Cloud hands

Gratitude

2012-01-25T16:31:00.006Z

Gratitude - the art of being thankful can seriously change our life…… for the better.

With gratitude we acknowledge and are grateful for every thing we receive, the simple pleasures in life become miracles and we recognize all that we have, without the want for more. We are Thankful for what we have received.

How many times do we take what we have been given, for granted? The little things like the smile from a check out girl, or the beauty of dew on leaf tips? The reflection of the moon on the sea, a star filled sky, the laugh of a baby. These little things are there in abundance all around us, but because so many beautiful things happen to us they do not stand out and we take them for granted. We allow the more difficult things that cause us distress to stand out and we complain about them.

When we practice mindfulness, we naturally practice the awareness of gratitude; a big smile and a thank you can brighten someone’s world and lift our own spirits. When we express our gratitude, we feel good too, our stress and anxiety lessens and our happiness increases.

So let us look for the things we can be grateful for, even the unpleasant things that happen to us, that test our patients, for that is a gift as well, the opportunity to practice patients, the opportunity to be grateful, the opportunity to practice mindfulness. And as the Master of Mindfulness said........

"Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful" -- Thich Nhat Hanh

2012 The Year of The Water Dragon

2012-01-22T10:13:00.006Z

(Image by: butterflyphoenix.blogspot.com)

2012 The year of the Water Dragon

In China the Dragon, (the symbol of the Chinese people), is considered a most auspicious character being able to fly and to live in the water, the Dragon links heaven and earth. The Dragon is a creature of myth and legend. A symbol of strength, good fortune and sign of intense power, the Oriental Dragon is regarded as a divine beast.

The Dragon Years:

1904 * 1916 * 1928 * 1940 * 1952 * 1964 * 1976 * 1988 * 2000* 2012* 2024

(The characteristics of the of the Chinese zodiac occur every 12 years however this is tempered by the 5 elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water this means that the last Water Dragon appeared in 1952 and babies born this year will see the next Water Dragon in 2072).

The Water Dragon

Water has a calming effect on the Dragon's fearless temperament. Water allows the Dragon to re-direct its enthusiasm, and makes him more perceptive of others. Water Dragons are better equipped to take a step back to re-evaluate a situation because they understand the art of patience and do not desire the spotlight like other Dragons. Therefore, Water Dragons tend to make smart decisions and are able to see eye-to-eye with other people. However, their actions can go wrong if they do not research or if they do not finish one project before starting another.

8 Ways To Feel Grounded.

2012-01-20T12:14:00.011Z

The Secret of being Grounded in the Here and Now

When we have an over active mind that will not rest, when we get easily agitated and feel our world is collapsing in on us, we need to still that energy. At other times when our mind wonders and we cannot think, then our thoughts are like drifting clouds, we need to concentrate our energy……..

The act of Grounding allows us the opportunity to "inhabit" our body and be firmly anchored in the present moment, to feel connected to the world around us. In The Stillness Project sessions, I refer to “Centering Body and Mind”, we all have the capacity to feel centered within us, to feel grounded in the here and now. The trick to being grounded is to consistently use our awareness and “Center Body and Mind”, then practice and cultivate it.

In the beginning our natural thinking habits, daydreaming, agitation, or losing our self in our thoughts is intrusive, but with practice we begin to notice when our “monkey mind” starts to take control, and when it does, gently center your mind and your body in the present moment, concentrate on your breathing and feel the earth beneath your feet. Gently bring yourself back to this present moment, there’s no need for reprimands tell the Monkey Mind “I know your there, everything is OK”.

8 WAYS TO FEEL GROUNDED

1. Practice Tai Chi, Qigong exercises in the open air and concentrate on your breathing.

2. Practice and walk barefoot, feel the ground beneath your feet.

3. Walk mindfully. Place your awareness on your steps; on the feeling and sensation of walking. When your mind wanders, bring it back to the act of walking.

4. Sit or lay on the ground. Feel the stability and substantiality of the earth. Breathe it in. Let the feeling of being grounded permeate your whole being. Practice breath awareness, feel the movement of your lower abdomen as you breathe and count your breaths.

5. Engage in a relaxation exercise like a body scan meditation or progressive muscle relaxation.

6. Scan your body and be aware of the touch, the pressure, the changes occurring in your body as your muscles release and relax.

7. Share precious moments with another person, a place, or a pet.

8. Exercise in the open air, by the sea, in a woodland or by a lake.

Remember, start with just one activity that you find easy and enjoyable and integrate that practice into your daily routine. Set an achievable goal to practice and make it fun, this is a gift to your self. Give it a go, Breathe deep and enjoy your life.

The Mindfulness of Drinking Tea 1

2012-01-15T13:24:00.003Z

Bring out the jade bowl and wash it yourself, boil water from a rocky spring then observe how the pale steam brims at the lip of the bowl like the summer clouds issuing from mountain streams and peaks, and white billowing waves form as if dashing down a swollen river in spring. The sound of water boiling blows, whistling like a frosty wind through the bamboos and pines, while the fragrance of the brewed tea drifts like a ship of war, flying towards the Red Cliff.

From Korean Tea Classics, (page 41).

Two Bodhisattva's Sanzen-in, Ohara Japan

2012-01-04T09:50:00.002Z

Sitting In Meditation

2012-01-03T09:29:00.004Z

At night, deep in the mountains, 

I sit in meditation 

The affairs of men never reach here;  

Everything is quiet and empty,  

All the incense has been swallowed up 

By the endless night.  

My robe has become a garment of dew.  

Unable to sleep I walk out into the woods— 

Suddenly, above the highest peak,  

The full moon appears.

- Hakuin (1686-1768)

Top 5 Regrets

2012-01-02T09:46:00.002Z

It is so sad, that in this day and age, we should find our life so stressful. Prisoners of our own mind made stress bubble, spending more time at work than with our families, exhausted but having no time to let our body rest and recover. Is it really worth it? I saw the following recently, the "Top 5 Regrets people have on their deathbed"

1. I wish I had the courage to live a life true to my self, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I did not have to work so hard.

3. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish I had let my self be happier.

Perhaps the meaning of a "Day of Rest" should be re-established allowing us time to be with friends and family, to write letters and poems, to express our selves creatively and to pursue the things "WE" want to do.

I'm back.

2010-10-10T04:50:00.003+01:00

I am sorry I have not been able to make any posts for months and months and months. I have been developing a new project which is now up and running, then discovered I could not access my blog site. But alls well that ends well as they say, so I wish you all health, love, peace and happiness.

Cloud hands

2010-04-16T16:31:00.004+01:00

In the cherry blossom's shade
there's no such thing
as a stranger.
Kobayayash Issa 1763-1828

Peace.

2010-02-01T11:43:00.002Z

"There is no way to peace, peace is the way" Thich Nhat Hanh

The Samurai and the Tea Master

2010-01-27T18:42:00.000Z

The Samurai and the Tea Master
A long time ago there lived a Tea Master. He was an elderly, small and frail man. He was known throughout the countryside where he lived for his beautiful Tea Ceremony. His work was so good that one day the Emperor heard about him and summoned him to the Palace to perform this special ceremony. The quiet, little Tea Master received this invitation from the Emperor. He packed his belongings, placed them on his back and started on a long journey by foot to the Palace. After many long days the little man arrived and performed the ceremony for the Emperor. The Emperor was so impressed! He presented the Tea Master with the highest honour that he was allowed. He presented him with the two Japanese swords of the Samurai. The Tea Master accepted the swords. He bowed to the emperor, placed the swords on his back, picked up his belongings and started his journey home.

Two days later the little man was walking through a small country village when he was spotted by the Samurai that protected that area. He was a great and powerful Samurai. At first the Samurai could not believe his eyes. Where those swords? What was this little frail man doing with them?! The Samurai confronted the little man. “How dare you make a mockery of all Samurai! I can not stand for this dishonour. " The Samurai challenged the Tea Ceremony master to a duel to the death with swords, and said: "Meet me here today at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and we shall fight.”

Honour would not permit the Tea Ceremony master to refuse the challenge, so he had to agree. But he was frightened, and went to his own teacher of Tea Ceremony, to ask him what to do. "I have never held a sword in my hand in my life," he said. "He will surely kill me". The older Tea Ceremony master replied with a calm smile. "Do not worry," he said. "Go meet him at the appointed time, and do what you know how to do. Perform the Tea Ceremony."

At four o'clock, the Samurai arrived with swords. But the Tea Ceremony master arrived with charcoal, matches, a tea kettle, water, cups, and began to prepare the tea. The Tea Master opened his tea container and the pungent smell of the green tea mingled with the fragrance of the flowers. Quietly and purposefully, the tea master scooped a small amount of green tea into a cup. With the ladle he dipped hot water from the kettle and poured it onto the tea. The Samurai watched, caught up in the quiet intensity of the tea master’s movements. Taking the whisk, the tea master applied it vigorously until the tea foamed. Then bowing with complete calmness, the tea master handed the cup to the Samurai.

The Samurai sipped the tea properly. When he finished, he said to the Tea Master: "I am defeated. You have united body and soul so perfectly, you defeated me. The only thing I can honourably do to a man like you is ask you to teach me. Will you instruct me in the ways of the tea ceremony?"

“Of course,” said the Tea Master. “Meet me at sunset tomorrow."
With greatful thanks for the story to Sweetpersimmion at Blogspot.com.
http://sweetpersimmon1.blogspot.com/2007/11/samurai-and-tea-master.html

The Great Bell Chant

2009-12-15T10:38:00.001Z

The Great Bell Chant

May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos
In even the darkest places, may living beings hear it clearly
So that understanding comes to their heart, and without hardship
They transcend the cycle of birth and death

Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind becomes calm, my body relaxed, and a smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell, my breath guides me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart the flower of peace blooms beautifully

2009-12-08T10:18:00.007Z

John Daido Loori 1931 - 2009

John Daido Loori, author, artist, Zen Master founder and abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York. Died at Zen Mountain Monastery on the 9th October 2009. One of the most influential Zen masters in the West, he had been diagnosed with lung cancer eighteen months earlier. Under John Daido Loori’s direction, Zen Mountain Monastery has grown to be one of the leading Zen monasteries in America, widely noted for its unique way of integrating art and Zen practice.

http://www.mro.org/daido/

2009-11-07T09:52:00.002Z

Promise me,

promise me this day

while the sun is just overhead

even as they strike you down

with a mountain of hate and violence,

remember brother,

man is not our enemy.
Just your pity,

just your hate

invincible,

limitless,

hatred will never let you face

the beast in man.

And one day,

when you face this beast alone,

your courage intact,

your eyes kind,

out of your smile

will bloom a flower

and those who love you will behold you

across 10,000 worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,

I'll go on with bent head

but knowing the immortality of love.

And on the long, rough road

both sun and moon will shine,

lighting my way.

Thich Nhat Hanh

(1987) BEING PEACE by Parallax Press

Silent and Serene

2009-04-20T17:23:00.001+01:00

Silent and serene, forgetting words
Bright clarity appears before you,
When you reflect it you become vast
Where you embody it
You are spiritually uplifted.
Zen Master Hongzhi

The Chinese Lantern Festival

2009-02-09T07:40:00.003Z

The Lantern Festival.

The Chinese Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. This is the day on which the festival activities reach a climax.
The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival", because it is the first full moon night. Due to the custom of watching bright lights, it is also called the Festival of Lights. According to folk legend, this festival has been significant since as early as the Western Han Dynasty when Liu Che, the Western Han Emperor, worshipped the god in the Ganquan Palace on that night. However, it became a real folk festival only later in the Eastern Han.

The introduction of Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty is an important part in promoting this festival. Throughout the Han Dynasty, Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, this Buddhist ritual developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China. Till today, the Lantern Festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children, extremely excited, hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets.
"Guessing lantern riddles" is an activity that emerged during the people's enjoyment of lanterns throughout the Song Dynasty. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owner to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a small gift. As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular activity among all social ranks. People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival". Yuanxiao was initially known as the "tangyuan", due to increased consumption during the Lantern Festival, and are also known as the "lantern". Businessmen also euphemistically call it "ingots". They are small balls made of glutinous rice flour with a variety of fillings, such as sugar, rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit and edible oil, etc. offering a variety of flavors. They can be boiled, fried or steamed, tasting sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan", meaning reunion. So people eat it to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

In the daytime, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing are staged. At night, besides the magnificent lanterns, an array of firework exhibits form beautiful scenes. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off during the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters, people become really intoxicated by the impressive fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

From: Chinese Voice Newsletter (newsletter@chinesevoice.com) 03 February 2009

Protecting The Spiritual Environment and setteling our lives.

2009-02-07T13:21:00.004Z

Following the death of Venerable Master Sheng Yen on Tuesday, I have included the transcriptof a video "Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives". The link for which is at the bottom of the artical. Along with Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Ajan Chan, Ven. Master Sheng Yen is one of the most inspirational Buddhist teachers of the 20th cenury.

Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives.

Vexaion and Disquiet
In life we always long for happiness, but is mere longing enough to bring us true happiness? Each time a loved one leaves us our heart breaks, each time we fall ill we suffer so much that sometimes we may no longer want to live. In every disaster the faces of speechless victims helplessly beseeching the heavens bring us heartache.

They say that at death we are just taking leave of this world but few can remain calm at that moment and those of us left behind carry scars not easily healed. And even on days when we don’t face such daunting tests it seems difficult to relax and cheer up.

When we want more than we can afford, when our mind is disorientated by desire can we calmly accept the frustration of not getting what we want? Even if we can be satisfied for the moment, once our thoughts turn elsewhere that instant desire may easily become a burden, or perhaps our triumph is so short lived that we are soon consumed again by worry and burning desire oppressed by such burning afflictions do we really have no right to happiness?

Taiming the mind from perception to action
In reality whether vexations or disquiet if we scrutinise them closely they always result from the mischief of the unsettled mind when we think of past pleasures our reveries wont make them reappear. When we are stricken by memories of hard times those sufferings are actually long gone. When we want to put trust in an unknown future we can’t be sure that we’ll always get what we want. Only one thing is sure, the unsettled mind accustomed to distraction drowsiness and self-indulgence continues to jump between past and future, reality and imaginings, uncontrollably disturbing our thoughts and moods. Our environment may be beyond our control but fortunately we’re absolutely free to regulate our own minds and Chan practice is an ideal tool to hone our concentration and balance our minds the most important thing about Chan practice is that allows us to attain a goal.

What is that goal? It’s to let go. But how can we let go? What do we let go of? At first we don’t know what to let go of. So we start by practicing relation we try to relax our body and mind. But our mind is extremely abstract
So we start by relaxing the body, when our body is relaxed our mind will calm down. When our mind is calm our whole being will also relax. Science tells us that meditation not only strengthens our immune system, but also fosters an optimistic outlook and has experiments have shown if we want to enhance our concentration; the best choice is meditation, an excellent gift from the Buddha. Once we are relaxed Chan practice can lead from collecting the mind, concentrating the mind, to settling the mind and finally attaining no mind.

Most people’s minds are scattered, by focusing the scattered mind on an object, such as feeling the breath mindfully, we can gradually transform the scattered mind into a more concentrated or even unified mind. If we don’t take the unified mind as the self we may attain the state of no mind or the wisdom of no self.

Weather by sitting on a cushion practicing calm and concentration or by mindfully contemplating through recitation or repentance practice we can always to gradually train the stability of our minds. We can discover that all our experiences such as physical pain itching skin and even fidgeting and inpatients are ever changing and impermanent if we can apply the insight of the Buddha and see that all conditioned phenomena are imperminant and all phenonina are with out self then we wont identify with theose pains or itcheness, we wont say I am hutring or I am itchy. But instead we will think that is hurting or it is itchy. Once we see these sensations and moods objectively rather than seeing them as part of an “I” we can easily be free from them. If we have a clear awareness and inner stability then when outer trouble arises we will be able to face it calmly accept it earnestly deal with it wisely and then let it go. In the midst of turmoil we will gradually sort things out and recover our stability and ease.

Practicing Chan in our daily lives.
To escape the dusty world and retire to a spiritual pure land may remain forever a fantasy Even if one can snatch a rare chance and gain a short respite there could one retain that calm and ease after returning to the everyday world. The patriarchs of the Chan school; recognised this problem long ago. They pointed out that real cultivation is not limited to the Chan hall any where can be a place for practice. All our human interactions all the circumstances of daily life are excellent opportunities for spiritual cultivation. In the workplace you may encounter people or tasks you don’t like. When that happens, if you don’t adopt a Chan attitude to adjust your mind then even though you know how to relax
When you see that person you just can’t relax. By changing our thinking if you can use the attitude and methods of Chan at work, you’ll not only be able to relax in your interaction with other people and at work but your human relationships may also improve.

Master Shang Yen reminds us that a busy intersection is a good place to work on Chan, because as the sixth patriarch Hui-neng told us the Dharma is in the world and not to be realized beyond it. If we want to realize the path of liberation, it must be done where we are, whether on a boisterous street or in a competitive work place we can always use the environment to train the mind. Chan practice is not mysterious or limited to the meditation hall, nor will seated meditation alone bring peace of mind. We hone our practice with seated meditation but in the end we have to return to our daily lives with a more settled, steady and relaxed body and mind we then clearly observe the workings of our mind at every moment and face the problems of our lives head on. Whether afflicted or disquieted in pain or sorrow by nurturing our spirit we can all gradually strengthen our life force.

The Altruistic Bodhisattva spirit
Chan practice awakens us to the impermanence of life and the delusion of self-attachment enabling us to give rise to non discriminatory equanimity. Only after we relax can we let go. Relaxing is self development and self afermation. When you are able to help your self, you affirm the self. Then when you are able to adjust your frame of mind, your developing the self, finally when you are able to let go, that’s the dissolution of the self we no longer cling to status distinctions or care only for ourselves forgetting that we all depend and influence one another.

