Karma of The Christ (prayer)

Lord, have mercy on this sinner!
Let it be known to they who have ears:
He that wishes hellfire on unbelievers
The devil tempted, but he alone errs.
He that practices mercy like God,
The Christ he follows faithfully.
Truly then are the merciful of men
The most divine of humanity, not
Unlike the Only Begotten — none
Dare accuse them of wrongdoing.
For it is not up to us to judge
Lest we be judged according to His will.
All that believe in God Almighty,
Be they Christian, Jew or Muslim,
By their acts they be judged by Him,
And those that err shall be shown
Mercy, being offered their last chance.
When that time comes, they who choose
The Millennium shall not know death,
And they who choose to be purged
Will only return to the Godhead
Until their glory is revealed.
If this is heterodox to the doctrines
Of Abrahamic faiths, be they Christian,
Jewish or Muslim, then your doctrine is pure.
If what is written here as prayer is heretical
In the eyes of the devout, be they Muslim,
Jewish or Christian, then your doctrine is corrupt.
Be ye silent, yet pray for my soul,
'Tis because of thy wish that is founded
On false doctrine about "hellfire and brimstone",
And the destruction of evil by its Author.
Indeed, the doctrine that God, the Author
Of good and evil, shall destroy all evil
So that only good remains is an unbalanced one
Created by cult members for the sake of control
Over the followers of such obscene doctrine.
Instead, hellfire cleans away all evil,
Leaving only the immortal soul behind
To be embraced by the Only Begotten,
Made one with God Almighty,
And touched by the Holy Ghost.
What is revealed is the truth
In the name of the Lord!
Amen.

I am a Mirror (poem)

I am a mirror.
Whatever you say
About me reflects on you.
You call me "weak"
because of your weaknesses.
You call me "strong"
because of your strengths.
Reflecting thusly, my silence
is golden always.

You are a mirror
Reflecting on the mind
Entranced by the ego
Until lost in
the dualities
Of Self and Other.

I am a mirror.
Whatever I say
About you reflects on me.
I call you "weak"
Because of my weaknesses.
I call you "strong"
Because of my strengths.
Reflecting thusly, your silence
is golden always.

You are a mirror
Lost in the mind that projects
The ego upon the world,
Until found through
The reality
of Selflessness.

To free the ego grasping
In vain for the object of desire,
Appease the ego with love
Rendered unconditional by Buddha,
Whose smile is contagious
And Whose Nature is true.

What is that mirror
But a single facet
of the diamond mind of Buddha,
And each sparkling facet,
The mind of a bodhisattva
Reflecting on True Self
And the Other as One,
While the ego is appeased.

This is that mirror,
The mind in meditation
Reflecting with the clarity
of the diamond mind of Buddha,
Having appeased the ego
With Four Noble Truths
That led to the Eightfold Path —
Nirvana sets all of us free!

---

Originally posted on Oct 2, 2014 at 5:57 AM

Samadhi: The Meditation of Pure Joy

The cure for anger is simple:
cultivate love and practice patience
in the face of anger, desire, hatred, jealousy
and worldliness too base for comfort.
Show compassion for all sentient beings,
and know that loving kindness leads to
compassion so powerful, it burns away
evil karma until all that is left is merit.

May all sentient beings be happy!
May all sentient beings attain the pure joy of liberation!
May all sentient beings focus on the one-pointedness of mind!
May all sentient beings aspire to attain Buddhahood!
May all sentient beings become determined to be bodhisattvas!
May All sentient beings be loving in the face of anger and hatred!
May all sentient beings remember the kindness of their parents!
May all sentient beings be excellent to each other!

Gone away is this vain grasping self,
for in its place is selflessness as virtue
which drives away selfishness and its companions.
All that is left is the pure joy of liberation.

---

Originally posted on February 21, 2013 at 7:09 AM

Meditation - Journal Entry: September 30, 2013 at 10:02 PM

Be excellent in all
That you do, and accept
Everyone as Buddha
Without question. O!
No one is as splendid
As the bodhisattvas.

Egoless due to daily meditation,
I hold no delusions about being a god.
For what is ego but a tool to wield for liberation?
He who wields Ego wisely uses it to benefit everyone.
What is evil but utter confusion?
What is good but true understanding?

