August 2008

8/10/08



"Meditation is acceptance. It is the acceptance of life within us, without us and all around us. Acceptance of life is the beginning of human satisfaction. Transformation of life is the culmination of divine satisfaction. "
- Sri Chinmoy (1)


Sri Patanjali describes “accepting pain as help for purification” as the first and most important part of the practice of yoga. This is the true practice of tapasya (austerity). Pain is our teacher, an uncomfortable cleansing process that each individual soul must go through in order to realise the Self. When we realise that pain is a part of life that cannot be avoided, we must find the courage to face it, not fear it.

Many of us began our yoga [or other spiritual] practice because of a painful experience in our past: physical, emotional, or mental. … Sometimes students look for a way to off-load the pain –something that magically eludes them of all anguish. Sometimes we do the same thing, playing the blame game, or running to our teachers or mentors expecting them to take away our suffering instantly.

We spend countless hours running unnecessary thoughts in our minds: “Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? How could this person do this to me?” If we examine this behaviour closely and ask ourselves whether these types of thoughts actually give us an answer, we can see that they merely waste our time and energy. Regardless of how long we have been practicing yoga, all of us face pain, on different levels and with varying intensity. Accepting our experiences is our first step forward.

- We can only find relief from our grief through acceptance.
-

Mulla Nasrudin was sitting on his cot in a homeless shelter. "You know," he said to the fellow on the next cot, "when I was seventeen years old, I made up my mind that nothing was going to stop me from getting rich." "Well, how came you never got rich?" his friend asked. "OH," said Nasrudin, "BY THE TIME I WAS NINETEEN, I REALIZED IT WOULD BE EASIER TO CHANGE MY MIND."



If our habitual conditioning is to overcome our pain, we will have a tendency to feel overwhelmed when things don't go the way we wish. We may even feel a need to "beat" another's pain. We will find it difficult to connect with them just where they are. We won't be able to touch them with love because if we want anything from somebody, even for them to be out of pain, they will be an object in our mind rather than the subject our heart. If we can open to our own pain and explore our resistances and long-held aversions, there arises the possibility of touching another's pain with compassion, of meeting another as we meet ourselves with a bit more clarity and tenderness. We see in such instances how the work we do on ourselves is clearly of benefit to all sentient beings. Each person who works to open his/her heart touches the heart of us all. When we are no longer recreating the problem, we reaffirm the solution. We discover from day to day how the healing we do for ourselves is a healing for us all.
- Stephen Levine in "Healing into Life and Death"


A MONK FATHERING A CHILD?
This is a story about one of the great Tibetan kadampa masters of the 11th century, the monk Langri Tangpa who wrote the 'Eight verses of mind training',:
There was once a woman who gave birth to a baby girl. The woman had already lost one baby and was frightened that her baby girl would also die. The woman told her mother how worried she was and her mother told her that children given Geshe Langri Tangpa to be looked after would not die.
Later, when the little girl fell ill, the woman took her to see Geshe Langri Tangpa, but when she arrived she found him sitting on a throne giving a teaching to a thousand disciples. The woman began to worry that her child would die before the end of the teaching. She knew that Geshe Langri Tangpa was a Bodhisatta and would show patience, and so she walked up to the throne and in a loud, rude voice she said; 'Here, take your baby. Now you look after her!' She turned to the audience and said; 'This is the father of my child', and then turned back to Geshe Langri Tangpa and pleaded softly; 'Please don't let her die.' Geshe Langri Tangpa just nodded his head. As if he really were the father of the child, he wrapped it tenderly in his robes and continued his teaching. His disciples were very suprised and asked him; 'Are you really the father of that child?' Knowing that if he were to say no, the woman would have been thought crazy and the people would have laughed at her, Geshe Langri Tangpa said that he was. Although he was a monk, Geshe Langri Tangpa acted like a real father for the child, delighting in her and caring for her.
After some time the mother returned to see if her daughter was well. When she saw how healthy the child was she asked Geshe Langri Tangpa if she could have her back again. The Geshe then kindly returned the girl to her mother.
When his disciples understood what had happened they said; 'So you are not really the father after all!' and Geshe Langri Tangpa simply said; 'No, I am not






