The winners of the 2008 Blogisattva Awards were announced last Sunday. To my glee, I was honored with a win in the Best Achievement in Wonderful, Remarkable, Elegant Design category. But the best part is being introduced to so many remarkable Buddhist bloggers sharing their experiences and words. My bookmark files overfloeth.
Thank you all. Namaste.
The inclusion of this blog in a list of outstanding Buddhist blogs is surprising. I’m grateful, but perhaps unworthy. This is not exactly a “Buddhist Blog,” despite a few tentative attempts. Its more like a collection of political, leftist whining. Even in that aspect, it’s losing steam. Perhaps that’s a (insert appropriate judgment here) thing.
Neither do I necessarily feel I am a Buddhist, although I’ve taken vows, meditate (almost) daily and make continued progress to tame the mental patterns of my youth. I yearn to make a contribution to the social and spiritual awakening of your species. Reality says such an undertaking is yet beyond me; I am a Baby Buddhist, so I must make baby steps. For now, any influence I might own is small. So I focus on small tasks to positively improve the world around me:
Having such modest aims as a centerpiece of Buddhist practice, I am amazed by its effectiveness. Within my tiny sphere of influence I has seen how these changes affect those around me and spread out exponentially. And when I forget, I recall the opening lines of the Metta Sutra:
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove…
Such are the tentative steps of a spiritual toddler on the path toward enlightenment. Its Changing my world, One smile at a time. Most of the smiles aren’t even mine.
I just learned that this humble blog is a nominee for the 2008 Blogisattva Awards. Perusing their many nominees, I see they’re promoting primarily Buddhist bloggers whom, in my opinion, can use some recognition - if even amongst ourselves. The project is quite comprehensive, boasting “26 categories of awards with an aggregate 132 nominations.” I’d love to know how they found this little blog…
Look me up under the category of:
Best Achievement in Wonderful, Remarkable Elegant Design.
(It could use a few more superlatives, perhaps?) The winners will be announced, this Sunday, Feb 24, 2008.
Cool. Thanks, good people!
No pithy quotes this week. No lengthy harangue, either. Just a quick link to a neat site I stumbled across:
Enjoy!
Whom is in control of your life?
Wait - before you shout the obvious response, please think a bit first. I challenge you; do you truly control your life? Then why are there so many things that seem to spin out of control?
One would think if ultimate mastery is ours, we would sail through to our dotage grinning. We would eliminate all that we dislike, all that we find stressful, and collect the moments and memories that we cherish.
Yet we don’t. We can’t. Why is that?
I’m not being rhetorical in my questions. The answer can be found. To do so, find a quiet, comfortable space and sit for a half hour a day and just watch your thoughts. An earnest Meditation practice can bear fruit quickly. You’ll notice when you mind recalls that argument from last week, your mental grocery list, that phone call you forgot to make yesterday, and countless other thoughts swirling past your awareness like dust in a tornado.
Sit with it. Don’t try to control the flow, or to not think of anything - that’s as futile as stopping your breath. Just feel the in and out of relaxed breathing, maintain a comfortable upright, balanced posture and let things happen as they will. When a thought arises, label it “thought,” and let is dissolve on its own.
The long and short of this practice is to know the workings of your thoughts, learn which are useful and which are not. In time your heightened sensitivity will help when, in the thick of it, an undesirable thought or emotion arises, and will enable you to let it drift like a tiny storm cloud, not to affect your day.
Then will you start to gain control of everything. Because your mind is the center of your life, once you control it every other aspect will become much more manageable. Try it and see for yourself.
Sometime’s difficult people bring out the worst in us. Watching others and judging, finding fault will not help us attain wisdom. Watching ourselves as we find fault in others is closer to the mark. Watching others and minding our own behavior, ignoring the actions of others in favor of correct actions ourselves - that is the key.
It is not proper to watch other people. This will not help your practice. If you are annoyed, watch the annoyance in your own mind. If others’ discipline is bad or they are not good monks, this is not for you to judge. You will not discover widsom watching others. Monks’ discipline is a tool to use for your own meditation. It is not a weapon to use to criticize or find fault. No one can do your practice for you, nor can you do practice for anyone else. Just be mindful of your own doings. This is the way to practice.~ Ajahn Chah, "Bodhinyana"
from "365 Buddha: Daily Meditations,"
Buddhist sentiments are not just for meditators and robe wearers. The principals found in the teaching of the historical Buddha, are found in many places, from many different sources. That’s because the Buddha didn’t teach a religion, he taught philosophy and a direct application of self awareness that reinforces the message because the teaching emanated from self inspection. This philosophy is based upon being human, what it means to be human , and how to live as a human. As such, it is universal to all people everywhere.
