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TAKE A PERSONAL INVENTORY - WHO ARE YOU REALLY? WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

8/31/2020

(public domain image from www.pixabay.com)

Always scrutinize your own shortcomings.
Be your own teacher; keep a strict check on yourself.
That is sufficient! - Tulku Urgyen

People often make get a regular physical examination from a health care provider. Buddhism asks us to something similar but instead of a physical, we're challenged to do a personal self examination. Here are the types of questions to ask yourself in order to to a proper self examination:

How am I using my time?
Who are my spiritual friends?
Where do I place my energies?
Who can help me develop more wisdom?
Have I made meditation a regular part of my life?
How can I deepen compassion and lovingkindness?
What are the best ways to use my experience and talents?
Which individuals inspire me to be a better version of myself?

Do this type of self examination from time to time. Engaging in this practice will keep you more focused and enhance your spiritual evolution. Remember also, that honesty is a crucial element whenever you step back and look inward.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/31/2020

We are what we think,

having become what we thought.

—Dhammapada

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/30/2020

Self-control, regardless of what we are doing, must be maintained to produce desirable results. If emotion takes over, reason usually flies out the window and the acts or decisions are not likely to be as productive as they should be. - John Wooden

IT'S NOT EASY BEING A WANDERING SPIRITUAL ASCETIC . . .

8/30/2020

. . . So we should be grateful for those who followed that path to bring us spiritual wisdom. In his book, Living With The Himalayan Masters, Swami Rama relates how challenging it was to locate and walk to caves where hidden Himalayan masters were residing: "I met the masters who live and travel there, studied at their feet and experienced their spiritual wisdom. From the Punjab Himalayas to . . Tibet, I traveled to those forbidden places which are virtually inaccessible to tourists. I climbed to a height of 19,000 to 20,000 feet without the help of an oxygen kit or modern equipment. Many times I did not have food and became unconscious, tired and sometimes wounded, but always, one way or another, I found help during such occasions."

'WHAT IS KARMA?' - BEST ANSWER

8/29/2020

This literally means an act or an action. The essence of Karma is simple: that one’s life will be better if one acts in ways that are ethical, and it will be worse if one acts in ways that are unethical. If an action taken is positive, there will be a positive result. If an action taken is negative, there will be a negative response. The concept of karma means we alone are ultimately responsible for our lives. Furthermore, there is this important distinction about Karma: every human action produces a consequence but the law of karma does not hold that every action experienced is a consequence. Karma is not fatalistic.

Though the law of karma is universal and impersonal meaning that no individual is directly targeted by the divine to suffer, Hindu devotional literature offers this heart-warming and person affirming teaching. The scales of this universal law tip in favor of humanity. The result of a negative action is in direct proportion to what was said or done. In other words, if a person creates only one ounce of negative karma, then the result is the same: one ounce of negative return.

However – and here is where it's clear that the scales of karmic justice favor humanity – when a person generates an ounce of virtuous karma, the Universe (or God) increases it significantly returning to the person four or five ounces of benefit. One's good karma has a unique power in that it is able to increase itself while the negative karma stays just as it is. This devotional teaching was developed to inspire hope and confidence that regardless of negative acts and karmas, positive ones will eventually out weigh them.

It should also be noted that this eastern view of the Divine or God differs from the God of the Judaeo Christian tradition. There God is presented as an angry male whose punishments (karma) are often far out of proportion to the actions done. For example, both parties caught in the act of adultery are given the death penalty: “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:12) Being angry and swearing at a parent is another infraction which calls for the death penalty: “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” (Exodus 21:17)

In the Vedic view, the law of karma is guided by a principle which is not merely balanced but tipped in favor of people. Interestingly, this view appears to have influenced the Quran - “Whoever does a good deed, he shall be repaid ten fold, and whoever does evil, he shall be repaid with evil.”

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THOUGH FOR THE DAY

8/29/2020

When materialistic hoarding is the priority in life, the karma will be mostly negative.
- Glenn H. Mullin

WHY THIS SWAMI LOVED THE CACTUS PLANT

8/27/2020

(public domain photo www.pixabay.com

Swami Rama, an contemporary Indian sage who established the Himalayan Institute in the USA, loved the cactus plant and had a huge collection in India and, then, a developed smaller collection in the United States. One day he was asked, "why do you enjoy cactus so much?" He replied: “I am in the habit of tending those who are full of thorns and are discarded by everybody. It gives me great joy when I see them blossom.”

THREE PILLARS OF AYURVEDA FOR A LONG, HEALTHY LIFE

8/26/2020

According to ayurveda, the key to a long, healthy life means working and developing with these three "pillars" :

1. Proper management of digestion. (Nutrition & diet, preferably vegetarian)

2. Proper management of sleep. (Resting as much as necessary)

3. Proper management of sexual energy. (Reducing shame, overcoming inhibition)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/26/2020

Be cautious about getting what you want if it means losing what you have.
- Victor M. Parachin

BRAVE, BOLD BUDDHIST MONK SUPPORTS LGBT PEOPLE IN THAILAND

8/25/2020

Venerable Shine Waradhammo, a Buddhist monk, if fiercely speaking out in support of LGBT people in Thailand. Though the country "decriminalized" same sex orientation, LGBT people still face discrimination and even hostility at all levels of Thai society.

“Treating LGBT people badly goes against the Buddha’s teachings,” emphasized Ven. Waradhammo, who was ordained at the age of 21. “LGBT people are also humans, they are also Buddhists, and as a monk I support and accept all Buddhist people, and aim to reduce their suffering.”

“The Buddha never said anything against LGBT people, so it is a very wrong interpretation of the scriptures that leads to bias and rejection of LGBT people,” he added. “Monks generally avoid talking about LGBT and gender issues, but we should be talking about issues that affect society, and religious teachings have to reflect the present times—otherwise religion becomes a dinosaur.”

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TAKE A PERSONAL INVENTORY - WHO ARE YOU REALLY? WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

IT'S NOT EASY BEING A WANDERING SPIRITUAL ASCETIC . . .

'WHAT IS KARMA?' - BEST ANSWER

THOUGH FOR THE DAY

WHY THIS SWAMI LOVED THE CACTUS PLANT

THREE PILLARS OF AYURVEDA FOR A LONG, HEALTHY LIFE

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

BRAVE, BOLD BUDDHIST MONK SUPPORTS LGBT PEOPLE IN THAILAND

Victor M. Parachin ...is a

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