2010: Year of the Tiger

Cafe Astrology on the Year of the Tiger

from sinopaperart.com

The 5 Great Protections

Up the mountain praktis

visited Deer Park Monastery with some dear friends

and we touched the earth as witness

to take refuge and commit to praktising

the 5 Mindfulness Trainings of the Plum Village tradition…

this has been a beginning anew process for me…

i’ve tended to be anonymous and not want to engage

so personally with the sangha

today, being in the ceremony, there was no runnin’ away!

and of course, there was never any reason to go the other way…

though i did…and today was my way of nourishing my intention

to know i have arrived, i am home

deer park monastery,

mindfulness laboratory

let me tell you my story…

ONELOVETRUST, CHEF JULIA & BROTHER JIM

…we all stood there

to witness ourselves

take the trainings together

i want to think about it as another BIRTHDAY for ourselves

giving birth to our highest aspirations of praktis and protection

February 7, 2010 —

a week before the Year of the Tiger Lunar New Year Celebration!

we journeyed up the mountain to invoke the great mountain of protection that resides there…

this morning, i pulled the paravati card and the “courage” card from the ascended masters oracle.

• paravati – mountain
• moses – courage, leadership, take control and charge, parting of the seas

and then tonight, i pulled “focus on your strengths” inviting me to see what parts of the praktis i have cultivated within…

aspiration:  to recite the 5 mindfulness trainings twice a month at home, or with friends or with sangha!

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The Five Wonderful Trainings (revised 2009)

The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future. Reverence For Life Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world. True Happiness Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming. True Love Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future. Loving Speech and Deep Listening Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness. Nourishment and Healing Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

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You are already…

Thanks to tttspirit’s Flickr site for this beautiful and inspired calligraphy photo composed by Thich Nhat Hanh!

Beginning Anew ~ 5 Wonderful Trainings

Beginning Anew…

Touching the Earth…

Returning to the Ground of Being…

Balik sa Bayan…

Arrived, arrived…

Home, home…

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Tomorrow, going up the mountain to Deer Park Monastery ~ Mindfulness Laboratory to touch the earth and take refuge in the Great Mountain of Protection embodied and expressed through the Five Wonderful Trainings.

Discernment and kindness, writes Roshi Joan Halifax, in the introduction to FOR A FUTURE TO BE POSSIBLE.

BEGINNING ANEW

…each moment, each day

cultivating the highest compassion

for myself and for others…

for myself and for others…

cultivating the highest compassion!

Wake Up Song

Recording Session of the Wake Up Song in Dharma Nectar Hall of Lower Hamlet. (January 30th, 2010)
Wake Up Song

Planting seeds in your community

it’s time to wake up

to be the change in the world we want to see

its time to open up

to redefine society

oh, don’t give up

planting seeds anew in the community…

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Thank you to the Wake Up Song-ha!

To a year, a decade, a lifetime of creative abundance!

Transforming Adversity into Joy & Courage

I like the title of this book!  Add to the list

TRANSFORMING ADVERSITY INTO JOY AND COURAGE: An Explanation of the Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

by Geshe Jampa Tegchok, edited by Thubten Chodron

A practical and inspiring guide for developing our ability to be happy and benefit others, this commentary on The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas by Gyalsay Togme Sangpo is studied by followers of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The root text gives, in thirty-seven short verses, the essential practices leading to enlightenment. Gyalsay Togme Sangpo(1295-1369) was renowned as a bodhisattva in Tibet and revered for living according to the bodhisattva ideals and practices that he taught. He inspired not only his direct disciples but also generations of practitioners up to the present day.

This extraordinary commentary by Geshe Jampa Tegchok clearly explains the popular practice of exchanging oneself with others for developing love and compassion for all living beings. It lays open the methods for doing glance, stabilizing, and analytical meditations, and offers an in-depth discussion of the nature of emptiness. All the essentials are here for transforming our attitudes and developing courage and joy.

Geshe Jampa Tegchok became a monk at the age of eight. He studied all of the major Buddhist treatises at Sera-je Monastery in Tibet before fleeing his homeland in 1959. After staying in the refugee camp at Buxa, India, Geshe Tegchok went to Varanasi, where he obtained his Acharya degree and taught for seven years. He then began teaching in the West – three years in England and ten years at Nalanda Monastery in France. In 1993, His Holiness the Dalai Lama appointed him as abbot of Sera-je Monastic University in India. Retired from that position, he now teaches widely in the United States.

This is a re-release of Transforming the Heart.

EXPLORE THIS TITLE FURTHER…

• Table of Contents
• Article from the Snow Lion
• Book Excerpt

A teaching on the Tissametteya Sutta

Thank you dearest Thay, for opening all the dharma doors!

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Tissametteya Sutta: A Teaching about Sexual Energy

from www.tnhaudio.org

January 26th, 2010 . Posted in Sutra, Winter Retreat

January 24, 2010. This 52-minute dharma talk in Vietnamese, with translation into English by Sister Chan Khong, was given by Thich Nhat Hanh in Assembly of Stars Mediation Hall, Lower Hamlet, Plum Village.

