At the moment of death, to rely on our minds?

When we die we leave everything behind, especially this body we have cherished so much and relied upon so blindly and tried so hard to keep alive.

But our minds are no more dependable than our bodies.

Just look at your mind for a few minutes.

You will see that it is like a flea, constantly hopping to and fro.

You will see that thoughts arise without any reason, without any connection.

Swept along by the chaos of every moment, we are the victims of the fickleness of our minds.

If this is the only state of consciousness we are familiar with, then to rely on our minds at the moment of death is an absurd gamble.

- Sogyal Rinpoche

Fundamentalism means loss of innocence

We are living in a world that keeps growing crazier.

When we see 'sin' in everything.

When we discover 'abuse' even in the most ordinary of happenings.

When we forget what innocence and freedom means.

When we sacrifice our God-given intelligence to mouldy religious texts.

Our spiritual growth grinds to a halt.

Conflict happens.

War errutpts.

Jihad will be followed by Crusade.

Crusade will be countered by Hinduditva.

Drop everything.

Get naked.

Return to innocence.

Legacy

My legacy -

What will it be?

Flowers in spring,

The cuckoo in summer,

And the crimson maples

Of autumn ...

- Ryokan (1758-1831)

Dewdrops on a maple leaf

p.143

Translated by John Stevens

You are blessed, click here

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

Mountain fruit drop in the rain
and grass insects sing under my oil lamp.

White hair, after all, can never change
as yellow gold cannot be created.

If you want to know how to get rid
of age, its sickness, study nonbeing.

- Wang Wei, 699-761

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

Wedding at Cana

Quakers say that God has nothing else but you;
only you -- that's what God has.

This insight has to penetrate deeply.
Jesus Christ. 

The Buddha.
The great 'yes' sayers.

And so, was Mary the Mother of Jesus.
Another great 'yes' sayer.

She's not the pathetic, long faced, woman the Christian artists make her out to be.

Look in the Bible.

There was this feast. A wedding feast.

Everyone was making merry and then- oh no!- they run short of wine.

Wine. the stuff that flows and that which makes Bacchus dance.

If Mary was the sanctimonius, 'no-sayer' and spoil-sport,
the first ever recorded miracle of Jesus would never have happened!


Mary was no 'Naga Mother against Alcoholism'!
She goes up to her son, taps him on the shoulder and says
'They have no wine.' 

Just like any mum would tell her son. (And that's enough of a hint that she wants him to do something about it!)

Jesus, just like the playful fellow that he is, teases her
"Woman, why do you bother me, what can i do about it?"

Mary probably sees the twinkle in her son's eyes.
She tells the servants of the house. 'Do whatever he tells you."

And Jesus asks them to fill the wine jars with water.
And to take a sampling to the Chief steward of the feast.

The guy in charge of the booze takes a sip.

And the steward is amazed.
He tells the servants, "Where have you been keeping this good stuff?'

"Usually the best wines are served first
and when everybody is a bit sozzled, you roll out the inferior stuff.
But you chaps have kept the best wine for later!"

What better example of the fun-loving, yes-saying nature
of Jesus Christ and his Mother.

Yet , it's so sad that the so-called 'pious Christians' 

have taken the exuberance of the gospels
and twisted them the into a long-faced, painful, hypocritical religion

of enforced piety

of mumbling beads

of a spurious sense of  'holiness'

and there's a 'nay-sayer' at every turn.

THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD 1

THE BASIS OF TRUE LIFE IS DEATH

Perspective on Buddhism

Who speaks the sound of an echo?
Who paints the image in a mirror?
Where are the spectacles in a dream?
Nowhere at all -- that's the nature of mind!
- Tantric Buddhist Women's Songs 8th - 11th c.



Buddhism, like other religions, expresses through its myths and legends humanity's deepest aspirations and hopes to transcend the limitations of finite existence.

Gautama Buddha, also known as Sakyamuni Buddha, was born in India more than 2,500 years ago, around 563 B.C. He lived some 80 years, dying in 483 B.C.

In Japan the occasion of his birth on April 8 was singled out as the Hanamatsuri, or flower festival. In northern countries the advent of spring and a new agricultural season was a time for the revitalization of life and renewal of hope. It heralded the emergence of beauty in a barren world.

