our friends in the practice

Do not imagine things and lose yourself in the future. What is the future? Is the future with ghost number two? Why are we so afraid of the future? What is fear? Is fear our plans about things which will happen tomorrow? Or is our fear our projections we have of the future, tomorrow? Maybe this will happen, or that will happen…we project it like that. And that is what makes us afraid. Fear does not naturally come about, fear comes from our thinking. Our thinking that this will happen tomorrow, that will happen tomorrow. Notice the future is something that is not yet there. Because the future is never there--once it’s there it’s the present. But the future is a ghost. A very big ghost, which sucks us up, and our fear arises from our projections that tomorrow this will happen, or tomorrow I will be like that. "What will become of me tomorrow?" Our fear is based on that. And the ghosts of the past and the ghosts of the future are two ghosts with great responsibility for taking away our freedom. We are slaves of these two ghosts. What is Mara? Who is Mara? Mara is the past, Mara is the future, those two Maras follow us and condition our life, order us about. We should not allow this to happen, we should not lie under the influence of these two ghosts. We have to have a way of dealing with these two ghosts, and the method is the better way to live alone, the way of living each moment in the present moment, not pursuing the past and not running after the future.

"The past is no longer there. The future has not yet come." That is just logic. We all know the past is just a ghost, why should we be so attached to it? And the future is just a ghost, why do we have to be so afraid of it? There’s only one thing, that is the present, but we don’t know how to live the present moment, and we allow the past and the future to drown us, to overwhelm us. "The past is no longer there. The future has not yet come." Are there any words in the sutra which are more precise, more concise? No word too many. You should live your daily moments deeply, as they occur: live and know that you are living. Like a flower, you know that it is alive, and you can look at it deeply and you can live with it deeply, and you can see the deep levels of the flower. You live with a smile, you live with the sunshine. All these things become the objects of your looking deeply. They are your friends in the practice.



excerpt from the Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on April 5, 1998 in Plum Village, France, on The Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone


If you would like to know more about Plum Village Practice Center, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/

If you would like to read the whole text, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/dharmatalks/html/betterwaytolivealone.html


Photo above; Thich Nhat Hanh in The Netherlands ©Plum Village sites

the three jewels

We can kneel, we can close our eyes, join our palms, and visualize this moment with the water of compassion falling on our head, and we can see ourselves being born anew. Our teacher and the Sangha are transmitting to us our precepts body, and we have the duty to allow our teacher and the Sangha to lead us step by step on this new path. We see we are protected, we are secure, with security from the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and the precepts; and never before in our life have we felt as we feel at this moment. If we allow the Sangha to wake us up, if we allow our teacher to wake us up, we will see that we are in a state of security we have never been in before. If we live like that every day, our feelings of anxiety, of fear, will disappear. We will be able to dwell happily in the present moment, and each step will take us into happiness in the present moment, into freedom. That is our daily practice. "Do not pursue the past" is what this means. Sometimes we don’t want to go back into the past, but the past grabs hold of us and pulls us back, so we have to organize things carefully, and we have to base our organization on the support of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We have to look directly into the past and smile at it, and say, "You can no longer oppress me. I am free of you." Only the energy of mindfulness, the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, have enough power and strength to help us to be free of the past. We see that the past is just a ghost. We know that the past is a ghost, but we allow the ghost to imprison us. Therefore a practitioner should know how to take hold of the present with the help of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha and the precepts, in order to come back to the present, and not allow the ghosts of the past to pull us back into the past. "Do not pursue the past," can you hear the Buddha saying that to you?


excerpt from the Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on April 5, 1998 in Plum Village, France, on The Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone

If you would like to know more about Plum Village Practice Center, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/

If you would like to read the whole text, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/dharmatalks/html/betterwaytolivealone.html

we are surrounded by miracles

Whatever you do mindfully is meditation. When you touch a flower, you can touch it with your fingers, but better yet, you can touch it mindfully, with your full awareness. "Breathing in -- I know that the flower is there; breathing out -- I smile at the flower." While you are practicing in this way, you are really there and at the same time, the flower is really there. If you are not really there, nothing is there. The sunset is something marvelous and so is the full moon, but since you are not really there, the sunset is not for you. From time to time, I let myself look at the full moon; I take a deep breath in and a deep breath out, and I practice: "I know you are there, and I am very glad about it." I practice with the full moon, with the cherry blossoms... We are surrounded by miracles, but we have to recognize them; otherwise there is no life.

