Don't covet the leftovers of others while losing the precious
jewel that hangs around your own neck.
 The meaning of the Buddha's teaching will only manifest when his
wisdom is enacted locally, in the transformation of a person.
IT IS POSSIBLE THROUGH MEDITATION to find shelter from much of the wind that agitates the mind. Over time, a good deal of the turbulence may die down from a lack of continuous feeding. But ultimately the winds of life and the mind will blow, do what we may. Meditation is about knowing something about this and how to work with it.
The spirit of mindfulness practice was nicely captured in a poster of a seventy-ish yogi, Swami Satchitananda, in full white beard and flowing robes atop a surfboard riding the waves off a Hawaiian beach. The caption read: "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."
We create fantasies in which someone or something will once and for all make the pain disappear. And we can spend years in therapy or in the zendo waiting for that magic to happen, perhaps ending up bitter and disappointed when the magic doesn't appear. But nothing ever makes the pain in our lives disappear. Oh, we can create moments of relief or pleasure, but when we think that's the way it's supposed to feel all the time, we fall into one form or another of addiction, desperately using drugs or religion or love as an anodyne [a medicine used to relieve pain]. What practice can offer is a container for our pain, one in which the moment-to-moment kiss of attention allows us to experience it for what it is: simply as one part of our ever-changing life.
 Kosho Uchiyama (1912-1998)
It is also important to look carefully at our motives for doing zazen [meditation]. As far as I can tell, it seems that far too many people who start doing zazen immediately begin to think about enlightenment, or satori. They get into their heads that they have to attain enlightenment, and they sit just for that purpose. But they are off base. To sit with the idea that you are going to gain enlightenment is just ridiculous. To think that people become great by doing zazen, or to think that you are going to gain satori, is to be sadly misled by your own illusion. Zazen is to Buddhism what prayer is to the Judeo-Christian traditions. Just as prayer is a giving up of our small petty desires and asking that God's will be done, zazen is also a giving up of our egotistical evaluations of ourselves (whether as superior or inferior) and entrusting our life to the power of zazen as all things are as they are.
 (click on the comic strip above to view a larger picture)
Jon & Garfield's Version of Teamwork
Think of the above comic strip as a "doing nothing" or meditation exercise. In this regard, Jon has been spending time observing Garfield's practice and has now decided he would like to "do nothing" just as he has seen Garfield do. Garfield's response is that he thinks no can meditate like he can.
Gems from the Comic Strip
It may be tempting to view the above scenario as a silly cartoon of no particular value. However, we can learn much from it, including: Jon's selfless desire to practice, and willingness to follow an example; and, Garfield's self-centeredness, and vanity (unless Garfield is an enigmatic meditation master).
Some Questions to Ponder
- What have you learned along the way doing your practice?
- What pitfalls have you confronted and overcome (or are still dealing with)?
- What milestones have you reached?
 Zen Master Bankei (1622-1693)
Wisdom is that which makes a vessel into a teacup when it is filled with tea, a sauce dish when it is filled with sauce, a rice bowl when it is filled with rice, and a medicine pot when it is filled with medicine. There is no set method in the functioning of this wisdom. It is simply that which knows how to utilize things according to the case at hand.
Kusan Sunim (1901-1983) was the resident Zen Master at Songwang Sa, one of the largest monasteries in South Korea. He was the first Zen teacher to accept and train Western students in a Korean monastery.
Master Sheng Yen's final teaching before he passed away on February 3, 2009:
Busy with nothing, growing old.
Within emptiness, weeping, laughing.
Intrinsically, there is no "I."
Life and death, thus cast aside.
The true self, the Buddha-nature, is your foundation, eternal life, and the foundation that embraces the entire universe. It is light and boundless energy. It possesses all abilities and wisdom. Such a treasure is within you and within every being. So, every life is Buddha. If we awaken to the Buddha-nature that is within us, then all beings are Buddha, as they are. The Buddha came to this world not to be worshiped, but rather to teach people to free themselves by relying upon their own inherent Buddha-nature.~ Zen Master Daehaeng ~
 Flowers bloom naturally when conditions are right. People should learn about the conditions that cause flowers to bloom, and then create those conditions. Instead, they often wander around trying to find some unique and astonishing method. Instead of searching outside of yourself, you should first center your mind, and then take those thoughts that are focused on outward things and return them inward. Do not be dazzled by or chase after other people's enlightenment. Instead, create the conditions that will allow the flower of enlightenment that is within you to bloom. You're already endowed with it, so just help it to bloom naturally.
