"At that time the Buddha gave a gradual instruction to the householder Upali (the Royal barber from the low caste) on giving, morality, heaven, finding fault with carelessness, no longer being engrossed with sensual pressures, and the merits of renunciation. Upali's mind was ready, supple, free from hindrances, exuberant, and dedicated, and so the Buddha proclaimed the teachings of all the Buddhas, that is, suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the path to the end of suffering."

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Time to start squeezing!


Please allow me to start off this blog with a little trivia; the reason will become apparent down the road.

The mass of an adult human brain is approximately 2.87 to 3.1 pounds; a newborn human brain is about 0.77 to 0.88 pounds. The average Male's brain weighs 3 pounds; the average Female's brain weighs 2.8 pounds.
The brain of the genius Albert Einstein weighed 2.71 pounds, a bit lighter than the average male of female, I wonder why?
Maybe he’s was trying, and succeeding, to do what I am, emptying his mind of all his useless thought.
Is that even possible?

I tend to think so, and believe it is of the utmost importance on our path of awakening. I call it squeezing out the sponge; others may call it emptying the tea cup. Those familiar with Zen have all heard the story of the university professor who went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
I myself tend to think my mind is filled with tons of useless information, judgments, beliefs, ideas; the list goes on and on, all filling my mind like a sponge, and not till I squeeze out the sponge will I have room for clarity.

Time to start squeezing!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Like Moths To A Flame


First allow me to apologize, I truly have had a hard time keeping up with my blogging, it’s kind of hard when the weather is so great!
As of late I’ve been writing like a fool, I’m working on a chapter on the pervasiveness of ignorance and the magnetic ability of ignorance to attract like minded ignorant, moths to a flame.
I’m getting a little afraid that the flame is getting bigger and is drawing more moths.
I have a bad habit; I fall asleep listening to the radio, a habit I got into after leaving the Navy a zillion years ago. I think my mind just got so use to the sound of the giant ship propellers turning and making constant noise.
The noise of my choice now, talk radio, the place all the crazies’ converse.
Not that I am the wisest, in fact I may also suffer from ignorance, but give me a break, just because someone says something does not mean its so! Have people lost the ability to think critically?
Sadly, except for Saturday nights, I sadly fall asleep to some of the most ignorant dribble I have ever heard. True I could shut off the radio, but it has always fascinated me how individuals add two and two and get five.
Who are these geniuses that infect the waves with their distorted perceptions and ignorant conclusions, people will say the weirdest shit even if it has no basis in reality.
As of late ignorance has popped ups its ugly head when it comes to religion, the favorite whipping post of the ignorant.
Now I’ll be one of the first to admit I care little for dogma, all dogma, but the ones that verbally attack it with out understanding it are truly dumb.
Fact, within just about every major religion there are factions that believe, practice, and worship in different ways, there are sects, sub-sects, orthodox, non-orthodox, monks, laypeople, and the list goes on and on. Yet everyone loves to lump what they don’t understand into one group, believing all affiliated with a certain group hold the same beliefs and opinions.
For instance: who has not heard of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, the fundamentalist Christian group that shows up at military funerals, anti-gay rallies, and all assorted hateful protests. Do we judge all Christians by the actions of this ignorant flock, of coarse not. Does every Christian believe that Pat Robertson or the Pope does a direct pipeline to God, of coarse not.
So here we have these ignorant commentators challenging a president’s Christian beliefs when we don’t even know what type of Christianity they are talking about. Are they talking about Christians that believe in polygamy, or how about Christianity that drove the European continent into the Medieval Inquisition, or the Spanish Inquisition, or the Portuguese Inquisition, or even the Roman Inquisition, hundreds of years of blood shed over ignorance.
Instead of embracing the fact that we have a president that claims to be Christian, a president that was given a Muslim name by his parents, instead of seeing a person that understands two major religions they demonize him, how ignorant. If your of the opinion that there is only one path up a mountain your no different than the ignorant from the Westboro Church.
While I’m venting, most of these talking heads love to revise history, love to talk as if they know the beliefs of the founding fathers, and feel that we should all believe the way they did, without understanding the mindset of the time. Can you say Deism?
Deism is essentially the view that God exists, but that He is not directly involved in the world. Deism pictures God as the great “clockmaker” who created the clock, wound it up, and let it go. A deist believes that God exists and created the world, but does not interfere with His creation. Deists deny the Trinity, the inspiration of the Bible, the deity of Christ, miracles, and any supernatural act of redemption or salvation.
Am I a Deist, no, but Thomas Paine was, so was Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and George Washington, there beliefs were a byproduct of the time they lived, the Enlightenment.

