A good man is what I inspire to be, may this journey called life be filled with nothing but what I inspire to see. From the muddy lands did I rise up into a lotus flower shining fourth pure clean petals. Rooting out all ignorance and bad habits, reformatting my heart-mind drive. Now I have something to offer, to everyone I meet, but most of all to my loved one, my precious wife who saw me in the midst of the darkest nights, now we journey together as freedom rings, illuminating the presence of the Divine just in the nick of time, loving kindness shines in my heart and mind. Now I am free from mental agony, breathing freshness so clear and so free. I am given the gift of a new birth, which is my son that looks just like me and I am humbled truly for having a mini-me. In my heart I always wanted a little brother or a really close best friend, now I have a little boy who is my one and only son, who smiles at me every time I hold and sing a song to him. His smile is like a shot of pure fresh air and light, radiating from the sun with all its gentle might. I can’t even expressed the gratitude that I feel in my heart as it beats with so much love, from underneath and to above- covering my entire existence. Here I am a man, who has been rescued from turmoil, at a perfect time I received this precious gift. A father I am, I can’t believe I reached this stage in my life. From all the many moments I almost experienced death, I can’t believe I have life and breath to be here and now to write, share and to express this, yes I am a father and a proud one. I cross my heart and I promise to be the best dad to my son until the very last day I give up my last breath, I will be here, being an example of peace and love to you my son. I want to leave behind a legacy of a heart filled with compassion, and may my son say my dad was a good dad, an activist of peace and compassion, caring for the sick and poor. I am that man, and I will be what I inspire to be, a good man, a good father, a good friend, a good teacher, a visionary of truth.
Let all men rise. Pray that you be the best example and role model for your children, treat your wife right with love and affection. A good man is what we inspire to be.

Be the change you want to see in the world. Don’t keep what you have learned in a box and keep it to yourself. Share it and help others, so they can escape the misery produced by their delusional mind.

The Noble Eightfold Path

Someone said to me today regarding about the Noble Eightfold Path:
“I am a little bit skeptic about any path. They enforce the ego.”

After writing my response to the person, I decided I should post it here too, just in case someone way may feel the same way.

“The ego wants to be in the center of everyone’s life.
When ever a Spiritual Path is followed with determination, the ego becomes threatened, because now it feels like it is losing grip of our life (body and mind).

The word “enforce” is the perfect way to describe what ego is saying.  Ego says “I do not want to be compelled or forced into behaving in a certain way.”  Ego doesn’t like rules.  Ego likes to live the way it wants to, think whatever way it wants to, and act whatever way it wants to.

But in Reality, the way of the ego is illusory, it doesn’t fulfill, it leaves the heart wanting for more and it will never become satisfied. The way of the ego is like a dog chasing its own tail again and again, going no where, in terms of not living in full potential, and attracting the abundance emotionally, spiritually and materially one so deserves.

Imagine a country without Laws. That country would experience confusion and chaos.  That is the same way in any Spiritual Path.  The Law is like the staff that a Shepherd uses to guide his sheep.  If the Shepherd doesn’t guide his sheep they can walk into harms way and get hurt or killed. Ultimately we have a Divine guidance within us, its like a inner compass, but we cannot see it if ego is present.

Enforcing ego is basically discovering who you are not and who you really are. Think about it….try to go back as far as to when you were a child….with simple thinking….without beliefs….without concepts or ideas….you were just living life, always happy for no reason….that is our True Nature, but its like we cannot see it anymore, its like we lost frequency, due to the things we pick up along the way of this path called adulthood.  Those things we picked up are habits and perceptions, which forms this ego.

The Eightfold Path is a Spiritual Path that uses practical instructions of how to discover your True Nature all over again and live in complete fullness and bliss.

~Namaste~

Strip away your title and what do you have?
Strip away your beliefs and what do you have?
Strip away your differences with other people and what do you have?
Strip away your thinking and what do you have?

Beingness

Why when you were a baby you smiled and laugh more for no apparent reason.

Now as an adult you became so serious?

Where is your funny bone? Did it die and dry up?
Loosen up, join others and socialize not just about politics and spirituality, but about human things and have, like when you were a kid.

Strip away the criticism. Strip away the wanting to always be right or to have the last word.

Let it go.

See a person as a human being, a living being who is a part of you. Do not just see them as a person who shares things that you like or believe in. Learn about them in a human level. Open your heart without any conditions.