Through Gautama's birth stories and his life, Buddhism conveyed a message of universal spiritual liberation and emancipation from the domination of circumstance and fate. According to the story, the future Buddha chose the time, place and parents for his birth. When he was born, he spoke, talked and walked -- things no ordinary child can do at birth.

He transcended time and space, which place severe limits on our ordinary human life. After his birth, a sage, Ajita, prophesied that the child would become a universal monarch, a leader in the political realm or a Buddha who liberates people from all forms of bondage.

Through such legendary incidents Buddhism proclaimed that despite our human limitations, there is a way to surmount and rise above the narrow confines of our spiritual outlook and experience. There is more to us and life than we can ordinarily perceive; we are all potential Buddhas.

According to Buddhism, the fulfillment of our potential depends on the inner life of the mind and spirit. What we do with our minds is the key to our destiny. When we come to understand the nature of our minds and consciousness, completely new perspectives on reality and human relations open up to us.

Consequently, a central feature of Buddhism has been meditation. Meditation has taken many forms in its history, though most popular today is sitting meditation to calm and still the mind, enabling us to confront the challenges of daily life.

Our attachments and addictions to external things blind us to our true self. We come into competition and conflict with others in the pursuit of worldly goods. Advertisements aim to convince people of the necessity of products. Our acquisitions define the self. We measure our value by success in our work, the size of our house, the model of our car, the number of our shoes or jewelry.

Buddhism teaches that life is marked by three signs: suffering, impermanence and nonsubstantiality. The first noble truth is, Life is suffering. Despite our affluence, we suffer from dissatisfaction, frustration, anxieties. This suffering is caused by the transiency of life, changes in our health. Our social and financial situation threatens our identities, leading to depression and despair. Our suffering results from not recognizing that the things to which we are attached do not really have the value we attribute to them.

The birth of the Buddha and his life provide an opportunity to bring our lives into perspective and reprioritize our values.

The Buddhist Way

Reconciliation

is to understand both sides;

to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side,

and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side.

—Thich Nhat Hahn

The all-important thing is not killing or giving life, drinking or not drinking, living in the town or the country, being lucky or unlucky, winning or losing.

It is how we win, how we lose, how we live or die; finally, how we choose.

We walk, and our religion is shown (even to the dullest and most insensitive person), in how we walk. Living in this world means choosing, and the way we choose to walk is infallibly and perfectly expressed in the walk itself.

—R. H. Blyth

Dancing With God

This piece was sent to me by a friend named Siji

who is a Jesuit Priest and Social Activist

working among the Dalits in India..

This is so apt for Good Friday,

that i'm using this instead of my usual pontification.

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G: I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i".

"God, "u" and "i" dance."
God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.

First be reconciled

Thoughts on Maundy Thursday

Jesus has been very much misunderstood.

Even in his time.

He was not telling people just to drop their masks.
He was saying, “I have brought you an alchemy, so that your real face can be beautiful.
Why carry this mask? Why this weight? I give you a higher law that needs no fear. It needs no greed. It needs no enforcement from the outside. My law rises in you because of understanding, not because of fear.”

Moses is a must, but Moses must go also.
Moses has dome his work; he has prepared the ground.
When Jesus appears, Moses’ work is fulfilled.
But the Jews – the priests, the scribes, the literate and powerful people -- were angry. It was very difficult to uncling themselves from the past.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar
And there rememberest
That thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
First be reconciled to thy brother,
And then come and offer thy gift.

Jesus says that if you come to the temple or the Church with flowers
And with money for the collection
And with bread for the blessing
And remember that somebody is angry at you
That you have angered somebody
Then first it is necessary to go back and be reconciled to your brother.
And all are brothers here, because the Father is one.

The point is,
It’s not important whether you are angry at somebody.
The point is you remember that your friend, your brother, your sister
Is angry at you.


Prayer can only be done when you are tuned.
And Jesus says a very psychologically valid thing.
If, while before the altar, you remember that you have angered somebody, and somebody is still carrying a wound because of you – somebody is angry somewhere,
Then go and help that person to heal
Bring things to a reconciliation.

A beautiful way to celebrate the passover tonight

Some notes on Lent

Believe it or not, Lent was never observed by Christ or His apostles.

He commanded them, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).

Jesus never commanded them to observe Lent or Easter.

He did, however, command them to keep Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
In fact, during His last Passover on earth, Christ gave detailed instructions on how to observe the Passover service. He also instituted new Passover symbols (John 13:1-17).

