"So, you are ready to renounce everything," a John said. Then he smiled and added, "Words are spoken with ease, my good friend, compared to the actual experience of this discipline, although there are some key seekers who live in the forest quite comfortably. Some live without irritation; not ... Views: 1099
The forest was deliciously cool now, waiting silently, reverently for the day ahead, while lively birds and animals greeted the new morning with their familiar cries. The trail was a lush, fragrant tunnel of large ferns, bamboo groves, and tropical flowers surrounded by endless trees, foliage, ... Views: 621
A John replied, "Your selfless service in helping others during the end times of your sphere has rewarded you with an opportunity to exist without the burden of a body, but still able to enjoy the senses of sight, hearing and thinking. Without deeper understanding however, your return to a ... Views: 644
"To curb both of your curiosities," he said, "I will briefly mention the roadblocks, but they will be difficult for you to grasp at this stage of your development. At any rate, there are ten roadblocks that prevent you from your key. By overcoming the first three, you will establish Stream ... Views: 725
A John began by instructing me to sit cross-legged on the ground, while he stuffed some straw just under the tip of my tailbone, but not too much - he cautioned that too much straw would surely cause my legs to fall sleep. Then he tucked my left heel between my legs and placed my right foot on ... Views: 655
I walked back to where a John was waiting and told him about the skeleton. He said he was well aware of the tragic situation and then told me the rest of the story.
"Soon after the woman died, her body was placed in a sealed box and stored beneath one of the huts to cure, for it would take two ... Views: 721
A John was tireless, and continued with his story, "These forest dwellers made another tremendous breakthrough. They discovered ‘kamma,' the part of us that continues after death. What continues after death is rather complicated so I will go slowly. Whenever you act, this act is remembered by ... Views: 674
The swelling was getting worse. I said to a John as he dressed my wound, "I would like to understand kamma more completely, just in case I don't make it."
"Your mind will never comprehend kamma fully, for it is very complicated - its tentacles reach in all directions. Only your heart can ... Views: 691
I couldn't make out what it was at first, but then to my horror I discovered what was now curled in my robes; a large cobra! This was no imaginary ghost; this was real.
I could hardly breathe. I immediately launched into the inner work to keep my body still, but it was impossible to concentrate ... Views: 693
Of all the things in the world that we can think of, kindness is the one that cuts through all barriers. Since Barack Obama has been running for office, people of color have begun feeling good about themselves, and white people have begun feeling good about people of color. Maybe soon, people of ... Views: 852
The first five steps of sainthood spelled out in my previous two articles on the subject are not too difficult to understand. These last five, however, can be challenging, especially to common, non-saintly folks like us who might not have personal, deep discussions with God to fall back on! ... Views: 726
There once was a man who thought that he knew. He thought that he knew about life and the afterlife. One day, he was asked how he knew, and he replied that the knowledge was given to him. Who gave it, he was asked, and he said that it was given through his holy book, and that he was certain that ... Views: 859
When we fall in love, we are blinded from these three signs. This is Mother Nature's way of making sure that babies happen! After about two years, however, we regain our perspective, and these three signs begin to show up.
If you are very aware, you can notice them almost immediately even ... Views: 739
A glass half-empty is discouraging, but not as discouraging as how misled people can be when a glass half-full is perceived as brimming over the top. War is discouraging, too, especially wars that seem to go on forever. It's as if the countries involved grow to believe that everything is ... Views: 2168
Some say that moms are the most important people in the world, after all; where would we be without moms? And dads too. We wouldn’t be at all!!
Sisters and brothers can be very important in our lives, and in many ways create the foundations of what we are by testing us throughout our life’s ... Views: 991
Good looking, intelligent, personable, self-assured, these are important, but if the most important thing is missing, the relationship could be doomed. Usually we are attracted by physical attributes, the most obvious being gender, but build, height, hair color – all of these count too. Then we ... Views: 1845
Something quite dramatic is happening in the political arena - a new vision nothing like the old politics of greed, hatred, and spin. Accustomed as we are to division, bickering, and animosity, this will take some getting used to - and may not happen in this cycle – but it is coming.