After nearly two weeks for the Great Ordination Ceremony, transmission of the Lamp, Thay returns to a regular teaching schedule. Here we begin the 10-gatha Tissametteya Sutta, one of the oldest teachings of the Buddha (the 7th teaching after enlightenment). It was written down in sanskrit (Pali Canon) around 200-300 BC and then translated into Chinese in the 3rd century with the help of Master Tang Hoi.

The topic of the sutta is sexual intercourse and the question was posed to the Buddha by a young monk. How do I deal with my sexual energy?

Listen Now Here

Returning Home Praktis

As part of my Lookin’ Back Praktis…

Intention:  to Begin Anew, Deer Park Monastery, mindfulness laboratory…to renew my Five Mindfulness Trainings aspiration with dear Brother Jim, World Beat Sangha Brother, poet buddha touch deep reality Brother, back ‘n da day Clare de Lune’s Tuesday night open mic Brother Jim…and still today, connecting, growing, eating at Papaji’s, offering our support and brotherhood to one another…

RETURNING HOME

RETURNING HOME
(on visiting deer park monastery on new year’s day 2006)

returning home
is saying
yes to the praktis
and visiting deerpark more
being responsible (i’m using that word a lot these days)
for my praktis
for the conditions of my praktis
and the people and relationships i create
not to visit and then disappear
and be all sporadic
about what i’m doing
cultivating and sustaining
this relationship with myself
and the beauty that is created
in us because of others
who share their wisdom, being
and presence
intimacy
during the closing sharings at deerpark
the thankfulness of the monastics
that people visited to share this time
with them
i heard brother phap trach more
i heard sister susan more
i heard them more
i heard brother phap hai
speak about being present
and available for one another
don’t know how much space
i have for others
but being available
anonymously
quietly
and even from afar
i can do that
i’d like to do that
yes to that
after a short hiatus
RETURNING HOME
and still being received
openly
generously
and space (although i got called out!)
the praktis has space for me
literally
space for me and
my ways of acting
holding the suffering i have
in the most subtle of ways
holding the things
i do not feel i can hold
even within myself
the space i needed
to have entered and then left
and the loving energy
that received me upon my return
that meant something to me
and deerpark is a little different now
creating space to receive the changes
with brother phap dung and others gone
and still i feel a connection
seeing natalie and knowing the kind
of friendship i’ve built with her
all the support she’s given me
and the support i too can offer
being there to see other flipbuddha praktisyoners
and just being there to be witness to that gift
for me
i need to see that
it makes my life feel complete
seeing that lady with the nice afro hairdo
i don’t know her but i’d like to – next time
i wanna say hi and tell her how her hair
gives me happiness
the kids that play and bow three times
to the three jewels
and recite the two promises
i believe in these lil’ ones
and i wanna support them
in their life
the parent who made sure to
say hi to me
she stopped to say hi and
offered a bow
welcoming me back
gently and loving
old friends whom i know
have lived full years in the distance
and time we/i have been away
catching up with them
catching up on life
and reconnecting
catching up with sister chau nghiem
so many months later
after i wrote her about my
“experiment” hahahaha
i returned and saw and received
all these things
no pretense for having been gone
just always the goodness
of deer park to give
a mountain of love
just vibrating up there
RETURNING HOME
because i know now
that this is where part of my life is
i might’ve denied it before
i was confused before
i didn’t open to it enough
from the heart to take in
all the goodness
i left only to return
differently now i think
there’s a lesson in all of this
deeper and more healing
than what i am sensing now
the new year visit
the five mindfulness trainings
bowing to all our ancestors
brother phap niem’s talk (oooooh)
brother phap hai’s walking, living
breathing dharma
unfadeable
deerpark is unfadeable
incredible love that’s unfadeable
the dharma is deeply and lovely – sing it!
rest now young one
stop here
arrive completely
home is here
that’s all you need know

Lookin’ Back Praktis

Lookin’ back at the moments when I had some time to sit and write and write and write about what came to mind, what was important, what I was feelin’ like, what-what-what-everrrrz clever!

enough space and time or distractedness to write it down for myself, and now, a moment much more in the future…more than I could have ever realized…

Lookin’ back and smiling at who I am…who i was…who I am…so many years later.  Ahhh, the wonders of blogs!

TURNING FULLY TOWARDS THIS ONE LIFE:  http://isangbuhay.blogspot.com

ONENESS ~ COMMUNITY ~ LOVE

http://isanghamahal.blogspot.com

Gratitude Praktis

Intention:  to write about (at least once a week, or more hopefully)  10 things I am grateful for, messages, inspirations, reflections, insights—inner and outer gifts I have received from the Friendly Universe!

Gratitude Praktis January 24, 2010

1)  Seeing Dove and friend, din din at Loving Hut, tea, inspiration, insight, conversation, great presentation!

2)  Sunlight after a week of angelic rains…

3)  My homemade version of “Hometree” with hearts.

4)  Hangin’ with Nanay

5)  Nourishment from the digital world (quote about women working iniquity, the sweetness of the impossible)

6)  Connecting with OneLoveTrust about the rains and winds of change…

7)  Remembering about animal energies in the backyard…

8)  Gateway to Home, OPEN COMPLETELY!

9)  Hearing the sound of Maha Saraswati as the Great Mother of Learning

10) Candle offerings here and afar…