Withhumbleness,may I faceeveryonewith compassionWithdevotionto enlightened lifemay I abidein true compassionSo that othersmay knowtheir true Heart,may I havethe wisdomand True Knowledgeto bring out the bestin everyoneWithcompassionfor this world
with alland everyonein it,may I fightin every wayfor a better world,for the generationsto comeAcceptingany hardshipfor myself,may I abidein the Energyof the Universe,the sourceof wisdomand compassion

Empowered,may I havetrue compassionin sharingthe wisdomof life and deathwith others,bybeing presentin meditation,of any shapeor formof everyday lifeMaythis branchof Lovebeof benefit
compassion - steinar almelid


I was alone unto myself,content within the stillness of the sleeping forest,when he arose from out of the glowing embers of my fire,and filled the darkened sky as he smiled upon the night.And thus are the words he silently spokeunto my soul:
I ask not for your understanding,but only your quiet acceptance.I seek not your respect,but only the unsung song of your heart;For lonely is the flower of my souland still are the nights upon my ears.And as I stand in the silence of time,none save the mountains shall ever understand me;For they too have bled from the depthsof their rocky souls.

Excerpts from “The Prophet’s Candle” by Daniel


8/17/08





Much Ado About Nothing
Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity--but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography," our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit cards. . . It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are?Without our familiar props, we are faced with just ourselves, a person we do not know, an unnerving stranger with whom we have been living all the time but we never really wanted to meet. Isn't that why we have tried to fill every moment of time with noise and activity, however boring or trivial, to ensure that we are never left in silence with this stranger on our own? -Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

All we are dealing with wherever we live in the Universe is just different levels of energy, some of which is unmanifest at one extreme, called spirit, and some of which we find at the other extreme in a manifest form which we call matter. Because it is ALL energy and all energy obeys a few basic laws. They are called he laws of physics in science, and called spiritual law in esoterics - everything in the Universe obeys exactly the same laws. The way we see and experience them simply depends on our perspective.
What you see, depends on where you stand.
- Ra Bonewitz in "The Cosmic Crystal Spiral"



A Zen story tells of two monks who met on the road. After their initial greetings, one monk asked the other, "What are you going to do tonight, my friend?" The second monk replied, "I will meditate and pray in the temple. What are you going to do?" "I'm going to spend a night of pleasure with the ladies," he answered.
The monks then went on their own ways, and that night in the house of pleasure, the monk was quite distracted. All he could think about was his friend meditating and praying. But was the other monk at peace with himself? No, he continued to think about his friend enjoying an evening with women.
When you make a choice, accept it completely and surrender to all the experiences that go along with your decision.
- Dick Sutphen in "The Oracle Within


As we understand it, the spiritual journey is not about becomingperfect. It's about acceptance, releasing judgment, and embracingeverything in wholeness. This is a great challenge for our personality. We've grown up comparingourselves to others, always judging how we're better and worse thanthose around us. And many of us are very good at finding fault withourselves. If we release judgment, then nothing needs to be fixed -- including you.Explore inviting your soul to help you accept all that is and experiencea whole new way of living. "Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need tofix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at somehigher place. Start right where you are." -- Julia Cameron
POVERTY
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" " It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked."Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."




O Light of the Supreme, O Light of the Supreme,O Light of the Supreme! Kindle the flame of Liberation within me.Pour down the ocean of CompassionInto my heart.You are my Immortality's Divinity.Accept my darkness, bondage, ignoranceand death.

