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#3270 -
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - Editor: Gloria Lee
Nonduality Highlights
- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
"When one is rough, one tends to be
aggressive, inconsiderate, and unkind to others. This
behavior inevitably rebounds on oneself. When one is rough,
one is also insensitive to the subtle truth of the
universe. Roughness can lead to the destruction of one's
connection with the spiritual realms, for the level of gentleness
of one's being is the level of refinement of one's soul, and the
more gentle and subtle one's energy, the closer one is to union
with the subtle truth of the universe."
~Lao Tzu
From the book; "Hua Hu Ching, The Later Teachings of Lao
Tzo", published by Shambhala
posted to Daily Dharma
Compassion is Union
In Mahayana Buddhism in particular great
emphasis is laid on realizing the union of wisdom and
compassionate action. Human fulfillment is seen to lie in the
integration of the inner and outer dimensions of life, not in
transcendent wisdom or world-saving compassion alone. As long as
we remain delusively convinced of our egoic separation, then we
remain cut off from the capacity to empathize fully with others.
Such empathy is nothing other than the affective response to
insight into the absence of egoic separation. For when the
fiction of isolated selfhood is exposed, instead of a gaping
mystical void we discover that our individual existence is rooted
in relationship with the rest of life. For Thich Nhat Hanh, this
is the realization of "interbeing"; for the Dalai Lama
that of "universal responsibility": two ideas at the
heart of contemporary Engaged Buddhism.
-- Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening of the West
The Maitreya Would Appreciate Birth into a Pleasant Earth
When we throw a banana peel into the
garbage, if we are mindful we know that the peel will become
compost and be reborn as a tomato or a lettuce salad in just a
few months. But when we throw a plastic bag into the garbage,
thanks to our awareness, we know that a plastic bag will not
become a tomato or a salad very quickly. Some kinds of garbage
need four or five hundred years to decompose. Nuclear waste needs
a quarter of a million years before it stops being harmful and
returns to the soil. Living in the present moment in an awakened
way, looking after the present moment with all our heart, we will
not do things which destroy the future. That is the most concrete
way to do what is constructive for the future.
--Thich Nhat Hanh, Our Appointment with Life
IN
SEARCH OF SHANG SHUNG
http://www.boeddhistischeomroep.nl/uitzending.aspx?lIntEntityId=814&lIntType=0&lIntYear=2007
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=4778755 to play movie. (orange icon on
film screen will enlarge movie) spoken in English with Dutch
subtitles
Gelek, a Bon monk, accompanied by an American photographer
undertakes a
journey from Kathmandu to discover for himself the ancient
kingdom of
Zhang Zhung where the Bon religion flourished centuries ago. In
search
of mythical palaces and holy sites, they journey to the shadows
of Mount
Kailash in far Western Tibet. Along the way they are joined by
dhamis
(oracles) and shaman priests, and together they make an odd group
of
contrasting characters.
As they travel through the starkly beautiful landscape of Nepal
and
Tibet their journey begins to shed light on Bon, a religion
different
and arguably older than Tibetan Buddhism, though it is largely
unknown
and neglected. Throughout the pilgrimage Gelek contemplates about
what
it means to be a Bon monk, struggles with his doubts and seeks to
uncover the roots of his religion and identity.
It is a pilgrimage where both the spiritual and temporal realms
are
fluid realities and obstacles constantly need to be overcome. And
while
pursuing jeweled palaces and fantastic dreams, Gelek and Tom
attempt to
strip away their confusion in an attempt to find the essence of
Zhang Zhung.
------------------------------------
Thanks to Ben Hassine