I have heard about three monks. No names are mentioned, because they never disclosed their names to anybody. They never answered anything. In China, they are simply known as the three laughing monks. And they did only one thing: they would enter a village, stand in the market place and start laughing. They would laugh with their whole being and suddenly people would become aware. Then others would also get the infection and a crowd would gather. The whole crowd would start laughing just because of them. What was happening? The whole town would get involved. Then they would move to another town.

They were loved very much. That was their only sermon, their only message; that laugh. And they would not teach; they would simply create a situation. Then it happened that they became famous all over the country. Three laughing monks. All of China loved them, respected them. Nobody had ever preached in such a way that life must be just a laughter and nothing else. They were not laughing at anyone in particular. They were simply laughing as if they had understood the Cosmic joke. And they spread so much joy all over China without using a single word. People would ask for their names, but they would simply laugh. So that became their name — the three laughing monks.

Then they grew old. And while staying in one village. one of the three monks died. The whole village became very much expectant because they thought that when one of them had died, the other two would surely weep. This must be worth seeing because no one had ever seen these people weeping. The whole village gathered. But the two monks were standing beside the corpse of the third and laughing — such a belly laugh. So the villagers asked them to explain this. So for the first time, the two monks spoke and said, “We are laughing because this man has won. We were always wondering as to who would die first and this man has defeated us. We are laughing at our defeat and his victory. Also he lived with us for many years and we laughed together and we enjoyed each other’s togetherness, presence. There can be no better way of giving him the last send off. We can only laugh.”

But the whole village was sad. And when the dead monk’s body was put on the funeral pyre, then the village realised that the remaining two monks were not the only ones who were joking, the third who was dead was also laughing. He had asked his companions not to change his clothes. It was conventional that when a man died they changed his dress and gave a bath to the body.So the third monk had said, “Don’t give me a bath because I have never been unclean. So much laughter has been in my life that no impurity can accumulate, can come to me. I have not gathered any dust. Laughter is always young and fresh. So don’t give me a bath and don’t change my clothes.” So just to respect his wishes, they did not change his clothes.

And when the body was put to fire, suddenly they became aware that he had hidden some Chinese fireworks under his clothes and they had started going off. So the whole village laughed and the other two monks said: “You rascal, you are dead, but you have defeated us once again. Your laughter is the last.”

Sanghas are communities of monastic and/or lay Buddist practitioners. A sangha is the best way to practice meditation, as it offers deep support and wisdom for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike, and can start with a minimum of four practitioners. Not only do they help create a routine and improve individual practice, but the energy of a community of practitioners can create ripples of understanding and compassion that reverberate throughout society and the world.

Why Sangha?

Alone we are vulnerable, but with brothers and sisters to work with, we can support each other
We cannot go to the ocean as a drop of water—we would evaporate before reaching our destination.
But if we become a river, if we go as a Sangha, we are sure to arrive at the ocean…

You need a sangha;
you need a brother or sister, or friend to remind you what you already know.
The Dharma is in you, but it needs to be watered in order to manifest and become a reality.
A Sangha is a community of resistance, resisting the speed, violence,
and unwholesome ways of living that are prevalent in our society.
There is no religion, no philosophy, no ideology higher than brotherhood and sisterhood.
Not even Buddhism.

In society, much of our suffering comes from feeling disconnected from one another. Being with the
Sangha can heal these feelings of isolation and separation. We practice together, share a room
together, eat side by side and clean pots together. Just by participating with other practitioners in the
daily activities we can experience a tangible feeling of love and acceptance.

A sangha is a garden, full of many varieties of trees and flowers.
When we can look at ourselves and at others as beautiful, unique flowers and trees
we can truly grow to understand and love one another.
One flower may bloom early in the spring and another flower may bloom in late summer. One tree
may bear many fruits and another tree may offer cool shade. No one plant is greater, or lesser, or the
same as any other plant in the garden. Each member of the sangha also has unique gifts
to offer to the community.

