Surrey near 132 St and King George Blvd
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/ArhF5JVeAhh
New Westminster near 22nd Street Station, from Fourteenth Street to Sixteenth Street: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/R5oYp1YJvko
Taking off from Surrey Central station
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/1dUtaudR1iA
Bertrand Creek, Aldergrove, BC
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/YazQaH7JC4D
On the #1 Hwy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/6bMFcmHEnjQ
Near Braid Station
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/6DXQSQiCbmR
Skytrain at Columbia Station:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113339991496129525363/posts/UK9qrGWRghT
20130203
Meditation at Work Pays Off
Homage to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
Earlier this morning, I worked from midnight until 6 AM.
Afterwards, I felt my emotions and feeling with a freshness that happens after being up all night, being of service to my boss.
Work consisted of patrolling an underground parkade.
In between each other, I decided halfway through the shift to meditate, specifically breath meditation. Additionally, I also quietly chanted the Nembutsu after finishing the final patrol.
Later, on the bus home I felt sad that my roommate is back under psychiatric care temporarily.
Then it happened: the same joy I had experienced last month.
This joy though had a loving-kindness touch to it. Yet I cannot discount it as the result of fatigue.
Because I put my sincere faith in Amida Buddha's Primal Vow and belief in rebirth in the Pure Land, this explains how meditation for three hours resulted in the pure joy that loving-kindness causes bubble out of my heart-mind.
Through meditation, the heart of feelings was brought closer to the mind of reason to become one as the heart-mind.
After Buddha Recitation (Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu - Namu Amida Butsu), the heart-mind became Bodhi Mind.
Arising from the Bodhi Mind came this joy, all due to loving-kindness.
Once again, meditation and Buddha Recitation in earnest results in liberation from repression and introversion for this follower of Amida Buddha.
In giving homage to Amida Buddha's boundless life of compassion and boundless light of wisdom, Buddha Remembrance set my heart-mind free.
Now this follower of Amida is humbled, for this joy arose out of loving-kindness due to the Name-that-calls!
Namu Amida Buddha!
Earlier this morning, I worked from midnight until 6 AM.
Afterwards, I felt my emotions and feeling with a freshness that happens after being up all night, being of service to my boss.
Work consisted of patrolling an underground parkade.
In between each other, I decided halfway through the shift to meditate, specifically breath meditation. Additionally, I also quietly chanted the Nembutsu after finishing the final patrol.
Later, on the bus home I felt sad that my roommate is back under psychiatric care temporarily.
Then it happened: the same joy I had experienced last month.
This joy though had a loving-kindness touch to it. Yet I cannot discount it as the result of fatigue.
Because I put my sincere faith in Amida Buddha's Primal Vow and belief in rebirth in the Pure Land, this explains how meditation for three hours resulted in the pure joy that loving-kindness causes bubble out of my heart-mind.
Through meditation, the heart of feelings was brought closer to the mind of reason to become one as the heart-mind.
After Buddha Recitation (Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu - Namu Amida Butsu), the heart-mind became Bodhi Mind.
Arising from the Bodhi Mind came this joy, all due to loving-kindness.
Once again, meditation and Buddha Recitation in earnest results in liberation from repression and introversion for this follower of Amida Buddha.
In giving homage to Amida Buddha's boundless life of compassion and boundless light of wisdom, Buddha Remembrance set my heart-mind free.
Now this follower of Amida is humbled, for this joy arose out of loving-kindness due to the Name-that-calls!
Namu Amida Buddha!
20130202
Ultimate Liberation
Because of Birth and Death,
Develop the Bodhi Mind;
With deep Faith and Vows,
Recite the Buddha's Name. — Elder Master Ch'e Wu
"Birth and Death" refers to samsara, the cycle of birth-life-death.
"Bodhi Mind" refers to the mind awakened to the spirit of Enlightenment. It consists of two aspects: the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.
"Faith" refers to the faith in the Primal Vow and the belief in Amida's Pure Land.
"Vows" refers to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha.
"Buddha's Name" refers to the name of Amida.
Reminded by suffering and death, the Buddhist's current practice is for the goal of ultimate liberation, to save himself and others.
At first glance, the previous statement seems depressing and sad. However, it is actually the affirmation of two facts of life: people do suffer and fear death.
Thus suffering and death motivate the practitioner to seek liberation from suffering and death.
Liberation is achieved through Buddha Recitation and meditation by freeing the mind from suffering and the fear of death.
Buddha Recitation helps free the practitioner from the fear of death by affirming the Primal Vow. With his rebirth in the Pure Land fully assured, the fear of death of removed.
Meditations helps free the mind from suffering by calming it. Once calm, the mind is able to clearly see hope where once suffering offered despair.
Through instruction and practice, one learns to let go of the thoughts in one's mind, clinging to neither positive nor negative thoughts.
Without clinging to thoughts, one is able to produce good thoughts which lead to good karma (actions).
For example, I am currently thinking of joy. The good action is viewing the world as a good place to live. This leads to a positive outlook on life. I am ready to greet the day. Nothing can change my mind about this.
Freed of suffering, I am able to choose to think good thoughts and remain focused on them.
Develop the Bodhi Mind;
With deep Faith and Vows,
Recite the Buddha's Name. — Elder Master Ch'e Wu
"Birth and Death" refers to samsara, the cycle of birth-life-death.
"Bodhi Mind" refers to the mind awakened to the spirit of Enlightenment. It consists of two aspects: the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.
"Faith" refers to the faith in the Primal Vow and the belief in Amida's Pure Land.
"Vows" refers to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha.
"Buddha's Name" refers to the name of Amida.
Reminded by suffering and death, the Buddhist's current practice is for the goal of ultimate liberation, to save himself and others.
At first glance, the previous statement seems depressing and sad. However, it is actually the affirmation of two facts of life: people do suffer and fear death.
Thus suffering and death motivate the practitioner to seek liberation from suffering and death.
Liberation is achieved through Buddha Recitation and meditation by freeing the mind from suffering and the fear of death.
Buddha Recitation helps free the practitioner from the fear of death by affirming the Primal Vow. With his rebirth in the Pure Land fully assured, the fear of death of removed.
Meditations helps free the mind from suffering by calming it. Once calm, the mind is able to clearly see hope where once suffering offered despair.
Through instruction and practice, one learns to let go of the thoughts in one's mind, clinging to neither positive nor negative thoughts.
Without clinging to thoughts, one is able to produce good thoughts which lead to good karma (actions).
For example, I am currently thinking of joy. The good action is viewing the world as a good place to live. This leads to a positive outlook on life. I am ready to greet the day. Nothing can change my mind about this.
Freed of suffering, I am able to choose to think good thoughts and remain focused on them.
Shinran's Word on Sect Differences
Today, the people of single-hearted nembutsu and those of the Path of Sages engage in argument, claiming that one school is superior and the other inferior. Thus, enemies of dharma appear and slandering of dharma becomes rampant. But does this not slander and destroy one's own teaching?
Even if all the other schools together proclaim, "The nembutsu is for foolish beings; its teaching is shallow and vulgar," you should not object. And instead simply reply, "We are taught that foolish beings of inferior capacity like ourselves, unlettered and ignorant, will be saved by entrusting ourselves to Amida. As we accept this and entrust ourselves, it is the supreme dharma for us, regardless of how vulgar it may seem to people of superior capacity. No matter how superb other teachings may be, if they are beyond our grasp and mastery, we cannot uphold them. Since it is the basic intention of the Buddhas that we shall all together go beyond birth-and-death, you should not hinder us." In this way, if we have no rancor, who would want to hurt us? An attesting passage also states, "Where there are arguments, various kinds of blind passion are awakened; the wise should avoid them."
The late master also said, "The Buddha predicted that there will be people who shall entrust themselves to this dharma, as well as those who shall slander it. I have already been made to entrust myself to the dharma, while there are those who slander it - by this we know that the Buddha's words are true. In fact, we should realize that our birth is even more firmly settled. If, contrary to this, no one denounced the nembutsu, we might wonder why even though there are believers, there are no slanderers. But this, of course, does not mean that the teaching should become the object of slander. The Buddha taught this because he knew that both believers and slanderers would exist. It was to dispel any doubts that might arise among us. — Chapter 12, Tannisho, Unno version
Recently I made rash statements about Zen Buddhists.
If I slandered anyone, then I apologize. This post is the final word on the matter.
When one's motive behind being of the True Pure Land school of Buddhism is through both self-power (jiriki representing desire to be reborn in the Pure Land) and other-power (tariki representing Amida calling to me through the Nembutsu), Buddha Recitation is done for the good of all sentient beings including myself.
Likewise, when the motive of Zen Buddhists is to achieve peace of mind through zazen, it is done for the good of all sentient beings including themselves.
Since both of us know that Buddhist practice is done for a cause higher than merely chanting or just sitting, any discord was due to misunderstanding the purpose of our respective paths.
I am thankful to Zen Patriarch Hui Neng as his words support both Pure Land and Zen, as do all of the Zen Patriarchs.
Even if all the other schools together proclaim, "The nembutsu is for foolish beings; its teaching is shallow and vulgar," you should not object. And instead simply reply, "We are taught that foolish beings of inferior capacity like ourselves, unlettered and ignorant, will be saved by entrusting ourselves to Amida. As we accept this and entrust ourselves, it is the supreme dharma for us, regardless of how vulgar it may seem to people of superior capacity. No matter how superb other teachings may be, if they are beyond our grasp and mastery, we cannot uphold them. Since it is the basic intention of the Buddhas that we shall all together go beyond birth-and-death, you should not hinder us." In this way, if we have no rancor, who would want to hurt us? An attesting passage also states, "Where there are arguments, various kinds of blind passion are awakened; the wise should avoid them."
The late master also said, "The Buddha predicted that there will be people who shall entrust themselves to this dharma, as well as those who shall slander it. I have already been made to entrust myself to the dharma, while there are those who slander it - by this we know that the Buddha's words are true. In fact, we should realize that our birth is even more firmly settled. If, contrary to this, no one denounced the nembutsu, we might wonder why even though there are believers, there are no slanderers. But this, of course, does not mean that the teaching should become the object of slander. The Buddha taught this because he knew that both believers and slanderers would exist. It was to dispel any doubts that might arise among us. — Chapter 12, Tannisho, Unno version
Recently I made rash statements about Zen Buddhists.
If I slandered anyone, then I apologize. This post is the final word on the matter.
When one's motive behind being of the True Pure Land school of Buddhism is through both self-power (jiriki representing desire to be reborn in the Pure Land) and other-power (tariki representing Amida calling to me through the Nembutsu), Buddha Recitation is done for the good of all sentient beings including myself.
Likewise, when the motive of Zen Buddhists is to achieve peace of mind through zazen, it is done for the good of all sentient beings including themselves.
Since both of us know that Buddhist practice is done for a cause higher than merely chanting or just sitting, any discord was due to misunderstanding the purpose of our respective paths.
I am thankful to Zen Patriarch Hui Neng as his words support both Pure Land and Zen, as do all of the Zen Patriarchs.
20130201
Beating the Stigma of Mental Illness
Even though psychosiphobia is an invented term to describe society's fear of psychosis, mass media has done a disservice by either playing it for laughs or taking it all to seriously.
This fear appears in the minds of people who think if I tough it out, then I can beat mental illness just by thinking it away and gave patience waiting for my inner demons to leave me...
What magical thinking is this??
It's unfair to discriminate and stigmatize a person for his social ineptness even when he is supportive of tolerance of mental health consumers.
For mental health consumers, the peaceful confrontation is the safest path to survival.
If you don't like me for a few of my more eccentric views, and if you ignore the evidence as I've presented it, then my fear is validated — the fear that if you got to know me better, you'd called me weird and scary, and avoid close contact with me.
I agree with your view but we need to do more than complain about this problem that people with psychiatric disabilities face. This problem is called STIGMA.
Most mentally ill people are no more likely to harm others or even be violent to friends, loved ones, or even strangers.
Possibly only psychopaths are more likely to use violence on others.
A world leader with depression is an asset to the world, and a medicated world leader is as effective as a world leader in a wheelchair.
With therapy — whether from a therapist or of the self-help kind — we are mostly harmless.
So I am fed up with the stigmatization of people with psychiatric disabilities.
I am not crazy, a nutjob or totally insane; I have a mental illness. While you may think I might be scary and weird sometimes, that's only my anxiety talking.
It really isn't the real me.
So give the mentally ill a chance.
Thank you for your support!
psychosiphobia: http://wayback.archive.org/web/20061202024408/http://psychosiphobia.com/
This fear appears in the minds of people who think if I tough it out, then I can beat mental illness just by thinking it away and gave patience waiting for my inner demons to leave me...
What magical thinking is this??
It's unfair to discriminate and stigmatize a person for his social ineptness even when he is supportive of tolerance of mental health consumers.
For mental health consumers, the peaceful confrontation is the safest path to survival.
If you don't like me for a few of my more eccentric views, and if you ignore the evidence as I've presented it, then my fear is validated — the fear that if you got to know me better, you'd called me weird and scary, and avoid close contact with me.
I agree with your view but we need to do more than complain about this problem that people with psychiatric disabilities face. This problem is called STIGMA.
Most mentally ill people are no more likely to harm others or even be violent to friends, loved ones, or even strangers.
Possibly only psychopaths are more likely to use violence on others.
A world leader with depression is an asset to the world, and a medicated world leader is as effective as a world leader in a wheelchair.
With therapy — whether from a therapist or of the self-help kind — we are mostly harmless.
So I am fed up with the stigmatization of people with psychiatric disabilities.
I am not crazy, a nutjob or totally insane; I have a mental illness. While you may think I might be scary and weird sometimes, that's only my anxiety talking.
It really isn't the real me.
So give the mentally ill a chance.
Thank you for your support!
psychosiphobia: http://wayback.archive.org/web/20061202024408/http://psychosiphobia.com/
Pure Mind, Pure Heart: a Poem of the Heart-Mind
With humility and patience,
She who succeeds in mastering
her ego is given the greatest treasure
of all: the Pure Mind bathed in Wisdom
and the Pure Heart of Loving-kindness
arising out single-minded meditation
thinking of Good today and tomorrow
for the benefit of all sentient beings.
She who succeeds in mastering
her ego is given the greatest treasure
of all: the Pure Mind bathed in Wisdom
and the Pure Heart of Loving-kindness
arising out single-minded meditation
thinking of Good today and tomorrow
for the benefit of all sentient beings.
OMG What Have You Stepped Into?
Hello, welcome to my blog!
This entry is for the new readers who may have been directed here via Google or even by my hand.
My recent entries may appear to be more political and religious than previous years' entries. I encourage the gentle readers to scrutinize what I have written.
Please note that my blog is a work in progress, so a page or two might be upgraded, edited to, or deleted, depending what I consider needs being done.
Contrary to what others may believe about opinions i.e. that it's fixed forever, I feel that opinions are made based on how close to the truth each of us wishes to tread.
When we base our opinions on other people's opinions without even considering the facts, our opinions are this close to being gossip and rumors.
So I try to base any opinions I make in posts which are not related to Buddhism on facts, even the ones that are political.
For example, my comments on the Islamic terrorism suspects is that bullying and racism fuels such terrorism. This is not a naive position.
As a Buddhist I am more for non-violent confrontation than for violent confrontation.
For I am dedicated keep the peace, by letting peace be my guide, and inspiring future meditations of peace to inspire my future blog posts.
This entry is for the new readers who may have been directed here via Google or even by my hand.
My recent entries may appear to be more political and religious than previous years' entries. I encourage the gentle readers to scrutinize what I have written.
Please note that my blog is a work in progress, so a page or two might be upgraded, edited to, or deleted, depending what I consider needs being done.
Contrary to what others may believe about opinions i.e. that it's fixed forever, I feel that opinions are made based on how close to the truth each of us wishes to tread.
When we base our opinions on other people's opinions without even considering the facts, our opinions are this close to being gossip and rumors.
So I try to base any opinions I make in posts which are not related to Buddhism on facts, even the ones that are political.
For example, my comments on the Islamic terrorism suspects is that bullying and racism fuels such terrorism. This is not a naive position.
As a Buddhist I am more for non-violent confrontation than for violent confrontation.
For I am dedicated keep the peace, by letting peace be my guide, and inspiring future meditations of peace to inspire my future blog posts.
Nirvana: Sudden and Gradual (poem)
Nirvana is of the sudden and the gradual.
