Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Buddhist reflections on death and rebirth
By Rajah Kuruppu, Sunday Times, October 22, 2010
Colombo, Sri Lanka -- From the earliest of times, men have speculated on the question why we are born and why we die. In ancient times, phenomena such as rain and fire were attributed to gods associated with them.
There was a creator god responsible for birth and another for destruction. With the passage of time, there developed the concept of one God, all powerful and omnipotent, who is responsible for our birth and who would judge our life at death and reward or punish us for our good and harmful actions, respectively.
The answer in Buddhism for our birth is that we are caught in a cycle of births and deaths called Samsara, whose beginning is inconceivable. The Buddha declared that it is because of our delusion of the true nature of things, that we have the desire for life at the moment of death where ordinary people grasp for life. Consequently, we are re-born and continue our journey in Samsara with all its unsatisfactory features characterized by Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta — impermanance, unsatisfactoriness and absence of a permanent, unchanging, eternal, self or soul.
Continue reading at Buddhist Channel
Rebirth as doctrine and experience by Francis Story
Read here
Colombo, Sri Lanka -- From the earliest of times, men have speculated on the question why we are born and why we die. In ancient times, phenomena such as rain and fire were attributed to gods associated with them.
There was a creator god responsible for birth and another for destruction. With the passage of time, there developed the concept of one God, all powerful and omnipotent, who is responsible for our birth and who would judge our life at death and reward or punish us for our good and harmful actions, respectively.
The answer in Buddhism for our birth is that we are caught in a cycle of births and deaths called Samsara, whose beginning is inconceivable. The Buddha declared that it is because of our delusion of the true nature of things, that we have the desire for life at the moment of death where ordinary people grasp for life. Consequently, we are re-born and continue our journey in Samsara with all its unsatisfactory features characterized by Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta — impermanance, unsatisfactoriness and absence of a permanent, unchanging, eternal, self or soul.
Continue reading at Buddhist Channel
Rebirth as doctrine and experience by Francis Story
Read here
Thursday, October 21, 2010
David Bohm
The notion of something with an inexhaustibly specifiable and unvarying mode of being can only be an approximation and abstraction from the infinite complexity of the changes taking place in the real process of becoming.
David Bohm
David Bohm
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Heart Sutra mantra
"Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha."
=================================================
Gate, gate means gone, gone; paragate means gone over;
parasamgate means gone beyond (to the other shore of
suffering or the bondage of samsara); bodhi means the
Awakened Mind; svaha is the Sanskrit word for homage or
proclaimation. So, the mantra means "Homage to the Awakened
Mind which has gone over to the other shore (of suffering)."
Mu Soeng
=================================================
Gate, gate means gone, gone; paragate means gone over;
parasamgate means gone beyond (to the other shore of
suffering or the bondage of samsara); bodhi means the
Awakened Mind; svaha is the Sanskrit word for homage or
proclaimation. So, the mantra means "Homage to the Awakened
Mind which has gone over to the other shore (of suffering)."
Mu Soeng
Monday, October 04, 2010
Heart Sutra Commentary by Mu Soeng
Heart Sutra - Ancient Buddhist Wisdom in the Light of Quantum Reality
Commentary by Mu Soeng Sunim
Read here
Commentary by Mu Soeng Sunim
Read here
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Buddha's final sermon
It is not appropriate to grieve in an hour of joy.. You all weep, but is there any real cause for grief? We should look upon a sage as a person escaped from a burning mansion... it does not matter whether I am here or not; salvation does not depend upon me but upon practising the Dharma, just as a cure depends not upon the doctor but upon taking the medicine... My time has come, my work is done... Everything eventually comes to an end, even if it should last for an aeon. The time of parting is bound to come one day. I have done what I could for myself and others, and to remain longer would be without purpose. I have trained all whom I could train. My teachings shall last for many generations, so do not be disturbed. Recognize that all that lives is subject to the laws of impermanence, and strive for eternal wisdom. When the light of knowledge dispels ignorance, when the world is seen as without substance, the end of life is seen as peace and as a cure to a disease. Everything that exists is bound to perish. Be therefore mindful of your salvation. The time of my passing has come.
Buddha's final sermon
Buddha's final sermon
Fearless Mountain
Fearless Mountain is a documentary exploring the world of the forest-dwelling monks of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California.
Part 1 of 6 parts. The rest can be found by double-clicking on the video. You will then be re-directed to youtube website.
Friday, October 01, 2010
living in the face of death
At the time of death, it does not matter where one is a monk or lay person, rich or poor. What really counts is the state of one's mind. If at the time of one's death, one has managed to generate a state of mind possessed of clarity, control, love and wisdom, our life has been well spent. Should confusion, attachment, helplessness, fear, aversion and dark instincts predominate in our mindstream, this is a sign that our life was spent meaninglessly. Those who die in a state of spiritual backwardness and ignorance will fall into the lower realms of being, regardless of their social standing during their lifetime. When the mind has been dragged down with the weight of negative deeds and evil tendencies, one is swept helplessly away.
