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Friday, August 28, 2009

How can I make a man OUT of YOU?

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note*
Tranquil as a forest
But on fire within
Once you find your center
you are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale
pathetic lot...


And you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll make a man
out of you ..
(Be a man)
We must be swift as
the Coursing river
(Be a man)
With all the force
of a great typhoon
(Be a man)
With all the strength
of a raging fire
Mysterious as the
dark side of the moon...

-added by danny-(in these verses ,,be a man,, means activating the mind principle whom can control the mysterious dark side of the moon,which contains the power)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Refuge in Awakening

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* this is the last talk of Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo,just before he died.
Quite interesting.
-added by danny-
..............................
A Refuge in Awakening
by
Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
translated from the Thai by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1998–2009

ye keci buddham saranam gatase
na te gamissanti apaya-bhumim
pahaya manusam deham
deva-kayam paripuressantiti

"Those who have gone to the Buddha as refuge
will not go to the realms of deprivation.
On abandoning the human body,
they will fill the ranks of the gods."

I will now explain this verse so that you can practice in a way leading to the supreme attainment, capable of eliminating all your suffering and fears, reaching the refuge of peace.

We come into this world without a substantial refuge. Nothing — aside from the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha — will follow us into the next life. These three are the only things in which we can take refuge both in this life and in lives to come.

There are two levels on which people take refuge in the Triple Gem. Some take refuge only allegorically, on the level of individuals, whereas others take refuge on the level of inner qualities, by developing the steps of the practice within themselves.
I. On the level of individuals

A. Buddha. Buddhas are people who have attained purity of heart. There are four types:

1. Rightly self-awakened Buddhas: those who have attained Awakening on their own, without anyone to teach them, and who have established a religion.

2. Private Buddhas: those who have gained Awakening without establishing a religion. On attaining the goal, they live by themselves.

3. Disciple Buddhas: those who have practiced in line with the teachings of a Buddha until they too have gained Awakening.

4. Learned Buddhas: those who have studied the teachings in detail, have followed them, and have attained the goal.

All four of these types are individual people, so to take refuge in them is to take refuge on the level of individuals. They can give us refuge only in a shallow and not very substantial way. Even though taking refuge on this level can be advantageous to us, it helps us only on the level of the world and can give only temporary protection against falling into the realms of deprivation. If we lose faith in these individuals, our mind can change to a lower level — for all individuals fall under the laws of all conditioned things: They are inconstant and changing, subject to stress, and not-self — i.e., they can't prevent their own death.

So if you go to a Buddha as refuge on the level of individuals, there are only two sorts of results you'll get: at first gladness, and then sadness when the time comes to part — for it's the nature of all individuals in the world that they arise, age, grow ill, and die. The wisest sages and the most ordinary people are all equal on this point.

B. Dhamma. For many of us, the teachings in which we take our refuge are also on the level of individuals. Why is that? Because we see them as the words of individual people.

Sages of the past have divided the teachings in the Buddhist Canon into four types:

1. Sayings of the Buddha.

2. Sayings of his disciples.

3. Sayings of heavenly beings. There were occasions when heavenly beings, on coming to pay respect to the Buddha, said truths worth taking to heart.

4. Sayings of seers. Some hermits and yogis uttered truths from which Buddhists can benefit.

All of these sayings were organized into the three parts of the Buddhist Canon: the discourses, the discipline, and the Abhidhamma. If we take refuge in the Dhamma on this level, it is simply an object: something we can remember. But memory is inconstant and can't provide us with a safe, dependable refuge. At best it can help us only on the worldly level because we are depending allegorically on individuals, on objects, as our refuge.

C. Sangha. There are two sorts of Sangha.

1. The conventional Sangha: ordinary people who have ordained and taken up the homeless life. This sort of Sangha is composed of four sorts of people.

a. Upajivika: those who have taken up the ordained life simply as a comfortable way of making a living. They can depend on others to provide for their needs and so they get complacent, satisfied with their ordained status, without looking for any form of goodness better than that.

b. Upadusika: those who, on being ordained in Buddhism, destroy the Buddha's teachings through their behavior — not abandoning the things they should abandon, not doing the things they should do, damaging their own capacity for good and that of others, being destructive, falling away from the Buddha's teachings.

c. Upamuyhika: those who, on being ordained in Buddhism, make themselves blind and ignorant, who don't look for tactics for bringing their behavior into line with the Buddha's teachings. They don't pull themselves out of their useless ways and stay continually deluded.

d. Upanisaranika: those who, on being ordained in Buddhism, are intent on studying and practicing in line with what they have learned, who try to find themselves a secure refuge, and who don't let themselves become heedless or complacent. Whatever the Buddha says is good, they behave accordingly. Whether or not they attain that goodness, they keep on trying.

