Konkeri la Mem / Conquer the Self (poem)

N'estas mi kaj ne mia,
nei la permanenta memo.
Konkeros la mem
Vi majstri mem.
Farante tiel, vi estas
Sur via vojo al libereco.
—English translation—
Not me nor mine,
deny the permanent self.
By conquering the self
You master yourself.
By doing so, you are
On your way to freedom.

The Four Nevers (Samaya)

The Bodhi Mind (bodhicitta) is the cause.
Great Compassion is the root and foundation.
Skillful means are the ultimate. — Mahavairocana Sutra

Through skillful means, the view of enlightenment is fulfilled in compassion towards other sentient beings.

For all sentient beings, be they Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, gods and demons, humans, hungry ghosts, and all of suffering the hells are primordial pure.

Thus they were born basically good, but, due to conditioning, all beings appear to be sentient.

Like a mirror in a sandstorm, the mind is subject to mental and physical negativities as a result of conditioning. No matter how much we wipe the mirror clean, the dust of worldliness soon shall settle on it.

Thus, the disciple commits to the Four Nevers:

• Never to abandon the True Dharma.
  
• Never to negate bodhicitta.
  
• Never to withhold or be selective of Buddhist teachings toward others.
  
• Never to cause any sentient being any harm.

Holding the True Dharma dear, the disciple consistently remembers the Buddha. Holding the bodhicitta dear, the disciple is caused by it to become Buddha. Holding the Buddhist teachings dear, the disciple shares the wisdom of the Buddhadharma that he has gleaned only with his fellow disciples. Holding life dear, the disciple refrains from harming any sentient being.

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Reference:

Samaya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaya

Birth and Death and the Middle Way

Life is the companion of death,
death is the beginning of life.
Who understands their workings?
Man's life is a coming together of breath.
If it comes together, there is life;
if it scatters, there is death.
And if life and death are companions to each other,
then what is there for us to be anxious about?
— Chuang Tzu

A society that fears death such that almost everyone refuses to discuss death "out of respect for the dead" has thus paid false respect for their dead.

If such a society has no coming-of-age ritual to inculcate fearlessness in the face of death, then making death taboo is a cowardly act.

By fearing death, a person is but a coward when society treasures life so much that mass media glorifies youth to the point where the elderly are mocked by placing them in old age homes to die.

Western society thus is rendered sick in the sense that we associate death with sadness and despair to the point where the dead's living relatives are called "survivors".

In Taoism, Chuang Tzu wrote the truth about how death should be treated, as a companion of life.

Furthermore, viewing death as the beginning of life makes more sense than seeing it as the end of life.

Death is only the end of life when we ignore the afterlife.

Because society sees any depiction of the afterlife as fiction, it makes sense that death is taboo.

Such a society would rather let mass media manufacture a violent parody of life than make a film about the afterlife according to Buddhism.

Indeed, there has never been a movie about the Tibetan Buddhist afterlife, despite a book being written about Tibetans who have returned from the dead to tell about it.

Is it because the Dalai Lama forbids it? Or is it out of false piety and respect for the Tibetans that Hollywood has yet to finance such a venture?

Personally I find the Buddhist afterlife to be a place where anything can happen. I could be reborn in the hells and suffer according to the evil karma I have accumulated in this life. Eons later, I may spend time in the hungry ghost realm not taking any pleasure from eating.

Later on, I may be reborn as a worm in the animal realm, only to be eaten by a bird. Then I might be reborn as a girl in the human realm. Many eons later, I could end up in the demon realm and fight with other demons.

Much later, I may be reborn in the realm of gods and live a long life only to be reborn in one of the Buddhist heavens.

However, each rebirth still requires hearing the Dharma and turning away from evil. In this case, karmic evil would occur when I act according to the realm in which I am reborn.

In the human realm, to act like other humans requires committing evil karma. All the things humanity does to glorify humankind cannot help but create seeds of evil karma which only leads to rebirth in samsara, the realms of desire — the hells, hungry ghost, animal, human, demons and gods.

What kind of existence is this? Is it worth being reborn endlessly due to evil karma?

I do not believe so. For samsara is not humanity's destiny if we choose to live according to the Buddhadharma.

Contrary to what the brahmins of Santanadharma preach, rebirth in samsara is not a person's destiny when she chooses to become a Buddha.

