Spiritual State

The spiritual state is the manifestation of the disciple’s attraction, including his physical attraction, towards the spirit.

The heart reacts in this way because it is not used to divine Light and that effects all of one’s being including the body.

~Sufi Wisdom~

Personal Transformation

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free:

stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.

This is the ultimate.

~Chuang-tzu in Hyams 1982, 57~

Guardian Angel

The first question which we should ask is what exactly are Angels? For some people these are bright living lights, for others the essence of ancestors come to protect and shelter, some people believe Angels fly high in the sky and others still believe that these beings stay at our sides. It is difficult to respond precisely to this question but one thing is sure; Angels are out there and they give us constant reminders of their presence.

Creating the uncreated

In the silence

Between the spaces

We can hear

Sounds, thoughts, pictures,

So clear

~C. Alexander Simpkins~

Relation With Nature

This intimate relationship with plants and animals means more than a sentimental love of Nature. What is meant is a productive relationship, which discovers the essence of things, sees as it were into their hearts. Carrying "Nothing" in the hearts means possesing the highest and the ultimate--"Everything," the universe itself.

~Herrigel~

Oneness With Nature

Ocean's tides sweep over sand

We rest in the open palm

Of Nature's hand

~C. Alexander Simpkins~

Change

For a long time now I have not been taking my place as a man along with the process of change. And if I do not take my place as a man with the process of change, how can I hope to change other men?

~Chuang-tzu~

Silence is Thunder

The Zen masters all proclaim that there is no enlightment whatever which you can claim to have attained. If you sau you have attained something, this is the surest proof that you have gone astray. Therefore, not to have is to have; silence is thunder.

Attain The Unattainable

Subhuti asked the Buddha, "World-Honored One, is the highest, most fulfilled, awakened mind that the Buddha attained the unattainable?"

The Buddha said, "That is right Subhuti. Regarding the most fulfilled, awakened mind, I have not attained anything. That is why it is called the highest, most fulfilled, awakened mind."

The School of Aryadeva

The school of Aryadeva is so hard to analyze.

Snow piled up in a silver bowl.

Who could have said it better than that?

The same wind blows across earth,

Mountains, rivers;

It leaves all human and heavenly

Realms refreshed, pure

~Daito~

Keep Thinking About It

A student asked Hakuin, "What can I do to become awakened to my own mind?"

Hakuin answered with a series of questions: "What is it that asks the questions? Is it your mind? Is it your original nature? Is it some kind of spirit or demon? Is it inside you? Outside you? Is it somewhere in between? Is it blue, yellow, red, or white?".

Hakuin advises to keep thinking about "it" with single-minded devotion no matter what you are doing.

Never Make Your Mind Into A Mirror

A Zen student was trying very hard to make his mind clear like a mirror. He sat quietly and tried to think of nothing. But thoughts inevitably kept distracting him. Feeling in despair he asked his master, "No matter how hard I try, I cannot clear my mind! What should I do?"

The master picked up a tile that was on the ground and began polishing it with his robe. Confused, the student asked, "Master, what are you doing?"

"I am polishing this tile to make it into a mirror."

"That's impposible! You cannot make a tile into a mirror," said the student.

The master smiled. "Nor can you make your mind into a mirror!"

Empty Your Cup

The master continued preparing the tea without a word. The scholar said, "I wanted to ask you about the idea of emptiness. How does it relate to the philosophical concept of being and nonbeing?"

The master silently handed him a cup and began to pour.

The student continued on with his many thoughts about philosophy: "I have thought a lot about theories of being and nonbeing. I have read Aristotle, Plato, and the existentialists. Sartre had an interesting theory, and of course Camus dealt with it. I think..."

The master kept pouring and pouring until the tea began spilling out.

Startled, the student said, "Master! My cup is overflowing!"

The master smiled and said simply, "As is your mind. How can I show you Zen if you don't first empty your cup?"

The Mind Ground

The teaching of the mind ground

Is the basis of Zen study.

The mind ground is the 

Great awareness of being as is.

~Fayan~

Emptiness Is The Fasting of The Mind

Make your will one! Don't listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don't listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, the mind stops with recognition, but spirit is empty and waits on all things. The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.