Notice what Alexander Hislop wrote in his book The Two Babylons: “The festival, of which we read in Church history, under the name of Easter, in the third and fourth centuries, was quite a different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that time was not known by any such name as Easter…That festival [Passover] was not idolatrous, and it was preceded by no Lent. ‘It ought to be known,’ said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth century, and contrasting the primitive [New Testament] Church with the Church of his day, ‘that the observance of the forty days had no existence, so long as the perfection of that primitive Church remained inviolate.’”

Lent was not observed by the first century Church!

It was first addressed by the church at Rome during the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, when Emperor Constantine officially recognized that church as the Roman Empire’s state religion.
Any brand of Christianity that held to doctrines contrary to the Roman church was considered an enemy of the state.

In A.D. 360, the Council of Laodicea officially commanded Lent to be observed.

Originally, people did not observe Lent for more than a week. Some kept it for one or two days. Others kept it for 40 consecutive hours, falsely believing that only 40 hours had elapsed between Christ’s death and resurrection.

Eventually, it became a 40-day period of fasting or abstaining from certain foods.
“The emphasis was not so much on the fasting as on the spiritual renewal that the preparation for Easter demanded. It was simply a period marked by fasting, but not necessarily one in which the faithful fasted every day. However, as time went on, more and more emphasis was laid upon fasting…During the early centuries (from the fifth century on especially) the observance of the fast was very strict. Only one meal a day, toward evening was allowed: flesh meat and fish, and in most places even eggs and dairy products, were absolutely forbidden. Meat was not even allowed on Sundays” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

From the ninth century onward, Lent’s strict rules were relaxed.
Greater emphasis was given to performing “penitential works” than to fasting and abstinence.
According to the apostolic constitution Poenitemini of Pope Paul IV (Feb. 17, 1966), “abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of the year that do not fall on holy days of obligation, and fasting as well as abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

Today, Lent is used for “fasting from sin and from vice…forsaking sin and sinful ways.”
It is a season “for penance, which means sorrow for sin and conversion to God.”
This tradition teaches that fasting and employing self-discipline during Lent will give a worshipper the “control over himself that he needs to purify his heart and renew his life.”

God did not design fasting as a tool for penance, “beating yourself up” or developing will power: “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul [fast]? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?” (Isa. 58:5-7).

God’s people humble themselves through fasting in order to draw closer to Him—to learn to think and act like Him—to live His way of life in all things.

Lent’s Ancient Roots

Coming from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning “spring,” Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion.
“The forty days’ abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess…Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz” (The Two Babylons).

Tammuz was the Messiah of the Babylonians—a counterfeit of Jesus Christ!

The Feast of Tammuz was usually celebrated in June (also called the “month of Tammuz”).
Lent was held 40 days before the feast, “celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing.”
This is why Lent means “spring”; it took place from spring to early summer.

The Bible records ancient Judah worshipping Tammuz: “Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz” (Ezek. 8:14-15).

This was a great abomination in God’s eyes!

But why did the church at Rome institute such a pagan holiday?

“To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity—now far sunk in idolatry—in this as in so many other things, to shake hands” (The Two Babylons).

The Roman church replaced Passover with Easter, moving the pagan Feast of Tammuz to early spring, “Christianizing” it.

Lent moved with it.

“This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences.
It brought into the Church the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition in connection with the abstinence of Lent” (The Two Babylons).

Before giving up personal sins and vices during Lent, the pagans held a wild, “anything goes” celebration to make sure they got in their share of debaucheries and perversities—what the world celebrates as Mardi Gras today.

The law-abiding fear true Love

To me, the season of Lent is not about Law

It’s not about penance and mortification
It’s not about not eating meat and not going to the movies.
It’s about reconciliation and love.

To the Jews, especially the priests, and the politicians,
It appeared that Jesus would just destroy the law.
So they were angry. And they were right!
In a sense, the law would be destroyed, because a higher law would be coming in.
The lower law would have to go.

Law depends on fear. Law depends on greed. Law punishes you.
The central idea of Law is justice, but justice is not enough.
Justice is crude and hard and violent.
Somebody murders, then the law murders him.
Justice has no spirituality in it, it is mathematical.

You have killed somebody, then the law kills you.
But if killing is wrong, then how can the law be right?
The law itself is very much lacking, it depends on the same evil.