Protecting the spiritual environment means making our bodies and minds healthy, happy and peaceful and at the same time helping to make other peoples bodies and minds, what, healthy happy and peaceful. Not only do we make ourselves and our families, healthy happy and peaceful, but we also try to make the people around us, our collegues and superiors, customers, subordinates and neighbours and all the others we live with on his small island of Taiwan, all enjoy what? Health, happiness and peace. Even more, what do we hope to bring to the bodies and minds of every one around the world? It is health, happiness and peace. And what is this called? It is “Protecting the spiritual environment”. This is the vision of building a “Pure Land on Earth” put into practice. When our mind is purified our words and deeds are purified when our body and mind are stable we can create a stable environment. One by one a positive chain reaction will lead to purified communities, thus forming a “Pure Land on Earth” Dharma Drum Mountain’s Spiritual leader Master Sheng Yen always reminds us to use the honorific Bodhisattva when addressing each other and more importantly to interact in the spirit of Bodhisattvas so that we can gradually grow in wisdom and compassion. Then as we make our selves happy, well also wish happiness for others and further hope that this flame of compassion and wisdom will be passed on endlessly till all may live together in equality, mutual concern and gratitude. And this is what Chan practice truly means the true foundation for a Pure Land.

An exemplar of protecting the spiritual environment, Master Sheng Yen has lived a life representative of such Bodhisattva practice, faced with many sufferings and hardships. Just like the rest of us he can always combine wisdom and compassion to bring joy and freedom to a distressed mind.

The world in the eyes of Enlightened.
In the eyes of an enlightened Chan practitioner, who sees the world with a pure settled mind that knows no discrimination each flower is a world in miniature and catalysts for enlightenment abound everywhere. For the enlightened no matter what the season every day is a good day and every thing that happens is a blessing.

Amituofo.

Please view the video at:
http://www.dharmadrum.org/watch.aspx?murl=pictures/modules/PDT/PDT060207001/20073210571877475.wmv

Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen

2009-02-03T21:29:00.013Z

The Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain, let go of his physical body and left behind great compassion and great vows in this world at 4:04pm of the afternoon of 3 February, 2009, at the age of 80.

"Where there is life, there must be death.

If one cannot face this reality it will become one’s greatest barrier in life, if one can regard death merely as a fraction within the eternal time and space then death is not an end to life but the beginning of the next."

Ven. Master Sheng Yen

Venerable Master Sheng Yen’s health had been declining over the past three years. This started in late 2005, when he received surgery to remove a non-functioning kidney, his remaining kidney's ability to function remained very poor. Since then he endured weekly dialysis and various other treatments, making his body very weak. Over the following two years, his health condition has had ups and downs, and remarkably, in mid to late 2008,
Venerable Master Sheng Yen had been noticeably stronger and able to give many lectures and attend many public events however in late December, a routine checkup at the hospital revealed a further problem and his health condition deteriorated rapidly. He was unable to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations at the Dharma Drum Mountain Centre

The Master has had a weak physique and been prone to illness since childhood. After becoming a monk in the Wolf Hills in China, he went through years of having to perform deliverance rituals day and night for a living, then served in the military, and was finally re-ordained. Thereafter, whether on solitary retreat, studying in Japan, in America spreading the Dharma, or founding Dharma Drum Mountain, he has always been able to find a way forward when there seemed no way out. In his hardships his compassionate vows strengthen, and through his perseverance his wisdom shines. To him, life is a process of realizing the Buddha dharma.

The Most Venerable Master Sheng

1930-2009

............................................................................................................................................................................

For further information on the Most Venerable Master Sheng and the Dharma Drum Mountain please visit: http://www.dharmadrum.org/

And the Dharma Drum Mountain, association of lay Chan practitioners a lay Sangha, based in the UK. please visit: http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

The Year of the Ox

2009-01-31T14:52:00.003Z

Monday 26th January marked the first day of the Chinese New year the yer of the Ox.

Ox years are: 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 and 2021.

The Chinese Zodiac.
The Chinese zodiac consists lunar years being represented by twelve different animals each year represented by a different animal. According to the Lunar calendar, the twelve animals in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

This year, 2009, will be the year of the Ox.

According to the legend, the Jade Emperor, the supreme god and ruler of the heaven in Chinese mythology, invited all the animals in creation to take part in a race. The prize for the first twelve animals to finish the race was an opportunity to appear on the Chinese Zodiac calendar in the order in which they completed the race. The first animal to across the finish line was the rat, who used his brain to win the race, a poor swimmer, the rat talked the honest and simple-minded ox into taking it across the river on the ox's back. As they approached the finish line, the rat jumped off the ox's back and zipped across the line, putting it in first place in the race. The ox, which should have won the race, came in second and as promised in the legends and mythology, was the second animal listed on the Chinese Zodiac.

It is believed that an individual's traits, characteristics and personality are greatly influenced by the animal of the particular year they are born in. People born in the Year of the Ox are very much like the stereotype of the animal itself - dependable, calm and modest. Ox people, like the animal itself, are unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint. They are not social or party animals, and they tend to be quiet when in groups. Some people might accuse them of being strong-minded and stubborn, but in fact people born under the influence of the Ox are said to be kind, caring souls who are logical and positive-thinking and filled with common sense; they have their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is the main preoccupation in life for ox people, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families.

Ox people include: Vincent Van Gogh, Walt Disney, Charles Chaplin and Anthony Hopkins as well as George Clooney.

Celebrating the Chinese Spring Festival.
The Chinese Spring Festival lasts for fifteen days. The first week is the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends and family as well as greetings of good luck. The celebrations end with the important and colorful Lantern Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the first lunar month. However, Chinese believe that on the third day of the Spring Festival it is not appropriate to visit family and friends, and call the day "chi kou", meaning "easy to get into arguments". The date of Spring Festival is determined by the Lunar Calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Japanese, and the Vietnamese. Spring Festival starts on the first day of the first lunar month containing a new moon (some sources even include the Spring Festival's Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days long. In the Gregorian calendar, Spring Festival falls on different dates each year, sometime between January 21 and February 20.

On the days before Spring Festival celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning, believing that the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and preparing their homes for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on Spring Festival's Eve so that good luck can't be swept away and some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint.Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets (short phrases) that speak of "happiness", "wealth", "longevity".

The Bell of Mindfulness

2008-11-20T13:08:00.003Z

Photo by Cloudhands

With Body, Speech and Mind inperfect oneness.

I send my heart along with the sound of this bell.

May the hearers awaken from their forgetfulness

And trancend all anxiety and sorrow.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Walking In The Path of Buddha

2008-10-26T10:10:00.006Z

This Post is taken from the Plum Village website, (http://www.plumvillage.org/index.html) and is a letter written by Irpinder Bhatia, on October 15, 2008 and is entitled:

"Buddha Walks where Buddha was Born"

October 15, 2008. India.

Thay and the monastics spent five days in Nagpur, the nerve center of the Buddhist revival in India. Nagpur could one day be as important as Sarnath.On 14 October 1956, Baba Sahep Ambedkar, (see biography below), the visionary socio-Political Leader of the Dalits* took a historic step. He converted to Buddhism with 4,00,000 Dalits and rolled the waves of Buddhism’s return to India. This happened at Diksha Bhoomi at Nagpur.

The day of Shakyamuni Buddha’s first ever teaching at Sarnath, is known as the Dhammachakra Pravartan Din, the day of Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion. On arrival in Nagpur on 7th October, the Sangha found hundreds and hundreds of banners welcoming the Buddhists from all over India to celebrate Baba Saheb’s conversion day. The Dalit Buddhists celebrate it as the second Dhammachakra Pravartan Din, the day of Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion.The monastics and the lay Sangha from Plum Village and Ahimsa Trust walked through more than a Million Indian Buddhists visiting Diksha Bhoomi on this special occasion and shared with them Dhamma, Meditation Practices and chanted together with them.And, on the evening of 8th October, Thay gave a Dhamma talk to thousands of Indian Buddhists assembled at Diksha Bhoomi.

The first evening at Nagpur was spent with the Buddhists intellectuals and monks. In the words of one of the senior Bhikkus, the single most important gift of this Dhamma talks was that: both the lay people and the Indian Monastics were “startled” by the emphasis Thay placed on the building of Sangha. Thay’s teaching that “giving care to one self” and “building Sangha” are essential for those who want to work for social change was found striking and led to reflection.
The volunteer team when it first went to Nagpur made a surprise discovery. It found that the Indian Buddhists have formed a very special relationship with the Hindi version of Thay’s book “Old Path New Clouds.” The book is being read, not just the individuals, but by the entire families, and often more than once. “I have read it twice, and my father is now reading it”, is a typical expression. People who have learnt to read for the first time in centuries form the core of the revival of Buddhism in India. For these newly educated people hungry for Dhamma, the “Old path New Clouds” brings Buddha’s Essential Teachings in a simple language through an easy to understand story.A special low cost edition of the book was brought out for this occasion that sold out to the last copy available in Nagpur. It is felt that this book will be needed in several Indian languages over the years. And that it could play a vital role in quick dissemination of Dhamma to the masses.

The two days Retreat at Nagpur was special for the kind of people it attracted. Most of the retreants were men and women above forty, and quite a few young men. One of the most beautiful and striking visuals I carry from my first exploratory trip to Nagpur is of the wormen in the local Buddhist temples. More than once, late at night, I saw groups of 10-20 women reading Buddhist scriptures by the candle light. [Nagpur has long power cuts that could last as long as 4-6 hours at a time], It is these men and women who are the bedrock of Buddhist revival in India that came to the retreat. They gave the same quality of attention to the walking, sitting and eating meditation they gave to Thay’s Dhamma discourses. On the second day of the retreat, Thay led the walking meditation under a tree. In silence they sat together, Thay and more than 700 retreants, none questioning, none restless.

At the end of the retreat, a group of young men between 18 to 22 walked up to me to share what the retreat had meant to them. “Listening to each of Thay’s Dhamma Talks has been like sitting through a meditation session. So simple and so fulfilling.” One of the young man said thoughtfully, “Thay asked us to feel the presence of the body of the Lord Buddha and the body of Baba Sahib Ambedkar within our body.Thay asked us to feel their presence within us and draw strength from them. I could have never imagined that I can connect with Lord Buddha and Baba Saheb in this way. It is so simple and so easy to practice.”A young women said, “When I saw Thay walk I felt this is the way Lord Buddha must have walked. When Thay stopped and hundreds of people sat around him in silence, I felt that this is how Lord Buddha must have sat and meditated with his Sangha 2550 years ago. Little talking, and much practice”This is exactly how I felt too. When I saw Thay walk in Nagpur, on the Indian soil, I felt that I am seeing Buddha Walk Where Buddha Was Born.

• Victims of the prernicious caste system of India, Dalits, a dispensable lot lived a sub-human existence for centuries.

Irpinder Bhatia, India.
......................................................................

The following is an excerpt from a biography of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, (Baba Saheb), Please see his biography at (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar), with greatful Thanks.

"In the 1950s, Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism and travelled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to attend a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.[9] Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously.
Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him.[9] Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He completed his final manuscript, The Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956.
He was unaware of the fact that the Buddha had Brahmin heritage. Lord Buddha is said to be a descendant of Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts.[10]

There too were Kshatiryas of other clans to whom members descend from Angirasa, to fulfill a childless king's wish.[11]
Also, "One of Ambedkar's allies, Kisan Phagoji Bansod, who opposed his decision to convert in 1935, found him too obsessed with reclaiming culture and not sufficiently concerned with analyzing conditions of material oppression."

Autumn.........

2008-10-14T20:52:00.003+01:00

The dramatic colour of autumn trees, frosty mornings and the call of wild geese brings a certain sadness at the passing of fair summer days and the coming of cold winter. Autumn is a time when mountains turn to magnificent crimson tapestries and cities glow in wonderful autumnal tints as days grow cooler.

Autumn Haiku:

Sitting in meditation today,

After the Autumn rain;

The smell of wet leaves lingers.

..........................................................

Autumn night.......unable to sleep,

I leave my tiny cottage.

Fall insects cry under the rocks, and

The cold branches are sparsely covered.

Far away, from deep in the valley, the sound of water.

The moon rises slowly over the highest peak;

I stand there quietly for a long time and

My robe becomes moist with dew

............................................................

The autumn air is clear,

The autumn moon is bright.

Fallen leaves gather and scatter,

The jackdaw perches and starts anew.

We think of each other- when will we meet?

This hour, this night, my feelings are hard.

Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei

2008-10-08T20:14:00.007+01:00

The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, are known as Kaihigyo, or spiritual athletes from the Tendai Sect of Buddhism, based at Mount Hiei, which overlooks the ancient capital city of Kyoto.
Their ultimate achievement is the completion of an incredible 1,000-day challenge, one of the most demanding physical and mental challenges in the world. Only 46 men have completed the challenge since 1885 and it takes seven years to complete. The first 300 days are basic training, during which the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days.

In the fourth and fifth years they run 40km each day for 200 consecutive days. That’s more or less a full marathon every day for more than six months. The final two years of the challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days!

What makes all these distances even more amazing is the manner and the conditions in which the monks run. These runs usually begin at night and are over mountain paths that are uneven and poorly marked. During the winter months the low temperatures and snow are a great hindrance to the runners. These monks do not wear the latest in footwear and clothing, but run in straw sandals, an all-white outfit and a straw hat. They also run on a diet of vegetables, tofu and miso soup, which modern athletes and nutritionists would deem to be unsuitable for endurance events.

Not only do they wear clothes and shoes unsuited to running, but they have to carry books with directions and mantras to chant, food to offer along the way, candles for illumination, as well as a sheathed knife and a rope, known as the ‘cord of death’. These remind the monk of his duty to take his life if he fails, by hanging or self-disembowelment!! The course is littered with unmarked graves, marking the spot where monks have taken their own lives.

However, there have been no cases of monks’ suicides since the nineteenth century. During theses long runs the monks must make stops at temples of worship that can number up to 260. This means that the 86km run can take up to 20 hours to complete leaving the monk with very little time for recovery or rest.

They also learn to rest sections of their body while running, such as their arms or shoulders. And then there is the ‘doiri’, where the monk faces seven days without food, water or sleep or rest. During this time the monk will spend his entire day reciting Buddhist chants and mantras - perhaps up to 100,000 each day. The only time the monk will leave the temple is at 2am to walk the 200m to a well and return with water to make an offering. He is not allowed to drink any himself and the 200m walk can take up to two hours in the final days of the fast.
With greatful thanks to Matthew at http://www.frontrunnerpt.com/blog/?p=12

Read more about these amazing runners:
http://www.runpunxsyrun.org/tendaimonks.html http://www.trailrunnermag.com/features/feature%2019.html

To view a short video of the Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06oMxdt40A

Mid-Autumn Festival 2008

2008-09-15T17:04:00.001+01:00

Among the flowers from a pot of wine
I drink alone beneath the bright moonshine.
I raise my cup to invite the moon, who blends
Her light with my shadow and we're three friends.
The moon does not know how to drink her share;
In vain my shadow follows me here and there.
Together with them for the time I stay
And make merry before spring's spend away.
I sing the moon to linger with my song;
My shadow disperses as I dance along.
Sober, we three remain cheerful and gay;
Drunken, we part and each goes his way.
Our friendship will outshine all earthly love;
Next time we'll meet beyond the stars above.

— Li Bai

Controlling our Mind

2008-07-06T10:12:00.004+01:00

“A great Tibetan teacher of mind training once remarked that one of the mind’s most marvelous qualities is that it can be transformed.”

Mind is both our greatest asset and our worst and most dangerous enemy.

The mind can recognize, in the matter of an instant, its own nature,

or it can grasp and chase its own deluded perceptions of reality,

provoking negative thoughts and emotions,

which perpetuate and intensify our suffering.

The key to finishing with suffering, then,

is to understand and tame this mind of

ours, and this is the very essence

of the teachings of

the Buddha.

Sogyal Rinpoche

Compassion and the Individual

2008-06-03T12:25:00.003+01:00

Compassion and the Individual

by Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

The purpose of life.
One great question underlies our experience, whether we think about it consciously or not: What is the purpose of life? I have considered this question and would like to share my thoughts in the hope that they may be of direct, practical benefit to those who read them.

I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don�t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.
How to achieve happiness
For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life. If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace.

From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life.

As long as we live in this world we are bound to encounter problems. If, at such times, we lose hope and become discouraged, we diminish our ability to face difficulties. If, on the other hand, we remember that it is not just ourselves but every one who has to undergo suffering, this more realistic perspective will increase our determination and capacity to overcome troubles. Indeed, with this attitude, each new obstacle can be seen as yet another valuable opportunity to improve our mind!

Thus we can strive gradually to become more compassionate, that is we can develop both genuine sympathy for others� suffering and the will to help remove their pain. As a result, our own serenity and inner strength will increase.

Our need for love
Ultimately, the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else. The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another. However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone, he or she will not survive. However vigorous and independent one may feel during the most prosperous periods of life, when one is sick or very young or very old, one must depend on the support of others.

Inter-dependence, of course, is a fundamental law of nature. Not only higher forms of life but also many of the smallest insects are social beings who, without any religion, law or education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an innate recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All phenomena from the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds, forests and flowers that surround us, arise in dependence upon subtle patterns of energy. Without their proper interaction, they dissolve and decay.

It is because our own human existence is so dependent on the help of others that our need for love lies at the very foundation of our existence. Therefore we need a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.

We have to consider what we human beings really are. We are not like machine-made objects. If we are merely mechanical entities, then machines themselves could alleviate all of our sufferings and fulfill our needs.

However, since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. Instead, we should consider our origins and nature to discover what we require.

Leaving aside the complex question of the creation and evolution of our universe, we can at least agree that each of us is the product of our own parents. In general, our conception took place not just in the context of sexual desire but from our parents� decision to have a child. Such decisions are founded on responsibility and altruism � the parents� compassionate commitment to care of their child until it is able to take care of itself. Thus, from the very moment of our conception, our parents� love is directly in our creation.

Moreover, we are completely dependent upon our mothers� care from the earliest stages of our growth. According to some scientists, a pregnant woman�s mental state, be it calm or agitated, has a direct physical effect on her unborn child.

The expression of love is also very important at the time of birth. Since the very first thing we do is suck milk from our mothers� breast, we naturally feel close to her, and she must feel love for us in order to feed us properly; if she feels anger or resentment her milk may not flow freely.

Then there is the critical period of brain development from the time of birth up to at least the age of three or four, during which time loving physical contact is the single most important factor for the normal growth of the child. If the child is not held, hugged, cuddled, or loved, its development will be impaired and its brain will not mature properly.

Since a child cannot survive without the care of others, love is its most important nourishment. The happiness of childhood, the allaying of the child�s many fears and the healthy development of its self-confidence all depend directly upon love.

