Meditative Writings

We try so hard to hang on to the teachings and "get it," but actually the truth sinks in like rain into very hard earth. The rain is very gentle, and we soften up slowly at our own speed. But when that happens, something has fundamentally changed in us. That hard earth has softened. It doesn't seem to happen by trying to get it or capture it. It happens by letting go; it happens by relaxing your mind, and it happens by the aspiration and the longing to want to communicate with yourself and others. Each of us finds our own way.

--Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are

[T]he Buddha compares his teaching to the rainfall that descends without discrimination on the earth. That this rain causes some seeds to grow into flowers and some into great trees implies no differentiation in the rain but rather is due to the capacities of the seeds that it nurtures. Thus, the teaching of the Buddha is of a single flavor but benefits beings in a variety of ways according to their capacity.
--Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Buddhism in Practice

I lived in Korea for two years and have travelled much of Asia...what is interesting about north-eastern Asia is the depiction/murals on the sides of temples of the Herder and the Ox. I always knew there was more meaning to it that I knew myself and recently came across a great explanation that I will share here:

It compares the Buddhist practitioner's quest for enlightenment to a herder's search to find his Ox:

1. "seeking the ox": lost in samsara, but pulled toward higher truth.
2. "finding the tracks": listening, studying, seeing the path
3. "first glimpse of the ox": meditation gives the beginnings of prajna (wisdom)
4. "catching the ox": a deeper grasping of the kleshas (greed, delusion, and anger); recognition of the hindrances of selfhood.
5. "taming the ox": beginning to breakthrough satori (enlightenment) experiences.
6. "riding the ox home": complete satori (enlightenment)
7. "ox forgotten, self alone": experiencing the freedom of satori (enlightenment)
8. "both ox and self forgotten": experience of ultimate emptiness, even of tradition itself
9. "returning to the source": seeing the natural world as a sphere of innate enlightenment
10. "entering the market with helping hands": the Bodhisattva ideal as the final vocation after enlightenment.

p79 - Buddhism (Reference Guide) Kevin Trainor - General Editor.

Often times you will see these depictions painted in a clockwise fashion around the outside of a temple.

This is an impressive look at the first "book" EVER printed. Printed in China in 868.
Using Shockwave you can actually scroll through the original text! with guided audio...brought to you by British Library!

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html
click on "The Oldest Printed Book" ... you will be guided to download Shockwave if needed.

ENJOY!

An interesting fact that I uncovered while reading "Buddhism: The illustrated Guide" A reference classic by Duncan Baird Publishers: General Editor Kevin Trainor. Interesting! Really a must read guide for all interested in Buddhism!

The Legend of Baarlam and Josaphat (p23)
While it was only in the 19th century that detailed information about the Buddha's life became available to a Western audience, elements of the Buddha's biography formed the basis of a widespread and very popular collection of legends that circulated throughout medieval Europe from the 11th century.
The legends which appear to have made their way into Christian tradition via Arabic sources, concerned as Indian prince named Josaphat who was converted to Christianity by an ascetic sage named Baarlam. The biblical-sounding name Josaphat derives from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva, a term used to refer to the Buddha prior to his enlightenment, and many of the details of Josaphat's life closely parallel episodes from the Buddha's youth, including his closeted early life within his father's palace before a transformative encounter with old age, sickness, death, and an ascetic renunciant. Josaphat and Baarlam were venerated as Christian saints in both the Greek and Roman churches. 19th century scholars uncovered the true origins of the saints' lives when accurate information about the life of the Buddha began to appear in Europe.

The Buddha gave five reasons why a moral person should desire to be possessed of means. Firstly, by his work, diligence and clear-sightedness he could make happy himself, his parents, wife and children, servants and workpeople. Secondly, he could make happy his friends and companions. Thirdly, he would be able to keep his property from the depredations of fire, water, rulers, robbers, enemies and heirs. Fourthly, he would be able to make suitable offerings to his kin, guests, deceased, kings, and devas. Fifthly, he would be able to institute, over a period, offerings to recluses and others who abstain from pride and negligence, who are established in patience and gentleness, and who are engaged in every way in perfecting themselves. At the same time, whether his wealth increases or whether it does not, he should not be disturbed in his mind if he knows that his reasons for trying to amass it were good.

--Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics

Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and of the world. It looks at things objectively. It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool's paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness. One physician may gravely exaggerate an illness and give up hope altogether. Another may ignorantly declare that there is no illness and that no treatment is necessary, thus deceiving the patient with false consolation. You may call the first one pessimistic and the second optimistic. Both are equally dangerous. But a third physician diagnoses the symptoms correctly, understands the cause and the nature of the illness, sees clearly that it can be cured and courageously administers a course of treatment, thus saving his patient. The Buddha is like the last physician. He is the wise and scientific doctor for the ills of the world.

--Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught

The enlightenment of the Buddha was not primarily a religious discovery. It was not a mystical encounter with God or a god. It was not the reception of a divine mission to spread the Truth of God in the world. The Buddha's enlightenment was rather a human being's direct, exact, and comprehensive experience of the final nature and total structure of reality. It was the culmination for all time of the manifest ideals of any tradition of philosophical exploration or scientific investigation. Buddha is not a personal name; it is a title, meaning awakened, enlightened, and evolved. A Buddha's enlightenment is a perfect omniscience. A Buddha's mind is what theists have thought the mind of God would have to be like, totally knowing of every single detail of everything in an infinite universe, totally aware of everything--hence by definition inconceivable, incomprehensible to finite, ignorant, egocentric consciousness.

--Robert A.F. Thurman, Essential Tibetan Buddhism

Let's try an experiment. Pick up a coin. Imagine that it represents the object at which you are grasping. Hold it tightly clutched in your fist and extend your arm, with the palm of your hand facing the ground. Now if you let go or relax your grip, you will lose what you are clinging onto. That's why you hold on. But there's another possibility: You can let go and yet keep hold of it. With your arm still outstretched, turn your hand so that it faces the sky. Release your hand and the coin still rests on your open palm. You let go. And the coin is still yours, even with all this space around it. So there is a way in which we can accept impermanence and still relish life, at one and the same time, without grasping.

-Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

The near enemies are qualities that arise in the mind and masquerade as genuine spiritual realization, when in fact they are only an imitation, serving to separate us from true feeling rather than connecting us to it.

The near enemy of loving-kindness is attachment. At first, attachment may feel like love, but as it grows it becomes more clearly the opposite, characterized by clinging, controlling and fear.

The near enemy of compassion is pity, and this also separates us. Pity feels sorry for that poor person over here, as if he were somehow different from us.

The near enemy of sympathetic joy (the joy in the happiness of others) is comparison, which looks to see if we have more of, the same as, or less than another.

The near enemy of equanimity is indifference. True equanimity is balance in the midst of experience, whereas indifference is withdrawal and not caring, based on fear.

If we do not recognize and understand the near enemies, they will deaden our spiritual practice. The compartments they make cannot shield us for long from the pain and unpredictability of life, but they will surely stifle the joy and open connectedness of true relationships.

--Jack Kornfield, in A Path with Heart

Time and life guide us on our ever moving moments...a breath of warm air enters the body of the one who stands on hot ground, the breath of another floats into a cloud that dissipates for the one standing in snow...
I ...
travel onto warmer times when the cold arrives. But here I stand in the change of season to witness the environment adjust to the cool crisp air of the eastern seaboard of the US. Trees give up their leaves and become dormant...I look onto these trees and vegetation as a sign of the seasons for myself too...here I sit with the changing of the seasons...dressed in layers, I walk with the crisp air...
It is soon time for me to venture to warmer climates, as my yearly exodus ensues...it is a time to appreciate the cooler seasons but to escape before it darkens the spirit.

Off to warmer climates to find the elusive beads to make new malas with. A journey that takes me over seas and shining rivers to the backstreets of small towns, in languages I cannot speak, and people that I have yet to meet that will pave my future...the people themselves live their every day with the notion that I will arrive...but when I sit amongst them, sharing a cup of tea it will be as though we have known each other forever...

