What's Love (and Sex) Got to Do with Agapé and Eros

In grade school, it was fun to play with the girls until the boys shamed me into playing with them.

As well, I was subtly bullied by a girl in Grade 6 when in Grade 2, due to her frustration in teaching me math that was simple for her but mysterious to me.

Though that never stopped me from excelling at math.

Then after Grade Three I spent the summer holiday with my first crush.

However, he teasing in Grade Four after my classmates found out I had a summer crush led me to realise romance has to be discreet ie not in my hometown.

The fact that my mother put a stop to it due to being late for supper makes me cautious lest I ruin my relationship with my roommates.

However, the best kind of love is between friends. This love has many names, but two of them are familiarly known as Agape and Eros.

Both Agapé and Eros are two sides of the same coin called human love.

Human love is so fickle though.

Unconditional love demands us to stop placing conditions on love. This is why friends love each other dearly: their love is unconditioned.

However, the only rule in friendship is remain loyal to each other, though it is loyalty with discretion.

Yet friendships rely on each of us to respect each other's right to be free, and to grow as individuals.

However, do not expect a friend to do anything for you, since it may lead to conflict. Such an expectation is unreasonable since it expects too much of a friend.

Do expect a close friend to be there when you need them but remember: friends are not slaves to be toyed with.

If you want anyone who is your friend to become reliable, then be reliable to them. Do anything for them as is necessary, and limit yourselves accordingly.

A good friend is a loyal helpmate. You are that friend.

My first crush was my best female friend, not a girlfriend but a friend who happened to be a girl.

I am happy that such a friend exists for me.

It can only be platonic though, for a man ought to be mature enough to call BS on the myth about platonic friendships.

Indeed it is a pernicious lie to assume a platonic relationship has a subtle sexual ambiance to it.

This lie is based on the error about the mythical libido, which is misinterpreted as the sex drive.

Libido actually is related to life and its propagation, and can be successfully sublimed into service, be it work or play.

Returning to my first crush, it was play that brought us together. Yet duty to my family nipped that in the bud.

Thus the libido must often be tamed, lest friendships be threatened by its excess.

So, my mother helped me to tame my libido by putting a curfew on me.

I suppose the cruelty such as beatings and burning moxibustion only showed the dark side of mother love - but because it was child abuse, it only served to make me fiercely independent when I was younger.

Yet here I am today realising that social isolation might be a side effect of the strong impression at a young age that I ought not associate with anyone lest they learn how dysfunctional I am.

However, the friends that I have show me that they tolerate whatever eccentricities I may have, which helps to moderate my behaviour accordingly.

For that is what unconditional love is actually about: accepting each other, warts and all.

Through daily meditation and prayer,
I daily sublimate Eros, and thus transform its motivational energy into Agapé, the vital essence of unconditional love.


Based on your life experiences, which love is the original love?

Remember: the libido is a manmade construct to explain sexuality, which too is manmade. While Eros and Agapé are two sides of love, the libido, Eros itself, is the subconscious call of the wild to propagate the species, which originates in each living being's survival mechanism.

In contrast Agapé is unconditional love which is the subconscious call from God Almighty to be of service to him by being a standing minister to worldly Gentiles and the apostates in the world today, often by being like an angel in disguise.

IMHO I feel that a healthy balance between Agapé and Eros is not often possible.

It is my contention that the gross energy of Eros (the libido) has often been sublimated and thus energizes Agapé. However sex is not love.

Therefore the sublimated libido energizes unconditional love. At the same time, that Love helps each of us through the grace of God to tame the libido.

I remember as a young boy how I was slowly growing out of control due to family strife due to my birth defects being used by my paternal grandmother shaming my mother because of those defects.

When it turned out that one of her sons, my uncle, had died of complications due to epilepsy, that foiled my grandmother. It is sad when a parent mentally abuses a daughter or son like this, and tragic especially when the same is done to an in-law.

Yet unconditional love is something we experience so little of in the world but have the opportunity to practice in the meetinghouse.

Still, it ought to be shared with the world, often without mentioning God Almighty, who made the world in six days not that we love Him only on the Sabbath, but also for the rest of the week from Monday to Saturday.

By sharing unconditional love with the world, it is then possible for standing ministers to share the Gospel with like minded Gentiles, so that they may come to know the truth about the LDS church.