In choosing to become a Buddha, even one sentient being abandons ignorance for the greater good of all sentient beings. This happened to Gotama over 2500 years ago. He became Sakyamuni Buddha in one lifetime, and discovered that he too spent previous lifetimes as a Bodhisattva, preparing for Nirvana.

Even after his mahaparinirvana, which appears to us as an earthly death, the Buddha was liberated to be whatever it is causes each Buddhist to abandon human existence in samsara to become like him.

He could be your Buddhist teacher, a guru, or even someone you hate. He might appear as your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your family, or even that bully who beat you up in Grade Two.

Whenever whatever another person does to us, good or bad, if we are inspired to learn from it and become better than we were before, then that is due to the Buddhadharma.

For it is the Buddha's aim to liberate all sentient beings from human existence and not be reborn in Samsara.

Each liberated sentient being is destined to become a Buddha when she has heard the Buddhadharma — the Four Noble Truths, dependent arising — and, repenting her former life, jumps over to the Middle Way.

Four Popular Bodhisattvas of Compassion

In Buddhism, the devoted practitioner develops the Bodhi Mind on hearing the Dharma.

The Bodhi Mind consist of the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.

Arising from the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings is the concept of the bodhisattva.

According to certain schools of Buddhism, the four most popular bodhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara, the Taras, Manjusri, and Ksitigarbha.

Avalokiteshvara is the most popular bodhisattva, being the symbol of compassion. In his female form, popular in China, she is called Kuan-yin; and in Japan, as Kwannon or Kannon. She is known as the spiritual mother of all sentient beings.

In Tibetan Buddha, Avalokiteshvara is the essence of the speech of all the buddhas and the incarnation of their compassion.


The Taras are most popular in Tibet. They range from two (the white Tara, which is represented by the white lotus symbolizing day, and the green Tara, which is represented by the blue lotus symbolizing night) to as many as 21 Taras.

In all of her many forms, Tara represents compassion and enlightened activity.

One form of White Tara in Tibetan Buddha is White Tara Wishfulfilling Wheel. She is associated with longevity and one of the three deities of long life.

Green Tara is the popular form of Tara in Tibetan Buddhism. She represents protection of the disciple by the Buddhas.

Overall, Tara presents prosperity.

Today, Tara practice has been introduced to the New Age religions in the West.

It is said that in ancient Tibet that every virtuous and pious woman is the incarnation of Tara.


Manjusri is another popular bodhisattva in Buddhism. He represents wisdom, intelligence and willpower. In Buddhism, Manjusri is the spiritual father and mother of bodhisattvas.

Known as the King of all tantras in Tibetan Buddhism, Chanting the Names of Manjushri is a famous praise of the bodhisattva.

Adoration of Manjusri empowers his devotee with divine wisdom, mastery of the Dharma, an infallible memory, mental perfection, and eloquence.


Ksitigarbha is known as the bodhisattva of hell. He consoles the beings in hell.

Motivated by compassion, he delayed becoming a buddha so that he could help the beings destined through their karma to rebirth in hell.

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References:

Bodhisattvas of Compassion: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/b_fbodi.htm
Avalokiteshvara: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Avalokiteshvara
White Tara Wishfulfilling Wheel: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=White_Tara_Wishfulfilling_Wheel
Tara: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Tara
Chanting the Names of Manjusri: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Chanting_the_Names_of_Manjushri

The wise man strives to no goals

If you wish to move in the One Way
do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to accept them fully
is identical with true Enlightenment.
The wise man strives to no goals
but the foolish man fetters himself.
There is one Dharma, not many;
distinctions arise
from the clinging needs of the ignorant.
To seek Mind with the [discriminating] mind
is the greatest of all mistakes.

-Seng-tsan, "Verses on the Faith Mind"

To seek Mind with the Faith Mind, one accepts fully the world of senses and ideas.

Yet the diligent Buddhist detaches herself from the five senses and does not cling mindlessly to ideas due to mindful practice.

Regarding goals, only a fool would be fettered to many goals, lest the goal that leads to the One Way be lost. For the wise man who strives to no goals knows that samsara is Nirvana. Because his life is not determined by goals, he follows the One Way.

Although it seems that there are many paths to Enlightenment as there are grains of sand on the beach, there is only the One Way, the Dharma Path to Enlightenment.

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Originally published: November 18, 2005 at 1158H
Edited February 6, 2013 at 2117H

Keep Walking Forward!

The Dharma Path is to keep walking forward. But the true Dharma has no going forward, no going backward, and no standing still.

