The Praying Dog and How Animals Teach Us.

The Associated Press

NAHA, Japan — At a Zen Buddhist temple in southern Japan, even the dog prays.

Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha's Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.

It took him only a few days to learn the motions, and now he is the talk of the town.

"Word has spread, and we are getting a lot more tourists," Yoshikuni said Monday.

Yoshikuni said Conan generally goes through his prayer routine at the temple in the capital of Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture (state) without prompting before his morning and evening meals.

"I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it too," Yoshikuni said.

The priest is now trying to teach him how to meditate. Well, sort of.

"Basically, I am just trying to get him to sit still while I meditate," he explained. "It's not like we can make him cross his legs."

James: I adore dogs. They are so innocent, full of unconditional love and joyful to be around. This one seems to be preparing for rebirth as a human and perhaps a monk. :)I'm sure that this little doggie doesn't understand what he is doing but I'm sure that he feels the peaceful energy surrounding him that helps him feel content, peaceful and calm. He has Buddha nature as any other living entity and is our relative in the large and beautiful family of sentient beings.

It seems less skillful to me to regard animals as less than us and therefore somehow not worthy of our protection and kindness. We must look upon animals with compassion and help them live the best life possible to help reduce their suffering as no sentient beings wants to suffer. And even though we see ourselves as their teachers and guides, they too have much to offer and teach us.

They remind us not to take ourselves too seriously, they teach us how to have unconditional love for others, they remind us of the freedom found in the present moment and to not let anger rule our hearts but to forgive and move on. Animals are the ultimate optimists who teach us a positive attitude brings great happiness and that is o.k. to be submissive at times.

I'd love to hear what you learn from animals in the comment section. :)

Special thanks to my reader Perri for sending this story my way.

~Peace to all beings~

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"My Stroke of Insight," by Jill Bolte Taylor.

This is an excellent video speech from a scientist of the brain, Jill Bolte Taylor who describes what it was like to suffer a stroke. Yet she beautifully spoke of the peace that was involved at the same time she was experiencing a health crisis that so many of us fear. It is a brave, courageous story in accepting and being aware of what is going on in our present situation. You might notice some Buddhist themes/ideas within it. I must thank my fellow traveler in samsara who wishes to remain anonymous for sending me this great video. I bow to the Buddha within him and you all. Enjoy!!:

~Peace to all beings~

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Spring is Reborn.

Sometimes the concept of rebirth is hard to envision because it seems like a mystical, supernatural idea that is hard for our limited minds to understand. And to be honest, I don't know for a fact that we will be reborn. I have faith that rebirth is a reality but I don't dwell much on the concept and constantly worry how I will be reborn and what do I need to do to be reborn into a "good situation," whatever that means. I do not think that this kind of attention is helpful to us because it only brings us anxiety because we are attached to something that is impossible to figure out in this moment.

I have personally found it more skillful to focus on the present moment at hand where we have the best chance to liberate ourselves from the suffering that we bring upon ourselves by wasting that moment obsessing about what happens upon the death of the body. Each moment is a chance to be reborn anew giving us another precious moment to live mindfully which enables us to transform habit energy into something more positive and more helpful in our ultimate goal of achieving full liberation from samsara. It is ironic that we refer to it as liberation when it is more like remembering, remembering our essence which is nothing short of Buddhahood.

Being fully present in being aware of our surroundings we see the beauty of rebirth in a direct way all around us. We know and see the change of seasons in many areas of the world and with mindfulness we see that this process is a reflection of the reality of human life. In the spring we are born, we grow up in the summer into adulthood, in the winter we begin to age and in the winter we die but the process continues. On the coldest days of winter it seems that life is gone and so is the beauty of existence but there is joy to be found even in that season of death. The coldness is not unlike the cold feelings that we experience when a loved has died and is a reminder to us to make the most of each moment.

The snow in the world shuts down the known and conditioned brain's "preferred" beauty of blooming trees, plants, flowers and active animal life. To our blinding sensory desires we miss the artistic way that snow sculpts itself into delicate and stunning formations. We miss the creative way that icicles form and accent the sky. We often miss the beautiful contrast of green pine trees dusted with fine layers of white snow.

If winter in your part of the world means rain, we miss the beauty of the cleansing nature of water and how without water the rebirth of life sustaining plants would never be possible. The winter monsoons drive people indoors for days at a time and it is easy to resent the rain because it prevents us from doing the things that we love outside. However, seen in a more mindful way it should be seen as a blessing because it gives us time to be mindful, reflect on our lives and allows us ample time to meditate.

All is being reborn here in my part of the world, flowers are growing, trees and budding and birds are looking to usher in new life. This is another chance to enjoy the beauty of change. So often we only see suffering in change but like with all experiences there is beauty and joy to be found.

So do not worry over enlightenment, Nirvana and the Pure Land for they are all present in the here and now. The total liberation in the scriptural state will happen when we are ready and our karma has ripened. In the mean time, the bliss of Nirvana can be seen in the beauty of delicate flowers re-emerging right before our eyes and even in the dark cold days of winter. All is present to us if we but relax our minds and allow ourselves to just be. We are apart of Buddha's enlightenment and therefore Buddha's to be, what a wonderful thought!! What a wonderful heritage we are apart of!!

There is nothing that is not divine for all is as it can only be. We can not do anything else but go with the flow of the vast river of pure being. Resistance is the path of suffering.

