the contents of the white ceramic bowl with his fingers, scooped up a generous amount, and pressed it on my face — covering my forehead, my cheeks, my chin, and nose with the stuff. He asked the circle to make a clicking sound with their tongues as I — and others after me — received this blessing. This anointing of sorts. I closed my eyes as the cold grimy mixture kissed my skin. When he was done, he placed a huge lump of the stuff between my cupped palms.
It was cow shit. Glorious cow shit. Green, brown, wild, and overpoweringly alive. We had obtained a fresh bucketful a farm away, mixed it with neem leaves and the spirit of a bonfire. Now it was on my face, like bees on a jar of honey. I stood up and retook my place in the circle. An hour or so later, we were all covered in shit (except two students who opted out for personal reasons), our faces a mishmash of toothy grins and green grime. The jokes came easy (“This is some good shit!” “We are having a bit of a shit-uation here!”) and then we shared stories and wise sayings in the womb of the forest as the shit dried up and stiffened our faces, so that many of us could hardly talk. I looked around, taking in all the faces: given that we had advertised that session as a “cow dung ritual,” it was amazing to me that everyone showed up. I had expected the students to scoff at some of the other processes we had earmarked for the week — “Death Walk,” “Powerful Questions,” “Composting Ourselves,” “Shop of the Open Heart” — but that didn’t happen.
Mark Ovland (center) at an Extinction Rebellion protest in November 2018. Photo by Steve Eason.
Buddhadharma editor Tynette Deveaux talks to Buddhist Extinction Rebellion (XR) activist Mark Ovland about his decision to join the XR movement and why he feels it’s aligned with the dharma.
Mark Ovland left behind his Buddhist teacher training earlier this year to join the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement as a climate activist. Monday, October 7 marked the beginning of a two-week campaign of action by XR in 60 cities around the world, and I spoke to Ovland just days before the protests began.
When we spoke, police were preparing to raid the XR warehouse in London, where the group was storing equipment for their demonstrations. Ovland said police had blocked every road out, and were arresting anyone trying to get things out of the warehouse, including solar panels, portable toilets, and kitchen equipment.
Police used a battering ram to break into the building after activists barricaded themselves inside, and 10 people were arrested for “suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance.” Hours after the raid on the XR warehouse, the group says it received £45,000 from the public to replace items confiscated by police. Nearly 300 people were arrested in London during Monday’s protests.
The sooner one develops compassion on this journey, the better. Compassion lets us appreciate that each individual is doing what he or she must do, and that there is no reason to judge another person or oneself. You merely do what you can to further your own awakening.
The
end of life often offers rare opportunities to affirm and deepen our
highest human values—reconciling conflicts, sharing forgiveness and
gratitude, deepening a sense of loving intimacy, and rising above our
myopic experience of ourselves, our lives, and the world.
—Joseph Loizzo, “So the Darkness Shall Be the Light”
By
putting things in a bigger context, [we are] able to enter a whole
realm of practice—learning to stay with the rawness or vulnerability of
being human.
Any
diligent practice of watchfulness, including meditation, requires
routine and rhythm. During meditation, when we offer the body a familiar
seat and comfortable environment, we create a refuge in which we can
better discern and understand what’s going on in our constantly shifting
private landscape.
—Lauren Krauze, “A Watchfulness Routine for Writing”
When
we wake up to how human life on this planet actually is, and stop
running away or building walls in our heart, then we develop a wiser
motivation for our life.
—Ajahn Sucitto, “From Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha’s First Teaching”
There’s
no question that hard and difficult things happen to us. The question
is, what is our reaction to it? What is our relationship to what
happens? The Buddhist teachings are both revolutionary and simple in
that they attempt to change our relationship to our life experience,
whatever that is.
—Larry Rosenberg, “The Weather Is Just the Weather”
Self-blame
is an internalized second aggressor that can victimize us long after
external damage is done. Self-compassion is like applying first aid to a
wound and is the necessary first step to any process of healing.
—Miles Neale, “How to Heal After Your Teacher Crosses the Line”
When we stop feeding our cravings, says Thich Nhat Hanh, we discover that we already have everything we need to be happy.
The human mind is always searching for possessions and
never feels fulfilled. This causes impure actions ever to increase.
