Best Of
Re: peace
@_lobster _
Indeed, we are each the sum of our parts. The people we encounter see only a one or a few parts. Few, if any, ever see the whole. What each sees is the real you. But, it is only part visible "above the water".
When the Spanish first entered the Pacific, it was calm, peaceful (after passing through the Straight of Magellan), hence the name, PACIFIC. Later, they found that this ocean also had a nasty temper.
We are the same. Whenever a person interacts with another, depending upon both the circumstance, the situation, prior actions or lack thereof, will see one aspect, one facet
of that other person. It is said that people tend to judge others in the first seconds of initial contact. Sometimes that initial contact yields a correct analysis of the the person, often the initial contact, like the Spanish and the Pacific, is only partial and thus erroneous, incorrect.
We are all deep pools, only the surface is what others see. As a person becomes familiar to us, we are able to see deeper, but never more than a fraction of that depth.
Everyone has a story. The story makes each and all unique.
The difficulty is to look deep enough into the pool to interact with and understand as much of another as can be understood and accepted.
Returning to the you, the me, the we...Before we can understand another, we must first understand ourselves. So many fail to probe their own depth. Those persons fail to prob beyond the surface and think they understand their pool.
We must not forget to be courageous enough to probe.
Peace to you
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Being a light unto yourself
A thirteenth Century monk wrote:
_When you hold the lantern for others, you light the way for yourself.
_
Lionduck
Re: Being a light unto yourself
One can memorize all "80,000 teachings" of the Buddha and know the words yet not realize the heart of the Buddha. It is said that Devadatta memorized all the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet he failed to understand Siddhartha's heart and opposed him as his self declared enemy, attacking Siddhartha and his disciples repeatedly.
Suri and Handkuo were considered simple beings, unable to eve distinguish between themselves who was who. Yet, they understood the Buddha's heart and were among the first to achieve Enlightenment.
Study is a necessary part of Buddhist practice. But study without understanding is no more than an exercise in ego. It is not the words, but what is within the words, the message hidden within the message, that we must seek. It is in using the words to understand the heart of the Buddha and thus open one's own heart to the true message and meaning of the words.
A scholar studied the writings and practices of a certain school of Buddhism for twenty years. He knew the "How", but did not understand the "Why" of that school's success.
When he approached a senior member of that school, he explained his conundrum.
To which the leader said to him (the scholar), that it was time for him to see the why. It was time for him to DO. It is said that once the scholar took the action, pt all that theory, all that study, into action, by applying it through action, he immediately understood.
From the leg of stude and the leg of practice grows the leg of understanding and faith.
Without practice, study is just unverified theory
Without study, practice is like wandering in a fog.
Without practice and study, faith is meaningless, blind
Thus Faith is at first no more than a willingness to study and practice.
As one studies, learning the WHY
As one practices, sharpening the HOW
One's faith grows and manifests into the NOW
The mind grows, the heart expands to enfold all within and without
The Buddha shines from within to light the way for self and others.
I forget who said it but I was told that :
We are all children of the Buddha
Being children of the Buddha, we are each Buddha
We just haven't awakend to that reality yet.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
No lectures, missives, or sermons. Just an observation:
Belief in One Life or Many Lives is, I think, of less importance than how we are living THIS life. Atheists, the "One and Done" faction, have often displayed strong ethical and moral fortitude than supposed devout religionists, particularly the Monotheists, and especially the self proclaimed (in the US) Christians of the Nationalist and militant sects.
Rather, the challenge is to honor life. The challenge is to treasure ,the gift, the happenstance we know as life. To honor it in ourselves and in others, be they family, friends, neighbors, strangers, even perceived enemies.
The Bodhissatva, who celebrates life and to others sincerely expresses, "Your pain is my pain, your joy is my joy.", is a model we can all emulate.
This regardless of "One life recurring", "Multiple Lives", or "One and Done".
Pece to all
Lionduck
Re: Being a light unto yourself
“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of the word is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.”
― Chuang Tzu
Jeffrey
Re: peace
Peace is not the absence of war
Peace is not the absence of conflict.
Peace is more
Peace is love
Peace is gratitude
Peace is endurance
Peace is strength without coercion
Peace is acceptance
Peace is a sunny day, even midst a storm
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Being a light unto yourself
I came across an interesting quote from Herman Hesse’s book Siddhartha, in which a wanderer of that name meets Gautama the Buddha and tells him that he can’t follow him, because he himself had also only found the enlightenment without following anyone. The only teaching Siddhartha would take from the Buddha is ‘to be a light unto yourself.’
There are other teachers who have made similar points, such as Jiddu Krishnamurti’s famous speech that ‘truth is a pathless land.’ Or Osho’s assertion that there have been many millions of Buddhists, but have they created one more new Buddha?
Ultimately these various teachers can place your feet upon the path, but then you have to let go of their helping hands and make your own way forward using what they taught.
Jeroen
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Lionduck said:
Our dog is in the final phase of her shedding. Anyone with a super shedder (looking at you, Husky people), know. Every day, we can follow our dog's trail, not from paw prints, but from her trail of hair. FIR COATS ANYONE?
Time to take up hair dog spinning for clothe making?
I think that is a thing...can be used as mulch or soil conditioner...
Yep it is a cottage industry in the UK (also available for cats...)
https://www.devinespinning.co.uk/
lobster
Re: Good news
Where teachers encourage children to talk to foreigners to practice English?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g-IREtnLSSY
lobster
Re: Being a light unto yourself
The old adage: "If you would know others, first you must know yourself."
Though I am no scholar, no "Great Teacher", I share this minuscule grain, this seed which I carry and occasionally (often?) mislay:
One can not change the world of one does not change him/her self. We have our formal teachers (master, mentors...). They guide us, give us knowledge, perhaps direction. Then there are the other teachers, the other mentors. These mentors surround us every day. Who are they? They are friends, bosses, fellow workers, employees, neighbors, strangers, even enemies...the people we encounters in the course of the day or evening.
The gaze, the smile, the frown, the joy, the tears, the interest, the indifference....all are lessons, subtle and blatant actions and words. All are lessons..all are teachers.
If we wishes to grow, to change, our eyes, our hearts must be open to the lessons. To understand the lesson is to grow the heart (light). To misunderstand or not accept the lesson is to grow the dark within.
Peace to all
Lionduck