Kundun

Some quotes from the film, KUNDUN, the story of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, his birth, his early years, China’s invasion, and his escape to India.

First, one understands that he causes much of his own suffering needlessly.
Second, he looks for the reasons for this in his own life.
To look is to have confidence in one’s own ability to end the suffering.
Finally, a wish arises to find a path to peace. For all beings desire happiness, all wish to find their purest self.

I rejoice in the awakening of the Buddhas and also in the spiritual levels of their sons. With folded hands, I beseech the Buddhas of All Directions to shine the lamp of Dharma for all bewildered in the gloom of misery.

With folded hands, I beseech all the Buddhas who wish to pass away to please remain, for countless aeons, not to leave the world in darkness.

My foes will become nothing, my friends will become nothing, I too will become nothing. Likewise, all will become nothing.

Just like a dream experienced, whatever things I enjoy will become a memory. Whatever has passed will never be seen again.

I will liberate those not liberated. I will release those, not released. I will relieve those, unrelieved. And set living beings in nirvana.

The Buddhas neither wash ill deeds away with water nor remove beings sufferings with their hands, nor transfer their realizations to others. Beings are released through the teachings of the Truth, the Final Reality.

Thus by the virtue that has collected through all that I have done, may the pain of every living creature be completed cleared away.

I think I am the reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, when I try to be a good man, you see yourself.

The “Fifth” Noble Truth

“The fifth truth, the truth of Bringing the Teachings Home…”

~Hilda G. Baldoquin

Cuban-born Soto Zen priest

Editor of “Dharma, Color & Culture: New Voices in Western Buddhism” (2004)

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Buddhadharma Comes Full Circle

“Siddharta Gautama, who became Shakyamuni Buddha, was a person of color living in the north of India. In the centuries after his death, the seeds of the Buddhadharma took root in the hearts of many people of color as it migrated to Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Vietnam. The dharma is coming full circle. It is coming back to the ears, hearts, and hands of people of color, where it began many centuries and generations ago…”

From “Dharma, Color and Culture” (Parallax Press, 2004)

~Kamala Masters

http://www.vipassanametta.org/

Dove Messages

Visited Dove today at the Controversial Bookstore, North Park.

Chatted a little bit…catching up on latest projects.

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THE FOUR GREAT TRUTHS DVD LAUNCH!

A teaching by Michael Dove

directed by Mark Newsome

DVD Screening & Celebration

MAY 3rd, 2009

3pm-6pm

Controversial Bookstore

*** film screening *** community *** refreshments

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Dove shared some thoughts about visiting San Cristobal! Woooohooo!

And he asked about what’s up at school? Shared a feeling that the entire program would go through a restructuring and shift. And ultimately, it would actually FREE me!? Wow!? Does that mean the work will not have the same resonance as before, if the program becomes so different than what it was initially started for? Will my preps and teaching load balance out finally? Will I have more time for other things, “things?” Smile!

No one really knows, actually, he said. There’s a feeling that no one really knows what is really going on. But, in the way that everything is undergoing a transformative restructuring, the same will occur for this program as well. Release…listen…respond

And regarding the South+East Asia trip…

Go & receive…

Will encounter my teaching training, classroom work “self” but in a completely different context. The work of “teaching in the classroom” recast amidst different conditions. A good thing! Helping others here and there to frame and understand. Activity, communication, interaction.

A hut and a cushion will emerge to greet me there…

A completely new beginning…a bussssy new beginning!

I am open to receive the entirety of the communication that commences upon taking this journey in the direction of South+East Asia.

I look forward to growing in ease with my teaching work, in order for me to be “free.”

I look forward to Entering the Gateway that I seek and the one that is also seeking me.

I receive the messages.  I receive the feelings and communications.  I receive the roles and pathways, the opening gateways that are emerging for me to see.  Emerge(N)See!

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“You have seen the path, do not fear anymore.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Gentle hut cushion

Breathing walking sitting, yes

Yes  Buddha dharma!

A Joy to Meet (San Cristobal)

Journeying up the mountain

where my Ego has a chance to hear itself

and my ideas of rights and wrongs show themselves

more quickly…

Journeying up the  mountain

of my own nature

seeing myself in relation to another

…What is all this silence inside of me?

…And what about all these moments of affinity

and leaning in your direction—is it a grasping sorta thing?

Could it be anything else?

…What is it that I seek in knowing you?