For example, I have recently found Mormon cosmology to be almost like a light version of Buddhist cosmology, without the cycle of reincarnation and lacking the fullness of its Buddhist counterpart.

Of course, I attribute this to my ignorance of the richness inherent in Mormon cosmology due to my apostasy before baptism and LDS membership.

However, Buddhist cosmology contains a multitude of Buddha worlds of which the Pure Land is one.

IMHO the worlds awaiting the LDS members bound for celestial glory are like the Pure Land.

Yet the LDS literature is vague about the many worlds that those celestial latter day saints inherit.

With an understanding of Agapé and Eros, and of their respective commonplace terms, unconditional love and the libido, it is likely to help put human love into perspective.

Firstly, Agape is Love unconditioned and uncorrupted by carnal love, Eros.

Through the grace of God, after consistent prayer and meditation by a Mormon, Eros is sublimated which subtly energizes Agapé.

Thus is carnal love sublimated into unconditional love. However love is not sex.

Overall the Christ's call to love one another is tempered with his command to love your enemies and also to turn the other cheek ie accept the mental cruelty of zealous anti Mormon cultists without complaint.

The Cult of the Individual: Man-god or Merely Human? (satire)

Selfish as in self-cherishing, the devotee to the cult of individualism would deny she is in a cult. For the ego, when it is in control of your life, will tell you lies to endure its hold over you.

At its root, selfishness is like death: when the world revolves around you, the easier it is to wander through life, impatient with the concerned religionist, flouting your atheism as if it made you better than a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, or even a Buddhist.

However, the move from religion to psychology and philosophy of Buddhism ensures our life.

Whether we like it or not, a spiritual friend will come for us, either to set us strait or to help us come to understand that the self that wants attention on its merit is solely the root of suffering and sorrow. As such, narcissism is sure to lead the unwary to self-made hell.

It makes this old fool wonder why people would think they are free when they practice no religion. How free are they really when the self tells them: "Oh, it's another religionist! Let's mock him?"

How utterly vain, and foolish are the selfish!

Were they even a bit wise, they'd work in the soup kitchens and help pass out food and clothes to the homeless — I've yet to hear of that, when atheists care about their fellow man enough to dole out food and clothing for those in need.

I do not know if this is because atheists are modest or if they truly care about the rest of humanity. Hopefully, it is the former because the latter sometimes seems to be so far away when the atheists mock religionists of every faith, be it a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Satanist, a Hindu, a Buddhist, or any other organized religion.

For this cult of the individual is surely not a good thing in this post-modern world. Its practitioners often preach entitlement and enable children to carry on the same selfish ideals of their parents. If you dare to confront them with the Truth, then they distort it into a parody of all that is true.

In response I quote Pontius Pilate, "What is Truth?"

---

Originally posted: February 12, 2013 6:37 AM

True Happiness (poem)

Most happy is the one who
Make a chaste life hers,
With unquenched desires
And wanton passion
Conquered through perseverance.

Child-like innocence
Helps in the discovery
Of the life divine
Which resists all temptation
In the name of the Buddha.

Even though she is alone,
The most happy one
Meditates upon the truth
That the Pure Mind be
Achieved through mindful practice.

Be like that small child
Who alone sits quietly,
In meditation,
Remembering the Buddha
Through careful recitation.

With each call, not alone is
She who does recite
The name of the Buddha 'til
He does call through her,
"Namu Amida Butsu."

Sincerely the child
Does recite the Name-that-calls
As the Buddha calls
Through her until her mind is
Pure and her life left divine.

True happiness is this: the love
that compassion calls
respect for your fellow man,
and the devotion
shown towards a Buddhist friend.

Buddhists Neither Good Nor Evil

In Buddhism, not one person is a good Buddhist, nor is anyone a bad Buddhist. Rather, a person may have used skillful or unskillful means, and the karmic fruit of her actions have ripened in many interesting ways.

All karma is to the Buddhist action which bears fruit according to her skills.

When an action is done with right intentions, and no harm immediately arises, that action has sown the skillful karmic fruit of no immediate result.

When an action is done with wrong intentions, and harm immediately arises, that action has sown the unskillful karmic fruit immediate result.

When an action is done with right intentions, and harm immediately arises that action has sown
no karmic fruit, but instead a previous unskillful karmic action has born fruit.

