Overall, this article tersely describes the ideal aspects of human behavior which may be common to most people.
In a real life situation, the risk of stereotyping human behavior by rigidly categorizing them as alpha, beta, gamma or delta is that it obscures the other three aspects of behavior.
And when we actively ignore the fact that no one is exclusively this or that but most of us are actually the whole of alpha, beta, gamma and delta attributes.
Few women are actually alpha, because one beta will become alpha for a group of betas until another beta becomes dominant.
A true alpha, male or female, isolates from the group. he designates a beta to be second in command and temporarily alpha.
Also alphas use violence as a tool to maintain dominance, and sometimes teach a favored beta to be alpha.
However, even when trained, a beta will revert to beta when a dominant betas goes alpha, or a true alpha is present.
Also betas use nonviolent methods of social control. This helps distinguish betas from alphas.
Gammas never resort to violence, though they may be victims of violence by alphas.
I still insist that alphas tend to social isolate themselves from groups, since their dominating nature tends to render a group dysfunctional.
However, I believe that once in a while, deltas arise as people dare to be different, and resort to a combination of behaviors that reflect alpha, beta and gamma qualities of dominance, loyalty, submission and servitude, depending on the situation.
They see alpha dominance as a guide to maintain control over the group, and thus may use beta and gamma behaviors to fit in.
Privately a delta will adapt to betas, and facilitate their aloha qualities in group scenarios where a single alpha is absent.
As well, deltas will dominate gammas if need be but will motivate and nurture gammas, bringing out their nascent beta characteristics.
A delta is unafraid of competition, yet seeks to even the playing field since a hierarchy is often abused by dominant alphas.
Think of deltas as the democratic diplomats of society.
20130119
All things change (poem)
All things change, and nothing remains the same.
The mind thinks, and each thought are like bubbles
floating down the river to the great ocean.
When we think "Nothing changes", it is like
everything is the same but we become obsessed,
until one day we are like fearsome animals.
Is it wonder that there is suffering in the world?
Yet one man explained suffering with the Four Noble Truthss,
and helped relieve many of needless suffering.
Oh Buddha! Thank you for the Eightfold Path!
Thank you too for the Light you shine,
and the call you keep repeating:
Namu Amida Buddha!
The mind thinks, and each thought are like bubbles
floating down the river to the great ocean.
When we think "Nothing changes", it is like
everything is the same but we become obsessed,
until one day we are like fearsome animals.
Is it wonder that there is suffering in the world?
Yet one man explained suffering with the Four Noble Truthss,
and helped relieve many of needless suffering.
Oh Buddha! Thank you for the Eightfold Path!
Thank you too for the Light you shine,
and the call you keep repeating:
Namu Amida Buddha!
Dear Zen Master / From This Fool (poem)
Originally is there the Pure Mind,
for Buddha Remembrance removes
afflictions quickly.
Why sit on your ass for ages,
#Zen master, when you could chant
the #Nembutsu and accompany
this fool to the #PureLand?
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.
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.
Stealth Buddha Remembrance (poem)
What is the sound of no lips flapping?
I can do it on a bus,
on a car, in a train.
I can do it for us,
near or far, or
even in the rain.
Silent practice is
stealth Buddha Remembrance!
Silence practice involves chanting the nembutsu without making a sound.
However, one must have performed the oral practice regularly before attempting as even when you shout in silence, only you are able to hear yourself think.
Thus it's important to have a recording of Buddha Remembrance involving the chanting of the Nembutsu to help you.
Otherwise you'll have to count with your fingers.
I can do it on a bus,
on a car, in a train.
I can do it for us,
near or far, or
even in the rain.
Silent practice is
stealth Buddha Remembrance!
Silence practice involves chanting the nembutsu without making a sound.
However, one must have performed the oral practice regularly before attempting as even when you shout in silence, only you are able to hear yourself think.
Thus it's important to have a recording of Buddha Remembrance involving the chanting of the Nembutsu to help you.
Otherwise you'll have to count with your fingers.
Zen Masters == Doubting Thomases
Zen masters remind me of doubting Thomas, except that Thomas probably was willing to listen to the Jews, whereas most masters would call Pure Land "cheating" due to strong risk of attachment to the reward of rebirth in the Pure Land.
However, this risk is eliminated by Buddha Remembrance through burning of karma. Chanting of the name of the Buddha isn't for reward of the practitioner but benedits all sentient beings.
Therefore chanting Nembutsu is not cheating, being non-attachment. For rebirth in the Pure Land is not a reward for being a good Buddhist, but the effect of merit that the Name-that-calls causes.
Thus this is the working of Amida Nyorai through the follower's actions.
Please meditate on tis before dismissing Pure Land Buddhism not useful for Zen practice.
However, this risk is eliminated by Buddha Remembrance through burning of karma. Chanting of the name of the Buddha isn't for reward of the practitioner but benedits all sentient beings.
Therefore chanting Nembutsu is not cheating, being non-attachment. For rebirth in the Pure Land is not a reward for being a good Buddhist, but the effect of merit that the Name-that-calls causes.
Thus this is the working of Amida Nyorai through the follower's actions.
Please meditate on tis before dismissing Pure Land Buddhism not useful for Zen practice.
On Ghosts, the Fear of Death and the Affterlife
Most likely, ghosts are nothing more than fictions arising in the mind.
There is nothing wrong about creating fictions in your mind, as long as you get your facts straight, and that fiction obeys physical law but allows for anything seemingly supernatural to be metaphor for subtle qualities of the mind.
Thus, a ghost is actually based on the memory of a deceased loved one or mistaken for a dead family member.
If the latter, the purported "daemon from hell" pretending to be said family member is actually a manifestation of fear of death and the afterlife. It is similar to a wrathful diety.
However, ghosts do not exist in reality; for they are figments of the imagination "created" by the mind. A Buddhist would call ghosts delusions manifesting as spirits of the dead, and mostly likely projections of fear of death.
This is why Pure Land way came into existence, to prepare people for the afterlife.
One side effect for rebirth in the Pure Land is that it reduces any chance that a person's ghost will linger, provided that the deceased's family fully accept Buddhism as the toolkit to rationalize supernatural phenomena as projections of the mind.
By doing so, the Buddhist becomes acceptable to atheists.
There is nothing wrong about creating fictions in your mind, as long as you get your facts straight, and that fiction obeys physical law but allows for anything seemingly supernatural to be metaphor for subtle qualities of the mind.
Thus, a ghost is actually based on the memory of a deceased loved one or mistaken for a dead family member.
If the latter, the purported "daemon from hell" pretending to be said family member is actually a manifestation of fear of death and the afterlife. It is similar to a wrathful diety.
However, ghosts do not exist in reality; for they are figments of the imagination "created" by the mind. A Buddhist would call ghosts delusions manifesting as spirits of the dead, and mostly likely projections of fear of death.
This is why Pure Land way came into existence, to prepare people for the afterlife.
One side effect for rebirth in the Pure Land is that it reduces any chance that a person's ghost will linger, provided that the deceased's family fully accept Buddhism as the toolkit to rationalize supernatural phenomena as projections of the mind.
By doing so, the Buddhist becomes acceptable to atheists.
Meditation: How to Combat Drowsiness and Mind-Scattering
"The cultivator at times drifts into a dark, heavy mental state, akin to sleep; this is the delusive obstruction of drowsiness. At other times, while he recites the Buddha's name, his mind wanders and is filled with sundry thoughts. This is the delusive condition of "mind-scattering". Drowsiness and mind-scattering are two very dangerous obstacles because they hinder cultivation and prevent the practitioner from entering samadhi.
"As the cultivator practices, his delusive thoughts may suddenly be submerged and stilled. He recites the Buddha's name in an even monotone, with calm mind and thought, oblivious to the weather and incest bites. This state usually lasts from 30 one-half to one hour.
Sometimes sweat soaks his clothing without his knowledge, and only when he suddenly awakens does he perceive an uncomfortable sensation of extreme heat.
Experiencing this, he should not hasten to rejoice, thinking that his mind has settled, or that his practice is bearing some results. In reality, this is only the state of drowsiness in its subtle, mild form. The ancients have said:
Gently, gently, if drowsiness is not exposed, the demons will have their fill all day.
In this situation, the cultivator should take steps to practice steadfastly, with increased diligence and vigor. As he recites, he should "turn the light around," to subdue and destroy drowsiness..." — pages 133-134, Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith, Thich Thien Tâm
"As the cultivator practices, his delusive thoughts may suddenly be submerged and stilled. He recites the Buddha's name in an even monotone, with calm mind and thought, oblivious to the weather and incest bites. This state usually lasts from 30 one-half to one hour.
Sometimes sweat soaks his clothing without his knowledge, and only when he suddenly awakens does he perceive an uncomfortable sensation of extreme heat.
Experiencing this, he should not hasten to rejoice, thinking that his mind has settled, or that his practice is bearing some results. In reality, this is only the state of drowsiness in its subtle, mild form. The ancients have said:
Gently, gently, if drowsiness is not exposed, the demons will have their fill all day.
In this situation, the cultivator should take steps to practice steadfastly, with increased diligence and vigor. As he recites, he should "turn the light around," to subdue and destroy drowsiness..." — pages 133-134, Buddhism of Wisdom and Faith, Thich Thien Tâm
The Raver Meditation
Ok, get off your asses, jump around a lot while keeping the volume loud and thinking of these four lines of inspiration.
Peace of mind
Lovingkindness
Unity of the People
Respect for all sentient beings
"The country in which you live is divine, no matter where you live."
"The country in which you live is divine, no matter where you live."
This is the essence of Japanese thought, though nationalism and radical right-wing thought corrupted this essential Japanese sentiment.
Likewise, according to legend, the ancestry of all Japanese is divine. We are all descended from the gods (kami), and sometimes the kami can be whimsical. Hence eccentric Japanese who hole up in their parents' homes could just be touched by the gods.
This is why the Japanese born in the Americas are loyal to the countries in which they were born, especially so in Brazil where they became Brazilians to the point of assimilating into the culture.
This is also true of Peru where a Japanese-born Peruvian became head of state.
However, if you are Japanese, once you study Japan, then Japan becomes the only divine land. This is not always the case, and could be why Japanese right-wing nationalists look down upon the Japanese diasphora born in other lands.
And I seriously doubt that if a person of Japanese origin was born in a country other than in Japan, who rose to prominence, would be ignored in Japanese news today.
This is the essence of Japanese thought, though nationalism and radical right-wing thought corrupted this essential Japanese sentiment.
Likewise, according to legend, the ancestry of all Japanese is divine. We are all descended from the gods (kami), and sometimes the kami can be whimsical. Hence eccentric Japanese who hole up in their parents' homes could just be touched by the gods.
This is why the Japanese born in the Americas are loyal to the countries in which they were born, especially so in Brazil where they became Brazilians to the point of assimilating into the culture.
This is also true of Peru where a Japanese-born Peruvian became head of state.
However, if you are Japanese, once you study Japan, then Japan becomes the only divine land. This is not always the case, and could be why Japanese right-wing nationalists look down upon the Japanese diasphora born in other lands.
And I seriously doubt that if a person of Japanese origin was born in a country other than in Japan, who rose to prominence, would be ignored in Japanese news today.
Ancestor Worship Forgotten by Japanese Diasphora
In Japan, ancestor worship shows respect not only to your ancestors and the recently departed, but to the family kami if one's family has one.
A family kami is the first male ancestor in your lineage, or he may be the village kami if you have a home village. If the latter tradition is present, then your first male ancestor is Chinese.
In Canada, this heritage is forgotten. If you mention it amongst your relatives, they either mock you or change the subject.
Ah, we Japanese-canadians are too assimilated! We're so assimilated we blend in.
Yet there's an awkward moment when an Asian person talks to me, and I have to reply in English, "Sorry I don't speak Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese."
Though I can still speak Japanese but badly.
A family kami is the first male ancestor in your lineage, or he may be the village kami if you have a home village. If the latter tradition is present, then your first male ancestor is Chinese.
In Canada, this heritage is forgotten. If you mention it amongst your relatives, they either mock you or change the subject.
Ah, we Japanese-canadians are too assimilated! We're so assimilated we blend in.
Yet there's an awkward moment when an Asian person talks to me, and I have to reply in English, "Sorry I don't speak Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese."
Though I can still speak Japanese but badly.
A Myriad of Kami: A Personal Perspective
Introduction
This is only my personal interpretation of kami. To restrict the definition of kami to "ghost", "god" or "spirit" may be due to the Western concept of diety as a single god and the limitations of the English language.
For kami is a more complex spiritual essence.
In Shinto, the concept of "kami" refers to spiritual essence. It may be good or evil, diety or ghost, soul or spirit.
Kami as Spiritual Gem
In my humble opinion, kami may be likened to a spiritual gem.
Even if it were to shatter into a thousand pieces, each shard of kami contains the essence of that person, all of her beloved family, friends and teachers, and her beloved ancestors.
Thus, the spiritual essence of each person lives on in a myriad of kami.
Kami as Spiritual "Particles"
Another analogy for kami: the billions of atoms that make up my body which turns into dust after death. Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and minute amounts of minerals are recycled by nature, completing the cycle of birth-life-death.
Thus, kami is similar to those atoms, but only in the spiritual sense. Essentially neutral, a "particle" of kami may seen as good to a person, or seen as evil by another person, depending on their own karma and its complex interaction with their lives.
Essentially, she who is accepts kami as part of her spiritual life would view kami as good. If she has no concept of kami, then her ability to see it as good would depend on the situation.
Kami and Karmic Action
I think of kami as the spiritual essence and legacy loaned to me by the karmic action of my ancestors (as well as family, friends and teachers).
In my life, kami "gains interest" through my karmic action.
When I die, my kami will be passed on in the memory of others, and also in the myriad of kami.
Kami and Life
My views on kami result from an open-minded approach on life. For it is arises out of the growing development of my spiritual life.
References:
Kami: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami
Kami: http://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/cpjr/kami/index.html
This is only my personal interpretation of kami. To restrict the definition of kami to "ghost", "god" or "spirit" may be due to the Western concept of diety as a single god and the limitations of the English language.
For kami is a more complex spiritual essence.
In Shinto, the concept of "kami" refers to spiritual essence. It may be good or evil, diety or ghost, soul or spirit.
Kami as Spiritual Gem
In my humble opinion, kami may be likened to a spiritual gem.
Even if it were to shatter into a thousand pieces, each shard of kami contains the essence of that person, all of her beloved family, friends and teachers, and her beloved ancestors.
Thus, the spiritual essence of each person lives on in a myriad of kami.
Kami as Spiritual "Particles"
Another analogy for kami: the billions of atoms that make up my body which turns into dust after death. Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and minute amounts of minerals are recycled by nature, completing the cycle of birth-life-death.
Thus, kami is similar to those atoms, but only in the spiritual sense. Essentially neutral, a "particle" of kami may seen as good to a person, or seen as evil by another person, depending on their own karma and its complex interaction with their lives.
Essentially, she who is accepts kami as part of her spiritual life would view kami as good. If she has no concept of kami, then her ability to see it as good would depend on the situation.
Kami and Karmic Action
I think of kami as the spiritual essence and legacy loaned to me by the karmic action of my ancestors (as well as family, friends and teachers).
