"GOD BLESS AMERICA" MEANS WHAT, AGAIN?
These are my thoughts on the words "God Bless America." What do they mean to you? How do you feel when you hear them over and over again during a political campaign? What could they mean?
WHY DO BUDDHISTS CARE ABOUT CELL PHONES?
I hope you'll watch these brief videos and let me know what you think about people who drive with cell phones. In the first one, I offer my thoughts.
In this one, Paul asks me a few questions about why I see things this way. (We had a little background noise when we made this one, so you might want to turn your speakers up for this one.)
Now, what do you think? Please leave your thoughts in a comment.
MEETING DEATH: YOU'RE INVITED
From October 31 to November 2, I will be at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Connecticut to participate in the program "Meeting Death" sponsored by The Casagrande Institute for Interfaith Conversation. We will explore the spiritual support offered to people by American Indian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim as well as Buddhist traditions at this juncture in life. Perhaps you'll join us. Click here to view the brochure.Photo: Stock Exchange
MAY I...
May I be peaceful, happy, and well.
May I be free from harm and grief.
May I be free from hatred and greed.
May I be free from jealousy and envy.
May I have courage, understanding, and determination.
May I resolve my problems.
May I overcome my failures.
May I be successful.
Photo: Stock Exchange
WHO IS THE KARMAPA LAMA?
The Karmapa Lama is Tibetan Buddhism's second highest ranking spiritual leader. Called "a reincarnation of the living Buddha," the 23-year-old is considered by many to be the Dalai Lama's spiritual heir and the next international voice of Buddhism. The term karmapa literally means "the embodiment of all the activities of the Buddhas." For the last nearly 1000 years, a karmapa lama has led the Kagyu tradition within Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhists believe enlightened spiritual masters can choose to be reincarnated in order to come back and help others to achieve enlightenment.In an exclusive U.S. television interview, the Karmapa Lama talks with Kim Lawton about his increasing public role and how he can help the modern world better understand the teachings and main purpose of Buddhism. "It does seem to be the case that I am receiving more and more recognition in the world," notes the Karmapa. "And my main aspiration is that I use this recognition for a beneficial purpose. The essential points of Buddhism are beyond culture and beyond traditions." (Click here for the interview.)
Photo: The Dalai Lama (left) with the Karmapa Lama
GEORGE CARLIN HAD THE GIFT OF A KEEN EYE
Comedian George Carlin, who died Sunday, June 22, had a keen eye for the humorous in the ordinary. His genius lay in his ability to articulate the humorous and the absurd in the ordinary of our lives. Here is a link to a Beliefnet reflection on Carlin's life and here is an obituary in the Baltimore Sun. The Sun link will take you to video clips and a photo gallery as well as other links.THE GIFT OF MINDFULNESS TO COMPASSION
As we learn to open and come close to the suffering in our own lives, we find we have greater strength and courage and insight to be with the suffering of others. This is the great gift of mindfulness to compassion. (from One Dharma, The Emerging Western Buddhism by Joseph Goldstein)J.K. ROWLING'S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH AT HARVARD
Internationally acclaimed author of the Harry Potter series of books J.K. Rowling delivered an address at Harvard University's 375 commencement. The text is well worth reading, and the following excerpts from it are especially worth our consideration:
Failure
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default. . . .
Imagination
Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.
Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
The complete text and a video are available here.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
Failure
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default. . . .
Imagination
Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.
Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
The complete text and a video are available here.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
LEAVING THINGS UNDONE
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone.The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.
(Lin Yutang)
BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY: PICTURES FROM THE NEW HARTFORD TEMPLE
These pictures were taken at the Dae Yen Sa International Temple and Meditation Center in New Hartford, Connecticut, on May 11, 2008.
NURTURING THE BABY BUDDHA
Please watch my video about nurturing the baby Buddha inside of me, you, and the next guy. Click here. And here's a video about the birth of the Buddha.
WHY CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS, ANYWAY?
I will be giving a presentation entitled "Why do we Celebrate Birthdays, Anyway?" on Sunday, May 11, at 1 p.m. at the Dae Yen Sa International Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center at 19 Kinsey Road in New Hartford. The event is free and open to the public. A light Korean lunch will follow the presentation.This is the day Buddhists celebrate the birth of the Buddha, so I want to talk about celebrating the Buddha's being born in our hearts every day and what that means in terms of doing good in the world," said Vaugh, who is vice abbot of the temple. "I hope families will come and that children will enjoy a story about the Buddha maybe for the first time and that we can all stop and consider what we can do for others.
EMPTY YOUR CUP!
The Zen master Nan-in received a visit from a university professor and offered him tea. When the tea reached the top of the cup,Nan-in just kept on pouring so that it spilled all over the table."Stop! Stop!" cried the professor. "It's too full!"
"And you," said Nan-in, "are too full of your own opinions. How can you learn Zen like that? Empty your cup!"
