Just Being

Nothing in the cry

of cicadas

suggests

they are about to die

- Basho

Simply Zen

My daily activities are not unusual,
I'm just naturally in harmony with them.

Grasping nothing, discarding nothing...

Supernatural power and marvellous activity –
Drawing water and carrying firewood. -

Layman Pang-yun (740-808)

True Theology?

One of the stories collected by a popular story-teller in India goes something like this: Once a parachutist found himself caught up in a storm, and he was swept off several kilometers away from his original destination.

He landed on the top of a tree, and was only happy his life was saved.

He saw someone passing by, and called out to him and asked, "Sir, can you tell me, where I am?" Came the answer, "You are on the top of a tree."

The parachutist said." Are you a theologian?"

At this the other man was simply wonder-struck.

He asked the parachutist. "Yes I am, but how do you know that?".

The parachutist replied. "Oh that is easy. Because what you said is correct, but useless!"
Theology can state many correct things, and yet become quite useless and even ridiculous when it fails to identify its topos, its location.

A general theology would be a theology on the top of a tree, in the clouds.

That is why every theology has to be really located, has to be contextual.

This is what the experiences in our Third World societies continue to impress upon us.

All true theology can only be partial.

Paradoxically, we can say that, precisely because the Ultimate Reality is total, all our theology can only be partial. This is not something new. In fact it has always been so.

But the difference is that certain theologies claimed to be total theologies are unaware of the fact that they were only universalizing what has been a particular, historically and culturally limited experience.

Here I would like to recall an experience narrated to me by a friend from Nepal who is an expert also in Buddhism.

He took a group of theology students to a Buddhist monastery.

After the chief monk spoke, the young students were vying with each other in putting critical questions to the monk.

One of them argued this way: If Buddhism teaches that desire is the root cause of all suffering and that we should free ourselves from desires, then, there will still remain at least one desire the desire not to have desires. Perfect logic, of course! But the response of the experienced monk was simple: "This means, my friend," said the monk, you are not yet ready for Enlightenment."

We need to first walk a bit on the path to experience and understand it.

This is how every authentic theology needs to begin.

But where does this path lie?

Life is today the path on which we encounter God, and it is in walking on the path of life in a determined context that true contextual theology takes flesh and bone.

Song of Eknath

How sweet is the curdling of liquid ghee.

So blissful is the seeker, when the hidden one reveals his form.

Dark is he, dark is the totally unknown and locked is the way to thoughts and words: the scriptures are silent, the Vedas do not utter a word.

Not so the revealed one.

How bright! How near!

Our thirst is quenched if only he appears, who is so dear to our heart. The ever perfect one, eternal bliss, being and thought - see, it is Govinda, source of ecstasy and rapture.

Strength, courage, honor, and exalted spirit - see, we witness our God sharing all this.

If I catch a glimpse of God, my eye-sight is restored.

I have escaped the net of life, the guilt of my senses is cancelled.

In the light of the lamp all hidden things are made apparent - so it is when I think of my God: the god from faraway is here!

Eknath was a scholar, fluent in Marathi, Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. He wrote Bhavartha Ramayana, Rukmini Swayamvara, Eknathi Bhagavata and numerous abhangas and bharudas. Many incidents in his life, tell about how he fought against untouchability. He shocked the contemporary Brahmin community by such deeds. He faced their anger by holding a crying untouchable child in his arms, or serving food to untouchables instead of inviting Brahmins or giving Ganga-Jal to a dying donkey.
Eknath is known as a scholar of the Bhagvata Purana. The Jnaneshwari, which is available today, is the one amended amd edited by Sant Eknath.

The community of Humanity

Actually, we are all part of the community of humanity.

If humanity is happy, has a successful life, a happy future, automatically, I will benefit.

If humanity suffers, I too will suffer.

Humanity is like one body, and we are part of that body. Once you realize this, once you cultivate this kind of attitude, you can bring about a change in your way of thinking.

A sense of caring, commitment, discipline, oneness with humanity--these are very relevant in today's world.

I call this secular ethics, and this is the first level to counter negative emotions.

The second level in this connection is taught by all major religious traditions, whether Christian or Muslim or Jewish or Hindu.

They all carry the message of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, and discipline.

These are countermeasures for negative emotions. When anger is about to surface, when hatred is about to flare up, think of tolerance. It is important to stop any mental dissatisfaction when we feel it because it leads to anger and hatred.

Patience is the countermeasure for mental dissatisfaction.

Greed and its self-centeredness bring unhappiness, and also destruction of the environment, exploitation of others, and increases the gap between the rich and the poor.

The countermeasure is contentment.

So practicing contentment is useful in our daily lives.

....All religious traditions talk about methods of compassion and forgiveness.

If we accept religion, we should take the religious methods seriously and sincerely and use them in our daily lives. Then, a meaningful life can develop.

from "Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and Advice on Right Living"

by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,

edited by Renuka Singh

Dust and Ashes

Here you see a naked Sadhu performing a painful and difficult act of penance according to the Hindu tantric tradition.

The Western religious teacher, and in particular the 'Christian' onlooker may express dismay, shock, and may even feel disgusted at this 'vulgar' display of the naked body. Some may even call this 'satanism' and 'devil worship'.

The Christian, [and maybe the Jew] has always been so obsessed with 'covering up'. The Christian religious rituals [and jew and Mohamedan] have vestments that are elaborate and cover up one's nakedness. And yet, According to Christian tradition, we aere all created 'in God's Image'.

St. Francis of Assissi was known to have thrown off all his clothes at the defining moment of spiritual revelation. He stood stark naked in front of a whole crowd of the elite and the commoners and renounced his father's wealth. He stood there, sky clad, in all his created glory and said "Now I can truly say, Our Father in Heaven". The Bishop covered him with his cloak. But a few minutes later, he gave away that cloak to a poor beggar, walking away naked. he later wore clothes of coarse sackcloth.

Why are Christians so ashamed of their god-given bodies?

In Hindu tradition, the priest actually strips down to the very basics to worship. To belong to nature. To stand humbled before the Power.

Renunciation in the East has been achieved through the shedding of clothes. Many great Teachers and saints were sky-clad. Mahavir and the other founders of the Jain religion did not wear clothes, but they did cover their mouths so as not to harm tiny insects. Even today, there are many Gurus in the Indian tradition who have renounced clothes.

To be unclad is not to be indecent. One can go around as naked as the day he was born, with a clear mind, devoid of attachment. One can wear the longest cloak and protest his modesty, and yet be indecent and lecherous in his mind.

[series to continue]

Like the Ocean

Magnanimous Mind

Is like a mountain,

Stable and impartial;

Exemplifying the ocean, it

Reflects the broadest perspective.

Dogen [1200 -1253]

Where?

The fish trap exists because of the fish.

Once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap.

The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit.

Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare.

Words exist because of meaning.

Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?

~Chuang Tzu