Can there be anything more beautiful than a human child?
Indeed, as Christ said, it were better to hang a millstone around your neck and cast it into the sea than to mislead one of these.
By this measure, the advertising industry and the business interests it serves stand condemned.
It used to be relatively easy to shelter children from the media and its insane propaganda. Now it is everywhere we look.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Hell
In Christian mythology, Hell is not a place of eternal suffering. Hell is a place of meaningless suffering.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Endurance
Victor Frankl wrote that "Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death."
So it is not a question of if we will suffer or even how we will suffer, but how will we endure.
The secret to knowing how to endure suffering is to practice accepting change.
So it is not a question of if we will suffer or even how we will suffer, but how will we endure.
The secret to knowing how to endure suffering is to practice accepting change.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Conformity
In modern society, we are conditioned to believe that conformity to the social system leads to greater security and personal happiness.
We take our first step on the road to Truth when we question that assumption.
We take our first step on the road to Truth when we question that assumption.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sad Buddha
You may have heard that everyone has Buddha nature which is our true human nature.
In the spirit of this teaching, I told my three-year-old grandson that he was a Buddha. He replied, "No, you are a Buddha."
I agreed. "We are both Buddha."
My grandson seemed never to forget this conversation. On each subsequent visit, he would tell me that I was a Buddha and I would reaffirm our agreement. "We are both Buddha."
At the age of five, my grandson apparently had an insight: "I know why you are a Buddha."
"Why?"
"Because you are happy."
It seemed a reasonable assumption that when we are aware of our Buddha nature we are happy.
Several weeks later, however, my grandson spontaneously announced, "I cannot be a Buddha because sometimes I am mad and sometimes I am sad."
How interesting that my grandson should be aware of his emotions at such a young age! But a mad Buddha is still a Buddha. Mad or sad or glad--a Buddha is a Buddha.
Our emotions are like the waves of the sea. Zen Master Suzuki said that "to speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion." Waves and water are one.
With this understanding, we can practice accepting our emotions as we accept the waves of the sea. We will not be attached to one particular emotion and we will have no difficulty expressing our emotions as they arise.
When we realize that our emotions are an expression of our true nature, then a sad Buddha can be a happy Buddha.
In the spirit of this teaching, I told my three-year-old grandson that he was a Buddha. He replied, "No, you are a Buddha."
I agreed. "We are both Buddha."
My grandson seemed never to forget this conversation. On each subsequent visit, he would tell me that I was a Buddha and I would reaffirm our agreement. "We are both Buddha."
At the age of five, my grandson apparently had an insight: "I know why you are a Buddha."
"Why?"
"Because you are happy."
It seemed a reasonable assumption that when we are aware of our Buddha nature we are happy.
Several weeks later, however, my grandson spontaneously announced, "I cannot be a Buddha because sometimes I am mad and sometimes I am sad."
How interesting that my grandson should be aware of his emotions at such a young age! But a mad Buddha is still a Buddha. Mad or sad or glad--a Buddha is a Buddha.
Our emotions are like the waves of the sea. Zen Master Suzuki said that "to speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion." Waves and water are one.
With this understanding, we can practice accepting our emotions as we accept the waves of the sea. We will not be attached to one particular emotion and we will have no difficulty expressing our emotions as they arise.
When we realize that our emotions are an expression of our true nature, then a sad Buddha can be a happy Buddha.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Power of Art
"Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality."--Shunryu Suzuki
If you understand what Zen Master Suzuki is saying, then you will understand why Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas is considered a masterpiece.
Great art, perhaps more than anything else, can awaken a human soul from its slumbers.
If you understand what Zen Master Suzuki is saying, then you will understand why Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas is considered a masterpiece.
Great art, perhaps more than anything else, can awaken a human soul from its slumbers.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Listen
What is meditation?
It is the act of listening with a quiet mind. It is to sit with full attention, ears open. It is to be very careful, observant, and alert.
It is to listen for the victorious answer to the question of the ultimate meaning of life.
"Yes!"
That's it. That is what mediation is. To hear one word only.
It is the act of listening with a quiet mind. It is to sit with full attention, ears open. It is to be very careful, observant, and alert.
It is to listen for the victorious answer to the question of the ultimate meaning of life.
"Yes!"
That's it. That is what mediation is. To hear one word only.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.--John 1:1
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