Nowadays, many children grow up in unhappy homes. If they do not receive proper affection, in later life they will rarely love their parents and, not infrequently, will find it hard to love others. This is very sad.

As children grow older and enter school, their need for support must be met by their teachers. If a teacher not only imparts academic education but also assumes responsibility for preparing students for life, his or her pupils will feel trust and respect and what has been taught will leave an indelible impression on their minds. On the other hand, subjects taught by a teacher who does not show true concern for his or her students� overall well-being will be regarded as temporary and not retained for long.

Similarly, if one is sick and being treated in hospital by a doctor who evinces a warm human feeling, one feels at ease and the doctors� desire to give the best possible care is itself curative, irrespective of the degree of his or her technical skill. On the other hand, if one�s doctor lacks human feeling and displays an unfriendly expression, impatience or casual disregard, one will feel anxious, even if he or she is the most highly qualified doctor and the disease has been correctly diagnosed and the right medication prescribed. Inevitably, patients� feelings make a difference to the quality and completeness of their recovery.

Even when we engage in ordinary conversation in everyday life, if someone speaks with human feeling we enjoy listening, and respond accordingly; the whole conversation becomes interesting, however unimportant the topic may be. On the other hand, if a person speaks coldly or harshly, we feel uneasy and wish for a quick end to the interaction. From the least to the most important event, the affection and respect of others are vital for our happiness.

Recently I met a group of scientists in America who said that the rate of mental illness in their country was quite high-around twelve percent of the population. It became clear during our discussion that the main cause of depression was not a lack of material necessities but a deprivation of the affection of the others.

So, as you can see from everything I have written so far, one thing seems clear to me: whether or not we are consciously aware of it, from the day we are born, the need for human affection is in our very blood. Even if the affection comes from an animal or someone we would normally consider an enemy, both children and adults will naturally gravitate towards it.

I believe that no one is born free from the need for love. And this demonstrates that, although some modern schools of thought seek to do so, human beings cannot be defined as solely physical. No material object, however beautiful or valuable, can make us feel loved, because our deeper identity and true character lie in the subjective nature of the mind.

Developing compassion.
Some of my friends have told me that, while love and compassion are marvelous and good, they are not really very relevant. Our world, they say, is not a place where such beliefs have much influence or power. They claim that anger and hatred are so much a part of human nature that humanity will always be dominated by them. I do not agree.

We humans have existed in our present form for about a hundred-thousand years. I believe that if during this time the human mind had been primarily controlled by anger and hatred, our overall population would have decreased. But today, despite all our wars, we find that the human population is greater than ever. This clearly indicates to me that love and compassion predominate in the world. And this is why unpleasant events are �news�; compassionate activities are so much part of daily life that they are taken for granted and, therefore, largely ignored.

So far I have been discussing mainly the mental benefits of compassion, but it contributes to good physical health as well, According to my personal experience, mental stability and physical well-being are directly related. Without question, anger and agitation make us more susceptible to illness. On the other hand, if the mind is tranquil and occupied with positive thoughts, the body will not easily fall prey to disease.

But of course it is also true that we all have an innate self-centeredness that inhibits our love for others. So, since we desire the true happiness that is brought about by only a calm mind, and since such peace of mind is brought about by only a compassionate attitude, how can we develop this? Obviously, it is not enough for us simply to think about how nice compassion is! We need to make a concerted effort to develop it; we must use all the events of our daily life to transform our thoughts and behavior.

First of all, we must be clear about what we mean by compassion. Many forms of compassionate feeling are mixed with desire and attachment. For instance, the love parents feel of their child is often strongly associated with their own emotional needs, so it is not fully compassionate. Again, in marriage, the love between husband and wife - particularly at the beginning, when each partner still may not know the other�s deeper character very well - depends more on attachment than genuine love. Our desire can be so strong that the person to whom we are attached appears to be good, when in fact he or she is very negative. In addition, we have a tendency to exaggerate small positive qualities. Thus when one partner�s attitude changes, the other partner is often disappointed and his or her attitude changes too. This is an indication that love has been motivated more by personal need than by genuine care for the other individual.

True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude towards others does not change even if they behave negatively.

Of course, developing this kind of compassion is not at all easy! As a start, let us consider the following facts:
Whether people are beautiful and friendly or unattractive and disruptive, ultimately they are human beings, just like oneself. Like oneself, they want happiness and do not want suffering. Furthermore, their right to overcome suffering and be happy is equal to one�s own. Now, when you recognize that all beings are equal in both their desire for happiness and their right to obtain it, you automatically feel empathy and closeness for them. Through accustoming your mind to this sense of universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems. Nor is this wish selective; it applies equally to all. As long as they are human beings experiencing pleasure and pain just as you do, there is no logical basis to discriminate between them or to alter your concern for them if they behave negatively.

Let me emphasize that it is within your power, given patience and time, to develop this kind of compassion. Of course, our self-centeredness, our distinctive attachment to the feeling of an independent, self-existent �I�, works fundamentally to inhibit our compassion. Indeed, true compassion can be experienced only when this type of self- grasping is eliminated. But this does not mean that we cannot start and make progress now.

How can we start.
We should begin by removing the greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred. As we all know, these are extremely powerful emotions and they can overwhelm our entire mind. Nevertheless, they can be controlled. If, however, they are not, these negative emotions will plague us - with no extra effort on their part! - and impede our quest for the happiness of a loving mind.

So as a start, it is useful to investigate whether or not anger is of value. Sometimes, when we are discouraged by a difficult situation, anger does seem helpful, appearing to bring with it more energy, confidence and determination.

Here, though, we must examine our mental state carefully. While itis true that anger brings extra energy, if we explore the nature of this energy, we discover that it is blind: we cannot be sure whether its result will be positive or negative. This is because anger eclipses the best part of our brain: its rationality. So the energy of anger is almost always unreliable. It can cause an immense amount of destructive, unfortunate behavior. Moreover, if anger increases to the extreme, one becomes like a mad person, acting in ways that are as damaging to oneself as they are to others.

It is possible, however, to develop an equally forceful but far more controlled energy with which to handle difficult situations.

This controlled energy comes not only from a compassionate attitude, but also from reason and patience. These are the most powerful antidotes to anger. Unfortunately, many people misjudge these qualities as signs of weakness. I believe the opposite to be true: that they are the true signs of inner strength. Compassion is by nature gentle, peaceful and soft, but it is very powerful. It is those who easily lose their patience who are insecure and unstable. Thus, to me, the arousal of anger is a direct sign of weakness.

So, when a problem first arises, try to remain humble and maintain a sincere attitude and be concerned that the outcome is fair. Of course, others may try to take advantage of you, and if your remaining detached only encourages unjust aggression, adopt a strong stand, This, however, should be done with compassion, and if it is necessary to express your views and take strong countermeasures, do so without anger or ill-intent.

You should realize that even though your opponents appear to be harming you, in the end, their destructive activity will damage only themselves. In order to check your own selfish impulse to retaliate, you should recall your desire to practice compassion and assume responsibility for helping prevent the other person from suffering the consequences of his or her acts.

Thus, because the measures you employ have been calmly chosen, they will be more effective, more accurate and more forceful. Retaliation based on the blind energy of anger seldom hits the target.

Friends and enemies
I must emphasize again that merely thinking that compassion and reason and patience are good will not be enough to develop them. We must wait for difficulties to arise and then attempt to practice them.

And who creates such opportunities? Not our friends, of course, but our enemies. They are the ones who give us the most trouble, So if we truly wish to learn, we should consider enemies to be our best teacher!

For a person who cherishes compassion and love, the practice of tolerance is essential, and for that, an enemy is indispensable. So we should feel grateful to our enemies, for it is they who can best help us develop a tranquil mind! Also, itis often the case in both personal and public life, that with a change in circumstances, enemies become friends.

So anger and hatred are always harmful, and unless we train our minds and work to reduce their negative force, they will continue to disturb us and disrupt our attempts to develop a calm mind. Anger and hatred are our real enemies. These are the forces we most need to confront and defeat, not the temporary �enemies� who appear intermittently throughout life.

Of course, it is natural and right that we all want friends. I often joke that if you really want to be selfish, you should be very altruistic! You should take good care of others, be concerned for their welfare, help them, serve them, make more friends, make more smiles, The result? When you yourself need help, you find plenty of helpers! If, on the other hand, you neglect the happiness of others, in the long term you will be the loser. And is friendship produced through quarrels and anger, jealousy and intense competitiveness? I do not think so. Only affection brings us genuine close friends.

In today�s materialistic society, if you have money and power, you seem to have many friends. But they are not friends of yours; they are the friends of your money and power. When you lose your wealth and influence, you will find it very difficult to track these people down.

The trouble is that when things in the world go well for us, we become confident that we can manage by ourselves and feel we do not need friends, but as our status and health decline, we quickly realize how wrong we were. That is the moment when we learn who is really helpful and who is completely useless. So to prepare for that moment, to make genuine friends who will help us when the need arises, we ourselves must cultivate altruism!

Though sometimes people laugh when I say it, I myself always want more friends. I love smiles. Because of this I have the problem of knowing how to make more friends and how to get more smiles, in particular, genuine smiles. For there are many kinds of smile, such as sarcastic, artificial or diplomatic smiles. Many smiles produce no feeling of satisfaction, and sometimes they can even create suspicion or fear, can�t they? But a genuine smile really gives us a feeling of freshness and is, I believe, unique to human beings. If these are the smiles we want, then we ourselves must create the reasons for them to appear.

Compassion and the world
In conclusion, I would like briefly to expand my thoughts beyond the topic of this short piece and make a wider point: individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of our entire human community.

Because we all share an identical need for love, it is possible to feel that anybody we meet, in whatever circumstances, is a brother or sister. No matter how new the face or how different the dress and behavior, there is no significant division between us and other people. It is foolish to dwell on external differences, because our basic natures are the same.

Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home, If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism. It is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another.

If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self- worth and confidence, and there is no need to be fearful of others.

I believe that at every level of society - familial, tribal, national and international - the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.

I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness. It is the practice of compassion.

http://dalailama.com/ (http://dalailama.com/page.166.htm)

The Moment is Perfect

2008-04-03T11:58:00.001+01:00

"Spiritual practice is not just sitting and meditating. Practice is looking, thinking, touching, drinking, eating, and talking. Every act, every breath, and every step can be practice and can help us to become more ourselves."

From: “The Moment is Perfect”, Thich Nhat Hanh, Shambhala Sun, 2008.

Slow Down! Live Like a Zen Monk

2008-03-31T13:57:00.010+01:00

Today our lives are so full with pressure from work, families, money problems and having to be in two places at the same time, that we give our selves little time to relax and listen to our inner being. We may not even feel part of the planet we live on, traveling through space in our own stress filled bubble, yearning for a different way of life. How can we take control our lives and cope with the stress we suffer in our modern western world with all the complexity of 24/7 lifestyles? Taking inspiration in the way Zen monks live and finding calm, simplicity, concentration and mindfulness in every activity helps. Zen monks devote their lives to being ‘present’ in everything they do, being dedicated to the philosophy of Buddhism and to serving others. (I have taken the following the pages of Leo Babauta's excellent blog "Zenhabits.net" see below).

1. Do one thing at a time.
Zen monks don’t multi-task. Being present in the moment means when you’re pouring water, just pour water. When you’re eating, just eat. When you’re bathing, just bathe. Don’t try to knock off a few tasks while eating or bathing. Zen proverb: “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”

2. Do it slowly and deliberately.
Take your time, focus on what you are doing and move slowly. Make your actions deliberate, not rushed and random. Enjoy what you are doing. It takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task.

3. Finish what you are doing.
Concentrate your mind completely on the task in hand. Don’t move on to the next task until you’re finished the first task. If, for some reason, you have no choice but to move on to something else, try to at least put away the unfinished task and clean up after yourself. If you prepare a sandwich, don’t start eating it until you’ve cleaned the work top, and washed the utensils used for preparation. Then you can focus completely on eating the sandwich.

4. Try to do less.
A Zen monk doesn’t lead a lazy life: he wakes early and has a day filled with work. However, he doesn’t have an unending task list either — there are certain things he’s going to do today, and no more. If you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more concentration. If you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do.

5. Put space between things.
Related to the “Do less” rule, but it’s a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. Don’t schedule things close together; leave room between the things on your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned.

6. Develop rituals.
Zen monks have rituals for many things they do, from eating and cleaning to making tea and meditation. A ‘ritual’ gives something a sense of importance and if it’s important enough to have a ritual, it’s important enough to be given your entire attention, and to be done slowly and correctly, (see the post

Drink Your Tea

You can create your own rituals, for the preparation of food, for eating, for cleaning, for what you do before you start your work, for what you do when you wake up and before you go to bed, for what you do just before exercise.

7. Designate time for certain things.
There are times in the day of a Zen monk designated for certain activities. A time for getting up, a time for meditation, a time for work, a time for cleaning, a time for eating. This ensures that those things get done regularly. You can designate time for your own activities, whether for work or cleaning or exercise or quiet contemplation. If it’s important enough to do regularly, consider designating a time for it.

8. Devote time to sitting.
Sitting meditation (zazen) is one of the most important parts of a Zen monk’s day. Meditation is really practice for learning to be present in the present. You can devote time for sitting meditation. You can use any activity in the same way, as long as you do it regularly and practice being present.

9. Smile and serve others.
Zen monks spend part of their day in service to others, whether that is for other monks in the monastery or people on the outside world. It teaches them humility, and ensures that their lives are not just selfish, but devoted to others. As a parent, you already spend some time in service to others in your household, and non-parents may already do this too. Smiling (from the heart), and being kind to others can be a great way to improve the lives of those around you. Also consider volunteering for charity work.

10. Make the everyday things you do become meditation.
Aside from sitting meditation (zazen), cooking and cleaning are two of the most exalted parts of a Zen monk’s day. They are both good ways to practice mindfulness, and can be great rituals performed each day. If cooking and cleaning seem like boring chores to you, try doing them as a form of meditation. Put your entire mind into those tasks, concentrate, and do them slowly and completely. It could change your entire day (as well as leave you with a cleaner house).

11. Think about what is necessary.
There is little in a Zen monk’s life that isn’t necessary. He doesn’t have a closet full of shoes, or the latest in trendy clothes. He doesn’t have a refrigerator and cabinets full of junk food. He doesn’t have the latest gadgets, cars, televisions, or iPod. He has basic clothing, basic shelter, basic utensils, basic tools, and the most basic food (they eat simple, vegetarian meals consisting usually of rice, miso soup, vegetables, and pickled vegetables).

12. Live simply.
The corollary of Rule 11 is that if something isn’t necessary, you can probably live without it. And so to live simply is to rid your life of as many of the unnecessary and unessential things as you can, to make room for the essential. Now, what is essential will be different to each person. For me, my family, my writing, my running and my reading are essential. To others, yoga and spending time with close friends might be essential. For others it will be nursing and volunteering and going to church and collecting comic books. There is no law saying what should be essential for you — but you should consider what is most important to your life, and make room for that by eliminating the other less essential things in your life.

(For more of Leo Babauta writing please visit http://zenhabits.net/).

Drink Your Tea Slowly

2008-02-14T13:20:00.020Z

Drink your tea slowly and reverently,
as if it is the axis
on which the world earth revolves
– slowly, evenly, without
rushing toward the future;
Live the actual moment.
Only this moment is life.
~Thich Nhat Hanh

The following is taken from the Community of Interbeing Manual of Practice

1.9 The Tea Ceremony (please visit http://www.interbeing.org.uk/ and follow the links to manual of practice and "Tea Ceremony). The tea ceremony is not only a meditive practive for invited guests, I practice a stripped down version on my own as part of my meditation practice.

The tradition of tasting tea originated in China in about the 8th century and was brought to Japan by Zen Buddhists priests at the end of the Heian Period (12th century), who used it to prevent drowsiness during their long hours of meditation. The popularity of tea-drinking among the people began in the early 14th century.

A Zen priest named Sen Rikyu (1521-1591) established the tea ceremony in present form under the protection of a powerful lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Sen Rikyu had the idea of "Wa Kei Sei Jaku" as the essential ideals of the tea ceremony. This is the embodiment of the Japanese people's intuitive striving for the recognition of true beauty in plainness and simplicity. Such terms as calmness, rusticity, gracefulness, or the phrase "aestheticism of austere simplicity" may help to define the true spirit of the tea ceremony.

The Tea Meditation or Ceremony offers a wonderful chance for the community to come together in a spirit of joy and mindfulness. Several variants of this ceremony have been developed over time including ‘lemonade meditation’ for children and informal tea meditation where many of the formalities listed here are left out. It is a good idea to give advanced notice of a tea meditation so that participants can come prepared with contributions, bring musical instruments etc. Also, contributions from groups of people may need to be practised in advance.

The form of the tea meditation as described here is a very beautiful ceremony which has proved the highlight of many a retreat or Day of Mindfulness. The essential ingredients are joy, mindfulness and the deep reverence of each other’s company. Conforming to the detail of the ceremony helps support this practice. All parts of the ceremony are conducted slowly and with deep awareness of everyone in attendance. We are encouraged to breathe and dwell in the present moment, not worrying about ‘the next stage’ of proceedings. This in itself is a very deep practice.

The Tea Ceremony
The hosts for the Tea Ceremony will need to come together as a team well in advance. They will need to prepare the tea and biscuits, the meditation room and themselves in mindfulness in order to welcome their honoured guests.

Hosts:
Tea Master, Bell Master, Incense Offerer, Tea Offerer (who offers tea to the Buddha), Tea Servers (depending on numbers, usually two are needed), Assistant Tea Servers (one for each Tea Server)

Items needed: Incense, candles, matches, small bell, large bell, napkins (leaves can be used), biscuits, tea and teapots, milk/sugar/spoon, trays, plate with flower, tea and biscuit for offering to the Buddha

Welcoming the Guests
The hosts for the tea meditation stand in two rows each side of the entry door and bow individually to each guest as they enter the meditation room. The guests pass between the hosts and sit in sequence round the room facing inward, ushered to their cushions by the tea assistants. Whilst seated everyone enjoys sitting meditation, following their breath in silence.