The Buddha told us: "The past is no longer there, the future is not here yet; there is only one moment in which life is available and that is the present moment." To meditate is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life.

Thich Nhat Hanh, True Love, A Practice for Awakening the Heart, Shambhala Publications, 2004

praising Buddha!

.年よりや月を見るにもなむあみだ

growing old--
even while moon gazing
praising Buddha!



And in Plum Village celebrating the 2 years old baby Buddha, The Guiding Light of the Heart...

at Plum Village

daily blessings

There is this nice ritual at the Findhorn Foundation, of picking your Angel for the day:



They are picked from a set of 72 illustrated cards, each depicting a unique angelic quality with a word and a picture, on which you can meditate. They usually offer an insight.



You can pick yourself an Angel for your day, by accessing the link:
http://www.findhorn.org/inspiration/angels.php?tz=180


Just like I have done today here at the Findhorn Foundation, on this day that is certainly one of the most joyful dates, when beloved Bettina is getting married to noble Iain. Viva!

what do you see?

Looking from these windows above, from the dining hall in Cluny Hill College, at the Findhorn Foundation, you see the far horizon... and green it is as far as you can see, grass, woods, hills...

And from the facing green hills, this is how Cluny Hill College can be seen (bellow), immersed in green... One facing the other, the view from the interior to the exterior, the view from the exterior to the facade...




And in between, right in the middle, what do you see?

Do you see the angels dancing in the that garden, on those hills, in these rooms?

What do you see?

(yes, the window with lights on is that of the picture at the top of this post)

guidance for the day

As you search diligently, you will surely find what you are looking for, your atonement with Me, the Source of all life. But you have to take time to search. It is something that will not drop into your lap without the deep desire in you to know Me, to know the truth, and to seek until you find what it means to you. This deep spiritual experience of inner knowing only comes to those souls who want to know; therefore never dabble vaguely in these spiritual experiences. It is up to you to go forth and experience it within. How completely empty and futile life is until you start living it to the full and putting everything to the test to see whether this spiritual life is practical and worth living! Start now doing something about it. Let there be no armchair spirituality. Let it be living and vibrating and there for all to see. Let Me see you start living a life now�



From Eileen Caddy's book Opening Doors Within, published by Findhorn Press, you can receive Daily Guidance by accessing the link:

http://www.findhorn.org/inspiration/daily_guidance.php?tz=180


Photo: lilac flowers in Forres, Scotland, May 2006

in his heart he prayed for guidance

The wind blowing over the mountain often turned into a tornado – the birds and animals living there, even the smaller rocks, found themselves whirled up into the air. When the gardenia flowers blossomed, a special gardenia wind blew. Not a single petal would fall to the ground, instead they would be swept up into the sky and their scent would fill the air.

Still, if he has come, he can’t really have come too soon. When anything comes or appears, it comes when it has to come, appears when it has to appear.

[…] he gathered his wits and made a sign of reverence in the direction he was heading. In his heart he prayed for guidance.



Ko Un, Little Pilgrim, Parallax Press, Berkley, 2005


drawing by Nakamura Hochu, taken from the marvelous blog Japonisme, a link that in my absence I leave as a gift for you to browse...

someone who is enlightened

Becoming a Buddha is not difficult because "Buddha" means
someone who is enlightened, who is capable of loving and forgiving.



Thich Nhat Hanh


from the opening page of the Plum Village site at:
http://www.plumvillage.org/

Photo: white Buddha at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village

the mind -- is not the heart

[...]

It wasn't my not weighing anything
So much as my not knowing anything --
My brother had been nearer right before.
I had not taken the first step in knowledge;
I had not learned to let go with the hands,
As still I have not learned to with the heart,
And have no wish to with the heart -- nor need,
That I can see. The mind -- is not the heart.
I may yet live, as I know others live,
To wish in vain to let go with the mind-
Of cares, at night, to sleep; but nothing tells me
That I need learn to let go with the heart.