Live life with an open heart, love the surroundings, and challenge yourself to rise for "normal everyday"...risk, search, and you shall find that the world and its people wait for you with open arms...the changing of the seasons will remind us all to reflect on our lives, where we have been, and where we want to go.

Namaste.

"Wisdom arises in those moments of silence." To have thoughts in meditation is not necessarily a bad thing...Buddha did not "wake" from his meditation cushion to sit in another room to contemplate and let wisdom arise...wisdom comes in the moments of calm awareness, thoughts float through the space of mind and in the dearest of focus and silence the wisdom soaks into our being...relax and be...true wisdom comes from experience and the heavens, books and scholarly activities can help in our focus and direction but experience of silence is the true essence of wisdom.

- Brian

It is a great turning point in our spiritual lives when we go from intellectual appreciation of a path to the heartfelt confidence that says, "Yes, it is possible to awaken. I can, too." A tremendous joy accompanies this confidence. When we place our hearts upon the practice, the teachings come alive. That turning point, which transforms an abstract concept of a spiritual path our own personal path, is faith.

--Sharon Salzberg, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review,

We all must live with the right intent and focus. Buddha laid out the following to help people in their everyday life become more aware and open.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS:
Life is suffering,
Craving is the root of suffering,
Suffering can be overcome and happiness attained,
The Eightfold Path leads to overcoming suffering.

EIGHT FOLD PATH:
Perfect (Right) Understanding; Thought; Speech; Action; Livelihood; Effort; Mindfulness; and Concentration.

FIVE PRECEPTS: (code of morality)
Avoid killing or harming another sentient being.
Avoid stealing
Avoid sexual misconduct (the use of trickery, emotional blackmail, or force)
Avoid lying
Avoid alcohol and other intoxicating drugs.

A life lived in this way is a life with quality, clarity, and purpose. A life free of self obsorbtion and a sense of duty to the world...a life of bringing happiness to others when peace is found in oneself.

A young man named Sigala used to worship the six cardinal points of the heavens--east, south, west, north, nadir and zenith--in obeying and observing the last advice given him by his dying father. The Buddha told the young man that in the "noble discipline" of his teaching, the six directions were different. According to his "noble discipline" the six directions were: east; parents; south: teachers; west: wife and children; north: friends, relatives and neighbors; nadir: servants, workers and employees; zenith: religious men. "One should worship these six directions," said the Buddha. Here the word "worship" is very significant, for one worships something sacred, something worthy of honor and respect. These six family and social groups mentioned above are treated in Buddhism as sacred, worthy of respect and worship. But how is one to "worship" them? The Buddha says that one could "worship" them only by performing one's duties toward them.

-- Walpola Rahula, in What the Buddha Taught

Right livelihood is not just a philosophical ideal. It is a practical, achievable reality. Finding and maintaining right livelihood does require regular, consistent action, but the steps are clear and the results immediate. Finding your own right livelihood depends primarily on getting in touch with your "beginner's mind." Mindfulness challenges us to stay with things as they are and to change our lives through action that harms no one. Working together, mindfully and compassionately, we can create a community in which all our livelihoods are "right." -- Claude Whitmyer in Mindfulness and Meaningful Work

If we do a little of one kind of practice and a little of another, the work we have done in one often doesn't continue to build as we change to the next. It is as if we were to dig many shallow wells instead of one deep one. In continually moving from one approach to another, we are never forced to face our own boredom, impatience, and fears. We are never brought face to face with ourselves. So we need to choose a way of practice that is deep and ancient and connected with our hearts, and then make a commitment to follow it as long as it takes to transform ourselves. --Jack Kornfield in A Path with Heart

For years I dabbled in this practice and that, trying to find the one that works for me...the above statement has some legitimacy to it but there is also something it lacks...it is important to be open minded, to be open to the search, to be aware of our present state of mind and what we need to assist us in our spiritual practice.   Through my pursuit of various texts and practices I have come to know that Vajrayana is the practice for me and because of my history of pursuit, I am now more focused and dedicated to this...knowing that other paths are not for me.