We are all petals that form a beautiful flower and let out a wonderful fragrance of love and unity. Do not let mind exclude you from this beautiful flower.

As the birds join together and fly in perfect harmony, let us join without condition, without a judging mind. Fly into perfect harmony.

“One who drinks deep the Dhamma lives happily with a tranquil mind.”
The Dhamma means Holy Law, The Truth, the Way, the Ultimate Wisdom, True Nature, or you can call it God. The Dhamma is described here as if it was water. The holy teachings from Sages are fluent as water, clear as water, it satisfy’s the thirst of mankind. In the old testament, Christ, said “if anyone would drink from this water, he will never get thirsty again.” That water is referred to the Truth that sets mankind free of sin, wrong perception, and ego. The water is also known to clean objects that seem to be defiled or dirty, so in this case it is the mind of human beings that is defiled, which only Dhamma/Wisdom can make it clean and free. Water can also be symbolic to the mind. If the mind is govern by ego, it is compared to being like a roaring ocean with so many waves crashing to each other, thus creates uncertainty, feeling of suffering and despair. When a person drinks deeply or learns deeply the Dhamma her mind becomes calm and tranquil with no waves, still. When the mind is still, then you can see and know God. When the mind is still you can see a clear reflection of yourself in the water, and then say I AM THAT I AM. (I AM is looking at the reflection in the water (which is Dhamma) and sees I AM).

When the mind is still, the Dhamma awakens the mind, it becomes ONE. The mind no longer is govern by ego, but by True Nature/Buddha Nature, it now becomes  heart mind (Bodhichitta).  The Dhamma and Mind are like water, they no longer become two separate waters, it becomes ONE water. Dhamma and Mind become ONE, it becomes Awakened Mind. Jesus said “Me and the Father are One.” The Dhamma comes out from the Awakened Mind, therefore you can say it comes out from the Mind of God. In the old testament in book of Genesis, it said “….the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters..” You can interpret it as “In the beginning the Dhamma moved upon the Mind of God, which when God said, things were created. The Buddha said “…with your thought your world is created.” So when your mind is still and calm you will know the Dhamma, which points to your True Nature, and when you say things it will be created. This also connects to Lord Shiva, in the Dance of Shiva, where Shiva is holding a drum with one hand, which means with its sound HE creates. (This is actually another topic I would like to write about: Mind+Thought+Words+Creation)

“The wise one ever delights in the Dhamma made known by the Noble One (the Buddha).”
This just means, the wise one (You) finds happiness in the Dhamma which was revealed by the Sage/Noble One Lord Buddha.

I hope this has blessed you as it blessed me.
Yours truly your Internet Friend
Namaste~

Its like a cat and a ball of yarn

Thoughts come and go. They appear like a motion picture on the screen of your mind. Are the images real? No. They just seem real. They are like clouds that come and slowly gets blown away by the wind. But you have the power to make the thought go or stay a while and take a seat in your heart. If that thought stays, then you start to feed it energy, which makes it nice and fat. Then the thought decides it doesn’t want to leave, because now the thought says ” I am a part of you now, I am what you feel and believe.” Is it true? No. Better yet, a thought is like a ball of yarn. And you are the cat, sitting there at ease, relaxed, until you see a ball of yarn coming your way. When the ball of yarn comes by, the desires arises to go and pounce on it and start playing with it. And when you do, you realize that you have created a huge mess with the ball of yarn. Now you are entangled with the yarn. It’s wrapped all around your head, your eyes, your neck and body. You become so wrapped up that you cannot move, you become bound. Well, that is how thoughts are. They come through the contact of your senses, through your eyes, mind, taste buds, feelings, and hearing. Certain things can trigger a certain feeling, or image into your mind, because your mind is recalling a certain pass event. You can have a false perception of a person by totally misunderstanding their conversation. And by believing that thought that arises in your mind, which is interpreting the meaning of the conversation you will end up being annoyed or get into a huge debate or fight. By believing or reacting to a false thought like that, it is just like the cat chasing after the ball of yarn and ends up getting entangled with it. Examine every thought, be mindful of what is being generating through your mind, watch the ball of yarn and do not chase and play with it because you will get entangled, thus become bound and lose your energy, lose your happiness and peace. When someone gets you upset, do not chase the ball of yarn, ignore it and maintain relaxed. When some one falsely accuses you, do not chase after the ball of yarn, ignore it and deal with it in a rational manner. When something reminds you of a past addiction, do not chase after the ball of yarn, ignore it and keep on being mindful. Be the Observer of your Mind, be the Master of your Domain, be the Lord of your Mind, be the Thinker, do not let your mind do the thinking for you, direct your thoughts just like the fletcher directs his arrow.

