Thoughts on Enlightenment During Meditation

During my meditation session yesterday I had an interesting thought enter my mind:"Enlightenment is a practice not a prize."~Peace to all beings~PHOTO CREDIT: Standing Buddha statue from the 2nd or 3rd century in a museum (not sure which one). However, Tom Armstrong sent the picture to me. Thanks Tom!!It's amazing how well intact is appears to be considering it's a...

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Guilt, Shame and Buddhist Practice

Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.~BuddhaJames: This reminds me of something that my mom told me in regards to guilt. Carrying guilt around in our minds is like hiking up a mountain and picking up every rock we stub our toe upon and throwing it in our backpack. That is unskillful. It is unnecessary suffering and it stems from a belief in a separate self. That somehow we are so important that we should suffer more than anyone else. It is also the belief that we are so powerful...

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Grasping Fire

The Buddha's teaching is all about understanding suffering--its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. When we contemplate suffering, we find we are contemplating desire, because suffering and desire are the same thing. Desire can be compared to fire. If we grasp fire, what happens? Does it lead to happiness? If we say: "Oh, look at that beautiful fire! Look at the beautiful colors! I love red and orange; theyre my favorite colors," and then grasp it, we would find a certain...

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Good News

Well, it's official. L got a new job!!!! We are so excited and I am unbelievably proud of her and her dedication. I am humbly grateful. The pay is about the same but the insurance is awfully expensive. She's covered 100% but to cover me we'd have to pay a $400 a month premium so we're taking the medicare route for me to cover all the drugs I have to take.L told me that now that she has a new job that she's going to buy me a pair of non-leather, cruelty-free, sweatshop free shoes!!! I'm so excited!!!...

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"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins

I saw this book in the bookstore months ago and knew that I would be reading it sooner of later but that I was backed up on my reading. Well, yesterday I picked it up and began reading and let me tell you that so far it doesn't disappoint. I've read up to page 23 but already the author, (Richard Dawkins) has made some intriguing points. This will be the first of many posts on the book.First of all I want to share a great quote from Carl Sagan on the matter of a supernatural "God:"Carl Sagan put...

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A Poem and A Passage

James: I'll start with a lovely poem that I've seen on the lastest Macy's commercial:The Earth has come to life today. Spring is here, horray, horray. The flowers are happy. They wave delight. The sun shines bright with all her might. So fly little fairy, fly, fly, fly. Fly through the meadow & touch the sky. When you get to where your going, Remember this day. The day the Earth came out to play.James: The following are some excerpts from the book, Buddhism is Now What You Think:...

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The Aspen Leaf Trembles Through Out the Galaxies

Under the loving rays of the sun I watch the Aspen leaf dance and flutter in the gentle breeze. I focus on the tiny network of veins hidden within. I follow them and enter into a tiny maze of a fragile yet vibrant world. Traveling through the labyrinth I go through smaller and smaller pathways until I explode into the largest Universe.An infinite number of galaxies exist within the tiniest of cells and the largest of galaxies contain an infinite number of microscopic cells.As Thich Nhat Hanh says,...

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Faux Leather Belt

I've been slowly (slowly only because of lack of money) phasing out my leather goods since becoming a "Buddhist" and becoming a vegetarian. Well, the other day I took my first step toward being "leather free." I ordered a "faux leather" belt and it is really nice. In fact, I like it more then any leather belt I've owned!! Part of it I think is the satisfaction and peace of mind knowing I'm not supporting the killing of animals. However, functionally speaking It is just as thick, pliable and supportive...

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Right Speech and Thought

This post will be about the steps on the Eight-fold path of Right Speech and Right thought.However, I do not wish to talk about the nuances of these two steps but rather talk about how they are influencing me right now.There was a time when I didn't care much about life or anything else and I developed a pretty nasty habit of cussing. And sadly it still lingers with me to this day despite finding the Dharma. The seeds have been heavily watered so that there are great trees rooted in the fertile...

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Warrior Monks in Buddhism

I was reading my latest copy of the Buddhadharma magazine when I came across a reference to the Tendai school of Buddhism and being curious started reading about it online.I began reading and soon found reference to "warrior monks" and had to chuckle. What was a "warrior monk" I wondered and read on. Apparently there was a time when different Buddhist temples in ancient Japan fought with each other and developed these "warrior monks" that would fight to defend their temple and attack other temples....

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Missing the Moment

It is often the case that whatever we are doing, be it sitting, walking, standing, or lying, the mind is frequently disengaged from the immediate reality and is instead absorbed in compulsive conceptualization about the future or past. While we are walking, we think about arriving, and when we arrive, we think about leaving. When we are eating, we think about the dishes and as we do the dishes, we think about watching television. This is a weird way to run a mind. We are not connected with...

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