So search, practice, talk with others, but at each step be focused on what you are wanting to learn...you will know when you find the path that works for you...then remain on that, focused and true...with love we all search for a higher consciousness...to live with love, to help others...to unite the world in an embrace.

Those of us who start on the path to right livelihood find that our lives are more balanced, simple, clear, and focused. We are no longer strung out in a meaningless cycle of material consumption. The contemporary economy focuses on this cycle of consumption. It doesn't really support our efforts to find meaningful work. Today, work is a means to consume or to pay debt for consumption already indulged in. How many people do you know who really love the work they are doing? How many feel bored and alienated? How many are simply earning the money to spend it on material pleasures? Right livelihood demands that you take responsibility for making your work more meaningful. Good work is dignified. It develops your faculties and serves your community. It is a central human activity.

-- Roger Pritchard, in Claude Whitmyer's Mindfulness and Meaningful Work

The Buddha always told his disciples not to waste their time and energy in metaphysical speculation. Whenever he was asked a metaphysical question, he remained silent. Instead, he directed his disciples toward practical efforts. Questioned one day about the problem of the infinity of the world, the Buddha said, "Whether the world is finite or infinite, limited or unlimited, the problem of your liberation remains the same." Another time he said, "Suppose a man is struck by a poisoned arrow and the doctor wishes to take out the arrow immediately. Suppose the man does not want the arrow removed until he knows who shot it, his age, his parents, and why he shot it. What would happen? If he were to wait until all these questions have been answered, the man might die first." Life is so short. It must not be spent in endless metaphysical speculation that does not bring us any closer to the truth.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, in Zen Keys

Years prior, I would work at other jobs and use that money to further what "I really wanted to do"...work was secondary, counting the days to a day off, counting on the pay cheque on a specific date to cover the charge card I has used in preparation for the money that was coming...spinning the wheels beyond the present...easy for us to get carried away with momentum and desires, and "things we want or need", always that unobtainable object of desire that would "just make life that much easier".

The times have come and the fruition of this life is ahead, no longer working pay cheques for a dream but living it...living everyday with the understanding that it all works out and that everything comes at its time, we are not left without when we are present in the moment...divine light and universal love can be tested and always passes with flying astral colours...to put yourself in a position of testing the universe, acting on intuition, believing that it will all work out (without knowing that on the 18th is pay day)...without attachment to a future that is unknown, to be present, to be in the moment...

Live the Eightfold Path and all comes to Light:

In the training of Wisdom: practice Right View ad Right Intention.

In Ethics: practice Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood.

And in Meditation: practice Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

With love.

I often have conversations with people when selling malas about death and dying...the topic comes up because of the use of skull beads (generally made of yak bone) in the malas and wrist malas.

"Yuck!", "I don't like these!", "I like this mala except for the skulls.", etc.

Too which I reply..."When one contemplates and reflects on death and dying, then they live their life more fruitfully." If we come to grips that we are going to die and honour that inevitable passing stage then we can wake up to the everyday experience and live our lives with the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance...that yes...this too (this body) will pass.

We must make use of the time here on this planet, because being given a human body is the most honourable position and incarnation to be...the only ones on the planet with the mind and faculties to make judgements and react with right intention...overcoming "animal instincts".

If death is inevitable then why do we deny it? or are afraid to talk of it? ATTACHMENT...the attachment to this world, our interactions, characters in the play (family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc)...we WANT to believe we have TIME...TIME for WHAT??? Time to waste on jobs that we don't love? time to hate someone then forgive them then love them again? time to make mistakes and learn? TIME is only now in the moment, to be used for the betterment of all...

LOVE everyone, treat the world with respect, make a difference in someones life, stop taking and give, stop saving for a rainy day for it to may never come...give to someone that needs, volunteer, take time to walk barefoot in the wet grass, call someone you dislike and speak with love and forgiveness, make "enemies" friends...LOVE...for you never know when the time will come for you to pass and move on to another realm to do as you are destined.

let FEAR pass, realize you are going to die, live your life as if you were going to die tomorrow...

when the time comes of your passing, you will want to sit there in a mind of acceptance...fuse into light and know that you lived a life that was meant to be lived and leave behind an example of LOVE not FEAR...wake up! now and realize you are going to die, as I will...and LIVE NOW!