All four of these count as one type of Sangha on the level of individuals.

2. The Noble Sangha. This has four levels: those who have practiced the Buddha's teachings until they have reached the attainments of stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, or arahantship. All four of these are still on the level of individuals because they are individual people who have reached the transcendent attainments in their hearts. Suppose, for example, we say that Aññakondañña is a stream-winner, Sariputta a once-returner, Moggallana a non-returner, and Ananda an arahant. All four of them are still individuals in name and body. To take refuge in them is to take refuge on the level of individuals — and as individuals they are inconstant and unstable. Their bodies, sense faculties, and mental phenomena by nature have to age, grow ill, and die. In other words, they are anicca, inconstant and changeable; dukkha, subject to stress and suffering; and anatta: They themselves can't prevent the nature of conditioned phenomena from taking its course with them.

When this is the case, anyone who tries to take refuge in them is subject to change as well. We can depend on them only for a while, but they can't provide us any true refuge. They can't keep us from falling into the realms of deprivation. At best, taking refuge in them can give us results on the worldly level — and the worldly level is changing all the time.

This ends the discussion of the Triple Refuge on the level of individuals.
II. On the level of inner qualities

Taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha on the level of inner qualities means reaching the Triple Gem with the heart through the practice.

To reach the Buddha on the level of inner qualities, you first have to know the virtues of the Buddha, which are of two sorts: causes and results. The causes of his Awakening are mindfulness and alertness. The result of his Awakening is the transcendent: the stilling of all defilements and mental fermentations.

So we have to develop these qualities within ourselves. Buddha-sati — mindfulness like the Buddha's — is what wakes us up. Full alertness is what makes us correctly aware of cause and effect. The way to develop these qualities is to practice in line with the four frames of reference. This will enable us to reach the Buddha on the level of inner qualities.

A. Contemplation of the body as a frame of reference. This means being firmly mindful of the body, using mindfulness to wake up the body and mind both by day and by night — sitting, standing, walking, lying down. We use mindfulness and alertness to be fully conscious throughout the body. This is the cause for reaching the Buddha on the level of inner qualities — i.e., reaching the Buddha by oneself and within oneself, without having to depend on anyone else. When you depend on yourself, that's when you're on the right track.

Before focusing mindfulness on the body so as to wake yourself up, you first have to know that there are two ways of looking at the body:

1. The body, i.e., all four physical properties gathered together as a physical object: the earth property, or the solid aspects; the water property, or the liquid aspects; the fire property, or the warm aspects; and the wind property, i.e., such things as the in-and-out breath. When all four of these properties are in harmony, they intermingle and form an aggregate or object we call the body.

2. The body in and of itself — i.e., any one aspect of any of these four properties. For example, we can take the wind property. Focus your mindfulness and alertness on nothing but the wind property and keep them there. You don't have to get involved with any of the other properties. This is called the body in and of itself.

From there you can go to wind in and of itself. There are six aspects to the wind property: the breath energy flowing down from the head to the spaces between the fingers and toes; the breath energy flowing from the spaces between the fingers and toes up to the top of the head; the breath forces in the stomach; the breath forces in the intestines; and the in-and-out breath. These six aspects make up the wind property in the body.

When you focus on wind in and of itself, be mindful to keep track of only one of these aspects at a time — such as the in-and-out breath — without worrying about any other aspects of the breath energy. This can be called focusing on wind in itself. The same principle applies to earth in and of itself, water in and of itself, and fire in and of itself.

When you have mindfulness and alertness constantly established in the body, the body in and of itself, wind, fire, earth, or water in and of itself — whichever seems easiest and most comfortable — keep with it as much as possible. When you do this, the body will wake up, for you aren't letting it simply follow its natural course. To bring mindfulness into the body helps keep it awake. The body will feel lighter and lighter as we keep it in mind. Alertness is what enables us to be aware throughout the body. When these two mental qualities enter into the body, the body will feel agile, pliant, and light. In Pali this is called kaya-lahuta. The mind will also be awake and give rise to knowledge in and of itself through its own "sanditthiko" practice — i.e., the person who does the practice will see the results for him or herself in the here and now.

People who awaken from their slumbers are able to see things and know them. The same holds true for people who practice mindfulness immersed in the body as a frame of reference: They are bound to see the true nature of their own bodies. To penetrate in, knowing and seeing in this way, is to reach the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha — which differ only in name, but are one and the same in their essence.

1. Whoever doesn't practice in this way is asleep, both in body and mind. A person asleep can't see or know anything at all, which is why we can say that people of this sort have yet to reach the Buddha on the level of the inner qualities.