“Law is better than lawlessness, but compared to love, law itself is lawlessness.” -- Osho

Only compassion can allow your being to bloom.
Only compassion can help you come to your highest peak – not justice.

When Jesus started talking about love, the people who were law abiding became very much afraid.

They feared that if the law were dropped, the animal hiding inside of them would jump out, and would tear down the whole society.
They knew that their faces were only beautiful on the outside.
Deep down, great ugliness. Suppressed. Repressed.

When Jesus says, ‘Drop all masks’, they become afraid and angry.

‘This man is dangerous. He eats and drinks. He consorts with prostitutes. He eats with sinners and exploiters. This man has to be punished and destroyed before he destroys society”.

Christ Follower vs Christian 4

Christ Follwer vs Christian 3

Christian vs Christ follower 2

Christian vs Christianity

First be reconciled

[LENTEN THOUGHTS 1]

The period of Lent is regarded by ordinary Catholics
As a time for prayer and penance.
It’s a time for mortification, for ‘giving up’ pleasures
Like sweets, or meat, or cinema, or even sex.
Lent is forty days of prayer and abstinence.

The real meaning of Lent is metanoia
The Greek word for renewal.
To become new.

Most Catholics view Lent as something to be enforced.
A stern law to be enforced within the family and in the community.
Some Christians are so scandalized, so shocked
If a priest or a nun is seen to be eating Meat on a Friday
Or having a glass of beer during Lent.

But Metanoia means to make things new.
Not to enforce the law of Moses.
But to bring forth the love of that Jesus preached.
Osho once said “Law is enforced love; Love is a spontaneous law.”

Moses gave commandments.
Jesus gave insight into these commandments.
One can follow the commandments, can ‘observe the Lenten practice’
On a formal, superficial level.

One can become a righteous person, a puritan, a moralist for 40 days
And deep down nothing changes.
The old darkness is still there.
The old unconsciousness is still there.
Nothing has really changed, I’m just wearing this beautiful mask.
Now there’s nothing wrong in wearing a beautiful mask – if you
Have an ugly face, wear a mask, it will at least save others from seeing you.
But the mask cannot change the ugly face.
You have to transform the face too.
Why be so hard on others, who perhaps do not choose to wear masks during Lent?

Moses gave a very crude discipline to society. Primitive.
He couldn’t have done better, there was no way.
Human consciousness in his time existed in a primitive way.
But Moses prepared the way, and Jesus was the fulfilment.
What Moses started, Jesus completes.
Moses laid the foundation. Jesus raised the whole temple.

Lent is not a law of discipline and punishment.
Lent is a time for love.

Who is the Buddha?

Once a certain Brahmin named Dona, noticing the characteristic marks of the footprint of the Buddha, approached Him and questioned Him.

"Your Reverence will be a Deva ?"

"No, indeed, brahmin, a Deva am I not," replied the Buddha.

"Then Your Reverence will be a Gandhabba?"

"No indeed, branmin, a Gandhabba am I not."

"A Yakkha then?"

"No, indeed, brahmin, not a Yakkha."

"Then Your Reverence will be a human being?" "

No indeed, brahmin, a human being am I not."

"Who, then, pray, will Your Reverence be?"

The Buddha replied that He had destroyed Defilements which condition rebirth as a Deva, Gandhabba, Yakkha, or a human being and added:
"As a lotus, fair and lovely, By the water is not soiled, By the world am I not soiled; Therefore, brahmin, am I Buddha."

The Buddha does not claim to be an incarnation (Avatara) of Hindu God Vishnu, who, as the Bhagavadgita charmingly sings, is born again and again in different periods to protect the righteous, to destroy the wicked, and to establish the Dharma (right).

According to the Buddha countless are the gods (Devas) who are also a class of beings subject to birth and death; but there is no one Supreme God, who controls the destinies of human beings and who possesses a divine power to appear on earth at different intervals, employing a human form as a vehicle.

Nor does the Buddha call Himself a "Saviour" who freely saves others by his personal salvation.

The Buddha exhorts His followers to depend on themselves for their deliverance, since both defilement and purity depend on oneself.

One cannot directly purify or defile another.

Clarifying His relationship with His followers and emphasizing the importance of self- reliance and individual striving, the Buddha plainly states:

"You yourselves should make an exertion. The Tathagatas are only teachers."