~The Taoist sage, Chuang-tzu in Watson 1968~

If You Can Understand The Mind, Everything Else Is Included

If someone is determined to reach enlightenment, what is the most essential method he can practice? The most essential method, which includes all oter methods, is beholding the mind. But how can one method include all others? The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

~Bodhidharma's Breakthrough Sermon on Pine 1989, 77~

Realize the source of mind

When you suddenly 

Realize the source of mind,

You open a box of jewels.

Honorable on earth and in the heavens,

You are aloof even 

From the joy of meditation.

The essence containing all flavors 

Is the supreme delicacy,

Worth more than ten thousand 

Ounces of pure gold. 

 - Fenyang -

Things

The things of this world are passing

and to cling to them

is bound to be a source of pain.

~zen~

To Find Gpd

To find god is to come to one's own self.

~zen~

Divine Qualities

If the inner life is to be harmonious and enlightened

Divine qualities have to be developed and expressed in daily life.

~zen~

The Goal of The Long Journey

Escaping from the cosmic illusion

and realizing your identity

with the infinite

is the goal of the long journey.

The path begins

when the soul finds itself

and turns its consciousness toward

the eternal self.

~zen~

Disappointment

Disappointment s an emotional state rooted in self pity.

~zen~

Earth

In the universe of worlds

Earth is as a grain of sand on an endless eternal beach.

~zen~

See

Come,
consider the world
a painted chariot for kings
a trap for fools.
But he who sees
goes free.

~zen~

Beliefs

People hold beliefs as they wear clothes.

~zen~

Social Problems

Social problems are the effects of men's ideas about themselves.

The attitude of men in all these practical affairs would be transformed were they to understand what was real and what was illusion.

~zen~

Meditation

Meditation yields its significance

after the person has experienced it

not when he tries

to understand it by means of examination.

He should be prepared to encounter

unexpected states of consciousness

and be willing

to go where he is led

without expectations.

In spiritual life

even a sincere misatke

taken seriously

may have more value

than half-hearted allegiance to theoritical truth.

~zen~

Lust, Greed, and Anger

Lust, greed, and anger respectively have body, heart, and mind

as their vehicles of expression.

Selfishness seeks fulfillment through desires

But succeeds only in increasing unsatisfied desires.

~zen~

Reality

You create reality

Through your feelings, thoughts and mental actions.

Each mental act is a reality

For which you are responsible.

~zen~

Real Knowledge

Real Knowledge is not found in knowing but in BEING.

*

Attachment to the objects of this world

Is the cause of misery

~zen~

Perception of Reality

THE PROCESS OF PERCEPTION OF REALITY RUNS

parallel with the process of creation, 

and the reversing of the process of perception without obliterating

consciousness amounts to eralizing the nothingness of the universe

~zen~

Self-knowledge

Self-knowledge

Comes to the soul

By looking

Within

~zen~

Blind Man

Can a blind man lead a blind man?
Why do you see the splinter in your brother's eye
And do not see
The beam in your own eyes?

Awesome Dignity

When this mind

Functions in its awesome dignity

Not one deluded thought

May enter

Not one discriminating idea

Can exist

Do the work or take the credit

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There is much less competition.

~Indira Gandhi~

Heart

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man is in his heart.

~Benjamin Franklin~

One Reality, Many Points of View

There are three children in my family. If they were to confront a spiderweb in the garden, each would react differently. The first child would examine the web and wonder how the spider wove it. The second would worry a great deal about where the spider was at that particular moment. And the third would exclaim, "Oh, look! a trampoline.

~Phyllis Theroux~

Socrates

There is a story while Socrates was in prison awaiting his death, he heard a man sing a difficult lyric by the poet Stesichoras. Socrates begged the singer to teach it to him. When asked why, the great philosopher replied, "I want to die knowing one more thing."

~Ammianus Mercellinus~

Footprints

A man leaves all kinds of footprints when he walks through life. Some you can see, like his children and his house. Other are invisible, like the prints he leaves across other people's lives, the help he gives them and what he has said - his jokes, gossip that has hurt other, encouragement. A man doesn't think about it, but everywhere he passes, he leaves some kind of mark. All these marks added together are what man means.

~Margaret Lee Runbeck~

Money

Money will buy a bed but not sleep; books but not brains; food but not appetite; finery but not beauty; a house but not a home; medicine but not health; luxuries but not culture; amusement but not happiness; religion but not salvation; a passport to everywhere but heaven.