The gradual is by one's self power
while the sudden is by the Buddha's other power.
Self power begins with one breath despite hardship,
while other power continues onwards with ease.
With single-mindedness in meditation
the sudden happens easily
aided with recitation of
Namu Amida Butsu.
The gradual is by one's self power
while the sudden is by the Buddha's other power.
Self power begins with one breath despite hardship,
while other power continues onwards with ease.
With single-mindedness in meditation
the sudden happens easily
aided with recitation of
Namu Amida Butsu.
20130131
Good Thoughts Destroy Evil Karma
Hui Neng said:
Think not of the past but of the future. Constantly maintain the future thoughts to be good. This is what we call the Sambhogakāya.
Just one single evil thought could destroy the good karma that has continued for one thousand years; and just one single good thought in turn could destroy the evil karma that has lived for one thousand years.
If the future thoughts are always good, you may call this the Sambhogakāya. The discriminative thinking arising from the Dharmakāya (法身↔fashen "Truth body") is called the Nirmanakāya (化身↔huashen "transformation body"). The successive thoughts that forever involve good are thus the Sambhogakāya.
Commentary:
Consider the Samboghakaya as the state of mind in which you continually and naturally produces good thoughts.
It may be thought of as the pure mind of future good, that thinks good of both self and others without discrimination.
One does not get such a mind by merely reading but also by practice of meditation.
As well, one does not stop with just meditation but also practices Buddha Remembrance, as all the Zen Patriarchs have.
For me, by practicing Buddha Remembrance & meditation in my spiritual practice for the benefit of all sentient beings, my intent is produce good thoughts to destroy evil karma.
By mindfully practicing in this manner with the benefit of all sentient beings, I believe that the good thoughts which arise will destroy not only my evil karma, but also a portion of all sentient beings' evil karma.
By doing so, I try to treat friends, loved ones and strangers, with the utmost respect.
However, I am not perfect and sometimes fail to practice for a few days. Then I return to my spiritual practice, both Buddha Remembrance and meditation focused on good thoughts.
Think not of the past but of the future. Constantly maintain the future thoughts to be good. This is what we call the Sambhogakāya.
Just one single evil thought could destroy the good karma that has continued for one thousand years; and just one single good thought in turn could destroy the evil karma that has lived for one thousand years.
If the future thoughts are always good, you may call this the Sambhogakāya. The discriminative thinking arising from the Dharmakāya (法身↔fashen "Truth body") is called the Nirmanakāya (化身↔huashen "transformation body"). The successive thoughts that forever involve good are thus the Sambhogakāya.
Commentary:
Consider the Samboghakaya as the state of mind in which you continually and naturally produces good thoughts.
It may be thought of as the pure mind of future good, that thinks good of both self and others without discrimination.
One does not get such a mind by merely reading but also by practice of meditation.
As well, one does not stop with just meditation but also practices Buddha Remembrance, as all the Zen Patriarchs have.
For me, by practicing Buddha Remembrance & meditation in my spiritual practice for the benefit of all sentient beings, my intent is produce good thoughts to destroy evil karma.
By mindfully practicing in this manner with the benefit of all sentient beings, I believe that the good thoughts which arise will destroy not only my evil karma, but also a portion of all sentient beings' evil karma.
By doing so, I try to treat friends, loved ones and strangers, with the utmost respect.
However, I am not perfect and sometimes fail to practice for a few days. Then I return to my spiritual practice, both Buddha Remembrance and meditation focused on good thoughts.
Breath Meditation (poem)
With the breath it begins,
the quiet meditation
of the skillful one.
Without preconceptions,
the mind is emptied of bias.
Each thought comes and goes,
with focus on the breath.
Heart and mind become as one
yielding the blessed heart-mind.
Amidst the one-pointedness of mind.
the Bodhi Mind arises until
Emptiness is filled with bliss.
In pure joy, the skillful one
returns to the breath and rises.
the quiet meditation
of the skillful one.
Without preconceptions,
the mind is emptied of bias.
Each thought comes and goes,
with focus on the breath.
Heart and mind become as one
yielding the blessed heart-mind.
Amidst the one-pointedness of mind.
the Bodhi Mind arises until
Emptiness is filled with bliss.
In pure joy, the skillful one
returns to the breath and rises.
Stochastic Terrorism
First the news story:
Three Hispanic youths (two teens and one adult) are out for a night of skating, but on trying to find their friend's place, they happen on 69-year old Phillip Sailors' place by accident. That's when Sailors comes out of the house, thinking it's a home invasion. He takes one shot in the air to warn off the youths.
Just as the driver, 22-year-old Rodrigo Abad Diaz apologizes to the homeowner while driving away, he is killed with one shot. Later, after police have sorted everything out, they charged Phillip Sailors with "murder with malice."
Here's the CNET new story: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57566488-71/man-allegedly-follows-gps-directions-to-wrong-house-shot-dead/
After reading this story, I needed to know more, and found this commentary from KOS:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/29/1183203/-Rodrigo-Abad-Diaz-22-Killed-by-NRA-Fox-GOP-Stochastic-Terrorism
With the recent mass school killing in Sandy Hook still fresh on our mind and the posturing by the NRA, perhaps Rodrigo Abad Diaz was killed by NRA-Fox-GOP Stochastic Terrorism.
According to the KOS, the stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media to broadcast memes that incite unstable people to commit violent acts. One or more unstable people responds to the incitement by becoming a lone wolf and committing a violent act.
The stochastic terrorist then has plausible deniability: "Oh, it was just a lone nut, nobody could have predicted he would do that, and I'm not responsible for what people in my audience do."
The lone wolf who was the "missile" gets captured and sentenced to life in prison, while the stochastic terrorist keeps his prime time slot and goes on to incite more lone wolves.
Finally, there is no conspiracy here: merely the twisted acts of individuals who are promoting extremism, who get access to national media in which to do it, and the rest follows naturally...
There has to be a way to make something good out of this tragedy, and that would be to expose how the talking heads from FOX News, the GOP and the NRA are perpetuating such violence.
In the future, watch as each of them grooms their next "lone wolf" via mass media news bytes.
Three Hispanic youths (two teens and one adult) are out for a night of skating, but on trying to find their friend's place, they happen on 69-year old Phillip Sailors' place by accident. That's when Sailors comes out of the house, thinking it's a home invasion. He takes one shot in the air to warn off the youths.
Just as the driver, 22-year-old Rodrigo Abad Diaz apologizes to the homeowner while driving away, he is killed with one shot. Later, after police have sorted everything out, they charged Phillip Sailors with "murder with malice."
Here's the CNET new story: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57566488-71/man-allegedly-follows-gps-directions-to-wrong-house-shot-dead/
After reading this story, I needed to know more, and found this commentary from KOS:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/29/1183203/-Rodrigo-Abad-Diaz-22-Killed-by-NRA-Fox-GOP-Stochastic-Terrorism
With the recent mass school killing in Sandy Hook still fresh on our mind and the posturing by the NRA, perhaps Rodrigo Abad Diaz was killed by NRA-Fox-GOP Stochastic Terrorism.
According to the KOS, the stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media to broadcast memes that incite unstable people to commit violent acts. One or more unstable people responds to the incitement by becoming a lone wolf and committing a violent act.
The stochastic terrorist then has plausible deniability: "Oh, it was just a lone nut, nobody could have predicted he would do that, and I'm not responsible for what people in my audience do."
The lone wolf who was the "missile" gets captured and sentenced to life in prison, while the stochastic terrorist keeps his prime time slot and goes on to incite more lone wolves.
Finally, there is no conspiracy here: merely the twisted acts of individuals who are promoting extremism, who get access to national media in which to do it, and the rest follows naturally...
There has to be a way to make something good out of this tragedy, and that would be to expose how the talking heads from FOX News, the GOP and the NRA are perpetuating such violence.
In the future, watch as each of them grooms their next "lone wolf" via mass media news bytes.
20130130
The Marginalization of Women of Color
Women are being marginalized around the world, and especially women of color.
While this blog post is not a comprehensive look at the problem, I am posting it to show the ease with which I can find proof to back up the marginalization of women of color.
With the recent spate of rapes in India. sexism is rife in India, the world's biggest democracy.
At the same time, women of color are oppressed (including Muslim women. This includes the Pakistan girl, Malala Yousufzai, shot and now living in the UK, the hundreds of women in Afghanistan who not only have to watch out for the Taleban but also their husbands due to cultural clash between tradition and Islam, which in itself is not oppressive to women.
Now before I finish this blog post, I'm going to add all the evidence to back up my claim that women are being marginalized around the world.
India gang rape (including commentaries)
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/13/world/asia/india-new-gang-rape/index.html
http://www.thefrisky.com/2013-01-15/padma-lakshmi-responds-to-gang-rapes-in-india/
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/delhi-rape-activists-education-campaign-idINDEE90U02720130131?feedType=RSS&feedName=globalCoverage2
Pakistan girl, Malala Yousufzai, shot and now living in UK
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/01/04/malala-pakistan-girl-released.html
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-girl-shot-taliban-skull-reconstructed-103807211.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pakistani+girl+Malala+shot+Taliban+released+hospital/7775637/story.html
Afghani women oppressed by Taleban and husbands
http://www.fazeteen.com/issue01/afghan_women.html
http://newcommave.com/relationship-taliban-and-afghan-women
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=126628&page=1
I apologize for not writing about the oppression of women in developed nations. It's less overt and is concentrated around economic equity between men and women in the workplace. As well, I admit to ignorance about the marginalization of women of color in developed nations, because on the whole, the marginalization isn't as bad as in other parts of the world.
First of all, the marginalization of aboriginal women in Canada has been well documented.
http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/community-politics/marginalization-of-aboriginal-women.html
While this blog post is not a comprehensive look at the problem, I am posting it to show the ease with which I can find proof to back up the marginalization of women of color.
With the recent spate of rapes in India. sexism is rife in India, the world's biggest democracy.
At the same time, women of color are oppressed (including Muslim women. This includes the Pakistan girl, Malala Yousufzai, shot and now living in the UK, the hundreds of women in Afghanistan who not only have to watch out for the Taleban but also their husbands due to cultural clash between tradition and Islam, which in itself is not oppressive to women.
Now before I finish this blog post, I'm going to add all the evidence to back up my claim that women are being marginalized around the world.
India gang rape (including commentaries)
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/13/world/asia/india-new-gang-rape/index.html
http://www.thefrisky.com/2013-01-15/padma-lakshmi-responds-to-gang-rapes-in-india/
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/delhi-rape-activists-education-campaign-idINDEE90U02720130131?feedType=RSS&feedName=globalCoverage2
Pakistan girl, Malala Yousufzai, shot and now living in UK
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/01/04/malala-pakistan-girl-released.html
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-girl-shot-taliban-skull-reconstructed-103807211.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pakistani+girl+Malala+shot+Taliban+released+hospital/7775637/story.html
Afghani women oppressed by Taleban and husbands
http://www.fazeteen.com/issue01/afghan_women.html
http://newcommave.com/relationship-taliban-and-afghan-women
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=126628&page=1
I apologize for not writing about the oppression of women in developed nations. It's less overt and is concentrated around economic equity between men and women in the workplace. As well, I admit to ignorance about the marginalization of women of color in developed nations, because on the whole, the marginalization isn't as bad as in other parts of the world.
First of all, the marginalization of aboriginal women in Canada has been well documented.
http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/community-politics/marginalization-of-aboriginal-women.html
The Upper Class Commits 13 Times the Crime As the Poor
The upper class commits far more crime than the lower class. Street criminals stole $15.3 billion in 1993, but white collar-criminals embezzled $200 billion. Street criminals murdered 23,271 people that year, but the decisions of profit-driven corporations murdered at least 318,368 (through pollution, consumer and worker safety violations, etc.) Corporations deserve blame for these deaths because they lobby for and enact policies which drive up these death rates. Virtually all other rich countries have higher safeguards and lower death rates.
Back in 1993, corporations killed over 300,000 people in America a year, and probably 29,000 Canadians. Today, the annual death rate in Canada in 2002 is around 290,000 while in the US it is about 2,400,000.
I'm not sure how to reduce this death rate. However, the solution would not be found by enacting more laws or even by targeting white-collar crime.
As the recent HSBC scandal regarding money laundering in Mexico has shown, employment recruitment may not have had the required security checks needed to reduce corruption within the banking industry.
Indeed, there needs to be more accountability in white collar jobs along with greater transparency, despite resistance to the idea of a corporation being accountable and transparent in its management.
Back in 1993, corporations killed over 300,000 people in America a year, and probably 29,000 Canadians. Today, the annual death rate in Canada in 2002 is around 290,000 while in the US it is about 2,400,000.
I'm not sure how to reduce this death rate. However, the solution would not be found by enacting more laws or even by targeting white-collar crime.
As the recent HSBC scandal regarding money laundering in Mexico has shown, employment recruitment may not have had the required security checks needed to reduce corruption within the banking industry.
Indeed, there needs to be more accountability in white collar jobs along with greater transparency, despite resistance to the idea of a corporation being accountable and transparent in its management.
Is River Tam of Firefly/Serenity Psychic or Merely Psychotic?
Serenity is the movie based on the short lived series Firefly, which was created by Joss Whedon, who brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I think he's also helping out with the new Dollhouse series. In addition he also has penned a few comics.
Here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)
It stars Summer Glau who plays River Tam, an augmented assassin who was trained in what was purported to be a special academy for gifted students but turned out to be a facility used to turn a select few of gifted students into assassins.
She's supposed to be around 17-19 in this series.
However, the actual star of the Firefly series was the ship itself, of the Firefly class, the Serenity.
From wikipedia:
"Set 510 years in the future, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a transport and cargo ship. The captain and first mate are veterans of the Unification War, having fought on the losing side. Their lives of petty crime are interrupted by a :psychotic: passenger who harbors a dangerous secret."
Glau plays River Tam with glee. What Whedon gets her to say in the script is similar to what you get out of schizophrenic people or people rendered disturbed by trauma. However, the premise that Blue Sun, a monolithic corporation that runs the Alliance which has forced tight control over the central planets while barely civilizing the outer-rim planets, has allowed mind control (psyops) scientists to brainwash and torture River, is despicable.
Supposedly they went in and did a special kind of lobotomy, damaging her amygdala which controls our ability to respond to fight-or-flight stimuli correctly. The amygdala is also the centre of our emotions - it allows us to filter out harmless stimuli and to act on threats, focus on detail, etc. Without it, supposedly we undergo so much stress we go mad and violently so.
I know that with Williams syndrome, the connexions to the amygdala are wired differently from you or I. A person with it strives to connect with other people, is gregarious, and talkative, yet cannot connect cues to appropriate action in response to the usual hints and nuances we may appropriately act upon with ease.
In the case of River Tam, her behavior is based on a wide range of schizotypies with some mild psychosis that she choses to go in and out of with ease. I think that the medication that her doctor brother gives her is probably an antihistamine-like antipsychotic. However, I do not think she is actually psychotic. Rather, she is sensitive, possibly due to administration of an ibogaine-like compound created by Blue Sun as a mind control drug.
See ibogaine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine
OK OK, I am thoroughly into Firefly. It's not a fun sci fi drama, considering that the Alliance and probably Blue Sun is based on a future Earth where China allied with America and Europe to conquer the stars, which reminds me of a certain novel series of which I forget the author where such an alliance rules the future Earth.
Dunno if the two are related, but I would not mind viewing Serenity.
Update: 20130130.1839
After watching Serenity, I have seen River Tam mature as a character who matures from victim of a State that creates child assassins with psychic ability into a young adult who chooses use her training to protect both her brother and the crew of the Serenity.
Her behavior points the way to the planet Miranda and her behavior there shows the vulnerable side of her character. Once the decision is made to reveal the secret of Miranda to the whole universe, River Tam decides to protect her brother and the crew of the Serenity when her brother is mortally wounded.
At that moment, she throws the med kit containing the means to save her brother towards the crew and then unleashes her martial arts skills on Reavers intent on killing anyone that crosses their path.
Afterwards, when Malcolm Reynolds returns from his task to broadcast Miranda's secret to the known universe, we see as the gate door opens, River Tam standing, dead Reavers scattered around her, swords in both hands.
It appears surreal to hear the Alliance commander demanding her to stand down. Yet I cannot help but consider River Tam as badass, deadly yet devoted not only to her brother but also the crew of the Serenity.