-Ajahn Chah, "Still Forest Pool"

Commentary:

That's because the true Dharma is fully in the present guiding us along the Dharma Path to Enlightenment.

Every Buddhist who makes the whole-hearted commitment to the Buddha walks on that path.

To which I add with gusto: Walk on!

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Originally published: December 21, 2005 at 2135H
Updated: February 6, 2013 at 2043H

Meditate On and Develop Compassion

If we pick up the handle, we pick up the pot. Similarly, if we meditate on and develop compassion—the wish that all others be without suffering—we hold within us the essence of all other Dharma practices.

-Geshe Hgawang Dhargyey, "Advice From a Spiritual Friend"

May all beings be without suffering,
May all beings be without want,
May all beings be free.

In believing what the Buddha said, I mindfully believe in the Buddhadharma.

For the Four Noble Truths tell us that life is full of suffering, that suffering is due to ignorant craving, that suffering can be remedied, and the cure for suffering is the Eightfold Path which I follow by practicing meditation with Buddha Recitation.

Of course, this is the Buddhist practice I currently follow because it is the best of what I have leaned in the Pure Land School of Buddhism. However, there are other Buddhist practices which also work, but my practices work for me.

Nothing in my practices are New Age. From meditation, I do not develop magical powers like telepathy or astral projection. Rather, my mind is made calm by meditating so that I am able to think clearly and critically.

As well, I am able to practice mindfulness in my daily activities by remaining in the present moment.

By meditating, I develop compassion for all sentient beings.

When someone hurts, I am concerned for their welfare, especially when they are close friends and loved ones.

Thus my concern goes beyond empathy. When I meditate, it is done for all sentient beings.

By burning off my evil karma through meditation and Buddha Recitation, I fulfill my commitment to being a Buddhist.

I am thankful to the Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha.

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Originally created on January 17, 2006 at 2258H
Last updated on February 12, 2013 at 1400H

The Good Antidote

For me Buddhism is a good antidote for belief in superstition and the supernatural.

Such beliefs arise from ignorance, regardless of the volumes of knowledge associated with superstitions such as numerology.

All I need to do to counteract superstition and belief in the supernatural is to meditate until my mind is cleared of all doubt. It is easy to discern whether particular symbols are superstition.

Take for example the number 13. It's just a number to me. When I was a child, I used to believe that 13 might have some supernatural significance.

Today, it's an unlucky number to the superstitious but not to me. In fact, I think of it as a "lucky" number because 13 is a prime number, the second in the series starting with 11 and ending with 19.

However, there is no luck involved: for numbers only have use to do math.

As for belief in the supernatural, I have long practiced Buddhism and believe in it so strongly that my belief in the supernatural as a child is all gone.

Indeed, the supernatural may have emotional appeal to the spiritually ignorant, but to Buddhists, the Buddha has greater appeal.

To me, the supernatural has little appeal at all because my faith in the Buddha is stronger than the childlike world of make-believe.

For meditation has trained me to wield my imagination as a tool that helps me to see Buddhism as a toolkit designed to think critically, and to entertain skepticism about
other belief systems.

Furthermore, Buddhism helps me to enshrine most of the various aspects such as Buddhas and bodhisattvas as qualities of the mind. In a way, the Buddha world called Pure Land of Bliss could be considered a state of mind, once I suspend disbelief and use my imagination to envision it through meditation.

By doing so, I am not practicing a superstition or engaging the supernatural. Rather, I am maintaining the clear mind to see through superstitions as unneeded distractions.

With clarity of mind, I see that faith in the Buddhadharma as practiced through Buddha Remembrance helps me to see the folly of believing in the supernatural.

For the Nembutsu, being the Name-that-calls, may be considered as Amida Buddha calling through me. This shows how closely I treasure the Buddha.

Even so, I must stress that meditation is practiced by Buddhists to clear the mind so that the sutras can be understood and applied to one's life.

As for the Nembutsu, it help me to remember the Buddha, and to develop the Bodhi Mind that arises from meditation.

Through faith in the Buddha am I truly freed from ignorance which is perpetuated by superstition and belief in the supernatural.

For Buddhism is a good antidote for ignorance.

Buddhism is not Mysticism

Buddhism is not a mysticism. Rather, Buddhism is a toolkit to relief psychic suffering. As part of that relief, it teaches transcendence of ego — the self which arises through ignorant craving.

That transcendence of ego is called the transcendent Self and is also known as the Diamond Mind.