The Buddha only indicates the path and method whereby He delivered Himself from suffering and death and achieved His ultimate goal. It is left for His faithful adherents who wish their release from the ills of life to follow the path.

"To depend on others for salvation is negative, but to depend on oneself is positive." Dependence on others means a surrender of one's effort."

"Be an island unto yourselves; be a refuge unto yourselves; seek no refuge in others."

These significant words uttered by the Buddha in His last days are very striking and inspiring. They reveal how vital is self-exertion to accomplish one's ends, and how superficial and futile it is to seek redemption through benignant saviours, and crave for illusory happiness in an afterlife through the propitiation of imaginary gods by fruitless prayers and meaningless sacrifices.

The Buddha was a human being. As a man He was born, as a Buddha He lived, and as a Buddha His life came to an end.

Though human, He became an extraordinary man owing to His unique characteristics.

The Buddha laid stress on this important point, and left no room for any one to fall into the error of thinking that He was an immortal being. It has been said of Him that there was no religious teacher who was "ever so godless as the Buddha, yet none was so god-like."

In His own time the Buddha was no doubt highly venerated by His followers, but He never arrogated to Himself any divinity.

Somebody came up to me once during a conference and asked, "What about 'Our Lady of Fatima'? What do you think of her?”

When I am asked questions like that, I am reminded of the story of the time they were taking the statue of Our Lady of Fatima on an airplane to a pilgrimage for worship, and as they were flying over the South of France the plane began to wobble and to shake and it looked like it was going to come apart.
And the miraculous statue cried out, "Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!"
And all was well.
Wasn't it wonderful, one "Our Lady" helping another "Our Lady"?

[THE FIRST PICTURE IS OUR LADY OF FATIMA, THE SECOND IS OUR LADY OF LOURDES, ABD THE THIRD OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE]

There was also a group of a thousand people who went on a pilgrimage to Mexico City to venerate the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and sat down before the statue in protest because the Bishop of the Diocese had declared "Our Lady of Lourdes" patroness of the diocese! They were sure that Our Lady of Guadalupe felt this very much, so they were doing the protest in REPARATION for the offence.

That's the trouble with religion, if you don't watch out.

[NOTE for non-Catholics: The three representations are the three different times in Church history where Our lady, that is Mary, the Mother of Christ appeared to devout children, urging them to pray for the well being of the world.... Now if all three are representations of the same person ....]

DANGER OF RELIGION

The danger of what religion can do is very nicely brought out in a story told by Cardinal Martini, the Archbishop of Milan.

The story has to do with an Italian couple that's getting married.
They have an arrangement with the parish priest to have a little reception in the parish courtyard outside the church.

But it rained, and they couldn't have the reception, so they said to the priest, "Would it be all right if we had the celebration in the church?"

Now Father wasn't one bit happy about having a reception in the church, but they said, "We will eat a little cake, sing a little song, drink a little wine, and then go home."

So Father was persuaded.

But being good life-loving Italians they drank a little wine, sang a little song, then drank a little more wine, and sang some more songs, and within a half hour there was a great celebration going on in the church.

And everybody was having a great time, lots of fun and frolic.

But Father was all tense, pacing up and down in the sacristy, all upset about the noise they were making. The assistant pastor comes in and says, "I see you are quite tense."

Of course, I'm tense. Listen to all the noise they are making, and in the House of God!, for heaven's sake!"

"Well, Father, they really had no place to go."
I know that! But do they have to make all that racket?"





Well, we mustn't forget, must we, Father, that Jesus himself was once present at a wedding!"

Father says, "I know Jesus Christ was present at a wedding banquet, YOU don't have to tell me Jesus Christ was present at a wedding banquet! But they didn't have the Blessed Sacrament there!!!"


You know there are times like that when the Blessed Sacrament becomes more important than Jesus Christ.

When worship becomes more important than love, when the Church becomes more important than life.
When God becomes more important than the neighbour. And so it goes on. That's the danger.

To my mind this is what Jesus was evidently calling us to -- first things first! The human being is much more important than the Sabbath.. Doing what I tell you, namely, becoming what I am indicating to you, is much more important than Lord, Lord.

But your mullah is not going to be happy to hear that, I assure you.
Your priests are not going to be happy to hear that. Not generally. So that's what we have been talking about.