B. Contemplation of feelings as a frame of reference. Be mindful of feelings as they arise within you. Feelings are results that come from your own past and present actions. There are three sorts:

1. Feelings of pleasure
2. Feelings of pain
3. Feelings of equanimity.

To practice contemplation of feelings, be mindful of each of the various kinds of feeling that occur in the body and mind. For instance, sometimes there's physical pleasure but mental distress; sometimes physical pain but mental pleasure; sometimes pleasure both in body and mind; and sometimes pain both in body and mind. So focus in on being mindful of feelings as they arise. Examine them closely. This is called contemplation of feelings.

As for feelings in and of themselves, this means focusing on one type of feeling. For instance, wherever there's pleasure, focus right there. Make the mind firm and one-pointed. You don't have to get involved with feelings of pain or equanimity. If you're going to focus on pleasure, keep focused right there. Or, if you want, you can focus on equanimity without getting involved with pleasure or pain. Don't let the mind jump around in such a way that any other preoccupations come in and interfere. Keep monitoring the feeling you've chosen until you know its true nature through your own awareness.

Whichever type of feeling is easiest for you to focus on, keep your mindfulness and alertness right there as much as you can. This is what will enable you to awaken from the feelings within you. Whoever does this ranks as having developed the inner quality of "buddha" that is the cause for coming awake.

C. Contemplation of the mind as a frame of reference. Be mindful of the state of your own mind so that you can awaken it from the slumber of its delusions. When your mind awakens, it will be able to see and know the various things occurring in the present. This will enable it to become firmly centered in the factors of concentration and jhana, or mental absorption, which in turn lead to discernment, skilled awareness, and release.

There are three basic states of mind you can focus on:

1. Passion: The mind hankers after sensual objects and sensual moods that color it, making it intoxicated and oblivious to other things. This prevents it from experiencing states that are brighter and clearer.

2. Aversion: The mind at times gets irritated and angry, causing whatever internal goodness it has to deteriorate. Aversion is thus a way in which the mind destroys itself.

3. Delusion: absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, mental darkness, misunderstanding.

These states of mind arise from preoccupations concerning what we like and dislike. If you have mindfulness watching over your mind with every moment, it will enable the mind to awaken and blossom, to know the truth about itself.

Whenever passion arises in the mind, focus on being mindful of the mind in and of itself. Don't focus on the object of the passion. Pay attention solely to the present, and the passion will fade. Or, if you want, you can use other methods to help, by contemplating the object of the passion in certain ways. For example, you can contemplate the unattractiveness of the body, focusing first on the insides of your own body, seeing them as filthy and disgusting. Your mind, which has been attached, will then be able to free itself from the passion in which it is immersed and to become more blooming and bright.

Whenever aversion arises in the mind, focus on being mindful exclusively of the present state of your mind. Don't focus attention on the external object or person that gave rise to the anger and aversion. Anger in the mind is like a burning fire. If you aren't mindful and alert to the state of your own mind, and instead think only of the object or person that incited the anger, it's like setting yourself on fire, and all you can do is end up getting burnt. So you shouldn't preoccupy yourself with the outside object. Instead, focus on being mindful and aware of the state of aversion in the mind. When mindfulness reaches full strength, the state of aversion will immediately disperse.

Aversion and anger are like a cover over a fire that lets the fire keep smoldering away, providing heat but no light. If we remove the cover by doing away with the aversion, the light of the fire can brighten the mind. The "light" here is discernment and skilled awareness.

Actually, there's nowhere else that we have to look for goodness other than our own minds. That's how we'll be able to gain the freedom from suffering and stress that is termed citta-vimutti, mental release, i.e., a mind beyond the reach of its preoccupations. This is one way in which we reach the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha on the level of inner qualities.

As for states of delusion, in which the mind tends to be absent-minded and forgetful: These come from there being many objects crowding in on the mind. When we find this happening, we should center the mind on a single preoccupation where we can gather strength for our mindfulness and alertness, in the same way that we can take diffused light rays and focus them on a single point: The power of the light is sure to get brighter. In the same way, when we are constantly mindful of the mind and don't let it get involved with various outside perceptions and preoccupations, mindfulness will give rise to a powerful light: skilled awareness. When skilled awareness arises within us, our minds will grow shining bright, and we'll awaken from our slumber of unawareness. We will have attained a quality of secure refuge in our own hearts. We'll know for ourselves and see for ourselves, and this is what will enable us to attain the noble qualities of the transcendent.

D. Mental qualities as a frame of reference. Be mindful to focus on the mental qualities that occur in the mind with every moment. Mental qualities are of two basic sorts, good and bad.