~Anonymous~

The Tailor

The only person who behaves sensibly is my tailor. He takes my measure anew everytime he sees me. All the rest go on with their old measurements.

~Bernard Shaw~

Power of Love

Love is so powerful because being loved causes one to love oneself. Nothing contributes to the self-image more than being loved by another. When the words "I love you" are expressed to you for the first time, your world blossoms; your heart glows with inspiration, confidence and thoughts of the mountains you can move. It's more than an emotional kick; suddently you like yourself more than you ever have before.

~Robert Conklin~

Brave

Sir Henry Morton Stanley was asked if he had been frightened of the incredible, horrifying jungle that daunted previous explorers. He said, "I did not see the whole. I only saw this rock ahead of me; I only saw this poisonous snake which I had to kill in order to take the next step. I only saw the problem directly in front of me. If I had seen the whole thing I would have been too overwhelmed to have attemped this."

~George Lang~

Break

Two men cut wood all the day long. One worked straight through, without stopping to rest. At the end of the day he had a sizable pile of logs. The other would chop for 50 minutes and then take a ten minutes break. At the end of the day he had a much larger pile.

"How could you chop more?" asked the man who'd worked continously. His friend replied, "When I stopped for rest, I also sharpened my ax."

~Thomas B. Weilch. Jr~

Perspective

It is said that sheep may get lost simply by nibbling away at grass and never looking up. That can be true for any of us. We can focus so much on what is immediately before us that we fail to see life in larger perspective.

~The Rev. Donald Bitsberger~

Caution

Too much caution is bad for you. By avoiding things you fear, you may let yourself in for unhappy consequences. It is usually wiser to stand up to a scaryseeming experience and walk right into it, risking the bruises or hard knocks. You are likely to find it is not as tough as you had thought. Or you may find it plenty tough, but also discover you have what it takes to handle it.

~Norman Vincent Peal~

Blows

I look at a stonecutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred-and-first blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

~Jacob Rits~

Give It The Right Way

I've learned a lot from dogs. Years ago, I forced a daily spoonful of cod-liver oil down the throat of my German-shepherd puppy. The dog slipped from my grasp one day, spilling the potion. Then he began licking the spoon. He liked the oil, but not my method of giving it to him. I've often put that over into teaching. What the teacher has, maybe the student wants, if you just give it to him the right way.

~Emily Ann Smith~

Unsought Thoughts

A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable and should be secured, because they seldom return.

~Francis Bacon~

Poor Man

A man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms - the rich man for the alms of my envy, the poor man for the alms of my guilt.

~Ben Hecht~

Be Good To Yourself

Many people go through life commiting partial suicide - destroying their talents, energies, creative qualities.  To learn how to be good to oneself is often more difficult than to learn how to be good to others.

~Joshua Loth Liebman~

Value!

My father once looked through one of my information-crammed books and asked, "How did you learn all this, Isaac?"

"From you, Papa."

"From me? I don't know any of this."

"You didn't have to, Papa. You valued learning and you taught me to value it. All the rest came without trouble."

~Isaac Asimov~

Yesterday

My mother, God bless her, taught me when I was little never to carry yesterday on my back. It didn't matter what had happened - yesterday was dead. I remember her saying: "There is nothing you can do about it now. If you get in the habit of carrying yesterday around on your back, you'll be bent double by the time you're 21."

 ~Danny Thomas~

Ideas

Those people who left only monuments behind as a record of their existence have vanished with time, whereas those who left ideas have survived. A society without ideas has no history.

~Max I. Dimont~

Life

Life is a journey from one miracle to another miracle.

~avds~

Progress

We should live and labor in our time that what came to us as seed may go to the next generation as blossom, and that what came to us as blossom may go to them as fruit. This is what we mean by progress.

~Henry Ward Beecher~

Not The Glory But The Goodness

Remember that the opportunity for great deeds may never come,

but the opportunity for good deeds is renewed day by day. 

The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory.

~F. W. Faber~

Things That Will Destroy

Things that will destroy:

Politics without principles,

Pleasure without  conscience,

Wealth without work,

Knowledge without character,

Business without morality,

Science without humanity,

Worship without sacrifice.

~Mohandas K. Gandhi~

A Woman

A little son asked his mother "Why are you crying?"

"Because I am a woman," said his mother.

"I do not understand," said the son.

His mother only hugged him and said, "And you will never understand."