Once everyone has been welcomed into the room the hosts take their seats. The bell master wakes-up and invites the small bell to signal to people to stand up, everyone facing the altar.
Incense Offering

The Tea Master goes to the altar, and the Incense Offerer walks mindfully to the altar and lights incense. After bowing to each other the Incense Offerer passes the incense to the Tea Master and stands to his/her side.

The Bell Master invites the large bell three times. The Tea Master chants the incense offering before passing incense to the Incense Offerer who places it at the altar. Bowing to the Buddha (or a shorter form of prostration) is now conducted. The Tea Master now turns to face the community and welcomes everyone to the Tea Ceremony. “A lotus to you, all Buddhas to be !”.The small bell is invited and everyone sits down.

Offering for the Buddha
A Tea Server mindfully pours tea into a cup to offer to the Buddha and holds the decorated plate/tray with tea and biscuit for offering at head level. The Tea Offerer walks mindfully to the Tea Server bows, takes the plate and walks mindfully to the Tea Master.

The Tea Master stands up, bows, takes the Buddha’s plate. Then he/she mindfully walks to the altar, bows, kneels and places the plate on the altar. The Bell Master invites the bell as the plate is placed on the altar. The Tea Offerer and Tea Master return to their cushions and bow to each other before sitting down.

Serving the Guests
The Tea Servers now pass the tray of biscuits. The Tea Servers first offer the biscuit tray to their assistants. Smiling and offering a lotus in gratitude, the assistant mindfully takes a biscuit and napkin, places them on the floor, then takes the tray. The assistant now offers a biscuit back to the Tea Server. The tray is then offered to the next person sitting to the side of the assistant. Each person takes a biscuit as described above before taking the tray and offering to the next person in the circle.

While the biscuits are passed, the Tea Servers pour the tea (filling as many cups as there are people present). When the trays for biscuits are returned the trays with tea cups are passed around the circle and received just like the biscuits. A small jug of milk and sugar bowl can be present for people who like milk and/or sugar in their tea.
Invitation to share

Once the empty trays are returned the Tea Master offers a gatha on enjoying tea and biscuits and invites everyone to enjoy their tea and biscuit. After a short while to enjoy tea in silence (eg 5 minutes) the Tea Master invites people to share songs, poems, experiences etc.

Ending the ceremony
The Bell Master should announce when there are five minutes left before the end of the ceremony. The Tea Ceremony ends with three small bells (i) to all stand up, (ii) to bow to each other, (iii) to bow to the altar. The hosts then go to the door first and bow to guests as they leave slowly and mindfully.

Year of the Rat

2008-02-07T10:49:00.000Z

The Rat (Chinese:鼠), is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is regarded as the protector and bringer of material prosperity. Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are considered leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Rats are intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

Overlaid on the Chinese zodiac are the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water), the 2008 rat is an earth rat and people born in an Earth Rat year are said to be logical realists, shrewd, charming, ambitious, and inventive.

Polishing the Mirror.

2008-01-28T14:49:00.000Z

There are times in our life when we are reluctant to face new challenges because our mind has become so full of doubt, finding our inner potential becomes difficult. Nichiren Dishonin used the analogy of a mirror to explain how we can dispel our illusion and replace it with new awareness.

"When deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha. This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a jewel when polished. A mind clouded by the illusions of innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but when polished, it is sure to become like a clear mirror, reflecting the essential nature of all phenomena and the true aspect of reality. Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night"

There is no difference between a Buddha and an ordinary being because of our inate Buddha nature, therefore we all have the ability to change our lives and some times it only needs small changes to change the negative into the positive.

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter

2008-01-22T17:56:00.000Z

I am not sure how many I have seen this film but every time I see it, it is like seeing the film for the first time. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter follows the story of two Buddhist monks, a Master and his young student who live in a small temple that floats on a lake in the mountains some where in Korea surrounded by a forest. The monks have to row ashore in a boat and seem to spend most of their time roaming through the forest collecting herbs for medicine, observing nature and learning deep and meaningful lessons about life.

The seasons are analogous to the different stages we pass through as we grow. In springtime the young monk is a 5-year-old boy growing up and discovering the world. The summer represents the teenager discovering latent sexual urges. Autumn represents the 30 year old man having committed murder and in trouble with the law. Winter our man is in his mid-life whose innocence has been corrupted. After paying for his sins over the course of many years, the monk finds inner peace and is reborn.

The film is superbly shot and the scenery stunning complemented by a very moving soundtrack the combination make this film a joy to watch, and its story is rich with messages about forgiveness and inner peace.

The Film Stars:
Oh Young-Su,
Lom Ki-Duk,
Kim Young-Min,
Seo Jae-Kyunc,
Ha Yeo-Jin

And is directed by:
Kim Ki-Duk

Sony distributed the film and there is an exclent website at:

http://www.sonyclassics.com/spring/

The Tiger Monks of Wat Pa Luangta Bua

2007-12-28T13:17:00.000Z

The Story of Phra Acharn Chan is the abbot of the “Tiger Temple” began 27 years ago when a doctor diagnosed him with leukemia and told him he had a very short time to live. Phra Acharn Chan’s response then was "Okay, I'm good luck because you and everybody in the world doesn't know when you are going to die but I know by myself I am going to die soon, so I have to do the good thing very quickly,"and become a monk. Later, Phra Acharn Chan became abbot at the monastery.

As civilization invaded rural Thailand, the wildlife drifted into this sanctuary. First there were birds, then wild boars wounded by local hunters. Eventually, the abbot says, the boars trusted him to care for them. Then they wandered off, only to return months later in even greater numbers. After the boar, it was a wounded tiger, and then villagers brought him another. There are now more than 15 tigers. These five-month-old cubs were born at the monastery. Dr. Somchai Visamong-Kolchai, the monastery, says the abbot cares for the animals as he would for humans because of a basic principle of Buddhism reincarnation.

“We believe that the tiger here used to be the monk, used to be our friend, our family, brother, sister.. And we or the abbot or the monks inside the tiger temple used to be the tigers. So, we are the same mind and spirit even if different in body, in shape, in form. In other words, whether animal or human, is not important. It is the spirit within the body that counts. If you have a power of love, a power of happiness in your mind, you can do everything. If the monks at the monastery do not take care of the tigers that may have been humans in their previous lives, the monks could be reincarnated themselves as an animal.

http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/index.php

There is also a good website with a short film at:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week833/feature.html#

Thousand-Hand Guan Yin

2007-12-20T21:50:00.001Z

I first saw the dance “Thousand hands of Guan Yin”, (Kwan Yin) during the Chinese spring festival 2005. The dance took me completely by surprise and I was so impressed by the grace and beauty of the dance I cried. I did not know then that all the dancers where deaf and dumb and from the China's Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe who have a website at:

http://www.mydream.org.cn/

CCTV Internationl (Chinese television in English), has an interesting profile on the Disabled People's Performing Art troupe:

http://www.cctv.com/program/rediscoveringchina/20060427/103626.shtml/

The lead dancer is Tai Lihua, Tai only became aware that she was deaf at the age of 5. She had been playing a game of tag with her friends. But when it came her turn to be blindfolded and chase the other children, Tai suddenly realized she was unable to do so. She got scared and couldn't stop crying.

The little girl had actually lost her hearing at age 2, when she had a high fever.

How she became a dancer was a direct result of her enrollment at age 7 in a school for children with disabilities. There she met a teacher who would tap her heels rhythmically on the floor to communicate with the children, since they could feel the vibrations.

Tai's father, seeing how inapt his daughter was at the "tapping" form of communication, bought the child some dancing shoes. Tai says "The shoes gave me an ability to express myself without words".

Please Visit:

http://china.org.cn/english/NM-e/156143.htm/

Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva of compassion for further information please forfurther information visit:

http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yin

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf

2007-11-24T15:25:00.001Z

This excerpt from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf is largely taken from the translator's introduction:

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf, (Hachisu no Tsuyu) was the first edition of Japan's most popular and beloved Zen poet Ryokan, compiled by the nun Teishin. Ryokan was born in 1758 in the remote and snowy province of Echigo, located in northern Honshu, bordering the Sea of Japan. His father was the village headman and a haiku poet of some note, and Ryokan received a thorough education in the classics of China and Japan. Shy and studious as a boy, Ryokan was the local Don Juan for a brief period in his youth. Following a spiritual crisis around the age of twenty, however, he renounced his patrimony and entered a Zen monastery.

In 1780 Ryokan became the disciple of Kokusen, the top Soto Zen roshi of the period, and accompanied that master to Entsu-ji in Tamashima. Ryokan trained diligently at that lovely little monastery until Kokusen's death in 1791. Even though he had received formal sanction as Kokusen's Dharma heir, Ryokan spurned all invitations to head up his own temple and embarked instead on a long pilgrimage, wandering all over Japan during the next decade.

In his early forties, Ryokan drifted back to his native place, and he remained there the rest of his days, living quietly in mountain hermitages. He supported himself by begging, sharing his food with birds and beasts, and spent his time doing Zen meditation, gazing at the moon, playing games with the local children and geisha, visiting friends, drinking rice wine with farmers, dancing at festivals, and composing poems brushed in exquisite calligraphy.

A close friend of Ryokan wrote:
When Ryokan visits it is as if spring had come on a dark winter's day. His character is pure and he is free of duplicity and guile. Ryokan resembles one of the immortals of ancient literature and religion. He radiates warmth and compassion. He never gets angry, and will not listen to criticism of others. Mere contact with him brings out the best in people.

Once a relative of Ryokan's asked him to speak to his delinquent son. Ryokan came to visit the family home but did not say a word of admonition to the boy. He stayed the night and prepared to leave the following morning. As the wayward boy was helping tie Ryokan's straw sandals, he felt a warm drop of water on his shoulder. Glancing up, the boy saw Ryokan, with eyes full of tears, looking down at him. Ryokan departed silently, but the boy soon mended his ways.

The samurai lord of the local domain heard of Ryokan's reputation as a worthy Zen monk and wanted to construct a temple and install Ryokan as abbot. The lord went to visit the monk at Gogo-an, Ryokan's hermitage on Mount Kugami, but he was out gathering flowers, and the party waited patiently until Ryôkan returned with a bowl full of fragrant blossoms. The lord made his request, but Ryokan remained silent, Then he brushed a haiku on a piece of paper and handed it to the lord:

The wind gives me
Enough fallen leaves
To make a fire

The lord nodded in acknowledgment and returned to his castle.

Once, after the long winter confinement, Ryokan visited the village barber to have his shaggy head of hair shaved off. The barber cut one side but then demanded a ransom to finish the job: a sample of Ryokan's calligraphy. Ryokan brushed the name of a Shinto god, a kind of calligraphy that served as a good-luck charm. Pleased that he had outwitted the monk, the barber had the calligraphy mounted and displayed it in his alcove. A visitor remarked to the barber one day, "You know, there is a character missing from the god's name."

Such an omission negates the calligraphy's effect as a talisman, and the barber confronted Ryokan. Ryokan scolded him good-naturedly for his greed: "You short-changed me, so I short-changed you. That kind old lady down the road always gives me extra bean cake, so the calligraphy I gave her has an extra character in it!"

Old and infirm, Ryokan was finally obliged to leave his mountain hut and spent his final days at the home of one of his patrons in the village. Near the end of his life, he fell in love with the beautiful young nun Teishin. She was at Ryokan's side when he passed away on January 6, 1831, at age seventy-three.

Ryokan wrote thousands of poems and poem-letters, both Chinese and Japanese style, and scattered them about. These were treasured by the local folk and later lovingly studied and collected by scholars. The first edition of Ryokan's poems, titled Hachisu no Tsuyu ("Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf") and compiled by Teishin, appeared in 1835. Expanded collections of Ryokan's work have continued to be published over the years, and he is likely Japan's most popular and beloved Zen poet. As mentioned in the tale above, Ryokan's delightful brushwork, totally unaffected and free-flowing, is also highly esteemed, and Ryokan is venerated as one of the greatest calligraphers of all time in East Asia.

The practice of Zen and the appreciation of Zen art is now universal, and Ryokan's life and spirit speak to lovers of poetry, religion, and beauty everywhere. The selection of poems presented here reflects the range and depth of Ryokan's Zen vision. He focused on "things deep inside the heart," and his poems cover the spectrum of human experience: joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, enlightenment and illusion, love and loneliness, man and nature. Like those of his counterpart Cold Mountain (Han-shan), the legendary Zen poet of T'ang China, Ryokan's poems reveal the full, rich texture of Zen.

Good friends and excellent teachers—Stick close to them!
Wealth and power are fleeting dreams
But wise words perfume the world for ages.

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf is published by Shambhala Publications, for further information please visit:

http://www.shambhala.com/index.cfm

The Health Benifits of Tai Chi 1. Asthma

2007-11-13T08:27:00.000Z

Question from Jill:
Hi Cloud, Can Taichi help asthmatics, which I am, and panics, When I used to go to a church that did healing all the healers would be in a room doing tai chi, before doing healing.

Answer:
Thank you for your message. Yes, Tai Chi can help asthma sufferers and help with panic attacks. Qigong and its sister Tai Chi has been a cornerstone for traditional Chinese medicine for over 2000 years. It is possible that your healers use the same principles as does practitioners of Qigong and of Ayurvedic medicine from India. Tai Chi, (and Yoga), combines three major components, movement, meditation, and deep breathing; each is beneficial to the individual in a number of ways.

Movement - In Tai Chi all the major muscle groups and joints are exercised with the slow, gentle movements in tai chi improving balance, agility, strength, flexibility, stamina, muscle tone, and coordination. It is a low-impact, weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and can slow bone loss, thus preventing the development of osteoporosis.

Meditation - Research shows that meditation soothes the mind, enhances concentration, reduces anxiety, and lowers blood pressure and heart rate.

Deep breathing - The combination of deep breathing and movement increases chest expansion and encourages greater air flow, an increased amount stale air and toxins is exhaled from the lungs allowing an increased inhalation of fresh air. The lung capacity is increased by stretching the intercostal muscles involved in breathing and releasing tension. It also enhances blood circulation to the brain, which boosts mental alertness. At the same time, the entire body is supplied with fresh oxygen and nutrients. The deep breathing of tai chi regulates the respiratory system, helping to treat respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.

Healing the Wounds

2007-11-08T19:51:00.001Z

Thich Nhat Hanh in Ho Chi Minh city, leading Vietnamese monks in a Buddhist ceremony to heal the wounds of the Vietnam war 40 years ago.It has been estimated that over 1.4 million military personnel were killed in the Vietnam war, of which 6% were members of the United States armed forces. The estimates of civilian fatalities range from 2 to 5.1 million. Many of Thich Nhat Hanh's friends, family and disciples where killed during the war in Vietnam by both the guerillas and the Americans. Ben Tre, a city of three hundred thousand people, was bombed to destruction by the Americans after a number of guerillas entered the city and tried to shoot down American aircraft.

It was not only the people of Vietnam who suffered during the war. The young American soldier who was sent to Vietnam in order to kill and be killed also suffered, and that suffering continues today. It is not just the family but the nation that suffers in the end. War is War. It is misunderstanding and fear that lies at the foundation of the suffering and it is only by overcoming that fear and misunderstanding that one is able to heal the wounds and forgive.

Thich Nhat Hanh was abel to understand the nature of the suffering. Born central Vietnam in 1926 he became a monk at the age of 16. In the early 60’s he founded the School of Youth Social Service, (SYSS). The SYSS based its work on the Buddhist principles of non-violence and compassionate action. The organization rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, resettled homeless families, and organized agricultural cooperatives. He was banned from returning to Vietnam in 1966 after visiting the USA and Europe. He persuaded Martin Luther King, Jr. to oppose the Vietnam War publicly in America, and so helped to galvanize the peace movement. The following year, Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Today Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today, a poet, and peace and human rights activist.

"True peace is always possible, yet it requires strength and practice, particularly in times of great difficulty. To some, peace and nonviolence are synonymous with passivity and weakness. In truth, practicing peace and nonviolence is far from passive. To practice peace, to make peace alive in us, is to actively cultivate understanding, love, and compassion, even in the face of misperception and conflict. Practicing peace, especially in times of war, requires courage."

This weekend, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month we in the UK remember the soldiers that fell in two world wars and all the other conflicts that have claimed countless sons’s, fathers, brothers, husbands and lovers. All good men who fought for “King and country”, but also, lets not forget the countless numbers of civilians on all sides who where killed in the “Name of Freedom”, the innocent ones caught up in the conflict over which they had no control. Let us learn from Thich Nhat Hanh and remember that and it is only by overcoming our fear and misunderstanding that will help us to heal our wounds and forgive.

Quotes from Daisaku Ikeda

2007-10-25T12:44:00.000+01:00

Life is the blossoming of flowers in the spring,
the ripening of fruit in the fall,
the rhythm of the earth and of nature.
Life is the cry of cicadas signaling the end of summer,
migratory birds winging south in a transparent autumn sky,
fish frolicking in a stream.
Life is the joy beautiful music instills in us,
the thrilling sight of a mountain peak reddened by the rising sun,
the myriad combinations and permutations of visible and invisible phenomena.
Life is all things.

________________________

As long as we are human, we are destined to make mistakes.

We all fall prey to flawed beliefs and views.

What separates a forward-looking person from an intransigent one,

a virtuous person from a malevolent one, however,

is whether one can candidly admit to ones mistakes

and take bold steps to redress them.

Daisaku Ikeda

http://www.ikedaquotes.org/

In a Burmese Garden

2007-10-08T13:35:00.000+01:00

Photograph by Alfred Molon (www.molol.de)

In a Burmese Garden

Under an ancient Buddha's Gaze-
white hibiscus
a blaze of bougainvillea
and majestic moths play.

The geckos are calling
above teak slats of the
monastery
and banana trees wave
their giant sleeves
in the hot wind

I have my fill
to stand with them-
my tall friends in the garden,
to praise the last ember of sunset
while the rats run free
and the stars cavort
in the skies
beyond Your laughing eyes.

Ayya Medhanandi (From "Tomorrow's Moon," 2005 Aruna publications)

Like Thailand and Sri Lanka, Burma, (Myanmar), is a country that has a long and rich Buddhist tradition. Although Buddhism had become firmly established in Burma by the fifth and sixth centuries CE, a significant development was the conversion of King Anawrahta to Theravada Buddhism in the eleventh century. Today, about 89% of Burmese people practice Buddhism and every town and village in Burma has a pagoda and a monastery, the traditional places for worship and education. The country is often called "the land of pagodas" of which the most famous is the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

Young monks studying at a monastery in Burma

Although Burma is a land rich in natural resources, its people are poor. The levels of poverty in some of the city's poorer districts are shocking, public transport is overcrowded, and for most of the population, electricity remains intermittent.

