You Left Hand Isn't Superior to Your Right.

The sound in this video is of poor quality so you'll want to turn up the volume.

James: I call Thich Nhat Hanh my teacher for many reasons: He's straightforward, uses simple explanations that explain deep concepts, has a knack for knowing how to teach the western mind, has a great sense of humor and is very kind and compassionate. His left hand, right hand analogy was a revelation to me when I was first studying Buddhism because it really helped me see the big picture of interdependence, interconnection and no self. I hope you enjoyed it too!!

~Peace to all beings~

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World Cup Buddhist.

Phayul, July 10, 2010

Dharamsala, India -- Barcelona and Spain defender Carles "Tarzan" Puyol who scored the only goal of the semi final against Germany to send his country into the first ever world cup final has a keen interest in Buddhism, according to his friend Ven. Thupten Wangchen of the Casa del Tibet, Barcelona. Ven Wangchen told VOA that Puyol's interest in Tibetan culture and Buddhism started after reading Sogyal Rinpoche’s book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying which helped him deal with death of a family member. Puyol, Ven. Wangchen said, has a Tibetan tattoo on his left arm which reads “Power is inside the Mind. The strong can endure.”

Puyol, also an admirer of the Tibetan leader has met His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the latter's visit to Barcelona in 2007. Ven. Wangchen said Puyol has also expressed his interest in helping the Tibetan national football team in the future.

James: I was thrilled like millions around the world to enjoy the football mega-tournament, the World Cup recently in South Africa. I think sports are a great way to connect with people from around the world to remind one another that we are all essentially the same. We all want to be happy, or as the Dalai Lama says, no one wants to suffer. It was great to see all the different cultures represented from around the globe and I especially enjoyed hearing all the unique national anthems play before each match. It really was a coming together of the world and I was overjoyed to be apart of it.

As to this article, I am mostly excited about the idea of a Tibetan national football team!! Go Puyol!! How cool would it be to see Tibetans play in the greatest game the world has ever played!! But the footage I'd love to see the most would be the Dalai Lama kicking around the hexagonal ball. Maybe surprise us with his stretching skills from years of meditation and go for a bicycle kick? That would be epic. I also happen to know that the 17th Karmapa has the bug for football/soccer and followed the World Cup. Besides I just think it would be cool to see a monk in robes blast a ball into the back of the net by way of a bicycle kick. I just think that dueling imagery would be cool to see. Ancient robes bustling in the air while a very modern game (football) is being played by the monk wearing those robes.

~Peace to all beings~

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The Moon and the Idiot.

When the genius points at the moon, the idiot looks at the finger.

-Old Chinese proverb.

PHOTO CREDIT: Moon over Beijing, China.

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The Worms Crawl in and the Worms Crawl Out.

When I was a young boy I spent some years in the Boy Scouts, which is a survivalist organization that trains young men on how to live in the wilderness. As well as teach them other life skills. When the leaders weren't around we kids would sing songs that, naturally, were deemed by our elders as, "gross." You know how kids are. The one that comes to mind today is something called, "The Hearse Song" which is about death and stems from the 19th century when it was documented among British soldiers serving in the Crimean War. Here are the full lyrics as I learned them:

If you ever laugh as the hearse goes by
You may be the next to die.

They wrap you up
in a bloody sheet
and drop you six feet
underneath.

The Worms Crawl In,
The Worms Crawl Out,
Into your stomach,
And out your mouth.

They eat your eyes, they eat your nose.
They eat the jelly between your toes.
A big green worm with rolling eyes
crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.

This is how
It is to die
You end up looking
Like apple pie!

James: This "gory" topic was brought to mind from a post by the no non-sense Buddhist blogger Genkaku. In this post he was speaking about his experience attending funeral homes here in America. This got me thinking about death, which is something that I came to terms with years ago. Studying Zen Buddhism and having had to struggle with suicidal thoughts from a mental illness forces you to face death whether you like it or not. So, anyway, part of Genkaku's post is about how quickly some recoil and run away from anything related to death. Or how we're not supposed to laugh about death, as if doing so shows a sign of disrespect to the dead. Or by laughing we're cursed to die next. I find all that superstitious mumbo-jumbo to be funny in and of itself!! Cursed to be the next to die? If you wanna use those words and look at it in that manner then we're all "cursed."

That's the way Buddhism sees it too--not as a curse but definitely as a fact of life to come to terms with sooner than later. That's because we're all dying from the minute after we take our first breath as a fresh and snappy-skinned baby. Buddhism teaches us that death is nothing to be feared because it is just another change in the many changes leading up to it. As another online writer says it, "It is the temporary end of a temporary problem." Now, some think that contemplating upon death is depressing, leads to despair and suicidal thinking.

Actually, in my own experience, (and from that of others who have embraced death and come to terms with its reality) it opens one up to live with less suffering. When you realize that death could come at any minute then you truly understand how precious each present moment really and truly is. This has allowed me to savor and enjoy life on a much deeper and profound level. This blunt assessment of death and suffering isn't nihilism but a pragmatic acceptance of life as it is, and not how we want it to be.