We each have areas that need attention as well. When we can appreciate each member’s contribution
and see our weaknesses as potential for growth we can learn to live together harmoniously. Our
practice is to see that we are a flower or a tree, and we are the whole garden as well, all interconnected.

https://plumvillage.app/a-short-guide-to-joining-or-starting-a-sangha/

Let’s work on our online Sangha here, at NB. With all that’s going on in the world….I miss my little safe place to practice. 🙏
Any ideas? Ways to foster the community feel and participation? More Buddhist topics, yes?

And what I found interesting about him is that he talks a pretty straight Buddhist rap, including vipassana and impermanence, without ever referring to the Buddha or Buddhism. He is a spiritual influencer, so he is on instagram and so on, gives interviews and podcasts.

https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/

Veggie spring rolls

Citrus Ginger Spritzer

There are Buddhists who spread the Dharma.
Most of us, initially, work on ourselves.

There is not one way in. Warriors may prefer Zen.
Those with #access may prefer talks, books, online meetings etc.
We each find Our Way.

We may be a Druid Buddhist ...

I met a couple at a Buddhist monastery.
They brought their own meditation cushions, emblazoned with acorns ...

https://druidry.org/druid-way/other-paths/druidry-dharma

What is your sharing experience?

My friend then pointed out that although the blog was started with good intentions, it had degenerated into not much more than a glorified diary. Basically the only person getting benefit from it was the writer, and rarely did anyone else come by. So to me, this posed the question, if we write to talk about our truth, how are we any different from the preacher who seeks converts? Perhaps we would do well to examine the — inevitably deeply personal — reasons why we write before embarking on a writing project.

For me, joining a range of different forums was about being able to ask questions and discuss different topics, ranging from Buddhism to mental health to Apple devices. Along the way I made some friends and started lending my experience to others. I’ve never really felt the need to preach or gain converts, I think each person should be left to his or her own spiritual path, and that wouldn’t be the reason behind starting a blog.

Why do you think you write on the forum?

This man says, our purpose in life is to know joy. So to help ourselves and others we should teach them about joy. This is not always easy, life’s ups and downs teach us first about pleasure and pain, and only later do we find out about joy. When you’re young, life is about chasing happiness, and when you’re older, life is about appreciating joy.

For me, joy is to be found in the real world, not a virtual one. It is about nature, it is about family, it is about meditation. It is about caring for people, about good food, about sharing. In a way, all the things that isolate us make it more difficult for us to find our joy, and modern life with its houses and its cars is great at isolating.

So if we all pay a little more attention to giving others joy, we can succeed in bringing a little more light into the world.

They have a section on the website called ‘journeys’ where the stories are told of the last days of people who have recently left the body, but also sections on books and cds that people have made, recent festivals (mostly attended by old people) and artwork exhibitions by sannyasin artists. It’s still a pretty diverse community.

But I find it interesting that so few of them ended up having children, and so the movement of Osho followers is gradually aging… I was there as a kid, and I remember well what the commune was like. I’m now 51 and most of these people were of my parents generation, so some 25 years older.

From an Osho discourse…

You have said much lately about inner silence and emptiness. After two years as your disciple, much of the time, particularly during the meditations at the ashram, my mind seems more than ever to be out of control and working like a computer gone mad. I try to be a witness to the whole absurdity, but the monster goes on and on!

Let the monster go on and on and don’t you be worried. The very worry is the problem, not the monster.

The whole world is going on and on: rivers go on flowing, clouds go on moving in the sky, birds go on chattering in the trees. Just why are you so against only the mind? Let it also go on and on – you be unconcerned.

Witnessing is not an effort. When you are unconcerned the witness arises. Be indifferent to the mind; in the climate of indifference the witness arises. The very idea that you have to stop it is wrong, that you have to still it is wrong, that you have to do something about this constant ongoing process is wrong. You are not required to do anything. If you do anything it won’t help – it will help the trouble, not you. That’s why when you meditate you feel the mind going more mad; when you don’t meditate it is not so mad. When you are meditating you are too concerned with the mind, trying your hardest to make it still. Who are you? And why should you be worried about the mind? What is wrong with it? Allow the thoughts, let them move like clouds.