In my life, kami "gains interest" through my karmic action.
When I die, my kami will be passed on in the memory of others, and also in the myriad of kami.
Kami and Life
My views on kami result from an open-minded approach on life. For it is arises out of the growing development of my spiritual life.
References:
Kami: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami
Kami: http://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/cpjr/kami/index.html
Left Handed Kami Spells (poem)
Let hate unleash
a myriad of kami
to usher in the fruits
of karma for the hated.
Let fear arise
in the fearful
as they face such kami
as fruits of karma.
Let these vengeful kami
correct enemies of the Dharma,
and help them realize
peace of mind forever!
a myriad of kami
to usher in the fruits
of karma for the hated.
Let fear arise
in the fearful
as they face such kami
as fruits of karma.
Let these vengeful kami
correct enemies of the Dharma,
and help them realize
peace of mind forever!
Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Burma and Its Influence on Nationalism
Considering the Theravada stream of Buddhism in countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma, the Buddhist monks wield a lot of power.
Due to their influence in Sri Lanka, the government instituted a Sinhala-only policy which led Sinhala nationalists to attack Tamils and Sinhala people who protected Tamils. This led to civil war and only ended when Sri Lankan army killed the leader of the Tamil Tigers. The Sinhala-only policy was the result of early oppression of Buddhists by Christian and Hindu peoples during the colonial era.
Today, the civil war has ended. The last leader Pathmanathan of the Tamil Tigers was captured in 2009, and collaborated with the Sri Lankan government, exposing the Tamil crime network. Afterwards, Pathmanathan created an NGO to rehabilitate his people.
This year on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, Myanmar Buddhists of Rakhine State are in conflict with Rohingya Muslims. After a Rakhine woman was raped in June, a Rakhine mob killed 10 Rohingya men. Since then, the violence has escalated to the point where both Rohingya and Rakhine leaders have condemned it. Buddhist organizations in Myanmar which supported democracy are blocking humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims. In October, another riot occurred. Myanmar classified the Rohingyas as immigrants and thus not eligible for citizenship
Ironically, Bangladesh claims they are too poor to open up refugee camps for the Rohingya. If this is true, then most likely it is because international bankers have ruined Bangladeshi economy.
In both cases though, British colonialism appears to have been the facilitator of oppression against Buddhists which led to later strife in Sri Lanka.
In the case of Myanmar, British colonialism led to Burma being taken over by Indians, mostly Muslim. By the time British authorities realized the danger of ethnic rivalry between Rohingya and Rakhine peoples Japan had invaded Burma.
After WW2, much of the seeds for strife was sown when mujahids were formed for holy war, first to separate Mayu frontier from Arakan province in Burma and annex it with East Pakistan. When that was suppressed, mujahideens then rose up during Bangladesh independence in 1971. In recent years, the mujahideens wish for an independent or autonomous Mayu.
Sadly though, because the British Empire became no more after WW2, its subsequent decolonization and decline means that the UK no longer is obliged to undo what it has done to Sri Lanka and Burma prior to WW2 i.e. allowing free migration of Indians. Nationalism has helped alleviate resentment in both Sri Lanka and Burma, as most Indians returned to the newly formed India.
In both nations, the Theravada Buddhists are biased against non-Buddhists. When Buddhism is combined with nationalism, it sometimes results in sectarian violence against a minority of a different religion (Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka and Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
References:
Sri Lanka Civil War: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war
2012 Rakhine State riots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Rakhine_State_riots
Rohingya history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya#History
Due to their influence in Sri Lanka, the government instituted a Sinhala-only policy which led Sinhala nationalists to attack Tamils and Sinhala people who protected Tamils. This led to civil war and only ended when Sri Lankan army killed the leader of the Tamil Tigers. The Sinhala-only policy was the result of early oppression of Buddhists by Christian and Hindu peoples during the colonial era.
Today, the civil war has ended. The last leader Pathmanathan of the Tamil Tigers was captured in 2009, and collaborated with the Sri Lankan government, exposing the Tamil crime network. Afterwards, Pathmanathan created an NGO to rehabilitate his people.
This year on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, Myanmar Buddhists of Rakhine State are in conflict with Rohingya Muslims. After a Rakhine woman was raped in June, a Rakhine mob killed 10 Rohingya men. Since then, the violence has escalated to the point where both Rohingya and Rakhine leaders have condemned it. Buddhist organizations in Myanmar which supported democracy are blocking humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims. In October, another riot occurred. Myanmar classified the Rohingyas as immigrants and thus not eligible for citizenship
Ironically, Bangladesh claims they are too poor to open up refugee camps for the Rohingya. If this is true, then most likely it is because international bankers have ruined Bangladeshi economy.
In both cases though, British colonialism appears to have been the facilitator of oppression against Buddhists which led to later strife in Sri Lanka.
In the case of Myanmar, British colonialism led to Burma being taken over by Indians, mostly Muslim. By the time British authorities realized the danger of ethnic rivalry between Rohingya and Rakhine peoples Japan had invaded Burma.
After WW2, much of the seeds for strife was sown when mujahids were formed for holy war, first to separate Mayu frontier from Arakan province in Burma and annex it with East Pakistan. When that was suppressed, mujahideens then rose up during Bangladesh independence in 1971. In recent years, the mujahideens wish for an independent or autonomous Mayu.
Sadly though, because the British Empire became no more after WW2, its subsequent decolonization and decline means that the UK no longer is obliged to undo what it has done to Sri Lanka and Burma prior to WW2 i.e. allowing free migration of Indians. Nationalism has helped alleviate resentment in both Sri Lanka and Burma, as most Indians returned to the newly formed India.
In both nations, the Theravada Buddhists are biased against non-Buddhists. When Buddhism is combined with nationalism, it sometimes results in sectarian violence against a minority of a different religion (Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka and Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
References:
Sri Lanka Civil War: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war
2012 Rakhine State riots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Rakhine_State_riots
Rohingya history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya#History
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?
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?
20130118
V-Tech Massacre Preventable
Vtech was preventable, for Seung-hui Cho was actually a budding horror writer.
Had he been begged to work on his writing by his English teacher, a lot of innocent lives could have been saved.
Instead, his horror fiction was treated as indication of mental illness, and he followed that script until the fade to black.
Flavors of Truth and Lies (poem)
Truth comes in many flavors,
sometimes hidden in myths
yet often blurted out
and mostly discredited.
However, lies come
in two flavors:
blatant and white.
White lies are in between
blatant lies and Truth
but are not myths
but expedient means
sometimes hidden in myths
yet often blurted out
and mostly discredited.
However, lies come
in two flavors:
blatant and white.
White lies are in between
blatant lies and Truth
but are not myths
but expedient means
Revolution by the Beatles Actually Anti-Revolutionary
Check out the lyrics:
"Revolution"
You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright
You say you got a real solution
Well you know
We don't love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know
We're doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright, al...
You say you'll change the constitution
Well you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Nothing in it says destruction; rather, it says "wait, the time is not right."
Indeed, violence will not usher in a revolution.
It will just lead to police state mentality by the State due to the People scaring the lites who want to profit from free enterprise capitalism and the mind-numbing consumerism needed along with the People streamlined into academia to prepare them to become productive members of a society moving too fast for 20 percent of the People.
In short, the System needs to be reformed and eventually replaced, because it is antiquated and does not serve the needs of everyone, but rather the needs of the elite.
Black Bloc tactics will only ushed in that police state faster.
So mark my words, because more of the wasteful destruction of a revolution will never create a revolution like in the Old World.
New World logic demands the non-violent alternative because it worked for the Old Left.
Hero / Not a hero
On the other hand, Lance Armstrong is not a hero because, despite admitting to doping "because everyone does it", he refuses to admit to cheating.
After listening to people discussing whether Lance Armstrong is a hero, I decided to look at my hero, the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is a hero because he has superpowers. I kid you not: When you meditate as much as he does, you might get siddhis, which are mind powers arising due to practice.
Does Lance have any of these? No, nothing, just extra stamina & leg strength. Overall, Armstrong is no hero because he cheated. As well, his ego is so big, it's gone "cancerous." This guy needs to go see the Dalai Lama and talk to him about this hero business and develop humility.
Update on my Debt to Cellphone Provider Rogers and subsidiary FIdo
I am so little I owe Rogers a total of $4000. The debt collector letters don't make me go neurotic anymore because if they did their homework, they know they can't threaten to ruin my credit cos I've done that to myself.
In the last letter received, I notice they added $33 dollars to what I owe, which is "interest".
If I had $1000-1500 on hand, then they'd take it because that's more than what they paid for the accounts they received.
If Rogers and Fido had kept these debts with them, then they could have made it look like two assets.
I also know that I can still send money to my Fido and Rogers accounts via electronic banking and bypass collections.
In the last letter received, I notice they added $33 dollars to what I owe, which is "interest".
If I had $1000-1500 on hand, then they'd take it because that's more than what they paid for the accounts they received.
If Rogers and Fido had kept these debts with them, then they could have made it look like two assets.
I also know that I can still send money to my Fido and Rogers accounts via electronic banking and bypass collections.
Gulliver's Travels
Between 2008 and 2011, HSBC saw profits drop, and were actually losing money in 2011, despites cash flow more than ten times its fine in 2012.
Over $19 billion went throgh the bank from drug cartels and rogue nations, with executives aware that they should have reported cash coming into the bank over $10,000 but looking the other way.
Quite possibly they were motivated by recent losses in profits for the bank. However, I bet the losses were indirectly the result of money laundering going on since HSBC was in the opium business in the 19th Century.
I wish there was a way to publicly shame Mr. Gulliver, the CEO of HSBC, and see him do things to prove his worth of over $9 million.
Like, he could give more to charity, especially stopping Third World hunger, and supporting drug legalization.
Over $19 billion went throgh the bank from drug cartels and rogue nations, with executives aware that they should have reported cash coming into the bank over $10,000 but looking the other way.
Quite possibly they were motivated by recent losses in profits for the bank. However, I bet the losses were indirectly the result of money laundering going on since HSBC was in the opium business in the 19th Century.
I wish there was a way to publicly shame Mr. Gulliver, the CEO of HSBC, and see him do things to prove his worth of over $9 million.
Like, he could give more to charity, especially stopping Third World hunger, and supporting drug legalization.
Murder and Sexual Assault Not Related to Psychosis
April 24, 2007: "In America, the homocide rate is a little over 5 per 100,000 with 3/4 of victims being men and almost 90% of perpetrators also men. This works out to 12.4 per 100,000 male victims, 16 per 100,000 male perpetrators, 3.6 per 100,000 female victims and 1.9 per 100,000 female perpetrators.
So unless it happens to be the rare case of a man being murdered by a woman or even rarer, a woman by a woman, most men murder mostly other men. One in four victims are female."
Therefore, violent men murder mainly men, but one in four of victims are female.
As well, the rate of sexual assaults has decreased over the past 7 years.
Even if we assume 1/3 of assaults are reported, that's still about 100 assaults per 100,0000 people.
There are more people who may report psychosis and usually without any causal link with murder and violent crime.
Even so, with the rate of psychopaths committing a violent act, there has to be a casual relationship with murder and sexual assault.
Update: 20120118.0055
Even in light of recent murder suicides in the US, and the new assault weapon bill, it is doubtful any of the people involved were psychotic.
Thuis being said, a few of them might have acted psychotic but they planned everything. A few of them even planned to die, too.
As for the Aurora theatre murder, that is like most of these mass killings where the perpetrator chooses to shoot a substitute (people he didn't know) for matricide and patricide.
For at the root of most killings is self-hate reflected first on our parents. Yet because killing one's parents is so big a taboo, it becomes easier to kill complete strangers rather than having a big argument with your parents.
At least, that's what psychopaths might believe.
So unless it happens to be the rare case of a man being murdered by a woman or even rarer, a woman by a woman, most men murder mostly other men. One in four victims are female."
Therefore, violent men murder mainly men, but one in four of victims are female.
As well, the rate of sexual assaults has decreased over the past 7 years.
Even if we assume 1/3 of assaults are reported, that's still about 100 assaults per 100,0000 people.
There are more people who may report psychosis and usually without any causal link with murder and violent crime.
Even so, with the rate of psychopaths committing a violent act, there has to be a casual relationship with murder and sexual assault.
Update: 20120118.0055
Even in light of recent murder suicides in the US, and the new assault weapon bill, it is doubtful any of the people involved were psychotic.
Thuis being said, a few of them might have acted psychotic but they planned everything. A few of them even planned to die, too.
As for the Aurora theatre murder, that is like most of these mass killings where the perpetrator chooses to shoot a substitute (people he didn't know) for matricide and patricide.
For at the root of most killings is self-hate reflected first on our parents. Yet because killing one's parents is so big a taboo, it becomes easier to kill complete strangers rather than having a big argument with your parents.
At least, that's what psychopaths might believe.
20130117
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
It is very dangerous to whip out your smartphone and video a police takedown from your front yard. If the cops see you, then they could arrest you for "obstructing justice" when all you are doing is watching the police.
In Canada, legal advice has it that it is illegal to take a picture of a person who may be identified in it and subject to slander, libel and similar injustices.
However, there is also a 50-foot exception since beyond this point, you need an expensive DSL camera to refine details in a picture.
Yet the state of technology of a camera depends on the resolution of a photo. If you choose a picture resolution of under 2048x1536, then picture quality will suffer for subjects 50 feet away from the camera lens.
E.g. the camera in my smartphone has a 8 megapixel (mp) resolution, which means a resolution of 3264x2448, which allows for more detail.
However at 50 feet, a 8 mp resolution still isn't so clear that a person is identifiable, considering that without anti-jitter and at low light levels, the image will still be blurry.
Cameras do the best with detail with portraits, up close.
At 50 feet, picture detail is compromised by low resolution and jitter.
Thus, taking pictures of State action with a smartphone at a distance of 50 feet of more isn't actually illegal. Given the quality of the image, it's possible to create reasonable doubt about anyone identified in the picture.
Therefore, it is imperative for social activists to enforce a 50-foot rule for known agents of the State. However, this means ponying up money to pay for this right.
In Canada, legal advice has it that it is illegal to take a picture of a person who may be identified in it and subject to slander, libel and similar injustices.
However, there is also a 50-foot exception since beyond this point, you need an expensive DSL camera to refine details in a picture.
Yet the state of technology of a camera depends on the resolution of a photo. If you choose a picture resolution of under 2048x1536, then picture quality will suffer for subjects 50 feet away from the camera lens.
E.g. the camera in my smartphone has a 8 megapixel (mp) resolution, which means a resolution of 3264x2448, which allows for more detail.
However at 50 feet, a 8 mp resolution still isn't so clear that a person is identifiable, considering that without anti-jitter and at low light levels, the image will still be blurry.
Cameras do the best with detail with portraits, up close.
At 50 feet, picture detail is compromised by low resolution and jitter.
Thus, taking pictures of State action with a smartphone at a distance of 50 feet of more isn't actually illegal. Given the quality of the image, it's possible to create reasonable doubt about anyone identified in the picture.
Therefore, it is imperative for social activists to enforce a 50-foot rule for known agents of the State. However, this means ponying up money to pay for this right.
Ōbaku: Who is Reciting?
Perhaps most obvious to the Japanese was Ōbaku followers' use of nembutsu.