…What energies of attachment and wrong perception have made themselves known, spring emerge(n)see?

…Has something shifted?

…And in what “direction?”

Journeying up the mountain

pushing through the difficulties that are emerging

Journeying up the mountain of my being

pushing through the earth

this lil’ seedling comes to know itself more

comes to know its own nature

in the midst of mountain nature

in the mist of spring time mountain

energy!

Up here

Up the mountain

To the south+east!

Rejoice!

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A JOY TO MEET YOU

(Up the mountain to San Cristobal de las Casas)

Dear Kalyanamitra,

A joy to meet you again, in this way.

A joy to meet you again, up the mountain.

A joy to meet you again, in the fullness of your moment to moment.

Heartful thanks for sharing your space with me these past few days. For creating space inside your everyday life to listen to me, to talk with me, to continue our interactions as they have arisen inside of us, moment to moment

Tomorrow is my last full day before leaving Friday morning back down the mountain to Tuxtla then to DF, then back to Tijuana and crossing over to the “other-other-other side.” May our final communication during this time emerge with ease and mindfulness.

I ask for your compassion through my unmindful thoughts, words and acts that emerged being with you this past week. I know I can begin to overthink and assume too much at times, to the point of causing more burden versus more freedom. Bow to your Truthful Vissuddha chakra.

After visiting you, I feel like I “know” a bit more about You, now. And it is a good feeling, finally encountering the place, the being and the life that you live up here in the mountain. You and this moment of singing like Saraswati, and being with your Soul with your bodhisattva of great action aspirations. I have had the joy of meeting your friends and the community in which you exist. They are very nice people and I pray that your relationships with these friends, comadres and compadres will lead you closer and closer to the healing that you took birth.

May my perceptions of you be clear and free. And those “ideas” and “misunderstandings” that represents incorrect view, may I be quick to realize it, and swiftly release my fear-based, ego-based, self-centered project about you and meet you on the Ground of your Truth

What happens after this moment?

I release

to the space

that exists between

now and the future that I so much desire to know…

But I release…

release and cultivate a moment to moment

feeling of being myself

and checking where my emotions

and my Being resides

so that when the conditions arise

for me to have the good fortune to see you again…

It will be in that moment when I will know

clearly, fully and completely

that which is This…

.

.

.

Dear Kalyanamitra,

The whole world rejoices from the sounds and songs of your heartful awakened celebration of our Divine Origins.

That which you are seeking, is also seeking you.

Maybe it has already found you!  (wink, wink!)

See you again.

Namaste Universe…

Santi,

Jnaseh

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Made it safely up the mountain to see a Dear Friend.

What a joy it is to see

and share in the moment to moment

unfolding of Life

in all of its usualness, plainness

and the bit of Light that peeks out

to surprise us —

What a joy it is to meet the community,

home and friends of a dear Friend

to know she is safe and touching the

depth of Being with each breath

through the smiles and happiness

through the uncertainties and edges of Self

…all of it and them some

All is well…

& All will be revealed…

What has been revealed for me, here

in the mountains of San Cristobal?

May another moment arise for me to sit and connect with the clarity of communication that has been this trip South+East -> Suroeste Explorations.

Never say you can’t…

“Never say you can’t do,

because that is not the real you speaking…”

~Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

This quote also reminds me of the calligraphy from Thay…

and the energy and gift of Fearlessness.  The Awakened Nature within us, the aspect of pure compasssion and original wisdom shines forth, unstained and indestructible.  That is the real Me within all of these things I call me too.  The part of me that can, that is, that says YES and receives the completeness and fullness of being alive in this day, age, time, period.  I think I am receiving some communication upon the chance to meet Tsem Tulku Rinpoche this summer, aka LOCO LAMA!  I think I have a question to ask him…

Hmmm!?!

HA HA HA!!!

Here we go!

Gateway Freedom Release!

Enter fully!

Praktis ~ Walking Meditation

World Beat Sangha Gathering today and always a treat to hear how others praktis.

Today, a sharing by Peter on walking meditation which helps to bring deeper connection and appreciation for walking on Mother Earth.  Next time you are out, walking and simply enjoying the act of walking…and we don’t even have to call it walking meditation, just walking, connect with Mother Earth with each of your steps as you walk, breathe, touch, feel and heal like this:

Breathing in, I touch the Earth…

Breathing out, the Earth touches me…

Breathing in, I feel the Earth (under my feet)…

Breathing out, the Earth feels me…

Breathing in, I heal the Earth (with this mindful, conscious, connected step)…

Breathing out, the Earth heals me…

The miracle of mindfulness!