When an action is done with wrong intentions, and no harm arises, the karmic fruit of a previous action arose to delay the unskillful karmic fruit to ripen at a later time.


However, the ideal of a good Buddhist violates the non-self principle, since it is assumed that a "good Buddhist" always is good. The truth is, if he is skillful, a Buddhist creates good by mindful practice, and by following the precepts.

He seeks neither fame nor glory, lest it distract him from fulfilling the twofold aims of the Bodhi Mind: determination to save all sentient beings, and the aspiration for Buddhahood.

Should he be unskillful, it cannot be assumed that his destiny be the Hells, since previous karmic merit
also affect the results of actions taken currently. Neither can it be assumed that his destinies is to be any one of the Three Relams (Desire, Form and Formless Realms).

Nurturing Jeanne's Nature (story)

As I sat in the chair the voice of the speaker faded slightly, and then seemed to disappear into the distance.

All I could hear was the muffled murmur of the speaker, whose name was Jeanne. Even the laughter of the audience could barely distract me.

Thus was I in the zone, going with the flow as it were.

It felt great to be unfettered like this! I relished in the simple realization that here was an "I" that was at one with all people in the room yet was still an individual. Though words cannot describe this duality of all-as-one and the One.

Indeed, this One is not apart from all-as-one yet is a vital part of the One.

As Jeanne continued her monologue, I found that I could follow her and simultaneously focus on my inner journey with little effort.

"It wasn't until later" she said, "that I realized that I am not the only person to whom this happened."

Nor I!

Although I am not unique, and have a lot to contribute to the community, the synchronicity that has colored my life recently is a welcome bonus for me.

Gratefulness and thanksgiving offers a greater bounty than mere pettiness can; of this I am sure, though it cannot be proven by reason alone.

Having reflected deeply on this, I could not speak of it without sounding mad. So I sat there in silence, contemplating its deeper meaning.

"Self and the other are concepts formulated by the mind. As objects of the mind, they have no independent existence from it."

This thought came to me in the form of the inner voice, the internal narrator that notes what happens around oneself yet gives scant warning that danger is near.

For danger is rarely noticed when the distraction of the libido overwhelms the person's tendency towards paranoia.

Paranoia in this case is when a person whose inner dialog does not reliably distinguish between friend and foe. When libido is in its proximity, paranoia is forgotten momentary.

"...I'd forgotten to be self conscious when schooled under his love."

And I too forgot to be conscious of love. It was unnecessary in this context, in a room of fans who admired Jeanne.

Thus it is self love that keeps self respect intact. At root here is my willingness to listen to Jeanne, whose open narrative uncannily echoes my own thoughts.

"...echoes of my thoughts faded away. I could see that I was home."

Ah, Jeanne, I feel at home with my ears bathed in the beautiful timbre of your voice.

"My voice when speaking maintains a timbre to command attention."

And attention I give thee, Jeanne.

At this point in the narrative, I will have to give an overview of what happened next, so as not to confuse people using the current form.

Once Jeanne finished speaking, I made the point of standing up and clapping. Then the rest of our group clapped in unison.

Near the end of the queue, I stepped up and said, "Jeanne, such a lovely book-signing! It is as though what you said echoed in every thought in my head. What I mean is, sychronicity."

Jeanne smiled, saying graciously, "Thank you. To who should I sign your copy of my book to?"

"Just sign it; 'To the lover, by the beloved'." Jeanne paused, and looked at me questioning. "That's from Rumi, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, Rumi knew but never acknowledged emptiness. For every created moment, the creator plays a vital part, as though to learn the world by the act of its creation."

Jeanne's eyes glazed over for a moment. "Hmmm... OK then." she said, as she wrote in longhand script, "To the Lover, by the Beloved".

"So, thanks, and if you're available, please join me for a bite to each at the local pizza place."

"Well, I..."

"Jeanne, you can get two slices with a drink for $4.25 or a slice and pop for $3.25!"

Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Ok, you got me sold! I'm a sucker for a cheap date."

Inwardly I smiled. This lady lives by a strict budget even though she's a world-famous author.

During our pizza "date", Jeanne told me about her view of meditation and how it opened up her eyes to an alternative to the usual zeitgeist of the West.