Bodhisattvas, however, always remember the principle of having few
desires. They live a simple life in peace in order to practice the Way
and consider the realization of perfect understanding as their only
career. —The Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings
The Buddha said that craving is like holding a torch against the
wind; the fire will burn you. When someone is thirsty and drinks only
salty water, the more he drinks, the thirstier he becomes. If we run
after money, for example, we think that a certain amount of money will
make us happy. But once we have that amount, it’s not enough; we think
we need more. There are people who have a lot of money, but they are not
happy at all. The Buddha said that the object of our craving is like a
bone without flesh. A dog can chew and chew on that bone and never feel
satisfied.
We all experience moments when we feel lonely, sad, empty,
frustrated, or afraid. We fill up our feelings with a movie or a
sandwich. We buy things to suppress our pain, despair, anger, and
depression. We find a way to consume, in the hopes that it will
obliterate the feelings. Even if a TV show isn’t interesting, we still
watch it. We think anything is better than experiencing the malaise, the
ill-being in us. We have lost sight of the reality that we already have
all the conditions we need for our own happiness.
Each of us has our own idea of happiness. It’s because of this idea
that we run after objects we desire. We sacrifice our time and, to a
certain extent, destroy our bodies and our minds. According to the
Buddha, happiness is simple—if we go home to the present moment, we
realize that we have more than enough to be happy right here and now.
All the wonders of life are in us and around us. This realization can
help us release our craving, anger, and fear.
The more we consume, the more we bring in the toxins that feed our
craving, anger, and ignorance. We need to do two things to return to
mindful awareness. First, we can look deeply into the nutriment that is
feeding our craving, examining the source. No animal or plant can
survive without food. Our craving, just like our love or our suffering,
also needs food to survive. If our craving refuses to go away, it’s
because we keep feeding it daily. Once we have identified what feeds our
craving, we can cut off this source of nutriment, and our craving will
wither.
The second practice is mindful consumption. When we end
our consumption of things that feed our craving, ignorance, and wrong
perceptions, we can be nourished by the many wonderful things around us.
Understanding and compassion are born. Joy in the present moment
becomes possible. We have a chance to transform our own suffering.
The Four Nutriments
The Buddha spoke of four kinds of nutriments, the four kinds of foods
that we consume every day. Our happiness and suffering depend very much
on whether what we consume is wholesome or unwholesome.
Meditation is not just a rest or retreat from the turmoil of the stream or the impurity of the world. It is a way of being the stream, so that one can be at home in both the white water and the eddies.
"If we only work with our intellects and with the emptying of our minds, as in some yogas, and we fail to open our hearts, our journey becomes very dry and brittle. Ultimately, no matter what our methods, we have to find a very even balance between our energy, heart and mind. "
"In such a toxic environment, the poor, the minorities, and the politically vulnerable populations will be the first to exhibit signs and symptoms of the deteriorating immunological picture. It is the canary-in-the-mines syndrome. When miners wanted to know if a particular mineshaft was safe from poisonous gases, they sent a canary in first. If the canary returned, the miners felt safe to go in. On our planet today, poor people, people of color, women and children, and gays and lesbians are the canaries (or sitting ducks if you prefer). Those who have any kind of privilege (gender, race, class, sexuality, age) are better able, for a time, to buffer and insulate themselves from the toxic environment — from AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. But not forever.
"There is also a moral and religious toxicity in reaction to so much upheaval, change, and worldwide political challenges. This phenomenon is called in many religions fundamentalism. In a century of increasing relativity in values, morality, and religion, fundamentalism provides absolutes and identifies the enemies. It is a kind of collective mental illness that includes obsessive thinking, tunnel vision, and functions much like other addictions."
- Rev. Nancy Wilson, Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible
OM SO HUM MANTRA with EPIC CHOIR @ 432Hz' Get MP3 of this Track : https://gum.co/HbHsK
So Hum is derived from Sanskrit and literally means "I am That" . it means identifying oneself with the universe or ultimate reality. As we meditate on this, we realize that we are all one, we have all come from one Infinite Source, and a part (Ansh) of that infinite source is present in all of us. We are all connected. "You are the same as I am"
OM is the sound of universe. Om Soham ~ I am the universe, I am part of it, I am connected to that Infinite source, Understand ~ Meditate ~ Chant ~ Sing Along this beautiful Mantra