This is the end of Robert Frost's long poem, Wild Grapes, from the book New Hampshire (Published/Written in 1923). To read the entire poem I kindly ask you to refer to:
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/699


Photo: one of the many hearts I kept bumping into, at Plum Village. They would appear to me in the form of a stone, a leaf, a cloud or the open space among the clouds... Later those days, I would be able to find that The Guiding Light of the Heart was the Dharma name I would be given. Photo ©zentobe

depart towards heaven

Ode 2180

From these depths depart towards heaven;
may your soul be happy, journey joyfully.
You have escaped from the city full of fear and trembling;
happily become a resident of the Abode of Security.
If the body’s image has gone, await the image-maker; if the
body is utterly ruined, become all soul.
If your face has become saffron pale through death, become a
dweller among tulip beds and Judas trees.
If the doors of repose have been barred to you, come, depart
by way of the roof and the ladder.
If you are alone from Friends and companions, by the help of
God become a saheb-qeran.
If you have been secluded from water and bread, like bread
become the food of the souls, and so become!

Rumi


"Mystical Poems of Rumi 2" A. J. Arberry
The University of Chicago Press, 1991

(*) The Abode of Security seems to be an allusion to heaven which is sometimes called "the abode of peace" (dar-al salam) by Rumi as against "the abode of pride" (dar-al gorur) i.e., the world..

(**) Saheb qeran is a person who is born under a happy conjunction of the planets. [lord of happy circumstance]


If you'd like to read more poems by Rumi, please refer to:
http://www.rumi.org.uk/poetry/

he bids his beloved be at peace

I hear the Shadowy Horses, their long manes a-shake,
Their hoofs heavy with tumult, their eyes glimmering white;
The North unfolds above them clinging, creeping night,
The East her hidden joy before the morning break,
The West weeps in pale dew and sighs passing away,
The South is pouring down roses of crimson fire:
O vanity of Sleep, Hope, Dream, endless Desire,
The Horses of Disaster plunge in the heavy clay:
Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat
Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast,
Drowning love's lonely hour in deep twilight of rest,
And hiding their tossing manes and their tumultuous feet.


William Butler Yeats, from The Wind among the Reeds, 1899


If you'd like to read more of W. B. Yeats poetry, please refer to this extensive link:
http://www.csun.edu/~hceng029/yeats/poemsalpha.html

we practice and serve

We bow deeply to express our gratitude
to the land and animals,
the Earth & Sky,
and all of our ancestors, spiritual and blood
for their support and wisdom,
for helping us experience
a wonderful and transformative retreat
this Memorial Day Weekend.
All the joy and peace,
all the wholesome energy that we received,
we offer it to the benefit of all beings,
to our children
who we hold dear in our heart
as we practice and serve.


If you'd like to read more, please refer to:
http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/news/reflectionsfromretreat/noregrets.html

More photos from Deer Park albums available at:
http://deerparkmonastery.org/news/albums.html

And I bow to you, dearest Silvinha.

throw away

o no naka ni
michi yori soto wa
nanigoto mo
supporapon no
pon ni shite oke



Whatever in the world
lies outside
the Way
throw
away!

Rai Shizuko, or Baishi (1760-1842)


Poem and image taken from one of my favorite blogs, precious Japonisme.

an elephant's lullaby

The elephant began to sing him a lullaby:

There was never a moment
When I was not wildflowers in the field.
There was never a moment when I was not water babbling.
There was never a moment when I was not birds or beasts.
There was never a moment when I was not a weary seagull
forced to fly from island to island.
There was never a moment when I was not a beggar.
I am a father, and stars, and the bright morning sun.
I am rainbow after rain.
And like all these things
There was never a moment when I was not an elephant.



from the book by Ko Un, Little Pilgrim (Parallax Press, Berkley, 2005), papercut illustrations by Jason DeAntonis

true compassion

D: I have another question. I find I can stop being emotional, right in the middle of a difficult interaction, but then I don't know where to go from there. Since I am studying Buddhism and learning to practice the Buddhist way, I feel I should react with more compassion. But I may not feel compassionate. Because I don't know how to go on, I go back to my old conditioning of either resentment or aggressiveness.

My dear, this is only a phase in your own progress. You have come this far. It is possible to go further. Look into the process involved in your mind right in the midst of reacting. When you are able to stop in your tracks, you are already doing quite well.

It is only when you start intelectualising again that you get into trouble.

If you have the notion that as a practicing Buddhist you should be compassionate, then you are setting up an image of yourself. As soon as that thought is allowed to come into your mind, you are not free. At that moment your mind is filled with the desire to fullfil your own image as a practicing Buddhist.

When the mind is not free, there is no chance for true compassion to arise.

