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)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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/

On Relationships

Every relationship creates LIFE…

and this life begins to exist at the astral level…

the relationship births and forms its own energetic being, reality…

it has its own needs and desires

its own recognition…

Sometimes, a relationship creates an energetic body of an US through the alchemy of coming together.  The alchemy is activated in the midst of another.  But, this does not mean the relationship unfolds perfectly.  In fact, the relationship and commitment and work to sustain the connection through our own healing and “ego-ways” may challenge the sustainability of the US that was created at the astral level.  But, even with a shift in how the relationship exists in form (are we together…we are no longer together), the LIFE created as an US through this relationship continues to exist.  So, what’s the experience of this US eventhough the relationship, in form, no longer exists?

- – - – - – - -

What can we do to offer an energetic release when conditions for sustaining a relationship have changed (inside and out?)

And how do we hold onto the beautiful memory of two coming together to become ONE, to become US?  When the relationship transforms and dissolves, should we also dissolve the memory of the US that was form?

What is really happening energetically when two beings come together to walk the path of inner and outer connection by forming a relationship?

- – - -

(Notes taken upon sharing a conversation with a friend…)

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)))

Transformation…Here, Now

In conversation with Friends, KALYANAMITRAS

…moving through the gateways and deep moments of transformation

All of us

on our soul path journeys

hearing the call of the gateway

which we are walking towards…

Transformations

Here

Now

This conditions arising

to experience the healing we took birth for…

the healing of embracing one’s spiritual identity

the healing of self-definition and self-love

the healing of Being the One

& reconnecting to Our Source

Transformation

Here

Now

For my own journey…

the UNEXPECTED CHANGES that have occurred

since the early part of January regarding the academy

has given rise to looking deeply at what I am doing with

my “work”…and looking beyond the context that I have been living…

Last year’s layoff experience was also a “wake up” call as I’m sure it is

for many others who are experiencing the economic crisis around the

world.  Yet, as a friend said, “Maybe this is a blessings in disguise.”  Certainly, I have been able to explore beyond my usual boundaries, and this is the hidden possibility of this moment.

I told OneLoveTrust that I don’t want to fight anymore, I don’t want to argue anymore, I don’t want to keep talking when I know others might not want to listen, at least right now.  ABANDON!  RENOUNCE!  RELEASE!  LET GO!  IT’S ALL GOOD!  THE UNIVERSE ABIDES!

(will return to this posting again…)

May all beings find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May all beings be free.

Beyond

Beyond

Beyond

Beyond

Beyond to the other shore!

Awakening!

Praktis ~ Offerings

BALI FLOWER OFFERINGS

Beautiful, visually nourishing picture!

Inspired by the Peace & Dignity Celebration at the World Beat Center.

Listened to the runners and took in the visual inspiration of the ceremonial

offerings and prayers which surrounded us throughout the night.

Maybe it’s because I’ve got all these niches and statues and bowls and things which I can use for offerings.  Maybe it’s from Loco Lama’s teachings about the significance of offerings.  Maybe, it’s this beautiful pic above of a Bali Flower Offering.

Whatever it is, I’m looking forward to seeing these altar gateways and portals, receptacles, vortices of energy both inside and out.  In the house as well as outside the house.  And creating them too!  Material offerings, as well as inner-secret offerings.

TRANSFORMATION

IS THE ULTIMATE

OFFERING.

~tsem tulku rinpoche

kechara house in malaysia

Praktis ~ On Sitting

Auspicious Path offered dharmic insight into the praktis of sitting (sitting meditation).   Her generous sharing inspired me to think about how sitting (meditation) praktis, is not just a Buddhist or Hindu or Eastern tradition, it is in fact a tradition and gift cultivated from all peoples, from all places on Earth.  This act of truly sitting here, present and complete — awakened — is humanity’s legacy of Being.

Sitting (meditation), sitting in silence, sitting in circles, sitting with others, with family, with community, with our beloved ones…this is an ancient praktis, an ancient memory and ritual in all our communities, praktised by all our ancestors.  This act of sitting here, breathing here, listening to the dharma talk of Life that is going on all the time, within us and outside of us, this act of simply sitting receiving all of Life without thinking and judging and selecting-interpreting-meddling with what we like and don’t like…this is our inheritance from our ancestors.  Sitting meditation has been praktised by all our ancestors.  This is our ritual, this is our ceremony, this is our praktis, this sitting here is Us.