Is River Tam psychic? You bet! Is she psychotic? I don't think so, not when she's given a new purpose (protection of family - her brother - and friends - the crew of Serenity).
Overall, I give the movie 4/5 because it is the culmination of all the episode of the short-lived series.
Here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)
It stars Summer Glau who plays River Tam, an augmented assassin who was trained in what was purported to be a special academy for gifted students but turned out to be a facility used to turn a select few of gifted students into assassins.
She's supposed to be around 17-19 in this series.
However, the actual star of the Firefly series was the ship itself, of the Firefly class, the Serenity.
From wikipedia:
"Set 510 years in the future, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a transport and cargo ship. The captain and first mate are veterans of the Unification War, having fought on the losing side. Their lives of petty crime are interrupted by a :psychotic: passenger who harbors a dangerous secret."
Glau plays River Tam with glee. What Whedon gets her to say in the script is similar to what you get out of schizophrenic people or people rendered disturbed by trauma. However, the premise that Blue Sun, a monolithic corporation that runs the Alliance which has forced tight control over the central planets while barely civilizing the outer-rim planets, has allowed mind control (psyops) scientists to brainwash and torture River, is despicable.
Supposedly they went in and did a special kind of lobotomy, damaging her amygdala which controls our ability to respond to fight-or-flight stimuli correctly. The amygdala is also the centre of our emotions - it allows us to filter out harmless stimuli and to act on threats, focus on detail, etc. Without it, supposedly we undergo so much stress we go mad and violently so.
I know that with Williams syndrome, the connexions to the amygdala are wired differently from you or I. A person with it strives to connect with other people, is gregarious, and talkative, yet cannot connect cues to appropriate action in response to the usual hints and nuances we may appropriately act upon with ease.
In the case of River Tam, her behavior is based on a wide range of schizotypies with some mild psychosis that she choses to go in and out of with ease. I think that the medication that her doctor brother gives her is probably an antihistamine-like antipsychotic. However, I do not think she is actually psychotic. Rather, she is sensitive, possibly due to administration of an ibogaine-like compound created by Blue Sun as a mind control drug.
See ibogaine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine
OK OK, I am thoroughly into Firefly. It's not a fun sci fi drama, considering that the Alliance and probably Blue Sun is based on a future Earth where China allied with America and Europe to conquer the stars, which reminds me of a certain novel series of which I forget the author where such an alliance rules the future Earth.
Dunno if the two are related, but I would not mind viewing Serenity.
Update: 20130130.1839
After watching Serenity, I have seen River Tam mature as a character who matures from victim of a State that creates child assassins with psychic ability into a young adult who chooses use her training to protect both her brother and the crew of the Serenity.
Her behavior points the way to the planet Miranda and her behavior there shows the vulnerable side of her character. Once the decision is made to reveal the secret of Miranda to the whole universe, River Tam decides to protect her brother and the crew of the Serenity when her brother is mortally wounded.
At that moment, she throws the med kit containing the means to save her brother towards the crew and then unleashes her martial arts skills on Reavers intent on killing anyone that crosses their path.
Afterwards, when Malcolm Reynolds returns from his task to broadcast Miranda's secret to the known universe, we see as the gate door opens, River Tam standing, dead Reavers scattered around her, swords in both hands.
It appears surreal to hear the Alliance commander demanding her to stand down. Yet I cannot help but consider River Tam as badass, deadly yet devoted not only to her brother but also the crew of the Serenity.
Is River Tam psychic? You bet! Is she psychotic? I don't think so, not when she's given a new purpose (protection of family - her brother - and friends - the crew of Serenity).
Overall, I give the movie 4/5 because it is the culmination of all the episode of the short-lived series.
Only Consciousness is Reborn
Mind undergoes rebirth, not a permanent soul.
Yet you may ask, "is the mind then permanent?"
No, when one considers it spiritual energy, the ordinary mind is impermanent.
For the consciousness which merges with the physical form "creates" mind.
When one dies, that consciousness (mindstream) returns to the Absolute as Alaya.
Then it is sent out again according to karmic merit, to influence the destiny it chooses, be it rebirth as the creation of new life in a new existence (samsara), or rebirth in the Pure Land.
In essence, consciousness enters the mind continuum as the mindstream and is reborn according to the fruition of karma.
A thorough reading of Yogacara and certain Vajrayana sutras will confirm this.
Yet you may ask, "is the mind then permanent?"
No, when one considers it spiritual energy, the ordinary mind is impermanent.
For the consciousness which merges with the physical form "creates" mind.
When one dies, that consciousness (mindstream) returns to the Absolute as Alaya.
Then it is sent out again according to karmic merit, to influence the destiny it chooses, be it rebirth as the creation of new life in a new existence (samsara), or rebirth in the Pure Land.
In essence, consciousness enters the mind continuum as the mindstream and is reborn according to the fruition of karma.
A thorough reading of Yogacara and certain Vajrayana sutras will confirm this.
Ordinary Mind, Original Nature and Self Nature True Mind
What is ordinary mind?
Ordinary mind is the mind
you were born with, subject
to cause and effect, which
is called Monkey Mind,
due to it swinging from
thought to thought mindlessly.
What is original nature?
The basic goodness everyone is
born with, yet is hidden
by the action of Monkey Mind.
Original nature is Self Nature,
which can be uncovered through
meditation and Buddha Remembrance.
What is Self Nature True Mind?
Self Nature is original nature,
and True Mind is buddha-mind.
Thus True Mind is awakened
to its original nature.
Ordinary mind is the mind
you were born with, subject
to cause and effect, which
is called Monkey Mind,
due to it swinging from
thought to thought mindlessly.
What is original nature?
The basic goodness everyone is
born with, yet is hidden
by the action of Monkey Mind.
Original nature is Self Nature,
which can be uncovered through
meditation and Buddha Remembrance.
What is Self Nature True Mind?
Self Nature is original nature,
and True Mind is buddha-mind.
Thus True Mind is awakened
to its original nature.
20130129
The True Meaning of the Dharma
"You, monks, should not thus cultivate the notion (samjna) of impermanence, suffering and non-Self, the notion of impurity and so forth, deeming them to be the true meaning [of the Dharma], as those people [searching in a pool for a radiant gem but foolishly grabbing hold of useless pebbles, mistaken for priceless treasure] did, each thinking that bits of brick, stones, grass and gravel were the jewel. You should train yourselves well in efficacious means. In every situation, constantly meditate upon [bhavana] the idea [samjna] of the Self, the idea of the Eternal, Bliss, and the Pure ... Those who, desirous of attaining Reality [tattva], meditatively cultivate these ideas, namely, the ideas of the Self [atman], the Eternal, Bliss, and the Pure, will skilfully bring forth the jewel, just like that wise person [who obtained the genuine, priceless gem, rather than worthless detritus misperceived as the real thing.]" — The Buddha, Chapter Three, "Grief",The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
Accordingly, impermanence, suffering, and non-Self are not the true meaning of the Dharma. By believing impermanence to be the truth of Dharma, one clings to impermanence. By believing suffering and the Four Noble Truths to be the essence of the Dharma, one clings to suffering. By believing non-Self to be the true meaning of the Dharma, one clings to non-Self. Such clinging is not the Dharma.
What then is the Dharma?
On close examination, impermanence, suffering and non-Self are Buddhist concepts used to show that the individual self is not eternal, that belief in permanence leads to suffering, and that non-Self offers almost anyone liberation from egocentricity and the freedom from suffering. Finally, dependent arising shows us the principle of cause and effect with regard to suffering. This is the essence of the Dharma.
Thus the Dharma is what the Buddha taught.
What then are the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure?
Each of them are ideas for Buddhists to meditatively cultivate. Once the mind is freed of egoistic desires and ignorant craving, it is possible to view the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure without clinging to them.
For the Self is not the ego, nor is it the individual. Indeed, the Self is the basic form of awareness that becoming increasingly obvious as growth and transcendence. At some point, the Self ceases to identify with the mind or body. The individual self is defined as a person who is the object of his or her own consciousness. In contrast, the Self is called "higher consciousness" and is beyond the limits of human consciousness yet encompasses the interdependence of all phenomenon, from human consciousness to nature to the cosmos itself. Thus Adi-Buddha is the personification of this higher consciousness called the Self. being one of its non-Self forms. In short, the Self signifies Buddha.
As for the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure, these too are ideals. The Eternal signifies the Dharmakaya, in which the Buddha embodies the Dharma, and refers to that which has always existed and is represented by the Eternal Buddha, which in the case of the Pure Land is Amida Buddha.
Bliss signifies Nirvana, and is represented by the Buddha World called "Pure Land of Bliss".
Signifying Dharma, the Pure is represented by the Pure Land, and more intimately, the Pure Mind achieved through meditation on the Dharma.
Thus, the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure represent the Buddha, the Dharmakaya, Nirvana and Dharma.
on Grief: http://www.nirvanasutra.net/nirvanasutraa3.htm
Eternal Buddha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Buddha
Pure Land of Bliss: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Land
Religious views of the self: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_the_self
Accordingly, impermanence, suffering, and non-Self are not the true meaning of the Dharma. By believing impermanence to be the truth of Dharma, one clings to impermanence. By believing suffering and the Four Noble Truths to be the essence of the Dharma, one clings to suffering. By believing non-Self to be the true meaning of the Dharma, one clings to non-Self. Such clinging is not the Dharma.
What then is the Dharma?
On close examination, impermanence, suffering and non-Self are Buddhist concepts used to show that the individual self is not eternal, that belief in permanence leads to suffering, and that non-Self offers almost anyone liberation from egocentricity and the freedom from suffering. Finally, dependent arising shows us the principle of cause and effect with regard to suffering. This is the essence of the Dharma.
Thus the Dharma is what the Buddha taught.
What then are the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure?
Each of them are ideas for Buddhists to meditatively cultivate. Once the mind is freed of egoistic desires and ignorant craving, it is possible to view the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure without clinging to them.
For the Self is not the ego, nor is it the individual. Indeed, the Self is the basic form of awareness that becoming increasingly obvious as growth and transcendence. At some point, the Self ceases to identify with the mind or body. The individual self is defined as a person who is the object of his or her own consciousness. In contrast, the Self is called "higher consciousness" and is beyond the limits of human consciousness yet encompasses the interdependence of all phenomenon, from human consciousness to nature to the cosmos itself. Thus Adi-Buddha is the personification of this higher consciousness called the Self. being one of its non-Self forms. In short, the Self signifies Buddha.
As for the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure, these too are ideals. The Eternal signifies the Dharmakaya, in which the Buddha embodies the Dharma, and refers to that which has always existed and is represented by the Eternal Buddha, which in the case of the Pure Land is Amida Buddha.
Bliss signifies Nirvana, and is represented by the Buddha World called "Pure Land of Bliss".
Signifying Dharma, the Pure is represented by the Pure Land, and more intimately, the Pure Mind achieved through meditation on the Dharma.
Thus, the Self, the Eternal, Bliss and the Pure represent the Buddha, the Dharmakaya, Nirvana and Dharma.
on Grief: http://www.nirvanasutra.net/nirvanasutraa3.htm
Eternal Buddha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Buddha
Pure Land of Bliss: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_Land
Religious views of the self: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_the_self
20130125
Nurturing Jeanne's Nature (story)
As I sat in the chair the voice of the speaker faded slightly, and then seemed to disappear into the distance.
All I could hear was the muffled murmur of the speaker, whose name was Jeanne. Even the laughter of the audience could barely distract me.
Thus was I in the zone, going with the flow as it were.
It felt great to be unfettered like this! I relished in the simple realization that here was an "I" that was at one with all people in the room yet was still an individual. Though words cannot describe this duality of all-as-one and the One.
Indeed, this One is not apart from all-as-one yet is a vital part of the One.
As Jeanne continued her monologue, I found that I could follow her and simultaneously focus on my inner journey with little effort.
"It wasn't until later" she said, "that I realized that I am not the only person to whom this happened."
Nor I!
Although I am not unique, and have a lot to contribute to the community, the synchronicity that has colored my life recently is a welcome bonus for me.
Gratefulness and thanksgiving offers a greater bounty than mere pettiness can; of this I am sure, though it cannot be proven by reason alone.
Having reflected deeply on this, I could not speak of it without sounding mad. So I sat there in silence, contemplating its deeper meaning.
"Self and the other are concepts formulated by the mind. As objects of the mind, they have no independent existence from it."
This thought came to me in the form of the inner voice, the internal narrator that notes what happens around oneself yet gives scant warning that danger is near.
For danger is rarely noticed when the distraction of the libido overwhelms the person's tendency towards paranoia.
Paranoia in this case is when a person whose inner dialog does not reliably distinguish between friend and foe. When libido is in its proximity, paranoia is forgotten momentary.
"...I'd forgotten to be self conscious when schooled under his love."
And I too forgot to be conscious of love. It was unnecessary in this context, in a room of fans who admired Jeanne.
Thus it is self love that keeps self respect intact. At root here is my willingness to listen to Jeanne, whose open narrative uncannily echoes my own thoughts.
"...echoes of my thoughts faded away. I could see that I was home."
Ah, Jeanne, I feel at home with my ears bathed in the beautiful timbre of your voice.
"My voice when speaking maintains a timbre to command attention."
And attention I give thee, Jeanne.
At this point in the narrative, I will have to give an overview of what happened next, so as not to confuse people using the current form.
Once Jeanne finished speaking, I made the point of standing up and clapping. Then the rest of our group clapped in unison.
Near the end of the queue, I stepped up and said, "Jeanne, such a lovely book-signing! It is as though what you said echoed in every thought in my head. What I mean is, sychronicity."
Jeanne smiled, saying graciously, "Thank you. To who should I sign your copy of my book to?"
"Just sign it; 'To the lover, by the beloved'." Jeanne paused, and looked at me questioning. "That's from Rumi, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, Rumi knew but never acknowledged emptiness. For every created moment, the creator plays a vital part, as though to learn the world by the act of its creation."
Jeanne's eyes glazed over for a moment. "Hmmm... OK then." she said, as she wrote in longhand script, "To the Lover, by the Beloved".
"So, thanks, and if you're available, please join me for a bite to each at the local pizza place."
"Well, I..."
"Jeanne, you can get two slices with a drink for $4.25 or a slice and pop for $3.25!"
Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Ok, you got me sold! I'm a sucker for a cheap date."
Inwardly I smiled. This lady lives by a strict budget even though she's a world-famous author.
During our pizza "date", Jeanne told me about her view of meditation and how it opened up her eyes to an alternative to the usual zeitgeist of the West.
Zeitgeist in context of Western society refers to what the status quo worships without question: individualism as influenced by Jewish and Christian thought with overlays of neo-Platonian, Cartesian and recently secular philosophies.
Even atheists worship this zeitgeist as humanism, having pared away or negated the overtly religious sources.
At this point in the narrative, again I revert back to the continual flow...
Zeitgeist, the soul of a society, its status quo held in awe.
"I still wonder about what I wrote in your copy of my book."
Your book is about synchronicity.
"And your comment about synchronicity..."
Synchronicity is represented by the creator in the act of creating the created. He learns by that act what's involved...
"...in creating. His creation also teaches him what he created..."
Yet under it all, we are all one.
"All one..."
"Jeanne," I said, interrupting her, "you actually wrote 'From the Lover to the Loved'."
Oh, did I?" She laughs. I smiled, and replied,"Yes, but the love of which Rumi spoke is both between man and God, and God and man."
"Yes, yes! God created all of us out of love, because his original creations, the angels... That led to rebellion."
"Yes, and in that act of rebellion, Shaitan had ego arise, even though it was assumed by Christologists that as a creature who could only do God's will, in rebelling, Shaitan did not need to have ego."
"Well, angels and demons, they don't need ego since they exercise the will of divine Ego, God himself."
"True, but Jeanne, be it love or creation, it's best to leave Ego out of the equation."
"Why? Ego is will."
"Well, according to Buddhism, that will can be tainted by delusion, such that Buddha Nature is obscured by afflictions."
"True enough." Jeanne looked at her watch, and pursed her lips, lips so red...
"Oh, my! I must depart."
"May I give you my number?" I asked.
"Can't stay. Gotta go! Email me at the address on the inside back cover of my book!"
So when I got home, I read her book called "Loving-kindness: Is It Nature or Nurture?".
According to her thesis Nature is Buddha Nature while Nurture is meditation. Nature is also other power. Nurture in contract is self power. By using both forms of spiritual action and power, one accesses loving-kindness as though it is a divine gift.