Although all of what I write
Is metaphorical, it is
For the good of us all,
Even the white lies which hold
The Truth occulted by evil karma.

Truth arises from
The pure mind, cleansed of evil
Through daily practice
Of calm abiding and
Mindful reflection on Truth.

Achieve the pure mind
By letting go of desire
Through skillful means.
All it takes is to repeat
The Nembutsu sincerely.

For the Nembutsu
Is the tool of cleansing, and
Purifies the mind.
Wield it kindly when saying
The Nembutsu, the Name-that-calls.

He who utters the Name-that-calls
Is merely moved by the Buddha
Calling to all of humanity.
With each calling his mind is
Cleansed of anger arising from
Desire until the Pure Mind
Arises, shining bright like
The moon rising after sunset,
And the sun rising in the morn.

All things in the universe
Are impermanent,
And there is no soul at all.
Instead, there is but
The Eightfold Consciousnesses.

Comments on Satanism versus satanism

Preamble: this article is about Satanism as the religionists view it, and how I use the term.

My use is to point to the truth of the possibility that Christians, Jews and Muslims might be "worshipping" Satan when their doctrines lead to hate crimes committed against gays and people "living in sin".

E.g. It is satanic for Jews to cheat Gentiles. Likewise it is satanic for Salafis to kill Coptic Christians while excusing their violence as "will of God".

A religionist who kills is only exercising the will of man. That in itself is not satanic. It is when a person who errs hides behind a deity who is apart from man most of the time.

Let's first turn to Wikipedia's definition of Satanism.

May 15, 2005 1403H: Satanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Satanism is a religious and philosophical movement whose adherents recognize Satan as an archetype who all humans have some characteristics of, and Satanists celebrate aspects of human nature represented by the Satan archetype. Many Satanists do not worship a deity called Satan, or one by any other name. Unlike many religions and philosophies, Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes.

Many contemporary Satanists eschew traditional religious beliefs, attitudes and worship in favor of more egoistic worldviews and practices such as magick. Groups or individuals described in some sense or another as Satanic can largely, though incomprehensively, be described as belonging to one of two unofficial sub-groupings: Philosophical Satanism or Religious Satanism.

Commentary: Satanism is more harmless than most Christian sects.

...To the Satanist, One is One's own God, and He disdains rationalist, secular humanistic beliefs which abhor the existence of the supernatural, only to promote a sterile life grounded in the 'real world' alone and in working towards the altruistic advancement of His fellow man while neglecting His own gratification and amusement. Obviously, philosophically Satanic thought has had a long history before LaVey's Church (indeed, self-centered egotism is probably as old as civilization itself), though it was the notion of Satan as the idealistic, self-seeking black sheep which inspired the title in spite of contemporary Christianity (which views him as evil because of these qualities).

Comment: Think of Satanism as magico-religious rationalization called by Ayn Rand, "selfishness".

...the Serpent in Genesis [encouraged] mankind to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."*, with the clear implication, coinciding with the beliefs of all Satanists, that mankind should know what is better for itself than any God which would forbid knowledge and self-government. Because of the common position that their faiths are in fact very old, or the oldest, Religious Satanists sometimes refer to themselves as "Traditional Satanists" and Philosophical Satanists as "Contemporary Satanists".

Comment: This is symbolic of Truth.

...The existence of large networks of organized Satanists involved in illegal activities, murder, and child abuse is occasionally claimed, often by fundamentalist religious movements. Those claims have never been substantiated and are widely believed to be false. See conspiracy theories.

Comment: ritual sexual abuse however may occur within the institution of the healthcare system, along with ritual physical abuse not only by doctors and nurses, but also by people in authority. Thus, the conspiracy theory by fundamental Christians of ritual Satanic abuse is actually a repressed memory of abuse within their own denominations and within the Establishment itself.

Thus, Satanism is about the ego, rather than about rising above selfishness to try to get to know Truth in the form of Oneness with God.

The truth that Satan represents is God = Man, rather than the eternal truth that God = Man + "Life, the Universe and Everything."

While both Truths are valid, each in their own way, the Superior man will let his head be his guide on any matters of the heart arising from the synthesis of each of them.

Thesis = Truth of Oneness
Anti-thesis = Truth of Selfishness
Synthesis = Oneness and Selfishness are light and dark aspects of Truth


In various Gnostic sects, the Serpent was praised as the giver of knowledge. Sometimes Satan was also referred to, under the names Lucifer or "the light-bringer". Some Gnostics claimed that the being declared God by Christians and Jews was in fact Satan, known as the Demiurge.