It is as simple as that. Only when you free yourself of preconceived perceptions of yourself can spontaneous compassion arise. When you are free of concepts, you will act spontaneously and compassionately as well as creatively.


excerpt from Living Meditation, by Dr. Thynn Thynn. To read the whole text, or to download it in pdf document format, please refer to:
http://www.buddhanet.net/imol/livingmd.htm

Photo ©Zeynep Kanra; if you'd like to see more of Zeynep's photos please refer to:
http://www.zeynepinyeri.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeynepk/

what happens to us when we die?

In order to answer what happens to us when we die, we need to answer another question – what happens when we are alive?

What is happening now to us? In English we say ‘we are’ but it’s proper to say ‘we are becoming’ because things are becoming. We’re not the same person in two consecutive minutes.

A picture of you as baby looks different to you now. The fact is you are not exactly the same as that baby and not entirely a different person either. In a picture of you as a five year old, you are not exactly the same as that child and not entirely a different person either – the form, feelings and mental formations are different.

In the middle way there is no sameness and no otherness.

You may think you are still alive but in fact you have been dying everyday, every minute, cells die and are born - for neither do we have funerals or birthdays (laughter).

Death is a very necessary condition of birth. With no death, there is no birth. They inter-are and happen in every moment to the experienced meditator. For instance, a cloud may have died many times, into rain, streams, water. The cloud may want to wave to itself on earth! Rain is a continuation of the cloud. With a meditation practitioner nothing can hide itself. When I drink tea, it’s very pleasant to be aware I am drinking cloud.

When you are parents, you die and are reborn as your children. “You are my continuation, I love you.” The Buddha told us how to ensure a beautiful continuation – a compassionate thought, a beautiful thought. Forgiveness is our continuation. If anger, separation and hate arise, then we will not ensure a beautiful continuation. When we pronounce a word that is compassionate, good and beautiful that is our continuation.



excerpt of a transcription from a talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh during a retreat with five hundred people in Hong Kong on 15 May 2007.

If you'd like to read the entire text, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/HTML/dharmatalks/html/whathappenswhenyoudie.html

Photo ©nicolas valentin; if you'd like to see more please refer to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrian_valentin_murphy/354252383/

discourse on love

He or she who wants to attain peace should practice being upright, humble, and capable of using loving speech

He or she who knows how to live simply and happily, with senses calmed, without being covetous and carried away by the emotions of the majority

Let him or her not do anything that will be disapproved of by the wise ones

(And this is what he or she contemplates:)

May everyone be happy and safe, and my all hearts be filled with joy

May all beings live in security and in peace, beings who are frail or strong, tall or short, big or small, invisible or visible, who are near or far away, already born or yet to be born

May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility

Let no one do harm to anyone

Let no one put the life of anyone in danger

Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm

Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, cultivate boundless love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos

Let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below, and across

Our love will know no obstacles

Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity

Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart

This is the noblest way of living

Free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desire, living in beauty and realizing perfect understanding, those who practice boundless love will certainly transcend birth and death

Etena sacca vajjena sotthi te hotu sabba da
(by the firm determination of this truth may you ever be well)

Etena sacca vajjena sotthi te hotu sabba da

Etena sacca vajjena sotthi te hotu sabba da.


Discourse on Love, from the Plum Village Chanting Book (2002) adapted from a traditional Pali chant, recorded by Sister The Nghiem of Green Mountain Dharma Center. This chant is a common one in the Pali tradition of Theravadan Buddhists. The English translation was done by zen master Thich Nhat Hanh with the help of Plum Village monks and nuns. To listen to this beautiful chant please refer to:
http://www.deerpark.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=161115#


If you'd like to see more photos like to the one above, please refer to:
http://villagedespruniers.net/?locate=photo&langue=francais

gatha for my beloved

My beloved,
All things pass away, and time
is precious.
Let us cherish our togetherness
now –
Each moment, each smile,
each day, each embrace –
before the sun sets
and darkness falls.

On this sacred day of
Buddha’s Awakening,
Remember, my heart-mate,
your bedroom is
your zendo.
Taking care of the little details,
you take care of Life Itself.
Every day is sesshin,
and every dust particle swept
is the saving of all beings.

All things pass away
and the sun is setting.
Now is the time, my beloved,
now is the time for loving.
Time is precious
and darkness is falling.
Now is the time.
Now, beloved.
Now.


by Brother Chi Sing
(Bodhi Day, December 8, 2004)


Gatha = verse of mindfulness
zendo = meditation hall
sesshin = meditation retreat

from the Music, Writing & Poetry page of Deer Park Monastery. To read more please refer to
http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/news/music.html

Photo: burning sunset ©Isaac Zilinsky

a journey's journal

The journey began more than 20 years ago, as the seeds of a dream to circumnavigate the globe were cultivated from a deeply personal and painful experience.

