After a silence... to speak

 

We all have special days to remember the dead, don't we?  Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jew, Buddhist...

The reason perhaps is that these prayers and rituals we send up for our 'ancestors' or 'dearly beloved' are really a way of lessening our own fright of death ... the great unknown.

And somehow we want to believe in a heaven or an afterlife where  all of us 'good souls' will be together again?

But have you thought about it?

Would you really be able to stand your family being in your face for all eternity?

What about that cantankerous great grandfather, or that grumpy uncle.... maybe you are hoping that

they haven't made it up there? Or perhaps you believe that they will be in the 'other place'?

 

What does that say about you or the other place...? Or your beliefs?

 





Give Thanks

The year draws to an end.

As every year does, it has brought with it
challenges and opportunities

separations and reunion'
laughter and tears...

It's November

Five days to Thanksgiving...
and I'm just reminded
that it makes sense
to give praise

for all that has happened this year......

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a festival connected with American history and culture. For me, however, the last Thursday of November marks a day set aside for a few quiet moments. It’s a day to ponder upon the way the Universe has been kind to me.

Have I really learnt to ‘give thanks in all circumstances, to give thanks for all things’?

What are the wonderful things that happened to me this past year, since the last Thanksgiving? What were the opportunities I had for learning?

Who are the new people who have come into my life? What are the new opportunities I got to be happy and make others happy?

As I sit, in the quiet moments of that space between night and dawn, on the close of yet another Thanksgiving Day, I feel my heart opening up to the silence of the Universe, and my mind letting go of the tensions and worries of everyday living. And from somewhere, inside my consciousness, from inside my being, there is a wonderful one-ness with creation, and tears flow… tears of gratitude, tears of joy. As I sit in thankful meditation, I get, for a fleeting moment, a glimpse of the tapestry that is being woven by the Great Weaver in the Sky, as I see in how many beautiful ways hundreds of times throughout the year, She Who Has No Name has worked her miracles for me through the hands of countless people.

I realize, once again, that I am not alone, not for one single moment of the day. I realize that I, perhaps small, perhaps insignificant, definitely imperfect am still the receiver of a boundless, infinite Love. And that is immensely comforting.

That’s what I give thanks for on Thanksgiving Day.

WHAT IS A BUDDHA?

A Buddha is a person who has developed all positive qualities and eliminated all negative qualities.

Buddha was an "ordinary" human like you and me before he became enlightened.

Enlightenment is compared to awakening, as a person suddenly experiences a complete transformation of body and mind from sleeping to waking up.

One could say that a Buddha represents the very peak of evolution, as he/she is omniscient or all-knowing.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama writes in 'The Buddhism of Tibet':

"Our teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, is one among the thousand Buddhas of this aeon. These Buddhas were not Buddhas from the beginning, but were once sentient beings like ourselves. How they came to be Buddhas is this.

Of body and mind, mind is predominant, for body and speech are under the influence of the mind.

Afflictions such as desire do not contaminate the nature of the mind, for the nature of the mind is pure, uncontaminated by any taint.

Afflictions are peripheral factors of a mind, and through gradually transforming all types of defects, such as these afflictions, the adventitious taints can be completely removed. This state of complete purification is Buddhahood; therefore, Buddhists do not assert that there is any Buddha who has been enlightened from the beginning."

The historical Buddha, Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha, lived about 2,500 years ago in India.

  However, he was not the first Buddha, and will not be the last either. 

He taught that during this eon (very long time period, maybe comparable to the life-time of the universe as we know it), there would be 1,000 fully enlightened Buddhas who would introduce Buddhism (after it has been totally forgotten). 

The numbers one to three in this eon are Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kashyapa, then comes Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha some 2,500 years ago), and the next Buddha will be called Maitreya.