By the time I finished her book, it'd been about a week. During that time I also did my Buddha Remembrance, chanting the Nembutsu seven times after each chapter, and usually twenty-one times in the morning and evening, after awakening in the morning and before falling asleep at night.
As a True Pure Land Buddhist, I'd be inculcated in this ritual since my teens. It is said that once you dedicate yourself to Buddha Remembrance, you will see changes happen such as joy, ability to interpret sutras, and most importantly, Bodhi Mind.
Bodhi Mind is the mind that aspires to be Buddha and desires to help others to Buddhahood with the help of the spiritual compassion and wisdom.
Although I have seen the changes in my life, when I found others who wrote of the same thing, I needed to listen to them and check them out, to see if their Buddhist-inspired message is close to what the Buddha taught.
That was why I was at Jeanne's book signing at the local bookstore.
After reading much of Jeanne's book, I realized that she had excluded one other thing: that mind is a quality of human nature and the heart, of nurture. Together they are referred to as heart-mind to signify the delicate balance between reason, emotions and feelings.
In my email to Jeanne, I told her of this. It was noon, and I didn't expect to receive a reply in the next 24 hours.
When I checked my mail after supper, I saw in my email reader,
From: Jeanne
To: Stephen
Date: 20130125.1346
Subject: Re: You missed the heart-mind
>in your Nature vs Nurture.
>
> Meditation helps moderate the balance between reason and emotions.
> For without establishing the heart-mind, one is either biased to
> nature or nurture, i.e. controlled by emotions or controlled by
> reason and logic. Holistically, it is vital to remain balanced.
I agree with you here! If you reread the Chapter on Nature and Nurture
you would see that I do mention heart-mind.
BTW I enjoyed our "date". Want to try sush at Ichiban-ya?
So I wrote back to her quickly.
From: Stephen
To: Jeanne
Date: 20130125.1351
Subject: Date is on!
Sure, meet you in an hour!
To get to Ichiban-ya, you take a bus to Scott Road Station and catch a Skytrain to Vancouver. Burrard Station is the nearest station to Ichiban-ya, which is near Robson and Thurlow.
It's run by Chinese, but their food is authentic. The sushi, the sashimi, and even the robata is delicious.
I say this because I have been there enough times to know, plus Jeanne knows that too, because it came up in the previous Friday's conversation.
So after walking down into the dimly lit restaurant, I scoped her out and sat across from her.
"Hi, how was transit?" she asked.
"Long but exciting."
"how exciting?"
"Well, because I'm meeting my favorite local author on loving-kindness and how to apply it to this life..."
She smiled. "Oh, you just have a fan's crush on me. Though I'm greatly intrigued by your thoughts on heart-mind..."
I grinned and sighed. "It"s more than a crush, Jeanne..."
At this point in the narrative, we had a dinner date. We ate, and then we tipped well...
"I can't believe the bill came to over $30!" I exclaim as we walk toward her apartment in the West End.
"Well, it was your fault for orderin' the big sake."
"Hey, I was only, only tying to impress you by pretending to be saké host."
"Yes, but you poured more often for me than I could for you."
"Yes, I did! And you point is?"
"My point? My point is, are you trying to take advantage of me?"
"Jeanne, yes, but in a good way. Though you have advantage over me."
"Well, I am 5'9 and you are 5'1. Also I outweigh you by... never mind about my weight!"
"Lady, looks good from where I am staggering..."
"Oh you!"
"Oh, and you could have two small sakes when I asked you if we should go for two small saké or a large to share..."
"But I love sake!"
"See? I wasn't trying to take advantage of you. I was just indulging your love for sake."
At this point in the narrative, we arrived at Jeanne's apartment in the West End. something is supposed to happen at this point, and the narrative has to use a few euphemisms that go beyond "taking advantage of a woman". However, I was so wasted, being 5'1, that I passed out while waiting for her to "slip into something nice."
Sp she undressed me, slid me into bed, and snuggled up to me. Only when I awoke, I thought we had "done it".
She looked so sexy in her nightie.
When she awake, I looked into her eyes and asked, "Did we um...?"
"No, I took your clothes off and slid you into bed. It's not up to the lady to take advantage of the guy."
"Oh. Hey, that's sexist."
"No, it isn't. You and I know once I chose the big bottle, we were going to get lucky."
"Ok then, I'm sorry for passing out on you."
"Wanna make up for it now?" she ask, slyly grinning at me.
At this point in the narrative, we enter a slippery slope into pornographic. All I can say is, I got mojo! ;)
All I could hear was the muffled murmur of the speaker, whose name was Jeanne. Even the laughter of the audience could barely distract me.
Thus was I in the zone, going with the flow as it were.
It felt great to be unfettered like this! I relished in the simple realization that here was an "I" that was at one with all people in the room yet was still an individual. Though words cannot describe this duality of all-as-one and the One.
Indeed, this One is not apart from all-as-one yet is a vital part of the One.
As Jeanne continued her monologue, I found that I could follow her and simultaneously focus on my inner journey with little effort.
"It wasn't until later" she said, "that I realized that I am not the only person to whom this happened."
Nor I!
Although I am not unique, and have a lot to contribute to the community, the synchronicity that has colored my life recently is a welcome bonus for me.
Gratefulness and thanksgiving offers a greater bounty than mere pettiness can; of this I am sure, though it cannot be proven by reason alone.
Having reflected deeply on this, I could not speak of it without sounding mad. So I sat there in silence, contemplating its deeper meaning.
"Self and the other are concepts formulated by the mind. As objects of the mind, they have no independent existence from it."
This thought came to me in the form of the inner voice, the internal narrator that notes what happens around oneself yet gives scant warning that danger is near.
For danger is rarely noticed when the distraction of the libido overwhelms the person's tendency towards paranoia.
Paranoia in this case is when a person whose inner dialog does not reliably distinguish between friend and foe. When libido is in its proximity, paranoia is forgotten momentary.
"...I'd forgotten to be self conscious when schooled under his love."
And I too forgot to be conscious of love. It was unnecessary in this context, in a room of fans who admired Jeanne.
Thus it is self love that keeps self respect intact. At root here is my willingness to listen to Jeanne, whose open narrative uncannily echoes my own thoughts.
"...echoes of my thoughts faded away. I could see that I was home."
Ah, Jeanne, I feel at home with my ears bathed in the beautiful timbre of your voice.
"My voice when speaking maintains a timbre to command attention."
And attention I give thee, Jeanne.
At this point in the narrative, I will have to give an overview of what happened next, so as not to confuse people using the current form.
Once Jeanne finished speaking, I made the point of standing up and clapping. Then the rest of our group clapped in unison.
Near the end of the queue, I stepped up and said, "Jeanne, such a lovely book-signing! It is as though what you said echoed in every thought in my head. What I mean is, sychronicity."
Jeanne smiled, saying graciously, "Thank you. To who should I sign your copy of my book to?"
"Just sign it; 'To the lover, by the beloved'." Jeanne paused, and looked at me questioning. "That's from Rumi, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, Rumi knew but never acknowledged emptiness. For every created moment, the creator plays a vital part, as though to learn the world by the act of its creation."
Jeanne's eyes glazed over for a moment. "Hmmm... OK then." she said, as she wrote in longhand script, "To the Lover, by the Beloved".
"So, thanks, and if you're available, please join me for a bite to each at the local pizza place."
"Well, I..."
"Jeanne, you can get two slices with a drink for $4.25 or a slice and pop for $3.25!"
Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Ok, you got me sold! I'm a sucker for a cheap date."
Inwardly I smiled. This lady lives by a strict budget even though she's a world-famous author.
During our pizza "date", Jeanne told me about her view of meditation and how it opened up her eyes to an alternative to the usual zeitgeist of the West.
Zeitgeist in context of Western society refers to what the status quo worships without question: individualism as influenced by Jewish and Christian thought with overlays of neo-Platonian, Cartesian and recently secular philosophies.
Even atheists worship this zeitgeist as humanism, having pared away or negated the overtly religious sources.
At this point in the narrative, again I revert back to the continual flow...
Zeitgeist, the soul of a society, its status quo held in awe.
"I still wonder about what I wrote in your copy of my book."
Your book is about synchronicity.
"And your comment about synchronicity..."
Synchronicity is represented by the creator in the act of creating the created. He learns by that act what's involved...
"...in creating. His creation also teaches him what he created..."
Yet under it all, we are all one.
"All one..."
"Jeanne," I said, interrupting her, "you actually wrote 'From the Lover to the Loved'."
Oh, did I?" She laughs. I smiled, and replied,"Yes, but the love of which Rumi spoke is both between man and God, and God and man."
"Yes, yes! God created all of us out of love, because his original creations, the angels... That led to rebellion."
"Yes, and in that act of rebellion, Shaitan had ego arise, even though it was assumed by Christologists that as a creature who could only do God's will, in rebelling, Shaitan did not need to have ego."
"Well, angels and demons, they don't need ego since they exercise the will of divine Ego, God himself."
"True, but Jeanne, be it love or creation, it's best to leave Ego out of the equation."
"Why? Ego is will."
"Well, according to Buddhism, that will can be tainted by delusion, such that Buddha Nature is obscured by afflictions."
"True enough." Jeanne looked at her watch, and pursed her lips, lips so red...
"Oh, my! I must depart."
"May I give you my number?" I asked.
"Can't stay. Gotta go! Email me at the address on the inside back cover of my book!"
So when I got home, I read her book called "Loving-kindness: Is It Nature or Nurture?".
According to her thesis Nature is Buddha Nature while Nurture is meditation. Nature is also other power. Nurture in contract is self power. By using both forms of spiritual action and power, one accesses loving-kindness as though it is a divine gift.
By the time I finished her book, it'd been about a week. During that time I also did my Buddha Remembrance, chanting the Nembutsu seven times after each chapter, and usually twenty-one times in the morning and evening, after awakening in the morning and before falling asleep at night.
As a True Pure Land Buddhist, I'd be inculcated in this ritual since my teens. It is said that once you dedicate yourself to Buddha Remembrance, you will see changes happen such as joy, ability to interpret sutras, and most importantly, Bodhi Mind.
Bodhi Mind is the mind that aspires to be Buddha and desires to help others to Buddhahood with the help of the spiritual compassion and wisdom.
Although I have seen the changes in my life, when I found others who wrote of the same thing, I needed to listen to them and check them out, to see if their Buddhist-inspired message is close to what the Buddha taught.
That was why I was at Jeanne's book signing at the local bookstore.
After reading much of Jeanne's book, I realized that she had excluded one other thing: that mind is a quality of human nature and the heart, of nurture. Together they are referred to as heart-mind to signify the delicate balance between reason, emotions and feelings.
In my email to Jeanne, I told her of this. It was noon, and I didn't expect to receive a reply in the next 24 hours.
When I checked my mail after supper, I saw in my email reader,
From: Jeanne
To: Stephen
Date: 20130125.1346
Subject: Re: You missed the heart-mind
>in your Nature vs Nurture.
>
> Meditation helps moderate the balance between reason and emotions.
> For without establishing the heart-mind, one is either biased to
> nature or nurture, i.e. controlled by emotions or controlled by
> reason and logic. Holistically, it is vital to remain balanced.
I agree with you here! If you reread the Chapter on Nature and Nurture
you would see that I do mention heart-mind.
BTW I enjoyed our "date". Want to try sush at Ichiban-ya?
So I wrote back to her quickly.
From: Stephen
To: Jeanne
Date: 20130125.1351
Subject: Date is on!
Sure, meet you in an hour!
To get to Ichiban-ya, you take a bus to Scott Road Station and catch a Skytrain to Vancouver. Burrard Station is the nearest station to Ichiban-ya, which is near Robson and Thurlow.
It's run by Chinese, but their food is authentic. The sushi, the sashimi, and even the robata is delicious.
I say this because I have been there enough times to know, plus Jeanne knows that too, because it came up in the previous Friday's conversation.
So after walking down into the dimly lit restaurant, I scoped her out and sat across from her.
"Hi, how was transit?" she asked.
"Long but exciting."
"how exciting?"
"Well, because I'm meeting my favorite local author on loving-kindness and how to apply it to this life..."
She smiled. "Oh, you just have a fan's crush on me. Though I'm greatly intrigued by your thoughts on heart-mind..."
I grinned and sighed. "It"s more than a crush, Jeanne..."
At this point in the narrative, we had a dinner date. We ate, and then we tipped well...
"I can't believe the bill came to over $30!" I exclaim as we walk toward her apartment in the West End.
"Well, it was your fault for orderin' the big sake."
"Hey, I was only, only tying to impress you by pretending to be saké host."
"Yes, but you poured more often for me than I could for you."
"Yes, I did! And you point is?"
"My point? My point is, are you trying to take advantage of me?"
"Jeanne, yes, but in a good way. Though you have advantage over me."
"Well, I am 5'9 and you are 5'1. Also I outweigh you by... never mind about my weight!"
"Lady, looks good from where I am staggering..."
"Oh you!"
"Oh, and you could have two small sakes when I asked you if we should go for two small saké or a large to share..."
"But I love sake!"
"See? I wasn't trying to take advantage of you. I was just indulging your love for sake."
At this point in the narrative, we arrived at Jeanne's apartment in the West End. something is supposed to happen at this point, and the narrative has to use a few euphemisms that go beyond "taking advantage of a woman". However, I was so wasted, being 5'1, that I passed out while waiting for her to "slip into something nice."
Sp she undressed me, slid me into bed, and snuggled up to me. Only when I awoke, I thought we had "done it".
She looked so sexy in her nightie.
When she awake, I looked into her eyes and asked, "Did we um...?"
"No, I took your clothes off and slid you into bed. It's not up to the lady to take advantage of the guy."
"Oh. Hey, that's sexist."
"No, it isn't. You and I know once I chose the big bottle, we were going to get lucky."
"Ok then, I'm sorry for passing out on you."
"Wanna make up for it now?" she ask, slyly grinning at me.
At this point in the narrative, we enter a slippery slope into pornographic. All I can say is, I got mojo! ;)
The Fallacy of anti-semitism and anti-Zionism
Roman lawyer Tertullian wrote the first anti-semitic propaganda circa "fugitives and vagabonds, condemned to be scattered all over the earth because of the disrespect they had shown to the Christian Saviour".
Thus Christian anti-semitism was born and adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as dogma.
Such propaganda are based on fallacies. For Jews are neither fugitives nor vagabonds. Rather they are successful, hard-working people. Tertullian's propaganda was hard to resist at first.
Even 1700 years later, I have to realize the fallacy of anti-American == anti-semitism and anti-Zionist == anti-semitism, when actually anti-American actually means "democracy free of American foreign policy" and anti-Zionist means "objection to Zionist zealotry consisting of confrontation of Palestinians, stealing their land and other violation of human rights not excluding the use of MOSSAD to fund certain Arab terrorism organizations".
I object to anti-semitism because I condemn Tertullian, and the acts of modern day Zionists. For both of them condoned violence to oppress Jews and Arabs respectively which belies their fallacies.
However, it would be nice to hear from Arabs and Jews who have not bought into the radicalism of politics.
In wake of the Israeli elections today, the current centrist-left versus right situation is better than before the election.
History in Jews in Tunisia: http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/045/8.html
Final vote tally in Israel: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-final-vote-tally-in-israel-20130124,0,222963.story
Thus Christian anti-semitism was born and adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as dogma.
Such propaganda are based on fallacies. For Jews are neither fugitives nor vagabonds. Rather they are successful, hard-working people. Tertullian's propaganda was hard to resist at first.
Even 1700 years later, I have to realize the fallacy of anti-American == anti-semitism and anti-Zionist == anti-semitism, when actually anti-American actually means "democracy free of American foreign policy" and anti-Zionist means "objection to Zionist zealotry consisting of confrontation of Palestinians, stealing their land and other violation of human rights not excluding the use of MOSSAD to fund certain Arab terrorism organizations".
I object to anti-semitism because I condemn Tertullian, and the acts of modern day Zionists. For both of them condoned violence to oppress Jews and Arabs respectively which belies their fallacies.
However, it would be nice to hear from Arabs and Jews who have not bought into the radicalism of politics.
In wake of the Israeli elections today, the current centrist-left versus right situation is better than before the election.
History in Jews in Tunisia: http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/045/8.html
Final vote tally in Israel: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-final-vote-tally-in-israel-20130124,0,222963.story
War Against Terrorism Musings
Sadly we may be in denial and mislead into believing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had to do with 9-11.