Comment: this gives a less sinister view of Satan than Christians are wont to do.

The Confusion about "Satanic"

There are many groups which are commonly misconceived as Satanic. There are two common definitions of a Satanic religion:

* Any religion that does not follow the Christian religion or recognize Jesus Christ as explained in Christian dogma.
* Any religion that consciously recognizes and worships "Satan," usually referring either to a "dark" deity (similar to the Christian Satan, though usually lacking the evil or unnaturalness associated with it) or a conceptual Satan, often referring to a so-called "true" nature of Mankind.

The first definition is most commonly used by fundamentalist Christians, and is the source of much disagreement about whether a religion should be considered Satanic or not. The most common targets of these claims are Neo-Pagan religions, such as Wicca and Ásatrú.


It is also common to see Christian denominations or even Judaism and Islam referred to as Satanic based on interpretations of the first definition. Among these Christian groups are usually the less traditional ones, such as the Mormons and other smaller sects. Also, it is not unheard of for Catholics to refer to Protestants as Satanic, and vice versa, though this is more uncommon.

Comment: Ignorance is used as a tool to misuse a term out of fear. In the case of Christians using the term "satanic", this has led to a lot of really stupid things like witch hunts.

Within the limited Christian definition, I practice a New Age Satanism by calling my religious beliefs, "Shinto-Buddhist-Hindu-Christian New Age philosophy".


Update March 12, 2013 0716H

What I actually practice is a layer of traditions, none of which are Christian, Jewish or Muslim.

Update December 23, 2013 2120H

Comment: I define satanism as behavior which leads to evil karma e.g. people expressing anti-gay sentiments are behaving like homophobes. This leads to a backlash where pro-gay activists, both gay and heteronormative criticize monotheists who are conservative about sexual mores.

However, my use of the term "satanism" is actually the closest Christian term for evil karma, which arises when confusion and conflict result from actions we do.

My use of the term "satanism" is inaccurate since Buddhists do not believe in satan or God.

Indeed the closest Buddhists get to the archetypes of good and evil is with respect to karma. A person is not inherently evil to a Buddhist. Rather, what we create determines whether the karma is evil or good. Ultimately this is not a judgement call that determines one's path in the afterlife.

Evil karma does not doom a Buddhist to the Hell Realms, nor does good karma lead to the Pure Land. Why? Because one would also have to include the karmic seeds stored in the Alaya Consciousness.

According to Buddhist folklore, a tally of good and evil karma is made by Yama or a representative he chooses to determine the destination of a person after death. However, because each of us does not know the amount of good and evil karma which came with each of us at birth, it would be impossible to determine what awaits us at death.

Speculation about one's destination in the afterlife is moot. It might even keep us from attaining rebirth in a Pure Land, if we cling to the idleness of such speculations.

Hence the term "satanism" refers not to satan or God but to the evil resulting from actions which harm oneself and/or other people. Karma is not such a big deal, be it evil or good. It is more satisfying to meditate on karma than to worry about one's destiny in the afterlife.

This is why for me as a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, my destination in the Pure Land of Bliss is guaranteed when I confirm that destination through Nembutsu practice.

Thus the use of "satanism" and "satanic" is to make it easier to understand that evil karma is not sin but the potential confusion and conflict due to the actions a Buddhist creates that harm self and/or others, such as lying, theft, hating someone, and other acts which range from childish to downright vile.

In contrast, good karma is not due to luck but rather, to the potential understanding and "good vibes" arising from moral act such as helpfulness and giving charity.

Thus it is possible for monotheists to act in a satanic manner when their proselyting against homosexuality and common-law marriage leads LGBTIQ people of the rainbow to abandon their religion of birth for a more humanistic lifestyle free of the hangups of religion i.e. conservatism.

Another Rant about Good and Evil (satire)

When I was a young pup, public school had some weird creepy video to scare kids into being paranoid about pedophile killers by showing forested areas that the Earth Day people later said was sacred.

At the time, out in suburbia in the South Fraser region, we'd read about the riot that the Beatles almost caused in Metro Vancouver. That ruined it for rock and roll for me, and I was too naive to fathom the music that the RIAA pimps to us.