Look deeply and listen with compassion…

Praktis ~ Breathing, Being Present

Guided Meditation Offering to the World Beat Sangha tonight. I hope the sharing was all good and that it did not cause discomfort or confusion. I felt inspired to share a bit about my understandings of sitting praktis and the realizations, insights and “right view” that I’ve had the fortune to hear and learn and experience. During sitting meditation sometimes, my mind makes me think I have to be something, become someone, reach some point, achieve _____. Grasping, and ego. One time, Thay said something like, “you want to take refuge in a long, deep meditation and you become discouraged when sitting or breathing is short and sporadic—but that is impermanence.” I laughed when I heard him say that because it is so true.  We want our meditation to be always good. We want to take refuge in our indestructible breath and calm.  Yet, if we don’t praktis and create the conditions for that, then our wanting is based on no effort — illogical.  THAY DIDN’T SAY IT EXACTLY LIKE THAT, BUT YOU GET THE POINT

I feel lucky to have had a chance to sit with and meditate on my own sitting praktis and to come to a different clarity about it. Having to speak about it, and not basing it on my praktis, would have been useless. I only hope it was not so for others, for the sangha with whom I shared.

May the merits of our sitting and breathing praktis be of benefit to the sangha, the World Beat Center, and our community.

A GUIDED MEDITATION

On Sitting & Being Present

(((BELL))))

Listen, listen The sound of this bell brings me back to my true home… (((BELL))))

Dear Sangha

Diligently turn the mind, into meditation

Diligently invite the breath, into meditation

Diligently rest the body, into meditation

Diligently bring the mind, into meditation

Connecting with the breath

Resting in awareness in my body

Holding in gentle awareness all the wonderful conditions Here and now supporting me to simply breath, to be, to show up, to be part of sangha…

My lungs and my heart offering their presence

Giving me Life

My spine being present for me to sit up nobly

My legs cooperating to maintain my stability

All of them, all of us, this circle, this building, the trees and birds and plants outside, all breathing and being…

We are all One…

All these conditions are part of our Sangha

(((BELL)))

Meditation

Connection

Becoming intimate with the present moment

Calming myself grounding myself in this here breath

What a miracle This simple breath

A precious friend I have encountered on this path

This act of breathing in and breathing out

This simple way of being able to receiving life …and releasing into Life

Knowing intimately I am part of the web of life

Just Sitting

Just breathing

Being

I have arrived

I am home

…present moment

…healing moment

I feel gratitude for this chance

To be alive

To sit here with dear friends

To breathe for myself, my family, my society

…to sit and deepen my connection

…to sit and practice compassion

…to sit and feel stillness in action

I have arrived

I am home

Dear Sangha

Ever gently turn the mind, into meditation

(((BELL)))

Continue sitting for ~10 minutes.

(((BELL)))

BuddhaEye: Don’t Take Anything Personally

I’ve been casually pulling a card each day from the Don Miguel Ruiz “Four Agreements” deck given to me by a dear friend of a friend upon their visit to the house one day.

I finally opened the deck after several months and was nicely surprised by how the Four Agreements are expanded upon through the series of 12 cards that “break down” each of the agreements.

A Light of Wisdom Shines Reminding Us of the Way…

I pulled a card this morning.  Then, before going to bed, I participated in the 9:11 emergence time meditation with Heart Friend in the distance, then as I was sitting, I realized something about the card I pulled from this morning. I read through the card one more time, and thought about its connection to today’s Unexpected Changes.

Don’t Take Anything Personally ~
Be Immune to Others’ Opinion ~

“…what others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of endless suffering.”

I’ve been suffering for the past few hours today because of the decision to possibly terminate the academy program. It saddens me.  And this card tonight is a gentle reminder not to allow other’s thoughts, other’s actions, other’s words be a factor in shaping one’s reality. Particularly a reality that does not resonate with My Truths.

What happened today does not ring True with me. And so, I praktis becoming immune to others’ opinions.