By: Sri Chinmoy


I stood up for my rights.My rights demandedThe life of universal acceptanceAnd the life of universal recognition.
I stand up for my rights.My rights demandMy heart's cry and my life's smile.
I shall stand up for my rights.My rights shall demandThe surrender-moonFrom the world of aspiration-sun.
Sri Chinmoy








8/31/08



“There is a story” writes Swami Vivekanada, “that the king of the gods, Indra, once became a pig, wallowing in mire; he had a she-pig, and a lot of baby pigs, and was very happy. Then some gods saw his plight, and came to him and told him, “You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods under your command. Why are you here?” But Indra said “Never mind; I am all right here; I do not care for heaven, while I have this sow and these little pigs.” The poor gods were at their wits end. After a while they decided to slay all the pigs, one after another. When all the pigs were dead, Indra began to weep and mourn, then the gods ripped his pig body open and he came out of it and began to laugh when he realized what a hideous dream he had had; he, the king of the gods, to have become a pig and to think pig life was the only life. Not so, but to have wanted the whole universe to come into pig-life! The Atman, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Atman does not love, it is love itself. It does not exist, it is existence itself. The Atman does not know, it is knowledge itself. It is a mistake to say the Atman loves, exists, or knows. Love, existence, and knowledge are not the qualities of the Atman, but its essence. When they get reflected upon something, you may call them the qualities of that something. They are not the qualities but the essence of the Atman, the Infinite Being, without birth or death, established in its own glory. It appears to have become so degenerate that if you approach to tell it, “You are not a pig”, it begins to squeal and bite.”
This pig-which-is-not-a-pig can, on occasion, become a very dangerous animal. The power of tamas in our nature is so great that we hate to be disturbed. We loathe any new ideas, especially if it implies that we are not pigs but God, we are apt to persecute and crucify them.
How to Know God (The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali)




The measure of having taken to heart the preciousness of the human body with its freedom and riches that are so difficult to find, is that we are unable to waste time. We are filled with deep joy at having attained something so precious and rare, and we want to put this treasure to full use. This sense of true appreciation, of rejoicing so deeply that one cannot sit idle, is the measure of having taken to heart the preciousness of the human body. Rainbow Painting (Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche)


No person can write his autobiography in advance. Generalization, by means of which theories evolve, fails in trying to understand man. For in dealing with a particular man I do not come upon a generality but upon an individuality, a person. It is precisely the exclusive application of generalities to human situations that accounts for many of our failures…My existence as an event is an original, not a copy. No two human beings are alike. A major mode of being human is uniqueness.
Abraham Heschel




Mother Theresa It is so beautiful that we complete each other! What we are doing in the slums, maybe you cannot do. What you are doing at the level where you are called – in your family life, in your college life, in your work – we cannot do. But together, you and we are doing something beautiful for God.


I am perfect paradox.
I am the silence that hollers.
I am the stillness that dances.
I am the beginning that is the end.
I am the newness that is ancient,
I am the here that is everywhere.
I am eloquence without words.
I am the human that is entwining with the divine.
I am the acceptor of “impossible” possibilities.
I am something so great that it is nothing,
I am, so fully that I scarcely care whether I am at all.
I know without knowing.
I weep with neither sadness nor apparent joy.
I am I AM, yet ever i.
William James


Discussion
(accepting the sacredness of our being)





Morning: The World in the Lake”
Linda Hogan – Seeing Through the Sun

In the quenching water.
Beneath each black duck
Another swims
Shadow
Joined to blood and flesh.
There’s a world beneath this one.
The red-winged blackbird calls
Its silent comrade down below…

And then it rises, the blackbird
Above the world’s geography of light and dark
And we are there, living
In that reveled sliver of red
Living in the black
Something of feathers,
Daughters all of us,
Who would sleep as if reflected
Alongside our mothers,
The mothers of angels, and shadows,
The helix and spiral of centuries
Twisting inside.
Oh the radiant ones are burning
Beneath this world.
They rise up,


Hiamove
(The words of an old Native American Man)

There are birds of many colors – red, blue, green, yellow – yet it is all one bird. There are horses of many colors – brown, black, yellow, while yet it is all one horse. So cattle, so all living things –animals, flowers, trees. So men: in this land where once were only Indians are now men of every color – white, black, yellow, red – yet all one people. That this should come to pass way in the heart of the Great Mystery. It is right thus. And everywhere there shall be peace.