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#1605 - Sunday, November 2, 2003 - Editor: Gloria
I am
a student of macro
browsing through systems
and angles
dabbling
here and there
learning the most from all
rather than each...
I'm not into lab rat stunts
to find out how
I can't be so pinned down
I want to eat the whole enchilada
But as I imagine the most foolish fool
I see me
A teacher of detail and definition.
Offering little
resonating
to something big...
~David Bozzi
*photo above by Alan Larus http://www.ferryfee.com/bluesky/withered%20leaf.htm
Joe Riley ~ Rumi to Hafiz
Just an old Jefferson Starship tune
taken in a metaphorical (even
metaphysical) context:
http://www.panhala.net/Journey_to_Orion.html
(keep listening for the words to arrive)
The layman Vimalakirti said,
"Because the world is sick, I am sick. Because people
suffer, I have to suffer." This statement was also made by
the Buddha. Please don't think that because you are unhappy,
because there is pain in your heart, that you cannot go to the
Buddha. It is exactly because there is pain in your heart that
communication is possible. Your suffering and my suffering are
the basic condition for us to enter the Buddha's heart, and for
the Buddha to enter our hearts.
For forty-five years, the Buddha said, over and over again,
"I teach only suffering and the transformation of
suffering." When we recognize and acknowledge our own
suffering, the Buddha - which means the Buddha in us - will look
at it, discover what has brought it about, and prescribe a course
of action that can transform it into peace, joy, and liberation.
Suffering is the means the Buddha used to liberate himself, and
it is also the means by which we can become free.
Thich Nhat Hanh,
Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy & Liberation
Lee Love ~ E-zendo
Do not think lightly of good, that nothing will come of it. A whole water pot will fill up from dripping drops of water - Lord Buddha, Dhammapada v 122
"Being
associated with what you do not like is dukkha, being
separated from what you like is dukkha, not
getting what you want is dukkha. In
brief, the compulsive habits of body and mind are
dukkha."
From: http://www.metta.org.uk/Wds/wds21.htm
The Four Noble Truths |
|
| In order to help people
realise that the normal understanding of life is
inadequate, he Buddha talked about ‘dukkha’,
translated as dissatisfaction or unsatisfactoriness. He
often summarised his teaching as the Truth about
‘dukkha’, its origin, its ending, and the path
to its ending. These core teachings, to be measured
against one's experience and used for guidance, are known
as the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth: There is dukkha Life as we normally know it must always have a proportion of disagreeable experiences - sickness, pain and distress are obvious examples. Even in relatively affluent societies people suffer from anxiety, stress or a loss of purpose; or they feel incapable of dealing with life's challenges. Moreover, agreeable experiences are limited and transient for instance, 'dukkha' can be brought on by the loss of a loved one, or being badly let down by a friend. What also becomes apparent is that these feelings cannot be relieved for long by our usual responses, such as seeking pleasure, greater success or a different relationship.. This is because 'dukkha' stems from an inner need. You could call it a longing of the heart - for understanding, peace and harmony. Because it's an inner or spiritual need, no matter how we try to alleviate such feelings by adding something pleasant to our life, it never quite succeeds. As long as we are motivated to seek fulfilment in what is transient and vulnerable and it doesn't take much introspection to recognise how vulnerable our bodies and feelings are - we will always suffer disappointment and a sense of loss. "Being
associated with what you do not like is dukkha, The Second Noble Truth: There is an origin to 'dukkha' The Buddha's experience was that this wrong motivation was in essence the origin of dissatisfaction. How is this? By always seeking fulfilment in what is transient, we miss out on what life could be offering if we were more attentive and spiritually attuned. Not using (through not knowing) our spiritual potential, we are motivated by feelings and moods. However, when mindfulness reveals that this is a habit rather than our true nature, we realise that we can change it. The Third Noble Truth: 'Dukkha' can stop Once we've understood the Second Truth, the Third follows on, if we're capable of ‘letting go’ of our conscious and unconscious self-centred habits. When we are no longer defensive or aggressive, whenever we respond to life without prejudice or fixed views, the mind rests in an inner harmony. The habits and viewpoints that make life appear hostile or inadequate are checked. The Fourth Noble Truth: There is a Way to stop 'dukkha' This involves the practical guidelines for bringing a spiritual focus to bear on life as we are living it. We can't 'let go' until we become capable of that through cultivation of our spiritual nature. But if there is proper cultivation, the mind will naturally, incline towards Nibbana (Nirvana). All that is needed is the wisdom to know that there is a way and the means to accomplish that way. The 'Way' is defined as the Noble Eightfold Path. The 'wheel' symbol that is often used in Buddhist iconography is a depiction of this Eightfold Path in which each factor supports and is supported by all the others. Buddhist practice consists of cultivating these factors: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. The 'Right-ness' of them is that they entail living in accordance with virtue, meditation and wisdom rather than from any self-centred position. Such a Way is therefore 'Right' for others as well as oneself. "He
who has understanding and great wisdom FOLLOWING THE PATH When asked to explain why his disciples always looked cheerful, the Buddha commented: "They
have no regret over the past, (see website to continue Eightfold Path) |
|
Daily Dharma
"In the Lotus Sutra, there is
a teaching on the Bodhisattva Never
Disparaging. It was the practice of this bodhisattva to never
belittle anyone. He would go up to people and declare, 'You, too,
will become Buddha!'