As for the specifics of death, I personally find the way we deal with death in Western culture to be a bit silly. We buy dressy, expensive clothes to wrap our dead shell in, which are quickly going to rot away. Then we buy a really expensive, fancy, box that we're only going to use once. We fill it with our finely dressed, bag of bones, which we promptly bury in our bejeweled box under six feet of dirt. And we do this in a fancy park that could be used to house homeless instead of rotting bags of flesh. As if all that isn't enough to stroke our egos we top it all off with an intricately etched headstone proudly stating our name. Or, rather the name of the body.

According to Buddhist standards our name, and that body are long expired the minute our last breath escapes. In fact, our name is pretty much meaningless while we're living as well!! Some people are so attached to their lives that even after death they even want a fancy house (mausoleum) to surround and protect their buried box!! They don't want their "special bones" sitting next to the bones of some lowly, average citizen!!

Upon my death, I just want my body cut up and pieced out to use in helping sick, yet living bodies live longer, healthier lives via organ donation. I highly support organ donation by the way. If there is anything left I simply would like the rest of it cremated and have my ashes spread around, so that perhaps other living things can benefit from it. Or possibly the sky burial they do in Tibet if I could find a way to get away with it. Or perhaps just take my stinkin' pile of bones up into the mountains I love so much and prop me up against a tree to serve as compost for flowers and mushrooms and such. If all else fails just donate my bag of bones to science. So, sing, "The Hearse Song" and enjoy this present moment.

~Peace to all beings

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When Meditating, Let Go of Expectations.

It is important to sit with the clear intention to be present. At the same time, we need to let go of expectations. In a very real sense, what happens when we sit is none of our business.

The practice is to accept whatever arises instead of trying to control our experience. What we can control is our wise effort to be present with what is. We can spend a lot of our sitting time dwelling on memories of past sittings or fantasizing of those to come.

When we read or hear about the benefits of meditation, it is tempting to dwell on the stories of wonderful outcomes instead of doing the work of actualizing these possibilities ourselves. There can be a big gap between what we have read about and what is actually happening. Sitting is a way of putting our bodies behind our aspirations.

-Narayan Liebenson Grady, "The Refuge of Sitting" (Winter 2003)

James: Nothing breeds discouragement with our meditation practice more than having expectations of how it is "supposed to be." That is why I like this quote about using meditation to just be present with your mind in whatever state you find it in. To become aware of our mind and what it is reflecting from inside our subconsciousness at any given moment is enough practice to work on for a lifetime. As much as we like to think we have things figured out in this existence the reality is that most of us are clueless, and bumbling through life like an inexperienced boy scout crashing through the forest.

In keeping with the analogy, I was always told when I was a boy scout that if I ever got lost to just sit down next to a tree and stay in that area. It makes it easier for people to find you as you aren't a moving target and you don't waste energy needed to sustain being lost for an indefinite period of time. Spiritually, we are lost in the woods. The woods being samsara while staying put in one place is akin to sitting down to meditate and center our mind in one place. When our mind is resting in the present moment we stop wasting energy chasing expectations and come to terms with what's really going on in that spinning washing machine like mind of ours.

Only when we accept what is bubbling up from our subconsciousness can we truly understand what is causing our suffering. Yet (as the quote warns us) don't expect every meditation session to ease your suffering. It seems that meditation is a bit like a box of chocolates (as Forest Gump would say) "You never know what you're gonna get." Sometimes meditation can make you feel a bit worse before you feel better because it will dredge up a long hidden obstacle. But don't freak out and stop meditating--it's good to dig up that shit because you're now aware of it and being aware is useful because you know where to focus your energies. Regardless of what happens when you meditate, it's all beneficial. There is nothing in life that isn't beneficial. It's our mind that says otherwise but the mind is exactly where the problem lies in the first place!! We can't rely upon the very mind that deludes us to bring us back to reality.

The mind might not want to reflect on something painful and seek to cast it aside as unhelpful but perhaps that's the exact reason to NOT cast it aside but to focus extra attention upon it. Perhaps the mind casts it aside because it knows that to focus upon it would mean it would have to see things differently and it doesn't want to do that because old habits are hard to break. Yet habit energy is what propels us incessantly through this cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Habit energy is another way of saying karma.

The mind isn't our friend--It's a delusion in an of itself, so of course it's going to try and distract us with doubt, which is one of the five hindrances Buddha taught to be aware of. Meaning, even BUDDHA faced those obstacles to meditation or else how would he be aware of them to warn us? So, you're in good company in facing obstacles to your meditation practice--that's what I try to keep reminding myself. Buddha and countless other greats in Buddhist history faced similar trials. So, in it's basic form meditation is simply about watching the mind--keep a eye on it to see where it has led us astray and where it would continue to like to lead us astray. Above all else don't feel bad if you can't always formally meditate because awareness can be had while doing anything. Washing the dishes mindfully or taking a mindful walk around a park. That's the beauty of Buddhism--it can be practiced anywhere. Not just in a formal meditation posture.

ADDENDUM: Special thanks to Philip Ryan over at Tricycle for the quote.

~Peace to all beings~

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