wake-up call

Heart to heart,
that is how I would speak with you.

Words are not necessary
in the language of the Heart.
And yet, the mind at times needs words
to understand what only the Heart knows
beyond words.

I would speak to the Totality of who you are,
mind and Heart, body and Spirit,
with words and in Silence.

Creature of the Earth,
you are not the self
you suppose yourself to be.
Child of the Cosmos,
you are more than the self
you think you are.

YOU ARE A BUDDHA

It is time to remember and awaken
to the Truth of Who You Are.

I Am
What You Will Be,
What You Are,
What You Have Always Been,
only you have forgotten,
only you have simply to remember.

I Am the Awakening.
I Am the Voice of your Heart.
My Word is the vibration of
every atom and every star,
the Light of all beings in the Universe.

Listen to the Voice of Awakening,
the Truth of your Heart.

It is time now,
time to listen and remember.

This is your Wake-Up Call:

YOU ARE A BUDDHA



A Message from the Buddha, by Br. Chi Sing - January 2005

Photo: Bell pagoda at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, June 2006 ©Richard&Joanne Friday

awareness in the moment

"Every breath which is exhaled from within must be exhaled with awareness and presence of mind and so that the mind does not stray into forgetfulness."

Baha ad-din Naqshband said: "The foundation of our work is in the breath. The more that one is able to be conscious of one's breathing, the stronger is one's inner life. It is a must for everyone to safeguard his breath in the time of his inhalation and exhalation and further, to safeguard his breath in the interval between the inhalation and exhalation."

As the seeker becomes occupied with the exercise of the moment (i.e. remembering the breath), he turns his attention from remembering the past and thinking of the future, and focuses on each breath until it is expired.

Sa'd ud-din Kashghari added: "Hush dar dam is moving from breath to breath so there is no heedlessness but rather there is presence, and with each breath that we take should be the remembrance of the Real."


from Awareness in the Breath / Awareness in the Moment (Hush dar dam), The Eleven Principles of the Naqshbandi Path; if you'd like to read more please refer to:
http://www.goldensufi.org/elevenprinciples.html

the river and the clouds

a story by Thich Nhat Hanh


Once upon a time there was a beautiful river finding her way among the hills, forests, and meadows. She began by being a joyful stream of water, a spring always dancing and singing as she ran down from the top of the mountain. She was very young at the time, and as she came to the lowland she slowed down. She was thinking about going to the ocean. As she grew up, she learned to look beautiful, winding gracefully among the hills and meadows.

One day she noticed the clouds within herself. Clouds of all sorts of colors and forms. She did nothing during these days but chase after clouds. She wanted to possess a cloud, to have one for herself. But clouds float and travel in the sky, and they are always changing their form. Sometimes they look like an overcoat, sometimes like a horse. Because of the nature of impermanence within the clouds, the river suffered very much. Her pleasure, her joy had become just chasing after clouds, one after another, but despair, anger,and hatred became her life.

Then one day a strong wind came and blew away all the clouds in the sky. The sky became completely empty. Our river thought that life was not worth living, for there were no longer any clouds to chase after. She wanted to die. "If there are no clouds, why should I be alive?" But how can a river take her own life?

That night the river had the opportunity to go back to herself for the first time. She had been running for so long after something outside of herself that she had never seen herself. That night was the first opportunity for her to hear her own crying, the sounds of water crashing against the banks of the river. Because she was able to listen to her own voice, she discovered something quite important.

She realized that what she had been looking for was already in herself. She found out that clouds are nothing but water. Clouds are born from water and will return to water. And she found out she herself was also water.

The next morning when the sun was in the sky, she discovered something beautiful. She saw the blue sky for the first time. She had never noticed it before. She had only been interested in clouds, and she had missed seeing the sky, which is the home of all the clouds. Clouds are impermanent, but the sky is stable. She realized that the immense sky had been within her heart since the very beginning. This great insight brought her peace and happiness. As she saw the vast wonderful blue sky, she knew that her peace and stability would never be lost again.

That afternoon the clouds returned, but this time she did not want to possess any of them. She could see the beauty of each cloud, and she was able to welcome all of them. When a cloud came by, she would greet him or her with loving-kindness. When the cloud wanted to go away, she would wave to him or her happily and with loving kindness. She realized that all clouds are her. She didn't have to choose between the clouds and herself. Peace and harmony existed between her and the clouds.