Rejection of the transcendent Self is rejection of the Diamond Mind, and of the Buddha himself.

For the true Reality of the Self is often occulted by academics whose commentaries on the Buddhist sutras sometimes leads the skeptics to the false belief that Buddhism is a form of mysticism.

By hiding the fact that Adi Buddha is reflected in the Five Wisdom Buddhas, so too is the fact that personal experience is reflected in the experience of everyone.

Yet academics who have no experience in Buddhism, who have not heard the Buddhadharma, and who then write of the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self, suggest that each of us has the potential to become bodhisattvas and ultimately Buddhas.

For the fallacy of potential nirvana is that the average person is often adverse to exercise his potential under the mistaken assumption that it's not for him and that it's all a bunch of hogwash, too.

However, I beg to differ and present you with the following analogy to encourage the willing among you to exercise your potential to become awakened and achieve Nirvana.

When we were children, we had the potential to graduate from high school. We learned to read and write, and to do math. Today, we are able to read and write, as well as add, subtract and multiply.

Likewise, in learning about the Four Noble Truths, and dependent arising, it is then possible to go on to learn about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self. It is even possible to understand that the spiritual nature of Adi Buddha is reflected in the 102 Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana).

For Buddhism is not mysticism, for the Four Noble Truths is proof of that.

Learning about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self helps us to go beyond meditating to achieve the clear mind to see that the Diamond Mind is achieved through meditation and study of the sutras. Such learning is also not mysticism.

As well, Adi Buddha is not mysticism.

For mysticism requires only one thing: a mind confused by the ego lost in ignorant craving. Since the purpose of Buddhism is to remove confusion by pacifying ignorant craving through meditation to achieve the mind of clarity and the heart of peace, the result is the true heartmind which is able to see that Buddha-Nature is in all sentient beings.

Indeed, the heartmind is able to see that all sentient beings are originally bodhisattva who have the potential to become Buddha.

Great Nirvana

When the Buddha died, his death was no ordinary death.

For in the eyes of the Buddha sages who knew him, it was seen as the mahaparinirvana. the blowing out of a spiritual life, and the transcendence of a great sage over the endless cycle of birth, life, and death.

In essence, mahaparinirvana is derived from "maha" (great) and "parinirvana" (the death of a truly awakened spiritual master), and means the great final death of the truly awakened. With respect to the Buddha, when the death has arrived for the truly awakened, their death is no ordinary death. In the Buddha's case, flowers bloomed out of season on trees that during the winter monsoon stand dormant.

Thus the nirvana of the Buddha was when his karma blew out the light of transmigration. All his actions on the way to realizing his buddhahood bore the fruit of Nirvana. After this moment in his life, he became the teacher of the Buddhadharma.

What the Buddha taught was dependent arising / dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths, but he followed it up with teachings about the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha. While dependent arising and the Four Noble Truths describe the phenomenon of suffering, its cause and its cure, the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha describe the phenomenon of personal experience and the noumenon of cosmic (transcendent) experience.

What is the Buddha-dhatu? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Nature (Buddha Principle), "Hidden" implies that personal experience occults that spark of Buddha-dhatu in all sentient beings. "Unconditioned" implies further that even though Buddha-dhatu is hidden, it remains pure, real and true.

Quite simply, the Buddha-dhatu is the potential for spiritual awakening to ultimate Reality which is changeless. This potential must be realized, lest the Buddhist who hears the Buddha's teachings be seduced by the lie that there is only one Buddha.

In actual fact, while there may be many Buddhas, there is only one Gautama Buddha.

What is the Tathagatagarbha? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Matrix within which Buddha-dhatu helps the practitioner become truly awakened. Through the aid of Buddha-dhatu, one realizes that one is already awake. Thus the truly awakened are already awake, and she who is already awake is primordially awake. For being awake results from being good, since it is the working of primordial goodness.

Yet Tathagatagarbha is the essence of Dharmakaya, the ultimate level of being. of the Buddha and of all sentient life. With the help of Buddha-dhatu, even you or I may one day be awakened to the reality of primordial goodness. For our original nature is indeed Buddha Nature.

Even so, the pragmatic among the followers of the Buddhadharma may ask, "If originally we are born awakened, then what's the point of the ritual of chanting and meditation?"

When we realize we are originally awaken beings, bodhisattvas in the making, this is because we have heard what the Buddha said, both through hearing his teachings, reading what the Buddha said and comments about what he said, and the practice of chanting of his Name-that-calls.