Also their use of the "nembutsu kōan" entails the practice of reciting the name of Amitabha while holding in one's mind the kōan, "Who is reciting?"
While foreign to the Japanese (despite this "dual practice" being introduced in Japan as early as the late 13th century), this was very common in Ming period Ch'an, for there was no sectarian divide between Pure Land Buddhists and Ch'an practitioners.
Ōbaku monasteries and temples came to be governed by a doctrine known as Ōbaku shingi, which both imported Chinese practices such as the recitation (dharani) of nembutsu and "sought to preserve the Chinese character of the group."
The Ōbaku also chanted sutras derived from the Pure Land Buddhism sect set to Chinese music.
"The followers of Hakuin Ekaku (1687—1769) tried to purge the elements of Ōbaku Zen they found objectionable. They suppressed the Pure Land practice of reciting Amida Buddha's name, deemphasized the Vinaya, and replaced sutra study with a more narrow focus on traditional koan collections." — T. Griffith Foulk in Kenneth Kraft's book "Zen: Tradition and Transition".
Thus today the sect follows the practice promoted by the Ōtōkan lineage now in charge.
Therefore nobody at the Ōbaku School is reciting the Nembutsu.
Also their use of the "nembutsu kōan" entails the practice of reciting the name of Amitabha while holding in one's mind the kōan, "Who is reciting?"
While foreign to the Japanese (despite this "dual practice" being introduced in Japan as early as the late 13th century), this was very common in Ming period Ch'an, for there was no sectarian divide between Pure Land Buddhists and Ch'an practitioners.
Ōbaku monasteries and temples came to be governed by a doctrine known as Ōbaku shingi, which both imported Chinese practices such as the recitation (dharani) of nembutsu and "sought to preserve the Chinese character of the group."
The Ōbaku also chanted sutras derived from the Pure Land Buddhism sect set to Chinese music.
"The followers of Hakuin Ekaku (1687—1769) tried to purge the elements of Ōbaku Zen they found objectionable. They suppressed the Pure Land practice of reciting Amida Buddha's name, deemphasized the Vinaya, and replaced sutra study with a more narrow focus on traditional koan collections." — T. Griffith Foulk in Kenneth Kraft's book "Zen: Tradition and Transition".
Thus today the sect follows the practice promoted by the Ōtōkan lineage now in charge.
Therefore nobody at the Ōbaku School is reciting the Nembutsu.
The Man Who will Save Colombia's Poor
Thiis man used to be my neighbor when I lived in Aldergrove until 1980.
This man is why Vancouver has a lot of successful charities.
Unfortunately he couldn't save an icon of Vancouver, that opera or whatever it was called. However, I feel activities which need charity to survive need money management to survive.
As well, it needs a new gimmick to keep various non-profit organizations from going belly up.
For Frank Giustra may be rich, but it's not up to him to rescue organizations that subsist on charity and become its patron.
Rather, it is the obligation of all people who've never been to public school, and who graduated from great colleges and universities bot in America and Canada, as well as around the world, to attend a charity and develop your philanthropic endeavors.
I'm proud of you and Frank Giustra.
Thanks for the charity.
This man is why Vancouver has a lot of successful charities.
Unfortunately he couldn't save an icon of Vancouver, that opera or whatever it was called. However, I feel activities which need charity to survive need money management to survive.
As well, it needs a new gimmick to keep various non-profit organizations from going belly up.
For Frank Giustra may be rich, but it's not up to him to rescue organizations that subsist on charity and become its patron.
Rather, it is the obligation of all people who've never been to public school, and who graduated from great colleges and universities bot in America and Canada, as well as around the world, to attend a charity and develop your philanthropic endeavors.
I'm proud of you and Frank Giustra.
Thanks for the charity.
Sentient Beings Are No Substitute for the Buddha
If all sentient beings are potential Buddhas, then why can't a sentient being replace the Buddha during Buddha Remembrance chanting and visualization?
Because the Buddha is usually an idealized form of Amida, recitation to Amida while visualizing Amida Buddha will help promote Buddhist Remembrance Samadhi.
However, a picture of the Buddha like the Daishi Buddha will sufice during Buuddha Remembrance practice.
Replacing the Buddha's image with that of a sentient being would introduce distraction to the recitation of Amida's name. For the purpose of visualization is to become one with the Buddha, not with a sentient being.
As well, it is a picture of a celebrity, desire could distract the practitioner from having the right mind to visualize correctly.
Therefore, substituting the image of a sentient being for Amida Buddha will hinder spiritual progress towards samadhi.
It would be like using paper cups and plate to eat dinner when you have regular dinnerware available.
For it is not respect to the Buddha nor is it respectful to sentient beings to visualize a sentient being instead of Amida Buddha, even though all sentient beings are potential Buddhas.
Because the Buddha is usually an idealized form of Amida, recitation to Amida while visualizing Amida Buddha will help promote Buddhist Remembrance Samadhi.
However, a picture of the Buddha like the Daishi Buddha will sufice during Buuddha Remembrance practice.
Replacing the Buddha's image with that of a sentient being would introduce distraction to the recitation of Amida's name. For the purpose of visualization is to become one with the Buddha, not with a sentient being.
As well, it is a picture of a celebrity, desire could distract the practitioner from having the right mind to visualize correctly.
Therefore, substituting the image of a sentient being for Amida Buddha will hinder spiritual progress towards samadhi.
It would be like using paper cups and plate to eat dinner when you have regular dinnerware available.
For it is not respect to the Buddha nor is it respectful to sentient beings to visualize a sentient being instead of Amida Buddha, even though all sentient beings are potential Buddhas.
20130116
Sincerity Isn't Cheating but Non-attachment
I am sure after reading about the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, the devas and devis — the whole Buddhist pantheon, the gentle reader is confused.
When I wrote that "Buddhism is not a religion; it's a psychology", it stands to reason that Buddhism as a toolkit is a religion, a psychology, and a philosophy.
However, there may be people who still don't get it — they scratch their heads when I say "All Buddhas point to Sakyamuni Buddha."
For the purpose of the Buddhas is to focus on a Buddhist term like "compassion", not for followers to adore one of them like a god, even though Adi-Buddha isn't even a Buddhist god. He represents the whole Buddhadharma as ultimate reality.
Yet that revelation is beyond human comprehension for the average person. And so it should be.
For not everyone is capable of fully comprehending what Buddhism actually is.
It's like a bunch of blind men trying to discover what an elephant is.
As long as each of us has made up our minds what Buddhism is, our cognitive biases will kick in and filter out everything else.
This even happens to people who are of the opinion that the Pure Land way only serves to leave a few followers with attachment to the idea that Buddha Remembrance is a cheat because it offers the reward of an easy path to Enlightenment.
This is not so, because anyone with such an attachment is letting his ego guide the way to rebirth in the human realm and thus is only causing himself suffering.
This is because the practitioner who says the Nembutsu thinking that it is a free pass to the Pure Land is not saying it with sincerity.
Rather, when a Pure Land practitioner practices Buddha Remembrance with sincere intent to be reborn in the Pure Land, she has faith in the Primal Vow to be reborn in the Pure Land.
For the reason why Buddha Remembrance is called the Name-that-calls is that the practitioner sincerely believes that Amida Buddha is calling through him, for this is to clearly affirm the sincere intent to be reborn in the Pure Land.
I for one say the Nembutsu with this intent and in doing so, burn off karma so that I may be reborn in the Pure Land.
In burning off karma in this way, the Nembutsu practitioner is assured rebirth in the Pure Land.
Therefore it is actually not a cheat or attachment. For there is no expectation of reward. Both attachment and reward require a soul that lives after death.
According to the non-self principle of Buddhism, it is not my soul that is reborn in the Pure Land, it is the fruit of my actions ( the sincere practice of Buddha Remembrance).
It is not "I" who is reborn as a bodhisattva but karmic merit accumulated by chanting the Nembutsu transforms the seed of Buddha Nature planted when the faithful hears the Buddha's teaching is transformed into Self Nature.
For the karmic merit of chanting acts like fertilizer to help the seed of Buddha Nature transcend this life when this body dies, and be reborn in the Pure Land. Amida nurtures the resulting Self Nature as bodhisattva into its awakened form called Buddha.
This foolish one's sincere chanting of the Nembutsu is empty of attachment and thus is non-attachment.
As well, sincerity in the belief that one will be reborn in the Pure Land means the same as having faith that one will be reborn there, which is the same as non-attachment.
Thus Buddha Remembrance (the practice of the Nembutsu) is empty of attachment due to faith in Amida Buddha and belief in the Primal Vow.
Pure Land Buddhists do not see rebirth as reward for their faith, but as working of Other-power.
When the practitioner's faith in Amida and belief in the Primal Vow is sincere, Amida embraces this old fool on his deathbed. The 48 Vows assure him of this.
Therefore the Pure Land path is not a cheat and is but non-attachment due to sincere practice of the Nembutsu.
By such Buddha Remembrance, one realizes the concept of non-self. In realizing non-self, Amida nurtures the seed of Buddha Nature in the heartmind of this foolish one. As a result, one is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land at this deathbed. For that is what it says in the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha.
For I was not born a Buddhist for my own Nirvana but for the Nirvana of all sentient beings. Therefore I practice Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu for all sentient beings.
Namu Amida Butsu
When I wrote that "Buddhism is not a religion; it's a psychology", it stands to reason that Buddhism as a toolkit is a religion, a psychology, and a philosophy.
However, there may be people who still don't get it — they scratch their heads when I say "All Buddhas point to Sakyamuni Buddha."
For the purpose of the Buddhas is to focus on a Buddhist term like "compassion", not for followers to adore one of them like a god, even though Adi-Buddha isn't even a Buddhist god. He represents the whole Buddhadharma as ultimate reality.
Yet that revelation is beyond human comprehension for the average person. And so it should be.
For not everyone is capable of fully comprehending what Buddhism actually is.
It's like a bunch of blind men trying to discover what an elephant is.
As long as each of us has made up our minds what Buddhism is, our cognitive biases will kick in and filter out everything else.
This even happens to people who are of the opinion that the Pure Land way only serves to leave a few followers with attachment to the idea that Buddha Remembrance is a cheat because it offers the reward of an easy path to Enlightenment.
This is not so, because anyone with such an attachment is letting his ego guide the way to rebirth in the human realm and thus is only causing himself suffering.
This is because the practitioner who says the Nembutsu thinking that it is a free pass to the Pure Land is not saying it with sincerity.
Rather, when a Pure Land practitioner practices Buddha Remembrance with sincere intent to be reborn in the Pure Land, she has faith in the Primal Vow to be reborn in the Pure Land.
For the reason why Buddha Remembrance is called the Name-that-calls is that the practitioner sincerely believes that Amida Buddha is calling through him, for this is to clearly affirm the sincere intent to be reborn in the Pure Land.
I for one say the Nembutsu with this intent and in doing so, burn off karma so that I may be reborn in the Pure Land.
In burning off karma in this way, the Nembutsu practitioner is assured rebirth in the Pure Land.
Therefore it is actually not a cheat or attachment. For there is no expectation of reward. Both attachment and reward require a soul that lives after death.
According to the non-self principle of Buddhism, it is not my soul that is reborn in the Pure Land, it is the fruit of my actions ( the sincere practice of Buddha Remembrance).
It is not "I" who is reborn as a bodhisattva but karmic merit accumulated by chanting the Nembutsu transforms the seed of Buddha Nature planted when the faithful hears the Buddha's teaching is transformed into Self Nature.
For the karmic merit of chanting acts like fertilizer to help the seed of Buddha Nature transcend this life when this body dies, and be reborn in the Pure Land. Amida nurtures the resulting Self Nature as bodhisattva into its awakened form called Buddha.
This foolish one's sincere chanting of the Nembutsu is empty of attachment and thus is non-attachment.
As well, sincerity in the belief that one will be reborn in the Pure Land means the same as having faith that one will be reborn there, which is the same as non-attachment.
Thus Buddha Remembrance (the practice of the Nembutsu) is empty of attachment due to faith in Amida Buddha and belief in the Primal Vow.
Pure Land Buddhists do not see rebirth as reward for their faith, but as working of Other-power.
When the practitioner's faith in Amida and belief in the Primal Vow is sincere, Amida embraces this old fool on his deathbed. The 48 Vows assure him of this.
Therefore the Pure Land path is not a cheat and is but non-attachment due to sincere practice of the Nembutsu.
By such Buddha Remembrance, one realizes the concept of non-self. In realizing non-self, Amida nurtures the seed of Buddha Nature in the heartmind of this foolish one. As a result, one is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land at this deathbed. For that is what it says in the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha.
For I was not born a Buddhist for my own Nirvana but for the Nirvana of all sentient beings. Therefore I practice Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu for all sentient beings.
Namu Amida Butsu
War on Terror Manufactures Consent for Big Brother Laws
On December 9, 2001, I wrote the following article, which criticizes Seth Stevenson for attributing the "war on terrorism" to 9-11, when in fact the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were planned months earlier in an attempt to make it easier to get oil to Western markets without having both the Taleban and Saddam Hussein to deal with...
Seth Stevenson tries to pretend the "war on terrorism" is due to 4000 people getting killed at the WTC and the Pentagon, ignoring the fact that American foreign policy has affect more people's lives since WW 2.
Indeed, Stevenson tries not to analyze the real war on Afghanistan from its origins in the invasion by the Soviets to America's involvement in bin Laden's training as freedom fighter.
Other sources in mass media pretend that Pakistan's involvement in Afghanistan and the training of terrorists it supports is news to them.
It turns out that a recent report put out prior to 9/11/2001 stated that MOSSAD is quite capable of making an attack on American assets look like the Arabs did it.
Remember that originally bin Laden said that he had no clue who was behind the 9/11 attacks, but later started taking credit for the attacks when Bush began to press for his capture -- no compromises, no negotiations.
Then bin Laden's news videos started getting radical, with him provoking the militant freedom fighters - fighting to be free of American influence - known as terrorists while eventually admitting to the WTC/Pentagon attacks.
Now the war on Afghanistan continues on, due to America's machination, and the War on Terrorism will not end with the capture of Saddam Hussein, but continues on to destroy people's lives. Yet the Americans still hadn't caught their manufactured mastermind, Usama/Osmaine bin Laden. (On May 2, 2011 bin Laden was supposedly killed and buried at sea.)
What they did do was manufacture consent for stealing our freedom with Big Brother laws... — Reference: http://slate.msn.com/?id=2059487
Religious Peers Disrespect Their Sexually Active Peers
"The students’ religious beliefs were also a part of the study, with researchers saying that people without religious beliefs or those of religions like #Buddhism seemed less likely to express an attitude of disrespect toward people who were involved in casual sex than people of the Catholic faith, for example."
Proof that Buddhists are more respectful of people who have casual sex, than say, those catholics.
It is this disrespect from Christian peers which causes casual sex, since shunning leads to social isolation. Ergo shunning by religious peers is the root cause of casual sex.
Yes, I said it: monogamous religious people and virgins who shun their peers who have casual sex are the cause of them deciding to fuck everyone on sight.
This, like mental illness, is stigmatized by sexually immature religious people.
Disrespected by their peers, the sexually active women are called names and suffer shunning. Such behavior by their peers are a causal influence on their self esteem, and in rare cases, like Amanda Todd are known to commit suicide.