When you are indifferent, suddenly you are watching. With nothing left to do, what will you do? You can only watch, you can only witness – and in witnessing mind stops. Not that you can stop it. Nobody has ever been able to stop the mind, because the stopper is also part of the mind. The idea of meditation is part of the mind too – the idea that if you become silent you will attain to the ultimate is also of the mind. So don’t be stupid! The mind cannot silence the mind. Who is asking this question, you or the mind?

You are not aware of yourself at all; it’s the mind playing tricks. The only thing that can be done, and which is possible, is to be indifferent and let the mind go. When you are indifferent suddenly a distance arises between you and the mind. You still listen to it because it is knocking continuously at your doors, but now you are indifferent. Now, inside, you are not worried whether it goes on or stops, you don’t choose. You say to the mind, “If you want to go on, you go on; if you want to stop, you can stop. It is none of my concern.” This unconcern is needed. In this climate of unconcern and indifference the witness arises. Suddenly you see that the mind never belonged to you; it is a computer, it is a mechanism. You are absolutely separate from it.

Drop all efforts to still it and just remain passive, looking at whatsoever is going on. Don’t give direction to the mind; don’t say, “Be like this.” Don’t be a guide to the mind and don’t be a controller. The whole existence is going on, nothing disturbs you – why only this mind, a small computer, a small mechanism? Enjoy it if you can. If you cannot, then be indifferent. And then suddenly one day you find that something which was fast asleep within you is awakening; a new energy is coming up in you – a distance from the mind. And then by and by the mind goes on – far away, far away, far away. Then still it goes on chattering but you know that somewhere far away, near a star it is chattering; you cannot even make sense out of it, what it is saying. And this distance goes on and on and on, and one day suddenly you cannot find where the mind has gone.

This silence is qualitatively different from a silence that you can practice. The real silence comes spontaneously, it is not something to be practiced. If you practice it you can create a false silence also. The mind is so tricky, it can give you a false notion of silence – and that too will belong to the mind. So don’t try hard to still it. Rather, stand aside, by the side of the road, and let the traffic pass. Just watch it, just look at it, with eyes of unconcern, indifference, and the thing that you have been desiring will happen – but not through desire. Because desire will not allow you to be indifferent. Buddha has used a word upeksha; the word means ‘absolute indifference’. And he says that you can never become meditative unless you have attained to upeksha, to indifference. That is the very soil. In that soil the seeds of meditation sprout – and there is no other way.

Osho, Tao: The Three Treasures, Vol 1, Ch 8, Q 1

I think this should have been something that I should have resolved ages ago, but I have not, so here is an open question to everyone.

Is it appropriate to give unsolicited advice? I've recently come to believe that it's not, but am curious what you think.

I frequently find myself giving unsolicited advice. Even while I'm giving it, I cringe internally, chastise myself later, and from experience feel like this does not do much or any good.

Should I just stop?

Seems to me, when people actually ask, and of all people ask you, that's a whole other situation in which advice-giving and experience-sharing can be actually suffering-lessening.

Thoughts?

I thought y'all might be interested in the information that the US-based Zen-trained Non-dual spiritual teacher Adyashanti has announced that he is retiring from active teaching.

He shared this information in an open letter and explained more in an hour-long podcast.

The short version of it is that he is retiring because for the past 17 years he's experienced massive amounts of physical pain. A few years ago he says he found and removed the cause of the pain, after which it stopped, but he does not specify what the cause was. He says that, however, he's been left with lots of trauma as a result of the pain, for which he is taking anti-anxiety medication. He says his trauma or medication does not interfere with him seeing/being "True Nature" but that the body-mind is not in good shape, hence the retirement.

I listened to a lot of Adyashanti, especially many years ago. He was integral to my formation. I still cannot believe he is over 60 - he still has the voice and demeanour of a young man.

I might write more about my perspective on this later, but for now leave it at this.

And the very first sermon I was treated to was about respecting one’s elders, in particular one’s parents. This is rather a sore point for me as one of my parents had paranoid schizophrenia, and the other bailed on us when he couldn’t take it any more. I mean, how are you supposed to respect that?

