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.
Buddhism
is a path of supreme optimism, for one of its basic tenets is that no
human life or experience is to be wasted or forgotten, but all should be
transformed into a source of wisdom and compassionate living.
There
is no such thing as two people—whether baby and mother, two lovers, or teacher and student—being perfectly in sync with each other’s needs and wishes. Real intimacy arises from an ongoing process of connection that
at some point is disrupted and then, ideally, repaired.
—Pilar Jennings, “Looking into the Eyes of a Master”
"Over the years we develop strong habits of perceiving the universe, and
we come to be very secure within these habits. We selectively perceive our environment in ways that reinforce them. This collection of habits is what we call ego. But meditation breaks the ego down. As we begin to see through it we can become confused as to what reality is. What once seemed absolute now begins to seem relative.
When this happens, some people get confused; others fear they may be going insane. The best strategy for dealing with this disorientation is to note it and let it be. The path to freedom is through detachment from your old habits of ego.
Slowly you will arrive at a new and more profound integration of your experience in a more evolved structure of the universe. That is, you will flow beyond the boundaries of your ego until ultimately you merge into the universe. Until then you must break through old structures,
develop broader structures, breakthrough those, and develop still
broader structures."
The
purpose of Zen is not to become people who don’t think, but to think
only what we need to; not to be lost in unnecessary thoughts, but to see
what is most necessary right now.
—Shodo Harada Roshi, “Finding Our Essence of Mind”
In the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna shows Arjuna all the forms of the Universe, turning back into the pure form from which they were manifested.
The forms of the Universe: Breathe them in. Take in the baby’s crying, the sound of traffic, it’s all energy, it’s all shakti in form. As you draw it into your being, let the forms go, let your concepts about it all go, turn it back into pure shakti. Sit straight, draw it all into your chest.
All of your thoughts now, your memories, think of the political world, a breath for that.
See all the candidates, all of the international intrigue, all of the genuine seeking for peace, a breath for that.
See
it all; the play, the dance, the forms, the mother, the mother at play,
all aspects of the mother. Draw it back into its pure form within you,
Mother shakti. Draw it into your heart.
Think of all the things that fill you with love and tenderness, a
child’s smile, a flower, the smell of Spring, feeling love for another
human being or from another human being, seeing peace exist between two
people, moments of gratification.
As they come
to mind, notice them, allow them, see them as forms, draw them in upon your breath. You are forming a relationship with the Mother, for these
are all aspects, the beautiful aspects of the Mother. These are Durga,
Lakshmi, Mary, Rachel, all the beautiful aspects.
Now bring to
mind all the heavy aspects of the Universe: violence, suffering,
physical pain, incredible loneliness, paranoia, people out of control on
drugs, tensions between generations, races, religions, man’s ecological
shortsightedness, our greed, lust, our anger.
Draw it all in on the breath. These are the other faces of the Mother. This is Kali Ma;
the Mother whose tongue hangs out dripping with blood, who wears a
circlet of skulls around her neck, who is ugly beyond belief.
If you’re going to have a love affair with the mother, you can’t just have the beautiful aspects, you’ve got to take it all.
Are
you strong enough and quiet enough to give space to all the faces of
the Mother, to all the forms? Hey Ma, you’re really ugly, oh Ma, I love
you so much. Can you love the Universe that much?
Can
you find a place in yourself where you don’t judge God? Where you look
upon it all and see it’s perfection, including its horror?
What if??? ❤️❤️❤️
If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss 2.5
months of education. Many people are concerned about students falling
behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to
classroom education... But what if...❤️❤️❤️
What if instead of falling “behind", this group of kids are ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out...❤️❤️❤️
What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can
be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love
to express themselves in writing. ❤️❤️❤️ What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet. ❤️❤️❤️ What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower? ❤️❤️❤️ What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well run home? ❤️❤️❤️ What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less? ❤️❤️❤️ What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home. ❤️❤️❤️
What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding
the good to share in the small delights of the everyday? ❤️❤️❤️
What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and
educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the
previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers,
grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and
their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care
of us right now while we are sheltered in place? ❤️❤️❤️
What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the
benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really
matters in this life?❤️❤️ What if they are AHEAD? ❤️❤️❤️❤️ (Copied and pasted from a friend but too good not to share! ❤️)
"Compassion in action is paradoxical and mysterious. It is absolute yet continually changing. It accepts that everything is happening exactly as it should, and it works with a full-hearted commitment to change. It sets goals but knows that the process is all there is. It is joyful in the midst of suffering and hopeful in the face of overwhelming odds. It is simple in a world of complexity and confusion. It is done for other, but it nurtures the self. It shields in order to be strong. It intends to eliminate suffering, knowing that suffering is limitless. It is action
arising from emptiness..."