1. Bad mental qualities, which obstruct the mind from attaining higher levels of goodness, are called the Hindrances (nivarana), and there are five sorts.

a. Sensual desire: hankering after sensual objects — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas that you like and find appealing; and a hankering after sensual moods, such as passion, anger, aversion, and delusion — assuming good to be bad and bad to be good, right to be wrong and wrong to be right. A hankering for any of these things is classed as sensual desire.

b. Malevolence: ill will for people or objects, hoping that they will be destroyed or come to a bad end.

c. Torpor & lethargy: sleepiness, sloth, lassitude, laziness, and depression.

d. Worry & distraction: being upset at failure in your aims, lacking the mindfulness to put a brake on your worries and concerns.

e. Uncertainty: indecision; doubt about the various things or qualities your are working to develop in your practice.

These five Hindrances are bad mental qualities. If you fall into any of them, you're in the dark — like a person at the bottom of a well who can't see anything on the surface of the earth, can't move around as he likes, can't hear what people at the top of the well are saying, can't see the light of the sun and moon that illumine the earth. In the same way, the Hindrances obstruct us from developing goodness in many, many ways. They close off our ears and eyes, keep us in the dark, put us to sleep.

2. This is why we should work at developing the good mental qualities that will awaken us from the slumber of our unawareness. For instance, we should develop the four levels of jhana or mental absorption, which are the tools for suppressing or eliminating all of the Hindrances.

a. The first level of jhana has five factors. Directed thought: Think about any one of the objects of meditation that exist within you, such as the in-and-out breath. Make the mind one, keep it with the object you are thinking of, and don't let it slip off to anything else: This is called singleness of preoccupation. Evaluation: Carefully observe the object of your meditation until you see its truth. When you are thoroughly aware of the object — this is called alertness — the results will arise within you: pleasure or ease; and rapture — fullness of body and mind.

When mindfulness fills the body like this, the body feels saturated, like soil saturated with moisture: Whatever you plant stays green and fresh. Plants flourish. Birds and other forest animals come to live in their shade. When rain falls, the soil can hold it instead of letting it wash away. A person who has mastered the first jhana is like a holding-place of goodness for other human and celestial beings because jhana and concentration can have a cooling influence not only on oneself, but also on others as well.

When mindfulness and alertness are stay focused on your mind, the mind feels saturated and full with an unadulterated sense of rapture and joy at all times. As for the pleasure and ease that come from the first level of jhana, they give you a sense of freedom with no worries or concerns for anyone or anything — like a person who has attained enough wealth that he no longer has any worries or concerns about his livelihood, and so can relax in peace.

When you attain the pleasure and ease that come from the first level of jhana, you are freed from the Hindrances of indecision and worry & distraction. So you should work at developing these factors in your mind until it can stay steadily in jhana. Your heart will then be blooming and bright, giving rise to the light of discernment, or liberating insight. And if you have developed your capabilities enough, then on attaining the first level of jhana you may gain entry to the transcendent. Some people, though, may go on to the second level of jhana.

b. The second level of jhana has three factors: rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation. The power of the mind gets stronger step by step, so try to keep your mind in that state simply by focusing down and keeping mindfulness firmly established right there. The mind will grow even stronger and this will lead you on to the third level of jhana.

c. The third level of jhana has two factors: pleasure and singleness of preoccupation. Keep focusing down through the power of mindfulness and alertness, and you will be able to shed the factor of pleasure and enter the fourth level of jhana.

d. The fourth level of jhana has two factors: equanimity and singleness of preoccupation. On this level of jhana, the mind has great strength, based on its strong focus accompanied by mindfulness and alertness. The mind is firm and unmoving — so completely unmoved by past and future that it lets them both go. It keeps track solely of the present, steady and unwavering like the light of a Coleman lantern when there's no wind. When the mind attains the fourth jhana, it gives rise to a brightness: discernment and the skill of liberating insight. This is what enables it to gain understanding into the four Noble Truths, and so to proceed to the transcendent — the truly safe refuge.

People who have done this experience nothing but an inner brightness and happiness in their hearts, for they dwell with the quality they have given rise to within themselves. They reach the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha on the highest level, the level of release or ultimate attainment, a quality free from defilement and mental fermentations.

People who train their hearts in this way have reached the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha on the level of inner quality. In other words, they have reached refuge in their own hearts. They have absolutely closed off the route to the realms of deprivation. At the very least, they are destined after death to go to the higher realms of happiness. At best, they will attain nibbana. All of them are certain to attain nibbana within at least seven lifetimes, for they have reached an inner quality that's steady and certain. They won't fall into anything low. Anyone who has yet to attain this quality, though, has an uncertain future.

So if we want the peace and security that the Buddha's teachings has to offer, we should all try to find ourselves a dependable refuge. If you take refuge on the allegorical level, the level of individuals, find people of worth so that your conviction in them will take you to the happy realms. As for refuge on the level of inner qualities, which will really be of substantial value to you, practice so as to give rise to those qualities within yourself.