Many people tired of him, and there came a time when this
bodhisattva
was beaten and assailed with sticks and stones and foul speech.
At
such times, the Bodhisattva Never Disparaging would retreat to a
safe
distance, face his abusers, and declare, 'You, too, will become
Buddha!'
There are many life-giving lessons to be learned from this
bodhisattva; the lessons of endurance, patience, and tolerance,
the
lesson of respect, and the lesson of everyone's Buddha Nature.
What
if you and I were to take this teaching to heart and practice it
with
just one person? I believe that this practice of 'You, too, will
become Buddha!' would radically transform us."
~ Sensei Egyoku Nakao
From the website of the Zen Center of Los Angeles:
http://www..zencenter.com/news/DharmaTalks/you_too.htm
Dear Fellow-reader:
The November issue of the TAT Forum is now on-line at www.tatfoundation.org/forum.htm This month's contents include: Yoga: Hatha, Shabd & Raja by Richard Rose | Poems by Shawn Nevins | Responses to the Call for Papers: How can a person know if he or someone else -- a prospective teacher -- has successfully completed the spiritual search? | Humor
Jerry Katz ~ NDSN
Links can be viewed at http://nonduality.com/index.html#1 for latest stories from the news
Ben Hassine ~ NDS
New Mexico
Surrounded by carved & dusty mahogany tables, tobacco smoke, candles and jars of whiskey I am transported into another sphere of conscious existence, My invisible companion's face is not in the least as fading as mine and beams the mercy of his heart up into my weary old skull,
Just like the blazing sun above New Mexico rises to roast the sea of sand and warm the lizards crawling from under their domestical rocks, And just like the lonely day-star of New Mexico rises just to shine for splendour's sake, My magic companion beams shining newness into the realized possibility of my 'loners brain.
My crystal boots kick unborn life into every sun bleached rock as I pass them in my furious celestial quest, Each flying step I partake more in the secret sundance of the gods ruling the pale stars of infinity,
This old cowboy rushing under the New Mexican star of daylight is after the blazing fire of the shaman's desert gods, Surrounded by carved & dusty mahogany tables I kick my way into immortality passing the valleys of death in a fury needed to pass these swallowing depths, In a cloud of dust I kneel down and accompanied by the dying movement of thought I am silenced under the sacred sun of New Mexico.
Viorica Weissman ~ MillionPaths
Ojai, California Tuesday, March 27,1984
...................
This country is beautiful, so vast - with deserts, snow-capped mountains, villges, great towns and still greater rivers. The land is marvellously beautiful, vast, all inclusive.
And we came to this house which is still more quiet and beautiful, recently built and with the cleanliness that houses in towns don't have. There were lots of flowers, roses and so on. A place in which to be quiet, not just vegetate, but to be really deeply, inwarldly, quiet. Silence is a great benediction, it cleanses the brain, gives vitality to it, and this silence builds up great energy, not the energy of thought or the energy of machines but the unpolluted energy, untouched by thought. It is the energy that has incalculable capacity, skills. And this is a place where the brain, being very active, can be silent. That very intense activity of the brain has the quality and the depth and the beauty
of silence.
..........................................................................
from
Krishnamurti to Himself
His Last Journal
...........................................................................
Steve Toth ~ Rumi to Hafiz
LISTEN
I wanted to listen
to the stillness
of the morning
but life sent me a mouse
with loud feet on the ceiling
a wild dancer
I wanted to bask in the peacefulness
of the dawning
but life sent me a bird
flapping its wings & chirping madly
trying to force its way
into the attic
It's not what bothers us
but what we love with
that gives us nothing to hide
Run your words all over me
until you run out of words
Let's fall silent
the way we fall in love
The silence that can be disturbed
isn't the silence
we listen to
copyright 2003, Steve Toth