Sharp as a Razor (poem)

Sharp as a razor the mind cuts
through mental negativities, be it anger or fear.
Letting love bloom to transform anger
into calmness of mind, and fear into fearlessness,
the calm mind is free to remove all negativities.

Once free of the bondage of fear, I am ready to meet
any challenge with courage, tempered by love unconditional.
For it is love that provides the mind in keeping sharp.
What is calmness of the mind but love abiding?
What is fearlessness but love taming all fears?

Humble Acceptance and Authenticity (satire)

"To be beautiful
means to be yourself.
You don't need to be
accepted by others.
You need to accept yourself" — Thich Nhat Hanh

In striving for an authentic life, I realize that accepting myself as I am is the secret to humility. By being humble enough to be myself, I am empowered by unconditional love to accept myself.

By loving myself as I am, I realize that the key to self perfection is the ability to accept myself. No matter how imperfect I am, becoming perfect is a guide to a better life.

However, I do not seek to be perfect. Perhaps I am perfect by accepting myself, warts and all.

It is said that the pure mind is recovered after calming the mind until its pureness is revealed. After calming the mind through breath meditation (samatha), I am able to stay still, for there is no need to keep moving to prove that I am alive.

For I am beautiful enough to humbly accept myself as I walk on this journey called the authentic life.

---

Reference:

The pure mind mentioned in this article is the amala consciousness, the ninth consciousness of Yogacara Buddhism.
For details on the nine consciousnesses, see: http://operationmeditation.com/discover/levels-of-consciousness-a-buddhist-perspective/

Without a Soul to Save, Only the Good Life Awaits (satire)

I'm pretty sure the fact that The Book of Mormon is in the English of King James version makes it a difficult read for me.

What if, instead of the Celestial Kingdom, I'm fine with rebirth in the Terrestrial Kingdom?

I'm not sure if a Mormon can understand that. In Buddhism, the reason why there is no baptism is because the metaphors about water refer to how the multitude of Buddhists are a part of mighty ocean of wisdom and love.

However, the goal of an earnest Buddhist is not to be reborn in the Six Realms of Desire but to escape rebirth itself through meditation and related acts of mindfulness.

I suppose meditation is mysterious to a Mormon who equates baptism and giving up worldliness with achieving the Celestial Kingdom in the Afterlife.

Nobody in America can really fathom how sitting on your ass achieving calmness of mind is supposed to lead to nirvana, let alone Enlightenment, except perhaps a Buddhist.

Yet that calm mind leads to the clarity of mind to realize almost the same thing that a Christian knows to be true: seeking fame and glory does not lead to a truly good life and neither does seeking riches.

In this way is Buddhism almost on the same page as Christianity. For, even without baptism, I can avoid the delusions that chasing fame may lead to, and also avoid the pitfalls of financial success.

After all, the Buddhist principle of no-self implies that there is no soul to save. Instead, there is only a good life to make my own.

I love my Meds (satire)

Today I went to my doctor to fill my prescriptions for gabapentin and flexeril (cyclabenzaprine), both of which I consider safer than anything stronger for me. The flexeril is for muscle spasms in my left shoulder due to arthosis and the gabapentin, sleep.

For a while, while using both medications, I was anticipating more sedation, but like what I get from them on waking. It's great to wake up after taking flexeril and gabapentin, only to find my thoughts aren't sluggish.

I suppose the reason for wanting this medication is the laid-back feeling the morning after due to getting a good night's rest.

A plus is there are few side effects worth mentioning. Instead I just feel good, about myself and how to deal with the world.

Thank the heavens for cyclobenzaprine to sedate me, and gabapentin, to calm my mind down.

Update: 20140206.2022

Also, if I up my dose of gabapentin, then I can reduce my nicotine addiction. Given that a daily dose 1500 mg of gabapentin can reduce alcohol cravings to the point of abstinence in 17 percent of alcoholics, gabapentin may be used to maintain nicotine abstinence. Though, gabapentin has some sedative effects but has no interaction with alcohol or nicotine.

So tonight I'm taking the minimum dose of 300 mg, which is the lowest maintenance dose of gabapentin i.e. the lowest recommended dose that may cause psychological dependence. I'd rather take a medication that I get free due to being a Class C recipient for social welfare than have to pay for a $8-10 a pack of cigarettes.

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Originally written on Dec 19, 2012 at 7:16 AM
Last posted on December 7, 20163 at 9:04 PM

Hostilities Are Stilled

Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.

-Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.


Contrast the above quote (Verse 5 of Chapter 1 of the Dhammapada) with Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita's version:

5. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.



To this I add: loving-kindness is a perfect expression of non-hatred.

With practice, the wise are able to abandoned hatred and cease hostilities. Having abandoned hatred, they are able to put a stop to hostilities.

Through meditation, the calm mind is achieved which enables the power of love to replace hatred with love of humanity.

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Originally posted: December 19, 2005 7:24 PM

The Metaphor of Burning in Hell (satire)

If you are Christian and a Islamophobe then you may be a bigot and, according to certain Christian sectarian dogma, you might burn in hell.

If you are a Christian and believe non-Christians will burn in hell then let me assure you that your literal interpretation of the Bible has blinded you to its metaphorical content.

For hatred of Muslims implies unbelief in the ever-loving Christ, regardless of your so-called belief in Him. Hatred of non-Christians is implied by Christian doctrine but not by the Bible.

Furthermore, no one Christian or otherwise knows what awaits them in the afterlife but hatred cuts everyone off from a true and sincere love of humanity, regardless of creed or faith.

Please note that I don't believe in hell as eternal torment but as a temporary destiny after death. Nor do I believe in bigotry and hatred towards Muslims.

For it was not Muslims who committed the tragedy on September 11, 2001. Rather, it was political Islamists who too are just as much unbelievers as anyone who has a large board of hatred blocking the last shred of love left in them. Though such militants claim belief in God, it might be Satan working through them.

Most Muslims were just as shocked as you were, and consider al Qaeda and like-minded Islamists politically radical militants but not Muslims.

Indeed, Islamist implies the political ideology of Sharia that runs counter to Islam.

If a Christian were to radicalize and hold an ideology of the Ten Commandments and consider anyone resisted him to be an unbeliever and worthy of death then he would be considered a potential domestic terrorist by the US government.

This includes anti-abortionist shooters, anti-government militias and even certain groups motivated by ideology i.e. radical right who use violence.

Indeed, anyone who wishes death on anyone else and affiliates with any God-fearing religion that stresses love and submission before a higher power than himself has occulted himself from belief in God and substituted it with a belief in death.

And who knows death more than Satan does? Even those lost sheep who have chosen him may know of death.

Hatred inflames the heart and places the hater in a metaphorical hell. Thoughts of death to other people complement that hatred.

Thus hatred causes the hell of your own making, regardless of your faith.

On the other hand, the love of which a wise man speaks is not humanity's love of God but rather the merciful compassion that calms all hearts because our love for all things good in life.

Peace of mind is the ideal of all things good in life. Such a mind at peace calmly abides in the clarity of mind that is free of anger and hatred and soon becomes full of the truest love of all, our love for each other, regardless of religion.

He who fears another is ignorant of that love. She who loves knows the power of love. Before that power of love, even he who loves power confesses his ignorance of love.

What if that tragedy in 2001 was the last chance for Americans to show humility before the world? What if the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was the hope that that humility be shared by the conquerors with the conquered?

These two questions are but rhetorical, and may result many more questions than can be addressed in this article.

However, the metaphor of burning in hell refers to the anger at being caught unaware in 2001 which resulted in the so-called War on Terror. It also refers to the hatred that consumed a few people who — out of ignorance — chose to unjustly blame others for causing two passenger jets to destroy the Twin Towers, including the tragic deaths in America of Sikhs killed by two men consumed by anger and hatred.

When anger consumes a person, it causes mental instability. When hatred consumes such a person, that unstable mind will find a target upon which to vent his rage. In the case of 911, that target became the Muslims. Yet I do not consider the madmen who piloted those jets to be Muslims but criminal terrorists.

It is illogical and irrational to scapegoat Muslims around the world for 911. A better use of our time would be in studying the perversion of Salafi ideology in Islam that results in the violent militancy of al Qaeda, home-grown domestic terrorism and related criminal terrorism such as the recent bombings by militant Chechens in Russia.

As well, the Boston Massacre may have been inspired by Chechen militancy but it was also fueled by the fear perpetrated by conspiracy theorists who deny the official version of 911.

In any case, such acts of terrorism are often perpetrated by men and sometimes women who burn with hatred for a targeted enemy who is nothing more than a scapegoat for their rage.

Thus, the metaphor of burning in hell is apt.

