Thanksgiving

Right now, I am thankful to Amida that my sincere faith in His Primal Vow leads to rebirth as a bodhisattva in the Pure Land.

Then will that bodhisattva will be return to this Saha world as a new sentient being.

Likewise, here and now, when my heart-mind becomes at one with the Pure Mind during Nembutsu meditation, I might briefly glimpse such a rebirth in the Pure Land.

And when my mind returns to the Saha world, the essence of that bodhisattva remains.

Thus it is possible to be thankful to Amida *and* aspire to become a bodhisattva.

Amida Never Abandons Sentient Beings

Buddha Amitabha is like a compassionate mother watching over her infant child. There is no mother who does not care for her children. Buddha Amitabha will never abandon sentient beings, nor will he ever be angry with them, otherwise, he could never have become a Buddha! It is the same for all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; none lack mercy or compassion. — Cheng Wei-an, Taming the Monkey Mind - A Guide to Pure Land Practice: Forty-eight Aspects of Buddha Recitation: 11

Please Help Frankiboy

This is my best friend.

I have known him for over 12 years, since about 1994.

He is dying of pancreatic cancer.

Please see what you can do to help him, if you truly care for other people.

Not Good for All Our Wishes to be Filled

It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.
-Greek saying

Health, good, food and rest are treasures which are only valued through their opposites.

Yet, the Buddhadharma helps us to tread the Middle Way between such opposites.

For if we value health too greatly, then we may come to fear sickness unreasonably.

Such a fear may lead to becoming obsessed with health to the point where it is a form of nervous disorder called orthorexia.

If we value good too greatly, then we may come to fear evil unreasonably.

As a result of such a fear, we may have pretensions of being good while unfairly judging others.

If we fear hunger unreasonably, then we may be prone to overeat. We may even start to hoard food.

And when we value rest unreasonably, we may come to sleep our lives away!

Thus, the Buddhadharma urges us to balance sickness and health, good and evil, food and hunger, exertion and rest.

For it is wise to value health, good, food and rest in moderation.

Nembutsu as Other-Power

When I sincerely utter
the Name-that-calls,
the Lord Buddha Amida
is calling me home -
Namu Amida Butsu!

Thus does this old fool
rely on Other-Power,
on Amida's grace.


To merely utter the Nembutsu with only the belief of rebirth in the Pure Land is self-power (jiriki).

When the Pure Land devotee utters the Nembutsu with the thought that it is the Name-that-calls, then it is truly Other-power.

For it is truly is Amida calling me home.

Buddha is Mind

One night, a Master who is a friend of this author dreamed that a yellow-robed monk came to ask him, "You practice Buddha Recitation, but what is Buddha?" Answer "Buddha is Mind." The monk continued, "How about explaining to me what you mean by Buddha is Mind?" In his dream, the author's friend improvised the following stanzas:

Each utterance of the Buddha's name following the rosary is Mind,
Buddha is clearly Mind, why waste time searching for Him?
The Buddha's sea of wisdom reconciles Mind and Realm!
Mind and Buddha are born equal.

To abandon Mind and follow the Buddha is to be still in a dream,
To be attached to the Buddha as Mind is not yet perfect comprehension;
Mind and Buddha are both originally illusory and dreamlike,
To transcend both Buddha and Mind is to arrive at the perfect City of Lights.

The Master understood the essence of Buddha Recitation, reconciling the Buddha's name with the realm of the Mind. - Thich Thien Tam, Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith

The Pure Land Is The Original True Mind

As we recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" we each create and adorn our own Land of Ultimate Bliss. We each accomplish our own Land of Ultimate Bliss which is certainly not hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here. Now, the Land of Ultimate Bliss really is hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands away; and yet it doesn't go beyond the very thought we are having right now. Since it's right in our hearts, we say it's not hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here. The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the original true heart, the true mind, of every one of us. If you obtain this heart, you will be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you don't understand your own original true heart, you will not. Amitabha Buddha and living beings are not distinct--that's why I say the Land of Ultimate Bliss is not so far away. In one thought, turn the light within. Know that originally you are the Buddha, and your original Buddhahood is just the Land of Ultimate Bliss. -- from The Song of Mindfulness of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, by Hsuan Hua, http://www.gbm-online.com/dharma/song.html

The Land of Ultimate Bliss is the Pure Land of Bliss.

Though the Pure Land is many thousands of millions of Buddhalands from here, it is at the same time very close to each one of us.