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. The military regime is repressive and has been charged by the United Nations with “crimes against humanity” for its systematic abuses of human rights, denying freedom of expression and crushing any movement towards democracy.

Demonstrations against the dictatorship are not new. A national uprising on 8th August 1988, resulted in hundreds of thousands of people marching to demand a change of government. Today it is the Pro-democracy activists who are leading the demonstrations. On 19 August, Rangoon, (Yangon), saw the largest demonstration for several years when 400 protestors marched in the city. Now it is thought that thousands of protesters are dead or have been jailed and tortured for participating in earlier protests. The monks have asked civilians not to join them for fear of provoking reprisals by the security forces. Many monks have been savagely beaten at a sports ground on the outskirts of Rangoon, where they were heard crying for help and a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta revealed that the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle.

The body of an executed monk floating in the water.
(Picture taken from the Evening Standard web site
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/ 09/10/2007)

So where do they go from here? In his teaching on the Four Noble Truths the Buddha reminds us that:

1. Life means suffering. To live means to suffer, human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime we have to endure physical suffering, pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment, attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas.

Burma’s military junta is led by three generals and they wield absolute power. The most senior is General Than Shwe, 73. Maung Aye is also a career soldier and the second most powerful man in the country and Lieutenant General Soe Win, 58. Life too, for them is transient; they too suffer pain, sickness, tiredness, old age and death they too live in fear, fear that their lavish lifestyles and tyrannical ideology will end.

The natural law of cause and effect is called Karma. There is no higher instance, no judgement, no divine intervention, and no gods that steer man's destiny, but only the law of karma itself, which works on a global time frame. Deeds yield consequences either in the next second, in the next hour, day, month, year, decade, or even in the next lifetime, or in another distant lifetime. This applies to all of us monks, laypeople, and generals alike, but for as long as the Generals feed their delusion, greed, and aversion, they will generate bad karma.

Thich Nath Hanh, wrote in the Five Mindfulness Trainings, that we should be “aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life”. We should be committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. We should be determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.

Thich Nath Hanh recently gave an interesting interview to Time magazine regarding Burma and about the issues regarding Global warming I have included the link below:

http://www.plumvillage.org/HTML/pressrelease/time_alreadyasuccess.html

The Four Noble Truths state that “The cessation of suffering is attainable.” (The Third Noble Truth) and states: The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. The Fourth Noble Truth says that the path to the cessation of suffering is attained through a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Noble Eightfold Path.

Chapter 10 of the Dhammapada is a verse on Violence which we should all remember.

10. Violence

All beings tremble before violence.
All fear death.
All love life.
See yourself in other.
Then whom can you hurt?
What harm can you do?
He who seeks happiness
By hurting those who seek happiness
Will never find happiness.
For your brother is like you.
He wants to be happy.
Never harm him
And when you leave this life
You too will find happiness.
Never speak harsh words
For they will rebound upon you.
Angry words hurt
And the hurt rebounds.
Like a broken gong
Be still, and silent.
Know the stillness of freedom
Where there is no more striving.
Like herdsmen driving their cows into the fields,
Old age and death will drive you before them.
But the fool in his mischief forgets
And he lights the fire
Wherein one day he must burn.
He who harms the harmless
Or hurts the innocent,
Ten times shall he fall -
Into torment or infirmity,
Injury or disease or madness,
Persecution or fearful accusation,
Loss of family, loss of fortune.
Fire from heaven shall strike his house
And when his body has been struck down,
He shall rise in hell.
He who goes naked,
With matted hair, mud bespattered,
Who fasts and sleeps on the ground
And smears his body with ashes
And sits in endless meditation -
So long as he is not free from doubts,
He will not find freedom.
But he who lives purely and self-assured,
In quietness and virtue,
Who is without harm or hurt or blame,
Even if he wears fine clothes,
So long as he also has faith,
He is a true seeker.
A noble horse rarely
Feels the touch of the whip.
Who is there in this world as blameless?
Then like a noble horse
Smart under the whip.
Burn and be swift.
Believe, meditate, see.
Be harmless, be blameless.
Awake to the dharma.
And from all sorrows free yourself.
The farmer channels water to his land.
The fletcher whittles his arrows.
The carpenter turns his wood.
And the wise man masters himself.

Talking Buddha.......

2007-06-27T09:38:00.000+01:00

Buddhism as a part of the religious education curriculum in the UK has always been a weak subject in most schools and colleges. In an attempt to address this problem I organised a Buddhism workshop on Friday 8th June 2007. The aim of the workshop was threefold:

1. To offer a unique opportunity for the students at the college experience at first hand Mahayana, Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

2. To enable a unique opportunity for the students to meet Buddhist monks and to learn about Buddhist monastic life.

3. To raise awareness of Buddhism in Devon.

The day started at 0900am and ended at 1430.Buddhism as a religion/philosophy dates back almost three thousand years, yet its practical philosophy means that it is even more applicable when confronting today's 24/7 lifestyle when the words faith and morality seem to have little meaning. In Buddhism, faith and morality comes not from a sense of believing in something because it is written in a book or attributed to a prophet or taught to you by some figure in authority. The meaning of faith in the Buddhist context is closer to the word “confidence”, knowing that something is true because you have seen it work, because you have observed or experienced that very thing within yourself. In the same way, morality is not a ritualistic obedience to some exterior, imposed code of behavior but that morality, in this case, is a self discipline influenced by the teaching of the Buddha.

For 2500 years the fundimental teaching of the Buddha has remained the same, not as a set of dogmas to be learnt and adhiered to at all cost, but rather as a set of propositions for each individual to investigate for himself. The Buddha was not a special or divine being and therefore being a Buddha is being nothing other than being an ordinary person who is aware of “this” state in their life. The development of this inner life state can enable all people to overcome their problems and live a fulfilled and active life, engaging fully with others and with society.

Suffering

2007-06-02T15:48:00.000+01:00

"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering… in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”

~ The Buddha SN 56:11

Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
Samyuta Nikaya 56:11 In the Buddha’s Words,
Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed), Wisdom 2005, p. 76.

2007-05-18T21:05:00.000+01:00

2007-05-17T21:25:00.000+01:00

In the fifth month rains
no trace of a path
where I can make my way,
meadows of bamboo grass
awash in muddy water

Saigyo (1118-1190)

Happiness, (collections from the Dhammapada).

2007-05-09T13:21:00.000+01:00

image: Declan Mccullagh Photography

Happiness

197. Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! among menwho hate us let us dwell free from hatred!

198. Let us live happily then, free from ailments among the ailing! among men who are ailing let us dwell free from ailments!

199. Let us live happily then, free from greed among the greedy! amongmen who are greedy let us dwell free from greed!

200. Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our own! We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness!

201. Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy.

202. There is no fire like passion; there is no losing throw like hatred; there is no pain like this body; there is no happiness higher than rest.

203. Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body the greatest of pains; if one knows this truly, that is Nirvana, the highest happiness.

204. Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches;trust is the best of relationships, Nirvana the highest happiness.

205. He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity, is free from fear and free from sin, while he tastes the sweetness of drinking in the law.

206. The sight of the elect (Arya) is good, to live with them is always happiness; if a man does not see fools, he will be truly happy.

207. He who walks in the company of fools suffers a long the way; company with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful; company with the wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk.

208. Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the elect; one ought tofollow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.

Translation by F. Max Muller from the splended website:
http://www.textlibrary.com/TITLE/dhammapa/index.htm

Image: Declan Mccullagh Photography at http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-3/japanese-garden-buddha.html

Stress, Stress and even more Stress

2007-05-04T22:19:00.000+01:00

Again I am at a loss as to how some people cope with all the stress in their lives, I find out about three men and their problems.

The first man went back to Greece with his wife and young daughter, after visiting his mother and father, (prior to the Easter celebrations,) he drove his wife and daughter to his mother in law and whilst he was there, received a phone call to say his father had just died. His holiday was spent dealing with father’s death and arranging a funeral, then had to jump on to an airplane and fly back to the UK 2000 miles away. Now back here he is racked with guilt, I should have gone home earlier, if I had seen a doctor he might be still living. He is now back at work in a very stressful job, doing part time study at university level and is not sleeping. How much will he take before he blows a fuse?

The second man is already about to blow his fuse, he is angry confused struggling with coming to terms with his past and is crying out for help, he says he’s ready to pack everything in and “bugger off”, but where does he run to? And what will he do when he gets there?

The third man I found in rather a tearful state reading a book from “Relate”, sounding as though things are already over between him and his wife. He desperately wants to keep things together and does not want his marriage to end, but who can he talk to? How does he release the emotional energy that is building up inside? Where can he go from here? I know that with Relate he will be in good hands and Marriage guidance is not my forte but helping him with the stress is where I am able to help in a practical way.

2007-04-14T22:51:00.000+01:00

You must rise above
The gloomy clouds
Covering the mountaintop
Otherwise, how will you
Ever see the brightness?

Ryokan

Finding Happiness

2007-03-23T15:32:00.000Z

Many believe that happiness is only possible when they have achieved certain objectives: finding a loving partner, landing a well paid job, attaining status at work or in the community, buying a new car, having nice holiday. I believe happiness, joy and peace come from being completely present in the Here and Now. Peace and happiness arise from the simplicity of just being and avoiding the internal mental commentary we carry in our minds through out our daily lives.

Happiness can be achieved directly, in any circumstances, right now. It is not an objective that you reach after long endurance, but a process that you participate in here and now. It is under your nose. True happiness is a peaceful state which arises when the anxieties of everyday life are quietened. A happy mind is naturally a peaceful mind.

From the moment of our birth, our minds become full of habits; the habit of unhappiness arises when our mind is focused on past unhappy experiences or fears about the future. When we dwell on our habitual unhappy mind, we fail to see that suffering is often the result of wrong perceptions. By focusing on and practising positive states of mind, we encourage our own mind to make new habits, "happy habits", and we begin to transform our lives. Therefore happiness is not a matter of faith, but a matter of practice.

Springtime at Bystock Lake (The Wood Element)

2007-03-21T09:25:00.000Z

Walking beside Bystock Lake in early spring with the sound of wood peckers drumming on dead wood, fighting mallard ducks trying to establish territories and Great tits and Chaffinches darting through the trees. I try to look at Bystock Lake with my knowledge of the Chinese “Five Elements”.

The Wood Element
The element associated with spring is “Wood,” an Immature Yang element, influencing the climate with Wind and Coolness. The dominant colures are bright blues in the sky and greens of buds as they begin to fill and open. Anger is found in the emotions as “sap rises” and males in their peak physical condition fight for mates or to protect their females like the mallard ducks on the lake chasing off the other males they see as threats and the chaffinches darting from tree to tree calling to attract the females and establish territories.

We look the east to welcome the early morning sun, a sign that winter is ending and warmer weather is on its way and with the warmer weather the birth of the next offspring. Deep in the water vibrant green water lily leaves push their way upwards to the surface of the lake to catch spring sunshine.

The Fu organ associated with spring and the wood element is the Gall Bladder, the “minister of justice” and within the organism, directs the impulses of all other organs. The gall bladder is paired with the Liver. If it is the ability of the liver to plan then it is the ability of the Gall Bladder to “Decide” hence the term “Minister of Justice”

The Hart Sutra

2007-03-10T19:28:00.000Z

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
when practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita
perceives that all five skandhas are empty
and is saved from all suffering and distress.

Shariputra,form does not differ from emptiness,
emptiness does not differ from form.
That which is form is emptiness,
that which is emptiness form.

The same is true of feelings,
perceptions, impulses, consciousness.

Shariputra,
all dharmas are marked with emptiness;
they do not appear or disappear,
are not tainted or pure,
do not increase or decrease.

Therefore, in emptiness no form, no feelings,
perceptions, impulses, consciousness.
No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;
no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch,
no object of mind;
no realm of eyes
and so forth until no realm of mind consciousness.

No ignorance and also no extinction of it,
and so forth until no old age and death
and also no extinction of them.
No suffering, no origination,
no stopping, no path, no cognition,
also no attainment with nothing to attain.

The Bodhisattva depends on Prajna Paramita
and the mind is no hindrance;
without any hindrance no fears exist.
Far apart from every perverted view one dwells in Nirvana.

In the three worldsall Buddhas depend on Prajna Paramita
and attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.

Therefore know that Prajna Paramita
is the great transcendent mantra,
is the great bright mantra,
is the utmost mantra,
is the supreme mantra which is able to relieve all suffering
and is true, not false.

So proclaim the Prajna Paramita mantra,
proclaim the mantra which says:
gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.

The Hart Sutra
The Heart Sutra is regarded as the summation of the wisdom of the Buddha. It expresses the insight attained by non-attachment and the doctrine of emptiness. The Heart Sutra is said to be the shortest and the most popular sutra in Buddhism. The Diamond Sutra in about 5000 words summarizes the six hundred volumes of the Maha Prajna Sutra, and the Heart Sutra in around 250 words summarizes the Diamond Sutra. There are many translations of the Heart Sutra and this one was for me the easiest to learn, (even though it may not be an accurate translation from the Sanskrit). There are many commentaries on the Heart Sutra, the following translation is one I found in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Sutra)

The Heart Sutra introduces the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara, who in this case is representing the faculty of prajña (wisdom). His analysis of phenomena is that there is nothing which lies outside the five aggregates of human existence (skandhas) — form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), volitions (samskārā), perceptions (saṁjñā), and consciousness (vijñāna).
Avalokiteśvara then addresses Śariputra, who in this text — as with many other Mahāyāna texts — is a representative of the Early Buddhist schools, described in many other sutras as being the Buddha's foremost disciple in wisdom. Avalokiteśvara famously states that, "form is emptiness (Śūnyatā) and emptiness is form" and declares the other skandhas to be equally empty — that is, without an independent essence. Avalokiteśvara then goes through some of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and explains that in emptiness none of these labels apply. This is traditionally interpreted as saying that Buddhist teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality — they are not reality itself — and that they are therefore not applicable to the ultimate truth that is by definition beyond dualistic description. Thus the bodhisattva, as the archetypal Mahāyāna Buddhist, relies on the perfection of wisdom, defined in the larger Perfection of Wisdom sutras to be the wisdom that perceives reality directly without conceptual attachment. This perfection of wisdom is condensed in the mantra with which the Sutra concludes.

Amongst White Clouds

2007-03-08T13:27:00.000Z

On returning from my morning walk I found a package from Canada in the mail box, the DVD "Amongst White clouds" has finally arrived. Since the time of the Yellow Emperor, some five thousand years ago, China’s remote Zhongnan Mountains have been home to recluses, enlightened Buddhist and Taoist Masters, monks and students who live in isolated hermitages dotting the peaks and valleys of the Zhongnan Mountain range. "Amongst White Clouds" shows the tradition of China's forgotten Zen Buddhist hermit’s of the Zhongnan Mountains, the hardship they endure as well as the joy, humour and compassion of the everyday lives of the Buddhist monks living in the Zhongnan Mountains.

The film was inspired by the book "Road to Heaven, encounters with Chinese Hermits" by Bill Porter. Road to Heaven is a brilliant book with lots of stories about the lives of early and present day Buddhist and Taoist hermit monks, Temples in the Zhongnan mountains. The sad part about the book is the lack of references, there are a few but I would like to follow the thread of some of the stories, eg. The meeting of the 88 year old Lao-tzi with the young Confucius (p37), and an interesting link between Taoism and Buddhism “After Lao-tzu joined the immortals, he was reborn Shakyamuni…” (p63). The recorded dialogue between Bill Porter and the Buddhist and Taoist hermit monks and their life in the Chungnan Mountains makes for interesting reading

In my view the film adds extra colour to the book, but in its own right the film is fascinating.

http://www.amongstclouds.com/

Yin and Yang and the Wu-Hsing Theory

2007-03-06T10:16:00.000Z

"The terms Yin, the dark and Yang, the light, denote respectively the shadowed and light side of a mountain or a river. Yang represents the south side of the mountain, because this side receives the sunlight, but it connotes the north side of the river, because the light of the river is reflected to that side. The reverse is true as regards yin. The terms are gradually extended to include the two polar forces of the universe which we may call positive and negative."
WILHELM 1967 p297-298)

Ancient Chinese philosophers and sages are thought to have collected and first written down observations of the natural world around them during the Qin and Han dynasties (221BCE and 220CE). Their collection of writings formed the basis of the Chinese classic the “I-Ching” or Book of Changes. The sages believed that everything in the universe can be described in terms of a polar combination of entities which they called “Yin” and “Yang” and the Wu-hsing or five element theory which described a clyclic process of energy transformation of five basic types of energy, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

Yin and Yang Theory
Yin and Yang formed the basis of a system in which all phenomena can be described in complementary groups, a natural law of opposites. According to theory, all things and phenomena in the universe contain two polar aspects, “Yin” and “Yang” that are both seen as being complementary to each other and at the same time, in opposition to each other, that is, one cannot exist without the other. It would be impossible for us to have any concept of “day” if we had no concept of “night” to compare it with, hot cannot exist without cold, and good can not exist with out evil. Yin and Yang are therefore both interdependent, and in conflict with each other.

Just as one side of a mountain faces south and is warmed by the sun, the north remains in the shade and is cooler. Yin and Yang are not mutually exclusive, within Yin there is an element of Yang and within Yang an element of Yin. Yin and yang are usually held in balance, that is, as one increase’s, the other decreases.

The interrelationships of every thing that exists can be expressed in the form of Yin and Yang and are represented as complementary and opposite entities and maybe expressed in tabular form, two broad categories of complementary terms, the list below is only a representation of the Yin and Yang phenomena and is by no means exhaustive.