And my other experiences with authority figures are mostly dubious. In my experience most ‘leaders’ act primarily out of self interest, often to the detriment of their followers.

That said, the presentation was light hearted and some good points were made (e.g. setting aside differences so everybody can get along and actually get stuff done instead of arguing all day.) But overall it still rather rubbed me the wrong way.

Does this sound like a place I should go back to? Is this, shall we say, an opportunity to set aside some aversions and learn something? Or should I avoid this like the plague?

It just makes me feel that as a community we fall short in offering love and compassion to these people. Really in order to compensate for what they have been through they need to be deeply loved.

This movie has been doing the rounds recently…

Just curious to know the following about the regular folk who post on this site.

Reckon we've done this before but I am curious to know again.

1. Do you consider yourself Buddhist?
2. If no, what? Do you mix Buddhism with another religion?
3. If yes, what tradition(s) do you primarily follow?

I'll start...

1. Yes
2. N/A
3. Pure Land Buddhism with a sprinkling of Theravadan

Today (16/2) is Magha Puja Day. It is a day to celebrate the creation of the Sangha (Buddhist community).

It honours the coming together of the Buddha and 1,250 of his first disciples.

I’ll take the Eight Precepts and dedicate the merit to all Monastics the world over 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māgha_Pūjā

Do you love to hate Christmas?
@federica is trying to freeze herself via modified tumo. I personally am hoping to have a family sit down meal for Santas birthday.

I must say so many things are enjoyable when you relax beyond them …

Cue Neo Julie Andrews …
Happy Christmas!

Yesterday the Buddhist Society of Western Australia celebrated Ajahn Brahms 70th birthday.

The video is 4 hours long but worth a look if you are a fan of his teachings. A real trip down memory lane!

He has committed to using all donations received to build a retreat centre at Newbury here in Victoria (the monastery I attend).

I was shocked when he announced at the end of proceedings that an anonymous donor had contributed $700,000 😮

People are amazing!

I also saw someone hand him a set of car keys at one stage (presumably attached to a car!)

https://ajahnbrahm70th.org/

To clarify my question though: How does one use a spiritual community to grow without becoming attached or dependent on that community? Hmm. Actually, that didn't manage to encapsulate the entirety of my question, so let me add this: How does one prevent ego from arising and sabotaging the whole endeavor? I have recently stepped into a community and I'm aware of thoughts arising (not just from me) leading to conceptual discussions that I'm not certain are doing anything but giving birth to some incredibly sexy spiritual thoughts that are trying to entice me (and others) down what looks like a dangerously deep rabbit hole. When does a Dharma discussion turn counter-productive?

https://buddhaweekly.com/celebrating-the-lunar-special-dates-in-2021-for-buddha-dharma-practice-including-buddha-days-tsog-medicine-buddha-tara/

So many questions are popping up as of late. It's rather tedious vetting them all to separate the wheat from the chaff, if you will, but I'm trying to avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater here by simply dismissing them all out of hand. Here's one that survived the vetting process:

It has been suggested to me on more than a couple of occasions around here, that I find a meditation teacher - or sometimes the suggestion is simply for a teacher, sans 'meditation', although I have always assumed that was more or less implied inclusion. The suggestions that I've failed to receive, are helpful guidelines on doing so. Recently, while keeping my eyes and heart open, I was approached by a Zen monk who suggested we get together to answer some of my questions. What made that interesting was that I had never asked him a question or indicated that I had any questions that needed answers. So, I took that to be sufficiently serendipitous to take him up on his kind offer.

We met and frankly, I was left a bit disappointed. I took something valuable away from our get together, but it feels as if that was more accidental than by design. I understood very little of what he said. Between his very heavy accept and his challenge to understand me as well as delivering his message in English, communication was spotty at best. From what I was able to catch, his message was so very basic to Buddhism that I'm not sure that I would have gotten any more out of our get together if communication wasn't a problem. Too, his answers to my questions seemed to indicate that he didn't understand them.