Then the boy asked to his father, "Why mother is often crying without any reasons?"

"All the women are crying without reasons", only that can be said by his father.

The son grew to be an adult, but still wants to know why women cry.

Finally, he contacted God, and asked, "God, why women are so easy to cry?"

God said: "When I created a woman, she is required to become a special one."

"I make her shoulders to be strong enough to sustain world; however, must be soft enough to provide comfort"

"I give her strength from within to afford to give birth and to receive rejections that often come from her children".

"I gave her toughness to remain steadfast when others surrendered, and nurture her family

with the suffering and exhaustion without complaints".

"I gave the sensitivity to love her children in any circumstances, even when her children hurt her".

"I gave her strength to support her husband in his failures and complete her with his rib to protect her heart".

"I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strength and resoluteness to be by her husband side without a doubt".

"And finally, I gave her tears to drop.

This is very-very special belong to her and to be used at any time she needs. "

"Anyway you know:

A woman’s beauty is not coming from clothes she is wearing, how she looks, or how she combs her hair".

"A woman’s beauty must be seen from her eyes, because they are the door of her heart - the place where the love is.

Adhesive Web of Love

The means to gain happiness is to throw out from oneself like a spider in all directions an adhesive web of love, and to catch in it all that comes

~Leo Totstoy~

Persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men of talent.

Genius will not...the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of human race.

~Calvin Coolidge~

A Simpleton and Budha

When a simpleton abused him, Budha listened in silence; but when the man finished, Budha asked him, "Son, if a man declined to accept a present made to him, to whom would it belong?" The man answered, "To him who offered it."

"My son," said Buddha, "I decline to accept your abuse, and request you to keep it for yourself."

~Will Durant~

Prejudices

Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.

~Charlotte Bronte~

Grievances

When you talk about your troubles, your ailments, your diseases, your hurts, you give longer life to what makes you unhappy. Talking about your grievances merely adds to those grievances. Give recognition only to what you desire. Think and talk only about the good things that add to your enjoyment of your work and life. If you don't talk about your grievances, you'll be delighted to find them disappearing quickly.

~Thomas Deier~

Don't Hate Your Enemies

When we hate our enemies, we give them power over us - power over our sleep, our appetite and our happiness. They would dance with joy if they knew how much they were worrying us. Our hate is not hurting them at all, but it is turning our own days and nights into hellish turmoil.

~Dale Carnegie~

Discipline

My father taught me that only through self-discipline can you achieve freedom. Pour water in a cup and you can drink. Without the cup, the water would splash all over. The cup is discipline.

~Ricardo Montalban~

Saved by Hope, Faith, and Love

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediately context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.

~Reinhold Niebuhr~

Loneliness creates magnum opus

Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln never saw a movie, heard a radio or looked at television. They had "loneliness" and knew what to do with it. They were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that was when the creative mood in them would work.

~Carl Sandburg~

Philosophy of Life

No one should pay attention to a man delivering a lecture or a sermon on his "philosophy of life" untuil we know exactly how he treats his wife, his children, his neighbors, his friends, his subordinates and his enemies.

~Sydney J. Harris~

Watch Your Character

Watch your thoughts, they become words; 

watch your word, they become actions; 

watch your action, they become habits; 

watch your habits, they become character; 

watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

~Frank Outlaw~

Those who have LOVE

Those who have power will use their power

Those who have money will use their money

Those who have beauty will use their beauty

Those who have inteeligence will use their intelligence

Those who have honesty will use their honesty

Those who have modesty will use their modesty

Those who have LOVE will use their LOVE

to conquer their enemies

~avds~

Succesful Man

Every succesful man I have heard of has done the best he could with conditions as he found them, and not waited until the next year for better.

~E.W. Howe~

Your Mouth is Your Ad

For good or ill, your conversation is your advertisement. Every time you open your mouth you let men look into yourmind.

~John Fowles~

Pleasing God vs Man

In this life you sometimes have to choose between pleasing God and pleasing man. In the long run it's better to please God. He's more apt to remember

~Harry Kemelman~

Reputation

The reputation of a man is like his shadow: it sometimes follows and sometimes precedes him; it is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter than his natural size.

~Anonymous~

Swing your opponent

Swing your opponent over to your side gracefully. The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.