Thus, high school students need to look at their behavior to choose to be supportive of sexually active students, even if it means being bullied and shunned.
For by doing so, you are exercising the non-judgmental mentality which will help you survive school.
In some cases, being called a slut for being chaste and willing to defend your sexually active sisters is proof that you are non-judgmental and morally superior to your religious peers.
Proof that Buddhists are more respectful of people who have casual sex, than say, those catholics.
It is this disrespect from Christian peers which causes casual sex, since shunning leads to social isolation. Ergo shunning by religious peers is the root cause of casual sex.
Yes, I said it: monogamous religious people and virgins who shun their peers who have casual sex are the cause of them deciding to fuck everyone on sight.
This, like mental illness, is stigmatized by sexually immature religious people.
Disrespected by their peers, the sexually active women are called names and suffer shunning. Such behavior by their peers are a causal influence on their self esteem, and in rare cases, like Amanda Todd are known to commit suicide.
Thus, high school students need to look at their behavior to choose to be supportive of sexually active students, even if it means being bullied and shunned.
For by doing so, you are exercising the non-judgmental mentality which will help you survive school.
In some cases, being called a slut for being chaste and willing to defend your sexually active sisters is proof that you are non-judgmental and morally superior to your religious peers.
Barbara Amiel as the hypocrite
Barbara Amiel slagged journalists, which shows to the person in the know that she's forgotten her roots as a columnist for that Eastern Canadian rag, the Globe & Mail.
Conrad Black was attracted to her back then because she had big melon-sized tits and a nice ass.
And usually in her columns, Barbara tended to be conservative. She'd never mention the homeless or the poor in her articles, just in case she'd be called a bleeding-heart liberal or have to cry crocodile tears like some socialist journalist after communing with nature in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouveer.
Should Lord and Lady Black ever become destitute, I have the solution to their financial woes:
Barbara Amiel can pose nude for Playboy, and show us how well preserved those tits and ass are.
Though recently Barbara did get weepy-eyed for paedophiles.
Why? Very few paedophiles are violent to their victims. I don't know about some of these kids nowadays, for sometimes they seek older men for guidance.
Maybe that's why Barbara Amiel dressed sexy for Lord Black...
Conrad Black was attracted to her back then because she had big melon-sized tits and a nice ass.
And usually in her columns, Barbara tended to be conservative. She'd never mention the homeless or the poor in her articles, just in case she'd be called a bleeding-heart liberal or have to cry crocodile tears like some socialist journalist after communing with nature in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouveer.
Should Lord and Lady Black ever become destitute, I have the solution to their financial woes:
Barbara Amiel can pose nude for Playboy, and show us how well preserved those tits and ass are.
Though recently Barbara did get weepy-eyed for paedophiles.
Why? Very few paedophiles are violent to their victims. I don't know about some of these kids nowadays, for sometimes they seek older men for guidance.
Maybe that's why Barbara Amiel dressed sexy for Lord Black...
20130115
The Buddha is not a God but Inspiration for Buddhahood
Regarding Buddhism, the Buddha is not a god, yet Buddha-essence is like a gift given to everyone on birth. She who accepts this wisdom shall uncover the Buddha within.
It takes listening carefully to the Buddha's story to awaken this essence, and every Buddhist who keeps his own story a secret is turning the Buddha away. For everyone is free to become a Buddha, yet few of them are ready.
For they who are not ready have yet to understand what the Buddha means to them.
For me, the Buddha means peaceful bliss and the aspiration to be of service to anyone seeking the calm awakening that meditation provides.
If this is a turn-off to atheists, then that's their karma for confusing Mahayana Buddhism with monotheism.
In my opinion Zen Buddhists are closet atheists. They achieve their Buddha-hood by self-power.
Because self-power sometimes leads to ego delusion, this may explain why Zen Buddhists do not think much of chanting a mantra or Buddha Remembrance (repeating the Nembutsu (Nian-fo) until one reaches samadhi).
Yet the fathers of Zen and the Chinese Ch'an master before them praised the Nian-fo practice since it quickly hastens the practitioner's path to Buddha-hood due to intent to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Zen masters do not understand this as their self-power path blinds them, and thus prevents them from considering the easy way to Buddha-hood.
I on the other hand find zazen practice to only contribute to hemorrhoids rather than satori. YMMV
For Nian-fo practice quickly aids the mind-stream in achieving Buddha-hood, as the Pure Land that in which the practitioner believes he will be reborn is surely the optimal place to swiftly achieve Buddha-hood.
Any Zen master who doubts this is thus blinded by the ego delusion arising from his flavor of self-power.
Indeed, it is the Other-power of Nian-fo that helps the Nembutsu practitioner to achieve what the Theravada and Zen practitioners cannot: rebirth in a Pure Land that helps all Buddhists who have faith in Other-power to quickly help them achieve Nirvana and ultimately, Buddha-hood.
For the Pure Land is conducive to achieve Buddha-hood.
Thus it is by Buddha Remembrance that Nembutsu practitioners become Buddha.
The Threat of Individualism
It's socially impossible to affirm that "I am an individual, apart from others."
For every one of us is in relationships with other people, be it family, friends or loved ones. Therefore, individuality is a myth designed to isolate us from each other.
We do not exist as individuals; we exist as people who do not determine our worth by the individual but by our communities.
Thus, the myth of the individual is found to be a most dehumanizing thing, because it actually isn't what makes us human, for it socially isolates each person.
For individuality is not freedom; yet each of us yearns for liberation from the group, even though the group needs us to ensure harmony.
Anyone who denies that the myth of individuality is the cause of our society breaking down should deal with living in a city with a population of 250,000 strangers.
Any criminal may be caught up in the myth of individuality. Indeed, it may be the cause of crime, because such a person is sure to have given in to his selfish needs.
Therefore, individuality, being the myth that it is, is a threat to humanity's survival as a society.
For every one of us is in relationships with other people, be it family, friends or loved ones. Therefore, individuality is a myth designed to isolate us from each other.
We do not exist as individuals; we exist as people who do not determine our worth by the individual but by our communities.
Thus, the myth of the individual is found to be a most dehumanizing thing, because it actually isn't what makes us human, for it socially isolates each person.
For individuality is not freedom; yet each of us yearns for liberation from the group, even though the group needs us to ensure harmony.
Anyone who denies that the myth of individuality is the cause of our society breaking down should deal with living in a city with a population of 250,000 strangers.
Any criminal may be caught up in the myth of individuality. Indeed, it may be the cause of crime, because such a person is sure to have given in to his selfish needs.
Therefore, individuality, being the myth that it is, is a threat to humanity's survival as a society.
The "Right" Decision
I decided in Grade 12 I'd never get married.
34 years later, with most of my classmates either single, married or divorced, IMHO that decision gets validated with the latest news headlines about youth crime and "swarmings", thanks to the State monitoring of child abuse in the family (a last resort of discipline) and the resulting "spare the rod, spoil the child" method of child rearing now being enforced.
Yet I sometimes get told that I've never truly lived a full life because I've never raised a family.
In retort I say "The Dalai Lama never raised a family, but he has saved his Tibetan culture, which in essence is his whole 'family'."
Thus, in choosing not to raise a family of my own, I chose to help and be of service to others. Indeed, in my eyes, the whole world is my "family".
34 years later, with most of my classmates either single, married or divorced, IMHO that decision gets validated with the latest news headlines about youth crime and "swarmings", thanks to the State monitoring of child abuse in the family (a last resort of discipline) and the resulting "spare the rod, spoil the child" method of child rearing now being enforced.
Yet I sometimes get told that I've never truly lived a full life because I've never raised a family.
In retort I say "The Dalai Lama never raised a family, but he has saved his Tibetan culture, which in essence is his whole 'family'."
Thus, in choosing not to raise a family of my own, I chose to help and be of service to others. Indeed, in my eyes, the whole world is my "family".
Meditation for Students
Asian students' secret weapon to being smart: meditation.
This may also explain why Asian kids are usually well behaved.
It's all about using the best parts of the culture to excel.
However, Western culture actually lacks culture because consumerism has become a secular form of religion. Individualism is valued over group harmony. It's even subtly inserted into divorce laws. Even though consumerism appears to support group harmony, it's every man for himself to be productive in order to afford the trappings of Western culture.
Meditation though is the key to break the spell consumerism has over us.
It also may help you pass tests by reducing anxiety's ability to turn us into an emotional wreck who can't remember studying for that exam.
This may also explain why Asian kids are usually well behaved.
It's all about using the best parts of the culture to excel.
However, Western culture actually lacks culture because consumerism has become a secular form of religion. Individualism is valued over group harmony. It's even subtly inserted into divorce laws. Even though consumerism appears to support group harmony, it's every man for himself to be productive in order to afford the trappings of Western culture.
Meditation though is the key to break the spell consumerism has over us.
It also may help you pass tests by reducing anxiety's ability to turn us into an emotional wreck who can't remember studying for that exam.
20130114
Overcoming the Death of Reason
In this article, I plan to discuss the apparent death of reason in people who value their emotions and feelings over rational thought. Within context of this article, I also will access and display my personal experience to support my opinion that meditation is very useful for integrating rational thought with the emotions and feelings that we have. By integrating reason with feelings, it is possible to maintain emotional control without losing it. All it begins with is one breath...
Throughout my life, I have found the death of reason to be interesting because of the social repercussions. When a person has an emotional reaction, it appears as though all reason has left him. If I respond with logic and reason to his emotional response, he insists of staying angry and excited. Thus, it's wise to walk away from a person who is killing his ability to reason by remaining in a state of extreme excitement.
While walking away sounds cowardly, it is actually the safest thing to do when a person is overcome by their emotions. For misery loves the company of dreadfully depressing states of mind. Every year, most people suffer because they actually value their feelings over their ability to reason. When they think about it, their solidify their feelings into emotions, and thus hijack their ability to reason in a holistic manner which could greatly improve not only their life but also their mind.
When I was a child, I lacked the ability to coherently apply reason to cool my anger, moderate dislike, and handle my fears. A good example which comes to mind was my fear of caterpillars. I remember one day disturbing a bunch of caterpillars on a bush which reacted to disturbing their meal but rising up on their hind legs and waving their bodies. It was only years later, when I learned that caterpillars do this to scare off predators. In my child's mind, it was not normal for small bugs to move like that.
So when a few years later, when my brother pushed me into a bush, I freaked out. While I am unsure of what exactly I'd exclaimed, it might go like this: "Ahhh, the caterpillars are gonna eat me! Augh!!!" In response to my behavior, my brother could only laugh. If I had snapped out of it at this point, I would have slugged him on the arm, telling him "don't laugh at me!"
However, I am an adult now, and the above scene brings a smile of amusement to my face. For the reasonal mind I possess has lost most of the ready ability to emotional respond to a situation. When I do respond, it's of amusement rather than the appropriate emotion that is expected in a given situation. Yet this annoys people who expect consistency to match the appropriate emotion in a given scenario.
However, I have also learned to not react strongly to any given emotion. Even though I might feel fear in my heart, my mind is saying one thing: "I fear no evil."
How is this possible? Well, I have a secret weapon to maintain impulse control, which is nedded in today's fast-paced world. It is called meditation. Ancients have called it the true form of mind control, thus implying that brainwashing and other forms of mind control are myths of the modern age which show that the fear of being controlled by other people is a human fear.
However, I digress.
How does meditation lead to control of my mind? It begins with the breath, and ends when you mind is calm, so calm you can see with the clarity of reason that allowing your emotions to cloud your reason, it's as though you lose all ability to reason.
Who wants that in the real world? It makes you look immature when you get angry and rage just because the coffee is too hot. It is safer to wait until you think the coffee is cool enough to drink, or even better, blow on the surface of the drink before drinking. In doing so, you actually perform a shortened version of meditation. Usually the result of taking time to slowly drink coffee is the lack of burns in your mouth and on your lips. You also save your esophagus.
Thus, it's possible with meditation on a large scale to save your life from the death of reason.
Meditation is not about sitting on your ass and staring at your navel. If you want to do this more effectively, buy a wall mirror and sit in front of it. Seriously though, meditation is more than just sitting. It is not a navel-gazing, but it is the mind gazing at the monkey and throwing it bananas to slow its dance.
How then does meditation save your life? Well, when reason trumps emotions, you tend to think more clearly. Believe me when I say meditation leads to the calm mind of reason and promote the clarity of mind that can kill emotions' destructive rampage in the mind. It can also lead to quicker and more reasonable responses to danger than to jump up in a movie theatre crying "Fire."
So the next time you feel like doing just that, don't panic. Instead, take a deep breath and see if you can smell smoke.
Throughout my life, I have found the death of reason to be interesting because of the social repercussions. When a person has an emotional reaction, it appears as though all reason has left him. If I respond with logic and reason to his emotional response, he insists of staying angry and excited. Thus, it's wise to walk away from a person who is killing his ability to reason by remaining in a state of extreme excitement.
While walking away sounds cowardly, it is actually the safest thing to do when a person is overcome by their emotions. For misery loves the company of dreadfully depressing states of mind. Every year, most people suffer because they actually value their feelings over their ability to reason. When they think about it, their solidify their feelings into emotions, and thus hijack their ability to reason in a holistic manner which could greatly improve not only their life but also their mind.
When I was a child, I lacked the ability to coherently apply reason to cool my anger, moderate dislike, and handle my fears. A good example which comes to mind was my fear of caterpillars. I remember one day disturbing a bunch of caterpillars on a bush which reacted to disturbing their meal but rising up on their hind legs and waving their bodies. It was only years later, when I learned that caterpillars do this to scare off predators. In my child's mind, it was not normal for small bugs to move like that.
So when a few years later, when my brother pushed me into a bush, I freaked out. While I am unsure of what exactly I'd exclaimed, it might go like this: "Ahhh, the caterpillars are gonna eat me! Augh!!!" In response to my behavior, my brother could only laugh. If I had snapped out of it at this point, I would have slugged him on the arm, telling him "don't laugh at me!"
However, I am an adult now, and the above scene brings a smile of amusement to my face. For the reasonal mind I possess has lost most of the ready ability to emotional respond to a situation. When I do respond, it's of amusement rather than the appropriate emotion that is expected in a given situation. Yet this annoys people who expect consistency to match the appropriate emotion in a given scenario.
However, I have also learned to not react strongly to any given emotion. Even though I might feel fear in my heart, my mind is saying one thing: "I fear no evil."
How is this possible? Well, I have a secret weapon to maintain impulse control, which is nedded in today's fast-paced world. It is called meditation. Ancients have called it the true form of mind control, thus implying that brainwashing and other forms of mind control are myths of the modern age which show that the fear of being controlled by other people is a human fear.
However, I digress.
How does meditation lead to control of my mind? It begins with the breath, and ends when you mind is calm, so calm you can see with the clarity of reason that allowing your emotions to cloud your reason, it's as though you lose all ability to reason.
Who wants that in the real world? It makes you look immature when you get angry and rage just because the coffee is too hot. It is safer to wait until you think the coffee is cool enough to drink, or even better, blow on the surface of the drink before drinking. In doing so, you actually perform a shortened version of meditation. Usually the result of taking time to slowly drink coffee is the lack of burns in your mouth and on your lips. You also save your esophagus.