May we all realize joy in the rebirth of each breath. Present moment, wonderful moment, only moment. I leave you with the words of my precious teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh:
~Peace to all beings~

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Five Years of War in Iraq.

It has been five years since the start of the Iraq war and it is a sad anniversary to say the least.

The length of this war shows us that war only causes more violence, hatred and mistrust. There are very few wars that have done much good, the only one that I can think of would be World War II. However, even that war caused much unnecessary suffering and death such as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the bombing of Dresden.

I firmly believe that it would have been enough to tell the Japanese that America had such a bomb of mass destruction to get them to surrender. I think another option would have been to simply set the bomb off way out in the ocean where no one would have been killed but the large explosion could be seen and be convincing enough to bring about a Japanese surrender.

Even in the midst of the war in Iraq there are those who would start another one with Iran. I believe firmly that we can settle disputes with the Persian country if we engage in meaningful and in-depth dialog with them. In not talking with them America is increasing the tension and distrust between the two countries.

The Iranians do not want to suffer just as everyone does not want to suffer. It is vital that the world understands that we are interconnected and that we cannot over-come our suffering and fears by creating suffering and fear for others.

The culture of war may never cease while humans live on this planet but if there must be war may there be as little death, injury and suffering as possible.

May Iraq know lasting peace by this time next year.

~Peace to all beings~

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China Off America's List of Worst Human Rights Abusers.

In an almost unnoticed and sad development, the United States of America has removed China from its list of the world's worst human rights abusers. This is particularly troubling given that China just recently broke up a second day of peaceful protest marching by 500-600 monks in Tibet with tear gas and arrests. Today saw a third day of growing protests and in response the Chinese military has sealed off monasteries, reports say that these have been the largest protests in nearly two decades. These protests marked the 49th anniversary of an uprising of against Chinese rule. Some reports say that gunfire could be heard.The heart beat of Tibet is the heart beat of all peace loving people. I have such admiration and respect for these monks and lay people who have mastered their fears and risen peacefully to stand up to the powerful waves of suffering battering them day after day. One molecule of water is no watch in breaking and wearing down a wall but hundreds, thousands and millions of molecules linked together in Oneness of concentration have the power to bit by bit erode away the strongest barriers to freedom. May we be apart of that wave. This is what Gandhi understood as talked about in my previous post.

Let us stand tall and show Tibetans everywhere that we stand firm together with them to peacefully affect change in their beautiful and sacred land. Let us take a few moments in our meditations to contemplate how we can not only free the Tibetans but also free the Chinese military and government from their anger as well as resistance toward change. We must stand up in solidarity with our Tibetan brothers and sisters in order to show the Chinese dictatorship that the practices of violence and force are not effective in realizing true unity and oneness.

They must understand that you can not force people to agree with your opinions and policies because you believe that you know what is best for them--such actions only create more suffering for the very people that you sought to free. That being said, may we also have love toward the Chinese government officials because they are caught up in the shackles of suffering from fear, frustration and anger. Speaking of anger, may we not allow anger toward the Chinese government overtake our minds to prevent resorting to violence ourselves.
The removing of China from the worst human rights abusers list is also disturbing given China's support of the Burmese dictatorship which killed and illegally jailed citizens (many of them monks) for peacefully protesting their brutal regime last year. As well as China's support of the Sudanese government in Africa which has been linked to the genocide in Darfur.China should not be removed from this list of the worst human rights abusers until (at the very least) they grant Tibet independence and grant full freedom to the Chinese people. As well as the political freedom of the Chinese people themselves. They must be constantly reminded that oppressing the Tibetan people and violating human rights within China proper is not acceptable. Maintaining this position as well as not rewarding them with the Olympics are forms of peaceful protests that convey opposition and disagreement without anger and using violence. The Great Bodhisattva Gandhi showed that this kind of campaign is indeed effective in over-coming even the most powerful and oppressive systems of government.The Dalai Lama has urged peaceful protests during the Beijing Olympics. Many Tibetans feel that the decision to award the games to China is at odds with the goal of the Olympic movement, which is to build a peaceful and better world. Campaigners fear Beijing will use the Olympics to inaccurately present China as a free and open society to the outside world.I fear that many Buddhists take pacifism too far. I hear from some folks who say that being involved in political protests just upset ones peacefulness. Yet how can we enjoy our peacefulness and freedom to worship as we desire when not all in this world have that same chance? Is not the Engaged Buddhism that Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of part of practicing the Bodhisattva vows to not rest until all people achieve freedom and liberation from suffering? This is not simply some mystical, other worldly ability limited to the somewhat mythical being Avalokiteshvara. It is my belief that the essence of the Avalokiteshvara story is a tool to teach us that our peace is everyones' peace and that our suffering is everyones' suffering.

I agree that it is not wise to worry night and day about politics, violence, hatred and fear but neither is isolating ourselves. Isolation and inaction is ignoring to a degree the suffering of others and is in my opinion less skillful action. If we earnestly believe in inter-being then we must not remain silent on political issues such as these. This is partly the symbolism of the Tibetan endless knot picture above and to the left--The mutual dependence of religious doctrine and secular affairs.

It is not less skillful to be involved in Democratic politics, it is an imperfect tool at times but the best that we have to do our best to bring the greatest peace and freedom possible to as many sentient beings as possible.

UPDATE: Philip Ryan over at the excellent Tricycle Editor's Blog is reporting that Chinese media has confirmed 10 dead during new protests in Tibet. However, supporters of the protests and of the Dalai Lama put the number at 80.

~Peace to all beings~

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