~Sydney J. Harris~

Smell God

If a man without a sense of smell declared that this yellow rose I hold had no scent, we should know that he was wrong. The defect is in him, not in the flower. It is the same with a man who says there is no God. It merely means that he is without the capacity to discern His presence.

~Sir Ralph Richardson~

Death

I am standing on the seashore. A ship spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean. I stand watching her until she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, "She is gone." Gone where? The loss of sight is in me, not in her. Just at the moment when someone says, "She is gone," there are others who are watching her coming. Other voices take up the glad shout, "Here she comes," and that is dying.

~Henry Scott Holland~

Peace

It's not the situation that's causing your stress, it's your thoughts, and you can change that right here and now. You can choose to be peaceful right here and now. Peace is the choice, and it has nothing to do with what other people do or think.

~Geral G. Jampolsky, M. D.~

Strong People

Strong people make as many and as ghastly misatkes as weak people. The difference is that strong people admit them, laugh at them, learn from them. That is how they became strong.

~Richard J. Needham~

Great Leaders

"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common:

it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."

~John Kenneth Galbraith~

Let me not

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling your mercy in my success alone;
But let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.

~Rabindranath Tagore~

Doubt

You have always been told not to doubt.

But I tell you, doubt!

Doubt is the sheet anchor of our intelligence, the waterline of the reasonable being.

Doubt is the at the very base of knowledge, since it is the essential condition of the pursuit of the truth.

~Jean-Charles Harvey~

Physician

A wise physician said to me, "I have been practicing medicine for 30 years, and I have prescribed many things. But in the long run I have learned that for most of what ails the human creature the best medicine is love.

"What if it doesnt' work?" I asked.

"Double the dose," he replied

~Howard Whitman~

Spiritual Ignorance

Spiritual ignorance is often so complete that

People do not realize that they are ignorant

*

In spirituality what matters

Is not theory

But practice

*

~zen~

The soul

The soul knows itself to be formless
And beyond all the bodies
And worlds
And realizes its unity
With the eternal self.

It
Enjoys
Infinite
Bliss
Peace
Power
And
Knowledge

~zen~

Forgiveness

"I believe the time we really look big in a child's eyes is when we go to them and apologize for our mistakes and we say, ‘I was wrong. Will you forgive me?’" -- Kevin Leman

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness." -- Robert Muller

"We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck... But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness." -- Ellen Goodman

"Our friends are those who know their own faults well enough to forgive us ours." -- Moulton Farnham

Love the world

Love the world
As your own self
Then you can truly
Care for all things.

~zen~

Simplicity

It is more important
To see the simplicity
To realize one's true nature
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire

~Zen~

Lasts forever

Creating yet not possesing
Working yet not taking credit
Work is done then forgotten
Therefore it lasts forever.

~Zen~

When

When you keep saying you are busy,
then you are never free.

When you keep saying you have no time,
then you will never have time.

When you keep saying that you will do it tomorrow,
then your tomorrow will never come.

source: http://pravsworld.com/

We are what we think

We are what we think
All that we are
Arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts
We make the world.


Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow
Unshakable

~Zen~

Selfishness

Selfishness

Inevitably leads to dissatisfaction

And

Disappointment

Because ...

Desires are endless

~Zen~

Become God

It is better to study god than to be ignorant about him.

It is better to feel for god than to study him.

It is better to experience god than to feel for him.

It is better to become god than to experience him.

The Secrets of Spiritual Life

The

Secrets

Of

Spiritual

Life

Are

Opened

To

Those

Who

Venture

Not

To

Those

Who

Seek

Guarantees

For

Every

Step

~Zen~

Great Love

There will be a feeling within you

You will feel a separation

You will know a oneness.

And you will awaken

And you will speak

And your actions will transform the world

And your love

Will reach into the core of all things.

Some will be afraid.

Let them know this great love

Through you

Speak out

Take action

Without

And within.

~Zen~

Love

Love

Is not the product

Of any particular religion.

It is the rightful province

Of each and every

Human heart

~Zen~

True Happiness

True happiness begins
When a man learns the art
Of right adjusment
To other persons

And right adjusment involves

Self-forgetfulness
And
Love

~Zen~

To Lose

To willingly lose oneself
In love
Is to find oneself
In god.