I spent a good portion of my youth in hospitals with my mother, who suffered from a degenerative kidney disease. As the disease progressed, she had made one last attempt to see the world by traveling to Europe.

Unfortunately, when she arrived, her health declined and was forced to return to the states where she died shortly thereafter. I learned two powerful lessons.

The first is to appreciate every moment of this incredible gift we call life, no matter what it brings.

The second, to live your dreams despite your fears.

Twenty years later, on July 1, 2005, after much hard work and deep personal sacrifice, my dream of seeing the world is coming true.

This journey is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Carol Ann Gunn, who was taken from this world far too early.

Now, please pull up a chair and enjoy the ride!



This is the introductory text to Rick Gunn's beautiful online travel journal, with hundreds of truly heartfelt photos like the one above. You can savour his pictures and words at:
http://www.rickgunnphotography.com/project.php

His lessons are important ones to be learned -- which is: experienced. Life itself is the experience shared here.

Photo above: water brings bliss ©Rick Gunn

ready

are we ever ready?
aren't we always ready?

(if you cannot read clearly, please click on the image to enlarge it)

breathe, you are alive

Breathe and you know that you are alive.
Breathe and you know that all is helping you.
Breathe and you know that you are the world.
Breathe and you know that the flower is breathing you.
Breathe for yourself and breathe for the world.
Breathe in compassion and breathe out joy.

Breathe and be one with the air that you breathe.
Breathe and be one with the river that flows.
Breathe and be one with the earth that you tread.
Breathe and be one with the fire that glows.
Breathe and you break the thought of birth and death.
Breathe and you see impermanence is life.

Breathe for your joy to be steady and calm.
Breathe for your sorrow to flow away.
Breathe to renew every cell in your blood.
Breathe to renew the depths of consciousness.
Breathe and you dwell in the here and now.
Breathe and all you touch is new and real.

Breathe.



from the Plum Village Chanting Book. This song can be heard at the page below (just click on the green button under A Basket of Plums to start the song):
http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/news/music.html

Photo ©Tijen Inaltong; and I dedicate this post to you, my dearest: breathe, we are alive!

looking at your hand

Whose hand is this
that never died?
Who is it who was born in the past?
Who is it who will die in the future?

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.

To be born means that something that did not exist comes into existence. But the day we are 'born' is not our beginning. It is a day of continuation. But that should not make us less happy when we celebrate our 'Happy Continuation Day.'

Since we are never born, how can we cease to be? This is what the Heart Sutra reveals to us. When we have a tangible experience of non-birth and non-death, we know ourselves beyond duality. The meditation on 'no separate self'' is one way to pass through the gate of birth and death.

Your hand proves that you have never been born and you will never die. The thread of life has never been interrupted from time without beginning until now. Previous generations, all the way back to single-cell beings, are present in your hand at this moment. You can observe and experience this. Your hand is always available as a subject for meditation.


an excerpt from Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses For Daily Living by Thich Nhat Hanh



I dedicate this post to Denise Sanematsu Kato, dear friend and sister of the Heart, may your Path be clear and full of light, may you be happy and peaceful, may you live in joy and kindness, may your practice bloom into compassion and understanding.

Thank you for being there. Breathing in, breathing out, we are always together.

so that you can feel as I do

We share the same time - as far as I know
I imagine I would be a beautiful moment
and with this I am sending myself to you right in this second
so that you can feel as I do,
so that you can feel as I do...



These are words from the happy, beautiful song Uhlala by MIA. It is a heartwarming song about the Earth, the water, the sky, the light, clouds, stones, sand, soul, time, immortality... And a video on joy, on freedom, on rainbows and butterflies -- and I dedicate this video and song to Matthias (who actually first showed it to me, and made me feel exactly this happy):

Dear friend and brother of the heart, I wish that all your dreams come true, to the highest and the better. May you be with joy, love, peace, good health, kindness, now and ever along your path.