Personal experience without hearing the Buddhadharma, reading sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance would only hide our primordial awakened state.

This is why hearing the Dharma, reading the sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance is necessary to realize the cosmic experience that all is Buddha.

For just as Adi-Buddha is reflected in the 108 Buddhas, so too is the Buddha reflected in all sentient beings, including the bodhisattvas.

All it takes to uncover this primordial goodness inherent in all beings is to hear the Buddadharma.

Though, it requires more than merely listening with the ears; to hear the Buddhadharma, one must listen with one's heart. This is known as teaching the heart to be at one with the mind until with practice, one hears with the heartmind.

In conclusion, the Great Nirvana of the Buddha is his transcendence beyond the samsaric cycle of transmigration. Though his body died, his spirit lives on.

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nirvanasutra.net: http://www.nirvanasutra.net
parinirvana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana
Buddha-dhatu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha-dhatu

Like the Essence of Dharma (poem)

Hard it is to be born poor,
even harder to accept is
becoming poor when once rich.
Free are creatures small
that fly about or crawl,
but freer still is Man.

Liberation is a process binding
all sentient beings to samsara,
yet freeing the one thing
sentient being have: consciousness.
For it is the consciousness
that Nirvana frees, not the soul.
For consciousness is non-self,
and on contemplating
the whole universe,
is contained within the heart-mind.

When such joy is found,
easy is the peace of mind
regardless of want.
Craving thus ended is gone,
replaced by calm abiding.
Easier is acceptance
of one's lot in life,
to not strive needlessly, lest
the joy of being
is traded in for gold.

For the joy of being is
more precious than gold itself.
It is more precious
than the sweet life.
Those who have never tasted
the sweetness of life
are free of mental caries
which lead to sadness —
they know the Void is all things.

For the Void is the Buddha womb
which gives birth to peace,
within your heart-mind, but calls
out to you calmly,
that peace called Buddha Nature.
All "I", "me", or "mine"
are but conceptions, not things
which last forever &mdash
If "I" truly existed,
it would always weep
for lack of profit, but then
the selfless know well
the folly of such delusions.
If "me" existed,what would be
the point of "you" except
to make the world less lonely?
If "mine" existed, would that
allow "yours" to share?
Thinking these conceptions things,
each of us is free to choose
the delusions or let go
of it, to uncover peace of mind.

With peace comes the calm mind,
achieved through careful contemplation
whilst letting go of conceptions,
and holding onto nothingness,
the seed of well being,
freed in spite of strife,
close to the struggle called life,
yet closer still in the midst of
physical poverty to the endless process
called by many names: freedom,
joy of being, letting go, liberation...
Ignore the distraction of egoistic Love,
lest it be the death of Nirvana.

Holding tightly, the ignorant fear such freedom —
death overtakes everyone.
And yet, the Buddha
Shows a shining example.
Letting go, the seeker is free
to explore nothingness,
which is filled with potential
far greater than death:
the pure joy of peace of mind!

Where once these words first brought fear,
they shall bring joy on the retelling.
Contained within what was written is like
the essence of the Dharma,
but feel free to doubt this.
To anyone who fails to research anything
written here, and, in fleeing, hides
behind disbelief: walk on with lack of faith
but respect the Buddha as the mother of boundless joy.

The Buddha Is not A God

It's like deja vu, because I remember writing a previous blog about this topic a few years ago. However, this present entry is based on a higher realization than the previous post was. When I'm done with this one, it's in my best interest to find the previous one, to reference a link to it.

Regarding Buddhism, the Buddha is not a god, yet Buddha-essence is like a gift given to everyone on birth. It takes the Buddha's story to awaken this essence, and every Buddhist who keeps his story a secret is turning the Buddha away. For everyone is free to become a buddha, yet few of them are ready. For they who are unready have yet to understand what the Buddha means to them.

For me, the Buddha means peaceful bliss and the aspiration to be of service to anyone seeking the calm awakening that meditation provides.

Indeed, meditation leads to Nirvana, for it is peace of mind and it is the "other shore" from samsara, this world of birth-life-death.

If this is a turn-off to atheists, then that's their karma for confusing Mahayana Buddhism with monotheism. IMHO Zen Buddhists are closet atheists.

Since Buddhism is the source of my pacifism, my opinions about other Buddhist streams like Zen are biases inculcated in my heart due to the sometimes patriarchal nature of the master-disciple relationship.