America was ready to fight Iraq since the mid 1990s, Iraqi-American Ahmed Chalabi was already collaborating with a NY Times reporter to inject propaganda with false claims of WMD, which still have yet to be proven.
Thus the War on Iraq consists of the invasion of a sovereign nation under the guise of War of Terrorism, purportedly to depose Saddam Hussein.
In actual fact, Iraq was invaded to control its natural resources, primarily its oil.
In the case of Afghanistan, America was poised to depose the Taleban because of human rights violations and unwillingness to negotiate a diplomatic solution and stick with it.
Today we have the Department of Homeland Security protecting America including airport checks, which shows fascism appearing like cracks on the facade of democracy.
Even though I realize all of this about the War on Terrorism, I also have found mass media to be like a fair weather friend.
Before the War on Terrorism, they published propaganda about WMD in Iraq. Now they vilify Bush for his false claims of WMD, claims which were first reported in the NY Times.
So, if 9-11 had to do with the War on Terrorism, then mass media propaganda has done its job. For it is simpler to believe that than to connect the dots.
Engineering consent: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5931.htm
America was ready to fight Iraq since the mid 1990s, Iraqi-American Ahmed Chalabi was already collaborating with a NY Times reporter to inject propaganda with false claims of WMD, which still have yet to be proven.
Thus the War on Iraq consists of the invasion of a sovereign nation under the guise of War of Terrorism, purportedly to depose Saddam Hussein.
In actual fact, Iraq was invaded to control its natural resources, primarily its oil.
In the case of Afghanistan, America was poised to depose the Taleban because of human rights violations and unwillingness to negotiate a diplomatic solution and stick with it.
Today we have the Department of Homeland Security protecting America including airport checks, which shows fascism appearing like cracks on the facade of democracy.
Even though I realize all of this about the War on Terrorism, I also have found mass media to be like a fair weather friend.
Before the War on Terrorism, they published propaganda about WMD in Iraq. Now they vilify Bush for his false claims of WMD, claims which were first reported in the NY Times.
So, if 9-11 had to do with the War on Terrorism, then mass media propaganda has done its job. For it is simpler to believe that than to connect the dots.
Engineering consent: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5931.htm
20130124
Ssitkim-gut
SSitkim-gut is a shaman ritual for consoling the dead that is performed on Jindo Island in South Korea.
In Asian mythology, ghosts of the dead are despondent at death. This traditional dance is performed to attract their attention, and to console their surviving loved ones.
Also in certain Asian traditions, it is normal to have a relationship with deceased loved ones (family). This is done out of respect for the dead, and may be indicative of ancestor worship.
However, ancestor worship is not done as a superstition but also out of respect for the ages-old cycle of birth, life and death.
For such respect is a sign of a rich, vibrant culture on Jindo Island.
Jindo Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jindo_%28island%29
Fearlessness
When I was younger, I would put off washing dishes until the dishes, plates, and utensils were in the sink...
The longer the task of washing dishes was put off, the longer I thought the task would be.
Yet the first time I started to wash those dishes, it took 15 minutes to do.
After a couple weeks of washing dishes, I realized that washing each meal's dishes would take less than 5 minutes.
Thus fear is like the prospect of washing a week's worth of dishes, all piled in the sink.
Facing fear may even seem impossible at first.
However, repeated exposure to fear led me to see that facing each of life's fears takes less time than the first time I spent tackling all of them at once.
Since then I have faced each fear as it arises, watched as it passed by me, and forgot about it.
Today I'm certain that adding Buddha Remembrance to my daily spiritual practice has helped to ward off almost all fear.
It is amazing that uttering the Name-that-calls actually works!
Perhaps Nembutsu practice is helping me to develop fearlessness.
In this context, fearlessness is the quality of mind that is empty of fear. Yet my mind does experience fear temporarily. Then it quickly goes away.
How is this possible? It is most likely Buddha Remembrance has reduced my fear of the afterlife, which has its roots in the fear of death. With regular practice, chanting the Nembutsu has accumulated the merit of fearlessness.
Could it be that Buddha Remembrance is almost like a protective mantra? Its actual purpose is to promote other power of Amida.
For the concept of the Name-that-calls is that by uttering the Nembutsu, I believe that Amida Buddha calling to me. Far from being magical thinking; this is actually a form of self-hypnosis with the purpose of actualizing my faith in the Primal Vow.
Returning to the topic of facing fear, my faith in the Primal Vow and belief in the Name-that-calls leads me to practice Buddha Remembrance.
As a result of that spiritual practice, my mind has learned to control my fears. This quality of my mind called "control over my fears" is the quality of mind that is empty of fear called fearlessness.
As such, it is the working of my faith in the Primal Vow that actualized fearlessness.
Thus I put my faith in Amida Buddha!
The longer the task of washing dishes was put off, the longer I thought the task would be.
Yet the first time I started to wash those dishes, it took 15 minutes to do.
After a couple weeks of washing dishes, I realized that washing each meal's dishes would take less than 5 minutes.
Thus fear is like the prospect of washing a week's worth of dishes, all piled in the sink.
Facing fear may even seem impossible at first.
However, repeated exposure to fear led me to see that facing each of life's fears takes less time than the first time I spent tackling all of them at once.
Since then I have faced each fear as it arises, watched as it passed by me, and forgot about it.
Today I'm certain that adding Buddha Remembrance to my daily spiritual practice has helped to ward off almost all fear.
It is amazing that uttering the Name-that-calls actually works!
Perhaps Nembutsu practice is helping me to develop fearlessness.
In this context, fearlessness is the quality of mind that is empty of fear. Yet my mind does experience fear temporarily. Then it quickly goes away.
How is this possible? It is most likely Buddha Remembrance has reduced my fear of the afterlife, which has its roots in the fear of death. With regular practice, chanting the Nembutsu has accumulated the merit of fearlessness.
Could it be that Buddha Remembrance is almost like a protective mantra? Its actual purpose is to promote other power of Amida.
For the concept of the Name-that-calls is that by uttering the Nembutsu, I believe that Amida Buddha calling to me. Far from being magical thinking; this is actually a form of self-hypnosis with the purpose of actualizing my faith in the Primal Vow.
Returning to the topic of facing fear, my faith in the Primal Vow and belief in the Name-that-calls leads me to practice Buddha Remembrance.
As a result of that spiritual practice, my mind has learned to control my fears. This quality of my mind called "control over my fears" is the quality of mind that is empty of fear called fearlessness.
As such, it is the working of my faith in the Primal Vow that actualized fearlessness.
Thus I put my faith in Amida Buddha!
Buddha Remembrance Works!
As a Pure Land Buddhist, I am not concerned with personal liberation like the Zen masters are. For that is self power (jiriki).
Rather, I am concerned with the liberation of all sentient beings by uttering the Name-that-calls (Nembutsu) in Buddha Remembrance. This is known as other power (tariki).
Buddha Remembrance is Nembutsu practice in which the follower chants the name of Amida Buddha mindfully with utmost sincerity and gratitude. Since most people may not be able to visualize the Pure Land or Amida himself, they still possess gratitude and sincerity.
Often when I practice Buddha Remembrance, I do so in short bursts to avoid entering a trance. It is important to beware of this since a trance-like state of mind may be mistaken for samadhi (mental concentration or composing of the mind).
For example, yesterday I experienced a calm state of mind, and although there was self doubt, it was easy to let go of those feelings and return to that feeling of calm.
During this time, I was at the library studying Buddhism.
You might think I learned something, and I did: the academic works of Pure Land by the Chinese Buddhist Buddhist Education Foundation are more to my liking.
For I'm not totally into Vajrayana even though some of my blog posts refer to it.
My skepticism of Vajrayana is based on Chogyam Trungpa's lifestyle and how it affected his ability to carefully pick his successor. In all fairness, it boggles the mind that Shambhala members would condone what happened, but they weathered it well.
Nor am I really into Theravada since it had the wrong idea about Mahayana. Even Zen masters are equally wrong-minded. For Mahayana is not cheating nor does it promote Nirvana, the Pure Land, or even Tusita Heaven as a reward for their respective practices.
Anyway, after my aborted attempt to find a good Buddhist book to read, I walked to the mall and had lunch. During the time I was there, I experienced this joy that comes to me more often these days.
It is because I've been doing short bursts of Buddha Remembrance consisting of silently chanting the Nembutsu (Namu Amida Butsu or the shortened version Nam'Am'da') ten to twenty times, counting them off one finger at a time.
Hey, I only have ten fingers!
To reference some words in this text, click on the labels below. If you're a novice at using Blogspot, the labels are in colored text and link to other blog posts.
Samadhi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%C4%81dhi_%28Buddhism%29
Chogyam Trungpa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa
Rather, I am concerned with the liberation of all sentient beings by uttering the Name-that-calls (Nembutsu) in Buddha Remembrance. This is known as other power (tariki).
Buddha Remembrance is Nembutsu practice in which the follower chants the name of Amida Buddha mindfully with utmost sincerity and gratitude. Since most people may not be able to visualize the Pure Land or Amida himself, they still possess gratitude and sincerity.
Often when I practice Buddha Remembrance, I do so in short bursts to avoid entering a trance. It is important to beware of this since a trance-like state of mind may be mistaken for samadhi (mental concentration or composing of the mind).
For example, yesterday I experienced a calm state of mind, and although there was self doubt, it was easy to let go of those feelings and return to that feeling of calm.
During this time, I was at the library studying Buddhism.
You might think I learned something, and I did: the academic works of Pure Land by the Chinese Buddhist Buddhist Education Foundation are more to my liking.
For I'm not totally into Vajrayana even though some of my blog posts refer to it.
My skepticism of Vajrayana is based on Chogyam Trungpa's lifestyle and how it affected his ability to carefully pick his successor. In all fairness, it boggles the mind that Shambhala members would condone what happened, but they weathered it well.
Nor am I really into Theravada since it had the wrong idea about Mahayana. Even Zen masters are equally wrong-minded. For Mahayana is not cheating nor does it promote Nirvana, the Pure Land, or even Tusita Heaven as a reward for their respective practices.
Anyway, after my aborted attempt to find a good Buddhist book to read, I walked to the mall and had lunch. During the time I was there, I experienced this joy that comes to me more often these days.
It is because I've been doing short bursts of Buddha Remembrance consisting of silently chanting the Nembutsu (Namu Amida Butsu or the shortened version Nam'Am'da') ten to twenty times, counting them off one finger at a time.
Hey, I only have ten fingers!
To reference some words in this text, click on the labels below. If you're a novice at using Blogspot, the labels are in colored text and link to other blog posts.
Samadhi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%C4%81dhi_%28Buddhism%29
Chogyam Trungpa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa
20130123
Peace Exists (poem)
Peace exists as it is, without clinging.
He who understands stands free. He who places it within remains calm before danger.
Yet he who yearns for peace without clinging causes his heart to be at one with his mind.
Polish the diamond mind, and the heartmind sees with clarity that peace is the natural state of the mind.
He who understands stands free. He who places it within remains calm before danger.
Yet he who yearns for peace without clinging causes his heart to be at one with his mind.
Polish the diamond mind, and the heartmind sees with clarity that peace is the natural state of the mind.
Self-power of Zen & Other-Power of Pure Land
From my myopic mindset, the average Westerner who is new to Buddhism is deathly afraid of the Four Noble Truths since suffering as she knows it is depressing.
As well, because the Pure Land way will expose the follower to the truth that even Bodhisattvas may be deluded, this discourages the fearful from following Shinran on the True Pure Land Path.
Yet such people are not worthy of becoming Pure Land followers. Why? Because they cling to their fears, despite such clinging leading to the Three Evils.
Thus it takes courage to believe in the Pure Land and to have faith in the Primal Vow.
For those Buddhists who instead gravitate towards Zen have chosen self-power out of fear of Other-power. Instead of being embraced by Amida, they hold onto the Buddha in vain.
It's no wonder they are confused by Pure Land followers whose faith rests soley in the heartmind of compassion and wisdom, rather than sitting on their asses in zazen like ne'er-do-wells.
These Zen masters are so arrogant that they consider it to be cheating to choose the Pure Land way. Furthermore, they think Pure Land followers are attached to the reward of the Pure Land, which is laughable to those followers who practice Buddha Remembrance.
For all the Zen Patriarchs approved of the Nembutsu to chant as Buddha Remembrance during zazen.
Yet because of Hakuin's doing, the Nembutsu was replaced by koans because that old Zen Patriarch despised the easy practice of Buddha Remembrance.
Even so, Buddha Remembrance helps improve meditation just as meditation helps improve Buddha Remembrance.
This is why most Chinese Pure Land followers have combined Zen with Pure Land.
As well, because the Pure Land way will expose the follower to the truth that even Bodhisattvas may be deluded, this discourages the fearful from following Shinran on the True Pure Land Path.
Yet such people are not worthy of becoming Pure Land followers. Why? Because they cling to their fears, despite such clinging leading to the Three Evils.
Thus it takes courage to believe in the Pure Land and to have faith in the Primal Vow.
For those Buddhists who instead gravitate towards Zen have chosen self-power out of fear of Other-power. Instead of being embraced by Amida, they hold onto the Buddha in vain.
It's no wonder they are confused by Pure Land followers whose faith rests soley in the heartmind of compassion and wisdom, rather than sitting on their asses in zazen like ne'er-do-wells.
These Zen masters are so arrogant that they consider it to be cheating to choose the Pure Land way. Furthermore, they think Pure Land followers are attached to the reward of the Pure Land, which is laughable to those followers who practice Buddha Remembrance.
For all the Zen Patriarchs approved of the Nembutsu to chant as Buddha Remembrance during zazen.
Yet because of Hakuin's doing, the Nembutsu was replaced by koans because that old Zen Patriarch despised the easy practice of Buddha Remembrance.
Even so, Buddha Remembrance helps improve meditation just as meditation helps improve Buddha Remembrance.
This is why most Chinese Pure Land followers have combined Zen with Pure Land.
Emptiness As Everything and Nothing (poem)
Emptiness is when one
sees no difference
between self and other,
man and Buddha, man and woman,
samsara and Nirvana.
For Emptiness concerns
everything and nothing.
However, to see no difference
between life and death
is foolish as there is only
birth, life and death.
For birth is full of life,
and death is empty of
both life and birth.
Yet life consists of
birth, itself and death.
And the mind that chooses
life over death does not
understand samsara.
Likewise, he who seeks
Nirvana should let go of
seeking Nirvana in order
to arrive on the Other Shore.
sees no difference
between self and other,
man and Buddha, man and woman,
samsara and Nirvana.
For Emptiness concerns
everything and nothing.
However, to see no difference
between life and death
is foolish as there is only
birth, life and death.
For birth is full of life,
and death is empty of
both life and birth.
Yet life consists of
birth, itself and death.
And the mind that chooses
life over death does not
understand samsara.
Likewise, he who seeks
Nirvana should let go of
seeking Nirvana in order
to arrive on the Other Shore.
The Guideline of Reason Proves Immortality is A Fallacy
This is the reasoning and understanding of human logic. For example, we may reflect: All realms are created from the mind. If there is a world such as ours, where good karma and bad karma are about equal, there must exist other worlds such as the three Evil Paths, with a preponderance of evil karma, as well as celestial realms, where good karma prevails. It therefore stands to reason that the Western Pure Land exists, as a result of the pure, good Vows of Amida Buddha as well as the virtues of the Bodhisattvas and other morally superior beings. — from pages 162-163, Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith by Thich Thien Tâm
In context of this text, "realms" refers to reality consisting of worlds and multiverses. Since our reality exists, it follows that the reality where the Three Evil Paths prevail also exists as well as celestial realms (e.g Tusita Heaven and other heavens). Therefore Amida Buddha's Pure Land of Bliss also exists due to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha and the virtues of Bodhisattvas and other morally superior beings (including all sentient beings who have heard the Buddha's teachings about the Pure Land).
Thus, the mind is only empty of these realities, worlds and multiverses when disbelief prevails and faith in the Primal Vow is lacking. Such a mind is possessed by people who only believe that this reality is the only reality. Due to disbelief and lack of faith, such people are deluded. At best, they are limited in their belief and faith to one reality.
By clinging to this reality, their mind is closed to the possibility of the other realms, due to ignorance.
However, the believers of the Pure Land and other realms should not dismiss them because of their ignorance since ignorance, being the root of their delusion, is thus the source of their suffering.