Lyrics are in German (I thank Christine for the translation), and can be seen at: http://www.songtexte.tv/mia/songtext/479199_uhlala.htm

If the link above does not work, please watch this video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBN2zWZ4vfA

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)


e e cummings (1894-1962)

if you would like to read more of e e cummings, please refer to:
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/by/e%20e%20cummings?order=title


Photo ©ubiquity_zh, from the wonderful photolog The Best of Lonely Tree.

the compass of meditation (part 1)

I'd like to dedicate this post - a video on vipassana meditation for children - to Maria Luiza, Luis Alberto, Caio, Maya, Nora, Nina, Pedro, Rebekka, and new born Vinícius.



Please note that part two is shown on the post below. Thank you.

May all beings be happy and peaceful.

the compass of meditation (part 2)

three problems ago

Mooji, I hear all you say and I agree with it all. But right now I'm unable to get this problem of holding my relationship together out of my head. I can't move beyond it. What should I do? I'm sorry to introduce a personal issue in all these deep talks on the impersonal reality and all that, but I sincerely feel I must tackle my stuff before more serious matters. So, please show me a way to solve this problem, I'm sure you've got one!


Okay, very well. May I ask you what was your problem three problems ago?

[Questioner looks thoughtfully at the ceiling, but remains silent]

Mmm... Okay, a little closer than that, what was your problem two problems ago? Do you remember?

[The questioner looks more puzzled, and stays silent]

Okay, surely this will be easy for you, what was the problem one problem ago? Surely you can remember...

[Silence]

No?

[The questioner looks bemused and a little embarrassed, but still lost for words]

You see, such is the nature of all thoughts and sensations, they come and go. Your previous problems seemed equally as pressing and important in their time as your current problem now does, but they are no more; absent from the present by the force of nature. If such is the nature of thoughts and feelings, surely your present difficulties share the same destiny. Why worry about it? All these movements are witnessed in you and by you as pure awareness. Stay as That!


excerpt from a Satsang with Mooji (photo above). To learn more about Mooji, please refer to:
http://www.mooji.org/

as you could ever hope to be

When you’re trained as a Buddhist, you don’t think of Buddhism as a religion. You think of it as a type of science, a method of exploring your own experience through techniques that enable you to examine your actions and reactions in a nonjudgemental way, with the view toward recognizing, “Oh, this is how my mind works. This is what I need to do to experience happiness. This is what I should avoid to avoid unhappiness.

At its heart, Buddhism is very practical. It’s about doing things that foster serenity, happiness, and confidence, and avoiding things that provoke anxiety, hopelessness, and fear. The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you’re already good, whole, and complete. It’s about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind. In other words, Buddhism is not so much concerned with getting well as with recognizing that you are, right here, right now, as whole, as good, as essentially well as you could ever hope to be.

You don’t believe that, do you?

Well, for a long time neither did I.



With this confession, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche starts his precious book, The Joy of Living (Harmony Books, New York, 2007). To learn more about Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, please refer to The Yongey Foundation at:

http://mingyur.org/index.html

love invincible

I dedicate this song to all my friends, of all times.






When I fall down, I need a helping hand.
And when I lose my head, it's cause it's always buried in the sand.
When I get stuck on myself, feelin' sorry for myself
Will you help me grab a hold and please don't patronize my soul.
When I start to lose control, when I get irrational, when I start to get too high,
you see me come floating by, I say

Touch me in the morning sun, when I feel impossible.
Touch me in the morning sun, show me what is possible.
Touch me in the morning sun when I feel impossible, show me what is possible.
Teach me love invisible,
Teach me love invincible,
Teach me love invisible,
Teach me love invincible.

When you’re down, you need a helping hand.
And when you lose your head, I'll help you wash away the sand.
And when you get stuck on yourself, feelin' sorry for yourself
I will help you grab a hold and I won't patronize your soul.
When you start to lose control, when you get irrational, when you start to get too high,
I see you come floating by, I say

Touch me in the morning sun, when I feel impossible.
Touch me in the morning sun, show me what is possible.
Touch me in the morning sun when I feel impossible,
show me what is possible.
Teach me love invisible,
Teach me love invincible

When we're down, we need a helping hand.
And when we lose our heads, it's cause they're always buried in the sand.
But when we get stuck on our selves, feelin' sorry for our selves.
Will you help us grab a hold and please don't patronize our souls.
When we start to lose control, when we get irrational, when we start to get too high,
You see us come floating by, I say,

Touch us with the morning sun, when we feel impossible.
Touch us with the morning sun, show us what is possible.
Touch us in the morning sun when we feel impossible, show us what is possible.
Teach us love invincible, teach us love invisible

Teach us love invincible, hold us love invisible, share us love invincible,
be us love invincible, help us love invisible, touch us love invisible,
breathe us love invincible, sing it love invisible.