Thus, it's possible with meditation on a large scale to save your life from the death of reason.
Meditation is not about sitting on your ass and staring at your navel. If you want to do this more effectively, buy a wall mirror and sit in front of it. Seriously though, meditation is more than just sitting. It is not a navel-gazing, but it is the mind gazing at the monkey and throwing it bananas to slow its dance.
How then does meditation save your life? Well, when reason trumps emotions, you tend to think more clearly. Believe me when I say meditation leads to the calm mind of reason and promote the clarity of mind that can kill emotions' destructive rampage in the mind. It can also lead to quicker and more reasonable responses to danger than to jump up in a movie theatre crying "Fire."
So the next time you feel like doing just that, don't panic. Instead, take a deep breath and see if you can smell smoke.
20130112
If the Left Thinks Buddhism is Authoritarian, They Need to Think Again!
I have never understood how the New Left can mistake Buddhism as only a religion when it, like the Tao, is also a philosophy and a psychology. Their criticism of Buddhism appears to be almost the same as it is for Christianity
Here is how their logic works: Buddhism is a religion. All religions are authoritarian. Therefore, Buddhism is authoritarian.
Confounding this logic is another one involving both Christianity and Buddhism: Buddhism is a religion. Christianity is a religion. Therefore Buddhism is like Christianity.
It is this second logical premise which is a false one, because it is a broad generalization that is invalid.
If Buddhism was like Christianity or even Judaism, then all those Western Christian and Jewish converts should have searched for the esotoeric in Christianity and Judaism such as Gnosticism and early Hasidism.
However, the New Left is notorious for using invalid logical premises to justify its activism, especially the violence-prone Black Bloc and especially in light of the Left's willingness to let agents provacateurs of the State lead and train other activists in what is essentially criminal acts of vandalism.
Returning to Buddhism, I will state that some forms of Buddhism may be considered authoritarian. Theravada Buddhism is a good example of this in Sri Lanka since a needless civil war by the Hindu Tamils was started by the Sinhala-dominated government insisting on Theravada Buddhism being the State religion.
Elsewhere, Theravada Buddhism is so enshrined in Thailand that there is a law that says any disrespect for Buddhism is disrespect for the King of Thailand, and subjects anyone who publicly expresses disrespect to a jail term.
Given the state of the prison system in Thailand, a Buddhist zealot among the guards could easily make your life a living hell just for being vocal about your non-belief in Buddhism. For dissing the Buddha in Thailand is diss the King!!
Also, within the Theravada sangha, women are there to serve the priests. While they are able to become nuns, they are not allowed to become a part of the hierarchy. According to their sutras, women are excluded from becoming a Buddha unless they are reborn as men.
I challenge this sexist notion because women after menopause have been known to grow beards! Therefore post-menopausal nuns should be allowed to become venerable Buddhist priests too..
Returning to the Left and their generalization about Buddhism as authoritarian, my examples do not prove that Buddhism is inherently authoritarian. Instead, they prove that Theravada Buddhism is authoritarian and sexist in some cases.
It is invalid logic to apply this specific example of authoritarianism to all of Buddhism as a generalization because in America, there are Zen masters who are female.
However, I feel that because of lack of a comprehensive education about Buddhism, the New Left movement may have a few members mistake it for a form of authoritarianism.
As well, I call for any New Left activist to fully explore Buddhism before generalizing about what it is, in addition to Googling it on the Internet. For you cannot confront the truth about Buddhism merely by relying on incomplete sources of knowledge. Rather, all the many schools of Buddhism need to be studied throughly before assessing it as something it isn't.
For it is invalid logic to state that since Theravada Buddhism is sometimes authoritarian and sexist, that Mahayana Buddhism is likewise the same. For there are many flavors of Buddhism and I assure you that Mahayana has more different flavors.
Here is how their logic works: Buddhism is a religion. All religions are authoritarian. Therefore, Buddhism is authoritarian.
Confounding this logic is another one involving both Christianity and Buddhism: Buddhism is a religion. Christianity is a religion. Therefore Buddhism is like Christianity.
It is this second logical premise which is a false one, because it is a broad generalization that is invalid.
If Buddhism was like Christianity or even Judaism, then all those Western Christian and Jewish converts should have searched for the esotoeric in Christianity and Judaism such as Gnosticism and early Hasidism.
However, the New Left is notorious for using invalid logical premises to justify its activism, especially the violence-prone Black Bloc and especially in light of the Left's willingness to let agents provacateurs of the State lead and train other activists in what is essentially criminal acts of vandalism.
Returning to Buddhism, I will state that some forms of Buddhism may be considered authoritarian. Theravada Buddhism is a good example of this in Sri Lanka since a needless civil war by the Hindu Tamils was started by the Sinhala-dominated government insisting on Theravada Buddhism being the State religion.
Elsewhere, Theravada Buddhism is so enshrined in Thailand that there is a law that says any disrespect for Buddhism is disrespect for the King of Thailand, and subjects anyone who publicly expresses disrespect to a jail term.
Given the state of the prison system in Thailand, a Buddhist zealot among the guards could easily make your life a living hell just for being vocal about your non-belief in Buddhism. For dissing the Buddha in Thailand is diss the King!!
Also, within the Theravada sangha, women are there to serve the priests. While they are able to become nuns, they are not allowed to become a part of the hierarchy. According to their sutras, women are excluded from becoming a Buddha unless they are reborn as men.
I challenge this sexist notion because women after menopause have been known to grow beards! Therefore post-menopausal nuns should be allowed to become venerable Buddhist priests too..
Returning to the Left and their generalization about Buddhism as authoritarian, my examples do not prove that Buddhism is inherently authoritarian. Instead, they prove that Theravada Buddhism is authoritarian and sexist in some cases.
It is invalid logic to apply this specific example of authoritarianism to all of Buddhism as a generalization because in America, there are Zen masters who are female.
However, I feel that because of lack of a comprehensive education about Buddhism, the New Left movement may have a few members mistake it for a form of authoritarianism.
As well, I call for any New Left activist to fully explore Buddhism before generalizing about what it is, in addition to Googling it on the Internet. For you cannot confront the truth about Buddhism merely by relying on incomplete sources of knowledge. Rather, all the many schools of Buddhism need to be studied throughly before assessing it as something it isn't.
For it is invalid logic to state that since Theravada Buddhism is sometimes authoritarian and sexist, that Mahayana Buddhism is likewise the same. For there are many flavors of Buddhism and I assure you that Mahayana has more different flavors.
My Buddhism is Unconditional Love in Action
Jodo Shinshu (True Heart of the Pure Land Way) shows how the Other Power of Amida is unconditional love put into action.
It led a Tendai monk to surrender to destiny and abandon the monk's life, marry and develop the easy practice which leads to enlightenment despite karma.
This easy practice is known as Buddha Remembrance, a mantrayana practicing the Nembutsu while viewing it as the Name-that-calls, that with every utterance of it is Amida Buddha calling to the practitioner.
Indeed, with every call to Amida, the practitioner is that much closer to the Pure Land of Bliss. Once there, he is assured to become a Buddha.
On realizing this to be true, the practitioner is full of joy, because faith in Amida relieves him of the anxiety over the afterlife.
There is no rebirth in this human realm. Most assuredly, there is only rebirth in the Pure Land for practicing this Buddha Remembrance earnestly.
Perhaps this is the easiest way to become a buddha since you do not need to waste self-power sitting in zazen on your hemmorhoids! Besides, it fulfills the Primal Vow.
For Nembutsu recitation is truly the working of the Other Power of Amida Buddha.
The Primal Vow: http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/beliefs/id10.html
It led a Tendai monk to surrender to destiny and abandon the monk's life, marry and develop the easy practice which leads to enlightenment despite karma.
This easy practice is known as Buddha Remembrance, a mantrayana practicing the Nembutsu while viewing it as the Name-that-calls, that with every utterance of it is Amida Buddha calling to the practitioner.
Indeed, with every call to Amida, the practitioner is that much closer to the Pure Land of Bliss. Once there, he is assured to become a Buddha.
On realizing this to be true, the practitioner is full of joy, because faith in Amida relieves him of the anxiety over the afterlife.
There is no rebirth in this human realm. Most assuredly, there is only rebirth in the Pure Land for practicing this Buddha Remembrance earnestly.
Perhaps this is the easiest way to become a buddha since you do not need to waste self-power sitting in zazen on your hemmorhoids! Besides, it fulfills the Primal Vow.
For Nembutsu recitation is truly the working of the Other Power of Amida Buddha.
The Primal Vow: http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/beliefs/id10.html
Baptists Scare the BeJesus Out of Me
About a couple years ago, I used to go to a Baptist Church, attending a 12-Step program for Christians.
WHat scared me away was that the devil kept talking through a couple of church ladies to tempt me to attend Sunday service by bribing me with a free guitar. Also an ex-junkie told mehis life story to get me attend service, which had the opposite effect. Perhaps I'm too judgmental, but then I'm a Buddhist.
Now, that was mind blowing to have those kinds of experiences.
Though it did confirm one thing to me: churches where fear of the devil being preached usually has a good chance of the devil talking through any church member than a Korean Pentecostal church where the pastor has a history of exorcises.
That's because in pagan times, before the Christian missionaries appeared, Korea had shamans who did a lot of exorcisms. IMO that's probably how the Catholic Church got into the exorcism business, as it actually predates Christianity.
Except, in pre-Christian times, the shaman would either capture the evil spirit or be the receptacle for it, which was less dangerous to a shaman than an ordinary person plagued by such spirits.
And the odds that the shaman was no different from a schizphrenic person today was pretty high, since much of what a shaman trains for, you'd have to be fearless to go through.
The average person, being untrained, most likely would go nuts. However, the properly trained crazy shaman would have a ritual to perform as self-exorcism.
Did the pastor ever go an exorcism at this Baptist church? Hell no! That sort of thing is only popular in certain Pentacoastal circuits. This is a Baptist church, for God's sake.
My only regret is, I couldn't be the good Christian my ex-girlfriend was expecting to sweep her off her feet.
You could say, the devil in that congregation is what chased me away.
In short, in my eyes, the devil protected the Buddha for me. If my Buddha can do that to the devil, then I have all the spiritual protection I need!
WHat scared me away was that the devil kept talking through a couple of church ladies to tempt me to attend Sunday service by bribing me with a free guitar. Also an ex-junkie told mehis life story to get me attend service, which had the opposite effect. Perhaps I'm too judgmental, but then I'm a Buddhist.
Now, that was mind blowing to have those kinds of experiences.
Though it did confirm one thing to me: churches where fear of the devil being preached usually has a good chance of the devil talking through any church member than a Korean Pentecostal church where the pastor has a history of exorcises.
That's because in pagan times, before the Christian missionaries appeared, Korea had shamans who did a lot of exorcisms. IMO that's probably how the Catholic Church got into the exorcism business, as it actually predates Christianity.
Except, in pre-Christian times, the shaman would either capture the evil spirit or be the receptacle for it, which was less dangerous to a shaman than an ordinary person plagued by such spirits.
And the odds that the shaman was no different from a schizphrenic person today was pretty high, since much of what a shaman trains for, you'd have to be fearless to go through.
The average person, being untrained, most likely would go nuts. However, the properly trained crazy shaman would have a ritual to perform as self-exorcism.
Did the pastor ever go an exorcism at this Baptist church? Hell no! That sort of thing is only popular in certain Pentacoastal circuits. This is a Baptist church, for God's sake.
My only regret is, I couldn't be the good Christian my ex-girlfriend was expecting to sweep her off her feet.
You could say, the devil in that congregation is what chased me away.
In short, in my eyes, the devil protected the Buddha for me. If my Buddha can do that to the devil, then I have all the spiritual protection I need!
Overmedication in Psychwards: Its Cure
A hospital psychward demands order.
That's why they're medicated.
Most psychiatric professionals are not in the business of administering therapy in such a setting because working in such a setting only makes them chump change.
Besides most of them know that psychoanalysis usually does not "cure" a patient but merely ensures that he'll be back for more of the same.
Medicating patients in a psychward is more efficient use of resources, and often more humane than the mental hospitals of the past.
Sadly though, the reason why most patients are in a psychward is because nobody actually listens to them and takes care of their needs at home.
Sometimes, a psychward actually has caring professionals to give the minimum of care.
That is because it is difficult to inculcate a caring and compassionate attitude in the profession.
You either have it or you burn out.
For the whole purpose of medication is to avoid burn out, because even a caring professional will be overwhelmed by the horror stories some of the mentally ill have to tell.
If it weren't for the fact that most parents haven't gotten their shit together and take out their unresolved issues on their children, the world would have less rates of mental illness than they currently!
20 percent of people == 1.3 billion worldwide who have a mental illness, which in itself is evidence of child abuse and neglect in their immediate families.
When we learn how to effectively address the risks which lead to abuse and neglect, that'll be when the rates go down.
However, it is the stress of a fast-paced society that breeds mental illness due to ineffective coping skills.
That may be because public education is a fast-paced stream of academics lacking even the basics of teaching kids how to handle stress.
However, I'll bet you teaching them the basics of meditation can and will help to reduce transforming benign schizotypies into mental illness.
And I'll be you too that in nations where the people are obligated to spend five years of Buddhist training (become monks and nuns) before being allowed to become householders probably have lower rates of mental illness than secular nations that manufacture consumers who are first and foremost obligated to become productive members of a fast-paced society, often without giving them a wide range of coping skills to deal with stress.
That's why they're medicated.
Most psychiatric professionals are not in the business of administering therapy in such a setting because working in such a setting only makes them chump change.
Besides most of them know that psychoanalysis usually does not "cure" a patient but merely ensures that he'll be back for more of the same.
Medicating patients in a psychward is more efficient use of resources, and often more humane than the mental hospitals of the past.
Sadly though, the reason why most patients are in a psychward is because nobody actually listens to them and takes care of their needs at home.
Sometimes, a psychward actually has caring professionals to give the minimum of care.
That is because it is difficult to inculcate a caring and compassionate attitude in the profession.
You either have it or you burn out.
For the whole purpose of medication is to avoid burn out, because even a caring professional will be overwhelmed by the horror stories some of the mentally ill have to tell.
If it weren't for the fact that most parents haven't gotten their shit together and take out their unresolved issues on their children, the world would have less rates of mental illness than they currently!
20 percent of people == 1.3 billion worldwide who have a mental illness, which in itself is evidence of child abuse and neglect in their immediate families.
When we learn how to effectively address the risks which lead to abuse and neglect, that'll be when the rates go down.
However, it is the stress of a fast-paced society that breeds mental illness due to ineffective coping skills.
That may be because public education is a fast-paced stream of academics lacking even the basics of teaching kids how to handle stress.
However, I'll bet you teaching them the basics of meditation can and will help to reduce transforming benign schizotypies into mental illness.
And I'll be you too that in nations where the people are obligated to spend five years of Buddhist training (become monks and nuns) before being allowed to become householders probably have lower rates of mental illness than secular nations that manufacture consumers who are first and foremost obligated to become productive members of a fast-paced society, often without giving them a wide range of coping skills to deal with stress.