To summarize: On the level of inner qualities, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are all one and the same thing. They differ only in name.

So you should "opanayiko" — bring these qualities into your heart. "Sanditthiko" — When you practice, you'll see them for yourself. "Paccattam" — You'll know them only for yourself. Things that other people know about aren't safe.

If you want peace and refuge that are substantial and sure, you should give rise to them in your own heart. The result will be nibbana, liberation from defilement, from all birth, aging, illness, and death in this world and any world to come.

nibbanam paramam sukham

"Nibbana is the ultimate happiness.
There is no happiness higher."

This is "buddha" on the level of results: freedom from sleep, total Awakening.

Curly explains the secret of life

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* marvelous secret of life..from the 1991 movie City Slickers...find THAT one thing,and you'll be happy forever..quotes"Curly was the tough old cowboy character played by the late Jack Palance. Would you believe Jack Palance got the Oscar for this very scene ?.. check it out here,at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGxL5AFzzMY&feature=related

Here’s the scene
from the movie where Curly espouses his life philosophy to Mitch, Billy Crystal’s character:
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
Curly: This. [holds up one finger]
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean shit.
Mitch: But what is the “one thing?”
Curly: [smiles] That’s what you have to find out."..the quotes were taken from http://www.rebelzen.com/2008/07/ego-and-the-inner-story/ site.
-added by danny-
.................................
(the 30 sec version)
(the 3 min version,lovely..one of a kind these actors)

Saturday, August 08, 2009

What you grow inside is manifested outside

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* I have no idea whom Master Ni is...but he talks in terms of Tao,so I assume he is some daoist chinese guy,on the vein of Lao Tzu possible...great talk here about,,the purpose of life,,..quote" Master Ni: Life neither has specific purpose nor is it accidental. It is natural. I believe you are very serious in this question. If I say life has purpose, you would want to know what is the purpose of your life. Believing in a purpose, you would then become religiously fixed in your attitudes and thus increase the conflict between your ego and the world. If I say it is accidental, you would think your life is not your business"and "Mistrust and conceptual images cause one to think that outside forces are what make things happen in a person's life. People do not know the strength and power of the inside harmony which can alter outside circumstance to create phenomena in the spiritual sphere. If personal spiritual experience makes a person more superstitious or self-indulgent in spiritual pursuit, it is because he does not understand that the balanced mind, spirit and body is the brightness of universal nature within his life being"
-added by danny-
.........................

Discussion between Master Ni and some students

Student: Master Ni, does life have a purpose or is it accidental?

Master Ni: Life neither has specific purpose nor is it accidental. It is natural. I believe you are very serious in this question. If I say life has purpose, you would want to know what is the purpose of your life. Believing in a purpose, you would then become religiously fixed in your attitudes and thus increase the conflict between your ego and the world. If I say it is accidental, you would think your life is not your business. So let us review the achievement of the ancient natural developed ones; this will help to answer your question.

The discovery and spiritual achievement of the developed ones is a spiritual method and practice by which one can achieve or mature oneself and become enlightened through means that are self-evident. Life itself is a convergence of natural energy. This means that life is a formation of different energies that occur through a specific process in time and space and converge. It is this convergence of many subtle and apparent elements and conditions that comprise a Life. Once those elements and conditions, both subtle and obvious, are disassembled, life no longer exists. The cessation of life is the retreat of all-supportive elements and conditions. The unnatural death of a human being is the same as the dissolution of any other event or object, which is an assemblage of a group of conditions. Some of the conditions, which assemble, are apparent and some are hidden, but the event still comes under the law of assembly and disassembly. It is simply an aspect of the process of disassembly.

The entire universe is an assemblage of all matter and is subject to change. All units of the universe, such as galaxies, stars, planets and the earth keep shaping or forming themselves; there is a correspondence to this in the smaller life of a human being. All are subject to change. The understanding of the basic pattern of changes of all things has been abstractly described by The Book of Changes. During any moment of the convergence or integration of the conditions that comprise an object or event, its significance or meaning is established. Once it is dissolved no other important or unimportant significance or value can be added to it. Therefore, watching and valuing this moment of life and not the next moment is the correct expression of the existence of life. This means that the integral path of Life is right in front of you! It is where you walk. Movement and activity in a life are what present the reality of life. There is no future reward that can dignify or sublimate the essence of life in the reality of this moment, because the next moment will be a new assemblage of many conditions. In other words, life is a process, and truth is also a process. Life cannot be caught or captured in the moment of self-presenting by any force aside from itself. Any attempt catches only the change and not the permanence of a situation.