Let us not allow our separating selfish mind to disrupt this connection we have to our own ancient praktises!  This is our inheritance, this is the gift our ancestors have passed on to us!  REJOICE!!!

(Thanks for the inspiration, Kalyanamitra Auspicious Path!)

Praktis ~ Eating

ON BLESSING & PRAYING UPON EATING

The following poem is called The Five Contemplations, praktised in the Plum Village tradition and recited before meals.

This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings and much hard work

May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to received it.

May we transform our unskillful states of mind and learn to consume mindfully.

May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.

We accept this food so that we may nurture our sisterhood and brotherhood, strengthen our Sangha and nourish our ideal of serving all beings.

Today, upon eating a morning bowl of cereal and listening to H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinponche…I had a moment of clarity.  I understood that when we bless our food with a kind thought for the food, ourself and others, we:

1) Bless the food that will nourish us. Realizing our sacred body as a vehicle for this lifetime of awakening and completion…we bless the food that enters this vehicle and transmute the energies within in, energize it, charge it with good intentions.

2) Connect ourselves and touch momentarily being one with the cycle of “birth and death”, to connect and be in touch with interbeing with other living things (our foods) that helps us to maintain our health and well-being…

3) Express our gratitude for the conditions that allow us to receive another meal today, all the numerous conditions both big and small, conditions that we have cultivated, conditions that others have offered and shared with us, up until this point and the time to come…for us to have this meal, these favorable conditions to be alive…

4)  Create the conditions, during our daily acts of eating, cooking, preparing food that water the seeds of mindfulness for us to continue on the path, moment to moment…

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.

Seeding my reality with intentions

Been feelin’ a bit…

hesitant and inward recently

…and today, got a sense

that i don’t need to be more

inward that i usually am

because i can seed my universe with the intentions

to craft the reality that i seek…

for tomorrow’s meeting

for the meetings that will follow

for the naropa application that will be sent out (before january 2009 hopefully)

for the return of a friend and the reconnection

for the closing of the ONE year

and the beginning of the new…

the feeling of sangha and beginning anew

some semblance of clarity arose within me

maybe the TWO year will be about sangha building

on various levels (at school/work, at the practice center, within myself and the sangha/beneficial elements that support me)

seeding my reality with intentions to encounter mySelf

during the upcoming mitote

seeding my reality with intentions to hear and feel and know clearly

the way to go, the way to complete this year, the way to continue on with my teaching work…

if the intention is wholesome, it is all good to “desire”…

ALL OF THIS

and the praktis of no coming and no going too

the praktis of being all good to receive the completeness of my daily moments

feeling them, living and being with them completely

everything is already here

everything i need, i already have

seeing the fullness and abundance that exists

knowing – recognizing the training that is this moment

do i see my praktis?

do i notice and have awareness about what i am praktising with at this point?

i seed my reality…

to live and teach and relate with ease

to all the moments that constitute

this ONE year completion

gentle gentle gentle birth

yes to that

seeding my reality for a gentle

complete and authentic transition

as a student again for the contemplative education program at naropa

seeding my reality to earn grants and scholarships which will assist

in fully funding my pursuit of contemplative education training

seeding my reality to use this training to offer these techniques  and ways of being with other educators and settings for the benefit of young people growing up now and in the future

seeding my reality to connect with others of like mind (isanghamahal) to support one another’s work, to gather, organize and create the world and the change we wish to see!

seeding my reality to live healthfully and joyfully inside my body

seeding my reality to live with a calm mind

seeding my reality to praktis complete acceptance and presence

seeding my reality to encounter new ways i relate to the Dharma

seeding my reality to release ways of being, vows and energies that no longer serve my deepest truth and being

seeding my reality to courageously, happily and graciously embody the ONE i took birth for

seeding my reality to know how to support my students towards returning to their breaths and bodies

seeding my reality to work harmoniously, powerfully and creatively with my colleagues

seeding my reality to craft projects with students to encounter the deep, rich basis of their lives through food + culture + identity

seeding my reality to experience the subtle joys of the fall season

seeding my reality to be full of health and wellness as the seasons transition

seeding my reality…