The State's Agents are Ignorant of Being Played by Narcissists
"Abusive behavior did not make it into the diagnostic criteria of mental health disorders, nor were its psychodynamic, cultural and social roots explored in depth. As a result of this deficient education and lacking awareness, most law enforcement officers, judges, counselors, guardians, and mediators are worryingly ignorant about the phenomenon.
Only 4% of hospital emergency room admissions of women in the United States are attributed by staff to domestic violence. The true figure, according to the FBI, is more like 50%. One in three murdered women was done in by her spouse, current or former.
The blissfully ignorant mental health professionals are simply unaware of the "bad sides" of the abuser – and make sure they remain oblivious to them. They look the other way, or pretend that the abuser's behavior is normative, or turn a blind eye to his egregious conduct." — Dr. Sam Vaknin, in Conning the System.
This kind of abusive behavior is reprehensible. What is worse is when professionals, who commonly, do not receive any training recognizing and dealing with this kind of behavior, go out of their way to protect narcissists and even believe psychopaths just need kindness and understanding.
Tell that to the victims of the Green River killer.
In cases of domestic abuse, often the police will side with the husband, even if his wife has bruises and spends time in the hospital being patched up by doctors and nurses who again are conned by the narcissist.
Even worse then this are the times when the police could have caught the psychopath but let him go until it became obvious they were dealing with a serial killer.
The Pickton case has collaboration between police and the psychopath. In one case, it was likely the police were supplying Pickton with more victims. However, the police did a coverup to protect their asses.
However, a lot of the times, narcissists and pyshcopaths get away with murder.
The following interview with Jane Schwartz is important to seeing through a narcissist's façade: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/NARCISSISTIC-PERSONALITY-DISORDER/D_96TxEDG5Y
Only 4% of hospital emergency room admissions of women in the United States are attributed by staff to domestic violence. The true figure, according to the FBI, is more like 50%. One in three murdered women was done in by her spouse, current or former.
The blissfully ignorant mental health professionals are simply unaware of the "bad sides" of the abuser – and make sure they remain oblivious to them. They look the other way, or pretend that the abuser's behavior is normative, or turn a blind eye to his egregious conduct." — Dr. Sam Vaknin, in Conning the System.
This kind of abusive behavior is reprehensible. What is worse is when professionals, who commonly, do not receive any training recognizing and dealing with this kind of behavior, go out of their way to protect narcissists and even believe psychopaths just need kindness and understanding.
Tell that to the victims of the Green River killer.
In cases of domestic abuse, often the police will side with the husband, even if his wife has bruises and spends time in the hospital being patched up by doctors and nurses who again are conned by the narcissist.
Even worse then this are the times when the police could have caught the psychopath but let him go until it became obvious they were dealing with a serial killer.
The Pickton case has collaboration between police and the psychopath. In one case, it was likely the police were supplying Pickton with more victims. However, the police did a coverup to protect their asses.
However, a lot of the times, narcissists and pyshcopaths get away with murder.
The following interview with Jane Schwartz is important to seeing through a narcissist's façade: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/NARCISSISTIC-PERSONALITY-DISORDER/D_96TxEDG5Y
20130111
What's a yuppontoi to do, eh? (poem)
WARNING: ANY DEPICTION OF VISIBLE MINORITIES IS FICTIONAL
'End of this month the man gonna get on my ass.
You see, I be on the dole with p.w.d.
got beat up nine years ago, july 19th,
with in and out the hospital a couple times,
finally lost my mind after march 13th, 2005.
'Hadda move in with my best friend, my late best bro.
then i slowly recovered, and finally grew up.
So listen up, and listen good:
this be the story of my 'hood, Surrey BC Canada.
It's no pretty life, or an easy life
livin' in Newton with homies all around!
no black bros from L.A., or even Brooklyn!
No, we have South Asian homies in Newton!
They're called Punjabi brothers who own this 'hood.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own this 'hood.
They can't shoot straight but they dance real good.
Their parents keep their sisters under lock and key,
but let the boys go out to dance and party.
Surrey girls can't leave 'em alone,
cos they got bling-bling and fancy cellphones.
Yeah Punjabi brothers own this 'hood...
As fer meself, i'm a yuppontoi.
This means i be ichiban japanese boy
who likes animé, but i ain't gay.
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
my wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Anyway, I left my Punjabi brothers behind
in 2006, and moved back in with my ex,
and her new boyfriend, mister TNT.
i moved out of my 'hood into ghetto Surrey,
out by the Royal Kwantlen Park by the church.
Technically, it's still Whalley, dig eh.
Back in 2008, I tried to get my head shrunk
but the man, he said i wasn't psychotic enough.
Nor was i suicidal... Aya!. What's a man gotta do
to talk to a therapist around here anyway???
I mean - look, drug addicts get an ear to talk to!
Yeah, heroin addicts can rehab
and go on methadone maintenance.
So what's a yuppontoi to do, eh?
This Japanese boy has lots to say,
but he only answers to da man's crew,
social welfare degree peeps,
government lackeys, provincial mystiques.
All i gotta say is, i'm a yuppontoi.
This means I be ichiban Japanese boy
who likes animé but i ain't gay.
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
my wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own that 'hood.
They can't shoot straight but they dance real good.
Their parents keep their sisters under lock and key,
but let the boys go out to dance and party.
Surrey girls can't leave 'em alone,
cos they got bling-bling and fancy cellphones.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own this 'hood...
As fer meself, i'm a Yuppontoi.
This means I be ichiban Japanese boy
who likes animé but; i ain't gay!
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
My wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Dozo yoroshiku.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
gomenasai
Dozo yoroshiku.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
gomenasai
'End of this month the man gonna get on my ass.
You see, I be on the dole with p.w.d.
got beat up nine years ago, july 19th,
with in and out the hospital a couple times,
finally lost my mind after march 13th, 2005.
'Hadda move in with my best friend, my late best bro.
then i slowly recovered, and finally grew up.
So listen up, and listen good:
this be the story of my 'hood, Surrey BC Canada.
It's no pretty life, or an easy life
livin' in Newton with homies all around!
no black bros from L.A., or even Brooklyn!
No, we have South Asian homies in Newton!
They're called Punjabi brothers who own this 'hood.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own this 'hood.
They can't shoot straight but they dance real good.
Their parents keep their sisters under lock and key,
but let the boys go out to dance and party.
Surrey girls can't leave 'em alone,
cos they got bling-bling and fancy cellphones.
Yeah Punjabi brothers own this 'hood...
As fer meself, i'm a yuppontoi.
This means i be ichiban japanese boy
who likes animé, but i ain't gay.
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
my wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Anyway, I left my Punjabi brothers behind
in 2006, and moved back in with my ex,
and her new boyfriend, mister TNT.
i moved out of my 'hood into ghetto Surrey,
out by the Royal Kwantlen Park by the church.
Technically, it's still Whalley, dig eh.
Back in 2008, I tried to get my head shrunk
but the man, he said i wasn't psychotic enough.
Nor was i suicidal... Aya!. What's a man gotta do
to talk to a therapist around here anyway???
I mean - look, drug addicts get an ear to talk to!
Yeah, heroin addicts can rehab
and go on methadone maintenance.
So what's a yuppontoi to do, eh?
This Japanese boy has lots to say,
but he only answers to da man's crew,
social welfare degree peeps,
government lackeys, provincial mystiques.
All i gotta say is, i'm a yuppontoi.
This means I be ichiban Japanese boy
who likes animé but i ain't gay.
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
my wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own that 'hood.
They can't shoot straight but they dance real good.
Their parents keep their sisters under lock and key,
but let the boys go out to dance and party.
Surrey girls can't leave 'em alone,
cos they got bling-bling and fancy cellphones.
Yeah, Punjabi brothers done own this 'hood...
As fer meself, i'm a Yuppontoi.
This means I be ichiban Japanese boy
who likes animé but; i ain't gay!
I like my samurai movies,
my harajuku girls on youtube,
My wasabi on sashimi - hot,
and my JPOP albums by Onmyouza.
Dozo yoroshiku.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
gomenasai
Dozo yoroshiku.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
domo arigato gozaimasu.
gomenasai
Tips on How To Get a Spiritual Warrior Into a Buddhist Retreat
What To Do When Asked How You Meditate
This is satire. Using anything contained in this article may get you kicked out of a Buddhist retreat. It is provided here to poke fun at spiritual warriors who take themselves too seriously. However, the aim of this article to help Buddhists to develop humility.
1) Quietly state that you are at the retreat to share what you know about "chanting" before and after meditation.
2) Mention that you visualize the Buddha sitting in meditation by first looking at a picture of Amida Buddha.
3) Insist that reality is subjective and that it is only interpretable to each person. By doing so, you demonstrate that subjective reality is not consensual reality. Do not let their rationalization distract you from your inner Truth. You are not at the retreat to analyze but to be in the moment sitting in meditation.
4) If someone asks you to teach them chanting then tell them "I have meditated for over 20 years and chanting the name of the Buddha before and after helped with my meditation." Then teach them Buddha Remembrance by chanting "OM MANI PADME HUM" 7, 21 or 49 times. Emphasize sincerity during chanting.
What To Do Actually All Day and/or Night When Committed To the Retreat
For people who are serious about attending a Buddhist retreat, here are some simple rules regarding attendance. A Buddhist retreat is for developing compassion, humility, patience, and wisdom.
Bring a sleeping mat and pillow and be prepared to sleep on a hard floor.
Practice harmlessness against yourself and/or others.
Practice meditation on rising and before going to bed.
Be peaceable to other people, but be assertive.
When they give you the vegetarian meal, take it with thanks.
Do not talk out of turn or verbally harass other people. Otherwise, you lose the chance to help each other to enlightenment.
This is satire. Using anything contained in this article may get you kicked out of a Buddhist retreat. It is provided here to poke fun at spiritual warriors who take themselves too seriously. However, the aim of this article to help Buddhists to develop humility.
1) Quietly state that you are at the retreat to share what you know about "chanting" before and after meditation.
2) Mention that you visualize the Buddha sitting in meditation by first looking at a picture of Amida Buddha.
3) Insist that reality is subjective and that it is only interpretable to each person. By doing so, you demonstrate that subjective reality is not consensual reality. Do not let their rationalization distract you from your inner Truth. You are not at the retreat to analyze but to be in the moment sitting in meditation.
4) If someone asks you to teach them chanting then tell them "I have meditated for over 20 years and chanting the name of the Buddha before and after helped with my meditation." Then teach them Buddha Remembrance by chanting "OM MANI PADME HUM" 7, 21 or 49 times. Emphasize sincerity during chanting.
What To Do Actually All Day and/or Night When Committed To the Retreat
For people who are serious about attending a Buddhist retreat, here are some simple rules regarding attendance. A Buddhist retreat is for developing compassion, humility, patience, and wisdom.
Bring a sleeping mat and pillow and be prepared to sleep on a hard floor.
Practice harmlessness against yourself and/or others.
Practice meditation on rising and before going to bed.
Be peaceable to other people, but be assertive.
When they give you the vegetarian meal, take it with thanks.
Do not talk out of turn or verbally harass other people. Otherwise, you lose the chance to help each other to enlightenment.
Good Bye Personality Disorder, Hello Neurosis
Around 1992, I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. However, after discussion of the matter with my doctor, I decided not to seek medication.
Twenty years later, that diagnosis does not define me at all. While I can relate to fear, anxiety, insomnia, and hypomania, I cannot relate to mania and psychosis. For it turns out that when I enter the hypomanic phase, I become sociable and outgoing.
While I am anti-psychiatry, I am not anti-medication. Since both cyclobenzaprine and gabapentin are not used like the usual psychopharamaceuticals, I don't consider them in the same light as sleep aids.
I shall continue to use them because nine times out of ten, they would as directed (10 mg of cyclobenzaprine and 2 x 100 mg of gabapentin at bedtime). Otherwise, I'm overproductive and on a roll until I sleep it off.
When I was on mirtazapine three years ago, it acted like a strong sedative. Today I won't touch it again.
Aside from medication I try to get out at least four to five times a week.
When I get the urge to indulge in my photography hobby I get right into it. That hobby has helped me a lot.
So, rather than borderline personality disorder, I'm going with neurosis. Furthermore, because neuroses are no longer in the DSM, the medications I am using now help with sleep quality.
Neuroses are associated with distress, which points to mental suffering. While medication provides restful sedation, meditation helps achieve the calm mind to aid in gathering insight into one's distress.
In fact, once a person learns the basics of meditation, she can practice anytime and anywhere to clear her mind and bring an end to her suffering eventually.
Personally I tend to see suffering as inspiration to meditate and discover what gifts it has hidden away.
In that light, neuroses fade away, and reveal curiosity about what's really troubling me, and inspires me to write about it further exposing my neuroses to light until they become something I can control like fear, anxiety, and even insomnia.
This whole process of meditation is what I call the only true mind control. This kind of control is self-taught. This implies that meditation can be learned by any one.
Also, all the aspects of neurosis could be seen as gifts hidden behind suffering. Fear too becomes useful because it appears when one is under threat, be it by stress or by physical threat. Stress itself may be harder to escape than a physical threat, only if we listen to the fear rather than the voice of reason.
Often that voice of reason is saying "Look for the hiden gifts". So for me, the most expedient way of handling stress is to welcome it nto my life. It could be just as easy ass saying quietly, "Thank you stress!" Even greeting neuroses could do wonders to relieve distress.
In essence, that is the second part of meditation, when you are calm in mind and ready to handle stress, it would be just the time to observe your thoughts to see how they arise to form your fear. Once you do that, then you could stop listening to them by listening to yourself breathe, and if you're beyond that, get out and exercise to break the spell of neurosis.
For it starts with watching your breath and it ends very well...
Twenty years later, that diagnosis does not define me at all. While I can relate to fear, anxiety, insomnia, and hypomania, I cannot relate to mania and psychosis. For it turns out that when I enter the hypomanic phase, I become sociable and outgoing.
While I am anti-psychiatry, I am not anti-medication. Since both cyclobenzaprine and gabapentin are not used like the usual psychopharamaceuticals, I don't consider them in the same light as sleep aids.
I shall continue to use them because nine times out of ten, they would as directed (10 mg of cyclobenzaprine and 2 x 100 mg of gabapentin at bedtime). Otherwise, I'm overproductive and on a roll until I sleep it off.
When I was on mirtazapine three years ago, it acted like a strong sedative. Today I won't touch it again.
Aside from medication I try to get out at least four to five times a week.
When I get the urge to indulge in my photography hobby I get right into it. That hobby has helped me a lot.
So, rather than borderline personality disorder, I'm going with neurosis. Furthermore, because neuroses are no longer in the DSM, the medications I am using now help with sleep quality.
Neuroses are associated with distress, which points to mental suffering. While medication provides restful sedation, meditation helps achieve the calm mind to aid in gathering insight into one's distress.
In fact, once a person learns the basics of meditation, she can practice anytime and anywhere to clear her mind and bring an end to her suffering eventually.
Personally I tend to see suffering as inspiration to meditate and discover what gifts it has hidden away.
In that light, neuroses fade away, and reveal curiosity about what's really troubling me, and inspires me to write about it further exposing my neuroses to light until they become something I can control like fear, anxiety, and even insomnia.
This whole process of meditation is what I call the only true mind control. This kind of control is self-taught. This implies that meditation can be learned by any one.