Spirituality. Waking up. And as I told you, it is extremely important if you want to wake up to go in for what I call "self observation." Be aware of what you're saying, be aware of what you're doing, be aware of what you're thinking, be aware of how you're acting. Be aware of where you're coming from, what your motives are. The unaware life is not worth living.

[THIS POST IS AN EXTRACT FROM 'THE UNDISCOVERED SELF' BY ANTHONY DE'MELLO SJ]

NOTE: THE 'BLESED SACRAMENT' is the sacred bread kept in the Catholic Church that represents the Divine presence of Jesus . A lamp burns beside it or in front of it. For Catholics, this is the most sacred presence of the Lord, and it is venerated.

Surprises

Life cannot be static.
Life cannot be stagnant.
Life must flow.

The other day, I heard somebody say,
"There is no life if there are no surprises."

And this set me thinking.
Every minute is a surprise, because you don't know what's it going to bring.

This past week, I have been travelling.

And oh my goodness, didn't it bring surprises!

A lot of surprises.. that one couldn't really call pleasant at that time.

Like finding out that for some strange reason my bank hasn't credited
an important cheque, that I was banking on to do some shopping!

surprise... you've got to change that programme.

Like being caught in the middle of a freak thunderstorm
that turned into pouring rain and hail
that caused a whole lot of traffic jams
on the way to Delhi Airport... that was a surprise
and the greaterone was that I didn't miss the flight
the storm caused congestion at the airport

and that resulted in the most breathtaking surprise of all
watching beautiful Bangalore at night from the air
like Diwali and Christmas rolled in to one
the entire cabin fell silent as we slowly cruised above
the soft lights of the garden city...

and a thought crossed my mind
The pilots who bomb cities must be having this beautiful view.
How beautiful and peaceful, Baghdad must have looked
or any other town on planet earth...

And yet, how could they push a button....

To destroy...????

Imagine all the people, living for today .....

Prostration: an important Vajrayana Practice

Prostration must be done in a special way
watch this video to get an insight
into the Buddhist method of prostratioon

My Jesus Journey

I was ‘born’ into Christianity.

When I was a few days old, somebody carried me to church.

Another somebody mumbled some incantation or the other.

Then he asked me: Do you reject Satan?
I probably answered ‘Goooo’
Somebody answered for me ‘I do’.

And he asked me, a seven day-old baby, a lot of other strange questions as well.
To which Somebody answered ‘I do’

And then he sprinkled holy water over me.
And I probably howled in protest.
And he welcomed me into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
The communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
and to life everlasting.

I peed all over him.

The ‘sin of Adam’ was washed away,
And the ‘indelible mark’ of Christ was imprinted on my tiny,
wrinkled brow.

And through the years I came to know that Christianity meant

Sacrifice and pain.

Giving up sweets and nice things for the sake of sinners.
Feeling guilty about having too much of anything, including fun.

No meat of Fridays.

That the Devil was always peeking over your shoulder.
That there were venial sins [in thousands]
and mortal sins [in hundreds]
and unforgivable sins [seven of them]

and Ten Commandments from God
And ten times that by Holy Mother the Church.

And that God was just waiting to watch you slip up
And that the Devil couldn’t wait to see you in hell.

And the only way out
Was

Our fathers
Hail Mary’s
Rosaries
Holy Mass and Novenas

At fourteen, dozens , and then hundreds of questions
Began simmering in my brain…

Then began my Jesus Journey.

First, I discovered the Bible.

Then, I discovered Jesus Christ Superstar.

The latter was much more believable.

[to be continued under ‘My Jesus Journey]

Conversion? What's the point?

Suppose... you try to convert someone from another religion to the Buddhist religion, and you argue with them trying to convince them of the inferiority of their position.

And suppose you do not succeed, suppose they do not become Buddhist.

On the one hand, you have failed in your task, and on the other hand, you may have weakened the trust they have in their own religion, so that they may come to doubt their own faith.

What have you accomplished by all this?

It is of no use.

When we come into contact with the followers of different religions, we should not argue.

Instead, we should advise them to follow their own beliefs as sincerely and as truthfully as possible.

For if they do so, they will no doubt reap certain benefits. Of this there is no doubt.

Even in the immediate future, they will be able to achieve more happiness and more satisfaction.

....When I meet the followers of different religions, I always praise them, for it is enough, it is sufficient, that they are following the moral teachings that are emphasized in every religion.

It is enough, as I mentioned earlier, that they are trying to become better human beings.

