Samadhi

Myself...I can speak for hours on Buddhism and the Tao but I generally clam up when asked about myself personally

No, I do not

Anything that violates the Eighfold Path laid out by Buddha, I consider a moral trespass

Pumpkin pie with whipped cream...

A chocolate bar...

I like to wear what I like and consider comfortable...some may find it androgynous

If you look around at things, you see there is an order to them. The seasons come in order, the planets maintain an order and so forth. Order is very important. Without order, there would be chaos. I believe it is important to have order in our lives. When things go in an orderly fashion, we have a better chance of being happy. When things are not so orderly, we may have trouble. To have order, we often must rid ourselves of things we do not really need. Our closets may be full of clothes that we have not worn in a long time. When we look for something we want to wear, it may be difficult to find a particular item because there is a lack of order in our closet. Organization is important. Being able to find things and get things done correctly often relies on having order. If when we come in from outside, if our sandals are put in the same spot each time in the vestibule, we have no problem finding them. If on the other hand, we just drop them anywhere, when we go to look for them, they can be anywhere and it may be frustrating to have to look for them. Keeping our practice in order is important. Maintaining an orderly schedule of things helps to keep us on the right path. We can light incense at a certain time, meditate at certain times, read texts at a certain time. This keeps us in order and our practice healthy. A hit or miss approach will not be as useful or productive. Of course we need not be overly obsessive about it. Sometimes things happen and we may have to adjust our schedule. But, most days we can settle into a rhythm. If you do not have good order in your life, try to improve it. Keep things clean and uncluttered around your home. Once you have done a good cleaning and organization, it is much easier to maintain it with proper discipline. Set up a schedule for your meditation and keep to it. Everything has a place so make sure you put something back in its proper place when you are done using it. By keeping order in our life and practice, we can enjoy a reassuring rhythm that will help us to cultivate and maintain peace and harmony.

When we begin anything, we are brought up to want results…quickly. That is the nature of our culture. I want it all, I want it now. When beginning practice, many students carry this same mindset. They practice for a while, then become frustrated because they do not any results. In basketball, there is something called a shot clock. The team with the ball only has so many seconds to shoot the ball or else they are penalized. There is no such thing in our practice. No clock running, no deadline. As a result, things seem to be moving at a standstill at times. In order to have success, we must give it time, and time takes time. Once a novice monk was studying with a great master. After about six months, the master (who was working in the garden) asked the novice how his practice was coming along. The student replied that he might leave because nothing had happened yet. The master took his rake and banged it against the shins of the novice. “Now, something has happened.” So the point is not to be in a hurry to get where you want to go. Just let things unfold as natural as possible. If you were to die tomorrow, what difference would it make? All that angst and worry for nothing. So live without the angst and worry instead. Practice with the idea of no gain. Every time we think we are gaining something, we are losing something. When we lose something, we gain something as well. The fact that we are even practicing is a gain in itself. Practicing with the idea of not gaining does not mean you do not gain. It means only that you are not expecting gain. So do not expect results. Your practice is not a magic wand that will transform your suffering into instant happiness. It takes work, time, and discipline. It is better to forget about results and just practice. Perhaps you do not see changes at all, but the changes are subtle not dramatic. Think of it as water rushing over a stone. No dramatic change, but change occurs in a quiet manner.

There are three perceptions...how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we really are...

One gets aid by accepting the four noble truths and practicing the eightfold path. One has to cultivate humility and not let the ego be in charge...

If 'Everyday Is A Gift' as the saying goes, how many of them would you like to return?

Many times we think things happen to us. Bad luck happens to us. Suffering happens to us. Only in a few cases is this so. Many times, things happen because of us. We make poor decisions, uniformed decisions. We are our own worst enemy at times. The time comes to taste our karma and the taste is bitter, not sweet as we would like. Much of our suffering is due to our own nature. We want something. We cannot get it, so we suffer. To need something is something else. We need food, water, shelter. To want the attention of another is a want. To want to be recognized for something is a want. They are not needs. If we can separate the wants from the needs, we can begin to see clearly. The second noble truth speaks that desire, craving, et cetera is the cause of suffering. Yet as human creatures, we seem ingrained with that fault. As a newborn, things are different. We immediately begin needing. We want need, warmth, security. As we grow up the needs take a backseat to the wants. The wants change over time. As a newborn, if we do not get our wants, we cry. Later when we have aged, we suffer and look to place blame on someone or something but we rarely look into the mirror to discover the culprit. It is much easier to place the blame elsewhere. It is said that a foolish man will knowingly drink saltwater and then blame the salt for making him thirstier. It would be much wiser not to drink the saltwater and find another alternative. Wiser and more difficult. The point is that we can avoid much of the suffering we encounter by not wanting. Being content with what we have is gold. This is not to say we cannot hope to improve. However, attaching our happiness to the end result only sets us up for failure and unhappiness. Likewise, standing still and complaining is useless and foolhardy. I once knew a man who lived by a river. Every spring the snow would melt and the river would spill over its banks and flood the houses nearby. Every spring while pumping the water out of his basement, the man would complain that the state refused to fix the problem. He would carry on for some time about the aggravation he and his neighbors suffered every spring. One day I asked him if he had considered moving somewhere else. He replied, “No, we like it here”. Well what right did he have to complain then? If you are being hit with the swing of a hammer constantly, get out of the way! Sometimes, if you do nothing to improve your situation, the situation may not improve. Next time something unpleasant happens, ask yourself whether it happened to you or because of you.

I used to listen to rock, and then classical. Now music doesn't interest me much anymore...

