Golfing with the Dalai Lama

Another one of those articles that makes me realize just how judgmental we are by nature.  Even when we are being non-judgmental, we can have underlying judgmental motives.  Here, in this article from Tricycle, compassion is thrown into the mix.  Do we develop compassion out of trying to make ourselves feel better about ourselves – “glad we’re not them”?  Or, can we truly feel their pain?

“Compassion is not condescension, but a leveling of the playing field, a recognition of yourself in others and an acceptance that their stress is your stress, that their happiness is your own. The gulf between us all is imaginary, born of insecurity and fear.”  — Stephen Schettini, “What to Expect When You’re Reflecting”

http://www.tricycle.com/insights/what-expect-when-you’re-reflecting

Unity bonding cannot just happen with anyone anywhere anytime; rather it happens with everyone everywhere all the time.

Well, one reason at least.  His guard is always down.

“The Buddha didn’t talk about Buddhism. He was concerned, simply, with the truth, the truth of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering; —and that, I’d submit, is a good thing for anybody to learn.”

– Peter Doobinin, “Tough Lovingkindness”

Couldn’t we very easily switch the name Buddha to Jesus and Buddhism to Christianity.  Therefore, another  opportunity to accept that all religions are pure at their pre-organizational conceptions.

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To further elaborate on the “Translation and Time” post – is SILENCE a better way to communicate than verbally?

No, I was not intending this to be a Koan.

Metaphorically, is this what reincarnation (both Buddha’s major Karma paradigm and the Hindu Sacred Cow) comes down to?

Treat all living conscious life as if it were a rebirth of another.  It could be you someday.

We’ve mentioned before about Buddhism’s focus on “truth” as opposed to “metaphor.”  Not that metaphors can’t be the truth, they’re just up for interpretation.

Of course, there is the whole reincarnation aspect, but I’m not ready to call that a metaphor just yet.

However, both metaphors and truth face the same challenges in the confines of “standard” religions: Translation & Time.

Misinterpreting or “taking what you want” from scripture/history/truth crosses all religions.  Those were originally written in a different time, in different languages (many times), and a different set of social-political and even moral values.

Therefore, misinterpretation becomes misleading. It doesn’t mean we can’t still find value from these words.  On the contrary. But, hopefully, take the purest meanings – love, peace, acceptance.

As has been said so many times before, “thoughts” of those epiphanies we have cannot be put into words.  And, words cannot describe those epiphanies even when written. But, we try anyway – many times in the form of stories, parables, metaphors.  And, that’s the danger and the beauty.  It’s where poetry lives.

Let’s just not take it literally.

Here’s a great article:

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/lost-quotation-partial-readings-kalama-sutta

From another article in the same issue:

This leads on to the misconception that the Buddha was a philosopher, in the sense in which that term has been used in the Western tradition. I am not the only person to have insisted that he makes it quite plain that his interest was purely pragmatic: he intended to help people and only attempted to teach the truth to the extent that it was helpful; further speculation he tended to discourage. At the same time, one must remember that, as [the philosopher] Paul Williams has written, “the teachings of the Buddha are held by the Buddhist tradition to work because they are factually true (not true because they work).”

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/what-buddha-thought?page=0,0

In college, one of my best friends (Rick Ramell) and I took a class from Dr. Soo Bach Choi.  At the beginning of the first class, he asked this question.

Recently, I was listening to the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell.  This is what JC said about what Myth is:

“Myths are clues to the experience of life.”

When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment.

Pema Chödrön

http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/fundamental-ambiguity-being-human

I see houses in neighborhoods, and I think – what do all these people do?

Read this and tell me you don’t feel insignificant:

The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported Monday that the extent of Arctic sea ice shrank to 1.58 million square miles and is likely to melt more in the coming weeks. That breaks the old record of 1.61 million square miles set in 2007.

Although referred to as a part of Buddhist protocol, we can apply this to our own metaphor.

For instance, there are things around your home that you have done to make it comfortable and appealing to you.  But, let’s say, you have to switch jobs and move.

Therefore, some of that comfort you’ve created will have to be left behind.  But, thinking back, isn’t that what you did before?  And, wasn’t it better the second time.

