Buddhism, Hinduism, Karma, Fate and Predestination.

Whatever decision we think we are making is actually being made for us, because the decision is the end result of a thought and we have no control over the arising of the thought.

-Ramesh Balsekar

James: Upon first reading this I agreed with it but now that I've been contemplating upon it for awhile I'm wondering, "Do we really have no control over the arising of the thought? Don't we have control over what we think?"

I realize that karma plays a role in our thought process but this quote seems to confuse karma. It rather seems fatalistic and seems to lean toward teaching predestination and from what I've learned Buddhism doesn't teach fatalism or predestination:

It is quite often the case that we find people misunderstanding the idea of karma. This is particularly true in our daily casual use of the term. We find people saying that one cannot change one’s situation because of one’s karma. In this sense, karma becomes a sort of escape. It becomes similar to predestination or fatalism. This is emphatically not the correct understanding of karma. It is possible that this misunderstanding of karma has come about because of the popular idea that we have about luck and fate. It may be for this reason that our idea of karma has become overlaid in popular thought with the notion of predestination. Karma is not fate or predestination.

James: I'd really enjoy hearing your thoughts on this quote, fate, karma, predestination and how it relates (or not) to Buddhism. Part of this could be a difference between Buddhism and Hinduism as this quote came from a daily Hindu wisdom email. And while I don't know Hinduism as well as Buddhism it was my understanding that Hindus don't believe in predestination either.

~Peace to all beings~

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Akhirnya Kembali Juga Nge"Blog"

Sejak mengawali perjalanan wisata dalam rangka liburan Galungan, Nyepi dan Kuningan yang kali ini terjadi berurutan dalam 2 (dua minggu) sehingga membuat daerah bali terjadi libur yang cukup panjang.


Pantai Weru


Meski postingan kali ini agak nyeleneh dari ilmu komputer tetapi karena ini adalah bagian dari mencari hiburan di selah-selah kesibukan dengan rutinitas yang menjemuhkan kita perlu

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Prajnaparamita-Hridaya Sutra Mantra.

I've been looking for a reliable representation of the Heart Sutra's mantra (om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha) in either Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, etc. I have been doing extensive research but haven't found much. I found the version written above in the Siddham script of Sanskrit (At least I think the above script is Siddham).

However, I need a verification of it's validity and accuracy because eventually I want this section of the Heart Sutra tattooed on my forearm and don't want to get the wrong thing tattooed on me. Can anyone verify the Siddham script Sanskrit version or give me a version written in any of those other Asian languages that I mentioned above? I also think I found a version written in Japanese kanji (below)--can anyone confirm it as being the Heart Sutra mantra?The other question I have is that the characters above seem like Chinese and not Japanese but I'm not an expert to say the least. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bowing...

~Peace to all beings~

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We all Make Mistakes.

We all make mistakes from time to time. Life is about learning to make our mistakes less often. To realize this goal, we have a policy in our monastery that monks are allowed to make mistakes. When the monks are not afraid to make mistakes, they don’t make so many.

–Ajahn Brahm, from Opening the Door of Your Heart (Lothian Books)

James: (I am not a teacher and the following are my thoughts and mine alone). I have often found that perfectionism is a common obstacle to many people. Striving for perfection is in my view another form of desire because we refuse to accept that we are already perfect as all has Buddha nature. Perfectionism asserts that mistakes are negative and signs of failure.

In reality we can not make progress without making mistakes. If we adjust our lives so that we won't make many mistakes then we greatly hinder our chances and opportunities to peel away the layers of karma to reveal the perfect jewel of enlightenment. Not to mention loosing out on a lot of the joys of life out of a fear of making mistakes. But guess what?--everyone makes mistakes and suffers pain.

Even Buddha suffered aches and pains after his enlightenment. He understand that, "Enlightened people do not cease to experience the pain of existence. They only stop creating illusions that amplify that pain and cause new suffering." However, If we compare ourselves say to advanced students or the great teachers then we will come up feeling inadequate and get discouraged to where it would be easy to give up the Dharma thinking we will never become who they are.

The key I think is to set modest goals and realize that the middle-path isn't a short-cut or express lane but rather a journey that will most likely take many, many, many lives to fulfill. There is no reason to be discouraged by this, however, because instead it takes the pressure off of feeling like we have to realize enlightenment in this life, which often brings frustration, low self-esteem and discouragement. Of course we should strive to do our best and live the Dharma as best we can but mistakes will happen and that is simply apart of the journey. Step by step, moment by moment, enlightenment unveils itself.

When we refuse to accept imperfection then we set ourselves up for disappointment and suffering. On the contrary when we accept that things don't have to be perfect to be good or beneficial then we can stop worrying so much and enjoy being perfect in our imperfections!! I think that is one of the reasons why the teaching on the present moment is so important because it is keeping goals realistic. Thus the teaching of "before enlightenment I chopped wood and carried water and after enlightenment I chopped wood and carried water."

Before enlightenment perhaps we chopped wood and carried water with a constant thought stream of self-judgments such as: "I should be chopping wood faster," or "Look at how much water is splashing over the side of the bucket, I must be worthless at this job." Little perhaps do we realize that like a famous story goes--the water splashing over the side of the bucket could be watering flowers down below, flowers that we did not notice because our focus was on trying to be perfect.

After enlightenment chopping wood and carrying water is perfection already expressed because the focus is no longer on doing the task perfectly but on simply doing and fully experiencing the task itself as it unfolds.

~Peace to all beings~

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Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm sorry that I haven't been writing lately. I have been getting ready for a big trip to Indiana and Chicago to visit family. I'll be back in about a week with some new posts. I hope you are all doing well and I'll miss you!!

Oh and Michael? The one who put their name into the hat for the Zen enso t-shirt? You won the contest awhile back but haven't heard from you. If you don't reply to this post by the time I get back I'll have to give it to someone else. So I'll leave you with a quote to chew on:


Listen to the cicadas in treetops near the
waterfall;
See how last night's rains have washed away
all grime.
Needless to say my hut is as empty as can
be,
But I can offer you a window full of the most
intoxicating air !

-Ryokan, Zen monk of Japan

James: O.k., I'm off. Be well in your practice.

I bow to you all....

~Peace to all beings~

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