Even so, the Beatles was a different matter. We borrowed an album from a neighbor in the late 60s. Today any Beatles song comes on, I can sing to it, albeit tone deaf and off key. :)

What does that have to do with the creepy propaganda to get kids to be aware of pedo bears?

Well, Canada was up in arms over rock music in the 60s. The fans were worse, and only calmed down after the shadowy Cannabis czar fled America for the safety of Vancouver BC. Rock music was rumored to corrupt people who listened to it. Even men who do evil used it to cozy up to their prey.

Today, nobody cares about rock and roll. The new threat is reality TV, with a crazy guy kicked off one show and a cat fight on another. Imagine if some poor lass decided Snooki is her role model in Lotusland! >:)

As for videos we were forced to watch for our own good, they only led to the politically correct climate that sniffs out the disturbed characters in our post modern world.

Music isn't the threat nor is TV. It is within each of us to choose between the greater good or the greater evil.

When we choose to create evil karma, society reacts, sometimes against the evil doers and sometimes neglecting to discover them.

When we choose to create good karma, society may praise us and nominate us as treasures. If that happens, then we shall work even harder for the greater good of us all.

True Karma (poem)

They who choose anger
over laughter deserve
the karma of their choices.
Yet they who choose laughter
enjoy the karma of their joy.
This is how true karma works.
No good or bad becomes it.

Why My Buddhism Turned the Devil into a Dharma Protector (Satire)

This morning I am moved to write about religion, both Buddhist and Christian. If you have an aversion to such things, feel free to stop reading right now because the following prose is beyond your comprehension. Otherwise, please be warned: I am writing from the viewpoint of a Japanese Buddhist. All I can add to this, is in my writing, anything is possible. >:)

So I'm going to start with Jesus, because his story gets a lot of press these days.

Suffice it to say, Jesus did these things: feed the poor, clothe the homeless, cure psychosomatic illness.

Not once in the Bible did I read about him saying, "Persecute homosexuals and other sinners." He never diabolized sin to that extent. Rather, this is dogma of church people who mix up the Old Testament stories about Lot with the New Testament.

In fact, he freed sinners from the diabolizing of people that the Jews did to sinners, which led the early Jewish nation to become a tribe of warriors.

IMO Christianity borrowed heavily from pagans such as Plato and Aristotle, so much so that good and evil became personified as god and satan -- as though they were friend and enemy of Christians.

For Christians, good and evil ae extremes; there is no middle ground.

It's stuff like that makes me glad I was born Buddhist, because Buddhism is the middle ground, and good and evil the result of what each sentient being create.

I don't open myself to spiritual attack from demons by meditating because such a thing is ridiculous to a Buddhist -- we are not devil worshippers; we are worshippers of truth.

Yes, I am suggesting that Christians who use the satanism card to diabolize other faiths as pagan are authors of lies, because their lies began with denying the syncretic roots of Christianity.

In contrast, Buddhism was not founded by the Buddha. Rather, it was renamed by Christian and secular scholars alike in the modern age. For it is the Buddhadharma that was founded by the Buddha over 2500 years ago to address the problems of the nascent Hindu religion called Santanadharma, which was renamed Hinduism by modern Western scholars.

Dharma has many meanings to a Buddhist such as law or teaching. Its meditative techniques work, even without the spiritual teachings of the Dharma. However, meditation works more efficiently with those teachings to guide the meditator.

In contrast, the history of Christianity shows the Church declaring Gnostics to be anathema to their cause, solely because Gnosis is not subject to the control and power of Christians e.g. only elite members of the Church are allowed to "know God" so thoroughly that you become a Bishop or even the Pope.

Gnostics were considered enemies of the State to both Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire that followed Greek rituals of Christianity, and the Western Roman Empire that followed Roman ones, but mainly to Byzantium. For the Western Roman Empire's enemies were mainly Gothic, Norman and Vandal mercenaries who practiced a heretical form of Christianity.

Suffice it to say that under these conditions, Gnostic meditative practices were forgotten when Byzantine armies crushed them in the Middle East. It is even said that the libraries of Alexandria in Egypt were put to the torch by a Coptic Pope to ensure that Gnosis was never to be freely available to Gnostics, let alone pagans.