Also, all the aspects of neurosis could be seen as gifts hidden behind suffering. Fear too becomes useful because it appears when one is under threat, be it by stress or by physical threat. Stress itself may be harder to escape than a physical threat, only if we listen to the fear rather than the voice of reason.
Often that voice of reason is saying "Look for the hiden gifts". So for me, the most expedient way of handling stress is to welcome it nto my life. It could be just as easy ass saying quietly, "Thank you stress!" Even greeting neuroses could do wonders to relieve distress.
In essence, that is the second part of meditation, when you are calm in mind and ready to handle stress, it would be just the time to observe your thoughts to see how they arise to form your fear. Once you do that, then you could stop listening to them by listening to yourself breathe, and if you're beyond that, get out and exercise to break the spell of neurosis.
For it starts with watching your breath and it ends very well...
The Meaning of Good (poem)
Listen: right means good.
Good means pure, pure means right, and
once again, listen:
Right concentration arises
from a good meditation
to help attain the pure mind.
See: loving-kindness is good.
For compassion pours from a pure heart
working with the right mind to see
the Buddha world in all its goodness
certainly is the Pure Land,
until everything is right with the world.
Speak of the goodness
in the heartmind that is pure,
for right-mindedness speaks
with a good heart to all
who seek the pure mind
For this is the meaning of good.
Good means pure, pure means right, and
once again, listen:
Right concentration arises
from a good meditation
to help attain the pure mind.
See: loving-kindness is good.
For compassion pours from a pure heart
working with the right mind to see
the Buddha world in all its goodness
certainly is the Pure Land,
until everything is right with the world.
Speak of the goodness
in the heartmind that is pure,
for right-mindedness speaks
with a good heart to all
who seek the pure mind
For this is the meaning of good.
The Good Antidote
For me Buddhism is a good antidote for belief in superstition and the supernatural.
Such beliefs arise from ignorance, regardless of the volumes of knowledge associated with superstitions such as numerology.
All I need to do to counteract superstition and belief in the supernatural is to meditate until my mind is cleared of all doubt. It is easy to discern whether particular symbols are superstition.
Take for example the number 13. It's just a number to me. When I was a child, I used to believe that 13 might have some supernatural significance.
Today, it's an unlucky number to the superstitious but not to me. In fact, I think of it as a "lucky" number because 13 is a prime number, the second in the series starting with 11 and ending with 19.
However, there is no luck involved: for numbers only have use to do math.
As for belief in the supernatural, I have long practiced Buddhism and believe in it so strongly that my belief in the supernatural as a child is all gone.
Indeed, the supernatural may have emotional appeal to the spiritually ignorant, but to Buddhists, the Buddha has greater appeal.
To me, the supernatural has little appeal at all because my faith in the Buddha is stronger than the childlike world of make-believe.
For meditation has trained me to wield my imagination as a tool that helps me to see Buddhism as a toolkit designed to think critically, and to entertain skepticism about
other belief systems.
Furthermore, Buddhism helps me to enshrine most of the various aspects such as Buddhas and bodhisattvas as qualities of the mind. In a way, the Buddha world called Pure Land of Bliss could be considered a state of mind, once I suspend disbelief and use my imagination to envision it through meditation.
By doing so, I am not practicing a superstition or engaging the supernatural. Rather, I am maintaining the clear mind to see through superstitions as unneeded distractions.
With clarity of mind, I see that faith in the Buddhadharma as practiced through Buddha Remembrance helps me to see the folly of believing in the supernatural.
For the Nembutsu, being the Name-that-calls, may be considered as Amida Buddha calling through me. This shows how closely I treasure the Buddha.
Even so, I must stress that meditation is practiced by Buddhists to clear the mind so that the sutras can be understood and applied to one's life.
As for the Nembutsu, it help me to remember the Buddha, and to develop the Bodhi Mind that arises from meditation.
Through faith in the Buddha am I truly freed from ignorance which is perpetuated by superstition and belief in the supernatural.
For Buddhism is a good antidote for ignorance.
Such beliefs arise from ignorance, regardless of the volumes of knowledge associated with superstitions such as numerology.
All I need to do to counteract superstition and belief in the supernatural is to meditate until my mind is cleared of all doubt. It is easy to discern whether particular symbols are superstition.
Take for example the number 13. It's just a number to me. When I was a child, I used to believe that 13 might have some supernatural significance.
Today, it's an unlucky number to the superstitious but not to me. In fact, I think of it as a "lucky" number because 13 is a prime number, the second in the series starting with 11 and ending with 19.
However, there is no luck involved: for numbers only have use to do math.
As for belief in the supernatural, I have long practiced Buddhism and believe in it so strongly that my belief in the supernatural as a child is all gone.
Indeed, the supernatural may have emotional appeal to the spiritually ignorant, but to Buddhists, the Buddha has greater appeal.
To me, the supernatural has little appeal at all because my faith in the Buddha is stronger than the childlike world of make-believe.
For meditation has trained me to wield my imagination as a tool that helps me to see Buddhism as a toolkit designed to think critically, and to entertain skepticism about
other belief systems.
Furthermore, Buddhism helps me to enshrine most of the various aspects such as Buddhas and bodhisattvas as qualities of the mind. In a way, the Buddha world called Pure Land of Bliss could be considered a state of mind, once I suspend disbelief and use my imagination to envision it through meditation.
By doing so, I am not practicing a superstition or engaging the supernatural. Rather, I am maintaining the clear mind to see through superstitions as unneeded distractions.
With clarity of mind, I see that faith in the Buddhadharma as practiced through Buddha Remembrance helps me to see the folly of believing in the supernatural.
For the Nembutsu, being the Name-that-calls, may be considered as Amida Buddha calling through me. This shows how closely I treasure the Buddha.
Even so, I must stress that meditation is practiced by Buddhists to clear the mind so that the sutras can be understood and applied to one's life.
As for the Nembutsu, it help me to remember the Buddha, and to develop the Bodhi Mind that arises from meditation.
Through faith in the Buddha am I truly freed from ignorance which is perpetuated by superstition and belief in the supernatural.
For Buddhism is a good antidote for ignorance.
20130109
Vairocana Mantra
Just as Amida is
compassion personified,
so too is Vairocana
wisdom personified.
As the Nembutsu is
Amida calling,
the Vairocana Mantra
is Wisdom calling.
Vairocana is a celestial Buddha being the Adi Buddha which represents that wisdom of transcendental reality, the True Reality of Being and Non-Beinng. This reality is non-dual because it is empty of ignorance and because samsara is the root of nirvana.
For it is suffering that motivates us to seek its cure through understanding of the Four Noble Truths and to engage in spiritual activities that result in the spiritual treasures of teaching the Dharma, humility, meditation, giving, and fearlessness to cure spiritual ignorance out of which craving arises, the destruction of anger and hate, eradication of selfishness, neutralizing pride and greed, and pacification of envy.
Vairocana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vairocana
Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Dhyani_Buddhas
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.
Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Buddhas
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.
Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Buddhas
20130106
Good and Evil are One
To see good and evil as one is to transcend moral judgment. By creation of good by mindful practice, the disciple neutralizes evil of the Five Poisons, and embraces the true nature of her basic goodness.
When I make no moral judgment on good and evil, but see that my actions and the effect of these actions may be considered good or evil, depending on the situation.
Thus, in Buddhism, "good" and "evil" has less to do with moral judgment and more to do with my actions and the effect of those actions.
Buddhist philosophy declares that each of us has the potential to create good or evil, but we favor creating good to neutralize evil.
When the terms "pure", "real", and "true" are used, they refer to "basic goodness". On the other hand the term "evil" is not as absolute as the Western concept of evil because it can easily be neutralized by creating good with loving-kindness. For evil is created by anger, desire, fear, hatred, and ignorance, which are negative emotions and feelings that unsettle the mind.
A result of an unsettled mind is suffering, and one may make a moral judgment and mistake good for evil, and evil for good. Even when one sees good as good, and evil as evil, one may judged oneself and other sentient beings harshly. Due to such misjudgment, one entertains dualistic thoughts by making moral judgments regarding good and evil.
Such dualism is due to an unsettled mind. With the Bodhi Mind as the practitioner's goal, the mindful practice of Buddha Remembrance and meditation results in the nondual mind that sees good and evil as due to her actions and their effect on the lives of both herself and other sentient beings.
That nondual mind arises due to the mindful practice of the Middle Way
For the Middle Way transcends moral judgment involving good and evil, and allows the Buddhist to let go of clinging to such judgment to free himself of ignorant craving. As a result he chooses to create good in his life.
This is the goal of Buddha Remembrance: to mindfully practice Buddha Recitation and meditation to free oneself of the ignorance which arises from a deluded mind. Once Awake, the practitioner maintains her practice to maintain positive control over her ego, lest she fall prey to worldly desires and create evil.
For we are capable of creating good and evil in the journey called Life, and thus we bear the responsibility for our very actions on that journey.
Reference:
Good and Evil in Buddhism: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/good-thoughts-destroy-evil-karma.html
When I make no moral judgment on good and evil, but see that my actions and the effect of these actions may be considered good or evil, depending on the situation.
Thus, in Buddhism, "good" and "evil" has less to do with moral judgment and more to do with my actions and the effect of those actions.
Buddhist philosophy declares that each of us has the potential to create good or evil, but we favor creating good to neutralize evil.
When the terms "pure", "real", and "true" are used, they refer to "basic goodness". On the other hand the term "evil" is not as absolute as the Western concept of evil because it can easily be neutralized by creating good with loving-kindness. For evil is created by anger, desire, fear, hatred, and ignorance, which are negative emotions and feelings that unsettle the mind.
A result of an unsettled mind is suffering, and one may make a moral judgment and mistake good for evil, and evil for good. Even when one sees good as good, and evil as evil, one may judged oneself and other sentient beings harshly. Due to such misjudgment, one entertains dualistic thoughts by making moral judgments regarding good and evil.
Such dualism is due to an unsettled mind. With the Bodhi Mind as the practitioner's goal, the mindful practice of Buddha Remembrance and meditation results in the nondual mind that sees good and evil as due to her actions and their effect on the lives of both herself and other sentient beings.
That nondual mind arises due to the mindful practice of the Middle Way
For the Middle Way transcends moral judgment involving good and evil, and allows the Buddhist to let go of clinging to such judgment to free himself of ignorant craving. As a result he chooses to create good in his life.
This is the goal of Buddha Remembrance: to mindfully practice Buddha Recitation and meditation to free oneself of the ignorance which arises from a deluded mind. Once Awake, the practitioner maintains her practice to maintain positive control over her ego, lest she fall prey to worldly desires and create evil.
For we are capable of creating good and evil in the journey called Life, and thus we bear the responsibility for our very actions on that journey.
Reference:
Good and Evil in Buddhism: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/good-thoughts-destroy-evil-karma.html
Buddhism is not Mysticism
Buddhism is not a mysticism. Rather, Buddhism is a toolkit to relief psychic suffering. As part of that relief, it teaches transcendence of ego — the self which arises through ignorant craving.
That transcendence of ego is called the transcendent Self and is also known as the Diamond Mind.
Rejection of the transcendent Self is rejection of the Diamond Mind, and of the Buddha himself.
For the true Reality of the Self is often occulted by academics whose commentaries on the Buddhist sutras sometimes leads the skeptics to the false belief that Buddhism is a form of mysticism.
By hiding the fact that Adi Buddha is reflected in the Five Wisdom Buddhas, so too is the fact that personal experience is reflected in the experience of everyone.
Yet academics who have no experience in Buddhism, who have not heard the Buddhadharma, and who then write of the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self, suggest that each of us has the potential to become bodhisattvas and ultimately Buddhas.
For the fallacy of potential nirvana is that the average person is often adverse to exercise his potential under the mistaken assumption that it's not for him and that it's all a bunch of hogwash, too.
However, I beg to differ and present you with the following analogy to encourage the willing among you to exercise your potential to become awakened and achieve Nirvana.
When we were children, we had the potential to graduate from high school. We learned to read and write, and to do math. Today, we are able to read and write, as well as add, subtract and multiply.
Likewise, in learning about the Four Noble Truths, and dependent arising, it is then possible to go on to learn about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self. It is even possible to understand that the spiritual nature of Adi Buddha is reflected in the 102 Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana).
For Buddhism is not mysticism, for the Four Noble Truths is proof of that.
Learning about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self helps us to go beyond meditating to achieve the clear mind to see that the Diamond Mind is achieved through meditation and study of the sutras. Such learning is also not mysticism.
As well, Adi Buddha is not mysticism.
For mysticism requires only one thing: a mind confused by the ego lost in ignorant craving. Since the purpose of Buddhism is to remove confusion by pacifying ignorant craving through meditation to achieve the mind of clarity and the heart of peace, the result is the true heartmind which is able to see that Buddha-Nature is in all sentient beings.
Indeed, the heartmind is able to see that all sentient beings are originally bodhisattva who have the potential to become Buddha.
That transcendence of ego is called the transcendent Self and is also known as the Diamond Mind.
Rejection of the transcendent Self is rejection of the Diamond Mind, and of the Buddha himself.
For the true Reality of the Self is often occulted by academics whose commentaries on the Buddhist sutras sometimes leads the skeptics to the false belief that Buddhism is a form of mysticism.
By hiding the fact that Adi Buddha is reflected in the Five Wisdom Buddhas, so too is the fact that personal experience is reflected in the experience of everyone.
Yet academics who have no experience in Buddhism, who have not heard the Buddhadharma, and who then write of the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self, suggest that each of us has the potential to become bodhisattvas and ultimately Buddhas.
For the fallacy of potential nirvana is that the average person is often adverse to exercise his potential under the mistaken assumption that it's not for him and that it's all a bunch of hogwash, too.
However, I beg to differ and present you with the following analogy to encourage the willing among you to exercise your potential to become awakened and achieve Nirvana.
When we were children, we had the potential to graduate from high school. We learned to read and write, and to do math. Today, we are able to read and write, as well as add, subtract and multiply.
Likewise, in learning about the Four Noble Truths, and dependent arising, it is then possible to go on to learn about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self. It is even possible to understand that the spiritual nature of Adi Buddha is reflected in the 102 Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana).
For Buddhism is not mysticism, for the Four Noble Truths is proof of that.
Learning about the Diamond Mind and the transcendent Self helps us to go beyond meditating to achieve the clear mind to see that the Diamond Mind is achieved through meditation and study of the sutras. Such learning is also not mysticism.
As well, Adi Buddha is not mysticism.
For mysticism requires only one thing: a mind confused by the ego lost in ignorant craving. Since the purpose of Buddhism is to remove confusion by pacifying ignorant craving through meditation to achieve the mind of clarity and the heart of peace, the result is the true heartmind which is able to see that Buddha-Nature is in all sentient beings.
Indeed, the heartmind is able to see that all sentient beings are originally bodhisattva who have the potential to become Buddha.
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.
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.
Great Nirvana
When the Buddha died, his death was no ordinary death.
For in the eyes of the Buddha sages who knew him, it was seen as the mahaparinirvana. the blowing out of a spiritual life, and the transcendence of a great sage over the endless cycle of birth, life, and death.
In essence, mahaparinirvana is derived from "maha" (great) and "parinirvana" (the death of a truly awakened spiritual master), and means the great final death of the truly awakened. With respect to the Buddha, when the death has arrived for the truly awakened, their death is no ordinary death. In the Buddha's case, flowers bloomed out of season on trees that during the winter monsoon stand dormant.