My mother has always been my teacher – ii

My mother has always been my teacher…

during this summer of love

i came to this realization

supportive conditions helping me realize

as well as feel that my mother has been a teacher all along

all along this way, this growing up, this being her son role

getting me to grow and heal and move beyond the smallness of myself

my mother was one of the people, who, when i got talking about her…

if you got me talking about her enough

she’d raise the temper

she’d have me raising my voice

and not feeling very close, compassionate, understanding

…worked up for sure

…closed and ego-speakin’ for sure

…speaking from my small self

“inner child” issssshhhhhes

the part of my that was broken and seeking attention

the part of me that i needed to heal for myself

take care of and nurture for myself

“sacred wounds” bringing me back to my true home

as I am sure all of us have had to travel

to come to terms with “parents”

this was the summer when it all seemingly came together

both in the mind and the heart

my mind which was self-righteously telling its story

about its hurts — my heart too
finally gettin’ it

that this has been an on-going pattern

for as long as i could remember

family dysfunctionality

“colonization” i say at times

immigration to the us

my mother and all the ways this experience in this lifetime

have shaped her in ways that i feel grate on me…

me being ungrateful, many times, about her way of being

wanting her to change

wanting her to see me in particular ways

suffering

and making my suffering worse

making myself helpless

making myself small because i felt small

and listening to myself speak from this place

.

.

.

the summer of love 2008

my mother has always been my teacher

healing the relationship that no longer serves

healing a way of being within my self that no longer serves

“spiritual reparative work” as one teacher put it

“i am a continuation of my father, mother and teachers” another One said

“expiration dates on blaming parents” said another

heart heart heart energy

opening, i think my heartspace

for the healing to occur

the healing i took birth for

my mother has always been my teacher

mothers have always been teachers

healing this relationship

choosing transformation in the midst of suffering

choosing understanding in the midst of suffering

choosing compassion (to myself first, and at times, to her) in the midst of suffering

seeing the noble truth in suffering when i find ways to work with it skillfully

mothers, women, power, wisdom, teachers

.

.

.

nourishment and transformation

waking up to my family reality

to the karmic relationships that have been part of this lifetime

and “leaving behind” praktis (thanks Thay)

renunciation of self-cherishing mind praktis (thanks Tsem Tulku)

heartspace praktis (thanks auspiciousheart, onelovetrust, and other wonderful cancerian friends)

Chainsaw, trees and mulch

Peace Ones,

Woke up this morning and visited front yard plants and said a prayer and kind words to tell them that today, I would be borrowing chainsaw and doin’ some cuttin’ out…

A pine tree right close to the house wasn’t doing so well…

Two overgrown jade plants (my bad) were right up against a retaining wall, that isn’t retaining anymore…

Those palm trees which grow and do not shed their fronds and end up dried and droopin’…

Another pine tree in the backyard…

Now, there are big piles of tree cuttings and hopefully there’ll be a mulcher I can rent from Home Depot that I can use to shred/mulch these cuttings…

I hope so

Friend said that in Thailand, it is believed that trees house devas and devatas. Luckily, there’s a statue (Buddha roopa) beneath one of the trees and he said that a Buddha roopa can house all of the devas, especially the ones that have had to transfer based on our cuttings and clearings today.

Inspirations for what to do in the front yard are coming up…

I am leanin’ towards having a deck built in the front. And painting the fence and the exterior of the house. Right now, thinkin’ dark brown fence stain and dark earthy blue on the exterior of the house. Or green! Oh and bought two lil’ lavender plants. Gotta stay within some budget (????) this summer…though its been a fun day of movin’ the energy around the front yard. Because Dear Pine Tree in the Front Yard is no longer with there, more sunlight during the afternoon now enters the house. I used to have this bamboo shade in the main window which I might need to re-install. The trees definitely provided a sense of “privacy”, moreso that now, but then again, there is a feeling of more openness with this current phase. I like it! Thanks, Brother F. for helpin’ me out.

I have the chainsaw until tomorrow morning, maybe I’ll be inspired to do some more cuttin’ …

SUMMER OF LOVE around the front yard!

Went to Home Depot and saw all these folks in the nursery, carts filled new starts, flowers, etc.! Fun, fun, fun! Not sure I wanna go in that direction right now, but all good to see all this plantin’ . . .

Earth Bodhisattvas!

Lookin’ forward to learning about place, pace and space, on my knees, dirt in my hand, and finding the dharma praktis in connecting like this to my living environment.

Thank you Trees and Jade Plants and other living things who have been with the front yard..and happiness to the new growth that will be happenin’ in these areas!