Meanwhile in India, wherever the Buddhadharma spread, local gods were subjugated and added to the Buddhist pantheon of divinities who pledged to protect the Buddha. Thus, when Western civilization entered the Dark Ages, the East became enlightened by the Buddhadharma with the Santanadharma advocates making the Buddha one of its many gods, leading to the famous Hindu-Buddhist university of Nalanda and the spread of Santanadharma into Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines).

Perhaps, the proto-Polynesians may have took to the sea so that their gods would not be subject to control by invaders.

In any case, by the time the darkness that befell Western civilization was cast off during the Renaissance, religious ignorance forced Galileo to recant and corruption arose within the Papacy to the point where bestiality, incest and murder became part and parcel of intrigues arising from Christianity's inability to control human desire. IMO this was because Christianity considered the world evil and especially the body as a tool of sin.

Yet, if God made the world, then everything in it is his creation, and thus is good. This even includes the human soul, if both it and God exist. Furthermore, sin is not the same as evil. It is alike to evil karma i.e. the fruit of actions associated with the negative emotions and feelings such as anger, fear, lust, and other confusing feelings.

Even ignorance of god does not make a person evil. Only what he creates by what he does and says may cause the rise of confusion due to negative emotions. This is known as "evil passions" to the Buddhists, and also includes the mental calculations a person makes before she acts on them to make it so in the world.

To a Buddhist, a god being a Dharma protector of the Buddha is the protector of the Buddhadharma. Thus such a divine being is a friend of the Buddha, much as Jesus is a friend of Christians, whose angels protect them from birth. The only difference is, the bodhisattvas, gods and other Dharma protectors all protect the Buddhadharma. A wise Buddhist knows that they do not exist in this reality and that he would thus be foolish to worship any one of them including the Buddha.

If the cosmology of Buddhism actually exists, then it is not in the real world but in the mind of fervent worshippers who may not grasp the symbolism but worship them out of respect for all things divine, especially the Buddhadharma which enshrine the Four Noble Truths.

Such respect is sometimes mistaken by Christians as blind worship akin to paganism, due to their ignorance about Buddhism, which sadly is due to their sole reliance on the Bible. More enlightened Christians have studied Buddhism and have compared it to the Protestant form of Christianity called Methodism minus Jesus.

Indeed, in most Asian countries where Christianity is preached, the word "God" is often replaced with that Asian nation's most often worshipped god, e.g. in Chinese Taoism with the lesser gods being akin to angels and saints. Though, in Japan, Christianity is not as easy to sell because of the Japanese myth that their people are born of the gods.

Thus many of the New Religions in Japan have a corrupted form of God speaking through the founder and even his edicts are made through spirit writing, which predates Pentacostalism's corruption by occultism when they added shamanistic practices to their worship. Of course, most Pentacostals will deny occultism and shamanism in their religious practice, because Christians deny that their religion is of this world.

Yet most of the successful Protestant sects borrow heavily from worldly sources e.g. Billy Graham and other televangelists. Though, Mr. Graham's Christianity is his own, and is thus non-denominational. He actually believes in an immortal soul which is derived from neo-Platonism (a form of paganism developed before the Dark Ages which was revived during the Renaissance. It's not Biblical though, because the New Testament only mentioned "everlasting life", which has nothing to do with immortality, which is more associated with alchemy (an occult art) than with religion.

In Buddhism, the closest one gets to immortality is reincarnation, which has nothing to do with souls reincarnating because Buddhism denies the existence of a soul. Therefore, reincarnation is not about immortality of a soul but it is about karma. For only one's actions are affected by time itself: the karma (actions) I created in the past affect my present condition and my present actions (karma) affect my future (destiny). Indeed, there is no fixed point in time as far as karma goes.

Today, I am a Buddhist, quite possibly due to past karma, both in my lifetime and in the lifetimes of previous incarnations. I might have been a god, a demon, a man or woman, an animal, a hungry ghost or even a hell being. When I die, I am sure to be reborn in the Pure Land. But for now, just sitting is enough for me.

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Meditation on People Who Do Evil to Children

May all evil people that perpetuate evil upon children suffer as a result of the evil that they create, equal to the depth of their denials. The Hells has a special place for them.

Excluded are those people who have been caught and are sincerely filled with remorse, and readily admit to their wrong-doing. When they turn about and give up creating evil, dedicating themselves to perpetuating good on all people, their time in the Hells will be a brief reminder of what their afterlife might have been.