(lyrics by Michael Franti & Spearhead)


Photo: with many dear friends from the Saffron Thread Family, Plum Village, June 2006 ©Matthew Holloran

meditation is like drinking water

Meditation is Like Drinking Water is the name of an excerpt from the DVD Turning the Mind into an Ally, by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. To enjoy his words, please refer to:

http://www.shambhala.org/teachings/view.php?id=69

If you like to learn more about Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche please refer to:

http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/sakyong-mipham.php


Photo ©Catherine Pentescu

négatif

je rêve d'un printemps définitif.
but when it gets too hard...
je reste dubitatif.

Négatif, by Benjamin Biolay (ending theme for the movie Pourquoi (pas) le Brésil?)

let's proclaim!

Float down this river…
float down in this old boat…
every river reaches the sea…
where upstream and downstream meet…
reaches the darkening sea…
is left as a crust of white salt on the shore.

So float down the river…
eyes closed… lips shut…
every scrap of dharma set aside.
Float down alone…
winds will blow…
night will fall and float down with you.
When you reach the sea…
Proclaim…
there is no one in pain…
anywhere in this world.


Ko Un, Little Pilgrim, Parallax Press, Berkley, 2005




illustration: The Monkey Bridge in Kai Province by Ando Hiroshige, Famous Views of the 60-odd Provinces - Rokujuyoshu meisho zue, 1853 - 1856

To see more of these beautiful prints please refer to:
http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/60_odd_provinces/60_odd_provinces.htm

the garden of my heart

To listen to the soothing voice of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh leading a guided meditation, transcripted bellow, please click on the following link (and then again on the button at the page that will open):


http://www.beliefnet.com/story/188/story_18813_1.html#



May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos
Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly
So that all suffering in them ceases, understanding comes to their heart
And they transcend the path of sorrow and death.

The universal dharma door is already open
The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly
The miracle happens
A beautiful child appears in the heart of the lotus flower
One single drop of this compassionate water is enough to bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.

Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind calm, my body relaxed
A smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell, my breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.




"The End of Suffering" featuring spoken word from Thich Nhat Hanh, the singing voice of Vietnamese monk Phap Niem, and music by Gary Malkin, is excerpted from the book and CD set, "Graceful Passages: A Companion For Living and Dying," which was produced by Gary Malkin and Michael Stillwater, for Wisdom of the World, published by New World Library.

To learn more about Thich Nhat Hanh, please refer to:
http://www.plumvillage.org/HTML/ourteacher.html

If you'd like to see some more photos of flower fields please refer to:
http://www.landschaftsfotos.at/Radtour%20Oberwart%202007_04_25/Radtour%20Oberwart_2007_04_25.htm

love, love

No coming, no going

No after, no before

I hold you close to me

I release you to be so free

Because I am in you

and you are in me

Because I am in you

and you are in me



from the Plum Village Chanting Book. If you'd like to listen to this song please refer to http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/news/music.html and click on the green button at the bottom right of your screen for No coming, no going.

water reflecting

Breathing in I see myself as still water. You know still water is not a wave. Sometimes you enjoy being a wave—it’s very wonderful to be a wave, coming up very high, and going down very low. But sometimes you are tired, you don’t want to be a wave anymore. You just want to be still water. To be still water is also a great joy—you feel peaceful, you feel quiet, and you enjoy the peace and the quietness that is in you. I know the young people like to be waves, but they should know that it is also wonderful to be still water. Have you seen a pond that is very still? You look into the water and you see reflected in the water the blue sky, the clouds, the trees. You can even take a picture of the sky and the clouds just by pointing your camera at the water, because still water reflects things perfectly. Still water does not distort things. When you are not still, you distort things. When your mind is not still, you distort everything. The other person did not hate you, but you believe that she hated you. That is a distortion, because your "water," your mind, is not still. Therefore it is very important to practice so that your mind becomes still water. And now you know why I asked you to draw still water. "Breathing in, I see myself as still water; breathing out, I reflect things as they are." This is very important. We should not be victims of our wrong perceptions. In order for our perceptions not to be wrong, our minds should be still, like water. And there are ways to help your mind to become like still water.

(...)

