Sunyata (poem)

Indescribable,
Emptiness is
beyond thought and speech,
for mere words cannot describe
ultimate reality.

Everything one encounters
in life is empty
of absolute identity,
of permanence,
and of an in-dwelling 'self'.

For impermanence
is the constant of life;
indeed, it is Truth
of suffering, absolute.
From it comes Buddha-Nature.

Buddha-Nature is
consciousness reborn again.
For all life is impermanent,
and subject to change.
Indeed, this leads to Emptiness.

In emptiness comes
form derived of the Unborn.
In the Unborn comes
emptiness derived of form.
Thus they are of the Unborn.

Yet the Unborn cannot be
described, which brings us
to Emptiness, which cannot
be described in words,
but only experienced.

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Original post: November 18, 2007 04:25 AM

Truth about Nirvana (poem)

Nirvana is when
we awaken from this dream
called Life, and
realize we were never
the caterpillar dreaming
we were the butterfly.
Nor are we God.
All we are is free
from rebirth in
the Realms of Desire.

Samsara is Nirvana (poem)

Samasara is Nirvana,
Nirvana, Samsara.
Empty is Nirvana
of all carnal things.
Yet he who is attached
to Nirvana will not
attain the higher mind
until one sees Samsara
as Nirvana, golden and
resplendent and pure.

The Truth of Non-self (poem)

The self is empty of existence,
though all sentient beings claim
otherwise, even to the point of
threatening the truth talker
with imprisonment and abuse.

Yet she who talks the truth
bases her words on the Bodhi Mind
and its effect on her mind,
the sixth consciousness,
through the samadhi of truth.

Why would she who sees the truth
keep silent about Emptiness,
when it opens her eyes to
nonexistence of the self?
Only a fool agrees with the world.

This is the truth of non-self,
that the self is nonexistent.
He who denies this to be true,
is but a sentient being, lost
in this world of birth-life-death.

Shunyata: The True Nature of Reality (poem)

The wise Buddhist teacher,
Nagarjuna once said:
"To whomever emptiness is possible,
All things are possible."
That emptiness is known to Buddhists
as shunyata, which the Tibetans
know is free from permanence
and non-existence; indeed, it is
'empty' of permanence and
'empty' of non-existence.
Emptiness goes beyond nihilism and
eternalism, and thus is
the true nature of Reality.
Shunyata is like space,
the complete openness,
which allows anything to occur,
for reality is 'empty'
and not fixed in any way.
Thus, anything is possible.

Emptiness (poem)

All reality truly is
Empty of inherent existence,
Separate and permanent.
Awakening to this realization of
The Self Nature of true reality
Bodhisattvas return to help
All sentient beings who cling
Needlessly to the world,
Narcotized by the vain grasping
Of worldliness known as
Reality as it is supposed to be.
Rare is the one awakened to
Self Nature True Mind,
The Bodhi Mind That realizes
Buddhist Emptiness is
Neither mysterious nor unique.

---

The `No-Self' Nature of People and Things: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/singer.htm
Madhyamika: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Madhyamika
Ordinary Mind, Original Nature and Self Nature: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/ordinary-mind-original-nature-and-self.html
Pure Mind is True Mind: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2006/01/pure-mind-is-true-mind-true-mind-is.html
Emptiness as Everything and Nothing: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/emptiness-as-everything-and-nothing-poem.html

The Four Worths (poem)

This world is worth not clinging to,
So this mind is empty of clinging.
Let forty-nine repetitions of Nembutsu
burn away all evil karma, and
create great karma to fruit in
the Buddha World called Sukhavati.

This life is worth keeping.
This heart beats due to body nature,
But Buddha Nature is freely shared
by 102 Buddhas, of which Amitabha
is the most compassionate and wise!
For he calls to all from the Pure Land!

This Teaching is worth learning.
All the willing need to do is listen,
Not only with the ears but with the heart!
Only then is the seed of Buddha Nature
planted in the heart of each Buddhist.
With mindful practice, it becomes Self Nature.

This universe is worth knowing,
And it all becomes evident from
years of meditation and Buddha Recitation
that this old fool is neither Enlightened
nor has he ever entered into Samadhi.
However, the refund I shall get is the Pure Land!

Nurtured with Love (poem)

Self and other are
essentially Emptiness,
that bright spirit of
Self Nature that is Buddha Nature.
One's life is nurtured with Love.