True Mahayana Buddhism encourages the equality of all, yet Zen is still stuck in a hierarchal structure that oppresses rather than frees its disciples.

Being free of book-learning, Zen does not promote ignorance as the wise Zen sages have read the sutras. Rather, the no-books faction in Zen imply that quoting the sutras does not make you a Buddhist. Right action then is when the earnest Buddhist practices what he has learned from the sutras in his life.

This then is the essence of Mahayana, for we are all disciples of the Buddhadharma.

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Reference:
Amida Buddha is not a God: http://gandhara.blogspot.ca/2011/05/amida-buddha-not-god.html

The Pure Land Explained

In this blog entry, I will first explain what a Buddha is and isn't. Next, the Pure Land of Bliss will be briefly explained. Then I'm going explain it in terms of the multiverse hypothesis.

Buddha is originally defined as a person who decides to become spiritually awakened out of compassion for the suffering in the world.

However, within certain Mahayana sects, a Buddha is also defined as the incarnation of a person who becomes a Buddhist monk of a spiritually high rank. He then vows to be reborn as a Buddha by making a series of vows to realize the Buddha world in which he is reborn.

In his meditations, he visualizes this Buddha world in detail. Then he reports it to his fellow Buddhists to help inspire them to reach the same spiritually high rank.

But is a Buddha a god? Not in the sense of a Creator since a Buddha is reborn in his Buddha world.

So is the Buddhist monk who realizes this Buddha world a god? Not at all, for the karma of his vow to be reborn as a Buddha resulted in that world being "created."

Yet that monk is still a man, who was born, sought to relieve suffering by becoming a monk, and reached parinirvana on his death.

Therefore a Buddha is not a god.

In the case of the Pure Land of Bliss, the Buddha reborn in it is Amida Buddha. In his previous incarnation, possibly in another system of worlds, he was the monk Dharmakara. Formerly a king, he learned of the Buddhist teachings through the Buddha Lovesvararaja and renounced his throne.

Resolving to become a Buddha, he came into the possession of a Buddha world, a world existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary space time through the merit of his meditation practice, a world having many perfections.

Through his 48 vows, his resolutions were expressed. These vows described the type of Buddha world Dharmakara visualized in his meditations, the conditions for beings that might be born in that world, and the kind of beings that would be reborn there.

After many rebirths accumulating great merit, Amida achieved buddhahood and still dwells in the Buddha world called the "Pure Land of Bliss."

Suppose for a moment though, that Buddha worlds, Pure Lands and even other systems of worlds, are a part of a specific multiverse. Let's call that multiverse Buddhadharma.

In Buddhadharma, the Indian gods also come to visit a Buddha world of their choice. Once they appear there, the gods listen as the Buddha who resides there instructs the bodhisattvas on their mission before each one of them is reborn in anther part of the Buddhist multiverse. These bodhisattvas are Buddhist laymen, monks and nuns who aspired to be reborn in that Buddha world, and have yet to achieve Buddhahood.

As well, there are also many pesky demons which that Buddha has met in previous incarnations who wait outside the gate to this Buddha world, hoping to hear the Buddha as he instructs his disciples.

Furthermore, let's also imagine that the three worlds of existence (formless, form, and desire) of Buddhist cosmology also exist in the Buddhist multiverse.

Now, where do you suppose that multiverse exists? Why, in our imagination! Perhaps in our dreams, were we to aspire to be Buddhist, and in our lives, were we to dedicate ourselves to the Buddha.

Yet, I am of the opinion that the Buddhist multiverse exists in any sentient being's mind who learns the Buddha's teachings.

Dear Monotheists, Be it Christian, Jewish or Moslem

Your denial that Christianity is a syncretistic religion overlooked the fact that much of Christendom believes in the neo-Plastonic, and inherently pagan, concept of an immortal soul.

Truth is, nothing, not even the soul, lasts forever.

So my Buddhist truths make your holier-than-thou and anti-Nature view of man a form of terrorism.

The same goes for any monotheism that pretends good and evil are in eternal conflict. I have no apologies to fanatics from Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Your actions terrorized people in the past, and they continue to terrorize innocent people today throughout the world.

This is because of a positive acceptance of egotism, and because of it, Christians have fallen, Jews have been persecuted, and Muslims have burned embassies and killed ambassadors.

It is said that the greater jihad is not in killing the unbelievers but in controlling your desires.