The transformation and healing we are looking for is not outside of us, it is in us. It is like the wave: if it wants to be still, the stillness should not be obtained from the outside, it is in the water itself.

We have the capacity to be a wave, but we also have the capacity to be still water. So we look for peace, we look for stability, we look for well being within ourselves, and these things are not something that we can acquire from outside. But maybe there are those of us who are only used to being waves, and we have forgotten how to become still water again. We know that we have the capacity of becoming still water again, but we have forgotten how to do it. That is why we need the practice.


excerpt from Our Appointment with Life, Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on July 16, 1998 in Plum Village, France.

© Thich Nhat Hanh

http://www.plumvillage.org/

(photo: a pond that is not still, Bahia, 2003)

what is true mindfulness?

Meditation isn't really about getting rid of thoughts, it's about changing the pattern of grasping on to things, which in our everyday experience is our thoughts.

The thoughts are fine if they are seen as transparent, but we get so caught up judging thoughts as right or wrong, for and against, yes and no, needing it to be this way and not that way. And even that might be okay except that is accompanied by strong, strong emotions. So we just start ballooning out more and more. With this grasping onto thoughts we just get more caught, more and more hooked. All of us. Every single one of us.

It's as if you had vast, unlimited space —complete openness, total freedom, complete liberation —and the habit of the human race is to always, out of fear, grasp onto little parts of it. And that is called ego and ego is grasping on to the content of our thoughts. That is also the root of suffering, because there is something in narrowing it down which inherently causes us a lot of pain because it is then that we are always in a relationship of wanting or not wanting. We are always in a struggle with other people, with situations, even with our own being. That's what we call stress. That's what we experience as continual, on-going stress. Even in the most healthy, unneurotic of us, there's some kind of slight or very profound anxiety of some kind, some kind of uneasiness or dissatisfaction.



teachings by Pema Chödrön. To read more from her, please refer to:

http://www.pemachodron.org/

a house of love

One of these mornings, I sat in the living room, trying to eat breakfast mindfully... And so not only was I savoring the yoghurt, its delicate flavor and the temperature, but was also listening to the birds and the cars outside, looking at the yoghurt color, the clouded sky... And in this mood I started looking at the things in my living room... All very known to me, because I look at them everyday...

Yet, it was the first time I saw them.

The straw cushions my parents gave me, and so many others things they paid and gave to me... They were full of Love, given with Love, and I could feel the Love in them... The ceramics and a wood vase given to me by Rachel... So full of Love, given with Love... I actually felt the Love there... And the mud flowers I love so much, given to me by Alexs... And the two benches he carried all the way from Bahia, during a flight... There is so much Love in everything they gave me, and I could feel it... The orchid I bought a few weeks ago, and that is now coming to full blossom... Nature is always so full of Love, and I felt it... The painting given by James, who actually painted it... Painted with Love, given with Love, and I could feel it... The leather couch, the sisal carpet from Bahia I bought with Love, really appreciating them... I could feel Love in the stuff they were made of… The chair I was sitting on, given to me by Edith, with so much Love... So I was seated on Love!

I realized I was — I am — surrounded by Love... The Love in my eyes, when I look at these beloved things I cherish and treasure... It is not different from the Love with which these things were given to me... Love from my parents, Love from my friends and relatives... Love -- to be seen, to be felt, to be touched... Objects -- not as they are, and not important for what they are, but as a Thread of Love... I felt fulfilled, and for a moment I thought — is the world made of Love?

Of course it is not, I answered to myself. But perhaps it is... I am not a bodhisattva, so I cannot feel the Love that is there, everywhere... Even in violence, in war... No, I cannot.

But I could feel the Love that was there, before my eyes. Despite a tense relationship in my life at this moment... And that some of the gifts were given to me by former relationships, that might have ended on a sad note... There is Love. All I could see in my house was Love. Made of Love, reflecting Love. Love throughout time: Love from the past, Love in the present, Love from the future... All over the space: Love.

I felt I lived — I feel I live -- in a House of Love.

Quietly, I finished eating the yoghurt. And since then I haven’t eaten anything other than Love. How could I?!



Photo © Matthias Hammerl

perfect silence

WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER


WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and diagrams,
to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer
where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air,
and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.


Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Leaves of Grass

To read more poems by this author, please refer to:
http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/whitman_walt.html

Photo: Star Trails at 16,000 ft., Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania © Dan Heller
To see more photos from this set please refer to:
http://www.danheller.com/kili-mtn.html