Do not shed a tear when I pass, celebrate what I have offered to others...know that my time in this body has passed and that I did the best I could with the karma and experiences I was born with...

No tears, just LOVE.

- Brian McIntyre

Those of us who start on the path to right livelihood find that our lives are more balanced, simple, clear, and focused. We are no longer strung out in a meaningless cycle of material consumption. The contemporary economy focuses on this cycle of consumption. It doesn't really support our efforts to find meaningful work. Today, work is a means to consume or to pay debt for consumption already indulged in. How many people do you know who really love the work they are doing? How many feel bored and alienated? How many are simply earning the money to spend it on material pleasures? Right livelihood demands that you take responsibility for making your work more meaningful. Good work is dignified. It develops your faculties and serves your community. It is a central human activity.


-- Roger Pritchard, in Claude Whitmyer's Mindfulness and Meaningful Work

http://www.buddhanet.net/wings_g.htm is a great explanation on The Seven Factors of Awakening and their association with the evolution of the soul.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/tree-enlightenment.pdf#search=%22define%20enlightenment%22

A downloadable book at Buddhanet.net to help understand the definition of enlightenment and the understanding of the fundamental beliefs of Buddhist life.

Another excellent book that expounds on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path is "Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das.

Lack of understanding of the true nature of happiness, it seems to me, is the principal reason why people inflict sufferings on others. They think either that the other's pain may somehow be a cause of happiness for themselves or that their own happiness is more important, regardless of what pain it may cause. But this is shortsighted: no one truly benefits from causing harm to another sentient being. Whatever immediate advantage is gained at the expense of someone else is shortlived. In the long run, causing others misery and infringing their rights to peace and happiness result in anxiety, fear, and suspicion within oneself. Such feelings undermine the peace of mind and contentment which are the marks of happiness. True happiness comes not from a limited concern for one's own well-being, or that of those one feels close to, but from developing love and compassion for all sentient beings. Here, love means wishing that all sentient beings should find happiness, and compassion means wishing that they should all be free of suffering. The development of this attitude gives rise to a sense of openness and trust that provides the basis for peace.

--The Dalai Lama, from The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness

The basic precepts are not passive. They can actively express a compassionate heart in our life. Not killing can grow into a reverence for life, a protective caring for all sentient beings who share life with us. Not stealing can become the basis for a wise ecology, honoring the limited resources of the earth and actively seeking ways to live and work that share our blessings worldwide. From this spirit can come a life of natural and healing simplicity. Out of not lying we can develop our voice to speak for compassion, understanding, and justice. Out of nonharming sexuality, our most intimate relations can also become expressions of love, joy, and tenderness. Out of not abusing intoxicants or becoming heedless, we can develop a spirit that seeks to live in the most awake and conscious manner in all circumstances. At first, precepts are a practice. Then they become a necessity, and finally they become a joy. When our heart is awakened, they spontaneously illuminate our way in the world.


-Jack Kornfield, in A Path with Heart

(an excellent resources and inspiring words come from www.tricycle.com , you can sign up to these daily Dharma emails, purchase the magazine in print, and various other information)

Here's a way you can keep from getting lost in your thoughts. See your thoughts go by as if they were autumn leaves floating down a stream. But focus on the stream. The leaves drift by, being moved this way and that by the eddying water. On some there are drops of water that glisten in the sunlight. Let the leaves, the thoughts, float by, but keep your attention on the water itself. Your mind may dwell on a sound, a memory, a plan, or any of a thousand things. When you notice your mind clinging to any of these, these leaves, then gently bring it back to the stream, back to the water flowing. Let the leaves float by. Don't get angry because your attention got caught, for that anger is just another leaf. Don't get frustrated, because your attention will get caught thousands of times. Each time, very gently but firmly bring it back to the flowing water. Now try this meditation for a few minutes. This is the beginning of a quiet mind.