Who is perfect?

Who is perfect? No one is, even if you have discovered your true nature, you will face challenges at times by ego.  It is just like when the Buddha was confronted with mara or when Jesus was tempted by Satan, all people must face their demons once in a while in life.  They do not leave, they remain inside of you. These are your neurosis’s you struggled with in the past and it is still here, dormant, sleeping waiting for the perfect moment to arise. These demons are our addictions or personal issues that like to torment us. So do we mess up at times in life?  Sure we do. But the real question is, what do you do after you messed up? Do you beat yourself up? No.  Do you stay down? No, you get up and try again.  And most importantly we learn from our mistakes and try your best to not to do it again. In our path of enlightenment, we will stumble at times but we must stay in the course.  Never be hard on yourself.  Never blame yourself, just say “I am humbled out of this experience, now I have learned my lesson, I will move on.”  Do not dwell on your issue. You must get up and try again.  Life is like a dance you dance and have fun.  Don’t dance and be so hard on yourself because you tripped during the dance or because you didn’t spin correctly, whats the point of dancing then?  Dancing is suppose to be fun, done with your heart.  Learn how to forgive yourself, then again, who is blaming you? No one is.  You are blaming yourself, because you are hard on yourself.  Be nice and gentle to yourself, like you would speak to a baby.  When a baby drops something, falls or cries, will you yell at the baby or decide to not talk to the baby anymore?  Of course not, that is the same way you need to react to yourself or with anyone that makes a mistake.  If they humbly apologize to you, learn how to forgive and forget.  Human beings can be very unforgiving, even if they are a “spiritual” person.  Having the heart of God, means you are forgiving.  See the word “forgiving” it contains two words “for” and “giving.” Its not called “fortaking,” because in the practice of forgiving you are giving love to the other person or to your own self. Give the person a chance, give yourself a chance, give love back like you would give to a baby.  A baby and an adult are no different, its just a difference in knowledge and age. Every adult is a baby in an aged body.  We are all learning, and if you stopped learning, it is because you choose to not learn, or you are dead.  Learning means you are alive, you are open minded and you are open to change. Learning means we are evolving.  We cannot stay the same, we must learn. We cannot be always right, and if you think that you are always right, then you need to abandon that idea immediately, its poison to your being.  Therefore, learn and smile, move on and see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that you are receptive to the voice of God, the Source that is guiding you to notice your mistake, not in a condemning way, but to point out the mistake so you can go and correct the situation, so you can learn from it and evolve.  Remember what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Smile, let go and move on.

Yours truly, you Internet friend
Namaste~

Loving Mother Earth. O how beautiful Mother Earth is. It is OUR GIFT.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world. ~Buddha~

The title of this recording is called “Never Give Up.” I talk about a crossroad I came across in my teenage years, when I contemplated on suicide during a horrible depression stage. In this video I am visiting my mothers house, which triggered my memory of this past event, after looking at the window I thought of jumping out of, which is the 5th floor. This memory only reminded me how far I got in life. I am 34 years old now, I am alive, married and have my first new born, have a career working for the State and many other great things I am so thankful. But the bottom-line is I am extremely grateful to be alive. I encourage anyone that is going through similar things now, to never give up in life. There is a better way, reach out to people that can help. I am here if you need someone to talk to.

From all the trials and tribulations I went through in the past, it has only made me stronger! By passing certain obstacles in my life, it only made me become more grateful for life! I share my past experiences with you, to not dwell on the negative, but to share my deep and passionate gratitude I have for life! I am a lover of life, and I am glad to share it with you. Peace be to you my precious friends!

Recently I read the news about a young homeless man that was killed in Queens NY, that just broke my heart. After being stabbed to death, he fell on the floor and laid there for an hour and thirty minutes. While laying on the floor, people walked by and didn’t care to help him. Whats happening people?? Where is the love?? So I recorded this message in memory of Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax. Please post this on your page to honor this young man, and to spread the message about loving others as you love yourself. If you haven’ saw the news video here it its: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmknOKkaPEI
~Namaste~

Lately I have embarked in a new journey into the land of Facebook, and it has been a huge blessing. I am meeting new people from all parts of the world and the message of Oneness and Awareness is being spread through this great networking tool. I highly encourage you to visit facebook and join me so we can further our friendship by making it more interactive, where we can share thoughts with each other. I also post several articles, music, videos, news, daily quotes there as well. I will introduce you to all the new inspiring people I have met and I know they will be a blessing to you as well.