Instead Pure Land followers are best to sympathize with them but not let their sympathy cause them disbelief and loss of faith due to the vain arguments of the unbelievers who lack faith in the Primal Vow.
For their delusion has blinded them to Truth, and their limited view of Truth is dependent on their belief in one reality only.
Even so, quantum theory has proven the existence of many realities. Therefore it also follows that belief in one reality only assumes disbelief in quantum theory. Thus the belief in only one reality" is based on classical physics and its related cosmology, and affirms Einstein's belief that the spooky physics of quantum theory is beyond his understanding. As well, Einstein's genius is limited.
Given that Einstein's genius is limited, belief that there are many realities is based on the Genius of the Buddha, which is just as infinite as those realities are.
However, within the context of the non-self principle that all these realities must be consistent with a finite existence, each of these realities too have a finite existence. Yet an infinite number of realities does not violate the non-self principle because an infinite number of realities does not assume infinite existence.
Likewise, Buddha Nature is limitless because even though it is of finite existence, the theory of karma suggests that its finite existence is boundless. Thus, boundless does not mean infinite. Both boundless life and boundless light are therefore of a long but finite existence.
Also, the consciousness stream (mind stream) is of a finite existence that is boundless. Thus finite is not empty of boundless, which merely means long.
Therefore boundless light means long-lasting light; and boundless life, long life.
Finally, a long life is empty of immortality and thus does not imply an immortal life.
In context of this text, "realms" refers to reality consisting of worlds and multiverses. Since our reality exists, it follows that the reality where the Three Evil Paths prevail also exists as well as celestial realms (e.g Tusita Heaven and other heavens). Therefore Amida Buddha's Pure Land of Bliss also exists due to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha and the virtues of Bodhisattvas and other morally superior beings (including all sentient beings who have heard the Buddha's teachings about the Pure Land).
Thus, the mind is only empty of these realities, worlds and multiverses when disbelief prevails and faith in the Primal Vow is lacking. Such a mind is possessed by people who only believe that this reality is the only reality. Due to disbelief and lack of faith, such people are deluded. At best, they are limited in their belief and faith to one reality.
By clinging to this reality, their mind is closed to the possibility of the other realms, due to ignorance.
However, the believers of the Pure Land and other realms should not dismiss them because of their ignorance since ignorance, being the root of their delusion, is thus the source of their suffering.
Instead Pure Land followers are best to sympathize with them but not let their sympathy cause them disbelief and loss of faith due to the vain arguments of the unbelievers who lack faith in the Primal Vow.
For their delusion has blinded them to Truth, and their limited view of Truth is dependent on their belief in one reality only.
Even so, quantum theory has proven the existence of many realities. Therefore it also follows that belief in one reality only assumes disbelief in quantum theory. Thus the belief in only one reality" is based on classical physics and its related cosmology, and affirms Einstein's belief that the spooky physics of quantum theory is beyond his understanding. As well, Einstein's genius is limited.
Given that Einstein's genius is limited, belief that there are many realities is based on the Genius of the Buddha, which is just as infinite as those realities are.
However, within the context of the non-self principle that all these realities must be consistent with a finite existence, each of these realities too have a finite existence. Yet an infinite number of realities does not violate the non-self principle because an infinite number of realities does not assume infinite existence.
Likewise, Buddha Nature is limitless because even though it is of finite existence, the theory of karma suggests that its finite existence is boundless. Thus, boundless does not mean infinite. Both boundless life and boundless light are therefore of a long but finite existence.
Also, the consciousness stream (mind stream) is of a finite existence that is boundless. Thus finite is not empty of boundless, which merely means long.
Therefore boundless light means long-lasting light; and boundless life, long life.
Finally, a long life is empty of immortality and thus does not imply an immortal life.
Why Kimveeer Gill Shot up Dawson College
According to mass media, Kimveer Gill was the guy who shot a student dead at Dawson College several years ago, supposedly for being ostracized from his peer group for not being manly.
This was the third shooting in Quebec going back to the soldier gone awol due to PTSD and the infamous Marc Lepine shooting 14 women dead at Ecole Polytech.
All of these are displaced rage against parents incidents, and nothing any of these people said before shooting others is true. Lepine hated his mother, not feminists. The soldier probably hated his peer group, since military group dynamics is inherently patrarchal with several betas vying for the alpha position.
As for Gill, regardless of his sexual orientation, he shot dead a female student, which may be viewed by feminists as following the trend of most murders of women.
That aside, my speculation is that Gill shot up Dawson College because of the toxic environment there.
Here is proof from the al-Khabaz incident last year:
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, senior Halifax-based security researchers described the revelation that a confirmed ‘f** file’ from 2011 is still in place on a public facing College server more than a year after it was uploaded as shocking and alarming.
“Nobody here can believe that, on the one hand, the CEGEP has the arrogance to expel this student … But, on the other, not even know about a publicly compromised webserver on its domain … In my opinion, the existence of an f-file that old and the events leading up to the expulsion of Mr Al-Khabaz represent a pattern of un-ethical and completely inadequate IT security practice at Dawson College.”
“Shelling happens frequently on busy public servers – standard operating procedure in any professional organization is to assume the attack has successfully rooted the operating system and bleach the server outright, alerting anyone who has credentials on the box or website and begin again, usually on a new domain/IP and patched architecture.”
“Doing otherwise indicates a complete disregard for the privacy of every user and every other admin on the domain as demanded by federal and provincial law.”
Thus IT staff at Dawson are unethical and the administration are unprofessional.
Dawson student expelled: http://o.canada.com/2013/01/22/dawson-student-expelled-while-college-website-remains-hacked-16-months-later/
Dawson student expelled: http://o.canada.com/2013/01/22/dawson-student-expelled-while-college-website-remains-hacked-16-months-later/
My Spiritual Path
This old fool (pointing to self)
is now Pure Land Zen,
the path on which the Chinese
tread, empty of mu
But full of loving-kindness.
How is it empty
of mu? Chant the Name-that-calls,
this one does each day.
Yet such practice is empty
of reward and full of joy!
Born into True Pure Land School,
this old fool did stray
while growing up, and by chance
in a book store did
he discover Master Tâm.
Of Wisdom and Faith,
this Buddhism is so full
that with each reading,
this fool is filled with pleasure
at renewing his pure vow:
Namu Amida Butsu!
is now Pure Land Zen,
the path on which the Chinese
tread, empty of mu
But full of loving-kindness.
How is it empty
of mu? Chant the Name-that-calls,
this one does each day.
Yet such practice is empty
of reward and full of joy!
Born into True Pure Land School,
this old fool did stray
while growing up, and by chance
in a book store did
he discover Master Tâm.
Of Wisdom and Faith,
this Buddhism is so full
that with each reading,
this fool is filled with pleasure
at renewing his pure vow:
Namu Amida Butsu!
20130122
Emptiness is Inconceivable and Indescribable
"The Victorious Ones have announced that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible." — Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
"The Victorious Ones" refers to Buddha's disciples.
"Emptiness" is shunyata, the middle way between eternalism and nihilism.
"Relinquishing of all views" is to let go of conceiving of all the different views of reality.
"Those" refer to Buddhists, and anyone who has heard with the heartmind of Buddha's teachings (the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination).
"Possessed of the view of emptiness" means clinging to any concept of emptiness, be it nihilism or eternalism and any variation of these two extremes.
Thus, emptiness is inconceivable and indescribable.
For the absolute truth of emptiness is that it is empty of conception and description.
As for eternalism and nihilism, belief in either would lead to delusions about immortality and fear of death.
For immortality is empty of impermanence, and the fear of death is empty of the will to live.
This is why emptiness as the absolute truth and that which is empty are associated with each other.
For further explanation, click on the tags included with this article.
Two Extremes of Non-Buddhist Thought: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-extremes-of-non-buddhist-thought.html
"The Victorious Ones" refers to Buddha's disciples.
"Emptiness" is shunyata, the middle way between eternalism and nihilism.
"Relinquishing of all views" is to let go of conceiving of all the different views of reality.
"Those" refer to Buddhists, and anyone who has heard with the heartmind of Buddha's teachings (the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination).
"Possessed of the view of emptiness" means clinging to any concept of emptiness, be it nihilism or eternalism and any variation of these two extremes.
Thus, emptiness is inconceivable and indescribable.
For the absolute truth of emptiness is that it is empty of conception and description.
As for eternalism and nihilism, belief in either would lead to delusions about immortality and fear of death.
For immortality is empty of impermanence, and the fear of death is empty of the will to live.
This is why emptiness as the absolute truth and that which is empty are associated with each other.
For further explanation, click on the tags included with this article.
Two Extremes of Non-Buddhist Thought: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-extremes-of-non-buddhist-thought.html
Hacker Witch Hunt Violates Human Rights
With regard to the news that Dawson College expelled a student for violation of its code of conduct, I feel that businesses and government agencies in Canada need to distinguish between the different shades of hackers.
For Dawson College's actions proves that according to them, "all hackers are evil", when the truth is, blackhat hackers are evil, greyhats are neutral (neither good nor evil) and whitehats are good, and on their side.
Thus, their expulsion of Hamed al-Habaz demonstrates a rigid interpretation of their code of conduct and is one-sided since they chose not to hear him explain his side of the story.
Thus their expulsion of al-Habaz is rash and without merit.
It is obvious that someone in the computer security business had neglected to distinguish between the kinds of hackers out there for the sake of profit.
Let us hope that the owner of Skytech remains true to his word and makes good use of al-Habaz's skills.
However, I feel that both businesses and the State have been conned by certain elements in the computer security field since the current witch hunt in Massachusetts has led to suicide by two men due to Mass.State's justice department.
By being relentless in their pursuit of justice in the cases of Schwartz and James, the Massachusetts justice department is culpable in their death by suicide.
By threatening both men with needless trials that will inevitably result in hung juries, Mass.State has violated their human rights.
For not all hackers are criminals.
Student Expelled from Dawson College http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/hamed-al-khabaz-expelled_n_2526074.html?utm_hp_ref=college
Mass.State Drove Swartz and other hacker to suicide: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262831/Revealed-Aaron-Swartz-prosecutor-drove-hacker-suicide-2008-named-cyber-crime-case.html
For Dawson College's actions proves that according to them, "all hackers are evil", when the truth is, blackhat hackers are evil, greyhats are neutral (neither good nor evil) and whitehats are good, and on their side.
Thus, their expulsion of Hamed al-Habaz demonstrates a rigid interpretation of their code of conduct and is one-sided since they chose not to hear him explain his side of the story.
Thus their expulsion of al-Habaz is rash and without merit.
It is obvious that someone in the computer security business had neglected to distinguish between the kinds of hackers out there for the sake of profit.
Let us hope that the owner of Skytech remains true to his word and makes good use of al-Habaz's skills.
However, I feel that both businesses and the State have been conned by certain elements in the computer security field since the current witch hunt in Massachusetts has led to suicide by two men due to Mass.State's justice department.
By being relentless in their pursuit of justice in the cases of Schwartz and James, the Massachusetts justice department is culpable in their death by suicide.
By threatening both men with needless trials that will inevitably result in hung juries, Mass.State has violated their human rights.
For not all hackers are criminals.
Student Expelled from Dawson College http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/hamed-al-khabaz-expelled_n_2526074.html?utm_hp_ref=college
Mass.State Drove Swartz and other hacker to suicide: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262831/Revealed-Aaron-Swartz-prosecutor-drove-hacker-suicide-2008-named-cyber-crime-case.html
Quebec Portal Omnivox for Post-Secondary School Insecure
Omnivox is certainly not secure since it exposes network ports 135, 139 & 445 to the internet. Ports 135 and 139 are for netbios, and 445 is for microsoft network DS (NT server directory service)
It's just not good security for a portal to Quebec post secondary institutions to expose these ports.
Once logged in, the portal has the potential to access the user's LAN through ports 13 ad 139. The MS DS port has potential to access both the server's and user's LAN network.
Even though these ports are monitored by Omnivox's maker Skytech, it also means that Skytech also has the potential to access anyone's personal information e.g. to create a consumer list for future spam (ads targeted based on students' age) but usually to report security risks such as portscanning, which is not illegal.
20130121
The Bodhi Mind is Emptiness
When you contrive to eradicate all thought in your mind, this is no-thought. However, a mind cannot be empty of thought, for thought always flows through it.
Thus, the practice of no-thought is all in vain, since each thought you eradicate only leads to more thoughts to eradicate. It is like trying to find the needle in the haystack.
Indeed, it is impossible to remove all thought from the mind, just as it is impossible to stop the flow of a stream with your hands. It is this impossible task that vexes the mind, producing even more thoughts.
How vain is it then to even attempt to stop all thought in the mind!
Thus the act of emptying your mind is in vain. For your mind is already empty. It has Buddha Nature, which is emptiness itself, and is capable of achieving Bodhi Mind, which is the motivation to achieve Enlightenment with the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.
Even though your mind is full of thoughts, it is empty of clinging to these thoughts.
By attempting to empty your mind of thoughts, this is clinging. By clinging, the ego arises.
For what is ego but a kind of insanity, grasping in ignorance, and always craving?
Thus, the practice of no-thought is all in vain, since each thought you eradicate only leads to more thoughts to eradicate. It is like trying to find the needle in the haystack.
Indeed, it is impossible to remove all thought from the mind, just as it is impossible to stop the flow of a stream with your hands. It is this impossible task that vexes the mind, producing even more thoughts.
How vain is it then to even attempt to stop all thought in the mind!
Thus the act of emptying your mind is in vain. For your mind is already empty. It has Buddha Nature, which is emptiness itself, and is capable of achieving Bodhi Mind, which is the motivation to achieve Enlightenment with the determination to achieve Buddhahood and the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.
Even though your mind is full of thoughts, it is empty of clinging to these thoughts.
By attempting to empty your mind of thoughts, this is clinging. By clinging, the ego arises.
For what is ego but a kind of insanity, grasping in ignorance, and always craving?
Meditation, Dhyana and Samadhi
Hui Neng said:
What is sitting for meditation? In our School, to sit means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outward circumstances, be they good or otherwise.
To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.
What are Dhyana and Samadhi? Dhyana means to be free from attachment to all outer objects, and Samadhi means to attain inner peace. If we are attached to outer objects, our inner mind will be perturbed. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained Samadhi.
To be free from attachment to all outer objects is Dhyana, and to attain inner peace is Samadhi. When we are in a position to deal with Dhyana and to keep our inner mind in Samadhi, then we are said to have attained Dhyana and Samadhi. The Bodhisattva Sila Sutra says, "Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure."
Let us realize this for ourselves at all times. Let us train ourselves, practice it by ourselves, and attain Buddhahood by our own effort.
What is sitting for meditation? In our School, to sit means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outward circumstances, be they good or otherwise.
To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.
What are Dhyana and Samadhi? Dhyana means to be free from attachment to all outer objects, and Samadhi means to attain inner peace. If we are attached to outer objects, our inner mind will be perturbed. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure, and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained Samadhi.
To be free from attachment to all outer objects is Dhyana, and to attain inner peace is Samadhi. When we are in a position to deal with Dhyana and to keep our inner mind in Samadhi, then we are said to have attained Dhyana and Samadhi. The Bodhisattva Sila Sutra says, "Our Essence of Mind is intrinsically pure."
Let us realize this for ourselves at all times. Let us train ourselves, practice it by ourselves, and attain Buddhahood by our own effort.
Dhyana
Hui Neng said:
In our system of meditation,
we neither dwell upon the mind
in contradistinction to
the Essence of Mind nor upon purity.
Nor do we approve of non-activity.
As to dwelling upon the mind,
the mind is primarily delusive;
and when we realize that it is only a phantasm
there is no need to dwell on it.
As to dwelling upon purity,
our nature is intrinsically pure;
and so far as we get rid of all delusive 'idea'
there will be nothing but purity in our nature,
for it is the delusive idea that obscures Tathata (Suchness).
If we direct our mind to dwell upon purity
we are only creating the delusion of purity.
Since delusion has no abiding place,
it is delusive to dwell upon it.
Purity has neither shape nor form;
but some people go so far as to invent the 'Form of Purity',
and treat it as a problem for solution.
Holding such an opinion, these people are purity-ridden, and
their Essence of Mind is thereby obscured.
Those who train themselves for 'imperturbability' should,
in their contact with all types of men,
ignore the faults of others.
They should be indifferent to others' merit or demerit,
good or evil, for such an attitude accords with
the 'imperturbability of the Essence of Mind'.