From this understanding, and through spiritual cultivation and discipline, one can strengthen and fortify the integration or convergence of different energies in a life by changing one's patterns. One must first have correct understanding, which involves subjective proof (experience and knowledge) that Life, whether in the subtle level or in solid form, continues to integrate, reintegrate and refine itself by the growing and increasing subtle essence within. Different physical and spiritual elements comprise your life; you are constantly organizing and reorganizing yourself. You are born in this moment and continue in each moment to have a rebirth of your life. Spiritual reward is not brought about by externals; it is accomplished internally. Because spiritual reward itself is internal, this very moment is what affects the next. This moment gives birth to the next moment. This section of time in your life grows the fruit that you will enjoy in the next section of your life. What you sow spiritually, you will eventually harvest. No awakened soul can afford to damage himself spiritually by doing evil. Evil actions are equivalent to a person cutting his own throat with a sharp knife; however, he cannot see what he is doing because on the spiritual level it is invisible. When a person commits evil actions, perhaps no one has seen what was done, but the person himself knows what happened.

External religions can serve as a metaphor for this spiritual truth, as in one's waiting for judgement or reward and in being a good person. However, realistically, reward or punishment is in this moment: are you watchful in coordinating your movements and activities with your developed intellectual mind, which cooperates and associates with the developed spirit of your being? Whoever neglects this fundamental discipline will have no spiritual future, and the spiritual foundation they have built on religious forms is not real.

Therefore, it is important to understand this moment. When you are aware of the truth of life, you establish yourself in this moment and you recognize the value, significance, dignity and spiritual position of your life as completion. The next step of life with this new circumstances is just that: new. You need new integration, new adaptation and new refining; you go one step further into new spiritual evolution. Perhaps this leads you to think, "Physically we become old and worn out after reaching the peak of life." This is true. All life follows a pattern of growth and decline. But the one that who is subjectively aware that his life is on the channel of correct spiritual evolution will know that he is not going to become older and worn out. He is renewing his life all the time. He will transform his physical energy into a higher spiritual essence that can bring him to another, more enduring life. Those who have a different understanding of life than most people, make this choice. The most fundamental thing you need to understand to make this choice is that life is the result of the convergence of many different supportive elements. If even one element is not supported, especially with regard to mental or spiritual elements, a fall will occur. Higher vision most profoundly serves human life, especially in mental and spiritual aspects, which are closely associated.

Since life is a matter of convergence, then what is its purpose? One viewpoint holds solely that life is a function of material things with different pieces and parts together forming the machine of life. Eventually one part or another wears out. When the life machine cannot be repaired, the life machine is finished. Given this mechanistic point of view, there is no higher purpose to life. An opposing metaphor, however, describes life as a piece of music composed from the organization of different notes. In this view there is a super-mind or master plan behind the organization of the music. If this is the case, then each life must have a purpose.

Confusion also arises because of certain teachings. On one hand, people are taught that there is karma and reincarnation and that peace can come to a person who has understood the emptiness of life and nature. This way of thinking implies that life is a reincarnating essence, and that the karma accumulated in past lifetimes is the reward or punishment for the new life. This way of thinking teaches people to become more responsible for their actions and their lives and to recognize something higher than predetermined destiny or physical reality. On the other hand, there is a different way of thinking. Some people are taught that life is merely an accident; that everything is meaningless, and nothing is worth thinking about. This negative teaching implies that whatever you do is right and helps you relax about the circumstances you are in, whether lofty or lowly because, after all, everything is an accident. So what is there for you to worry about? Why be anxious about anything? Not only is your life incidental, but all human, animal and other life is incidental and has no purpose. My friends, if you take this view that life is accidental, then life will indeed be a big accident. Why bother taking responsibility for yourself or anything else, for that matter? Where is the music of life and spiritual dignity? Is there no God, Buddha or any being higher than greedy or aggressive people looking to restrain other people in a world devoid of meaning? Is that what life is all about? Allow us to probe more deeply into this.

Life can be expressed in many different ways. You might take the view that life is conditioned, i.e., that the environment determines the species. For example, it is only in trenches that mosquitoes are produced. It is only in trees that bird are produced. Different kinds of natural environments produce different forms of Life. Thus, it would follow that people born of a gifted family would have a higher level of education, better manners and a greater opportunity to be achieved, etc., and that people born into ordinary family environments would tend to have more struggle and suffering in their lives. However, in the human sphere, which is a complete triangle of physics, mind and spirit, life does not work this way. It is not always true that people born into a good family are good people or can make positive use of their opportunity to achieve themselves. Quite the opposite can occur. Different levels of background provide different freedoms that allow the development of life. While this holds true in both the social and material spheres, supportive conditions are especially obvious in the material sphere. When, for example, there is the establishment of a new relationship or behavior—except natural ones like blood relationships—its occurrence has been conditioned beforehand. You might believe the new relationship or behavior to be accidental; but if you look deeply into your inner being, the attraction or behavior has long been in existence, but only now manifests. The behavior or attraction has been waiting a long time for the ripeness of the situation and conditions to come together.