MEDITATION CHANTS
Because some of the folks who attend my twice-monthly meditations asked for some, there are now three meditation chants in my podcast. (These are large files, so give them a moment to stream.) The podcast player is in the tool bar all the time. This is what it looks like:
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THE LAST LECTURE: DR. RANDY PAUSCH
Dr. Randy Pausch knows he is dying, and he presents his "last lecture" on Oprah. Click here to watch it. This video will leave you thinking when it's over, so please take 10 minutes of your time to watch it. In the video, Pausch says, "This is about more than how to achieve childhood dreams. It's about how to live your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself; the dreams will come to you. If you live properly, the dreams will come to you."
Click here to visit Pausch's site, where you'll find links to a transcript, a PowerPoint slide show, the full lecture, and much, much more.
Click here to visit Pausch's site, where you'll find links to a transcript, a PowerPoint slide show, the full lecture, and much, much more.
THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH
No one really cares when soldiers get killed. Most of us are OK with that as long as we are comfortable here in the Home Land. But I draw your attention to the suffering of those who have put in disability claims--a quarter of a million. That suffering will go on for ever. So what is a follower of the Buddha to do?~*~
Please join me at this event sponsored by Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice. Please send me an email so we can arrange some carpooling.
LAMENTATION and PROTEST
Remember the Dead ♦ Count the Cost ♦ End the War
Wednesday, March 19 at Noon
HARTFORD
Interfaith Prayer Service
Center Church
Corner of Gold Street and Main Street
(diagonally across from the Wadsworth Atheneum)
followed by a silent procession, ending with a
Public Witness to the Destruction of War
Federal Building
450 Main Street
Remember the Dead ♦ Count the Cost ♦ End the War
Wednesday, March 19 at Noon
HARTFORD
Interfaith Prayer Service
Center Church
Corner of Gold Street and Main Street
(diagonally across from the Wadsworth Atheneum)
followed by a silent procession, ending with a
Public Witness to the Destruction of War
Federal Building
450 Main Street
Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, a statewide interfaith network of religious leaders and people of faith, will mark this 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by bearing witness to the horrifying costs of war (human, economic, and moral) and to the complicity of silence (by individuals, institutions and corporations).
A brief interfaith prayer service on the steps of Center Church (featuring AFSC’s “Cost of War” banners and boots representing CT’s soldiers who have died) will be followed by a procession to the Federal Building, stopping in front of United Technologies headquarters along the way.
Participants are encouraged to wear black and to bring one or more stones to add to a pile, making visible the destruction and human cost of the war. On each stone, please inscribe the name of an Iraqi civilian who has died in the war (one list is available at www.iraqbodycount.org/database/individuals/). Stones should be large enough to write on with a permanent marker but small enough to carry five blocks. Clergy are asked to wear visible signs of their office.
A brief interfaith prayer service on the steps of Center Church (featuring AFSC’s “Cost of War” banners and boots representing CT’s soldiers who have died) will be followed by a procession to the Federal Building, stopping in front of United Technologies headquarters along the way.
Participants are encouraged to wear black and to bring one or more stones to add to a pile, making visible the destruction and human cost of the war. On each stone, please inscribe the name of an Iraqi civilian who has died in the war (one list is available at www.iraqbodycount.org/database/individuals/). Stones should be large enough to write on with a permanent marker but small enough to carry five blocks. Clergy are asked to wear visible signs of their office.
VISUALIZATION
We tried a visualization meditation last night that involved touching each of the four fingers to the thumb with each new thought and being aware of your breathing between each thought. Try this:1. Touching your index finger to your thumb, remember a time when you were in a very beautiful place.....Breathe....
2. Touching your middle finger to your thumb, remember a time when someone gave you a compliment....Breathe....
3. Touching your ring finger to your thumb, remember a time when you heard and felt the words, "I love you."...Breathe....
4. Touching your pinky to your thumb, remember a time when you were exhausted from a healthy physical activity....Breathe....
CENTERING PRAYER
Tonight we tried centering prayer as our method of meditation. Here's a way to approach centering prayer:
1. Choose a word that is sacred or meaningful to you.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly, and silently introduce this word.
3. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes. (Click here for more on how-to.)
Here's what Thomas Keating says about Centering Prayer in Open Mind, Open Heart. (He talks about it from a Christian perspective, but you can bring this approach to any form of meditation and substitute words wherever you feel comfortable.):
"The root of prayer is interior silence. We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. Deep prayer is the laying aside of thoughts. It is the opening of mind and heart, body and feelings--our whole being--to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond words, thoughts, and emotions. We do not resist them or suppress them. We accept them as they are and go beyond them, not by effort, but by letting them all go by. We open our awareness to the Ultimate Mystery whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing--closer than consciousness itself. The Ultimate Mystery is the ground in which our being is rooted, the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment."
1. Choose a word that is sacred or meaningful to you.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly, and silently introduce this word.
3. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes. (Click here for more on how-to.)
Here's what Thomas Keating says about Centering Prayer in Open Mind, Open Heart. (He talks about it from a Christian perspective, but you can bring this approach to any form of meditation and substitute words wherever you feel comfortable.):
"The root of prayer is interior silence. We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. Deep prayer is the laying aside of thoughts. It is the opening of mind and heart, body and feelings--our whole being--to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond words, thoughts, and emotions. We do not resist them or suppress them. We accept them as they are and go beyond them, not by effort, but by letting them all go by. We open our awareness to the Ultimate Mystery whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing--closer than consciousness itself. The Ultimate Mystery is the ground in which our being is rooted, the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment."
THE TEA CEREMONY
Beliefnet has some interesting thoughts on "the healing power of tea." Like this one:
Green tea is considered a "pure" tea, meaning it doesn't undergo an oxidation process. Most green teas are grown in Japan or China. Its health benefits are manifold. Although green tea naturally contains caffeine, one mug's worth contains less than a fourth as much as the average cup of coffee. For people trying to cut their caffeine consumption, switching from coffee to green tea is a very healthy alternative. Scientists have shown a correlation between green tea consumption and reduced cancer risk, weight loss, and improved heart health. Green tea also possesses a small amount of natural fluoride, an element which strengthens bones. And anyone who has ever had a sore throat can definitely attest to the soothing power of green tea with honey in it.
Here's what Thich Nhat Hanh says about tea meditation:
Tea meditation is a practice. It is a practice to help us be free. If you are still bound and haunted by the past, if you are still afraid of the future, if you are carried away by your projects, your fear, you anxiety, and your anger, you are not a free person. You are not fully present in the here and the now, so life is not really available to you…In order to be really alive, in order to touch life deeply, you have to become a free person. Cultivating mindfulness can help you to be free…When you drink tea in mindfulness, your body and your mind are perfectly united. You are real, and the tea you drink also becomes real…..This is genuine tea drinking.”
Green tea is considered a "pure" tea, meaning it doesn't undergo an oxidation process. Most green teas are grown in Japan or China. Its health benefits are manifold. Although green tea naturally contains caffeine, one mug's worth contains less than a fourth as much as the average cup of coffee. For people trying to cut their caffeine consumption, switching from coffee to green tea is a very healthy alternative. Scientists have shown a correlation between green tea consumption and reduced cancer risk, weight loss, and improved heart health. Green tea also possesses a small amount of natural fluoride, an element which strengthens bones. And anyone who has ever had a sore throat can definitely attest to the soothing power of green tea with honey in it.
Here's what Thich Nhat Hanh says about tea meditation:
Tea meditation is a practice. It is a practice to help us be free. If you are still bound and haunted by the past, if you are still afraid of the future, if you are carried away by your projects, your fear, you anxiety, and your anger, you are not a free person. You are not fully present in the here and the now, so life is not really available to you…In order to be really alive, in order to touch life deeply, you have to become a free person. Cultivating mindfulness can help you to be free…When you drink tea in mindfulness, your body and your mind are perfectly united. You are real, and the tea you drink also becomes real…..This is genuine tea drinking.”
WHAT KIND OF WELL IS IT?
A man dug a well by the side of a road. For years afterward, grateful travelers talked of the Wonderful Well. But one night a man fell into it and drowned. After that, people avoided the Dreadful Well. Later it was discovered that the victim was a drunken thief who had left the road to avoid being captured by the night patrol--only to fall into the Justice-Dispensing Well. (a Chinese story found in Benjamin Hoff's The Te of Piglet)
ANGEL RIDE BRINGS JOY TO SICK CHILDREN
Starting in the New Year, I will donate any offerings or honorariums I receive for weddings, joinings, funerals, and pet memorials to the Angel Ride. Angel Ride is a cycling even held every year to raise funds for The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps.I have done this in the past, but this year I will be more open to doing a few more speaking engagements and retreats so that I can raise consciousness of and support for this organization
The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps encompasses the world's largest family of camps for children with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions. To date, more than 114,000 children with serious illnesses from all 50 states and 32 countries have attended these camps free of charge.
The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps is a not-for-profit organization totally supported by charitable contributions. Hole in the Wall Camps are the dream of actor Paul Newman, who started the first camp in 1988, and has been the driving force ever since.
Please click here if you would like to make a direct contribution.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6: TEA AND ORIGAMI
Join me Sunday, January 6, at 2 p.m. at the Woodbury (Connecticut) public library for a tea meditation that I will lead followed by origami instruction with Sandy Carlson. This is billed as a family event, so all are welcome. There is no charge. Click here for directions to the library.A NEW YEAR'S BLESSING
I am so lucky to get to meet so many people who "have faith in themselves."May all beings in the New Year find faith and happiness in who they know they are and throw off superstitions of the past.
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