Zeitgeist in context of Western society refers to what the status quo worships without question: individualism as influenced by Jewish and Christian thought with overlays of neo-Platonian, Cartesian and recently secular philosophies.

Even atheists worship this zeitgeist as humanism, having pared away or negated the overtly religious sources.

At this point in the narrative, again I revert back to the continual flow...

Zeitgeist, the soul of a society, its status quo held in awe.

"I still wonder about what I wrote in your copy of my book."

Your book is about synchronicity.

"And your comment about synchronicity..."

Synchronicity is represented by the creator in the act of creating the created. He learns by that act what's involved...

"...in creating. His creation also teaches him what he created..."

Yet under it all, we are all one.

"All one..."

"Jeanne," I said, interrupting her, "you actually wrote 'From the Lover to the Loved'."

Oh, did I?" She laughs. I smiled, and replied,"Yes, but the love of which Rumi spoke is both between man and God, and God and man."

"Yes, yes! God created all of us out of love, because his original creations, the angels... That led to rebellion."

"Yes, and in that act of rebellion, Shaitan had ego arise, even though it was assumed by Christologists that as a creature who could only do God's will, in rebelling, Shaitan did not need to have ego."

"Well, angels and demons, they don't need ego since they exercise the will of divine Ego, God himself."

"True, but Jeanne, be it love or creation, it's best to leave Ego out of the equation."

"Why? Ego is will."

"Well, according to Buddhism, that will can be tainted by delusion, such that Buddha Nature is obscured by afflictions."

"True enough." Jeanne looked at her watch, and pursed her lips, lips so red...

"Oh, my! I must depart."

"May I give you my number?" I asked.

"Can't stay. Gotta go! Email me at the address on the inside back cover of my book!"

So when I got home, I read her book called "Loving-kindness: Is It Nature or Nurture?".

According to her thesis Nature is Buddha Nature while Nurture is meditation. Nature is also other power. Nurture in contract is self power. By using both forms of spiritual action and power, one accesses loving-kindness as though it is a divine gift.

By the time I finished her book, it'd been about a week. During that time I also did my Buddha Remembrance, chanting the Nembutsu seven times after each chapter, and usually twenty-one times in the morning and evening, after awakening in the morning and before falling asleep at night.

As a True Pure Land Buddhist, I'd be inculcated in this ritual since my teens. It is said that once you dedicate yourself to Buddha Remembrance, you will see changes happen such as joy, ability to interpret sutras, and most importantly, Bodhi Mind.

Bodhi Mind is the mind that aspires to be Buddha and desires to help others to Buddhahood with the help of the spiritual compassion and wisdom.

Although I have seen the changes in my life, when I found others who wrote of the same thing, I needed to listen to them and check them out, to see if their Buddhist-inspired message is close to what the Buddha taught.

That was why I was at Jeanne's book signing at the local bookstore.

After reading much of Jeanne's book, I realized that she had excluded one other thing: that mind is a quality of human nature and the heart, of nurture. Together they are referred to as heart-mind to signify the delicate balance between reason, emotions and feelings.

In my email to Jeanne, I told her of this. It was noon, and I didn't expect to receive a reply in the next 24 hours.

When I checked my mail after supper, I saw in my email reader,

From: Jeanne
To: Stephen
Date: 20130125.1346
Subject: Re: You missed the heart-mind

>in your Nature vs Nurture.
>
> Meditation helps moderate the balance between reason and emotions.
> For without establishing the heart-mind, one is either biased to
> nature or nurture, i.e. controlled by emotions or controlled by
> reason and logic. Holistically, it is vital to remain balanced.

I agree with you here! If you reread the Chapter on Nature and Nurture
you would see that I do mention heart-mind.

BTW I enjoyed our "date". Want to try sush at Ichiban-ya?

So I wrote back to her quickly.

From: Stephen
To: Jeanne
Date: 20130125.1351
Subject: Date is on!

Sure, meet you in an hour!


To get to Ichiban-ya, you take a bus to Scott Road Station and catch a Skytrain to Vancouver. Burrard Station is the nearest station to Ichiban-ya, which is near Robson and Thurlow.

It's run by Chinese, but their food is authentic. The sushi, the sashimi, and even the robata is delicious.

I say this because I have been there enough times to know, plus Jeanne knows that too, because it came up in the previous Friday's conversation.