I think about a fire pit and back patio cover I had built at my last home. It was perfect.  So, when I moved, I did it again.  And, again, it’s perfect.  So, if the impermanence continues, which it will, then the next iteration of the patio and pit will be … perfect.

• Is this why religion was “invented”?
• If there’s no heaven, would that mean more chaos?
• Is it our way of dealing with death?
• Can’t we be good because being good it our nature?
• Does having heaven (or whatever) as an incentive to be good make being good a good reason?
• Doesn’t being good bring good things, and isn’t that a good reason?
• Or, are we being good to bring good things, and is that a self-serving reason?
• Just because man created religion, doesn’t mean there is no God.

So, we believe in the hereafter and we’re God fearing in our religion.  Then, why are we afraid to die?

A friend is someone who is still your friend, even if you’ve done something that does not coincide with their beliefs.  I’m sure there are those that have murdered, stolen, cheated, lied – but they still have friends.  Those friends say things like – “That just wasn’t who that person was. I know that person, and he is still my friend.”

Can’t we all be friends?

Things will work out!  Be happy and your outlook changes.  Be caring. Be kind.  Wave a people.  Smile at people.

Say this, believe it, and then see what happens: “I am more helpful today than I was yesterday.”

Name the two players that played on a Bellefontaine, OH, basketball and baseball team that went to the State Tournament in the same year.

Some mornings (most?) as I lather up in the shower, my mind begins to think of what I will be doing, or, frequently, what has been bothering me. I notice that I talk as if I’m talking to another person – typically someone that has been bothering me.

I know that this brings negative energy, but I wonder why it feels “good” to me to get this off my chest?  Maybe it doesn’t, maybe it’s just bringing more of what I don’t want. So, how do I stop this?

One way is to think of the good people and those that have helped you in your life.  I sometimes have to mindfully focus to move that energy pattern from the victim mentality to the peace, love and acceptance mentality.  It’s hard.

http://www.tricycle.com/insights/do-thoughts-ever-stop

But, let’s not be too hard on ourselves either. There’s no such thing as perfection.

http://www.tricycle.com/interview/practice-first

And, there’s no such thing as bad meditation.

http://www.tricycle.com/-practice/stepping-towards-enlightenment

From the movie: “I am”

When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet. You simply water them and clear away the weeds; you know that the seeds will grow in time.

Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart. Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness; the results will come when they’re ready.

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/meditators-toolbox

I am nice to people and people are nice to me.

I give money freely and my own bank account grows.

I have a good thought, something good happens.

I think of nice people I know, nice people come to know me.

I trust people, people trust me.

I am peaceful with people, people are peaceful with me.

I love and I am loved.

I accept others, others accept me.

One way that the giver sees his or her generosity return is found in “instant karma,” the Buddhist idea that acts that you do have direct consequences on the state of your mind and heart, even as you do them. The consequences of giving are quite wonderful in the present moment; if we are present for them, we can receive these wonderful consequences during the act of giving. 

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/joy-giving

A profound statement: Brothers can’t live beside each other once they’re married, but sisters can.

“When talking about others is motivated by thoughts of ill will, jealousy, or attachment, conversations turn into gossip.

Read this today, along with having some conversations recently with friends who are unsure of their gifts in life.  Sometimes, it seems, that we base distrust on very few situations, and trust on not too many situations. Overall, are we in a better place in life to trust than to distrust?

Granted, we get taken advantage of on occasions, but do those situations outweigh what trusting situations can bring us?

Overall, I would say – what can we do to make things better?  I’m not just talking right here, or at work, or home or anywhere geographically. I’m talking about a lifestyle of helping, trusting, believing and, as I think the Latin Poet Horace, Carpe Diem.

I think to myself, am I in a better place when I am angry, discontent, untrusting, cynical and disruptive; or, am I in a better place when I focusing on what I’m doing right now, not letting the past dictate my emotions.  Now, granted, one cannot take that to an extreme – one has to be cognizant on pitfalls and have avoidance radar, but, overall, for me at least, I’m much better when I’m trusting, even if I do get taken advantage of occasionally.  

http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/first-thought