It begins by awakening to your own original true mind, realizing that, as Dharma Master Thich Thien Tam writes, "to recite is Buddha, to recite is Mind". -- http://www.geocities.com/amitabha48vows/bwf72.htm

How does one awaken to the true mind?

Through the method known as "Buddha Recitation-essence".

When devotees who practise with unwavering faith in the Pure Land of Bliss, also come to "deeply realize that the Pure Land and Amida Buddha are all in the True Mind, manifested by the pure virtues of the True Mind."

The Primal Vow: Liberation of All Sentient Beings

In 18th Vow, Dharmakara vowed:
"If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offenses and abuse the right Dharma." - http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/48-bosatsu-vows.shtml

Of those sentient beings who commit the five gravest offenses and abuse the right Dharma, Shinran wrote that when they repent of their transgressions, they step crosswise from the path to hell onto the path to the Pure Land.

All it takes is the willingness to admit to their mistakes, make amends and change their ways.

According to Kyo Gyo Shin Sho (KGSS) 6: 75 - http://www.shinranworks.com/majorexpositions/kgssVI-73_80.htm
Shinran did not object to uttering the Nembutsu out of repentance for committing one of the five gravest offenses.

The five gravest offenses consist of "Killing father, mother, monk, injuring the Buddha, and creating schisms in the Sangha (Hinayana Buddhism); vandalizing temples, statues, and scriptures, slandering the teaching, obstructing religious practices, violating the five precepts and committing ten evils (Mahayana Buddhism)." - http://www.livingdharma.org/Tannisho/TannishoGlossary.html

Regarding abuse of the right Dharma, in KGSS 6:80 Shinran states:
"there is no dharma that can be abused, for the right dharma cannot be practiced in the latter part of the semblance dharma-age and in the last dharma-age. What is there that can be called abuse of the dharma? There are no precepts to be broken. Who is there that can be called one who breaks precepts?"

Shinran wrote the above as part of the response to the question, "how do we know that the Nirvana Sutra and the other sutras prohibit breaking precepts during the right dharma-age and that this does not apply to monks of the semblance and last dharma-ages?"

Thus the exception becomes null and void in the real world.

All sentient beings "who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me (Amida), desire to be born in my (Amida's) land, and call my (Amida's) Name, even ten times" are to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss.

First this occurs as the belief that the Pure Land is right here in the Shin Buddhist's heart-mind.

With faith that the Pure Land practitioner will be reborn in the Pure Land comes the faith that Amida and His Pure Land are right here, right now in his heart.

In saying the Nembutsu sincerely and joyfully with single-minded devotion, be it once or even ten times, the Shin Buddhist turns belief in the Pure Land into faith in the Pure Land.

Thus by such practice, the Pure Land practitioner puts trust in Amida, out of desire to be born in His land.

In this way does the Primal Vow liberate all sentient beings.

Mere Notion Is Real (poem)

While Buddha Nature is but a notion,
how does it exist in the body?
It exists just as the heart-mind exists
when one is deep in meditation,
eyes opened and mind awakened
to the glory of the Absolute.

Phytochemicals as Nutraceuticals

Phytochemicals in plants are sometimes the most colorful parts of the plant.

Not only are they colorful, some of them are vital nutriceuticals for prevention of cancer and other auto-immune diseases such as diabetes.

Most phytochemicals are antioxidants, which help to neutralize free radicals.

Nutraceuticals are able to treat and sometimes cure diseases. As well, with nutraceutical supplementation, it is possible to reduce the use of pharmaceuticals.

For more information on nutraceuticals, see http://www.benbest.com/nutrceut/nutrceut.html.

Don't Go by Gossip and Rumor

Don't go by gossip and rumor, nor by what's told you by others, nor by what you hear said, nor even by the authority of your traditional teachings. Don't go by reasoning, nor by inferring one thing from another, nor by argument about methods, nor from liking an opinion, nor from awe of the teacher and thinking he must be deferred to.

Instead, when you know from within yourselves that certain teachings are not good, that when put into practice they lead to loss and suffering, you must then trust yourselves and reject them.

-Anguttara Nikaya

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is not just a word or a discourse by the Buddha, but a meaningful state of mind. It means we have to be here now, in this very moment, and we have to know what is happening internally and externally. It means being alert to our motives and learning to change unwholesome thoughts and emotions into wholesome ones. Mindfulness is a mental activity that in due course eliminates all suffering.

-Ayya Khema, "Be an Island"

For this old fool, mindfulness is a state of mind experienced in the present moment, aware of what is on his mind, in his heart, and happening around him.

As a result, he becomes aware of his motives, and changes harmful thoughts and emotions into beneficial ones.