“All this talk and turmoil and noise and movement and desire is outside
of the veil; within the veil is silence and calm and rest."
— Bayazid Bistami, Persian Sufi
 “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
— Kenji Miyazawa
 "In silence we face and admit the gap between the depth of our being, which we consistently ignore, and the surface which is untrue to our own reality. We recognize the need to be at home with ourselves in order that we may go out to meet others, not just with a mask of affability, but with real commitment and authentic love. That is the reason for choosing silence."
— Thomas Merton. Love & Living. Naomi Burton Stone and Br. Patrick Hart, Editors. New York: Harcourt. 1979, p. 41.
I have noticed that 2 of my previously posted photo albums are filled with nothing but blank place-holders -- the photo names are there, but the photos have vanished. This is a bit frustrating. I wonder what can be done, and if this has happened too anyone else?
Product (8 oz. except as noted) Caffeine (in milligrams)Coffee………………………………...60-120
Decaffeinated Coffee………………....2-4
Espresso/Cappuccino (1 oz.)………30-50
Tea brewed 1 minute………………....9-33
Tea brewed 3 minute………………..20-46
Tea brewed 5 minute………………..20-50
Iced Tea (8 oz. / 12 oz.)………….….15-24 / 22-36
Hot Cocoa………………………….….3-32
Milk Chocolate (1 oz.)……………..….1-15
Dark Chocolate (1 oz.)…………….….5-35
Jolt soda (8 oz. / 12 oz.)………….….47 / 71
Mountain Dew (8 oz. / 12 oz.)…….....36 /54
Coca-Cola (8 oz. / 12 oz.)…………...31 / 46
Pepsi (8 oz. / 12 oz.)……………........24 / 36 From Cup of Heaven Website: http://www.cupofheaven.com/fyi.htm
 Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."
--- Frederick Buechner
 | I Exist | May 8, '08 9:30 PM
for everyone |
As a bee seeks nectar from all kinds of flowers, Seek teachings everywhere.
Like a deer that finds a quiet place to graze,
Seek seclusion to digest all that you have gathered.
Like a madman, beyond all limits, go wherever you please;
And live like a lion, completely free of fear.
A Dzogchen Tantra
~ Source unknown ~
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Truth is one,
Sages call it
By various names.
~ Rig Veda
Lead us from the unreal
To the Real.
Lead us from darkness
To light.
Lead us from death to Immortality.
Om, Peace Peace Peace.
~ Brhadaranyaka Upanishad
Take delight in the Lord
And He will give you
The desires of your heart.
~ Psalms, The Bible
Be a Light unto yourself.
~ Buddha
When you do things
From your soul,
You feel a river
Moving in you, a joy.
~ Rumi
The bliss of worship
And communion with God
Is the true wine, the wine
Of ecstatic love.
The goal of human life
Is to love God.
~ Ramakrishna
All things are bound
Together, all things
Connect, whatever
Befalls the earth,
Befalls also the
Children of the earth.
~ Native American Saying
Come unto me, all you
Who labor and are
Overburdened, and I will
Give you rest...
For I am gentle and
Humble in heart,
And you will find
Rest for your souls.
~ Jesus, New Testament
The Lord's humble
Servant begs for the
Lord's name, for the
Lord's praises, and
For devotional worship
Of the Lord God.
~ Guru Nanak
Don't you know that
You yourselves are
God's temple
And that God's Spirit
Lives in you?
~ I Cor. New Testament
Who sees me
In all things,
And all things in me,
He is never far from me,
And I am never far
From him.
~ Bhagavad Gita
All the power is
Within you;
You can do anything
And everything.
Believe in that;
Don't believe that
You are weak.
Stand up and express
The divinity within you.
~ Swami Vivekananda
One who has
Attained mastery
Over his mind is indeed
A greater conqueror
Than one who has
Vanquished a
Thousand enemies.
~ Buddha
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