On the other side of the coin, only the ignorant would follow a leader that distorts the tenants of a peaceful religion to justify political aspirations, and only the ignorant would actually listen to idiots that distort the truth. I think I’ll turn off the radio.



“There is no darkness but ignorance.”…William Shakespeare

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Am I Dreaming?


Let me get this straight, every night each and every one of us closes our eyes, falls asleep, and dreams. In these dreams, which most of us will forget in the morning, we experience a dream world that includes individuals, objects, emotions, sensations, all very similar to our waking world? In the dream we experience an illusionary existence created by our mind, so strong at times we feel pain in the dream, experience love in the dream, and when we were younger enjoyed sex in our dreams. The entire dream is but a projection of mind, a movie of sort where sometimes you participate and other times you observe.
The only difference between dream consciousness and day consciousness is in one state your eyes are closed, the other your eyes are open, but both are truly dreams.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My Bodhisattva of the Month Gabor Mate

Gabor Mate

You never know who the Bodhisattva is. The Sanskrit term Bodhisattva is the name given to anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhichitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
What makes someone a Bodhisattva is her or his dedication to the ultimate welfare of other beings, as expressed in the prayer:
“May I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.”

In this video you will meet Dr. Gabor Mate, voted by me as the Bodhisattva of the month.


Friday, May 28, 2010

I’m Done! No More Negative People!


I’m done! No more negative people!
Time, if it does really exist, is short and I don’t have time for negative people. I’m not sure what’s up but there seems to be an abundance of negative people on this planet. What’s the deal with that?
Have you ever noticed happy individuals? Have you ever noticed the simplicity of their lives?
Maybe that’s the key, simplicity.
The happiest people I have ever met live outside their respective heads. Rarely do they use words such as “I”, “Me” or “Mine”. They seem much more interested in you then they are with themselves.
Nothing is more boring than individual drama.
Now don’t think I don’t care for people, on the contrary I care deeply, just not in you dramas or egocentric rants.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Buddha



He’s a small trivial fact for my friends: Today is the Buddha Purnima, the Buddha’s birthday. Buddha Purnima falls on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Vaisakh (April/May). Lord Buddha was born on the Full Moon day in the month of Vaisakh in 563 BC. It is also pertinent that Buddha achieved enlightenment and Nirvana (salvation) on the same day (the Full Moon day). Thus, Buddha Purnima also marks the death anniversary.

Friday, May 21, 2010

They Will Kill Me


As I was cleaning out some of my old blogs, many written years ago, I came across one that I had forgot about. I laughed for a very long time when this happened and I hope you will enjoy it.

I must admit, this truly happened to me the other day:
For those that do not know me up close and personal, I cut hair. Well, the other day I was cutting the hair of a very young man, of maybe ten years old. Beside me, overlooking stood his father, when the little one said to me “They are going to kill you!”
Looking at his reflection in the mirror, I asked whom.
“The Freemasons.” he responded sure in his answer.
I knew instantly he must have seen my ring and laughed gently.
I told him I was safe, and that I was a Freemason.
He told me, “They will kill you for saying that.”
All I could do was laugh; his father bowed his head and shook it back and forth.
From the mouth of babes!