A man unenlightened may be unperturbed physically,
but as soon as he opens his mouth he criticizes others and
talks about their merits or demerits, ability or weakness,
good or evil; thus he deviates from the right course.
On the other hand, to dwell upon our own mind or
upon purity is also a stumbling-block in the Path.
In our system of meditation,
we neither dwell upon the mind
in contradistinction to
the Essence of Mind nor upon purity.
Nor do we approve of non-activity.
As to dwelling upon the mind,
the mind is primarily delusive;
and when we realize that it is only a phantasm
there is no need to dwell on it.
As to dwelling upon purity,
our nature is intrinsically pure;
and so far as we get rid of all delusive 'idea'
there will be nothing but purity in our nature,
for it is the delusive idea that obscures Tathata (Suchness).
If we direct our mind to dwell upon purity
we are only creating the delusion of purity.
Since delusion has no abiding place,
it is delusive to dwell upon it.
Purity has neither shape nor form;
but some people go so far as to invent the 'Form of Purity',
and treat it as a problem for solution.
Holding such an opinion, these people are purity-ridden, and
their Essence of Mind is thereby obscured.
Those who train themselves for 'imperturbability' should,
in their contact with all types of men,
ignore the faults of others.
They should be indifferent to others' merit or demerit,
good or evil, for such an attitude accords with
the 'imperturbability of the Essence of Mind'.
A man unenlightened may be unperturbed physically,
but as soon as he opens his mouth he criticizes others and
talks about their merits or demerits, ability or weakness,
good or evil; thus he deviates from the right course.
On the other hand, to dwell upon our own mind or
upon purity is also a stumbling-block in the Path.
Judgment (poem)
He who earnestly treads the path
Sees no error in the world.
When we find fault with others,
Who is in the wrong but us?
When others are in the wrong,
We overlook, and even condone it.
For it is wrong to condemn it!
By removing the habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilements.
When only hate or love disturbs our mind,
Nightmares and daydreams will plague us.
Sees no error in the world.
When we find fault with others,
Who is in the wrong but us?
When others are in the wrong,
We overlook, and even condone it.
For it is wrong to condemn it!
By removing the habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilements.
When only hate or love disturbs our mind,
Nightmares and daydreams will plague us.
— after Sutra of Hui-Neng
Bankei Speaks
Layman: Isn't your teaching insubstantial?
Bankei: By no means! Those who make light of the [Unborn] Buddha-mind transform it when angry into a demon’s mind, into a hungry ghost’s when greedy, into an animal mind when acting stupidly [and so on with the “hell-dweller’s mind” and the “heaven-dweller’s mind” attached to pleasure and beauty.]
I tell you my teaching is far from frivolous! Nothing can be so weighty as the Buddha-mind. But perhaps you feel that to remain in it is too tough a job? If so, listen and try to grasp the meaning of what I say. Stop piling up evil deeds, stop being a demon, a hungry ghost, an animal [etc.]. Keep your distance from those things that transform you in that way, and you’ll attain the Buddha-mind once and for all. Don’t you see?
Layman: I do, and I am convinced.
Bankei: By no means! Those who make light of the [Unborn] Buddha-mind transform it when angry into a demon’s mind, into a hungry ghost’s when greedy, into an animal mind when acting stupidly [and so on with the “hell-dweller’s mind” and the “heaven-dweller’s mind” attached to pleasure and beauty.]
I tell you my teaching is far from frivolous! Nothing can be so weighty as the Buddha-mind. But perhaps you feel that to remain in it is too tough a job? If so, listen and try to grasp the meaning of what I say. Stop piling up evil deeds, stop being a demon, a hungry ghost, an animal [etc.]. Keep your distance from those things that transform you in that way, and you’ll attain the Buddha-mind once and for all. Don’t you see?
Layman: I do, and I am convinced.
20130120
Meditation is not Empty of Thought
Meditating until your mind is empty of thought is foolish and dangerous because you could go insane from practicing no-thought in such a manner.
Since no-thought is thought; and thought, no-thought, it stands to reason to allow your thoughts to flow, and on realizing this, tell yourself "Thinking".
Then go back to counting your breath.
If, during Nembutsu practice, you forget to chant the name of Amida, then go back to counting your breath.
When you desire to burn evil karma and accumulate the merit of good karma, return to chanting the Nembutsu.
Meditation is all about mindfulness. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is Buddha Remembrance. For when you chant the name of Amida, your mind is full of the Buddha. This is what Buddha Remembrance means.
Buddha Remembrance consists of chanting the name of Amida (Nembutsu). Even the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism practiced it.
Therefore Zen Buddhists who decry Pure Land practice within their tradition, calling it a cheat and promoting attachment of reward i.e. rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss, are ignorant of the Sixth Patriarch's endorsement of Buddha Remembrance.
Since no-thought is thought; and thought, no-thought, it stands to reason to allow your thoughts to flow, and on realizing this, tell yourself "Thinking".
Then go back to counting your breath.
If, during Nembutsu practice, you forget to chant the name of Amida, then go back to counting your breath.
When you desire to burn evil karma and accumulate the merit of good karma, return to chanting the Nembutsu.
Meditation is all about mindfulness. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is Buddha Remembrance. For when you chant the name of Amida, your mind is full of the Buddha. This is what Buddha Remembrance means.
Buddha Remembrance consists of chanting the name of Amida (Nembutsu). Even the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism practiced it.
Therefore Zen Buddhists who decry Pure Land practice within their tradition, calling it a cheat and promoting attachment of reward i.e. rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss, are ignorant of the Sixth Patriarch's endorsement of Buddha Remembrance.
Imagine Your Mind to be the Pure Land
Hui Neng said:
This physical body of ours is a city. Our eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The Essence of Mind is the King who lives in the domain of the mind.
While the Essence of Mind is in, the King is in, and our body and mind exist. When the Essence of Mind is out, there is no King and our body and mind decay.
We should work for Buddhahood within the Essence of Mind, and we should not look for it apart from ourselves.
He who is kept in ignorance of his Essence of Mind is an ordinary being. He who is enlightened in his Essence of Mind is a Buddha.
To be merciful is Avalokitesvara (one of the two principal Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land). To take pleasure in almsgiving is Mahasthama (the other Bodhisattva).
Competence for a pure life is Sakyamuni (one of the titles of Gautama Buddha). Equality and straightforwardness is Amitabha. The idea of a self or that of a being is Mount Meru.
A depraved mind is the ocean. Klesa (defilement) is the billow. Wickedness is the evil dragon. Falsehood is the devil. The wearisome sense objects are the aquatic animals. Greed and hatred are the hells. Ignorance and infatuation are the brutes.
If you constantly perform the ten good deeds, paradise will appear to you at once. When you get rid of the idea of a self and that of a being, Mount Meru will topple.
When the mind is no longer depraved, the ocean (of existence) will be dried up. When you are free from klesa, billows and waves (of the ocean of existence) will calm down. When wickedness is alien to you, fish and evil dragons will die out.
Within the domain of our mind, there is a Tathagata of Enlightenment who sends forth a powerful light which illumines externally the six gates (of sensation) and purifies them.
This light is strong enough to pierce through the six Kama Heavens (heavens of desire); and when it is turned inwardly it eliminates at once the three poisonous elements, purges away our sins which might lead us to the hells or other evil realms, and enlightens us thoroughly within and without, so that we are no different from those born in the Pure Land of the West.
Now, if we do not train ourselves up to this standard, how can we reach the Pure Land?
This physical body of ours is a city. Our eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The Essence of Mind is the King who lives in the domain of the mind.
While the Essence of Mind is in, the King is in, and our body and mind exist. When the Essence of Mind is out, there is no King and our body and mind decay.
We should work for Buddhahood within the Essence of Mind, and we should not look for it apart from ourselves.
He who is kept in ignorance of his Essence of Mind is an ordinary being. He who is enlightened in his Essence of Mind is a Buddha.
To be merciful is Avalokitesvara (one of the two principal Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land). To take pleasure in almsgiving is Mahasthama (the other Bodhisattva).
Competence for a pure life is Sakyamuni (one of the titles of Gautama Buddha). Equality and straightforwardness is Amitabha. The idea of a self or that of a being is Mount Meru.
A depraved mind is the ocean. Klesa (defilement) is the billow. Wickedness is the evil dragon. Falsehood is the devil. The wearisome sense objects are the aquatic animals. Greed and hatred are the hells. Ignorance and infatuation are the brutes.
If you constantly perform the ten good deeds, paradise will appear to you at once. When you get rid of the idea of a self and that of a being, Mount Meru will topple.
When the mind is no longer depraved, the ocean (of existence) will be dried up. When you are free from klesa, billows and waves (of the ocean of existence) will calm down. When wickedness is alien to you, fish and evil dragons will die out.
Within the domain of our mind, there is a Tathagata of Enlightenment who sends forth a powerful light which illumines externally the six gates (of sensation) and purifies them.
This light is strong enough to pierce through the six Kama Heavens (heavens of desire); and when it is turned inwardly it eliminates at once the three poisonous elements, purges away our sins which might lead us to the hells or other evil realms, and enlightens us thoroughly within and without, so that we are no different from those born in the Pure Land of the West.
Now, if we do not train ourselves up to this standard, how can we reach the Pure Land?
Paramita (poem)
Hui Neng said:
What is Paramita?
It is a Sanskrit word,
meaning 'to the opposite shore'.
Figuratively, it means
'above existence and non-existence'.
By clinging to sense objects,
existence or non-existence
arises like the up and down
of the billowy sea, and
such a state is called
metaphorically 'this shore';
while by non-attachment
a state above existence
and non-existence,
like smoothly running water
is attained, and this is
called 'the opposite shore'.
This is why it is called 'Paramita'.
What is Paramita?
It is a Sanskrit word,
meaning 'to the opposite shore'.
Figuratively, it means
'above existence and non-existence'.
By clinging to sense objects,
existence or non-existence
arises like the up and down
of the billowy sea, and
such a state is called
metaphorically 'this shore';
while by non-attachment
a state above existence
and non-existence,
like smoothly running water
is attained, and this is
called 'the opposite shore'.
This is why it is called 'Paramita'.
Two Extremes of Non-Buddhist Thought
Nihilism and eternalism are the two extremes, which are bedeviling thinkers of today.
When you throw Buddhism at them, they suddenly get excited and either call it BS or call it "cheating" when you throw Pure Land practices into the mix.
Furthermore, they tend claim it is attachment to get deeply into Pure Land practice on the premise that it's done for the reward of rebirth in the Pure Land. This show that they have misunderstood what Pure Land Buddhism is about, by using their Buddhist practice of the long way to Nirvana as the ideal.
Against this ideal, the easy practice of Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu looks like cheating because it is the short way to Nirvana.
However, rebirth in the Pure Land is empty of reward due to sincere belief in the Pure Land and faith in the Primal Vow.
For reward implies the working of ego (desire to be reborn in the Pure Land). This is why it is important that Pure Land practitioners develop the Bodhi Mind before engaging in Pure Land practice. For the Bodhi Mind is empty of ego i.e. devoid of self power. Instead, it is full of the other power of Amida.
Thus the desire of rebirth in the Pure Land, being empty of ego, is empty of reward,
Hence, there is no cheating in following the easy way to the Pure Land. For it will still take time in the Pure Land to achieve Nirvana.
Likewise, the two extremes are empty of non-self, and arise due to ego's influence on the mind.
For both nihilism and eternalism is based on the assumption of a permanent soul or self. Nihilism assumes that if the soul does not really exist, then nothing exists. This is a fallacy. Eternalism assumes that everyone lasts forever,. This too is a fallacy.
Therefore the two extremes are based on permanence.
In contrast, Buddhism is based on impermanence and the non-self principle. It destroys ego delusion, and allows the thinker to clearly see the truth of impermanence and non-self principle whic arises from dependent arising and the Four Noble Truths.
When you throw Buddhism at them, they suddenly get excited and either call it BS or call it "cheating" when you throw Pure Land practices into the mix.
Furthermore, they tend claim it is attachment to get deeply into Pure Land practice on the premise that it's done for the reward of rebirth in the Pure Land. This show that they have misunderstood what Pure Land Buddhism is about, by using their Buddhist practice of the long way to Nirvana as the ideal.
Against this ideal, the easy practice of Buddha Remembrance by chanting the Nembutsu looks like cheating because it is the short way to Nirvana.
However, rebirth in the Pure Land is empty of reward due to sincere belief in the Pure Land and faith in the Primal Vow.
For reward implies the working of ego (desire to be reborn in the Pure Land). This is why it is important that Pure Land practitioners develop the Bodhi Mind before engaging in Pure Land practice. For the Bodhi Mind is empty of ego i.e. devoid of self power. Instead, it is full of the other power of Amida.
Thus the desire of rebirth in the Pure Land, being empty of ego, is empty of reward,
Hence, there is no cheating in following the easy way to the Pure Land. For it will still take time in the Pure Land to achieve Nirvana.
Likewise, the two extremes are empty of non-self, and arise due to ego's influence on the mind.
For both nihilism and eternalism is based on the assumption of a permanent soul or self. Nihilism assumes that if the soul does not really exist, then nothing exists. This is a fallacy. Eternalism assumes that everyone lasts forever,. This too is a fallacy.
Therefore the two extremes are based on permanence.
In contrast, Buddhism is based on impermanence and the non-self principle. It destroys ego delusion, and allows the thinker to clearly see the truth of impermanence and non-self principle whic arises from dependent arising and the Four Noble Truths.
Medication Through Meditation
Marxist-Leninists have critqued religion often saying "Religion is the opium of the people".
If religion is the opium of the people, then recreational drugs are just another addiction.
For religion may be addictive to people who desire control over others to make up for their inability to control their own destiny.
Indeed, addiction is a symptom of that inability.
Yet the irony is that among the New Left recreational drugs is a part of their culture.
For me it is easy to see that the problem here is not drugs, but the ego delusion associated with addiction based on the inability to control one's destiny.
If you are a social activist, then you may be directing your destiny in encounters with the State (potential arrest for burning a police car and smashing windows of a bank).
This creates the inability to control your destiny due to the police state mentality that results from confronting authority (exceedingly long times for the right of free assembly).
I find the solution to be simple: develop a rehabilitative strategy rather than relying on your drug crutch. For drug addiction is not a symptom of your hate for the State. Rather, it's an excuse for merely getting high. Were you doing it for noble purposes, I could understand.
For addiction is a dysfunctional way of "handling stress" called self-medication. I assure you that the best medicine is found through meditation, not getting drunk as a skunk.
YMMV
If religion is the opium of the people, then recreational drugs are just another addiction.
For religion may be addictive to people who desire control over others to make up for their inability to control their own destiny.
Indeed, addiction is a symptom of that inability.
Yet the irony is that among the New Left recreational drugs is a part of their culture.
For me it is easy to see that the problem here is not drugs, but the ego delusion associated with addiction based on the inability to control one's destiny.
If you are a social activist, then you may be directing your destiny in encounters with the State (potential arrest for burning a police car and smashing windows of a bank).
This creates the inability to control your destiny due to the police state mentality that results from confronting authority (exceedingly long times for the right of free assembly).
I find the solution to be simple: develop a rehabilitative strategy rather than relying on your drug crutch. For drug addiction is not a symptom of your hate for the State. Rather, it's an excuse for merely getting high. Were you doing it for noble purposes, I could understand.
For addiction is a dysfunctional way of "handling stress" called self-medication. I assure you that the best medicine is found through meditation, not getting drunk as a skunk.
YMMV
Even IF Buddhism is a Fiction
Even if Buddhist practice creates a "fiction" such as Amida Buddha and the Pure Land, it is done for a noble purpose.
For Amida represents both infinite compassion and wisdom, the two qualities of the Buddha which are highly esteemed by Buddhists.
Buddhists treat the story of Amida Buddha as true and real.
In essence, through practice Amida and his Pure Land becomes a quality of the mind of the practitioner. Thus, Amida and the Pure Land is internalized in the mind of the practitioner.
As a result, the heart of compassion merges with the mind of reason to become the heart-mind through Buddha Remembrance (repetition of the Nembutsu, the Name of Amida). Through practice arises the Bodhi Mind that desires to be reborn in the Pure Land.
Since the Pure Land and Amida are internalized in the mind of the practitioner, rebirth also refers to the Bodhi Mind entering the internalized Pure Land. Through practice, it is as though one is reborn in the Pure Land through visualization of both the Buddha and the Pure Land.