I am now left trying to determine if I should meet with him regularly, which has been offered, or to search elsewhere. To this end, I have realized that I do not know the questions to ask myself in order to find that answer. I am familiar with the idea that understanding can be transmitted can in ways other than speech, but that seems like an unnecessary handicap to voluntarily sign up for. Perhaps my impression that he didn't understand my questions based on his answers were evidence that it was I that didn't understand my question, instead of him. That might be a long-shot, but I can't dismiss the possibility. On the other hand, whether the gift I was able to walk away with was caused intentionally by his choice of message, or whether he was simply an ignorant catalyst - I benefitted by the discussion.

Fwiw, I have searched for the answer here before asking. I have found the following from @Jason:

"True teachers will be busy practicing the Dhamma themselves, not going door to door advertising their teaching skills. After that, only time will tell if they really are any good or not" - Feb. 2006

So, not only did this fellow do the Covid-19 equivalent of knocking on my door, I'm ignorant as to what I should be looking for over time to decide one way or the other. As most of the threads that I've found covering this topic are very old, many of the members commenting on them are unknown to me and so I can't give a tremendous amount of weight to their thoughts on the matter. Jason, of course, was an exception.

I'm certain this has been discussed before, but this will identify active members better to other active members.

My own upbringing is sporadic doses of protestant Christianity, Pentecostal at times. After adulthood I ran the gamut; atheist at times, seminarian at others. It was while listening to the Bible on CD that I suddenly, simply could not bring myself to believe it. Within two months I had lost my mother AND my savior god. I took a pretty good tailspin from there, to the point where I was obsessing so badly that I couldn't function. Couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't work. I was convinced that I was witnessing my own descent into insanity. In desperation I set up a candle in a dark background, and sat and stared at that candle. I, like many others, thought that meditation meant to stop thinking. Well, that didn't happen, but at the end of the three to five minutes that seemed an eternity I did feel better. So I did it a few more times. I also erroneously thought that the Buddha invented meditation, so I determined to look into Buddhism.

(For those of other schools, please don't take offense, nothing I'm about to say is intended as an insult. I firmly believe that a) your school chooses you, or b) you were happy with your first school and saw no reason to look elsewhere.)

The first Temple I found was a Won Buddhist Temple (a semi-obscure sect of Korean Buddhism). To this day it's my favorite temple and probably the nicest people. But the doctrine didn't reference the Buddha, or even depict him. I then looked into Zen for awhile, but it left me cold for some reason. I moved to Tibetan Vajrayana but the focus on rirual reminded me too much of Catholicism. In the end I looked online. I discovered two quizzes under 'which school of Buddhism is right for me'. Both came up with Zen, or Thai Forest Theravada. Well, Zen was out (although I did try again), so I looked into Theravada and appreciated it's focus on the Early Buddhist Texts and meditation. Yes it has it's flaws, but much like Islam, it's main flaws seem to be more cultural than doctrinal (although the doctrines are flawed as well).

To be frank, my departure from Buddhism as a whole is the chanting. I understand it's function, but I take issue with chanting things I don't believe (some of the supernatural aspects) in a language I don't understand.

Anyway, that's my story...

1. It doesn't matter whether one is physically beautiful or not; it does matter to be kind-hearted.

2. It doesn't matter whether having a fair complexion or not; it does matter to have pure morality.*

3. It doesn't matter whether one is rich or not; it does matter to possess a content mind.

4. It doesn't matter whether anyone is good or bad; it does matter whether you are good.

5. It doesn't matter whether one is happy with sense pleasures or not; it does matter to be happy with contemplation of the Dhamma

6. It doesn't matter whether others acknowledge you or not; it does matter to acknowledge others' support, and repay one's debt of gratitude.

*"Fair complexion" - not sure about Burma but I notice in Thailand that fair skin is considered beautiful so maybe this is a reference to that?

https://promo.lionsroar.com/dalai-lama-summit-register/?blm_aid=26351

He imagines the next Buddha will be the Sangha and I don't doubt that.

It’s an odd phenomenon that online on spiritual forums you sometimes come across people who claim to be enlightened. Usually they’ll be displaying a large ego and it’s easy to tell that they are nothing like enlightened, but occasionally you can have a fun conversation with someone of this type, trying to plumb the depths of their understanding.