However, it is up to them to decide whether they wish to be reborn in the Realms of Desire or choose to be reborn in the Pure Land.

If the latter, then burning off evil karma is as simple as many utterings of the name of Amida Buddha.

Why would anyone choose to reincarnate in the Realms of Desire?

Transforming Evil into Good

On the journey to the Pure Land accounting for what has been accomplished is as important as focus on burning the evil karma accumulated. A sure way to remain stuck in Samsara is to falsely believe just one call to Amida is as good as ten.

This is why Buddha Recitation is important to a Pure Land Buddhist.

Yet Zen Patriarch Hui-Neng is correct about creating good thoughts right now.

So rather than counting my blessings, I count each recitation as the seed of today's good thoughts.

"Good and evil" isn't about "good or evil" fixed both in both time and space.

It's about how we color what we create by thoughts and action.

Karma

The Buddha said:
According to the seed that is sown,
So is the fruit you reap
The door of good will gather good result
The door of evil reaps evil result.
If you plant a good seed well,
Then you will enjoyed the good fruits.

---

Reference:

Karma: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Karma.htm

Free from Karmic Destiny (poem)

Free, free, free are we
when Awakened &mdash free to be
unborn like a babe.
The Tathatagharbha is
Ultimate Reality,
a metaphysical womb
into which we are reborn,
free to travel to
an almost infinite number
of Pure Lands as Buddha.
as immaculate as the Unborn.
Having Awakened from Ego,
Nirvana is where anything
can happen, but few of us
can experience this freedom
due to karmic destiny.

Buddhism Arises When Peace Flourishes

Ultimate reality, being Nirvana, cannot happen in these desperate times, when few people realize the important of being calm yet vigilantly observant. In this world, it's a rush of birth, life and death, often repeated and filled with suffering.

Wars arise due to vast differences of culture fighting for resources, yet patient diplomacy might have achieved long-lasting compromises. Instead, evil karma dominates
in the form of terrorism, though now the people finally realize that peace requires vigilance in these uncertain times.

In the 21st century, the words of the Buddha fall on deaf ears:
"A warrior may have conquered
one thousand foes but he who
conquers himself is truly a warrior."

Likewise, the words of Mohammad's companion Jabir are forgotten: "You have arrived
with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad — the striving
of a servant of Allah against his foes — to the Greater Jihad — the striving of a servant of Allah against his desires — the holy war that all Muslims must fight."

Instead, the only holy war is the lesser jihad, for a militant Millennialism is all that is left for the servants of Allah.

How can there be any peace then?

Forgotten is the peace of the Saracens, and the greatness of the Ummayad Caliphate
whose adminstration of al-Andalus brought peace to the Arabs, Berbers, Separdic Jews
of Eastern Europe, and the Musalimah until the taifa kingdoms arose.

Then the Inquisition forced out the Arabs and Jews, and resulted in the Conversos during the Reconquista, bringing suffering to pious Jews and Muslims alike.

Since then, the Hispanics suffered under the fascist regime of Franco but bloomed during the Carnation Revolution.

Today, Buddhism has enlightened Europe, with Tibetan and Zen being the most popular.
Humanistic Buddhism has replaced atheism both in Europe and in the Americas. Yet this has more to do with the peace found in the West, rather than war.

It appears that Buddhism arises in nations when peace prevails, which implies
that war-torn nations are not ready.

Even so, it is the duty of Buddhists everywhere to practice for the benefit of all sentient beings, rather than for attachment to the mind and the body. By doing to other sentient being that one does for the self, it is possible to await the time when all sentient beings come to know the Buddha willingly.

Rethinking my life

September 8, 2004: I know when it becomes dysfunctional: when I'm in the hospital, recovering from a concussion. In walks my mother and sister with her two nieces.

After telling them what happened to me, my mother proceeds to claim that karma is the reason I'm in the hospital i.e. my attitude prior to getting assaulted at a job site. Not one word about the fact that i survived it and am still alive. How cold!

Meanwhile my sister's unwarranted fear gets a hold of her, and she starts blathering about getting a gun to deal with future assault.

My response to that comment was to state that such violence is inappropriate.