Also, I want to apologize for not posting newer articles or writings frequently as I wish I can. Especially with the new addition in my life, my new born son, it has been a bit of a challenge to juggle many things, but I am getting there. I want to let you know, that I did not forget about you!

So come on down and visit me at my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000430531851 so I can add you into my friends list, so we can know each other more.

I send you peace, love, and encouragement in this beautiful path. Namaste~
Your internet friend!

This song is a rap song I created. It is more of a personal vow to follow the Pure Path of the Bodhisattva.

Bodhisattva means either “enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva)” or “enlightenment-being” or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, “heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi).” Another translation is “Wisdom-Being.” It is the name given to anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings.

As a follower of the Dhamma of Buddha, I seek to only do what is right and help save all living beings to the best of my capability.

It is our duty to spread the Light that we have receive. This Light lives within us, but it needs to be awaken and then cultivated daily.

Read The Lyrics:
Chorus:
All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
Everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 1
I walk through the shadow with the light so bright
take a flight, put up a fight, to keep my mind insight
never bent or slight with the Truth that’s right
walking with Mindfulness, I absorb His might
Maitri, kindness, compassion, peace, bliss
the Eightfold Path is what I’m following swift
it raised me up and lifted my hearts soul is rich
not taking heed to mara or receiving the kiss
the “Death Will” will switch, suffer down a ditch
I understand the Four Noble Truths and its list
now I pump like this
I spread the Truth like this
it’s time for you to awaken
from your sleepfulness.

Chorus:
Wake up, wake up the alarm is ringing,
the end is near, the new beginning
now is the time, the plan is divine,
seek and you’ll find, its laying so shine,
as the Divine
Life is the Source, it matters of course,
your soul will rejoice, to making the choice
to hearing God’s voice,
revolution has begun, the revolution has begun

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 2
Enter the stream,
there’s no more dreaming of cream
other words, money, dough, bling and all these things
because that’s not the goal
and if you say it is so
then your life is going no where and it will surely blow
far away, away like leaves to a tree
because money, sex, and power will never make you free
but bound around
so I deliver this sound
of Enlightenment to awaken your nature
Buddha Nature, major awareness
the yellow robe is what I want so I wear this
on my sleeve, pure life is what I breathe
what I see, is what I want to be
a Faithful Bodhisattva.

Chorus:
Wake up, wake up the alarm is ringing,
the end is near, the new beginning
now is the time, the plan is divine,
seek and you’ll find, its laying so shine,
as the Divine
Life is the Source, it matters of course,
your soul will rejoice, to making the choice
to hearing God’s voice,
revolution has begun, the revolution has begun

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 3
Come on ya’ll let’s join this revolution
lets bring a solution to the table with a resolution
break off confusion, unite spark up a fusion,
merge into one body, kill the illusion,
lets not separate, divide because of religion,
religion means union, so lets start the communion
join the community, come unto unity
walk into One path righteous and purity
its all the same no matter where we come from
whatever, your a Christian, Buddhist or Muslim,
whatever religion, you see its all just labels
lets get together and bring solutions to the table
don’t be one sided, one minded, just fight it
get rid of dogmas that is made just to divide us
so one for all , all for one,
lets get up and join this revolution.

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Credits: The beat is from the Jewish Rap Group Ta-Shma: “Come Listen” Album, from the song called “Revolution.”

Be Love, be Joy, be Peace, be that Pure Being that you really are.
Unplug from what you think you are.
Let go of that false perception about yourself.
You are special, you are a Light Child, you are beautiful.
Be Happy, smile, laugh, don’t take anything too serious.
Close your eyes, and see the awareness that is inside of you.
You are that awareness.  You are the observer.
Observe without any dualistic thinking.
Forget about gain and loss.
Be Kindness, be happiness, be trustful.
Let all these things SHINE through you.
Radiate this beautiful Light.
Just observe.  Just Be.
Be who you really are.