Thus the nirvana of the Buddha was when his karma blew out the light of transmigration. All his actions on the way to realizing his buddhahood bore the fruit of Nirvana. After this moment in his life, he became the teacher of the Buddhadharma.
What the Buddha taught was dependent arising / dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths, but he followed it up with teachings about the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha. While dependent arising and the Four Noble Truths describe the phenomenon of suffering, its cause and its cure, the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha describe the phenomenon of personal experience and the noumenon of cosmic (transcendent) experience.
What is the Buddha-dhatu? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Nature (Buddha Principle), "Hidden" implies that personal experience occults that spark of Buddha-dhatu in all sentient beings. "Unconditioned" implies further that even though Buddha-dhatu is hidden, it remains pure, real and true.
Quite simply, the Buddha-dhatu is the potential for spiritual awakening to ultimate Reality which is changeless. This potential must be realized, lest the Buddhist who hears the Buddha's teachings be seduced by the lie that there is only one Buddha.
In actual fact, while there may be many Buddhas, there is only one Gautama Buddha.
What is the Tathagatagarbha? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Matrix within which Buddha-dhatu helps the practitioner become truly awakened. Through the aid of Buddha-dhatu, one realizes that one is already awake. Thus the truly awakened are already awake, and she who is already awake is primordially awake. For being awake results from being good, since it is the working of primordial goodness.
Yet Tathagatagarbha is the essence of Dharmakaya, the ultimate level of being. of the Buddha and of all sentient life. With the help of Buddha-dhatu, even you or I may one day be awakened to the reality of primordial goodness. For our original nature is indeed Buddha Nature.
Even so, the pragmatic among the followers of the Buddhadharma may ask, "If originally we are born awakened, then what's the point of the ritual of chanting and meditation?"
When we realize we are originally awaken beings, bodhisattvas in the making, this is because we have heard what the Buddha said, both through hearing his teachings, reading what the Buddha said and comments about what he said, and the practice of chanting of his Name-that-calls.
Personal experience without hearing the Buddhadharma, reading sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance would only hide our primordial awakened state.
This is why hearing the Dharma, reading the sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance is necessary to realize the cosmic experience that all is Buddha.
For just as Adi-Buddha is reflected in the 108 Buddhas, so too is the Buddha reflected in all sentient beings, including the bodhisattvas.
All it takes to uncover this primordial goodness inherent in all beings is to hear the Buddadharma.
Though, it requires more than merely listening with the ears; to hear the Buddhadharma, one must listen with one's heart. This is known as teaching the heart to be at one with the mind until with practice, one hears with the heartmind.
In conclusion, the Great Nirvana of the Buddha is his transcendence beyond the samsaric cycle of transmigration. Though his body died, his spirit lives on.
nirvanasutra.net: http://www.nirvanasutra.net
parinirvana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana
Buddha-dhatu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha-dhatu
For in the eyes of the Buddha sages who knew him, it was seen as the mahaparinirvana. the blowing out of a spiritual life, and the transcendence of a great sage over the endless cycle of birth, life, and death.
In essence, mahaparinirvana is derived from "maha" (great) and "parinirvana" (the death of a truly awakened spiritual master), and means the great final death of the truly awakened. With respect to the Buddha, when the death has arrived for the truly awakened, their death is no ordinary death. In the Buddha's case, flowers bloomed out of season on trees that during the winter monsoon stand dormant.
Thus the nirvana of the Buddha was when his karma blew out the light of transmigration. All his actions on the way to realizing his buddhahood bore the fruit of Nirvana. After this moment in his life, he became the teacher of the Buddhadharma.
What the Buddha taught was dependent arising / dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths, but he followed it up with teachings about the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha. While dependent arising and the Four Noble Truths describe the phenomenon of suffering, its cause and its cure, the Buddha-dhatu and the Tathagatagarbha describe the phenomenon of personal experience and the noumenon of cosmic (transcendent) experience.
What is the Buddha-dhatu? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Nature (Buddha Principle), "Hidden" implies that personal experience occults that spark of Buddha-dhatu in all sentient beings. "Unconditioned" implies further that even though Buddha-dhatu is hidden, it remains pure, real and true.
Quite simply, the Buddha-dhatu is the potential for spiritual awakening to ultimate Reality which is changeless. This potential must be realized, lest the Buddhist who hears the Buddha's teachings be seduced by the lie that there is only one Buddha.
In actual fact, while there may be many Buddhas, there is only one Gautama Buddha.
What is the Tathagatagarbha? It is the hidden, unconditioned Buddha Matrix within which Buddha-dhatu helps the practitioner become truly awakened. Through the aid of Buddha-dhatu, one realizes that one is already awake. Thus the truly awakened are already awake, and she who is already awake is primordially awake. For being awake results from being good, since it is the working of primordial goodness.
Yet Tathagatagarbha is the essence of Dharmakaya, the ultimate level of being. of the Buddha and of all sentient life. With the help of Buddha-dhatu, even you or I may one day be awakened to the reality of primordial goodness. For our original nature is indeed Buddha Nature.
Even so, the pragmatic among the followers of the Buddhadharma may ask, "If originally we are born awakened, then what's the point of the ritual of chanting and meditation?"
When we realize we are originally awaken beings, bodhisattvas in the making, this is because we have heard what the Buddha said, both through hearing his teachings, reading what the Buddha said and comments about what he said, and the practice of chanting of his Name-that-calls.
Personal experience without hearing the Buddhadharma, reading sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance would only hide our primordial awakened state.
This is why hearing the Dharma, reading the sutras and their commentaries, and Buddha Remembrance is necessary to realize the cosmic experience that all is Buddha.
For just as Adi-Buddha is reflected in the 108 Buddhas, so too is the Buddha reflected in all sentient beings, including the bodhisattvas.
All it takes to uncover this primordial goodness inherent in all beings is to hear the Buddadharma.
Though, it requires more than merely listening with the ears; to hear the Buddhadharma, one must listen with one's heart. This is known as teaching the heart to be at one with the mind until with practice, one hears with the heartmind.
In conclusion, the Great Nirvana of the Buddha is his transcendence beyond the samsaric cycle of transmigration. Though his body died, his spirit lives on.
nirvanasutra.net: http://www.nirvanasutra.net
parinirvana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parinirvana
Buddha-dhatu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha-dhatu
20130105
The Five Precepts Revisited
Today the Buddha spoke to me, saying "There are five rule I give to you freely, but it is up to you to practice them. If you cannot be faithful to them, then you might burn in Avici Hell, which may incur a karmic debt that a more worthy disciple is able to pay off."
Having said that, the Buddha grabbed my pen and guided my hand to write:
Then he receded into the usual static of my half-tamed mind.
Mmmmm. Meditation is cheaper and safer than drugs. For drugs may damage your chances for rebirth in the human realm, but meditation prepares you for that realm.
Having said that, the Buddha grabbed my pen and guided my hand to write:
- Be loving and kind even in the midst of ignorant sentient beings;
- Be generous with your time and money after your bills are paid;
- Be content in whatever you're doing as long as it harms no one;
- Be truthful about yourself according to other people's ability to accept the truth; and
- Be mindful that being all things and knowing all things does not give you the right to be nothing, think nothing, and say nothing.
Then he receded into the usual static of my half-tamed mind.
Mmmmm. Meditation is cheaper and safer than drugs. For drugs may damage your chances for rebirth in the human realm, but meditation prepares you for that realm.
Sexual Contentment
In our thirst for spiritual meaning, we are like fish thirsty for water in the belly of a fishing boat.
In our true being, we know everything are everything, but are in need of nothing. Yet our thirst will be the death of us.
For the thirst for knowledge cannot be sated only by study of the sutras, but simply by the practice of being of service to others, and of being helpful to anyone in need.
Although nothingness is immanent in all sentient beings, for all our knowledge, truly does the knowledgeable person know everything and lacks nothing.
Only the fool thinks that nothing is as valuable as the lifestyle he left behind. At night he dreams of it and experiences it as thought that lifestyle is real. On awakening, he soon forgets that lifestyle lest his new friends suspect him to be apostate.
For the fool thirsts for his former lifestyle, despite doing what he can to make his present one his own.
He forgets that his former lifestyle provided him with the experience to adapt to his surroundings, and that he has the necessary skillset to fit in.
Indeed, the true purpose of his dreams of the former lifestyle is to instruct him in his new one.
Likewise, the Buddhist practitioner may dream of anything but the Buddha, and in fearing becoming apostate, goes through the motions of his practice, while dreading the thought of being found out.
In fact, he thirsts for nothingness despite knowing all things, being all things. and in need of nothing. His dreams are actually about the Buddha, but he mistakes what he dreamed about for the worldly life.
However, the Buddha is known to resort to white lies to help one of his followers to awakens to the purpose in life. Even when that purpose is to be of service to others, and to be helpful to people in need, the purpose of a dream that appears to be of worldly things is to help the practitioner to devote herself to the Buddha.
Thus, when a Buddhist dreams of having sex, that dream has little to do with sex and all to do with her devotion to the practice. This is why one of the Buddhist precepts is concerned with sex.
Thus, if a practitioner is used to the practice of sexual contentment by self abuse, then she should refrain from fantasizing about violence against other sentient beings, theft of time that could be devoted to the Buddha, and lying to herself about why she's practicing such contentment, while under the influence of drink and/or drugs.
When a practitioner sacrifices his time and spends it practicing sexual contentment, the five practices of loving-kindness, generosity, contentment, truthful communication and mindfulness ought to guide him to the climax of his contentment.
After he has had his fill of the waters of his contentment, she is best reducing guilt by offering her shame to the Buddha in the form of devotional practice and study of the Heart Sutra.
In our true being, we know everything are everything, but are in need of nothing. Yet our thirst will be the death of us.
For the thirst for knowledge cannot be sated only by study of the sutras, but simply by the practice of being of service to others, and of being helpful to anyone in need.
Although nothingness is immanent in all sentient beings, for all our knowledge, truly does the knowledgeable person know everything and lacks nothing.
Only the fool thinks that nothing is as valuable as the lifestyle he left behind. At night he dreams of it and experiences it as thought that lifestyle is real. On awakening, he soon forgets that lifestyle lest his new friends suspect him to be apostate.
For the fool thirsts for his former lifestyle, despite doing what he can to make his present one his own.
He forgets that his former lifestyle provided him with the experience to adapt to his surroundings, and that he has the necessary skillset to fit in.
Indeed, the true purpose of his dreams of the former lifestyle is to instruct him in his new one.
Likewise, the Buddhist practitioner may dream of anything but the Buddha, and in fearing becoming apostate, goes through the motions of his practice, while dreading the thought of being found out.
In fact, he thirsts for nothingness despite knowing all things, being all things. and in need of nothing. His dreams are actually about the Buddha, but he mistakes what he dreamed about for the worldly life.
However, the Buddha is known to resort to white lies to help one of his followers to awakens to the purpose in life. Even when that purpose is to be of service to others, and to be helpful to people in need, the purpose of a dream that appears to be of worldly things is to help the practitioner to devote herself to the Buddha.
Thus, when a Buddhist dreams of having sex, that dream has little to do with sex and all to do with her devotion to the practice. This is why one of the Buddhist precepts is concerned with sex.
Thus, if a practitioner is used to the practice of sexual contentment by self abuse, then she should refrain from fantasizing about violence against other sentient beings, theft of time that could be devoted to the Buddha, and lying to herself about why she's practicing such contentment, while under the influence of drink and/or drugs.
When a practitioner sacrifices his time and spends it practicing sexual contentment, the five practices of loving-kindness, generosity, contentment, truthful communication and mindfulness ought to guide him to the climax of his contentment.
After he has had his fill of the waters of his contentment, she is best reducing guilt by offering her shame to the Buddha in the form of devotional practice and study of the Heart Sutra.
Who Knows the Way to the Pure Land?
"Buddhist thought may be considered to have followed this order of human thinking; from the scientific form to the religious through the philosophic. The ultimate end of Buddhism is perfect self-realization, enlightenment. For the attainment of this purpose two basic principles are to be recognized. Firstly, the individual self must be negated. Secondly, the universal self and the oneness of all life must be affirmed." — Ryuchi Fujii, The True Meaning of Buddhism - Muryoko, Journal of Shin Buddhism
Buddhist psychology affirms that the individual self is a social fiction which arises out of the interconnection of all sentient life.
"Self exists in mutual relationship to all things, to the totality of all things and to the oneness of all life. Self-realization is achieved through the mutual understanding of the nothingness of all selves." — ibid.
Thus, self is reflected in all things.
Just as I have a mind, so too do other people. Furthermore, so do all sentient beings have a mind. Since a mind is conscious of the six senses (ear, eye, smell, taste, touch, and cognition), thus is it the same as consciousness. For only in the mind does consciouness arise for each of the senses.
Buddhist philosophy holds that conflict, fights and war between sentient beings are due to the illusion of ignorance.
Yet Buddha Nature is reflected in all things nd is known as the oneness of all things.
"Self-realization is attained through the wisdom of self-effort." — ibid.
In Buddhist practice, each sentient being is limited and ignorant by nature when it remains an individual.
This is why people have a community and when why the most inquisitive of them seek the truth both through their interaction with other sentient beings and through solitude.
"Self is ever perfectible, but it cannot be perfectly realized in this world. Self is perfectly realized only in the Pure Land through the aid of Amida Buddha." —
On hearing the Buddha's Teaching, the practitioner comes to realize that, like a bodhisattva, one gains the truths about Amida Buddha through practice to realize the purpose in life is to be of service to others.
In this way is the path to rebirth in the afterlife is the Pure Land of Bliss.
For only Amida Buddha knows the way to the Pure Land.
Buddhist psychology affirms that the individual self is a social fiction which arises out of the interconnection of all sentient life.
"Self exists in mutual relationship to all things, to the totality of all things and to the oneness of all life. Self-realization is achieved through the mutual understanding of the nothingness of all selves." — ibid.
Thus, self is reflected in all things.
Just as I have a mind, so too do other people. Furthermore, so do all sentient beings have a mind. Since a mind is conscious of the six senses (ear, eye, smell, taste, touch, and cognition), thus is it the same as consciousness. For only in the mind does consciouness arise for each of the senses.
Buddhist philosophy holds that conflict, fights and war between sentient beings are due to the illusion of ignorance.
Yet Buddha Nature is reflected in all things nd is known as the oneness of all things.
"Self-realization is attained through the wisdom of self-effort." — ibid.
In Buddhist practice, each sentient being is limited and ignorant by nature when it remains an individual.
This is why people have a community and when why the most inquisitive of them seek the truth both through their interaction with other sentient beings and through solitude.
"Self is ever perfectible, but it cannot be perfectly realized in this world. Self is perfectly realized only in the Pure Land through the aid of Amida Buddha." —
On hearing the Buddha's Teaching, the practitioner comes to realize that, like a bodhisattva, one gains the truths about Amida Buddha through practice to realize the purpose in life is to be of service to others.
In this way is the path to rebirth in the afterlife is the Pure Land of Bliss.
For only Amida Buddha knows the way to the Pure Land.
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