Tannishblog

No pithy quotes this week. No lengthy harangue, either. Just a quick link to a neat site I stumbled across:

Zen Habits

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,"

Courtesy of my inquisitive nephew, some delicious links come my way. First, the blog of a science journalists illuminates about recent studies on ancient meditation practices. Modern scanning technology can now measure the effects of Buddhist mind training techniques showing meditation’s effects. The Dalai Lama recently wrote a book on the convergence of science and Buddhist spiritual assertions. If your interested, I highly recommend The Universe In A Single Atom.

Second, my wily relative sends me some short animation from a couple friends, one of whom is a co-creator of South Park, that illustrates some passages from Alan Watts. See it at coldhardflash.com.

It is a fervent hope of mine that a revolution in spirituality will propel humanity forward in the foreseeable future. Not religion, let me stress, but a connection of spirit and a reaffirmation of our collective humanity. Many would scoff. Yet I ask: how else are we to keep ourselves from self-annihilation?

Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unknown self — if you become aware of it — the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is. You are a function of this total galaxy, bounded by the Milky Way, and this galaxy is a function of all other galaxies. You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes. You look and look, and one day you are going to wake up and say, "Why, that’s me!" And in knowing that, you know that you never die. You are the eternal thing that comes and goes, that appears — now as John Jones, now as Mary Smith, now as Betty Brown — and so it goes, forever and ever and ever.

~ Alan Watts

A Very Wise Man once said:

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

And that says it all.

Namaste

I contemplate loss this week. Not because I have lost a loved one, thankfully, but because I have been laid off from my job. Things come and then they go. I am at peace.

Sure there’s a family relying on my tepid ability to bring money into the house. I can still do that, will again when conditions arise. That will be soon because I am at peace. Things come and they go; peace is eternal.

While an earlier version of me would mourn the loss of a conceptual construct, through anger, resentment, denial, then finally acceptance, there is a shorter route. Why not go from loss straight to acceptance? Things com and go. That is the Nature of Things…

I do not worry because what was lost can be found, because what was lost is ephemeral, insubstantial, weightless. I wonder if it is real at all. It can be regained through a peaceful spirit, through patience.

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

               ~  William James

No longer fear and loathing. Only peace and acceptance. And the understanding that I have lost nothing…. really.

Another week, another Zen. While contemplating this ephemeral life, I note how time seems to accelerate even while relaxing. It does not last long. The wise make every moment count, knowing how few there are. The foolish squander their one true possession, time, to travel headlong and heedless toward time’s ending. Once there, we must all ask ourselves: What have I accomplished?

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God…

~ Walt Whitman

Another Zen realization from a Westerner. More proof that wisdom is reachable to anyone open to receive.

Namaste

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.

Long time no Zen. I let this feature retire because I felt it was not appreciated by my three readers; that is was self-serving. That’s silly. This whole blog-thing is self service. Especially when one is as obscure as I am.

No self-pity, though, just noting reality in all it’s glory… So don’t misconstrue the following quote from an old Dzogchen.org email as disparaging. I’m hoping you’ll see yourself in some of these common human tendencies. I know I do.

10 Things That Can Make Your Life Suck

            ~ by Alan Cohen

                (from "Why Your Life Sucks: And What You Can Do About It")

1.    giving your power away
2.    expecting your life to suck
3.    getting fooled by appearances
4.    wasting your energy on things that suck
5.    trying to prove yourself
6.    saying "yes" when you mean "no"
7.    thinking you have to do it all yourself
8.    trying to fix other people
9.    starving your soul
10.  forgetting to enjoy the ride

That last one, I think is the clincher… Enjoy your ride.You only get the one.

Namaste

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…