Still it surprises people to find harmonious teachings coming from Western sources. I shouldn’t, but it does. That’s why I feature these sources specifically: to shed light upon the universality of the Dharma.
The following quote comes from world class social advocate Dawna Markova, CEO of Professional Thinking Partners, author and guiding light behind Smart Wired, an organization devoted to teach future generations to live purposeful, enlightened lifestyles. Her focus is teaching others to live meaningful lives. Her message is sorely needed.
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
Of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
To allow my living to open me,
To make me less afraid,
More accessible;
To loosen my heart,
until it becomes a wing
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.~ by Dawna Markova
For us to change the future into a more ideal vision of peace, ecological stewardship, justice and equality, we must teach this vision to our children, contrast current reality with future possibility and stress that they are the architects of change. Instill fearlessness in our kids, instill compassion, but mostly promote a sense of urgency, so they use their short lives well and unhesitatingly work to make their world better. Doing so manifests Dharma by improving well being of all living creatures, which is exactly what Buddhism aims for.
A once-in-a-lifetime event is taking place on May 6th in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama is visiting to give a teaching in mind training in the morning at the Harris Theater, and a public talk entitled: Finding Inner Peace in a World Full of Turmoil, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in the evening. Tickets are available for either event or for an all-day pass which includes a catered luncheon. The full-day package is very limited.
Tickets go on sale today a noon. Proceeds will benefit the establishment of Tibetan-American Center for Cross-Cultural Understanding, Chicago. Go to the web site dalailamachicago.com for more information, or go to the Harris Theater online box office.
Maybe I’ll see you there!
It’s been a couple weeks. If you’ve missed them, I apologize. I’d like to think others get a kick out of this feature besides myself…
A timeless quote as offered by Lama Suryas Das at the Dzogchen Center:
The way to happiness:
Keep your heart free from hate, your mind free from worry.
Live simply, expect little, give much.
Scatter sunshine.
Forget self, think of others.
Try this for a week
and you will be surprised.~ Norman Vincent Peale
It sees that thinking of others unfortunately is rare in our society. Anyone with an open mind and heart who wishes to test these words will indeed be surprised that the very habit of putting others first raises one’s self esteem thereby increasing happiness. Any other methods of harmony are magnified by the simple act of caring for someone besides yourself. Too bad few people notice this…
There are ways of looking at the world that perhaps should be investigated. As all things continually change, immutable view points eventually create problems. One obvious example is how mankind treats industrial pollution, still clinging to the view that the world is vast and capable of absorbing the smoke, runoff, and debris of human industry. This used to be true, before the industrial revolution, but is no longer. nonetheless, it is a common belief.
Another example - if one is needed- is the concepts surrounding the formation and maintenance of statehood. It is founded on, among other premises, the idea that people of differing geographical origins are somehow different from each other. Intertwined with this false view is the common value of us-over-them. "We" are always somehow better than "Them." Over the past few centuries we’ve seen how such adamant thinking, unrelated to reality, eventually ends. Our species competitive nature, jealousies and fears, and subsequent distrust fuel and perpetuate such false notions.
Yet the march of time proceeds. All things change. Science and technology is opening up our views, albeit reluctantly, and soon we will not be able to deny the basic facts found in today’s quote from one of my favorite people:
Today’s world requires us to accept the oneness of humanity… The world is becoming increasingly interdependent. Within the context of this new interdependence, self-interest clearly lies in considering the interest of others. Without the cultivation of a sense of universal responsibility our very future is in danger.
~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Please read this as a spiritual message, then re-read it as a political one. The two aren’t apposed, as we once believed. As we reach toward a global conclusion of our species naked aggression, as we simultaneously reach outcomes of outmoded patterns of thought in seemingly diverse areas like religion, science, industry, diplomacy and it’s failures, economics, we must either acknowledge our inter-connectivity or die of the consequences. Look about you, it is writ large everywhere.
The time is now. There is no other time, past is lost to us and future is yet speculation. Only now can we act to reassess our static views, and let our reality shape them. Too long have we been trying the opposite…