Glenn H Mullin
Glenn H Mullin
Thursday, September 30, 2010
kadampa
When sitting alone,
watch your mind.
When speaking in public,
watch your speech.
- An old Kadampa saying
watch your mind.
When speaking in public,
watch your speech.
- An old Kadampa saying
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
metta sutta
In the Metta Sutta, the Blessed One said:
This is how one who is skilled in goodness and wish to attain the state of peacefulness should act:
One should be able, upright, straight forward, free from pride, gentle in speech, mild, contented, easily satisfied, not caught up in too much bustle, frugal in one’s ways, with controlled senses, wise and skilful, not impudent, and with families is not demanding. One should also abstain from the ways that wise ones would blame.
And in this the thought and wishes that one should always hold: May all beings be happy and safe, may their hearts rejoice within themselves.
Whatever living beings there may be, whether they are strong or weak, without exception, be they of stature small or medium, firm or frail, short or long, living in hiding or open view, dwelling nearby or far away, already born or still future wombs; may all these beings rejoice within themselves.
Let no one bring about another’s ruin, nor despise any being in any way or place, let no one through anger or enmity wish harm on one another. Just as a mother at the risk of her life would love and protect her child, her only child; just so should one cultivate this boundless love, radiating loving-kindness to all that live in the whole universe, with a mind that is free from any bound, extending upward, downward and across the world, untroubled, free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down and still free from drowsiness, one should exercise this mindfulness. This is Divine Abiding here they say.
Not falling into wrong views, by following the precepts and with knowledge, one overcomes the craving after lust from all sense desires, and surely one will no more descend to any womb.
Continue reading here at: Buddhist Channel
This is how one who is skilled in goodness and wish to attain the state of peacefulness should act:
One should be able, upright, straight forward, free from pride, gentle in speech, mild, contented, easily satisfied, not caught up in too much bustle, frugal in one’s ways, with controlled senses, wise and skilful, not impudent, and with families is not demanding. One should also abstain from the ways that wise ones would blame.
And in this the thought and wishes that one should always hold: May all beings be happy and safe, may their hearts rejoice within themselves.
Whatever living beings there may be, whether they are strong or weak, without exception, be they of stature small or medium, firm or frail, short or long, living in hiding or open view, dwelling nearby or far away, already born or still future wombs; may all these beings rejoice within themselves.
Let no one bring about another’s ruin, nor despise any being in any way or place, let no one through anger or enmity wish harm on one another. Just as a mother at the risk of her life would love and protect her child, her only child; just so should one cultivate this boundless love, radiating loving-kindness to all that live in the whole universe, with a mind that is free from any bound, extending upward, downward and across the world, untroubled, free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down and still free from drowsiness, one should exercise this mindfulness. This is Divine Abiding here they say.
Not falling into wrong views, by following the precepts and with knowledge, one overcomes the craving after lust from all sense desires, and surely one will no more descend to any womb.
Continue reading here at: Buddhist Channel
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
the mind like fire unbound
One of my favourites by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, now in a 2010 revised edition:
The mind like fire unbound
The mind like fire unbound
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Thich Nhat Hanh
Talks from the Singapore Retreat, the 8th to the 12th of September, 2010.
Video stream of Thay's talk given on 10 September 2010 on the third day of the Singapore retreat "The Art of Living Happily in the Here and Now"
Made possible by the Plum Village International Online Monastery team
and the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
Video stream of Thay's talk given on 10 September 2010 on the third day of the Singapore retreat "The Art of Living Happily in the Here and Now"
Made possible by the Plum Village International Online Monastery team
and the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Mindfulness: Beyond the science
Guardian
by Ed Halliwell
Each month, a digest of the latest research on mindfulness meditation lands in my inbox. The volume of studies has mushroomed in recent years – the most recent round-up (pdf) alone cites 35 new papers detailing effects on people with conditions such as heart disease and borderline personality disorder, the results of an innovative new mindfulness curriculum for schools, and the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction courses on the structure of the brain (it seems to reduce density in the amygdala).
If practising mindfulness can help people – and it appears to – then all this evidence can only be a good thing. Whereas for years meditation's public image was stuck in the 1960s, tainted with hippie self-indulgence or new-age flakiness, now it's being taken seriously by everyone from top academics to US congressman and government departments.
Continue reading here at Guardian
by Ed Halliwell
Each month, a digest of the latest research on mindfulness meditation lands in my inbox. The volume of studies has mushroomed in recent years – the most recent round-up (pdf) alone cites 35 new papers detailing effects on people with conditions such as heart disease and borderline personality disorder, the results of an innovative new mindfulness curriculum for schools, and the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction courses on the structure of the brain (it seems to reduce density in the amygdala).
If practising mindfulness can help people – and it appears to – then all this evidence can only be a good thing. Whereas for years meditation's public image was stuck in the 1960s, tainted with hippie self-indulgence or new-age flakiness, now it's being taken seriously by everyone from top academics to US congressman and government departments.
Continue reading here at Guardian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)