Yin / Yang
Female / Male
Dark / Light
Cold / Hot
Rest / Movement
Static / Dynamic
Moon / Sun
Earth / Heaven
North / South
West / East
Winter / Summer
Solid (Liquid) / Vapour (Gas)
Condensation / Evaporation
Contraction / Expansion
Descending / Ascending
Below / Above
Lower part / Upper part
Left / Right
Night / Day
Water / Fire
Yielding / Resistance
Soft / Hard
Passive / Aggressive
Introverted / Outgoing
Quiet / Loud
Slow / Fast
Even / Odd
Wet / Dry
Chronic / Acute

Lunar Eclipse

2007-03-04T21:35:00.000Z

Whilst I was offering incense to Buddha out side in the garden at 0530 this morning I became aware at just how bright the moon was in the sky, it was casting my shadow across the garden and on to a wall. When I looked in the direction of the moon, I saw it was almost a perfect sphere under the loest branch of our neighbours cherry tree, beautiful. I then savoured its beauty, captivated by the moon and the tree and the sound of birds and started to laugh as I remembered the story of when the famous Japanese scholar Kameda Bosai paid a visit to the Zen master and poet Ryokan.

Bosai found Ryokan sitting zazen on the porch of his hut, and waited—several hours—for the monk to finish, and then Bosai and Ryokan happily talked poetry, philosophy, and writing until evening, Ryokan rose to fetch them some sake from town. Again Bosai waited several hours, then grew concerned and began to walk toward the village. When he found Ryokan, a hundred yards away, sitting under a pine tree, he exclaimed, "Ryokan! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours and was afraid something had happened to you." Ryokan looked up. "Bosai, you have just come in time. Look, isn’t the moon splendid tonight?" When Bosai asked about the sake, Ryokan replied, "Oh, yes, the sake. I forgot all about it," and headed off to town.

To be distracted by life’s moments is indeed a Zen virtue, though it is often a trial for friends.

In the evening I sat out on the beach watching the Lunar eclipse...............beautiful......look, isn't the moon splended tonight......

The thief left it behind

The moon

At the window.

Ryokan

Photo: Matt Ohman, Somerset.

The Year of the Boar

2007-02-17T18:26:00.000Z

Year of the Boar
1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019.

Sunday 18th February 2007 is Chinese New Year and the first day of the Spring festival.

The Boar character is naturally patient and cheerful, an outgoing jovial character, honest and and patient people. They are kind and careing. Sincere, diligant and generous. Boars born 2007 (and 1947) are "Fire boars" that is they have the characteristics of the fire element and are adventourous, bold and dynamic.

Famous Boars include:
Albert Schweitzer
Fred Astaire
Maria Callas
Tennessee Williams
Arnold Scharzenegger

Wet days and Qigong ways

2007-02-10T17:03:00.000Z

Saturday and it is raining outside, it seems to have been raining for ever, but I get up at the same time every morning so when my wife and the boys are asleep I go into the front room and work through the daoyin and qigong exercises before doing the 8, 16 and the BCCMA 24 posture forms.

Xu Xiangcai says “Qigong, as an art of healing and health preservation, is thought to have originated as early as four thousand years ago in the Tang Yao times as a form of dancing. Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals or Lu's History (Lu Shi Chun Qiu) records: In the beginning of the Tao Tang Tribes, the sun was often shut off by heavy clouds and it rained all the time; turbulent waters overflowed the rivers' banks. People lived a gloomy and dull life and suffered from rigidity of their joints. As a remedy dancing was recommended. From the experience of their long-term struggle with nature, the ancients gradually realized that body movements, exclamations, and various ways of breathing could help readjust certain bodily functions. For example, imitating animal movements such as climbing, looking about, and leaping was found to promote a vital flow of Qi.”

Four thousand years ago the ancient ones practiced Qigong in caves to keep healthy when the weather prevented them from going out, what is the difference now?

Taichi in Kingsbridge

2007-02-05T21:59:00.000Z

Yesterday, 4th February I started the Devon Tai chi instructor and the Chengman Ching development course with Matthew Rochford and Luke Shepperd and had a truly brilliant day. The course objective is to deepen our understanding of internal Tai Chi processes, use of mind intention (yi) and issuing forces that will lead us (the practitioner), to a deeper appreciation of taichi and our inner processes, over the course of the next eleven months.

One of Chengman ching’s students, Master Haung Xiangxian was renowned for his refinement of the art. Patrick Kelly trained closely with Master Haung for 22 years and his student Luke Shepherd (who has 25 years experience) and will be leading the development group during 2007. All training is held on a Sunday, 2-5.30pm at the Spanda Studio, Harbour House, Kingsbridge.

Patrick A Kelly was born in New Zealand in 1950. He studied martial arts from childhood. While completing his BSc in pure mathematics, he began Taiji with an experienced student of Master Huang Xingxian in 1973. In 1977 he moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he studied full time in Master Huang's school. In 1979, following tradition, Master Huang accepted Patrick Kelly as his personal disciple - the only non-Chinese to ever enter Huang's inner-school. From that time Patrick Kelly travelled and taught between Asia, New Zealand, Australia and Europe establishing a school in Auckland, NZ, in 1980. Huang often visited to teach in the NZ school and obtained permanent residency for NZ in 1992 shortly before he died. In that year, at the express wish of his teacher, Patrick Kelly established a Europe wide teaching network, where 20 senior students (20+ years Taiji and 10+ years with Patrick) and 80 close students (average 10 to 15 years Taiji) teach some thousands of students through their independent schools.

From: http://www.patrickkellytaiji.com/index.html

Luke Shepherd (b.1961). is the Principal Instructor and founder of Open Palm Taiji. He is a student of Patrick Kelly and has been training Taiji since 1981. His first 15 years training were with Richard Farmer of Rising Dragon Tai Chi. Rising Dragon's teachings emphasized meditation and personal development with a strong focus on connecting Taiji ideas to every day life. Luke taught as a Rising Dragon Instructor for 5 years in Cardiff prior to moving to Devon. Between 1991-97 he periodically lived in India under the direction of Ramana Maharshi's disciple Sri HWL Poonja. In 1997 Luke met Patrick Kelly. Since that time he has trained the internal aspects of body and mind under the guidance of Patrick. He formed Open Palm Taiji to share this with others.
He divides his time between teaching taiji, his personal training and his work as a sculptor and bronze caster.

From: http://www.abcbronze.co.uk/taiji/opthome.htm

Matthew Rochford. Matthew has been practicing Tai Chi since 1991 and completed a six year senior teaching course in 2002. During that time he has learnt many Tai Chi Forms and worked with leading teacher Peter Warr and trained with Professor Li De Yin from Beijing. Working professionally as an instructor Matthew has taught in a wide variety of locations from sheltered housing projects to The Mind Body Spirit Festival. He has also appeared on TV and Radio, sharing his enthusiasm for the art. As a professional writer on Tai Chi he has been published in national magazines and his first book ‘Total Tai Chi’ (MQ Publications) was released in the UK and USA during April 2003 and was recently translated into Spanish.

From: http://www.devontaichi.co.uk/index.php

A Beautiful Day

2007-02-03T15:28:00.000Z

Saturday at last but woke early all the same so spent the first hour and a half doing my daoyin, qigong, and tai chi exercises. I then had a cup of "tea Kwanyin", (Chinese green tea), and half an hour's meditation before going for a walk along the seafront. This morning the sea was flat calm the sky blue and sunny, a beautiful day and suppriseingly warm for the time of year. I came across this poem by William Henry Channing 1810-1884.

Live Simply
To live content with small means,
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion;
to be worthy, not respectable,
and wealthy, not rich
To study hard, think quietly,
talk gently, act frankly;
to listen to stars and birds,
to babes and sages, with open heart;
to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely,
await occasions, hurry never
To let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common
This is to be my symphony.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

2007-01-29T20:16:00.000Z

There are times when I wonder how some people manage to survive with all the difficulties life has to throw at them. Over the past few months whilst I have been "off-line", I have been giving support to a number of people who's lives have been turned upside down with the sort of problems that the majority of us hope and pray will never happen to us

1. One couple's baby was born 16 weeks premature and spent its very short life in the confines of an incubator, unable to hold and feed their baby, their only contact was the view through the perspex lid.

2. A very intelligent man who is now living in political exile with his wife and daughter's but who's dream is one day to return to his native country and start his life again.

3. Another who is suffering from out and out bullying in the work place.

4. Two men in different companies suffering with stress at work. One of them is not sleeping at night and going through a relationship break down.

All these people have had problems that put mine into perspective and I realize that my problems are insignificant, the result of my own deluded mind. In truth we all suffer from time to time, our very existence is “suffering”, we do experience joy in this life, but life can't be all joy; even in the most fortunate of lives there must be suffering. In the same way that we can not have any concept of “light” without the concept of “dark”, or “hot” with out “cold”, “good” without “bad” so “joy” would be non existent without the experience of “Suffering”.

Buddhists use the Pali word “Dukkha” to describe what we in the west call suffering, (although suffering is not a direct translation of dukkha). Dukkha implies the generally unsatisfactory and imperfect nature of life. In Vol. II of The Three Basic Facts of Existence (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983) Francis Story describes Dukkha or Suffering as:

Disturbance, irritation, dejection, worry, despair, fear, dread, anguish, anxiety; vulnerability, injury, inability, inferiority; sickness, aging, decay of body and faculties, senility; pain/pleasure; excitement/boredom; deprivation/excess; desire/frustration, suppression; longing/aimlessness; hope/hopelessness; effort, activity, striving/repression; loss, want, insufficiency/satiety; love/lovelessness, friendlessness; dislike, aversion/attraction; parenthood/childlessness; submission/rebellion; decision/indecisiveness, vacillation, uncertainty.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha realised the existence of suffering when gave his first sermon at the deer park near Benares (Varanasi), India, on the “Four Nobel Truths” and the “Nobel Eightfold Path”.

The Four Nobel Truths:

(1) that existence is suffering (dukkha);

(2) that this suffering has a cause (samudaya);

(3) that it can be suppressed (nirodha); and

(4) that there is a way (magga) to accomplish this by following the Nobel Eightfold Path, (the way out of suffering).

The Nobel Eightfold Path.
1) Right Seeing.

(2) Right Thought.

(3) Right Speech.

(4) Right Action.

(5) Right Livelihood.

(6) Right Effort

(7) Right Mindfulness.

(8) Right Contemplation.

Whilst I can try my best to follow the Nobel Eightfold Path and find my way out of suffering I find that Tai chi helps me over come the "Stress" that accompanies the suffering, it helps me by "stilling my troubled mind" by helping me to relax and put my troubles back into perspective.

Back on line

2007-01-12T21:30:00.000Z

Following the recent breakdown in communications when my trusty old computor fell ill, I am now pleased to anouce that it is now fully recovered and its little bit's either tweeked or replaced and is now running with a full head of steam.

A new year and a referbished computor.

Christmas day

2006-12-25T15:10:00.000Z

Its the 25th of December, Christmas day and for once I am spending good quality time with my family. I am aware that I have not made an entry since early November, but as always my practice's has to take precedent, the blog takes second place. In the new year I will be back again. So I wish you merry Christmas and a happy new year, may health, love, peace and happiness be yours throughout 2007,and together we will take up the challenge and change our lives.

Visiting Hartridge monestry

2006-10-31T20:47:00.000Z

I have over the past few years visitied a numer of Buddhist temples in the UK and today I drove out to the Devon Vihara at Hartridge and had a wonderful time. It is strange to see monks in saffron going about their daily routine but the people of East Devon have grown used to seeing the monks with their begging bowels in the local towns and villages. The monks at the Devon Vihara follow the Forrest sangha tradition a tradition that can be traced to the third-century B.C.E. and Prince Ashoka, originating in

India,

the forest monk tradition spread to

Thailand

Burma

Laos

, and

Sri Lanka

.

As I walked through the door of the temple the monks where sat eating their mid day meal, (the only meal of the day). When the abbot saw me he said “hello, go into the kitchen and have something to eat and I will see you later”……..and I did. Everyone there was friendly, welcoming and happy.

The temple is in a remote part of East Devon at the end of a very long lane surrounded by 22 acres of woodland. The monks live in small wooden huts called “kuti’s”, and follow the teachings of the Venerable Ajahn Chah. Ajahn Chah was born on June 17, 1918 in a small village near the town of Ubon Rajathani, North-East Thailand. After finishing his basic schooling, he spent three years as a novice before returning to lay life to help his parents on the farm. At the age of twenty, however, he decided to resume monastic life, and on April 26, 1939 he received upasampada (bhikkhu ordination). For further information please visit:

http://www.forestsangha.org/

The Serial Bully and his victim

2006-10-30T16:25:00.000Z

Monday afternoon and I have just arrived home from listening to one man's story. An intelligent hard working man who has suffered from the attention of a bully at his place of work. I have no intention of breaching confidentially or compromising my position and all that I believe, but the opportunity now exists for me to bring the topic of bullying to the fore. Over the years I have spent a considerable amount of time counselling the victims of bullying and helping them over come their stress. The question of “why” always comes to mind, “why does one person bully another” and “why do companies allow it to happen in the first place?".

The Scene.
The company is a medium to large company with European connections, the bully in question is I believe a serial bully, and his target, a quiet intelligent male who could easily be you or me or some one we know.

The Bully.
The profile I am building in my mind of this serial bully from the evidence shown to me is one of a man who has a Jekyll and Hyde character, vicious and vindictive one moment perfectly charming and innocent the next. I do not underestimate this bully’s capacity to deceive, he is plausible and convincing when his superiors or others are present but his charm is used to deceive and cover for lack of empathy. This bully holds deep prejudices against the opposite gender, people of a different sexual orientation, other cultures, religious or ethnic background.

He is self-opinionated, arrogant and has a superior sense of entitlement and sense of being invulnerable or un-touchable. “I am the second most powerful man in this company” (even though his position is low in the company). He has a compulsive need to control everyone and everything his subordinates do, “If you want to get on in this company you better do as I say”. He is manipulative and undermines and destroys anyone who the he perceives to be an adversary or a potential threat. It is almost as though he has a need to find a weakness in someone then expose and exploit that weakness until his victim leaves the company, normally through illness and depression. The bully then goes to ground until he thinks he is safe, then, finds his next target.

The Victim.
This victim is competent and popular but vulnerable. This victim is intelligent, honest, trustworthy, and conscientious middle aged man who is sensitive, helpful, always willing to share knowledge and experience. He is tolerant, forgiving and inclined to think well of others. He has high moral standards and a strong well-defined set of values. He has low assertiveness and a strong need to feel valued. He is quick to apologize for anything he “might” have done wrong, he is a perfectionist with a strong sense of fair play and has a tendency to keep anger bottled up rather than express it.

In this respect our “victim” is a really nice man who the company would do well to employ.

The Company.
The company is a medium sized British company with expanding European connections. It has a well manned human resource department who are aware of the numerous complaints regarding this bully, but the department has been totally ineffective in dealing with this issue. The company does have a policy regarding bullying, discrimination and harassment, which is intended to protect both employees and the employer, but has failed dismally to protect the victims and in one case even supported the bully when he cleverly switched from being the persecutor to being a victim.

When the companies Human Resource Department writes off a bullying incident as a "personality clash" and sweeps the incident under the carpet, the company and individual managers are then wide open to litigation. A personality clash can only occur between two people of equal rank, status or power. To take the attitude “We don’t like him but he gets the job done” is to ignore the cost to the company in:
1. Low morale,
2. Poor productivity,
3. Poor customer service,
4. High sickness absence,
5. High staff turnover,
6. Frequent grievance,
7. Legal action.

In July this year, judges in the House of Lords decided that former health service worker William Majrowski could use the "Protection from Harassment Act 1997" to sue his former employer for workplace bullying. The Act was introduced to deal with stalkers but has been so loosely drafted that its remit has widened as clever lawyers has sought to put it to new uses. This latest development has important implications for employers.

Even if a company can show that they did all that could have reasonably been expected to protect an employee from harassment, the company will still be liable.

I expect that this law will be challenged in the due course of time, but at present an employer will held responsible if work place bullying is not controlled.

Conclusion?
The failure to tackle bullying head on or denying of the existence of the serial bully with in the company not only serves to discredit the target or victim, but invites the company manager’s behavior to match the profile of the bully. If the pattern of daily, trivial nitpicking and criticism, isolation and exclusion persists the individuals morale, resistance, and immune system weakens resulting in sickness, absence from work and depression.

Should the target then end his life as a result of negligence on the part of the company or it's failure to tackle bullying, then charges of Manslaughter or Corporate Manslaughter can be brought against the company and its managers.

I am only interested in taking the seagulls eye view of the incident within this company and to offer confidential emotional support to those who look for it and this includes the bully, because I believe he may have been a target or victim, at a young age, and the script he learnt then he is putting into practice now.

How long does it take to become enlightened?

2006-10-29T19:11:00.000Z

There is no set time. The qualities of wisdom and compassion that we uncover on the path exist within all of us right now. One can even say they are our primordial nature. What we are trying to do on the path is to free ourselves from identifying with that which is false, such as the notion that our body is our self, or that our distorted thoughts and emotions are our self. How long that will take us depends upon how much effort we put into following the spiritual path, but enlightenment is in a sense available to us right now. Of course, one needs to find an effective method for removing the obscurations. Having found the skilful teachers who can impart these to us, we then need to be fully committed to using them. It is said that there are beings, like the dzok chen master Garab Dorje, for whom enlightenment follows instantaneously upon their hearing one line of the teaching. However, such beings are as rare as stars seen in the daytime. The vast majority of us need to follow a graduated and systematic path. However, if we follow the most powerful of Buddha’s teachings, the vajrayana, then it is possible to become enlightened in this very life. Even if that is not possible, by sincerely setting out on the spiritual path in this life we should be confident that in successive lives we will carry on with this upward movement towards enlightenment.

by Lama Jampa Thaye

2006-10-23T21:19:00.000+01:00

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
Dogen

Winds of Change.

2006-10-21T09:30:00.000+01:00

As a young boy walking down to the fish quay I would often stop and read the poem carved on the door knocker of a fisherman's cottage over looking the harbour, it read...

The wind blows east,
The wind blows west,
It's the self same wind that blows.
But it's the set of the sails
And not the gales
That tell which way to go!

In the lines, "It's the set of the sails and not the gales that tell which way to go" we learn that even though the journey may be difficult, it is still possible for the ship to sail against the wind and reach its destination. So it is we mortals, sometimes our life is like a ship on a difficult passage, the winds of change conspire against us and we have to change tack again and again beating to windward to make headway.

Yesterday I spoke to two different men, both about fifty, their stories where completely different but the analogy of the sailing ship is useful in understanding both problems. One man is working his way through bereavement, the other, a man who having gained a BSc(hons) then a masters degree has lost his will to continue. For both people the wind has changed and is blowing against them.