- Journey of Awakening (A Meditator's Guidebook) by Ram Dass.

(photo taken in Suzhou, central western China...called the Venice of the East)

Durga (other names such as Shakti, Parvati, Ambika, and Kali) is the object of a special worship during the annual Durga Puja celebrated in October. The special worship (puja) lasts nine days. Goddess Durga is worshipped during the first three days, Goddess Lakshmi during the next three days, and Goddess Saraswati during the final three days of the festival.

This order of worship has a special significance. Durga, as the destroyer of evil, is worshipped first so that the devotees can destroy their negative qualities, such as greed, anger, and ego. Next, Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) is worshipped to attain positive qualities, such as purity, self control, love, and kindness. Finally, Saraswati (goddess of learning) is worshipped to attain the highest knowledge. The highest knowledge can be attained only after all negative qualities are destroyed and the mind and intellect are purified.

In Hindu mythology the Goddess Durga is one of the principal forms of the divine spouse of Shiva. Durga Puja is a festival that celebrates her victory over the buffalo demon Mahisasura. According to the mythological story, Mahisasura was so powerful that none of the gods were able to destroy him. The gods, therefore, approached Goddess Durga for help. Each god gave her his best weapons. Equipped with the most powerful weapons, Durga destroyed the pwoerful demon that the gods had been unable to overcome.

- The Hindu Mind

Check out: http://www.durga-puja.org/ for all the details.

A friend recently emailed me in frustration over the worlds state of affairs, the hatred and famine, the wars and disease...I wrote this as a response and wish to share it with readers.

The ones sensitive to the shifts of the world and the universe we are in feel the time is now, unlike other times in our history to rise as the phoenix above the ashes and live a more enlightened life. In the 60s we came close and then there was the Vietnam war to detract our thoughts, become introverted and hate the world...now that the time has arisen again where the fate of the world is felt in the hearts of many, war reers its ugly face again...the devils of the world try to sway our minds and have us focus on the darkness of the world...we must rise above and embrace those in the darkness and shine bright on their path to help them to a better world...as long as YOU and I and OTHERS stay strong in the light of Sangha we can maintain this intensity and rise above the hatred...as I wear the swastika proudly on my mala everyday, I live to reverse the hatred of the world and redefine that which has become evil...as it is dark so it is light, without darkness there would be no move to light...there is an ebb and flow in this world and we are in the shallows of a great wave, which can wash us out either way...I choose to swim towards the light and the sunrise of a warmer day, as do others that you and I surround ourselves with, LIVE AS AN EXAMPLE! LIVE WITH LIGHT! WALK YOUR TALK! BE PROUD! LOVE! EMBRACE! SEEK HAPPINESS AND BE HAPPY! BE PRESENT! In this way the darkness will fade to light...people just want to be happy, we all seek happiness...even the devil seeks happiness, he wants to feel that he is respected, justified in his beliefs, heard for what he wants, understood...we all want to be happy, it is this pursuit of happiness that becomes the cloud of ignorance and the despair for many...the pursuit...where is happiness? They search, they look to killing others that defy their understanding of what makes a happy world, the choke out the people that sleep on their "private beaches" because they block the view...FEAR BROTHER! Fear that what makes them happy is going to change! The fear that things will change, the grasping, the grip on the illusion!

Darkness clouds happiness when fear is the motivator...fear that you will take what I have, fear that I will lose what is in my possession, fear that the direction I am going in pursuit of happiness could be the wrong one, FEAR! leads to ignorance! leads to people being proud! leads to death and dying, murder and killing to uphold what is REAL and TRUE to the ignorant!

Until we understand the true meaning of impermance, until we understand what it is to be present and alive, until we understand to help you is to help the world is to help me, until we understand that the time has come when we have to forsake our fears and embrace change, embrace death, embrace the fact that our state of mind will be different in a second, embrace the world and step away from tradition and old ways, and life as it was lived, to let go of the illusion and work together.