First time alone with a girl As nervous as a piece of glass In a child's hand At the used bookstore It makes me sad to see A book that was once a gift Gusty autumn winds Scattering the leaves My broom is tired

A novice monk greeted the Master. “Master, how are you today?” “I am quite well, thank you”, replied the master. “But master, I see you walking with great pain and suffering from what seems to be a bad cold” said the monk. "How can you be well?" The Master said “I am quite well, thank you. It is this old body that is breaking down and sick” replied the Master. "Not I." The master's point is that we only 'rent' this body of ours for a short time. How can we say it is our body? If it was truly our body, we could keep it from aging, sickness, and eventually dying. Therefore, even when the body is ill, we can be quite healthy if we are diligent about following the path...

All the directions are obscure, The teachings are not clear to me; With our benevolent friend gone, It seems as if all is darkness. For one whose friend has passed away, One whose teacher is gone for good, There is no friend that can compare With mindfulness of the body. The old ones have all passed away; I do not fit in with the new. And so today I muse alone Like a bird who has gone to roost. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These mournful words were uttered by Ananda in the Theragatha, and reveal a very human side of one of the canon's most sensitive characters. Ananda was the Buddha's cousin and personal attendant, and was always to be found at the master's side throughout the many years of wandering and teaching. As Ananda put it: "For twenty five years I served the Lord with loving deeds, loving words and loving thoughts — when the Buddha paced to and fro, I paced along behind." It is Ananda who washed his feet at the end of the day, who arranged his interviews and protected his solitude as best he could, and who tended him lovingly during his final illness. It is Ananda also who we find weeping bitterly at the passing away of the Buddha, and being gently admonished for it by the teacher of non-attachment to changing phenomena. After the Buddha's final passing Ananda seems to have been treated somewhat badly by some of the other monks, who were jealous of his close relationship with the master. Poems like this one suggest that Ananda passed a lonely old age and never ceased mourning for his beloved teacher and friend. -from Access To Insight-

My favorite authors are the ones that send the raindrops, snowflakes, and the water flowing. It has been said that if you learn to read those, everything else is superfluous...

The excited student said “Did you hear Master Honshu? Master Yi at the southern temple died in a fire last night. They say he was in such a deep meditation he did not notice the flames. What powerful concentration!” “What stupidity”, replied Master Honshu.

Ambapali Sutta Black was my hair — the color of bees — & curled at the tips; with age, it looked like coarse hemp. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Fragrant, like a perfumed basket filled with flowers: With age it smelled musty, like animal fur. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Thick & lush, like a well-tended grove, made splendid, the tips elaborate with comb & pin. With age, it grew thin & bare here & there. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Adorned with gold & delicate pins, it was splendid, ornamented with braids. Now, with age, that head has gone bald. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Curved, as if well-drawn by an artist, my brows were once splendid. With age, they droop down in folds. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Radiant, brilliant like jewels, my eyes: With age, they're no longer splendid. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like a delicate peak, my nose was splendid in the prime of my youth. With age, it's like a long pepper. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like bracelets — well-fashioned, well-finished — my ears were once splendid. With age, they droop down in folds. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like plaintain buds in their color, my teeth were once splendid. With age, they're broken & yellowed. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like that of a cuckoo in the dense jungle, flitting through deep forest thickets: sweet was the tone of my voice. With age, it cracks here & there. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Smooth — like a conch shell well-polished — my neck was once splendid. With age, it's broken down, bent. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like rounded door-bars — both of them — my arms were once splendid. With age, they're like dried up patali trees. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Adorned with gold & delicate rings, my hands were once splendid. With age, they're like onions & tubers. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Swelling, round, firm, & high, both my breasts were once splendid. In the drought of old age, they dangle like empty old water bags. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Like a sheet of gold, well-burnished, my body was splendid. Now it's covered with very fine wrinkles. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Smooth in their lines, like an elephant's trunk, both my thighs were once splendid. With age, they're like knotted bamboo. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Adorned with gold & delicate anklets, my calves were once splendid. With age, they're like sesame sticks. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. As if they were stuffed with soft cotton, both my feet were once splendid. With age, they're shriveled & cracked. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change. Such was this physical heap, now: A house with its plaster all fallen off. The truth of the Truth-speaker's words doesn't change

The sister of a Zen master went to visit him at his temple. Next to the temple she noticed there was a small cemetery. During the evening session, the students and master engaged in very loud chanting. Later, the sister said to her brother, "Your group was so loud, you'll wake the dead", and she pointed over toward the graves. The master replied, "It is not the dead I am concerned about waking, it is the living."

The story does not imply that nothing should change as impermanance is unavoidable. Nor should suffering be tolerated. You are reading far too much into the story my friend...

Telling the truth keeps us from having to remember what we lied about. I believe though that a little white lie to avoid having someone suffer is acceptable.

There was a student and his master. The student studied very hard in order to please his teacher. After one month, the student told the master, "I feel an expansion of consciousness and experience oneness with the universe." The master looked at him with a blank expression. The second month, the student said "I have discovered that the Divine is present in all things." The master seemed disappointed. The third month, the student proudly proclaimed "No one is born, no one dies, for the self is not." The master threw up his hands in despair. The master did not see the student again for a year. Finally, he came one day and the master inquired as to his progress. "I am just trying to live my life. As for progress, I couldn't care less! The master replied "Thank heavens, you've got it at last!" This story demonstrates the Zen teaching of everything being perfect as it is. Things come and go, all in due time.

What celebrity(s) have you been told that you resemble? The question relates to being that if you have been told by some that you like xxxx and others say you look like yyyy, I am thinking that in many cases they are probably not that close to looking like each other. The point is how two people can look at the same thing (person) and see two very different things...

Each person's view of what 'reality' is can be quite different, so yes one could call it illusion...