Have you come across this? Do you think it’s an online-only phenomenon?

With warm regards,
Kerome

Its funny, yes, but at the same time it is also a serious point. If we were to ever encounter a next Buddha, how would the world’s Buddhists recognise him or her, it sounds like a process that would take years?

I received an email earlier - Plum Village are doing a 5 day online retreat next week, with upto 3 hours of Dharma talks and meditations each day.

I’m going to do it, thought it a positive thing to be doing in these dark days, whilst lying low at home.

Link here, with registration details - you need to sign up if interested :-

https://promo.lionsroar.com/free-summit-thich-nhat-hanh-aff-00urvpxn/

Best wishes and metta
Alex

https://www.dhammanet.org/

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

In a way it is a discussion group, where you can bring up any kind of topic and take advantage of the wisdom of the group. It is also a study group, where we can study books or sutras together. But in what ways does it differ from a real-life Sangha? This is a question I’d put to you, what do you get out of a real-life Sangha that you don’t from an internet one?

Certainly one thing I have noticed is that you get only as much out of an internet Sangha as you put into it. If you don’t come forward with your questions you will get little input into your situation from the Sangha members.

Dear Friends of Nun-The-Less,
https://anukampaproject.org/bhikkhuniresidence/

I am interested in buying a Buddhist None or two. These faultless beings, like all sangha will travel and teach for those unable to retreat into the dharma. Obviously I will have to offer suitable travel mode and accommodation, my cupboard of imaginary Buddhas is too small for all but the most dedicated ascetic ...

They will also need head polishing (Bhikkhuni wax job) and will not eat chilli, garlic or after midnight ...

mmm ...

What else must I consider?
http://www.rigdzindharma.org/refuge.html

If we are quick we can welcome them here, or just not bother ...

Is the traditional in your face transmission a good thing? Personally I found the teachers there outstanding but no one wants to moderate them ...

Anyways if you have a need to expound, preach, reach out to the zennith, perhaps you might spread some ...

I have a stressful job, don't feel very well most of the time & the thought of having to be somewhere 7 days a week makes me anxious, feeling guilty and exhausted. Classes are Saturday/Sunday from 2-4PM. I am exhausted on the weekends and wake up as late as possible then get ready for class and there isn't time for grocery shopping, laundry, house cleaning or anything else.

Every November HHDL asks him to come to Dharmasala for teachings and Geshe-la returns in mid-January. This time he was asked to lead a retreat for 2 1/2 months and has just returned, we begin classes tomorrow. I was able to do things with my family this Summer, catch up on mundane things like laundry (when we have regular class I have to resort to washing clothes in the tub because I'm too tired to go to a laundromat) I order groceries on-line & pick them up after class - I'll admit that is so convenient. When he is gone during the holidays I have a lot of time with family but this year he's not going to Dharmasala and the guilt just crushes me if I don't go to class.

I get so much insight and knowledge from class but I'm so burned out from everything. I know, I know, if I meditated more upon emptiness and Great Compassion I might not feel this way but I'm not there yet.

I was very fortunate in having a teacher who never taught me anything. That is probably why I paid so much attention. ?

When I started my Buddhist cult (YinYana) I immediately banned all members from joining, including myself. That is a bit hardcore. ?
http://hardcorezen.info/do-i-need-a-teacher

I am really enjoying a TV series of dangerous cults in order to gain insight into how not to think thunk ?

What benefits us more than a teacher? Have you scrubbed your brain today? ?

wtf?

If we learn, we have been taught. If too taut, we break.
https://tricycle.org/magazine/buddhist-teacher-crosses-line/

Here are some examples of learning resources:

• Sangha, often for inspiration. The diversity means we can learn from a variety of insights. Are many heads better than ones?
• Lore (dharma) books, interweb, talks. Information.
• Buddhas, lamas, roshis, wikipedia

There are also hidden resources, learning from mishtakes, abandoning useless and unethical practices. This is where we become examples or unfolding of our teaching/sharing experience.

Who is a student? I suppose we all are ...