By its very nature
Such a love uplifts our fellow beings
And creates a greater tendency toward

Peace
And goodwill
Toward all people

~Zen~

A GARDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS

After the mountains of Alaska begin shedding their heavy white coats,

the tundra bursts forth in bloom. No one plants flowers on the mountainside,

but the bloom of wildflowers is still as predictable as spring itself. Blue lupine,

bright pink fireweed, and many other colorful varieties announce that winter has

departed. Dark, gloomy days are gradually replaced with more and more light.

By midsummer, the days extend almost until dawn. In the twilight’s glow,

this mountain garden flourishes along endless miles of pristine wilderness.

Every time the sun rises, the seasons change, and the flowers bloom, all of

nature seems to be announcing, “God is faithful.” In a world of human-made

chaos, God is dependable, not only in matters of creation, but in our personal

lives as well. Remembering God’s dependability is helpful, especially when

circumstances are not going our way.

When divorce rips the marriage vows or the doctor diagnoses cancer or

the telephone call delivers shocking news, we often wonder if God has

forgotten us. Yet when we reflect upon the past events of our lives,

we can trace His faithful provision. Just as He adorns the lilies of the field,

He will take care of our concerns. So, we need not be anxious. When

difficulties arise, we can pray, knowing the Master Gardener is always there,

year in and year out.

In love, all is spontaneous

Love is its own reason for being.
It is complete in itself.

When love is oresent
The path to truth is joyous.

In love, all is spontaneous.
Spontaneity belongs to spirituality.
The state of unlimited spontaneity,
In which there is uninterrupted

Self-knowledge

~Zen~

Tea and Cup

At a morning a priest invites people in a meeting in the presbytery, some colleagues there are already well established and have very bgriht careers. And after saying greetings, they are chatting one another  and  complaining about their life especially in facing economics recession, telling about this hard life. 

As usual the priest provides hot tea in a teapot, but uniquely, he provides various types of cup made of porcelains, plastics, crystal, simple cup; some are expensive cup and some other are very beautiful - then the priest invites all the people to choose their own cup and pour the tea themselves.  

After all the people get their own cup of tea in hand, the priest says: "If you notice, all the beautiful and expensive cup have been taken and the remaining are the cheap and simple cups. Although it's normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, but actually it is the source of problems that you are facing. 

Make sure that the cup itself does not affect the quality of the tea. The cups, in many cases, are only more expensive and in some cases even hide what we drink. What you want is actually the sweet tea, isn't it? not the cup; but you consciously take the best cup and begin to notice other people's cup." 

"Now see that the life is like sweet tea, while jobs, money and positions in society are the cups. The cup is a tool for holding and filling the life. The type of cup we have does not define or change the quality of life that we live. Often, as we concentrate only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the warm, sweet tea that God provides for us." God is cooking and making the sweet tea, not the cup. So enjoy the tea, not the cup. 

Be aware that your life is more important than your job. 

If your job limits yourself and controls your life, you become the person who is vulnerable and fragile due to changes in circumstances. 

Jobs will come and go, but it should not change yourself as a human. 

Make sure you create a savings of success in life other than your job. 

Journey To God

The journey to God

Is merely the reawakening

Of the knowledge of where you are always

Of what you are forever

It is a journey without distance

To a goal that has never changed

~zen~

Fear of Facing Death

When people are truly wise, 

They will always reflect 

That death in the tremendous strength 

Can yank out human at any time. 

~Visuddhi Magga~ 

Discussing about death is something that is not common, or we call it something that is not fun. 

When we discuss about death, as if the death was already close to us. 

Rarely do we hear or maybe none, whether in the cafes, in schools, in offices or anywhere else, talk about death. 

Almost never do we  hear? Why this kind of talk is rare we hear?  Because death is considered as something frightening, something that makes people tremble to face. 

Sabbe bhayanti maccuno, it is a sentence of Pali language which means that all living things are hideous to face a death. 

Who is the person who does not tremble and fear to face the death?

Almost the majority of people fear to face it. Therefore it is not surprising that the death is never become a topic for discussion. 

But we may not forget ... that we are also the target of the death, we will never escape from death. If we realize this situation properly we would explore what the best way to confront with death, not avoid it. 

Wherever we run, wherever we go hiding, the death will find us. This is a fact that we must face. 

Death is something natural, something that happens naturally because we are born, all that is born must face death. And why almost every person fear to face death? not only fear of death in ourselves, but we also fear the death of our parents, our brothers or our family  or relatives? 