When I had some time alone to think about it, i made my employer my next of kind contact, because my ex-girlfriend would be inappropriate since she has a new boyfriend. As well, I requested that if my mother called, that she not know when i get out of the hospital.

Two weeks later, my mother calls and doesn't mention her inappropriate remarks. The next time she calls, I don't call back. The reason why I don't wish to forgive her is because I am tired of the dysfunctional behavior.

Since my mother can't change, I'll have to change my own behavior, even when it means being cut off from dysfunctional mother love.

Update March 12, 2013

Today, I have stopped overreacting to my mother when she uses shaming to control me. Instead, I let her words into one ear and out the other ear, like mental floss. >:)

It is becoming so easy to ignore her, but to still thank her for preparing a wonderful dinner afterwards.

All it takes is a lot of patience and love to bear the brunt of her aggression with aplomb. All I have to do to prevent forgetting boundaries, is to practice patience and love as a son.

Though, when she becomes relentless in the insults œmdash; yesterday it was the "you have a horrible body odour" broken record, which is actually a hallucination on her part because she'd never be able to smell my body odour.

Just before she started talking like this, she told me that I messed up the couch I sat on and "stinked it up" despite the fact that I had showered before I came.

According to her, since I am not capable of keeping myself clean according to her arbitrarily high standards, it follows that I need to wash good.

Before I left, she offered me another bar of soap. Gee, it looks like I was actually getting brainwashed regarding "perfect hygiene and cleanliness!"

So I declined the offer of soap, since I have yet to use the one she gave me two weeks ago.

---

Original post: September 8, 2004 2028H
Update posted: March 12, 2013 0651H

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).

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

Samsara: Its Causes the Origin of Suffering

Reflecting on the causes of samsara,
the origin of suffering,
the devotee learns suffering is
the inevitable consequence of karmic actions
which result from negative emotions,
being the six primary types —
Ignorance, Desire, Anger,
Pride, Doubt and Beliefs —
or the nine fetters —
Ignorance, Attachment, Aversion
Pride, Jealousy, Desire,
Anger, Doubt, and Beliefs —
and the fifty-one mental states —
all of them included within the three root poisons —
ignorance, attachment and aversion.

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References:
Samsara: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Samsara
Six root destructive emotions: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Six_root_destructive_emotions
Three root poisons: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Destructive_emotions

The Tibetan Buddhist Afterlife As Metaphor

In the Tibetan Buddhist afterlife, a pious devotee — rich or poor, laity or priest, men, women or children — will be escorted by a deity who protects him and carefully explains what is happening.

Together, they travel until they come before Yama — the Lord of Death. His actions in this life are then measured by Yama, who counts out black and white seeds representing negative and positive karmic actions.

If there are more black seeds of negative actions, then he will be led to the hell realm by Yama.

If there are more white seeds of positive actions, then he will be escorted to the many paradises and Buddha worlds,

From the figurative and symbolic aspect, the Tibetan afterlife is the metaphor for the disciple's initiation by his guru. Death refers to the figurative death of the disciple's worldly life.

The hell realm refers to anger and its destructiveness to a person's psyche.

The deity who protects symbolizes the yidam of the disciple, which is the root of spiritual accomplishment.

All those many paradises and Buddha worlds represent the perfect purity of all phenomena.

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References:

Description of afterlife:

• Delok: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=D%C3%A9lok
  
• Buddhist afterlife beliefs: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/buddhism04.html
  
• Lingza Chokyi's Near-Death Experience: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/buddhism02.html
  

Four Great Kings:

• Four Great Kings: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Four_Great_Kings
  
• Four Heavenly Kings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Heavenly_Kings
  
  • Guardian King of the South: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Virudhaka
    
• Lokapala: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokapala
  
  • The Four Heavenly Kings "are invoked ... and exhorted to behave ... and protect the Dharma and its practitioners in the Shurangama Mantra".
    

The Eighteen Hells: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Eighteen_hells
Yidam : http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Yidam

A Reflection on the First Noble Truth

I sincerely hope and wish everyone o Google Plus the very best life in the Chinese New Year of Snake.

Speaking of snakes, when I was a young boy, I had no fear of garter snakes. Out in the fields at my uncle's place I would hunt them, grab one and examine it. Then after my curiosity was satiated, I would let the snake go.

Today, there are less snakes than in my childhood days, thanks to farmland being turned into property to build housing. Just for the sake of profit, mankind is destroying habitat for snakes, birds and other living beings.