The deepest understanding reveals that an accident is not an accident. It is a necessity; it is purposeful. The movement of the entire universal nature has a subtle law above it which governs all movement. Without deep vision, one does not have the understanding that any movement by itself is both an event and a spontaneous occurrence. It takes deep understanding to realize that any movement in the world is both previously arranged as well as spontaneous. The fact is that in one way life is conditioned, which leads to things happening of necessity; and in another way it is accidental, which leads to randomness. In one way it is mechanical; in another way it is haphazard. How can a human mind adapt to these diverse situations with distinctive understandings? By developing the third aspect, that's how: developing the spiritual growth of nature to evolve from the mechanical, physical sphere to reach freedom. It takes a million years to develop Life or consciousness a little bit. Freedom is a gift of achievement, on whatever level of life, given the limitation or bondage being dealt with. We, through living wrong and doing wrong, cause our own souls and the souls of other people to suffer sickness. Our organic being was originally endowed by nature. Although all life is endowed by nature, human life resembles nature in completeness with all three spheres: physical, mental and spiritual. We must learn how we can use the freedom of the more subtle level, i.e., the spiritual, to assist the levels of lesser freedom. It is valuable for your life and well worth looking into.

The ancient developed ones understood that life can be both conditioned and also accidental. It was not necessary to define it one way or another. For example, a peach tree gives peaches in the late spring. It can give good peaches in a good season or in a good natural cycle, with correct warmth and moisture, air and nutrition from the earth. But in the same peach garden, some trees will do better than others. Some need more care than others. Human life is just like that. Some do better, and others do not do as well, but the human mind reacts differently than a tree. A peach tree does not have a developed sense of itself. It is not bothered by doing better or worse than another tree, or by doing better at one time and worse at another time. It follows nature, so it does not have anything like trouble in the mind. Humans are different. They have feelings about themselves. They watch others, and they can be jealous of others who do better or feel dismayed if they cannot do as well. They can also feel pride that they do better than another. But they cannot objectively look at themselves as natural, which is a condition starting pre-natally.

There is not much about your limitations that can be changed. The thing to do is to live naturally and change what you can. Some people, however, develop or follow religions instead of realistically improving themselves and their lives. They steep themselves in deep meditation or invent profound ideologies which cover their failures and only serve to keep them from taking responsibility for themselves. The achieved ones know what the nature of life is, not only outside but also inside. The most valuable thing is to follow the life-nature inside and harmonize with the outside. This is the teaching and achievement passed down by our spiritually developed forefathers. It is not a psychological approach that transfers one's focus away from the pressure of day-to-day living or the immediate environment. It is the self-truth of taming one's own evil temper and ambitions and turning them into a life of spiritual well being. Spirituality cannot be separated from life itself. The subtle, essential sphere of life is still associated with the general patterned life of eating, sleeping, working, etc. Big and small grow equally under the light of spiritual health. There is a great need for the spiritual development off all people. The best thing you can do for the world is to develop yourself spiritually.

People ask about destiny. Destiny is internal. What you grow inside is manifested outside. You can, however, look at the general external conditions to see how your destiny is manifesting. Let us take, for example, a person who lives in China and a person who lives in the United States, both born at the same hour but in different societies. Their fortunes and lives will be different, not because of geographical differences, but because of the differences in the political systems. The personal destiny that people are sentimental about is changeable. In order to characterize the smallness of an individual Life being, the science of astrology originated. By using the rotation of the sun, earth and moon along with other information, astrology metaphorically illustrates a personal destiny or energy formation. In reality, a natural life needs to be aware of its true relationship with the heavenly bodies. Heavenly bodies are used as illustration of the combination of energies in an individual life. The objective value in seeing a Life externally through astrology is to adapt, yourself better to the conditions affecting the circumstances of your life. However, the outer circumstance cannot be sufficiently or accurately described in a book, because each individual will experience it differently in their life. Some people spend many long years studying astrology. It can truly tell one something about the external conditions of a person's life, but the benefit of its service depends on how you use the information: whether you face it or run away from it.