How so? By meditating on eliminating harmful thoughts as they arise and creating beneficial thoughts.

For harmful thoughts lead to suffering, and beneficial ones lead to happiness.

Eventually, mindfulness eliminates suffering.

Unwholesome thoughts and emotions refers to the unwholesome actions known by the Buddhist term, klesha.

Also included are the five hindrances of desire, anger, sloth-torpor, restlessness-craving and doubt.

Then there is lust and craving.

This is followed by the ten defilements and unwholesome roots; greed, hate, delusion, conceit, wrong views,doubt, torpor, restlessness, shamelessness, and recklessness.

Then comes the round of defilements: ignorance, craving and clinging.

Finally there are the three poisons: ignorance, attachment, and aversion.

According to what the Buddha said, doing these unwholesome actions cause suffering. To change these unwholesome action into wholesome action is to NOT DO THEM.

In their place, the devotee practices virtues such as the Four Immeasurables: loving-kindness or benevolence, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity (compassionate evenmindedness).

With regard to equanimity, it is described as mental stability in the face of changes of a person's circumstances. Regardless of whether she is rich or poor, the devotee displays evenness of mind, an enduring freedom of mind, For equanimity complements the other three virtues.

---

Klesha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_%28Buddhism%29
Four Immeasurables: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara
Equanimity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upekkha

The fool torments himself

'I have sons, I have wealth'--
the fool torments himself.
When even he himself
doesn't belong to himself,
how then sons?
How wealth?

A fool with a sense of his foolishness
is--at least to that extent--wise.
But a fool who thinks himself wise
really deserves to be called
a fool.

-Dhammapada, 5, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Peace of Mind (poem)

Peace of mind is found
in only a single word,
and that word is Truth.

For truth frees the seeker to
walk the Middle Way
without a doubt, accepting
things as they are, with
gratitude to the Buddha.

Thus Truth takes but faith,
acceptance and gratitude
to make peace of mind.

One Word That Gives Peace

Better than a thousand useless words is one word that gives peace. — Buddha

Do The Great

Do the great while it is still small.
-Tao Te Ching

This quote is from the Cleary version of the Dao De Jing, Chapter 63, Verse 3

¨Plan for difficulty when it is still easy, do the great while it is still small.¨

The Pure Land as Waystation

Within the Shin Buddhist tradition, it is Amida Buddha who shows the way to the Pure Land of Bliss.

For the Pure Land is a waystation for the bodhisattva within to return to that state of spiritual bliss temporarily.

Out of full acceptance and gratitude, the Shin Buddhist returns to the real world to help other people suffer less.

The Buddha is A Shower of the Way Only

Although nirvana does exist and the way to it exists and I, an adviser, also exist, some of my followers will attain the unchanging goal but others will not. There is nothing I can do in this matter. All I can be is a shower of the way. - The Buddha

According to what the Buddha said in the above quote, not all Buddhists will attain spiritual awakening or even nirvana.

Yet this is no reason to give up the Middle Path out of fear that one will never become awakened.

For the active meditation taught by a venerable Buddhist master is useful to reduce stress.

In reducing stress, the Buddhist is able to focus on what needs to be done in daily living.

Indeed, the Buddhadharma is for the Buddhist to practise equinamity towards others, to look beyond another person's limitations, and to respect all people as Bodhisattvas.

So, yes! The Buddha is a shower of the way of the Middle Path of moderation.

Neither Self nor Other (poem)

In the face of reality’s illumination
There is neither self nor other,
No duality, no division-void of identity
And yet neither void
Nor not void,
There’s no perceiver at all.
Eh Ma! Until a mountain yogi
Has realized well the meaning of this,
He should not disparage cause and result!

-Drinking the Mountain Stream: Songs of Tibet’s Beloved Saint, Milarepa

Prerequisites to Being a Buddhist

"If you would like to be with me and to find comfort that way, the first thing for you to learn is the right behavior. Go back to your home and learn to do as your parents want, continue to recite your prayers, and work hard in your daily life. At the same time, clean yourself up, put on proper clothes, and don't neglect yourself again. When you've learned this, come back to me and you may be allowed to become one of my followers."

-Dhammapada

Modspil and The Active Broadening of Our Perception of the World

We begin with "modspil", which got mistranslated into "opposition", at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/15/wqueen15.xml

In context, from wikipedia's article on Queen Margrethe, it is stated:

A statement in a 2005 autobiography about the Queen has been wrongly translated by an english newspaper article. Newspapers in some Muslim countries has unfortunately carried that false translation, giving notion to the belief in the Arab world that the Queen has strong reservations about Muslim immigration into Denmark.