This in itself is very good and worthy of praise.

- from "Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists" by the Dalai Lama, edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, published by Snow Lion Publications

DO NOT

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.


Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.


Do not believe in anything because it is found written in your religious books.












Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.


Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.



But after observation and analysis, when you find anything that agrees with reason and is conductive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.


- Buddha

Man made God in his Image

The fundamentalist has very definite ideas about God.

He knows what God likes.
What God dislikes.
Whom God will punish.
And who is God’s enemy.

The Moslem fundamentalist will wield the Koran.
The ‘Born Again’ Bible freak will shake the Bible at you.
The Militant Hindu will thump you over the head with scriptures written and unwritten.

And they all have so much in common.

The religious bigot will tell you:

That there is only one God and that it’s his one.


That there’s only one book [or compendium of books] that’s true, and of course it’s the one he has.
That only those who listen to his God are the chosen, the elite, the saved.


That all others are barbarians, idolaters, kafirs, outcastes.
That his God doesn’t like variety, free thought, or independent reasoning


That everybody who has a different God is attacking his God and his Religion
That his God is all-powerful.

Strange, these all powerful Gods

are imprisoned within the confines of their little books
These Gods have no other thoughts or will or freedom

than those attributed to them by their own prophets.

Lord as Elephant and Mouse

The other day I was visited by an ‘upright’ - or should I say 'uptight'  Christian couple. 

They sat uncomfortably in my living room, pursing their lips. After a while they asked me, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”

 “Sure,” I said, “Jesus Christ is an historical fact.”

“Then why is it that you have all these Hindu gods all  around your house?” they persisted.

They were obviously perturbed by the Ganesha figure outside my door. And the  Ganesha statues and artwork that adorn my living room. 

"And why not?" I countered. 

Spiritual iconography is very much a part of any tradition. And the icons in the Hindy tradition have really deep meaning, if you have the grace and knowledge to decipher them.

Ganesha is a wonderful representation of the power of God. 

The power of the almighty. The power of mind over matter. The power of Nirvana.

One of the names of Ganesha:  
Vighna-mochan. 

The remover of obstacles. 

The Ganesha symbol is an elephant headed man astride a mouse. The elephant is the biggest animal in the jungle. Nothing can withstand the charge of the elephant. He can tear a path through the densest and most tangled of forests.

The tiny mouse can cut a passage through the highest mountain. He can tunnel under the hardest rock.

Put the elephant and the mouse together and you have it!

A wonderful representation of the remover of obstacles.

I love my Vighna –mochan. 

Ganesha

The remover of obstacles. 

God.     Allah.     Christ.  The Lord.

At times of perplexity, in times of trepidation, when the tangles and the thorns of the dark forests of the unknown challenge me, or an insurmountable wall blocks my path.

The Lord comes to me as an elephant. And as a mouse.

 Christians believe that  God being everywhere. 

 Muslims say there are a thousand names for Allah.

Pity some people can’t recognize Her.

Aggressive Born Again Christians

I think 'Born Again' Christians
are fine if they limit themselves
to the fact of their so-called rebirth.

The problem with all converts
[and the 'born again' kind are converts]
is that they have to prove themselves
to their adopted communities.
They also have to show their former
Co-religionists that they have made the 'correct' choice

Look at what a nice way of life
Jesus Christ lived
Non-conformist, priest-baiting,
Commune-loving, wine-making,
No other commandment but love
And then came along Paul of Tarsus
A 'Roman-Jew' – that was quite an oxymoron
So the chap has to prove that he's more roman than the Romans
And more Jewish than his other Jews
So he's this great persecutor.

And suddenly, on the Road to Damascus
He'd converted.

That was the end of the teachings of Jesus
And the beginning of Christianity.
The fellow took a simple, everyday, workingman's
view of life
and shoved Peter the Fisherman in the shadows.

The Born again 'Christian' view really means the views of Paul of Tarsus

End of story

The Time is Now

My friends and others I know
have asked me so very often
to put my 'maverick monk outlook'
in a book, so others can 'benefit'
or 'be challenged'

Well,
here's a space....

What'll I talk about?
What should we discuss?

You set the agenda.

Leave a comment or email me
sikkimkrishna@gmail.com

For starters
the famous maverick monk non-negotiable

Everyone has the right to speak.
The right to be taken seriously, however,
Depends entirely upon what one has to say