Please meditate on what I have written before you reply.

Signed
A Buddhist

Affirmation on Life (poem)

Whatever happens in life,
I hold onto the positive aspect
and accept the negative as
inspiration to learn from
my mistakes without regret.

Indeed, I live for the moment
when what I have learned
helps me to see clearly
the path to life as-is.

What helps me the most
is careful meditation
on those mistakes
which results in change.

A Secret Treasure (Poem)

Because the wall has ears,
I will hide what I feel.
Because the world can see what I do,
I will act appropriately.
Because God knows my heart,
I am only honest with Him.

Yet I'm told I have to say aloud
what I share with God -
though my voice is soft,
and raising it is against my ways.
So I am hiding a secret treasure,
that no one sees or hears...

Compassion, humility, loving-kindness, mercy...
they are but reflections
of the mind of serenity
that quiet meditation brings to me,
this complex, imperfect person
who has opened his heart to God.

The Essence of Mahayana Buddhism

In Mahayana Buddhism, it is said that all sentient beings have Buddha Nature, and thus are buddhas.

To me, the term "buddha" means "one who helps and is of service to the Buddhist practitioner on the journey to enlightenment (nirvana)".

Within the context of Buddhism then, all sentient beings the practitioner encounters in life are buddhas who teach the Buddhadharma through validation of the the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Noble Path, and dependent arising.

However, so that the practitioner is not led astray, the Buddhist teachings are still required to be studied.

IMHO this is how the direct experience of all Buddhists teach the validity of Buddhism.

Indeed, even the illiterate who cannot read scripture would still have learned about Buddhism from a Buddhist scholar by listening to him talk about the Buddhadharma.

No-self (Non-self) as the Root of Nirvana

Egotism is a spiritual disease in which one thinks his ego is permanent, and others should worship it by treating him with respect.

However, ego does not exit and nor does soul.

All that transmigrates is the mind only in the form of consciousness.

Indeed, careful study of sunyata (emptiness) shows us that a mind empty of ego is free of rebirth and ripe for nirvana.

This spiritual truth may be validated by experience.

When you are full of yourself, please declare to the world that you are.

If people treat you with more respect, then they have respect for the ego.

If they do not treat you well, then they have no respect for ego.

If they ignore you, then this validates what the Buddha said about such folly.

For no-self is the root of nirvana, because the First Truth declares that all life is filled with unrest.

Indeed, the Second Truth tells us that it is endless craving, not desire, that causes such unrest.

In the Third Truth we learn that spiritual may be cured by satisfying such unrest through skillful means.

Finally the Fourth Truth presents the Eightfold Path as such means.

Through the Eightfold Path is the root of nirvana realized by helping us to see that no-self aids in bringing rest to the mind, and ultimately peace.

Buddhism is Just So

The Buddhadharma simple is living your life just as it is.

In viewing the world just so, and experiencing life just so, one neither vacillates between the extreme of nihilism and hedonism.

During meditation, the devotee resorts to using the pantheon to understand the concept of pantheism, and the concept of emptiness to know deeply interdependence and the multiverse as panentheistic, yet realizing the simple life is the fulfilled life.

This is what I've learned from simply meditating, and then studying the sutras and their commentaries, as the Buddhadharma suggests.

Use The Nembutsu to Transcend Fear of Death

With each call the Name-that-calls helps he who calls to transcend the fear of death.

That Amida Buddha and his Pure Land exist as a result of fulfillment of his 48 Vows is true because of millions of Pure Land followers' belief in him. It is that belief which helps them to transcend fear of death, because they will be reborn in the Pure Land due to their faith.

Fearless of death, the devotee is not foolish. She does not act or behave in a manner to risk death, but her conduct is such that each act is done out of devotion to Amida. She also practices all the Buddhist virtues faithfully. Through but one call to Amida, the resulting bliss helps her transcend fear of death.

Bliss leads to serenity, and serenity of mind leads to the pure mind which enjoys the non-practice of the Name.

For the non-practice of Nembutsu helps one to develop calm insight to comprehend the Buddhadharma and put its teachings into practice. The reason why the Name-that-calls transcends the fear of death with each call is because faith in Other Power motivates the devotee to utter the Name with sincere gratitude and out of pure joy.

That this is true is inconceivable to ordinary people, yet is understood by the faithful. There is no mystery involved in this practice, only simple faith in the Name-that-calls.

Thus do I place my faith in the Buddha.