So after walking down into the dimly lit restaurant, I scoped her out and sat across from her.

"Hi, how was transit?" she asked.

"Long but exciting."

"how exciting?"

"Well, because I'm meeting my favorite local author on loving-kindness and how to apply it to this life..."

She smiled. "Oh, you just have a fan's crush on me. Though I'm greatly intrigued by your thoughts on heart-mind..."

I grinned and sighed. "It"s more than a crush, Jeanne..."

At this point in the narrative, we had a dinner date. We ate, and then we tipped well...

"I can't believe the bill came to over $30!" I exclaim as we walk toward her apartment in the West End.

"Well, it was your fault for orderin' the big sake."

"Hey, I was only, only tying to impress you by pretending to be saké host."

"Yes, but you poured more often for me than I could for you."

"Yes, I did! And you point is?"

"My point? My point is, are you trying to take advantage of me?"

"Jeanne, yes, but in a good way. Though you have advantage over me."

"Well, I am 5'9 and you are 5'1. Also I outweigh you by... never mind about my weight!"

"Lady, looks good from where I am staggering..."

"Oh you!"

"Oh, and you could have two small sakes when I asked you if we should go for two small saké or a large to share..."

"But I love sake!"

"See? I wasn't trying to take advantage of you. I was just indulging your love for sake."

At this point in the narrative, we arrived at Jeanne's apartment in the West End. something is supposed to happen at this point, and the narrative has to use a few euphemisms that go beyond "taking advantage of a woman". However, I was so wasted, being 5'1, that I passed out while waiting for her to "slip into something nice."

Sp she undressed me, slid me into bed, and snuggled up to me. Only when I awoke, I thought we had "done it".

She looked so sexy in her nightie.

When she awake, I looked into her eyes and asked, "Did we um...?"

"No, I took your clothes off and slid you into bed. It's not up to the lady to take advantage of the guy."

"Oh. Hey, that's sexist."

"No, it isn't. You and I know once I chose the big bottle, we were going to get lucky."

"Ok then, I'm sorry for passing out on you."

"Wanna make up for it now?" she ask, slyly grinning at me.

At this point in the narrative, we enter a slippery slope into pornographic. All I can say is, I got mojo! ;)

Emptiness is Inconceivable and Indescribable

"The Victorious Ones have announced that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible." — Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

"The Victorious Ones" refers to Buddha's disciples.

"Emptiness" is shunyata, the middle way between eternalism and nihilism.

"Relinquishing of all views" is to let go of conceiving of all the different views of reality.

"Those" refer to Buddhists, and anyone who has heard with the heartmind of Buddha's teachings (the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination).

"Possessed of the view of emptiness" means clinging to any concept of emptiness, be it nihilism or eternalism and any variation of these two extremes.

Thus, emptiness is inconceivable and indescribable.

For the absolute truth of emptiness is that it is empty of conception and description.

As for eternalism and nihilism, belief in either would lead to delusions about immortality and fear of death.

For immortality is empty of impermanence, and the fear of death is empty of the will to live.

This is why emptiness as the absolute truth and that which is empty are associated with each other.

---

For further explanation, click on the tags included with this article.

Two Extremes of Non-Buddhist Thought: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-extremes-of-non-buddhist-thought.html

On emptiness/Nothingness and Impermanence

Emptiness (nothingness) is the absence of inherent existence in all phenomena i.e. nothing lasts forever, yet all things have a finite existtence.

Thus "attachment is empty of non-attachment" means that both qualities do not last.

Emptiness affirms the impermanence of everything in the Buddhaverse, which includes the many Buddha worlds and also this world.

However, the phrase "nothing is real" is a false dogma. The truth is, "nothingness is True Reality" i.e.the affirmation of the Void as devoid of permanence.

Thus, an immortal soul is a sick parody of ego delusion, for even the ego has a limited lifespan. Contrary to Billy Graham's myths about the soul, it is a fiction according to Buddhism.

However, the soul is empty of existence i.e. the soul does not existence except to the exclusive Christian philosopher within the world of Christendom.

For the Buddhist, the universe is real, but true reality is empty of permanent existence i.e. reality has a finite life.

It only seems infinite when compared to the life of a human being.