With Effort, All Things Are Possible

If you have only effort, you have all Dharmas,
But if you have only laziness you do not know any Dharmas. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso


With effort, anything is possible. Although one may be limited by physical strength, with mindful practice the mind is capable of anything.

Last night I went out to visit Vancouver. Since my habit is to take pictures with my smartphone camera, most of my night was spent taking pictures of my trip into Vancouver and of the city itself.

First I went down to English Bay. Then I returned to Robson Street and Howe Street, near Chapters Book.

At Chapters, I looked around until I found the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam, which I got for a bargain: $2!

This is the fifth edition of the Rubaiyat.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Rubaiyat is not about drinking wine. What wine represents in the verses is the Divine and is akin to the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

Returning to the Buddhist quote regarding effort, "Dharmas" refers to phenomena. For the phenomena that effort brings is inspiration.

After reading the Rubaiyat, I felt inspired to write the poem preceding this article, We are All One.

As well, inspiration helped with the effort to create my newest music video to post on Youtube using pictures I took last night.

With effort, you could have anything,
Be it peace of mind or happiness.
All it takes is faith in the Buddha,
and belief that Buddha Nature is Emptiness.

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The Rubaiyat: http://classics.mit.edu/Khayyam/rubaiyat.html
Analysis of Rubaiyat: http://www.peejeshare.com/essays/analysis-rubaiyat-omar-khayyam-8825

How to Damage Samsara

Samsara and Nirvana are
empty of permanence and
full of impermanence.
Thus Emptiness aligns with
the no-self principle.
Develop doubts about Samsara
as real to understand Emptiness.
Developing doubts about Emptiness
will damage Samsara until
only Nirvana remains.

Breath Meditation (poem)

With the breath it begins,
the quiet meditation
of the skillful one.
Without preconceptions,
the mind is emptied of bias.
Each thought comes and goes,
with focus on the breath.
Heart and mind become as one
yielding the blessed heart-mind.
Amidst the one-pointedness of mind.
the Bodhi Mind arises until
Emptiness is filled with bliss.
In pure joy, the skillful one
returns to the breath and rises.

Fearlessness

When I was younger, I would put off washing dishes until the dishes, plates, and utensils were in the sink...

The longer the task of washing dishes was put off, the longer I thought the task would be.

Yet the first time I started to wash those dishes, it took 15 minutes to do.

After a couple weeks of washing dishes, I realized that washing each meal's dishes would take less than 5 minutes.

Thus fear is like the prospect of washing a week's worth of dishes, all piled in the sink.

Facing fear may even seem impossible at first.

However, repeated exposure to fear led me to see that facing each of life's fears takes less time than the first time I spent tackling all of them at once.

Since then I have faced each fear as it arises, watched as it passed by me, and forgot about it.

Today I'm certain that adding Buddha Remembrance to my daily spiritual practice has helped to ward off almost all fear.

It is amazing that uttering the Name-that-calls actually works!

Perhaps Nembutsu practice is helping me to develop fearlessness.

In this context, fearlessness is the quality of mind that is empty of fear. Yet my mind does experience fear temporarily. Then it quickly goes away.

How is this possible? It is most likely Buddha Remembrance has reduced my fear of the afterlife, which has its roots in the fear of death. With regular practice, chanting the Nembutsu has accumulated the merit of fearlessness.

Could it be that Buddha Remembrance is almost like a protective mantra? Its actual purpose is to promote other power of Amida.

For the concept of the Name-that-calls is that by uttering the Nembutsu, I believe that Amida Buddha calling to me. Far from being magical thinking; this is actually a form of self-hypnosis with the purpose of actualizing my faith in the Primal Vow.

Returning to the topic of facing fear, my faith in the Primal Vow and belief in the Name-that-calls leads me to practice Buddha Remembrance.

As a result of that spiritual practice, my mind has learned to control my fears. This quality of my mind called "control over my fears" is the quality of mind that is empty of fear called fearlessness.

As such, it is the working of my faith in the Primal Vow that actualized fearlessness.

Thus I put my faith in Amida Buddha!

Emptiness As Everything and Nothing (poem)

Emptiness is when one
sees no difference
between self and other,
man and Buddha, man and woman,
samsara and Nirvana.
For Emptiness concerns
everything and nothing.
However, to see no difference
between life and death
is foolish as there is only
birth, life and death.
For birth is full of life,
and death is empty of
both life and birth.
Yet life consists of
birth, itself and death.
And the mind that chooses
life over death does not
understand samsara.
Likewise, he who seeks
Nirvana should let go of
seeking Nirvana in order
to arrive on the Other Shore.