Namaste!
Your internet friend,
Phrati Dhamma Danda

I recall the story my mother told me about the day she found that she was pregnant. She said she discovered this after she came back from her trip from Puerto Rico and my father stood in New York during her travel. My father did not believe it was his baby but he accused her of sleeping with another man. My mother in great distressed cried to him that it is his baby and that she prays to God that the baby looks exactly like my father so he can be forever be ashamed for making such accusations. And sure enough, out of all of my siblings, I turned out to be the one that looks exactly like my father.

I also remember a story my mother told me. When I was around 5 years old, I was sleeping in my bedroom at night, the bottom of my mattress caught on fire, because of a short circuit from our electrical space heater. The underneath of the mattress, which was of cotton fabric had caught on fire. But mysteriously enough the fire did not continue to spread, but stop mid way of the mattress. My father and mother smelled the smoke and woke up. My father ran to check my bedroom and saw smoke coming out from underneath my bed and that is when he discovered the fire had some how shut off by itself.

I am going to fast forward time a bit and talk about another story. This time this story takes place when I was around 18 years old. I was not living a Pure unselfish life at that time, but doing whatever I wanted, living dangerously, using drugs, practicing sexual immorality and drinking alcohol. At this time my mother was my only parent because my father had pasted away when I was young. My mother was a faithful follower of Christ since she was a young girl. She dedicated her life in doing nothing but righteous deeds from the heart.

Since I was the only one in my family that did not want to participate in any religious practice, I did whatever I wanted, in fact I was very rebellious. One day I was at my house alone, my mother and siblings weren’t home. I decided to roll a joint of marijuana in the house which I never did before. As I started to roll a joint, I started to feel something that stood in front of me, as if someone was standing there. I got spooked out for a moment, but I ignored it and just continued to roll the joint. As I continued, the presence became stronger and stronger that my hands started to tremble. It trembled so much that I couldn’t continue to roll the joint, I had to stop. I stop and thought about it, and as I did my heart started to beat quickly for no reason. I couldn’t explain this feeling so I just left my house.

Now, let me fast forward some more time, tell you another story that took place a couple of months after, regarding this same situation. I use to be inspired to become a Hip Hop rapper, I use to go to studios with my friends to make beats and rhyme over music tracks. I use to go to parties and rap and battle other rappers. This was my hobby with the hopes that I become a rapper. One day as I was at the studio, me and a friend of mine decided to go outside and smoke some marijuana. Let me mind you, I never mentioned anything to my friend about the experience that I encountered at my mothers house, nor did I ever mention it to anybody before, in fact this is the first time I put this out on the web. As my friend started to roll a blunt, his hands started to shake and then his body too. I started to tremble as well. My body, hands and knees started to buckle for no apparent reason, and let me point out to you that this was during the summertime, so NO IT WAS NOT COLD OUTSIDE! My friend said to me, “this is weird I have never experience this before, I am shaking for no reason and we haven’t even started to smoke yet,” then we both started to laugh. But as I was laughing, I was perplexed about this experience that was happening to me, and apparently people around me can feel it too. I knew that is was something spiritual, much more different that I can imagine.

Deep inside I knew I had a calling from the Absolute, the Divine, but I didn’t want to believe it nor except it. As a child I use to occasionally get dreams or visions that were messages that pointed out future events. Like I saw a vision of the Twin Towers burning when I was around 12 years old when I was in a car when my brother was driving, I saw it through the rear view mirror of the car. When the vision went away I quickly told my brother about it, but we thought nothing of it because it seemed impossible. I remember seeing a vision of a baby girl before finding out my brothers wife was pregnant and then finding out that she was having a girl. I have encountered so many experiences that it made me only believe and seek for the answer and find out why. I mentioned these things not to try to get any recognition, nor claim to be some super spiritual man. I just want to share my past experiences that I always longed to share with people and I believe this is the best place for it.

I decided to study all religions and I found out what this Truth really means, and the only thing I can say it is more real than what our small minds can think. It is more than a simple meditation, it is more than just attending a temple or church, it is much more real and indescribable. Now I know my mission which finally came to me in the beginning of 2009. I once and for all gave up all bad habits and gave up all of my addictions and learn about what Jesus really meant by “Know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” Now I understand what the Buddha meant when he said, “Free from desire, Free from possessions, Free from the dark places of the heart. Free from attachment and appetite, Following the seven lights of awakening, And rejoicing greatly in his freedom, In this world the wise mane Becomes himself a light, Pure, shining, free.”