Of course there are some reasons. 

When Buddha died at the age of 80 years in Kusinara, many of the students who wept, mourned, some rolled on the ground, and some yelled and cried. 

Even, many bhikkhu who had been also trained mourned, lamented why Buddha quickly left this world? They were hard to accept the reality. 

Often we see that where there is death, surely there is sadness, mourning and weeping tears. 

Can’t  we change such circumstances? 

Should it be like that when we face the death of our family or relatives? 

If we have understood Dhamma of Buddha correctly it may not need to happen, because it is no use. Those who have been dead will not come back to life  again through mourning and grief tears. 

Thus we must find the reasons why the fears come out  when the death will be coming. 

For those who have found the way how to face death will not feel afraid of death. But for those who have not found the way yet, the death is frightening.

In Anguttara Nikaya, Catukka Nipata, it is mentioned that there are four reasons why we fear of facing death. And this fear only comes to those who have not reached purity. The four are:

 1) because it is not free from lust of senses, not free from lust and love of pleasures, sensual, not free from thirst and longing to pursue it. When a serious illness come, He is thinking 'oh .. Those pleasures are going to leave me, and I am going to leave those pleasures. 

We need to realize that every time our five senses are always open, and naturally they love something interesting. Then it resides and records into our memory. When it comes again in the mind, thoughts will be ordered to pursue it. Because it makes so happy. Thus .... if someone can not leave the joy he will die in fear. 

2) because it is not free from lust and love of the physical body, not free from thirst and longing for the body. Some people are proud of their body, then it is not surprising that they spend much money to change their appearance to alter their body to remain interesting. The love to the body is also causing the emergence of fear, they are afraid that the body will become damaged.

 3) because they have not been doing anything good and useful, not created a protection for themself, but they have been doing evil deeds. Meaning they have not had time to repent, but death is coming to pick up. There are some people who belive that what is an important thing and sought first is money. If we have much money everything will be OK. So make as much money as possible then if it is already enough, do something good. But what happens if they never feel enough, but death is coming? Fear will surely appear, especially if the way they make money is not true.

 4) because they have a doubt and confusion about good Dhamma and have not reached the certainty in it. There was someone in this life who wanted to explore the meaning of life which had been never in his mind before. He began to realize  it after hearing or reading books. Then he tried to find the truth, but before he was done to understand it the death was coming, the people like this will also fear of facing death. If we do not want to fear in facing death, develop our judiciousness. Try to understand what death is, where it is from, why it can occur? By understanding the intricacy of death, certainly we will not be afraid of death anymore. The fear is coming from our own spiritual ignorance. **

By; Supadi, S. Ag

Sacrifice

When we understand that a sacrifice is for our advantage as well, 

and when we understand that what we give as a sacrifice is the rights of those who receive, 

and when we believe that the promise is true -- 

then a sacrifice is not a sacrifice, 

but it is a follow-affection, 

a love for the great souls 

~Mario Teguh~

Why must cry?

One day the teacher said to the students, "Why when someone is being angry, he will speak with strong voice or cry?" 

A student, after thinking for  a while giving the hand up, said, "Because  he has lost patience, so he cried."

"But ..." the teacher asked again, "the one whom he is talking with is in front of him. Why should cry? Couldn’t  he talk smoothly? " 

Almost all the students gave  reasons which were hoped to be correct  according to their consideration. 

However, none of the answers satisfying. 

Then the teacher said, "When two people are in anger, the distance between two hearts become very much long even though they are physically so close. 

Therefore, to achieve such a distance, they have to shout. 

However oddly, the louder they cry, they also become increasingly angry and the distance of the hearts between them also becomes longer. Therefore, they had to shout over louder again. " 

The teacher still continue, "Instead, what happens when two people love each other? Not only do they not cry, but also when they speak, the sound that came out of their mouth so fine and small. Even so soft, they can listen to so clearly. Why is that so? "The teacher said while  watching to the students. They seem to think deeply, but none provide answers. 

"Because their hearts are so close, their hearts are distanceless. Finally, even one word needs not be spoken. An eye’s view can  make them understand just what they want to. " 

The teachers still continue, "When you're in anger,  don’t  let your  heart to create distance. Moreover you should not say the words that bring the distance between you. Perhaps at that time, do not say the words may be the tactful way. Because time will help you. "