That evening something wonderful happened. When she opened her heart completely to the evening sky she received the image of the full moon - beautiful, round, like a jewel within herself. She had never imagined that she could receive such a beautiful image. There is a very beautiful poem in Chinese: "The fresh and beautiful moon is traveling in the utmost empty sky. When the mind-rivers of living beings are free, that image of the beautiful moon will reflect in each of us."

This was the mind of the river at that moment. She received the image of that beautiful moon within her heart, and water, clouds, and moon took each other's hands and practiced walking meditation slowly, slowly to the ocean.

There is nothing to chase after. We can go back to ourselves, enjoy our breathing, our smiling, ourselves, and our beautiful environment.

the good news

They don't publish
the good news.
The good news is published
by us.
We have a special edition every moment
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
and the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh Winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available:
hugging is possible.
They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,
smiling its wondrous smile,
singing the songs of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow you head.
Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow
and preoccupation
and get free.
The lastest good news
is that you can do it.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Plum Village, March 1992


To see more photos by Zeynep Kanra please refer to:
http://www.zeynepinyeri.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeynepk/

turning into bodhisattvas

I ought not to turn back towards the past. My road always lies ahead of me.

“Thanks to you,” the Brahman said, “my eyes of crimson fire, my body of crimson fire and blood have at last found sleep. I could never have attained this purified body without you. Many, many thanks indeed.”

“Master, as I entered the flames, my body was filled with intense wellbeing!” Sudhana spoke in aew. Sacred bliss flowed from his penance. He no longer feared sword or fire. He knew that swords, fire, and evil spirits, too, were all love. All evil was Buddha. All fear was compassion.

“It is not possible to restrain what flows,” Prabhuta whispered in his dream. “You cannot restrain water, wind, or all the immensities of time. I couldn’t force you to stay here, even if I wanted to, just as I couldn’t command a bird to perch on a branch.”

“For me, things that stay in one place all part from me, as I flow on,” Sudhana replied. “If I decided to settle somewhere, everything else would flow away from me. There are people who live beneath trees that span a hundred and fifty generations, until the trunk rots into the ground, but that is not for me.”

“How could I ever experience unending bliss without undergoing the Eight Sufferings? Birth, age, disease, and death are the first four, of course. Then there are the last four: parting from what we love, meeting what we hate, failing to attain our aims, and all the ills of personality, the five skandhas. As I cut off my toes one by one I’m gaining my joy. You have to know that truth, don’t you?”

“Look! Fix your whole heart on the center of the empty air. See how all creatures become bodhisattvas in the empty air. Look! Look!”

[…] “Look, they are turning into bodhisattvas, then as bodhisattvas they are reborn and take on the sufferings of life again. It’s a life of greater suffering they take on now. There is no bodhisattva life without living creatures. Without sentient beings there can be no bodhisattva and no Buddha.”

“My path exists,” he thought, “even if no one tells me where it lies. I have to make my roads as I go. For me, every road is newly made.”



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

drawing by Warwick Globe found at the marvelous blog Japonisme

why we walk

When we practice walking meditation we are walking without needing to arrive anywhere, walking just to walk, each step you take brings you back to life, because in Buddhism we say that life can only be found in the present moment. The past has already gone, the future has not yet come, there is only one moment to live, and that is the present moment. Therefore, you have an appointment with life. If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. Therefore, when you practice walking meditation, with each step you arrive in the present moment, and that is the address of our true home: life.

If someone asks you, "What is the Buddha’s address, what is the bodhisattvas’ address?" we say that the Buddha’s address is the here and the now. If you want to meet Buddhas, great beings, bodhisattvas, that is the address where you will meet them. Each brings you to the here and the now, so that you can be in touch with life as it really is. Everything you are looking for is to be found in the here and the now, because the here and now is the only place where life is available. Therefore, walking meditation is something very enjoyable to do. You can practice according to this formula: "I have arrived, I am home."


© from Mindful Consumption, Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on July 17, 1998 in Plum Village, France.




Photos: walking meditation led by Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnam, 2005© Plum Village sites; if you'd like to see more pictures from this series, please refer to:
http://villagedespruniers.net/index.lasso?locate=photo&categorie_photo=Voyage%20au%20Vietnam%20-%202005&langue=francais


If you'd like to watch a walking meditation led by Thich Nhat Hanh (in Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, California, USA), please click bellow:

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