The numbness, anger and sadness experienced after the death of a loved one and reactions such as bouts of silence, sleeplessness, loss of energy, loss of appetite, withdrawal, and sudden uncontrollable tears, are a normal part of the grieving process until the pain starts to subside and we see life in a more positive light. Slowly time heals, we begin to accept our loss and we begin to carry on with our life. Some feelings do not go away, we just learn to live with them, we learn to cope. When there are multiple stress factors in our life, and the death of a loved one occurs, bereavement then becomes all the more difficult to cope with. We are then like a ship beating to windward in a storm with torn sails.

The second man lost his job twelve years ago through illness and having decided on a new career direction. His initial positive motivation took him to university to study for a degree, his success there led him on to study for one year masters degree which he has just completed. But now the winds have changed for him, he is no longer studying, he has not got the employment he thought he would get with his new degree. He thinks this is because of his age and now he is at home, depressed, angry with the world, not sure if he made the right decisions, not sure what to do next. This man is like a ship in a storm sailing on to a lee shore. I do not use the metaphor lightly I have been there both at sea and in life.

But it's the set of the sails and not the gales that tell which way to go!

There is a way we can change the predicament we find ourselves in, we can change tack and beat our way to windward, round the headland and shelter in calmer waters. What we need is to give our selves time, find the will to change and go for it.

Breathe deep, take up the challenge, change your life.

2006-10-13T21:41:00.000+01:00

"Waking up this morning, I smile,
Twenty-four brand new hours
are before me.
I vow to live fully in each
Moment
And to look at all beings with
Eyes of Compassion"

- A prayer by Thich Nhat Hanh

A Day of Tai Chi

2006-10-08T20:29:00.000+01:00

Had a brilliant day today practicing Tai Chi at Ruggadon Farm in the converted barn, it is light, airy and surrounded by beautiful countryside. The BCCMA 24 Posture form is a nice compact form and particularly good in confined spaces, I am able to practice the twenty four postures at home in our front room. We also covered the Metal and water elements of the wu-hsing or "five elements" and worked our way through the 18 posture Qigong form.

The B.C.C.M.A 24 Posture Form Yang Style
1 Open Posture (Part the Horses Main)
2 Grasp the Birds Tail
3 Single Whip
4 Raise Hands Posture
5 White Crane Spreads its Wings
6 Brush Knee Twist Step
7 Strum the Lute
8 Repulse the Monkey
9 Slant Flying
10 Wave Hands Like the Clouds
11 Single Whip
12 High Pat on Horse
13 Right Heel Kick
14 Double Strike
15 Left Heel Kick
16 Snake Creeps Down
17 Golden Cockerel Stands on One Leg
18 Fair Lady Works the Shuttles
19 Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
20 Fan Thru the Back
21 Turn Parry and Punch
22 Draw Back Palm Under Elbow and Push Forward
23 Turn with Cross Arm Posture
24 Close

The Six Perfections or Six Paramitas

2006-10-06T13:30:00.000+01:00

I have put together this essay on the Six Paramitas or the Six perfections because for me they are more than a useful code to live by. For the individual on the path to Enlightenment, or those looking for a more philosophical way of life, for small groups of people or nation states, generosity, morality, patience, joyful effort, concentration and wisdom are enriching for all irrespective of race, religion, colour or creed. All living beings have Buddha nature. I realise I might tread on the toes of of those who would describe my interpretation of the Six Perfections as “loose”. For those I offend I apologise, for those wanting more information please write to me for book lists, meditation centres and website addresses I welcome your comments.

A lifetimes interest in sailing has taught me time and time again the need to learn the lessons of getting on with each other in a small, confined environment. When you are in the middle of the ocean it is too late to find out you do not like your companions; you can not just walk away from your responsibilities, or ignore the needs of others and they have the same responsibilities to you. So, we develop an unconditional, “duty of care” for each other and the environment we find ourselves in.

On a larger, cosmic scale, we are all on the same densely populated “planetary ship” sailing through the universe together. There is no chart, sailing directions, destination, or port of call; our ship is just “sailing” on a vast boundary-less cosmic ocean. It does not matter what race, religion, creed, colour or ethnic background we are from, we are all on the same ship, we cannot get off, we need to work together, we have to be self sufficient, and we all have the same “duty of care” for each other and the environment that supports our very existence.

When we realise the fragility of our own existence and accept unconditionally, the responsibility for others then why is it so difficult to get on with each other? The idea of a “code of conduct” or “model” which we can all live by becomes quite a burden when you have to abide by rules that some one else has made, but a code of conduct that we can grow into is much easier to accept. The principal of the Six Perfections is a good code of conduct to live by for Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike. By practicing the Six Perfections one generates discipline and harmony in our physical and verbal actions, and take a step by step path to lasting happiness By following this path anyone can transform their mind from its present confused and self-centered state into the blissful mind of an enlightened one.

Accepting that all living beings have the seed or potential to become an enlightened one or Buddha, then, as a Buddha-to-be or Bodhisattva, we should have developed morality, compassion and wisdom to such a degree that Enlightenment and entry to Nirvana is possible. (Well this would be possible with a bit more practice than we average mortals show in our everyday lives).

There are six practices that we as “Potential Bodhisattva’s” need to cultivate in order to reach enlightenment. These practices are known as the “Six Perfections,” or the Six Paramitas. The Six Perfections are:
<br>1. Generosity, (Dāna paramita: generosity, giving of oneself).
2. Morality, (Sila paramita : virtue, morality, proper conduct).
3. Patience, (Ksanti paramita : patience, tolerance, acceptance).
4. Joyful effort, (Virya paramita : energy, diligence, vigor, effort).
5. Concentration, (Dhyāna paramita : meditation, contemplation).
6. Wisdom. (Prajña paramita : wisdom, insight).r>
>*(Some Buddhist teachings mention ten perfections)

Breathe deep, take up the challenge, change your life

1. The Perfection of Generosity

2006-10-06T10:23:00.000+01:00

Giving begrudgingly is the same as not giving at all.

The difference between giving begrudgingly and giving freely with out any thought of gain or profit, is motivation. When giving we should ask ourselves, What is my motive in giving? Giving can and often does, have a degree of selfishness within it. If behind our act of giving is the notion that we will benefit from it in some way or other then our motivation has been polluted. Giving with only the thought of how the recipient will benefit, is the purest form of giving.

Traditionally there are three types of giving:
Giving material help.
Giving protection.
Giving pure sincere Dharma teaching.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, (of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery, Tiwan):

A devotee told Chan Master Moxian, "My wife is extremely stingy. She will not spend even a penny on charity. Could you please come to my house and talk to her about engaging in benevolent deeds?" Very compassionately, Chan Master Moxian agreed. The next day, when he went to the devotee's house, the wife came out to receive him. True to her miserly nature, she did not even offer Chan Master Moxian a cup of tea. Chan Master sat down and held out his fist, asking, "Madame, look at my hand. What would you think if my hand remained constantly in a fist?". The wife responded, "If it remained in a fist, then your hand is deformed! Something must be wrong with it." Chan Master repeated her words back to her, saying, "It is deformed!" In the meantime, he opened up his fist and held out a flat palm to her, asking, "Were it like this all the time, what do you think?". The wife responded, "That would be deformed too!"

Seizing this opportunity, Chan Master Moxian immediately came to the point, saying, "Madame, you are right! A constant closed fist and a constant opened palm are both deformed. It is the same with the way we use money. If we are always closefisted, only concerned about getting more money, but never consider giving, we are deformed. If we are always open-handed, only thinking about spending but not saving, we are deformed as well. Money should flow like a smooth current. When it comes in, it should flow out too. There should be a balance in your receiving and giving." With this example from Chan Master Moxian, the devotee's wife had a clear idea about how to conduct herself in money matters.

2006-10-05T08:41:00.000+01:00

2. The Perfection of Morality

2006-10-05T08:17:00.001+01:00

Benefit others, If you can not benefit others, do not harm them.

It may appear old fashioned and out of place in this day and age to talk of moral behavior but the concept of the perfection of morality can also be referred to as behavioral discipline or ethics. In more specific Buddhist terms, the concept deals with the prohibitions against immoral behavior that are practiced by ordained laypeople, monks and nuns. But we as everyday, ordinary people have the tendency to act and allow others to act "unskillfully", and this tendency needs to be controlled. We should at all times protect of our body, our speech and our mind from performing unskillful and immoral deeds, for instance:

Protect our Body from:
Killing,
Stealing,
Sexual Misconduct.

Protect our Speech from:
Telling Lies
Slandering others
Gossiping and using harsh words
Swearing

Protect our Mind from:
Craving and attachment
Wishing to harm others
Holding wrong views

Cultivating morality in our selves is not easy, cultivating morality in others almost impossible but if we do not practice morality then the morality or behavioral discipline is nothing more than a theroetical exercise!

3. The Perfection of Patience

2006-10-04T08:39:00.000+01:00

We, with our deluded minds allow the practice of patience to be more difficult than it really is. In our modern world, life is a compromise, inherently unsatisfactory and troublesome. Work, money, people, travel, noise, pollution, all conspire to make life difficult for us. It is very easy to blame others for our misfortunes and get upset with them when things have not gone right for us. The first person to get hurt when we get angry is ourselves! But by practicing patience we gain an inner strength and the courage to face difficult situations, we gain the strength not to get angry or abusive and the strength to stay calm.

When we face difficult situations, problems or anger, we suffer. Accepting that suffering with patience we recognise that these transient conditions will pass. If we stay calm with an angry person they too will eventually become calm, and in staying calm you will have become the stronger person by default.

Patience is a virtue that we all gain from!

The joys of practicing patience can be illustrated by the life and poems of the eighteenth century Japanese poet, Kobayashi Nobuyki who used the pen name “Issa”. Issa's life was full of misfortunes, he lost his mother at an early age, his stepmother mistreated him, he suffered extreme poverty, his children died, and his marriage with his second wife was more than unhappy. Issa's poems often reflected the small joys he found when depicting his life and the difficult poverty driven life of Shinshu peasants. He found beauty, virtue, and merit by practicing patience in his harsh surroundings. For example he was able to transform his irritation with the fleas that lived in his clothes into patience with this Haiku poem:

Now you fleas!
You shall see Matsushima
Off we go!

Or, with this observation of the flies that was irritating him in a temple…

The flies in the temple,
Imitate the hands
Of the people with prayer beads.

We can not prevent problems from occurring, but if we analyze the things that irritate us and cause us to loose our patience and regard lifes irritations like Issa's fleas, then they can become our friends and teachers, providing us with the opportunity to learn, and in learning we become less stressed.

4. The Perfection of Joyful Effort

2006-10-03T20:57:00.000+01:00

The fourth perfection is that of joyful effort. The concept of having to work to get some where in this life is a bitter pill to swallow, we would much rather enjoy life with all its rich diversity than ‘work’, but as the saying goes “No pain, no gain.” So it is with Buddhism, following the Buddha’s path is a richly rewarding experience; however, at times we have to work at it. Simple!

It has been said that indulging in the sensual pleasures of this world is like “licking honey off the blade of a razor; it is the source of a little sweetness and it slices up the tongue”. That is not to say that following the Buddha’s path is dull, dreary and monotonous, on the contrary. If we change our perspective, then, when the going gets tough and we feel like giving up, consider that we are being presented with a great opportunity to practice, our effort then becomes joyful.

In all our daily activities joyful effort helps us to keep practicing and encourages us in times of weakness to keep trying. We should live our lives with joyful effort. Each moment should be a moment lived with an eye toward living it fully and completely. Sometimes it takes all of our strength to "just sit" for ten minutes in meditation, or find the right response to a loved one, or set aside the temptation to cheat on our vows.

Generally speaking, there are three aspects of joyous effort:
Joyful effort in following Dharma practice
Joyful effort of continuous practice
Joyful effort in not giving up

If we recognize that the main obstacles to the development of our efforts are the different levels of laziness, i.e. the laziness that comes with procrastination, the laziness that stem’s from indolence and laziness that comes from a sense of inferiority. Then we can make progress along the path we choose to follow and eventually gain higher realizations. We can over come discouragement, remember we, like the Giant Redwood grow from a single seed.

Breathe deep, take up the challenge, change your life

2006-10-03T20:52:00.000+01:00

5. The Perfection of Concentration

2006-10-02T20:40:00.000+01:00

Concentration or the 'single pointed mind' is the fifth perfection. With out concentration we can not penetrate in to the object of our meditation and realize our true nature. It is natural for our mind to be distracted and restless, always moving from one thought or feeling to another like the flame of a candle flickering in a draught, darting here and there in milliseconds. With the right concentration we can train our mind to be stabile, present and aware in everything we do.

Our concentration has two enemies, mental agitation, or busyness, and mental torpor, or numbness. Generally, agitation arises from desire, an attractive object appears in the mind and the mind leaves the object of meditation to follow it. Torpor arises from subtle apathy developing within the mind. A useful analogy is a man using a candle to view a painting on the wall of a dark room, a draught will cause the candle to flicker too much for the man to be able to see the painting properly, and if the candle is too small its flame will be too weak. When the flame of the mind is not obstructed by the wind of mental agitation and/or weakened by the smallness of torpor it can concentrate properly upon the picture of the meditation object.

We can train the mind with regular meditation practice and achieve focus, composure, and tranquility. The ability to concentrate and focus the mind will generate clarity, equanimity and illumination. As we eliminate our misperceptions and attachments, we can directly experience the joy, compassion, and wisdom of our own true nature. There is no attainment of wisdom and enlightenment without developing the mind through concentration and meditation. To sit on the cushion is to be enlightened.

Regular meditation is the foundation stone of the practice and development of our concentration. Set aside time each morning and evening to sit with ourselves in meditation. Light a candle and incense, then sit, and as the self drops away we will be able to see clearly our own true nature. Getting up from the cushion, we know that we are taking with us a profound grounding and truth that we can share with others.

6. The Perfection of Wisdom

2006-10-01T07:46:00.000+01:00

Wisdom is the ability,
Developed through experience,
Insight and reflection,
To discern truth and
Exercise good judgment.

The last and sixth perfection, the perfection of wisdom, (transcendental wisdom), is called prajñaparamita in Sanskrit, and is practiced while performing the other perfections.

Wisdom is not the same as “worldly intelligence”, we can be very intelligent but have little wisdom, like the scientist who can develop weapons of mass destruction but have no idea how to lead a peaceful and virtuous life. Wisdom enables one to be self-guided in virtue, ridding our minds of disturbing emotions and ignorance. Wisdom allows us to see the truth about how things really are and develop compassion towards all living beings; ultimately we gain enlightenment and become a Buddha.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in his excellent book “The Bodhisattva Vow” says “Wisdom is a virtuous mind that functions mainly to dispel doubt and confusion by understanding its object thoroughly. Wisdom practiced with bodhichitta motivation is a perfection of wisdom.”

We can gain wisdom through:
Studying the teachings of Buddha.
Citical investigation of reality.
Insight meditation. (Sanskrit: vipashyana).

Special insight is only possible if one has developed a calm abiding mind as perfected in the practice of concentration. Wisdom is a part of all of the paramitas, that is the foundations of the six perfections. To be wise is to be charitable, disciplined, patient, determined, mindful, and the result is the development of wisdom. Wisdom comes with time and cannot be hurried, we are all wiser with hindsight, our wisdom will evolve as we take each step of our lives. We will become wise when we see our truth, our failures, our successes, our efforts, and so on as just what they are, impermanent moments of our being. Letting go of these is the fruit of our wisdom.

Breathe deep, take up the challenge and change your life.

Moving like a flowing river

2006-09-22T21:15:00.000+01:00

Under heaven nothing is more soft and weaker than water.
Yet for attacking the hard and the resistant, nothing can surpass it.
The weak can conquer the strong,
The soft can conquer the hard.
Under heaven everyone knows this
Yet no one seems to apply it.
Lao Tzu

I was reminded of the above text by Lao Tzu, when I saw how different the beach looks today after yesterdays storm, millions of tonnes of pebbles have moved to form a new terrace equal in height, to the height of yesterdays high tide. And yet, when we put our hand into a bowl of water, the water molds to the shape of our hand effortlessly. Try to pick up a handful of water and water trickles through our fingers. But water, with all its softness, will cut through mountains and re-shape landscapes.

So when we change from one posture to another in Tai Chi, our movements should flow like a river, effortlessly, continuously moving and changing position with out hesitation. Just as rain drops falling on the river become part of the river, so should each posture of a form become like one long posture. And each 'drop' of internal energy combine and move like a flowing river through out our entire body.

2006-09-21T20:05:00.000+01:00

Buterflies, berievment and stormy seas.

2006-09-21T16:02:00.000+01:00

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not knowing we follow nature's course.

Ryokan

Three people use my counselling service to to help come to terms with berievment, I listen to them, we talk, I give them confedential emotional support and afterwards lite incense to Buddha, then go and sit on the beach, its sunny but very windy, large waves crash on the shore.

Breathe deep, take the challenge and change your life!

2006-09-19T21:43:00.000+01:00

When the sun shines, it is a beautiful day.
When it rains, it is a beautiful day.
When it snows it is a beautiful day.
When storm driven waves come crashing
On to the shore, it is a beautiful day.
When the light goes out at the end of the tunnel,
And life does not seem worth living, it is a beautiful day.
There is something beautiful in everything,
We have only to look.

Even when something may seem completely without beauty, lacking in virtue, or without merit of any kind, somewhere there is beauty and virtue and merit. And when life seems so bleak that there is no light at the end of the tunnel and life is not worth living, very often it is our perception of a situation, person, or thing that defines what we feel at that moment in time. If we change our perception and look, we will find beauty and virtue in every thing.

Wisdom, love and compassion is more important than the ability fight and win battles. Martial art or conflict between nations, the ability to heal, mend, and repair what is broken goes far beyond the ability to fight or cause conflict. One of the fundamental tenants of Tai-Chi-Quan is harmony, internally and externally. This coupled with a non-contentious spirit is more powerful than any martial practice on its own.

Take a moment and consider what is really the truth. Breathe deep, take the challenge, change your life.

learn to laugh, learn to relax

2006-09-16T15:02:00.000+01:00

What are the first thoughts that go through your mind when you see the photograph below? "My kind of car....." Did it make you smile? Did it make you think "What on earth...?" and laugh. If after a hard day at work you saw the photo or something like it and you smiled to your self, then you have already started to relax. If I put a picture of a Ferrari or a battle scene in a war zone instead of the photograph below, then you would have totally different thoughts occupying your mind.