My sisters and brothers, it goes way beyond religion and rituals, it goes beyond all the books, CDs and retreats we can go to, ITS WITHIN, the KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN HERE and NOW, and it is more real than that. It is DYNAMIC it is not STATIC, it MOVES WITHIN and MOVES OUTSIDE of US, it is SHAKTI, IT IS the HOLY SPIRIT, it is the POWER OF TRUTH that liberates the captive Soul and enriches the heart with overflowing True Happiness, Peace and Light. By discovering it you will never need to rely on anything on the outside, no mind altering substance, no material object, NOTHING.

Therefore, let us see our purpose in life, let us discover our True Nature, let us live our lives like everyday is our birthday. You are special, you have a calling, you have something so special that you need to share it with the world. Seek the purity, seek the Truth, cultivate it, hold it, love it and guard it like a precious jewel, because it is a precious jewel.

I send you Love, I send you Peace, I send you the Light that dispels all ignorance and pain. God bless, Namaste, Shalom, As-Salamu Alaykum, Peace be unto you, take care!

Yours truly,
Your Internet Friend
Pharati Dhamma Danda

Read or listen to this writing:

Anyone who has ears, hear what Truth says:
Remove all thought of craving and wanting for it is the root of suffering.
Do not follow the path of Light with half intention, let intention be covered, led by pure Light from your entire existence.

What is pure Light? It is the True essence of kindness, compassion and love. It is the reason of our existence, for everything else is just vanity. Everything is impermanent, but Truth lives on for evermore. Truth resides within your heart, hear the voice that calls for the awakening of your inner Light, rise up to the occasion. Depend not on external things for happiness, for it comes and goes but Truth remains. Truth is what will end the cycle of birth and death. Read the writings from the Sages, it is delivered by the same Light that is within you right now. The Light is not something you earn or attain, IT IS and IT WILL ALWAYS BE here. Abandon all paths of darkness. What is darkness? Anything that is of self-indulgence, ego-centric. Don’t stop living life, but live it without the dependance of external objects. Remember the ego sees this all as “do’s and don’ts” it is far beyond this or that. Disconnect and reconnect, the seed must die in order to sprout a plant. Let all that is impermanent dissolve into what it is, and let all that is permanent take lordship.

Experience the fullness by just letting go all that you know and let emptiness take you beyond without expecting it.

Your internet friend! Namaste!

Listen or read this writing:

When I close my eyes, I see and hear images being played like a theater.
My emotions get tossed around like waves hitting against the walls of my mind.
I try hard to fight against these thoughts, but the more I try the more I get tired and want to stop. I hear a voice that says “stop trying and just be, be like a leaf, quiet and still, absorbing the sun’s raze and misty rain, the nutrients for your soul, the leaf has no thought, it is just still.”
So I stop and relax, and let go of trying. Suddenly, I feel the calm and relaxing feeling, like a baby drinking the warm milk from the breast of his mother.
I hear the voice again saying, “look within.”
I start to try to look within, but as I tried to look within, the images and sounds started to play again in the theater of my mind. As I started to pay attention to the images and sounds, I lost focus of “looking within” like losing the frequency from a radio station.
The voice then tells me, “ignore them, they are like the sounds of the wind that blow across the leaf, just continue to look within and just be. Let go and do not attach to anything, not even with the thought of “trying” to not attach to anything forget about that too.
As I start to not focus on the images and sounds, and let go of trying, I start to concentrate on my breathing, in and out.
Suddenly, I went into deep samadhi, it was like I entered a garden where I found a golden gate which only opened when I had no more thoughts, by truly letting go of everything, and then that is when I entered true bliss.
The bliss was hidden inside of emptiness, where there was nothing, no thought, no concept, no feeling, no idea, no trying, no hearing, no seeing, just nothingness. I sat there and felt like I was One with the universe, like I was a new born having no definition of any kind of form, merged into the One Absolute Being.
Now I understand when Jesus Christ said, “I am One with the Father.” Now I understand what the Buddha meant about Nirvana. Now I understand when the Tao Te Ching, said “The Tao is the Great Mother: empty yet inexhaustible, it gives birth to infinite worlds. It is always present within you.” The Way is to be empty from what we know so we can know the Truth (Dharma) which liberates us from ignorance and sin, which leads us to Life which is ultimately Nirvana, Heaven, Self-Realization, knowing God within, becoming One with the Father.