TO EMBRACE

TO LOVE

TO LEAVE IGNORANCE BEHIND, to be happy and realize that happiness arises during service to others!

DON'T BE AFRAID, LOVE! All else washes away, the blood of the past washes away in forgiveness, the death of yesterday washes away in understanding impermance, hatred washes away when we realize that everyone wants to be happy...LOVE brings HAPPINESS!

Believe that the hatred of the world today is empowering the love in many people, we will RISE ABOVE that hatred and embrace the killers and tell them they are beautiful...look into their eyes and tell them they too can be loved...beyond ignorance, be Gandhi!

One sits in meditation and feels the tug of the mind, ideas form into concepts...the rollercoaster of thoughts begin as a thought arises, then additional thoughts connect to this one until we realize that what we are trying to do is STOP this...

Picture the mind as a pyramid of concepts...to stand on the ground is to know that only this moment exists, as the thought pattern builds more blocks are added, further and further until the pyramid is complete and we can see over the trees of the jungle to what appears to be a new site to build another thought...pyramids of thoughts collapse and are rebuilt as the ebb and flow of the mind compels us onto other "ideals" and forms and concepts...

To release the mind is to see the thoughts that control and to understand them only to be thoughts, to know that nothing stays the same, to know that the next breath is a new day...this to will pass.

The Ego Mind will never entirely leave (the basis of who WE THINK we are) but the awareness and understanding that the Ego Mind is powerful and to understand how to overcome its influence is a return to the Natural Mind...the Mind that lives in unity with the universe, the Mind that sees thought patterns but does not define itself by them...

Fear is in the eye of the Mind that sees permanence...Fear of the changing of thoughts and ideals, of I and mine...Knowledge destroys fear, the knowing of our every changing existence is to know that the Natural Mind flows...resistance is futile and only brings wounds and suffering.

To embrace impermance and to know that good and bad, this to will pass...is a moto of the Meditators Mind...to not grasp to forms and concepts, yet see them for what they are, a thought...

Reality is a concept of thought patterns, what is reality? when we think we are awake? A "dream" during sleep can be just as real...are you waking from a dream or into a greater dream...to embrace the dreams as every changing, shaping your "reality" to reflect your thoughts...embrace with love, fear falls aside, and the meditators mind no longer contemplates the concept of reality, but lives with the understanding that all will pass...live a life of love, in whatever dream you are living.

The Buddhist challenge to conventional Western notions of spirituality illuminates the way we set flesh and spirit at war with each other. In Buddhism there is no original sin. Although noticing how we express our sexuality can certainly lead to an awareness of right conduct, the flesh is not regarded as representing a corruption or punishment of any kind, nor as an obstacle to the attainment of enlightenment. The root of human suffering is not sin, but our confusion about ego. We suffer because we believe in the existence of an individual self. This belief splits the world into "I" and "other."

--Stephen Butterfield, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. I, #4

The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it. In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it.


--Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, in Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

You can sign up to Tricycle.com and get emails like this on a daily basis...a beautiful thing to be a part of and I want to share this beautifully written piece with everybody. Namaste...live with the understanding that embrace is needed to help everybody rise above the ashes like a phoenix from the ignorance of this world...work together for a brighter community, one person at a time.

There is a famous saying: "If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear." I often compare the mind in meditation to a jar of muddy water: The more we leave the water without interfering or stirring it, the more the particles of dirt will sink to the bottom, letting the natural clarity of the water shine through. The very nature of the mind is such that if you only leave it in its unaltered and natural state, it will find its true nature, which is bliss and clarity. So take care not to impose anything on the mind, or to tax it. When you meditate there should be no effort to control, and no attempt to be peaceful. Don't be overly solemn or feel that you are taking part in some special ritual; let go even of the idea that you are meditating. Let your body remain as it is, and your breath as you find it. Think of yourself as the sky, holding the whole universe.

--Sogyal Rinpoche, in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Time spent in the state of reflecting, a state where the mind is still...a vision of the ocean on a placid day...where a stone skips on the surface disturbing the water, ripples settle as though it never happened...peace unto those who embody a state of mind that replaces waves with the knowledge that stillness is below and it will again be above.