Now take a look at the photograph of the "Bamboo raft and basket" and then the "Water lily at Bystock Lake" and look inside your mind, as you look at photographs think, How do they make me feel?. Did the photograph of the Raft and the basket make me feel relaxed, and the water lily did it make me feel peaceful? May be they did, may be they didn't, either way the important thing is to find something to make you smile and relax and to drain away tension.

I photographed the vehicle in a small village in Guilin, China, back in March. There are any number of small general purpose agricultural vehicles like this one, loaded to the gunnel's with agricultural produce carrying vegetables and crates of chicken to local "Farmers markets" this one was waiting to load river rafts and take them back up stream.

My kind of car.......

2006-09-15T21:16:00.000+01:00

The resting place is in our mind

2006-09-14T21:21:00.000+01:00

The world is constantly drawing our attention outward.
Create some time each day to pause, meditate
and turn the attention within again.
Like a sheet of origami paper folded back onto itself,
the mind returns to being just as it is for awhile.
Carve out a resting place,
a rock to sit on where the mountains
of your mind extend as far as you can see.
Then bring the attention back within
and see for yourself what the mind is.

Anon

Go on, put your feet up

2006-09-13T21:26:00.000+01:00

Look around us and you will see that just about everybody is overwhelmed with work, phone calls, media messages, junk mail, terrorist threats, computers, news updates, politics, war, images, noise, traffic, pollution, our minds and thought process are being bombarded with information and I believe we have reached overload, we can not take any more. Family problems, financial problems and much, much more are gradually making us ill, so I invite you to take the antidote. I invite you to take the day off. Take a day off, re-claim your “day of rest”, the day that was once present in our culture, but has now become swallowed up by our 24/7, must have it now life style. I believe that people badly need a day of rest to balance the stress of our fast-paced, stress producing lives. Every day we hurry to get so many things done, to meet urgent short-term demands. We complain about not having enough time to relax or to do the things we know are important to our well being.

All I am suggesting is to try taking one day of rest on a regular basis, one day each week, even one day each month, whatever seems doable on a regular basis and it must be on a regular basis. On this rest day, forget work, civic duties and world affairs; focus on your private life. The activities you choose to do on your day of rest depends on you the individual, but might include playing with family, visiting friends, taking a walk in the park, taking time out to appreciate the beauty of the countryside. If one is physically exhausted, take a nap, read a book, focus on having a day of rest and rejuvenate your body and mind.

After you try a couple rest days, ask yourself how it feels. Were you glad you did it? Do you feel better, more relaxed or further ‘behind' or did you find that it was OK to put off the things you would have done for a day? Was it worth it? Then ask your self “when did I last do that” or it might be “I’ll have to do that again. Then maybe you will find time to take the day off again, just for your self, to relax and unwind and put your feet up

Bamboo raft and basket Guilin

2006-09-13T09:38:00.000+01:00

Benefits of Meditation

2006-09-12T20:57:00.000+01:00

The art of meditation is the art of Shifting
the focus of attention to ever Subtler levels,
without loosing one’s grip
On the levels left behind.
Nisargadatta Maharaj

The therapeutic benefits of meditation are now well documented and are known to relieve a number of “mind made illnesses” including anxiety and heart disease as well as bring an inner freedom and personal transformation to the individual by opening the door to our consciousness and revealing aspects of our inner selves that have laid dormant for most of our lives. This can be quite liberating, the process of spring cleaning our mind can uncover deeply ingrained feelings, habits and prejudices and help us to recognize them and let go of them, giving us an inner stillness and peace of mind.

Although the benefits are many, there should be no desire achieve goals of any kind in our practice of meditation. Zen uses the term Mushotoku, which means "without any goal or profit-seeking" we should not seek any benefits from these moments, but just simply be. Just concentrate, focus and breathe. The by product of our practice over time being an improvement in:

Our emotional wellbeing
Stress relief
Lowering our anxiety levels
Controlling our anger
Reducing depression
Self confidence
Improving our self esteem

Mushotoku: The optimum state for Zen practice, in which there is no goal or object, no intention for self gain or profit.

Reflections on 911

2006-09-11T21:41:00.000+01:00

0730hrs, sitting on the beach watching the reflections of the sky on the sea and the changing colours as the sun brakes through early morning cloud, contemplating on the changes over the past five years, since the horrors of 9/11 shook the world and trying to work out what lessons we have learned.

If we accept and practice the principal of an “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” then we will never really have lasting peace and happiness in this world, we can only suffer the anxiety, fear, hatred, and the paranoia of revenge and its consequence. Revenge is not so sweet when we are on the receiving end, violence only creates violence. Nobody can escape the consequences of their actions.

To break this vicious circle someone has to have the courage to make a change, to develop love, kindness and compassion for others, then, we have a chance to live in peace and harmony. We all depend on each other; this is as much so within our families as it is between Nations, as it is between mankind and the planet we live on.

The Dalai Lama said “Benefit others....... If you can not benefit others, don’t harm them”, simple words and a simple lesson that would change the world if we practiced it.

I go home and light incense for all victims of terrorism and war.

Water Lily at Bystock lake

2006-09-10T21:04:00.000+01:00

Holding the balloon.

2006-09-10T20:46:00.000+01:00

When we are worried, our minds are in a constant state of turmoil; one thought is replaced immediately by another then another and another and we become like a balloon blown here and there in the wind.

When our mind is not peaceful, we find it very difficult to be happy. Our modern 24/7 stress filled world is slowly making us sick. There are so many reasons for us to become despondent and irritated. We allow ourselves to become bitter and angry when we allow stress to dominate our lives. When we start to feel that life is treating us badly we become unhappy, depressed, or even suicidal.

But with the systematic training required in meditation, tai chi and qigong the delusions that are the causes of all our problems and our suffering are eventually eradicated from our mind and we experience a permanent inner peace. With regular meditation, Tai Chi and Qigong practice, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful. We create an inner peace and clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. We develop a peaceful mind free from worries and mental stress, and experience a purer form of inner happiness.

We stop the “balloon being blown on the wind”.

Practicing the Eight Posture Simplified Yang Style Form

2006-09-06T21:19:00.000+01:00

It was 0630 when I walked along the seafront this morning, the sea was flat calm and a steel grey colour reflecting an overcast sky, small wavelets made a soft whooshing noise as they lapped gently on the pebble beach. It was not cold, about 20º C.

Starting the "Eight Posture Simplified Yang Style Form", I stood for a few minutes in meditation on the grass at the top of the beach then slowly stepped out with the left foot to the "Open tai chi posture", then moving slow, and controlled I held the ball and turned to the left into "parting the wild horses main" left foot forward then repeating the posture but with the right foot forward.

Without pausing I held the ball, stepped in half a step with the left, (rear foot) to form "White crane spreads it's wings" letting the ball of the right foot lightly touch the ground before moving into "Brush knee and press" with the left hand forward and stepping forward with the right foot into the same posture but with the left hand forward. Turning through 180 degrees clockwise I formed the "single whip" posture, with the right hand pressed forward and the fingers of the left hand forming the cranes beak.

Turning back, (90 degrees anti clockwise) and stepping in with the left foot I move in to "Cloud hands" circling the arms whilst stepping to the right three times. Then "Grasp the bird’s tail" this is really, three moves in one, from a right sided bow stance, we "roll back", "press", and then "push" before turning 90 degrees to the left in to the "Close posture".

The above discription of the eight posture simplified yang style form was difficult to write and no doubt just as difficult to read. I can not remember how long it took me to learn the eight posture form, but for ages I worked through the form repeating the postures over and over again until my muscles knew what to do with out me thinking of it, and I could start and end the form in the same spot blind folded.

One day after our small group had been struggling with the eight posture form, our instructor gave a demonstration of the 42 posture Yang form, it was stunning to watch and he rightly deserved the round of applause he received afterwards. When I asked him how long had he been practicing the 42 posture form, he said seven years, I can well believe it.

You can learn the eight posture form in a matter of a few weeks, to learn it properly a few months, to understand it a few years, but to feel it, a lifetime.

The Eight Posture Simplified Yang Style Form
1. Open tai chi
2. Parting the wild horses mane
3. White crane spreads its wings
4. Brush knee and press
5. Single whip
6. Cloud hands
7. Grasp the birds tail
8. Close

Tai Chi at Bystock Lake

2006-09-05T19:17:00.001+01:00

THE LOTUS
First blooming in the Western Paradise,
The lotus has delighted us for ages.
Its white petals are covered with dew,
its jade green leaves spread out over the pond,
And its pure fragrance perfumes the wind.
Cool and majestic, it raises from the murky water.
The sun sets behind the mountains
But I remain in the darkness, too captivated to leave.

Ryokan.

I went to Bystock lake and spent fourty minutes or so working through some Tai Chi forms then sat on a bench watching the ducks in the sunshine, I do not need a lot to make me happy.

Tai Chi and Qigong the Ultimate Stress Busters

2006-09-04T18:18:00.000+01:00

I have chosen to present this post from the stress sufferer’s perspective, because the benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi will then become more apparent. I am often asked:

What is stress?
Do I suffer from stress?
What are the causes of stress?
How does stress affect me?
How can I reduce or eliminate stress altogether?

Questions that are some times difficult to answer accurately, because what gives me a great deal of stress may not affect you at all and vice versa. May be someone else, under the same circumstances will react in a completely different manner to you and I. But we all have stress and prolonged stress is making us ill.

So what is Stress?
Stress has been described as “Anything that we perceive as a threat to us that triggers the “Flight and Fight Response”. The Flight and Fight Response evolved over millions of years, and enabled our cave dwelling ancestors to avoid being eaten by dinosaurs, hunt for food and fight noisy neighbors. This type of stress which is relatively short lived, today we do not run the risk of being eaten by dinosaurs, but the fight and flight response clicks into action when for example, we cross the road half asleep and hear the screech of car tires and jump out of the way. Once we are safely across the road our breathing and heart rate slows down and our blood pressure returns to normal.

How does Stress Effect People?
What is the cost of stress to the individual? Studies into the effects of stress, has linked stress to heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. More commonly stress can lead to unemployment and the breakdown of the family unit.

Do I Suffer From Stress?
The short answer is “YES”. As we have just seen we do in fact need an element of stress in our lives in order to survive. Stress sharpens the senses, makes us quick to react and respond to different situations, therefore we are all subject to stress to a greater or lesser degree. The flight and fight, type of stress is relatively short lived and will wax and wane over a period of time, it never ceases. However chronic stress factors stay with us for a long time, and it is then that we may feel trapped by the factors that cause our stress. The effects of stress then becomes accumulative and if we are subjected to several stress causing factors even for a short period of time, we are at greater risk of developing chronic illness.

A survey by the British “Health and Safety Executive”, (HSE), during 2003 and 2004 indicated that over half a million individuals in Britain believed that they were experiencing work-related stress at a level that was making them ill. This survey of work-related illness indicated that an estimated 254,000 people became aware of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in the previous 12 months. The UK HSE statistics suggest that stress-related costs to UK employers are in the region of £700m every year. The cost of stress to society however is far greater and is estimated at £7bn pa. The Stress and Health at Work Study indicated that nearly 1 in 5 of all working individuals thought their job was very or extremely stressful, and that approximately 6,500 new cases are being reported per year. And this they say is almost certainly an underestimate. (SW103/04). And these figures only relate to work related stress

Physiological effects of Stress
We observe the world about us with our five senses, if we perceive a potential threat or danger, information is sent via our nervous system to our brain in the form electrical impulses starting a chemical and hormonal chain of events known as the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, (HPA axis). The hypothalamus responds by releasing a hormone known as Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone (CRH), which activates the pituitary gland to secrete Adrenocorticotropin the hormone that causes the adrenal glands to release three additional hormones, Epinephrine (Adrenaline), Norepinephrine (Noradrenalin), and Cortisol, (Glucocorticoid).

Non-essential processes are shut down and Adrenaline and Noradrenalin, increases blood pressure and cardiac rate, it diverts blood from the gastro-intestinal system to the muscles. Digestion is stopped and we may feel nauseas and have the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. Our reaction times speed up.

Cortisol releases glucose from the liver along with fats, which are released into the blood stream as fuel to power the muscles. Oxygen is needed to burn the fuel so our breathing rate increases. Our heart rate and blood pressure increases to accommodate the need to get oxygen and fuel to the muscles where we respond to the threat by running away or standing our ground and fighting. As already stated acute type of stress dissipates over time but if the problem causing our stress does not go away then we may start to suffer from the cronic effects of stress and find we suffer with the followig.

Headaches
Increased blood pressure and heart rate
Sweating
Tightness of the chest
Difficulty breathing
Hyperventilation
Tremors
Nervous tics
Dryness of the mouth and throat
Feelings of lethargy and fatigue
Insomnia
Diarrhea and stomach pains
Decreased libido
Obesity or weight loss
Bruxism (teeth grinding).
Back aches or neck pain
Susceptibility to illness
Palpitations (heart pounding or skipped beats).
Muscle tightness or tension
Skin disorders
Heartburn and acid stomach
Osteoporosis and bone fractures

What is Qigong

2006-09-03T08:04:00.000+01:00

For thousands of years, Traditional Chinese Medicine has included the use of Chinese pharmacology, herbalism, acupuncture, massage and Qigong. But although Qigong has proven effective for a range of diseases and conditions, and is used extensively by tens of millions of people daily around the world for preventative medicine and self-healing, it has not received widespread acceptance by Western medical practitioners. Qigong focuses on the cultivation of the universal life force/energy, “Qi”, for the maintenance of good health.

The management of Qi for good health, was first postulated in the Chinese Classic, the “Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine”, which is considered to be a reflection of medical accomplishment dating from the Warring States Period (476-221 BC). Good health results from a well balanced, free flowing Qi energy which is encouraged by regular Qigong practice. In Qigong we combine breathing techniques with slow physical movements and standing meditation to relieve tension in the body. When our body relaxes, our mind relaxes as well, and the division between the mind and body dissolves enabling us to create a higher state of consciousness. This expanded awareness leads to greater mental clarity and a healthier physical and emotional state.

Chinese Philosophy suggests there are three basic types of Qi, Heaven Qi,(Tian Qi), the Qi of the Universe, and the largest most powerful form of Qi, Earth Qi, (Di Qi), the Qi that is contained within our planet and Human Qi (Ren Qi). Human Qi regulates our growth, vitality, spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance. Human Qi also known as the three treasures is comprised of:

1. Jing
2. Qi
3. Shen

The First Treasure 'Jing'

Jing is described as "vital essence." And is the Qi concentrated in the sperm and ova. Jing Qi, is passed on to us by our parents at the moment of conception. Jing provides the foundation for all human activity and is said to be the "root" of our vitality, or the primal energy of life and is closely associated with our genetic potential and the aging process. The quantity of “vital essence” at the moment of our conception is said to determine both our life span and the ultimate vitality of our life.

Over a period of time Jing is burned up in the body by life itself, and when jing is depleted below a level required to survive, we die. Our stress filled 24/7 life styles especially chronic and acute stress and excessive behavior, including overwork, excessive emotions, substance abuse, chronic pain or illness, and sexual excess (especially in men), burn up jing or vital essence prematurely.

The Second Treasure, ‘Qi’
Qi is the internal and external energy of human beings and is obtained from the air we breathe and the food we eat, Qi from our parents (jing), and the Qi that surrounds our body or is projected from our body (External Qi). Internal Qi, is the total amount of Qi inside our bodies and includes the Qi that circulates through our organs and meridians (Qi pathways)

The sum of modest lifestyle practices (correct eating, avoiding excesses, etc.), breathing properly, meditating, qigong exercises and studying one’s subtle physical, emotional and mental changes related to the environment all help regulate qi.

The Third Treasure ‘Shen’

Shen is the third and most important of the Three Treasures and can be described as Mind or Spirit. Shen directs Qi and reflects our higher nature as human beings. Chinese masters say that shen is the all-embracing love that resides in our heart. Shen has been described as “the spiritual radiance of a human being and is the ultimate and most refined level of energetics in the universe”.

Shen is not considered to be an emotion or even a state of mind. It presides over the emotions and manifests as all-encompassing compassion, and non-discriminating, non-judgemental awareness. Shen can be expressed as love, compassion, kindness, generosity, acceptance, forgiveness and tolerance.

The Practice of Tai Chi

2006-09-02T19:27:00.000+01:00

Today our lives are so full with pressure from work, families, money problems and having to be in two places at the same time, that we give our selves little time to relax and listen to our inner selves. We may not even feel part of the planet we live on, travelling through space in our own stress filled bubble, yearning for a different way of life. We may not realise that the slow, graceful, dance like movements of the Tai Chi practitioners in the TV intermission, could have a considerable impact on how we control our lives and cope with the stress we suffer in our modern western world with all the complexity of 24/7 lifestyles.

Practicing Tai Chi allows me the time, in an otherwise very busy daily schedule that is time just for me, a time of quiet and gentle exercise, the experience of stillness in movement. When practicing Tai Chi on the beach with the music of the waves or by “Bystock Lake” with it’s blossoming water lilies and the smell of pine resin, the practice of Tai Chi becomes a time for grounding and becoming at one with the universal life force. At times when life at work becomes unbearable I am sometimes able to think through the “eight posture” form and remember what it feel like when I practice Tai Chi and relax, or when I wake up worried in the night, I go into the front room and work through a form and go back to bed stress free.

Physically, Tai Chi and Qigong has improved my breathing and increased my lung capacity after heart bypass surgery. Regular Tai Chi practice has improved my balance and suppleness, I have become more coordinated and relaxed and not so inclined to get angry and frustrated by hustle and bustle of everyday living, I have become a much calmer person as a result of practicing Tai Chi plus my concentration and co-ordination has improved.

My research into Tai Chi and Qigong has introduced me to a history, a philosophy and a culture that has its roots in the Chou Dynasty over 2000 years ago and may have been influenced by a tradition that is even older. Tai Chi and Qigong has become more than just an evening class but a way of life, I believe I have benefited physically and mentally as result of regular Tai Chi practice, and I believe that a lot of other people would benefit from the experience too.