Loving kindness and compassion are not synonymous with merely turning the other cheek, of not cursing when cursed. When truth and justice are pushed aside and upright persons are slandered, being able to stand up for what is right is a form of courage and act of loving kindness and compassion. - Hsing Yun
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If you’re determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so. The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available. —Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
In his book, Let’s Face It, actor Kirk Douglas writes about learning that his 46 year old son, Eric, was found dead, the result of a drug overdose. Eric Douglas had struggled with addiction issues for decades.
The actor and his wife, Anne, were devastated by the unnecessary death of their son and looked inward to see what, if anything, they did wrong as parents. To help lift some of their feelings of guilt, one counselor asked them to factor into their grieving, three Cs concerning family addicts:
The million-dollar question with a surprisingly straightforward answer: You should meditate for as long as you need or can manage—especially when you’re first starting out. There are people like TM practitioners who swear by 20 minutes of daily meditation to change the way your brain functions; then again, there are plenty of people who believe that five minutes in the morning is all you need to reap the full benefits.
In short, putting an exact number on the amount of time you should sit in stillness isn’t nearly as important as it is to cultivate a consistent meditation practice. (source: yahoo news) Happiness is more than merely satisfying our material wishes and desires. The root of happiness is not in what we desire or what we get but somewhere altogether different. It stems from a place of inner contentment that exists no matter what we gain or achieve. - Dalai Lama 14th
A popular teaching story in Buddhism is about a powerful, ferocious lion.
This massive creature liked to vary his diet by eating, in turn, one from all the kinds of beasts of the field. One day he made the decision to eat a rabbit. Capturing one, the lion, looking sorrowfully at the small animal said : “ You make a poor meal for me to-day. You’re hardly worth eating and are so small you will hardly satisfy my appetite. Actually, there's very little use in eating you. ” The rabbit answered: “ Do please condescend to eat me; I have just had a narrow escape from being eaten by an animal as fierce as you." Angered at the invasion of his territory by another fierce creature, the lion demanded, “Where is this animal which is as mighty as myself. Take me to it ! ” The rabbit led the lion away to a well, and told him to look down. Peering down into the water, the large creature saw another lion. Not realizing that it was merely it's own reflection, the lion, raised its mane, roared loudly and showed its teeth. Then the lion leaped into the well to fight his rival and drowned. This story is a lesson about the importance of developing powers of the mind. When the mind is focused, as it was for the small rabbit, one can overcome and deal effectively with a seemingly more powerful adversary. Having money is not shameful, but poverty can lead to evil. - Hsing Yun
"The existence of the Christian church of today depends altogether upon the woman and the minute she takes her hand from it, it goes to the dogs." That observation was made by America's earliest Buddhist writer, Herman C. Vetterling. He penned those words in 1888.
Largely, the Christian church has been supported and populated by women across the centuries and even more so in the last 100 years. That's the main reason why many Christian leaders - and they come from all the Christian denominations, Catholic, Protestant. Eastern Orthodox - oppose yoga. The practice of yoga is attracting, by the millions, the very individuals the church is losing: young women. Abandoning the church, they, instead, spend many week nights and weekends at yoga studios practicing yoga and engaging in meditation. They're at the yoga studio and not in the church. It's an emormous source of frustration and, perhaps, embarrassment to the Church so they find ways to judge and criticize a practice which millions of women find deeply meaninful. Thich Nhat Hanh, who has returned to his home monastery in Vietnam after decades spent teachingabroad,* has been awarded one of this year’s Luxembourg Peace Prizes. The awards were announced on 21 June in Luxembourg by the Schengen Peace Foundation, an organization founded in 2005 with the aims of promoting peace, tolerance, and understanding around the world through multicultural discussions, publications, online platforms, and educational programs.
In their profile for the Thich Nhat Hanh, known affectionately to his followers as “Thay” (teacher), the award committee writes: “Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist revered throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in oneself and in the world.” (Luxembourg Peace Prize) Thay was given the award for “Outstanding Inner Peace,” a category of the annual awards aimed at people or institutions that promote health for body and mind. The different categories of the Luxembourg Peace Prize awarded each year are: peace education, peace activist, peace organization, public peace efforts, peace support, peace technology, youth peaceworker, peace process, peace journalism, environmental peace, art for peace, and inner peace. Thich Nhat Hanh, 93, was unable to attend the award ceremony in person, but two monks from his order attended to receive the prize on his behalf. (To learn more about these peace prizes visit the web site: https://luxembourgpeaceprize.org/ ) |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
October 2024
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