Voicing ... Views: 853
Huge shifts are occurring all over the world. It’s as if a new awareness is in its beginning birth pangs. People who have been repressed and treated unfairly for years, generations, are suddenly and spontaneously rising up, rejecting the old, fighting for justice and truth regardless of personal ... Views: 1208
When we cannot just "be," then we have to be "something," and when we have to be something, we have to set goals. When we set goals, however, we are never satisfied until the goal is reached, and therefore, it is only when there are no goals that we can just "be."
Just being has its ... Views: 519
The important thing is to never lose a religious argument, and this article will tell you exactly how to do that - beginning with the first rule: Don't make the usual mistakes! The usual mistakes include circling arguments. You will be challenged on circling arguments every time because they are ... Views: 721
They say the Bible has seven levels. If the level at which one understands the bible determines one's status in the next world, or heaven, one's understanding is very important. So, at what level do you understand the Bible? This understanding would manifest as the first idea that comes to mind ... Views: 5930
The farmer found the mare lying on her side near the edge of the pasture. She was lying peacefully, almost as if sleeping; only occasionally raising her head to look back at where her first-born was soon to meet this wondrous world. It was as if she had done this many times, and perhaps she had, ... Views: 826
Once there was a little tree. It had a special place all to itself in a beautiful forest, and with the warm winds and gentle rains, the seedling began to grow. Soon, a few small leaves appeared, and the little tree spent the long summer days opening itself to the sun.
For some reason, however, ... Views: 9290
Ask any educator today about the purpose of teaching, and they will more than likely say that it is to bestow knowledge, not much different from programming a computer. But is that the true purpose of teaching, or is that only an obsession with past, dead information? Another educator might say ... Views: 581
It's never easy when what we have been accustomed to is pulled out from under us. We see the warning signs, perhaps for a long time, but we just don't pay attention to them. Then, one day, when everything suddenly changes, we feel blindsided. We feel abused, hurt and rejected in some way because ... Views: 661
No, it's not to make babies! Although making babies is a very important consideration regarding the propagation of our species, especially in Europe and the United States where the birth rate is plummeting, it's not the prime purpose. And it's not to keep you company. Or make you financially or ... Views: 593
It can really get heavy at times. I was recently corresponding with a good friend of mine who mentioned that he didn’t think that he was capable of developing a calm mind in such a chaotic world, which might be a common problem for a lot of us. With stress levels at an all time high, a ... Views: 706
I made my way back toward the monastery and noticed a middle-aged man waiting near the entrance; he had his hands clasped, indicating that he would like to speak with me. When I walked over to where he was waiting, he said, “Thank you for a moment of your time. I must make a difficult decision ... Views: 574
These very special gateways are usually spurned by just about everybody. When the gateways conspicuously pop up in our lives, as they regularly do, we do back-flips to avoid them. They are distasteful, in some ways frightening, and make us feel absolutely miserable. So why bother discussing them ... Views: 470
When you do good, you get good in return; when you do bad, bad things happen to you. Doing good expands and loosens the heart; doing bad restricts and tightens the heart until the heart shrivels and dies. Then there is just a shell left, full of hatred and fear.
Discipline is the first step in ... Views: 420
A mounting problem exists both in our schools and in our culture. Teens gone wild, reckless spending and irresponsibility by adults, it's all coming to fruition in an economy and culture teetering on the edge of a serious downturn.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, as everyone waits, idling, in ... Views: 436
1. Misunderstanding what a relationship is all about.
A relationship is an opportunity to give, rather than take. If one or both partners have plastered on their forehead, "What's in this for me," things will get dicey. The key to a successful relationship is always uncompromising trust, and ... Views: 624
1. Confusing the real purpose of a relationship.
Relationship is a mirror in which you can see yourself in reflection. You may think that you are a certain way, but relationship will reveal the true you every time. Therefore, the real purpose of relationship is to understand yourself. Once you ... Views: 512