Humbly yours,
Your internet friend,

I apologize for not posting anything new these past few days. My wife has given birth to healthy baby boy this Monday, so we’ve been tied up with this whole beautiful experience. This is something I never imagined in a million years.

From a small embryo to a 8 pound baby is an amazing process. How this creation has everything perfect, an eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to breathe, legs to walk, everything he needs to live, he has. Life is a miracle in itself.

Staring at my son while he lays in my arms reminds me of the great responsibility I have to point him to the right direction as he grows up, to the path of righteousness. Teaching him all the things that I have learned so he can unfold his purpose in this planet.

Like the Buddha said, “being a father is sweet,” and it surely is!

My personal vow is to help and guide my child to cultivate his True Pure Nature, the pure innocence he is now experiencing, which can easily shut off like a light switch if it is not nurtured properly during the years growing up.

With all the garbage that is playing on TV and radio these days, it is only imperative for every parent to work hard and protect the young children to practice goodness and not follow the crowd of self-centeredness and sin.

Anyway, I hope to get back to start writing some new thoughts and post new great articles and videos soon, until then, stay blessed and encouraged!

Namaste!
Your Internet Friend!

Read or listen to this writing:

Tao Te Ching – Chapter 2

Therefore the Master acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn’t possess,
acts but doesn’t expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

Today I want to talk about this beautiful chapter from the Tao Te Ching literature. He first starts out by talking about the Master, which is the Master within You, who ultimately becomes You, because You are One with the Master. Now this applies to the people that are TRULY seeking and following the Pure Path, and I am not referring to that person who is a religious fanatic that has a PHD in Theology or knows all the sutras, or knows the entire bible or has a title like “VENERABLE, I KNOW IT ALL” etc.. Don’t get me wrong, these things are good to know, but it goes beyond book smarts, it just goes beyond that.

Its about LIVING IT on a daily basis, being mindful every second of your life, practicing unconditional loving compassion with a sincere heart, one who has mastered his or her senses and mind, one who is stepping on the head of Maya like Shiva and said NO to the desires or passions of the illusory “I.”

The True Master is within everyone.

It is inside of us, but it needs to be awaken in order for it to become ONE with us. When we are ONE with it, then we realize our TRUE NATURE, which is pure and clean. When we are ONE with it, then we become the Master, without the illusion of ego to taint this experience, by thinking it is your own doing that you have achieved this, thinking it is “I” that is the Master. It is not the I, but the “I AM” that is the Master, (God within, Buddha Nature, Christ Nature, Likeness of God etc). The Master acts without moving a finger, it is motion in the resting. It is not by your human effort (ego) that performs these things, NO! But it is the True Nature that is within you, not the illusion of the “I.”

The things that the Master teaches come from the “Supreme Consciousness” that is within, not from book smarts and memorization, but by the True Nature that contains all Knowledge and all Wisdom, where all Life comes from, where Eternal Life proceeds from, the True Enlightened Big Mind. The True Master sees things come and go without any attachment, without any complaint of losing anything, because the True Master understands the Four Noble Truths, that all things are impermanent.

The True Master has things, but doesn’t have his or her heart attached to it, not relying on it.
And the main text I want to elaborate on is this one, “acts but doesn’t expect.” What a powerful statement! The True Master, the True Enlightened Person, The True Liberated Individual, The True Truth Seeker acts, offers, gives, hands out, anything WITHOUT EXPECTING SOMETHING IN RETURN.

In fact when the True Master has finished what he or she has done, he or she forgets about it, because what he or she has done, knows it is NOTHING SPECIAL. The people who has received from Master may think, “No, what I got is something special,” but the True Master will tell them, forget about me, and know the Master within yourself and then you will know that it was truly nothing special what I have done. I only point to the Truth and its up to you to do the rest.

Many people who supposedly found enlightenment, want to quickly set up a business to start selling what they have learned, this is not enlightenment, but a half filled cup that still contains the works of the ego. They have not yet understand the True Message that was sent by ALL THE HOLY TEACHERS from ALL RELIGIONS. The message is to abandon the attitude of “whats in it for me.” Many people want to sell enlightenment or to sell a technique for healing, but I am sorry to say, YOU CANNOT SELL THIS.