Archaeologists in India’s Bihar State this week unearthed what they
believe to be a Buddhist sutra from the 1st century CE, which depicts
the Buddha telecommuting to deliver a sermon to his followers. In the
scripture, the Buddha’s attendant Ananda recounts a time when his
teacher was traveling in a distant land but still wished to address the
sangha. While much of the text has been damaged, researchers say that it
appears to describe the Buddha miraculously projecting his image and
voice onto a screen at a monastic hall, where disciples had gathered to
hear his message.
Unfortunately, as the following excerpt demonstrates, the Buddha encountered some technical difficulties:
Thus have I (mostly) heard,
[…]
A monk asked the Buddha, “Lord, you have taught us to value both solitude and community. How are we to understand this?”
And the Buddha responded: “When one’s [inaudible] is [inaudible] or [inaudible], then it is paramount that [inaudible].”
At which point the Blessed One’s image on the screen did freeze, and the student asked, “Lord Buddha, are you still there?”
And the Buddha replied, “and so that is what—what’s that? Can you hear me now?”
And the monk said that he could.
The Blessed One then announced that he was moving to another room to see if there was better reception.
Seated once more, he continued: “The true nature of reality is—”
Alas, mid-word, the Buddha’s message did abruptly cease, and the screen went blank. The monks hurried to investigate the cause, puzzling over whether or not the issue was on their side, until, suddenly, they were startled by a chirp-like ring.
The Buddha’s image then reappeared.
“How does it look now?” the Blessed One asked.
And although the Buddha’s lips did not sync with the sound of his voice, the monk said, “It’s astounding, lord.”
The Blessed One said, “All things are subject (all things) to arising
(are subject to) and passing (arising and) away—do you hear (away) that echo? (Do you hear that echo?)”
The monk answered, “Yes, Lord.”
And the Blessed One said, “Oh, great, now [inaudible] frozen (frozen)!”
The monk waved his hand to see if the Buddha could see him.
The Blessed One’s image did then disappear, before once again returning with greater clarity than before. The Buddha asked, “How about now?”
The monk answered, “Perfect, lord. I can see and hear you clearly now.”
[…]
The text cuts off at this point. Researchers continue to use fragments of the remaining text to reconstruct the rest of the sutra.
But progress has been slow as they, too, have had to communicate via
video conferencing, during which they keep talking over each other,
simultaneously saying, “Sorry, you go,” and observing a brief silence,
before all speaking at the same time again.
To
better understand how to breathe with the conscious participation of
the whole body, nothing is more helpful than to recognize that, in a
deeply relaxed body, the force of breath can cause the entire body to
remain in a state of subtle, constant, fluid motion.
Equanimity
is not insensitivity, indifference, or apathy. It is simply nonpreferential. Under its influence, one does not push aside the things one dislikes or grasp at the things one prefers. The mind rests in an
an attitude of balance and acceptance of things as they are.
Usually,
it takes a few—or a number of—meditation sessions sitting with the agitated mind before the true self appears. But with each session the fog lifts a bit more.
When
we meditate, and when we contemplate qualities such as love and
compassion, we dissolve emotional states and allow our mind to come to
rest, stability, and peace.
"The root of fear is a feeling of separateness within oneself. Once that
the feeling of separation exists, then you process everything from either
inside or outside of that model.
The transformative process of spiritual work is reawakening to the innocence of going behind that model of separation that cuts you off,
which made you a tiny little fragile somebody. A lot of the power comes from a freeing of our own fragility.
When you look at social structures, you see how much is based upon the feeling of fragility within the human condition. Based on fear.
You say, 'I’m afraid of that person,' but you mean you are afraid of being socially shamed by that person. When you are socially shamed, it hurts, but then here we still are. You’re afraid of violence, and then if violence happens, sure, it’s scary and painful and then behind it,
here we are.
I think that fear often feeds upon itself and we’re most afraid of the fear, which then gives it greater power… But ultimately we are afraid
because we feel vulnerable."
Thich Nhat Hanh
is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, poet, peace activist, and
the author of over 100 books and numerous Sounds True learning programs,
including The Art of Mindful Living and Living Without Stress or Fear.
In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Hanh
about the core of Buddhist practice: discovering liberation through
present-moment mindfulness. Hanh relates some of his experiences as a
young monk in Vietnam, including his involvement in the "engaged
Buddhism" movement. Finally, Tami and Hanh discuss why meditation is
available no matter where you are or what condition you are in. (46
minutes)