Burmese State Oppresses Rohingya

In June 1967, Buddhists in Rangoon participated in an anti-Chinese riot in which hundreds of Burmese Chinese were killed, thousands were injured, & much Chinese-owned property was looted or destroyed – including attacks on the Xinhua News Agency office & the Chinese Embassy.

Today we have been witnessing the oppression by criminals of the Rohingya, who have lived along the #Bangladesh border with #Burma since the 8th century. However, in the 800s CE the Bamar (today's dominant ethnic group) from the borders of China & Tibet arrived in north Burma. In 849 they founded the city of Pagan.

Today, most Buddhists who live along the Burma-Bangladesh border are near-illiterate primitive people that believe the Buddha was Burmese and born there.

If Buddhists in Myanmar cannot even follow the teachings of the Buddha, then what hope have God-worshippers?

Buddhas are Not Gods

In the Buddhist sutras are often mention gods (devas) visiting the Buddha or vice versa.

Yet these gods are caught in samsara just like humans.

Nor are the devas omniscient or omnipotent. Indeed, the devas are imperfect beings.

For they are mortal, and do not create or shape the world.

Devas are not incarnations of the pantheistic One.

Thus they are unlike God above, beyond and outside of everything that followers of the Abrahamic religions worship.

For the devas are capable of learning and self-improvement.

Regarding bodhisattvas, yidams and Buddhas, they are not devas.

Bodhisattvas are destined to be reborn as Buddhas; and yidams, manifestations of enlightened mind with which the meditator intends to unite within context of the rituals of a particular Buddhist path (Vajrayana).

Since the ideal conditions for attaining supreme enlightenment do not exist in the deva-worlds, Nirmanakaya Buddhas do not physically incarnate in the deva-worlds.

Though Sambhokaya Buddhas may have the form of high-ranking devas, they do not exist in the universe as the devas do.

Finally, Dharmakaya Buddhas exist beyond all worlds and limitations.

Thus, Buddhas are not deities.

---

Reference:
Deva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deva_(Buddhism)

The Primal Vow Fulfilled

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 offences and abuse the right Dharma.
-- The Primal Vow

1. With each call the Name-that-calls
   helps he who calls to
   transcend the fear of death. O!
   Who is it that calls,
   "Namu Amida Butsu"?
   
   
2. By fulfilling all of
   his Forty-Eight Vows,
   Amida Buddha and
   his Pure Land exist;
   all his many followers
   confirm this by calling:
   "Namu Amida Butsu".
   
   
3. Because they will be reborn
   in the Pure Land
   out of faith in the Primal Vow,
   they call fearlessly:
   "Namu Amida Butsu".
   
   
4. Tho' fearless of death, no fool
   is the devotee:
   she does not act or behave
   to risk death, but calls:
   "Namu Amida Butsu".
   
   
5. Devoted to Amida,
   she practices all
   Buddhist virtues faithfully,
   her pure mind hears Him call:
   "Namu Amida Butsu."
   
   
6. Bliss leads to serenity,
   and serenity,
   to the pure mind to enjoy
   calling of the Name:
   "Namu Amida Buddha".
   
   
7. For the Name-that-calls helps one
   to develop bliss
   to understand the Dharma,
   and practice it now.
   "Namu Amida Buddha".
   
   
8. Faith in Other Power moves
   her pure heart deeply.
   Out of sincere gratitude
   the devotee calls:
   "Namu Amida Butsu."
   
   
9. Inconceivable is He,
   Amida Buddha,
   to all but His devotees,
   who faithfully call:
   "Namu Amida Butsu".
   
   
10. "Namu Amida Butsu".

--- Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow

Short Meditation on Illness

For the Buddhist who seeks the validity of the Buddhadharma, illness becomes another welcome challenge for its symptoms to teach one of the limits of the human body.

Though fever and chills may ravage the body, she who mindfully practices knows that the well-trained mind is abley withstand the pain of suffering which illness brings.

Yet the wise ones know too that when there is medicine for a sickness, it is wise to take it.

Despite the fever, the chills and even the aches that illness brings him, the illness itself has much to teach the mindful one about the transient nature of life.

No pain, no fever, no chills - none of these are distractions to the Buddhist who learns from her experience to accept the help of trusted friends to relieve her of the misery that illness sometimes brings by seeking medical advice.

