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Craving is a cause of seeking.
Seeking is a cause of gaining material possessions.
Gaining material possessions is a cause of assessing.
Assessing is a cause of desire and lust.
Desire and lust is a cause of attachment.
Attachment is a cause of ownership.
Ownership is a cause of stinginess.
Stinginess is a cause of safeguarding.
Owing to safeguarding, many bad, unskillful things come to be: taking up the rod and the sword, quarrels, arguments, and disputes, accusations, divisive speech, and lies. . . . Suppose there were totally and utterly no safeguarding for anyone anywhere. When there’s no safeguarding at all, with the cessation of safeguarding, would those many bad, unskillful things still come to be?
- Buddha (Mahānidānasutta - translated by Ajahn Sujato)
Seeking is a cause of gaining material possessions.
Gaining material possessions is a cause of assessing.
Assessing is a cause of desire and lust.
Desire and lust is a cause of attachment.
Attachment is a cause of ownership.
Ownership is a cause of stinginess.
Stinginess is a cause of safeguarding.
Owing to safeguarding, many bad, unskillful things come to be: taking up the rod and the sword, quarrels, arguments, and disputes, accusations, divisive speech, and lies. . . . Suppose there were totally and utterly no safeguarding for anyone anywhere. When there’s no safeguarding at all, with the cessation of safeguarding, would those many bad, unskillful things still come to be?
- Buddha (Mahānidānasutta - translated by Ajahn Sujato)
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Good health is far more than the absence of illness and disease. A person who enjoys good health is one whose body, mind, and emotions function optimally. In such a person, the body is in peak condition because of proper nutrition and regular exercise. A healthy mind empowers the individual to flourish because it is positive and hopeful. Similarly, the emotional life of a person is healthy when it exhibits confidence and courage, especially in those moments when life presents unwelcome changes and challenges. Good health is found in a person who feels safe, secure, stable yet is always able to adjust and adapt to adversity.
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Go over this list today and see what thoughts, impressions, conclusions arise.
1. When was the last time I did something for the first time?
2. Am I experiencing joy daily?
3. Am I bringing joy to others daily?
4. Who do I love and what am I doing about it?
5. What have I done recently which is memorable?
6. Does it really matter what others think of me?
7. Where will I be in 3 or 4 years if I keep heading in this direction?
8. Am I who I want to be?
9. Who are my spiritual friends and how much time do I spend with them?
10. How would I like others to remember me after I die?
Return to this list in six months reviewing it again. What’s changed?
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When we meditate, no matter what meditation we do, we always need to find a balance where we are concentrated and, at the same time, we are not tense. We need to keep our mind wide, not getting too tense or too relaxed, because then we cannot focus. We are aiming for this balance. - Hannah Nydahl
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When the basis of our well-being is firm within, we can act with true courage and compassion for others, for we’re coming from a solid position of calmness and strength. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Tibetan teacher Orgyen Thukchok Dorje observes: “In Vajrayana, we accept that the pain and difficulty one undergoes are a direct result of the actions and karmas of one’s past lives. We do not think that we suffer from injustice committed by someone against us, or that someone has wronged us. We place the blame on our own karma and not on others. That really changes the dynamic of how one deals with suffering and how one attains freedom from it.”
Though I’m not as certain about past life karma philosophy as is the writer, I do see karmic connections between decisions I’ve made earlier in my present life and how my life has played out today. Any personal suffering I feel because of my personal past history is softened by realizing it’s not an injustice or that someone has done something to me. Rather, I made decisions earlier which continue to impact me later in life. My understanding of karma is simply this – it’s a life lesson gained through direct experience. Those lessons can be positive or negative.
Though I’m not as certain about past life karma philosophy as is the writer, I do see karmic connections between decisions I’ve made earlier in my present life and how my life has played out today. Any personal suffering I feel because of my personal past history is softened by realizing it’s not an injustice or that someone has done something to me. Rather, I made decisions earlier which continue to impact me later in life. My understanding of karma is simply this – it’s a life lesson gained through direct experience. Those lessons can be positive or negative.
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Buddhism concerns itself with winning. When we battle a powerful enemy, either we will triumph or we will be defeated – there’s no middle ground. Battling against life’s negative functions is an indivisible part of Buddhism. It is by being victorious in this struggle that we become Buddhas. We have to win. Moreover, Buddhism ensures that we can definitely do so. - Daisaku Ikeda
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A man relates an incident which took place during a ceremony when he was transitioning from a novice Zen monk to senior student. It was considered an auspicious event and he prepared carefully for the ceremony and ritual. He entered the meditation hall with his zen bowing mat and placed it on the floor but noticed there was a small wrinkle in the mat.
Using his toe, he gently tugged at the mat so it was perfectly flat. When the ritual and ceremony ended, the vice-abbott approached the new senior monk, offered his congratulations and took him aside for a private conversation.
“Do you recall the beginning of the ceremony and that wrinkle in your mat?” he asked.
“Yes. I had to straighten it only a little,” was his reply.
Looking directly into his eyes, the vice-abbott said: “Never straighten a bowing mat with your foot. Take the time to kneel and use your hand. Attend wholeheartedly to even the tiniest detail. That ripple in your mat deserved your complete attention.”
From then on, whenever his mat had a wrinkle, he would carefully and mindfully kneel using his hands to gently flatten it. The vice-abbott offered him was an important, lifelong lesson in mindfulness.
For a moment, become your own vice-abbott. Where was your mindfulness absent? For example, when you open and close a door, is it done with intention and quietly? When you pick up and put down an object, are you aware and are you doing that action mindfully, gently. From time to time, take a few moments to study your mindfulness and take it to a higher level.
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Nowadays being busy is seen as a mark of success, a badge of honor. We live in a culture of doing rather than being. Keeping busy is somehow glamorous; it defines us. - Gelong Thubten
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Everything that the Buddha had ever taught serves the purpose of discovering happiness and peace in this world. - Hsing Yun