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.

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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

The Bodhi Mind is Emptiness

When you contrive to eradicate all thought in your mind, this is no-thought. However, a mind cannot be empty of thought, for thought always flows through it.

Thus, the practice of no-thought is all in vain, since each thought you eradicate only leads to more thoughts to eradicate. It is like trying to find the needle in the haystack.

Indeed, it is impossible to remove all thought from the mind, just as it is impossible to stop the flow of a stream with your hands. It is this impossible task that vexes the mind, producing even more thoughts.

How vain is it then to even attempt to stop all thought in the mind!

Thus the act of emptying your mind is in vain. For your mind is already empty. It has Buddha Nature, which is emptiness itself, and is capable of achieving Bodhi Mind, which is the motivation to achieve Enlightenment with the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.

Even though your mind is full of thoughts, it is empty of clinging to these thoughts.

By attempting to empty your mind of thoughts, this is clinging. By clinging, the ego arises.

For what is ego but a kind of insanity, grasping in ignorance, and always craving?

Mind-stream is Conciousness-stream

Mind-stream is epitome of non-self because consciousness is empty of a permanent self.

Mind-stream also is consciousness-stream.

Basically, Buddhist practice leads to consciousness of a practitioner to return to consciousness continuum. think of continuum as transit hub to Buddha worlds such as Pure Land of Bliss which is where Amida Buddha resides.

Practice consists of meditation, chanting of the Name of Amida, and chanting of sutras related to Amida Buddha.

On follower's parinirvana (physical death) follower's consciousness returns to continuum and goes to Pure Land.

This is called rebirth in the Pure Land.

Emptiness is Full of Impermanent Existence (poem)

Emptiness is empty of nothing,
for nothingness is empty of
nothing, and the void is full
of emptiness, that freedom
from permanence and non-existence.
Thus emptiness is empty of
permanence, and of non-existence.
He who is certain of this
understands Buddhist logic,
and his mind is empty of
the confusion called doubt.

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.

The Five Wisdom Buddhas

Symbolically, the Five Wisdom Buddhas represent the five aspects of spiritual wisdom of the Buddha.

Commonly found in Vajrayana mandalas, the Five Wisdom Buddhas are also the main objects of worship in Shingon Buddhism, a variety of esoteric Japanese Buddhism that arose in Japanese before Vajrayana Buddhism became known.

Vairocana is considered the Adi-Buddha of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, with the other four Buddhas assigned to cardinal directions.

Based on the Yogācāra elaboration of concepts concerning the jñāna (spiritual knowledge) of the Buddhas of the Trikaya, the Five Wisdom Buddhas are a later development used to symbolize the aspects of the Dharmakaya (truth-body), which embodies the principle of enlightenment.

First, two Buddhas appeared in Yogacara sutras which represented wisdom and compassion - they were, respectively, Akṣobhya and Amitābha. To embody the aspects of power, or activity, and the aspect of beauty, or spiritual riches, two more Buddhas were added, Amoghasiddhi, and Ratnasaṃbhava. Finally, the central figure became Vairocana.

Thus power represents spiritual activity, while beauty represents spiritual riches.

Traditionally, Aksobhya is the eastern Buddha of consciousness as an aspect of reality, working for the joy of all beings, while Amitabha is the western Buddha of comprehensive love, working for the enlightenment of all sentient beings.

Amoghasiddhi is the northern Buddha of the conceptual mind that conquers all evils, while Ratnasambhava is the southern Buddha of the mind developing equanimity and equality to destroy greed and pride.

Meanwhile, Vairocana is the celestial Buddha (Adi Buddha) who is the embodiment of Emptiness.

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Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Buddhas

Emptiness of Opposites (poem)

Emptiness is devoid of its opposite.
For the Void is empty of space,
yet is still vast as space itself.
To further define emptiness,
contemplate the following:

Good is empty of evil.
Greatness is empty of smallness.
Kindness is empty of unkindness.
Life is empty of death.
Love is empty of hate.
Perfection is empty of imperfection.
Phenomenon is empty of noumenon.
Primordial is empty of newness.
Purity is empty of impurity.
Reality is empty of unreality.
Truth is empty of falsehood.

Yet, these are not truly opposites;
instead, they are complements.
For great good is
empty of good and evil,
just as great love
is empty of love and hate.
Being devoid of opposites
implies trascendence of them.