Grateful is this one to the Buddha and his Dharma, for illness validates his teaching of dependent arising.

Indeed, it has a past cause in a previous illness, and a present cause in a sudden change in immunity; but through the use of medicine to treat this illness, it has an end.

Thus does physical illness teach this one about the spiritual illness of the six senses, and its cure, the Eightfold Noble Path.

Religious Division Amongst Japanese-Canadians During the Internment Period 1942-1946

In Canada and in America, it is likely the Jodo Shinshu Buddhists
were targeted by the assimilated Japanese who were Christians, since
the word at the time said that the latter tried to claim that, since the Buddhists had ties to the Hompa back in Kyoto, Japanese Buddhists in the Americas were "the real enemies".

According to the history of Japanese-Canadian internment, there were separate prison camps for Christians and Buddhist.

Also for Buddhists without any Buddhist temple or means of establishing one, they either
converted, or privately practiced the rituals associated with their sect i.e. Pure Land, the Shingon, the Nichiren, and Zen.

Do Not Fear, i am Buddhist! (poem)

As Rumi supposedly wrote:

"Na tarsâ na yahûd-am man na gabr-am na musalmân-am."
"Do not fear, I am not Jewish, not Zoroastrian, not Muslim."

And I add:

When compassionate,
fearlessness replaces all fear.
For Love embraces all
regardless of faith.
Thus is one left without fear.
Do not fear, I am Buddhist!

True Non-violence

True nonviolence must be based, first of all, on a secure sense of one’s own value as a human being. Violence toward others, far from being an expression of self-worth, is based on a repression of one’s sense of vulnerability which then translates into hostility toward others. The most violent men are those with the deepest fears of their own impotence. Training in nonviolence must be based on spiritual or personal development and empowerment of the self. An empowered self will not accept its own degradation, or that of others. -- Rosemary Ruether, in Feminism and Peace

Likewise, the most violent people are those with the deepest fears of their own impotence and powerlessness.

Thus non-violence is based on self-empowerment and self-worth through honest expression of one's sense of vulnerability.

To emphasize this point, let me paraphrase the Buddhist quote regarding the true warrior:

Though a thousand people
may submit to him,
only he who submits to himself
is the true warrior.

Pure Land Sects bring salvation to the masses

The Jodo-shu and Jodo-Shinshu sects (Pure Land Sects) were founded by Honen Shonin (1133 - 1212) and his disciple Shinran (1173 - 1262), respectfully. Both taught that anyone, whether noble or peasant, could attain salvation by faithfully reciting the name of Amida Buddha -- chanting the invocation "Namu Amida Butsu" with devotion would lead to rebirth in the Pure Land Paradise. The rapid spread in popularity of the Pure Land sects was a serious challenge to the institutionalized Buddhist monestaries of that day, who responded by condemning Honen and his followers to exile.

Shinran, Honen's disciple, continued to challenge the existing Buddhist authorities by declaring that meat-eating and matrimony were not contrary to the teachings of the Buddha (at the time, neither acts were allowed by the reigning Buddhist powers).

By stressing pure and simple faith over complicated rites and doctrines, and by allowing believers to enjoy worldly benefits with the promise of salvation in the afterlife, the Pure Land gained widespread popularity among the peasantry. Today, the Jodo-Shinshu sect, along with the Nichiren Sect (also founded in Kamakura Period), are the two leading sects of Japanese Buddhism.

Living the Dharma

Explaining many profound dharmas is easy; living them yourself is hard.

-Adept Godrakpa, "Hermit of Go Cliffs"

What this quote means is that each of us can explain profound dharmas because of our intellect, but practising those dharmas is difficult.

The reason why practice may be difficult is because we are human: the emotions of love, anger and fear give birth to egosense, which beclouds seeing the Pure Mind as-it-is e.g. "things as they are".

Thus we feel that our human nature prevents us from ever realizing that True Nature (Buddha-nature) and human nature are at one with each other. Hence the feeling of falling short of being perfect.

How foolish!

For practising faith is as easy as reflecting on repentence as the devotee reflects upon the vows of Amida, and especially of Samantabhadra.

Despite not being able to live profound dharmas, it takes deep faith to accept the limitations of human nature.

Yet this is no excuse for a Buddhist devotee to forget about the vows and the study of the sutras.