1. Relying on your feelings rather than your intuition.
Feelings regarding a new relationship will almost always involve powerful lust. This is natural. When an interest grows sexually, it grows as quickly and as surely as a child. Each interaction doubles the desire until the need to be ... Views: 566
To most of us, God is an abstract thing, so isn't it curious that we fight over our differences concerning God? Maybe this is because few actually devote their lives to piercing the abstract and coming face-to-face with God. The reason, perhaps, that few search for God is because when they do, ... Views: 713
I am Buddhist, and while practicing meditation, I detected thoughts blossoming, one after the other, in a corner of my mind. Each one initially appeared as a single frame but quickly developed into a storyline, a dramatic movie. It might begin with a picture of myself sitting cross-legged and ... Views: 793
When we cry for a loved one that has died, either we cry for ourselves or we cry for humanity, never for our loved one. Many will not agree with this, but it is true. The tears are more often than not an expression of our own fear of not having our loved one with us any longer to keep us ... Views: 640
How do we go about understanding ourselves? This is a very important question because if we don't understand ourselves, how are we going to change? Do we wait for divine intervention to create our pure hearts, or do we do something proactive? If we are not sure, then why not try both ways and ... Views: 739
The Buddha was called the great physician. In his quintessential teaching: The Four Noble Truths, he took us under his wing, as a good doctor should, to care for his favorite patients. In his First Truth, he diagnosed us as being very ill. In his second, he explained exactly what was making us ... Views: 923
War is the opposite of peace. When we say that we wage war in order to secure the peace, this is delusion, this is being ignorant of the truth of the moment, which is war, and replacing it with an ideal for the future, which is peace. It is a shell game. If we believe and confuse ourselves with ... Views: 971
One of the most powerful weapons in the world is compassion. The least powerful is control. The two are surely at odds with each other, and it certainly seems that power and control would trump wimpy compassion any old day. But in actuality, compassion, a weapon of least distraction, is not only ... Views: 1370
Who has time to consider such lofty questions, even though the answer to this question is the answer to all of your stress. Yet we refuse to look at what we are. We think that continuing to do what we are doing will somehow magically relieve our stress someday. How is that working?
The ... Views: 1184
It can sneak up on you like a thief in night; change that is. One day, you are content and happy with your life, and the next, it's as if you find yourself living on mars.
Everything around you has somehow changed, and you haven't, or maybe you have changed and everything else has remained ... Views: 611
When we say that we are a Christian, or Buddhist, Jew, Muslim, or Hindu, what does that mean? When I was a faith-based Christian, it meant that I believed. I believed in God, Jesus, the Church, and I believed in Catholicism. I was proud of being a Catholic. It didn't matter whether my beliefs ... Views: 906
This is a very important question; what interests you most, because your answer to this question determines your destiny. So before you answer, look carefully at all the options and decide which is truly the one thing that interests you more than any other.
The obvious ones - relationship, ... Views: 1151
Ask anyone about the soul and more often than not, you will get a blank stare, or the soul might be explained as a spirit, a part of God, our basic being, or our true essence. But there has never been a good, logical explanation. So here goes!
Although according to Buddhism the soul does not ... Views: 980
Below our conscious mind is a stream of subconscious, emotional activity. Buddhists call this stream the Life Continuum Consciousness, or the Bhavanga. Sometimes we call it just karma. It is what remains with us from lifetime to lifetime and impels us to do what we do, whether they are good ... Views: 555
Let's say that a caveperson makes some baskets. Other cavepeople like the baskets, and trade some fruits and berries for a basket. This is legitimate. But let's say that an enterprising caveperson prints some money, and uses that to pay for a basket. Then, the basket maker only holds a piece of ... Views: 559
This is a profound question, "What should we be?" Should we be aggressive and ambitious, or compassionate and passive? Should we be a little of both? Or maybe something completely different from aggression, ambition, compassion, and passivity? Can we ever be what we should be, even if that ... Views: 411
There comes a time in most people’s lives when they look back. Perhaps after the kids are gone, or when their faculties are almost gone! Or when they are more inclined to surrender rather than put up the good fight anymore. We all have to surrender, eventually.
We might long for a sense of ... Views: 1399