Humanity justifies its voracious appetite for land by saying "Where am I to live?" Even when new apartments and condominiums are built, we have people in little boxes who, after securing their residence, complain, "My enjoyment of my home is ruined by those pigeons' excrement on my windows!"

Thus, the First Noble Truth is confirmed: "All life is filled with suffering."

Yet the life of a Buddhist, who suffers like everyone else, is one of joy!

What is the reason for joy? Even though the Buddhist suffers like you or I, she realizes that by just uttering ten recitations of the Buddha's name daily, she is assured of rebirth in the Wester Pure Land due to the working of the Primal Vow.

Even evil people and those fools who insult the Buddha will be assured rebirth once they repent of their trespasses, and practice Buddhism.

To the atheists and humanists who abhor religion, all of what I have said sounds like a wretched existence.

"How could you act that way, so full of joy, even though you suffer due to your emotional consciousness' subtle effect on your mind?"

For me, it is easy: I practice Buddha Recitation ten times a day. Each time I could recite the Buddha's name once. However, it is much more expedient to recite ten times in one go, so as not to waste the benefit of good karma.

Though, I think of Nembutsu practice as creating good karma, and burning away of evil karma.

Just by saying the Name-that-calls while fervently believing it is Amida Buddha calling to me, evil karma is burned away with every utterance of the Nembutsu.

Since I have dedicated my life to Amida Buddha with my vow to help all sentient being, it cannot hurt to meditate on friends, enemies, and loved ones, imagining burning away their evil karma, even though they cannot believe in such things.

True, this is like doing a good dead without thinking of reward. For it is true that a Buddhist wouldn't try to engage atheists and humanists, because of the risk of having a row over the Pure Land sect, which would remind the more spiritually ignorant of these intelligent people that their aptitude in science fuels their ignorance of spirituality.

When I feel tired, and a feeling of awfulness shivers over me, I sit and breathe while uttering ten times the name of the Buddha. Then I go on in my meditation to calm myself down.

When I contemplate the prison system, I consider the criminals languishing there, "How could you sit in jail, and not even think of the harm you cause others?"

For the diet of prison inmates is bland and rarely varied, lacking fresh fruit and adequate nutrients. Often prison warden lie to the prison system inspectors. It makes me wonder if all prisons are good for are to manufacture tomorrow's harden criminals.

As a Buddhist, I cannot view a prison as a good thing, due to the lack of Buddhist preachers helping the few prisoners who either were born Buddhists as Asians or had given up on monotheism in its main three flavors, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Of these three faiths, only Christianity is open to all comers. The other two are like mirror images of each other.

It would be satisfying to see the statistics on prison inmates who are Buddhists, as it's all about just sitting and meditating. Anyone can practice that without the usual hubris of Buddhism. Though the main tenets of Buddhism could be taught.

May all people in prison be happy.
May they stop using violence, and cross over.
May all people in the world be happy.
May the children of the world be happy and free from abuse and neglect.
May world leaders be enlightened, and always proselyte for Peace.


Namo Omito Fu.

Caught on the Endless Wheel

All states that can be returned to external causes are obviously not you, but that which cannot be returned to anywhere, if it is not you, what is it? Therefore, you should know that your mind is fundamentally wonderful, bright, and pure and that because of your involvement with the things of the world you have covered it up and lost it. In this way you are caught on the endless wheel of becoming this or that, sinking and floating in that sea of endless becoming. Awaken yourself now to your own bright mind.

— Surangama Sutra

External causes refer to worldliness and the risk of evil karma.

The mind that is "fundamentally wonderful, bright, and pure" is the mind aware of Buddha Nature, being Bodhi Mind.

By getting involved with the world, the Buddhist covers up her Buddha Nature, and her Bodhi Mind is lost.

"The endless wheel of becoming this or that" is Samsara, this world of birth-life-death.
"That sea of endless becoming" too is Samsara.

"Awaken" refers to mindful practice that develops wisdom and compassion for all sentient beings, including being of service to others.

"Your own bright mind" is Bodhi Mind.

To awaken the mind to Bodhi Mind, meditation with Buddha Recitation will develop wisdom and compassion.

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Originally posted: March 11, 2006 at 1524H
Updated: February 7, 2013 0051H