In essence though, one creates a "fiction" in the mind through visualization, both of the Pure Land and of Amida Buddha. However, the purpose of this fiction is to achieve samadhi, and after a long time of practice, Buddhahood.
With practice then this is all possible if one has the ideal conditions, but even if one fails in this lifetime, one has rebirth in Pure Land with one of two goals, 1) rebirth in the human realm after instructions by Amida, or 2) remaining in the Pure Land to become Buddha after a shorter time than rebirth in human realm.
To outsiders who are not familiar with Pure Land Buddhist practice, this sounds like religious psychosis. However, the difference between religious practice and religious psychosis is that the latter arises due a dysfunction of the mind, while the former arises out of a sincere desire to reduce anxiety about the afterlife through Pure Land practice.
Thus, a person suffering a mental dysfunction encounters negativity arising from his own mind. Even when he visualizes the Pure Land and Amida Buddha, he not only internalizes both aspects of his practice, he also hides within his heart the underlying anxiety about the afterlife without achieving Bodhi Mind. His internalized Pure Land and Amida Buddha is actually a hallucination, which is powered by his anxiety about the afterlife.
This is why it is important to achieve Bodhi Mind so that the practitioner gains the sincere desire to be reborn in the Pure Land.
A person with a mental dysfunction would require more practice to reduce the dysfunction and thus make his mind morefunctional by achieving the calm mind that can see clearly the root of his dysfunction which will be fear, the mother of anxiety.
This is why persons who do not have the capacity to meditate are better off just practicing Buddha Remembrance (chanting the Name of Amida). All meditation will do for them is cause a manifestation of mental dysfunction due to their unresolved fear of death.
Fear of death is natural for any sentient being who does not practice Pure Land Buddhism. It is useful to reduce that fear by calmly explaining that death is a natural part of the life cycle of all living beings. Since Pure Land practice is done to prepare for the afterlife, it is a worthy goal to eradicate fear of death.
Buddha Remembrance, thus, is a method to eradicate fear of death. It does so by introducing the Pure Land and Amida Buddha to the practitioner, and helps to reassure him that he will be reborn in the Pure Land.
Hopefully this will reduce the incidence of religious psychosis among practitioners. I cannot emphasize enough that this is why Pure Land practice is best practiced in a group setting at a Pure Land temple.
In no way should anyone reading this article try to practice anything described in it relating to Pure Land practice alone, lest the practitioner's mind transform his fear of death into a psychosis. Buddha Remembrance should be only be done within a Pure Land group since a practitioner is less likely to be rendered psychotic in a group setting.
Having said this, I will admit that early in my practice, I'd suffered hypomania due to Buddhist practice of meditation. Each time it was cured by Buddha Remembrance. This cure happened because chanting the name of the Buddha actually soothes the mind of the sincere practitioner. For when you sincerely practice, all doubt is eradicated.
With that kind of mind, nothing is impossible. Religious psychosis is impossible when Bodhi Mind is achieved since even the fear of death is eradicated. Therefore, the solution to religious psychosis is to sincerely practice Buddha Remembrance until all doubt and fear is left behind.
I cannot emphasize this more.
For Amida represents both infinite compassion and wisdom, the two qualities of the Buddha which are highly esteemed by Buddhists.
Buddhists treat the story of Amida Buddha as true and real.
In essence, through practice Amida and his Pure Land becomes a quality of the mind of the practitioner. Thus, Amida and the Pure Land is internalized in the mind of the practitioner.
As a result, the heart of compassion merges with the mind of reason to become the heart-mind through Buddha Remembrance (repetition of the Nembutsu, the Name of Amida). Through practice arises the Bodhi Mind that desires to be reborn in the Pure Land.
Since the Pure Land and Amida are internalized in the mind of the practitioner, rebirth also refers to the Bodhi Mind entering the internalized Pure Land. Through practice, it is as though one is reborn in the Pure Land through visualization of both the Buddha and the Pure Land.
In essence though, one creates a "fiction" in the mind through visualization, both of the Pure Land and of Amida Buddha. However, the purpose of this fiction is to achieve samadhi, and after a long time of practice, Buddhahood.
With practice then this is all possible if one has the ideal conditions, but even if one fails in this lifetime, one has rebirth in Pure Land with one of two goals, 1) rebirth in the human realm after instructions by Amida, or 2) remaining in the Pure Land to become Buddha after a shorter time than rebirth in human realm.
To outsiders who are not familiar with Pure Land Buddhist practice, this sounds like religious psychosis. However, the difference between religious practice and religious psychosis is that the latter arises due a dysfunction of the mind, while the former arises out of a sincere desire to reduce anxiety about the afterlife through Pure Land practice.
Thus, a person suffering a mental dysfunction encounters negativity arising from his own mind. Even when he visualizes the Pure Land and Amida Buddha, he not only internalizes both aspects of his practice, he also hides within his heart the underlying anxiety about the afterlife without achieving Bodhi Mind. His internalized Pure Land and Amida Buddha is actually a hallucination, which is powered by his anxiety about the afterlife.
This is why it is important to achieve Bodhi Mind so that the practitioner gains the sincere desire to be reborn in the Pure Land.
A person with a mental dysfunction would require more practice to reduce the dysfunction and thus make his mind morefunctional by achieving the calm mind that can see clearly the root of his dysfunction which will be fear, the mother of anxiety.
This is why persons who do not have the capacity to meditate are better off just practicing Buddha Remembrance (chanting the Name of Amida). All meditation will do for them is cause a manifestation of mental dysfunction due to their unresolved fear of death.
Fear of death is natural for any sentient being who does not practice Pure Land Buddhism. It is useful to reduce that fear by calmly explaining that death is a natural part of the life cycle of all living beings. Since Pure Land practice is done to prepare for the afterlife, it is a worthy goal to eradicate fear of death.
Buddha Remembrance, thus, is a method to eradicate fear of death. It does so by introducing the Pure Land and Amida Buddha to the practitioner, and helps to reassure him that he will be reborn in the Pure Land.
Hopefully this will reduce the incidence of religious psychosis among practitioners. I cannot emphasize enough that this is why Pure Land practice is best practiced in a group setting at a Pure Land temple.
In no way should anyone reading this article try to practice anything described in it relating to Pure Land practice alone, lest the practitioner's mind transform his fear of death into a psychosis. Buddha Remembrance should be only be done within a Pure Land group since a practitioner is less likely to be rendered psychotic in a group setting.
Having said this, I will admit that early in my practice, I'd suffered hypomania due to Buddhist practice of meditation. Each time it was cured by Buddha Remembrance. This cure happened because chanting the name of the Buddha actually soothes the mind of the sincere practitioner. For when you sincerely practice, all doubt is eradicated.
With that kind of mind, nothing is impossible. Religious psychosis is impossible when Bodhi Mind is achieved since even the fear of death is eradicated. Therefore, the solution to religious psychosis is to sincerely practice Buddha Remembrance until all doubt and fear is left behind.
I cannot emphasize this more.
Mind-stream is Conciousness-stream
Mind-stream is epitome of non-self because consciousness is empty of a permanent self.
Mind-stream also is consciousness-stream.
Basically, Buddhist practice leads to consciousness of a practitioner to return to consciousness continuum. think of continuum as transit hub to Buddha worlds such as Pure Land of Bliss which is where Amida Buddha resides.
Practice consists of meditation, chanting of the Name of Amida, and chanting of sutras related to Amida Buddha.
On follower's parinirvana (physical death) follower's consciousness returns to continuum and goes to Pure Land.
This is called rebirth in the Pure Land.
Mind-stream also is consciousness-stream.
Basically, Buddhist practice leads to consciousness of a practitioner to return to consciousness continuum. think of continuum as transit hub to Buddha worlds such as Pure Land of Bliss which is where Amida Buddha resides.
Practice consists of meditation, chanting of the Name of Amida, and chanting of sutras related to Amida Buddha.
On follower's parinirvana (physical death) follower's consciousness returns to continuum and goes to Pure Land.
This is called rebirth in the Pure Land.
My Meds
Just thought I would show my meds.
Please see tags for names of meds.
You will also find my other articles.
All I can say is, the anxiety and depression are in remission.
Wanted for Crimes of State Terrorism
Addendum: cousin of celebrity Lauren Bacall.
Background: Peres' country is supported by America with collaboration regarding experimental arms. Thus Peres' government has violate Geneva Conventions on banned weapons including bombs which provided low collateral damage. These bombs used inert metal alloys which acted like razer sharp "wires" which could neatly cut off arms and legs.
Beyond December 6: Transcending "ISMs": Religion and Cyborg Feminism as Holistic Ideology
[Formerly titled Transcending "ISMs": Religion and Cyborg Feminism as Holistic Ideology on December 19. 2007]
Added the punchline on November 3, 2010.
Corrected spelling on November 5, 2012
Nov. 19, 2011 edition made automatic to 20130120.0425
Even though feminism, due to its socialist roots, rejects religion, I am not going to exclude feminists from my questions about what makes us who we are.
Otherwise, another Marc Lepine is in the making due to bullying of the perceived weak by weak-willed people who fear the weak yet pretend to be superior to them, whether it is Lepine's father and late sister, feminist radicals, reviled patriarchal demagogues or even social activists.
Given the rise of feminist paganism and the Goddess feminism movement, I agree with Haraway that with "woman" being a social construct much like "homosexual" and "youth", both movements are reactionary and are based on the hypothesis that in the roots of patriarchism are both the means of oppression of women and their ultimate liberation.
Since the social construct, "woman", arises out of the patriarchy, then feminism is actually rooted in a reaction to it but is in the end both symptom and solution, once a feminist transcends the duality of wo/man.
This is not to imply that cyborg feminism requires religion, but that post-modern fictions and myths are derived from science fiction which are stories based on extrapolations of scientific knowledge, and the stories that turn into cult classics, including animes, Final Fantasy and other online RPGs, and even Hello Kitty, reflect much of what Haraway discusses in her manifesto.
Thus, post-modern pop culture is inspired by various secular ideologies which are ultimately based on socialist revisionism that removed religion's influence on our collective histories, of which feminism was a large influence.
So instead of assuming madness is due to the gods, we assume the person is psychotic and need of help, due to our ignorance about religion which was never used to explain why the things ancient civilization did in the name of God. Rather, we learned that the Pyramids were built to satisfy the egos of the Pharaohs and that the Bible is not a useful reference for factual information - though a few of us got censured by well-meaning Christians for implying that the Bible was "just another book of myths".
But then so are Inuyasha and WoW based on myth!!
In her manifesto, Haraway tries "to build an ironic political myth faithful to feminism, socialism, and materialism". After reading Senft's commentary on Haraway's manifesto, I am inclined to conclude that the Cyborg Manifesto does attempt to transcend patriarchy itself by deconstructing what it means to be a woman by pointing out that "woman" is a social construct much like "homosexual" and "youth". Though, I will point out that her term "myth" does not imply fairy-tales of mythological characters, but rather metaphors necessary for post-modern feminists and their socialist comrades to transcend gender and thus end the mythological gender war.
It is sad then to hear of reactionary feminists adhere to radical feminist ideals to the point of pretending that Marc Lepine is only a symbol of systematic violence against women by the patriarchy, as he originally witnessed such violence in his home and was inculcated in it during abuse by his father. While Haraway does not address such violence in her manifesto, I do tend to get a sense of necessary desensitization by using the cyborg metaphor to transcend the duality inherent in post-modern feminism.
It's not so much about confrontation that should drive feminists to change the world as it is about transcending social constructs such as gender. As long as feminists continue to market the duality of real-world patriarchy versus mythological patriarchy, the gender war will continue victimizing women.
Therefore, December 6 is more about confronting the reality of violence against women than it is about actually changing the world. For in order to change the world, feminists will have to transcend the duality of wo/man rather than just react to the perceived duality of wo/man.
In order to market December 6 effectively, feminists have created as martyrs 14 young women, very few of whom were actually feminists. However, time and time again, they have ignored the symbol of male violence, Marc Lepine.
Indeed, most feminists remain ignorant of the fact that he was a victim of male violence, born to an Algerian father and a Quebecois mother. Indeed, very little facts about his father are known, apart from the fact that he had embraced Western values by becoming a mutual funds salesman yet had retained possibly Berber and thus Islamic influence of cultural values related to the raising of children.
It is unknown whether violence on TV influences gang violence or even violence among young women. One can more effectively argue that poverty may be a far greater influence on violence than violent anime like Inuyasha. My theory on violence in anime is that violence meted out on quasi-mythological characters by other similar characters is amusing at first, but any child who acts out such violence in real life is either going to get smacked down by an older sibling or punished by her parents.
In concluding that in households where the parents are distracted by legislated poverty, children lack supervision and thus "can get away with murder", social scientists are ignored by the State when recommendations to relieve poverty are clearly stated to solve poverty. Locally in BC, the woman judge hired to solve the child care crisis had her request for extra funding refused and a far less amount being given to help her with the provincial government citing "lack of funds". The current BC Liberal regime itself is afraid of losing votes by daring to tax its loyal party members, most of whom indirectly contribute to the daily plight of the poor and especially abused women through their tax breaks, depriving all of the public sector from adequate funding. Creative bookkeeping by the Campbell government's penny-pinchers had hidden this systematic oppression of the underclass, just to stay in power. It continued in the current government of Christy Clark.
Thus, all political parties that fear the loss of votes for making an unpopular move are acting according to the will of the people who vote them in, not the will of the ones who deserve the favour that move provides them.
No doubt in writing her manifesto Haraway performs a similar ignorance of facts by only hinting at the side effects of feminists being a product of the military industrial complex, inculcated through compulsory public education to become women only to react to male dominance by rejecting the patriarchal values learned in public school through enlightenment in post-secondary educational institutes, the traditional hotbed of socialist revisionism of our collective histories.
Therefore, the average reader needs Senft to perform commentary on Haraway since Senft, being an enlightened feminist, can "be the moon pointing to the sun". For me, reading Senft is like reading Shinran: there is no difference between commenting on feminist ideology and Pure Land sutras since both feminism and Buddhism are ideologies first. As well, anyone who declares politics has nothing to do with religion, as Gandhi originally stated, really know nothing about religion at all.
Once you transcend the differences between politics and religion, even the religious statement — "I am that I am" — can be as radical as the feminist hypothesis that "the patriarchy uses the threat of violence to maintain civil order so that States may be prosperous and their citizens productive".
It has been said that "information wants to be free", and that the civilization that is great is the one that rises above religious oppression. But I say that in order to truly be free, one needs to rise above one's political ideology and transcend it. For as long as one clings to whatever flavour of feminism or other ideological "ism", one will remain a product of the military industrial complex, picking sides and fated to endure the hell of dualism epitomized as "wo/man" and similar social constructs.
In order for humanity to be truly free, all it takes is taking a breath and liberating oneself of ideology. For me as a Buddhist anarchist , that seems to be the subtle message contained in the Cyborg manifesto: the process of liberation includes freedom from "isms", even if it means transcending the Buddha and anarchy to support the Christian left.
Even Marc Lepine was fighting against the duality of patriarchalism versus feminism by hating feminists.
In hating feminism, he actually hated the deprivation of maternal nurturance by his recently separated mother after learning to hate her through the beatings his father treated him to for not being a good son.
This shows the failure of patriarchalism, in which the father's power, instead of defending his family from poverty and legitimate threats, is perverted into forcing his family to live by his rules, only to lose power completely through separation and divorce.
Thus, the failure of patriarchalism is evident in the rising divorce rates, the increasing incidents of teen violence, and the mass murders which continue to be a part of our post-modern lives to this very day.
What we need today is not another ISM to replace old traditions with newly minted ones. Rather, we need to transcend the dichotomy of wo/man for something as old as early Christian idealism, which is something the feminists, due to their socialist conditioning, totally ignore.
Yes, we need a transhuman ideology which emphasizes unity, not division, between the sexes. It won't be found in feminism, for the roots of such a world transforming ideology demands that we stop denying God's existence, because so far the current dualism of patriarchalism versus feminism is actually tearing our post-modern society apart with its feel-good sophistry and its ego-centred idealism.
Indeed, we may need to centre the body politic with good, old-fashioned religion for the masses not unlike Matthew Fox's manifesto.
Added the punchline on November 3, 2010.
Corrected spelling on November 5, 2012
Nov. 19, 2011 edition made automatic to 20130120.0425
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