- Brian McIntyre...walk well in Buddha nature.

I have been travelling since 1999 and over the years have compiled a volume of journals and ramblings from life gone by. I am literally sitting with all the books/journals at my feet and have decided on publishing the first volume of writings.

The book will be displayed as both a text form, photos, and direct scanning of journal notes...it will lay the path of my life to present day...a life as a mala maker.

The title is still up for discussion and final decisions will be made within the next two weeks before print. This book will be available for sale online, keep up to date on the site here to find out about its release.

Namaste, to all that walk the path; may the ones with light shine onto the darkness of others...let's help all of us get there. The Bodhisattva Way.

What is this centre bead? I am often asked. The guru bead has many positions of importance...when chanting and meditating we use malas to keep count of our recitations. I practice a form of Tibetan Buddhism called Vajrayana and am meant to recite specific mantras 10,000 times before I continue on with other instructions and teachings...a sort of "right of passage" one could say...so we keep count and track of the recitations...so at the point of getting to the guru bead one must stop, and turn around to continue counting in the opposite direction...why? well...when one meets the guru bead he must remember the guru-disciple relationship and strive for a closer bond and union. A guru bead also reflects the awareness that one must have in every aspect of life, a moment to reflect on the importance of your chanting, a time to reflect on your intentions and motive for sitting in meditation. A reverence of the guru...you approach and return to counting.

Why a skull bead? Some people look at the malas with a certain curiousity when they see a swastika or a skull...I have explained the swastika in another post but the skull is meant to have the meditator reflect on death and impermanence and know that death is a fact and the closer that we can relate to death and embrace it the sooner we can start living with love and compassion and realizing that in this cyclic existence death will come when it is time...live life and embrace death.

Often pronounced by the Chinese as Om Mani Pedme Hung...and actually the Hung in both ways is lost in translation, it is actually hoo-ng. Tibetans can be seen walking the streets with mala in hand reciting this mantra, Om Mani Padme Hung means "The jewel is within." A constant reminder that the alleviation of suffering is within us to overcome, we are the answer to our struggles, master the mind and embody the spirit...with a focus on this we may purify all facets of our being...body, speech, and mind.

"The key concepts that define the goals of the Dalai Lama Center are; one, the promotion of human values; and two, the promotion of a sense of oneness within humanity. These two ideas serve to promote peace among different communities within one nation, within one world. And they will be particularly useful in shaping the long-term goals of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education in Vancouver, Canada." - His Holiness the Dalai Lama (quote taken from back of the cover shown - this was purchased after the show on September 9th...the LIVE AUDIO of the Dalai Lama - a beautiful recording!)

Graced to be a part of his seminars during the weekend of September 8 and 9...he spoke the first day of "Educating the Heart"...the essence of which was that children must learn from a young age or empathy, compassion, and working together for a better world...gone are the days of selfishness and bullying in the playgrounds of the future! A more compassionate youth leads to a more compassionate adult community and in turn a more compassionate system that governments, countries, and the world can work with.

The following day on September 9th I was blessed to join the masses in seeing the Dalai Lama become an honorary Canadian Citizen! With this he spoke of the new Dalai Lama Center www.dalailamacenter.org that will be built in Vancouver...the only Center in the world that will carry the name of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama!

In his talk on "Cultivating Happiness" he spoke of a world of happiness based on scientific results...regardless of religion, philosophy, or people that chose to be atheist...none of that matters; what matters is the understanding that we all just want to be happy! and to achieve this happiness we must work together! for a better world. Through scientific research and results The Dalai Lama will prove that certain actions will create a calm mind, beyond religion and semantics the science will prove ways in which people can act to be better people...proving that a calm mind is the foundation for peace, health, and a more unified world...with scientific results they will be able to develop step-by-step guides on generating a better world of people...more compassionate, caring people...caring for themselves and the world together.

A beautiful future lies ahead!

Namaste...walk well, live well, embrace and be happy.