Yet those of us who know of love know that the power of love triumphs over love of power. Non-violent confrontation of life that is both its fruit and its seed is planted when we fall in humility before that power.

It is possible for love to transform a would-be killer into a humble man who chooses life over death. Indeed, when we let unconditional love guide us, compassion and mercy promotes loving kindness towards other people. All anger and hatred is forgotten, and replaced by meekness.

Thus, the antidote to hatred is love, for it quenches the thirst for revenge without blood being shed. For the power of love is so great that it calms the mind and snuffs out the anger.

All that is left is a calm mind abiding in peace.

Now, that is better than letting hatred cause the hater to feel like he is burning in hell.

Sanity Defines Spirituality as Mysticism

To see God in a moment of madness is not revelation but merely a hallucination.

Though the mad do not know God any more than the faithful. Were one to ask the mad about seeing God, there might not be a coherent answer. If the mad could write about their experience, their journals would remain incoherent.

Yet, to see God is truly a wondrous thing if it transcends all madness, leaving one absolutely sane.

Rare is such a person who has been granted by God to see Him. Few of us know how this blessed event occurs. Some of them even call the event a mystery.

Though the mystery is no hallucination to the person who has come upon this mystery. He may even be inspired to speak about it, and perhaps write his thoughts about the mysticism known as "seeing God".

This is the difference between mysticism and religious obsession.

Other terms for "seeing God" include "experiencing the divine", "being blessed", "satori", and "quiet abiding." Few people will share this experience with other people who are not open-minded to such matters.

Instead, such mysticism can only be appreciated by like-minded people who encourage it.

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Originally posted: August 28, 2007 6:19 PM PDT

My Thoughts on Meditation

During meditation, I breathe from the abdomen. This works for both the sitting and walking forms of meditation.

In time my mind becomes calm, as I practice deep breathing. After five minutes or ten minutes, I stop meditating.

After over twenty years of meditation, the deep breathing part of meditation are a reflex to me. It may be practice at home, while walking, and even when riding on the bus.

While at home I do practice meditation, on the road it is possible to practice the physical form of meditation.

Relieving suffering (poem)

through carelessness anything is possible,
even the pain of a toothache,
or the heart inflamed with a myriad of feelings,
be it anger, fear or love.
yet through meditation it is possible
to eradicate the harm caused by anger and fear,
replacing them with calmness and fearlessness,
while cultivating loving-kindness to benefit all.

---

Originally posted: November 18 2005 at 0137H
Updated: February 8, 2013 at 2316H

Love Helps Transform Anger and Fear into Strengths

In this article, I will be writing about anger and fear, from the point of view as a Buddhist. However, let me emphasize that my opinion is based on my experiences with anger and fear, along with what I know about emotions.

In context of this article, "one" refers to the self. "Others" refers to other people, such as family, friends and loved ones. Strangers are merely potential friends.


According to current social ideology, anger and fear are considered by most people to be weaknesses but mistakenly considered strengths by others.

Yet both negative emotions may be miraculously transformed into strengths by understanding two things about anger and fear.

Firstly, one has be compassionate and show mercy toward others by waiting until the heat of one's anger goes away.

Secondly, fear may be a motivator to do great things, provided that one is able to abandon it and come to terms with the anger at the core of anxiety.

Anxiety is when anger is hidden by layers of fear to protect the world from the heat of our wrath. Thus, the armor of fear becomes phobias and incessant worry that things are never right.

How could they be right when fear makes one afraid to confront the truth?

For weathful anger is not a source of strength.

Wrathful anger is not strength, for it is effective in controlling others when self-control fails.

At the root of anger is fear, which causes one to control others because he is secretly afraid of his own inability to control himself

Yet the harder one tries to control others, the less able he is to control himself.

Desperate to maintain control, he conveniently forgets that self control begins by yielding to the demand of others to be civil.

When one yields to others and becomes civil, apologies are made, anger is forgotten and forgiveness is implicit.

In the resulting calm, fear is replaced by fearlessness.

In this atmosphere of peace, the willingness to help others and be of service to them arises.

What truly motivates a person to help others and be of service to them?

Why, it is loving-kindness, the wholehearted compassion for others and especially, the willingness to let go of self-centred desires and establish ties with one's community.

For it is through love that anger and fear are transformed into their strengths, calmness and

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Originally posted: July 6, 2011 at 2223H
Updated: February 8, 2013 at 2219H

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.