The false interpretation used in the headline and as a general point in the article is: "We have to show our opposition to Islam". The correct translation would be: "We have to show an alternative to the totalitarity that is also one of the sides of Islam". The actual words which the Queen told the author of the book, Annelise Bistrup, is (in Danish): Der må vises et "modspil" mod den "totalitet, som også er en side af Islam". The mistranslated word is "modspil" (which can never mean opposition).

According to wikipedia, "modspil is used when two parties articulate different views on a matter as part of a discussion."

In the case of Denmark, the Danish government has benefited the 300,000 Muslims in their country. As a result, the standard of living for most Muslims in Denmark has improved over their brothers and sisters in the Arab world.

The author of the article at wikipedia goes on to state that "the word is used in the context of political discussions, and perhaps most often in the context of love and relationships. When you say that your partner gives you modspil, it means that he/she actively broadens your horizon (perception of the world) by taking an active part in your relationship."

So Queen Margrethe II actually said that, by active participation in their relationship with each other, both non-Muslims and Muslims will actively broaden their perception of the world.

Thus when she actually wrote, "We have to show an alternative to the totalitarity that is also one of the sides of Islam", Queen Margrethe implies that we have to actively engage Islam so that it actively broadens our perception of the world.

With our horizons broadened, may the Christian come to see the world through Muslim eyes, and the Muslim, through Christian eyes, so that each side views the world with the believer's heart.

This is what I feel as a Buddhist is happening in the free world.


Wikipedia article on Queen Margrethe II:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margrethe_II_of_Denmark

Wikipedia article on the etymology of the word modspil: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_the_word_modspil

Leave Your Mind in Its Natural State

Leave the mind in its natural, undisturbed state.
Don't follow thoughts of "This is a problem, that is a problem!"
Without labeling difficulties as problems,
leave your mind in its natural state.
In this way, you will stop seeing miserable conditions as problems."

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Transforming Problems Into Happiness"

Shin Buddhists venerated and protected by the gods

When we say "Namu-amida-butsu,"
Brahma and Indra venerate us;
All the benevolent gods of the heavens
Protect us constantly, day and night.

When we say "Namu-amida-butsu,"
The four great deva-kings together
Protect us constantly, day and night,
And let no evil spirits come near.

...

When we say "Namu-amida-butsu,"
Nanda, Upananda, and the other great nagas,
Along with the countless naga-gods, revere
And protect us constantly, day and night.

When we say "Namu-amida-butsu,"
Yama, the king of the dead, reveres us,
And the officers who judge the beings of the five courses of existence
All protect us constantly, day and night.

When we say "Namu-amida-butsu,"
We are protected by the great king of maras
Residing in the sixth heaven;
This he vowed to do in the presence of Sakyamuni Buddha.

The gods of the heavens and earth
Are all to be called good,
For together they protect
The person of the nembutsu.

-- Hymns of the Pure Land, stanzas 100-101, 102-106

---

Originally posted: February 5, 2006 2232H
Update posted: March 7, 2013 0237H

Reference:
Within the context of the hell realm, the five courses of existence refers to the god realm, the demi-god realm, the human realm, the animal realm, and the hungry ghosts realm.

Brahmāloka may be the sixth heaven.

Vow of Three Treasures

To the end of time, I take refuge in the Buddha;
To the end of time, I take refuge in the Dharma;
To the end of time, I take refuge in the Sangha.

This vow is the most valuable of all spiritual practices in Buddhism.

Once you make it, breaking it would lead to the eight wrongs as opposed to the rights of the Eightfold Path.

So choose carefully how sincerely you read the three treasured vows

This Planet Our Only Home

The whole of humanity is…one human family. This planet is our only home.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lam

G3, Power Macintoshes - All are easy to use and repair

I've graduated to Macintoshes, which are relatively easy for me to figure out how to open.

Neat, nifty, but proprietary system.

I now have a 266 MHz G3 All-in-one, a 7200/120 and a 7300/180.

On the latter Power Macintoshes I've learned that memory must be matched by speed and size.

Dang! Lost 64 Mb with mismatched 32 Mb with different speeds.

Nonresistance does not mean open space

Resistance does not mean walls and fences, nonresistance does not mean open space. If you can understand in this way, mind and matter are fundamentally the same.

-Tsu-hsin

Once the Self-mind is Seen

The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots, no home,
Nor do the distinctive thoughts floating through the mind.
Once the Self-mind is seen,
Discrimination stops.

-Tilopa, "The Song of Mahamudra"