We have talked about astrology, religion and spiritual development. To avoid the complication of too much conceptual activity, I want to return to the basic recommendation of following nature. By nature, I mean the virtues of nature. Astrology, religion and spiritual development all arrive at the same point: they each tell you to follow nature, to attain natural health in all three spheres of your being and to grow or develop your own vision above all of them. Give up all the mental contamination and cultural pollution which is self-generating. Gather essence from all your external learning. A peach can grow well when it is exposed to sunshine, wind, air and warmth. If, however, we wrap it up and take it away from the garden, it will not grow well. Human nature is already enveloped in too many layers of plastic; even now you can be nursed by glass tubes. The new lives in the future may be brought in through glass tubes, but the basic life still needs to respect its natural health. It is not enough to merely respect the health of nature; we also need to respect and harmonize our healthy natural Life with the harmonious order of universal nature. Our life nature is one with the universal life nature. The troubles of a family, an individual, a group or different nations are basically the same disharmony; they reflect a conflict with the basic nature of life. The problem is created by people themselves and sometimes others. Disharmony is created by lack of understanding about nature, by many false concepts which stem from incorrect teaching and thinking. One who cannot remove the false concepts cannot enjoy either himself or nature.

People who deeply observe the human world know it is pulled by the past, which keeps human society from further development. If people wish to develop further, they must first restore their knowledge of natural health which is the essence of natural life. People's moral well being is natural in the beginning. Immoral behavior, such as stealing, is a poor solution or adaptation to handling one's own needs in society. Once a person's original health is lost, healing is then applied. Support is given from the spiritual medicinal systems when a person is sick, weak, too old or undeveloped. Religious teachings are important only when you are morally, emotionally or intellectually sick. Although they are not unnatural, they are for sick people in a particular stage of evolution. But if you stay with these conventional religions, you cannot grow any more. Do not continue to take their poison. A healthy being does not need to rely on medicine, because the spiritual self-cultivation of the integral way develops and covers all spheres of one's well being. The integral way is for people who achieve their spiritual independence from the mass treatment offered by the big religious hospitals for the sick. Once you restore your strength, you come back to nature. Only natural vitality can cure all wounds and grow new, flesh. There is nothing better to pass on to your sons, daughters or good friends than to support them with nature, follow nature and enjoy nature. You need look no farther than the universal nature which resides inside us.

Nature is health. Nature is normalcy. Even if we live in the natural world, we still need to guard against abnormally timed natural cycles. When people lose their sense of humor in life, they can become stiffly religious. People of spiritual self-cultivation do not stiffen their minds by using previously programmed practices which support their well being only at certain times or are used for spiritual amusement. Religion may be a good tool to teach children through bedtime stories, but all children must grow . The world cannot be managed by bemused children. It needs to be guided by people who have reached spiritual maturity and independence, who can keep guiding themselves by the natural subtle light.

When people are children, they marvel and wonder about spiritual phenomenon without attaining true knowledge about it. They do not know that the subconscious level of the mind gives off a spiritual response like echoes, such as in dreams and unconscious reactions to external stimuli. All the marvelous or terrifying spiritual phenomena that you see in the world comes from you: you're enhanced or intimidated soul. The value of your self-cultivation is in knowing how to remain in peace and in one piece: mind, spirit and body together. Can you practice that? We are most powerful when these three partners are together. There are small partners among them too, but most of the time, the mind wanders away. It is marvelous what the mind can do, but people do not understand this. Mistrust and conceptual images cause one to think that outside forces are what make things happen in a person's life. People do not know the strength and power of the inside harmony which can alter outside circumstance to create phenomena in the spiritual sphere. If personal spiritual experience makes a person more superstitious or self-indulgent in spiritual pursuit, it is because he does not understand that the balanced mind, spirit and body is the brightness of universal nature within his life being.

Even after this long discussion, this may still be an inadequate answer. However, all of you have the opportunity to prove these words and what is between the lines and find your own answer: Is life with purpose or is it accidental? Can anyone answer me now?

Student: Life is natural.

Master Ni:

No matter whether life is with purpose or accidental, there is tea and refreshment on the table in the next room, so please enjoy them and give yourselves the real answer from the enlightenment of a healthy tummy .

Friday, August 07, 2009

Remember Metta?

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* remember the metta song on this blog?...Metta is a recognition of the most basic solidarity that we have with others, this sharing of a common aspiration to find fulfillment and escape suffering and share this wonderful thing we call "Life" with gratitude..

In translation from Pali(some indian continent ,not american indian language) means...May all live long and prosper..this is my best translation,since I don't speak Pali...
-added by danny-
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Strange dance

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* so this a taste of the famous Gurdjieff esoteric,secret and hidden meanings dance school?...he wanted to enlighten people with dances...strange dance indeed...one of a kind!..why not sing with them of their own foolishness?..ha hahaha ha hahaha!
-added by danny-

Monday, August 03, 2009

Always on my mind.....

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads


*You were always in my mind....and you know.. I loved you always.
Maybe I didnt treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didnt love you
Quite as often as I could have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasnt died
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, satisfied

Maybe I didnt hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
Im so happy that youre mine
If I make you feel second best
Girl, Im sorry I was blind

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasnt died
Give me, give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied, satisfied

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You are always on my mind
You are always on my mind
-added by danny-
..........................................