When the Buddha went around spinning the Wheel of the Dharma, he did not have His hand out asking for some money in return, He only ask for some food to nourish His body so He can continue to Spin the Wheel. His concern was to SAVE SENTIENT BEINGS, He didn’t care about how much he can earn for selling the Dharma. In fact He healed people and then He didn’t go around saying “I can teach you about healing for a fee,” this wasn’t important for Him. Human beings that has not cut the ties of the ego will want to profit from the scared teachings, but it will only back fire on them. When Jesus saw the people in the temple selling things, He went into the temple with a stick and started to break all the merchandise and said ” You have made my Fathers House into a den for thieves.”

Don’t get me wrong you can sell spiritual books, videos or audio from your beautiful experiences of enlightenment and liberation that leads to the path of peace, but when you are in the business to GAIN and that is your main goal, then you are in the wrong business. If your intention is to have a Mercedes Benz, and big house then you are in the wrong business. The True Enlightened Person, the True Master is in it with a Pure Heart, to help save the Sentient Beings, not to help get recruits for their Church, Meditation Center or retreats, NO! Not to become the next Oprah or Echart Tolle, NO! Not to become the next best seller, NO! But because when they watch the horrifying news of innocent lives dying and suffering in the world, they cannot help but to have their heart melt within themselves from DEEP COMPASSION to the point they will want to cry, and have a burning feeling in their hearts to spread help and make a change in this world WITHOUT EXPECTING ANYTHING. Some may say, that is too excessive. True deep compassion will move your heart in such a way, you will give up everything to help your brother and sister.

And the ending verses say, “that is why it lasts forever.” As you can see the teachings of Buddha, Jesus Christ, Krishna, Gandhi, , Mother Theresa, etc.. is lasting forever, it is because they did it without an inch of ego in their heart, they did it for the LOVE for the people, to help society, to save the people from their misery, to SPREAD HOPE. The Buddha left His kingdom of riches to learn what is Truth, and once He discovered it, he went to teach it for free. Jesus taught the Truth to the people and risk His life so much that they killed Him for it, He followed His calling from the Heart. All these Holy Teachers showed us how to do it, lets follow it.

Be careful with all the New Age spiritual so called Guru’s who are selling something that is completely free, be sly as a serpent and gentle as a dove.

As the day approaches where my wife will give birth soon to my baby boy, my heart is filled with great joy. In my life, I had many ups and downs, close encounters with death several of times, an abusive/loving father (who I love no matter what), addicted to drugs, alcohol and sex, had no self worth, I hated myself, I was full of anxiety and depression, I finally found peace, the Light that ever so shines so bright within my heart, which made me ready to become a father.

Although I was confused with religion for many years, in which I came to a point I hated it, because the people that represented this Pure Truth, present a self-righteous dogmatic judgmental view that made me fall away from it. But low and behold, it kept on calling me, calling me back to the Original Source, that was deep within me all along. I heard the voice that called my name, telling me where I needed to be. Every time I think about the episodes I went through in life, I can’t believe how I am alive, to see another day, another age, to see my mother, to have a faithful loving wife, and to have a child.

I write this, as this is my main “outlet” where I can release my feelings into the cyber world, and to who ever decides to read it, that one day, when I leave this world, I can at least touch some lives, even if there is only one person that I made a positive impact to. Life is good, its not easy, but it is good and rewarding. Follow Truth, and give your heart to the Path and see the Universe unfold in hundreds fold right before your eyes. May everlasting Peace be upon your heart. Amen, namaste!

Yours truly,
your internet friend!

Please, please, put Haiti in your prayers so they can dig out and save the people that are still alive trapped underneath the rumble. Lets all unite in prayer or send out a mantra from the heart to the land of Haiti, so they can recover from this unfortunate natural disaster.

HERE IS A WAY YOU CAN HELP:

https://re.clintonfoundation.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=3869

Donations here will be quickly and effectively put to use, with very little overhead or administrative costs (about 4%, which is one of the absolute best anywhere). Haiti needs all of us to help, now. Here it is easy to contribute in a way that will send water, food, and medical supplies to where they are needed.

You can also Text “HAITI” to “20222″ and $10 will be given to the Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Relief Fund, charged to your cell phone bill.

NOTE: WRDZ DOESN’T RECEIVE ANY FUNDS, THIS IS AN LEGITIMATE OUTSIDE FOUNDATION CALLED CLINTON FOUNDATION

May peace be upon everyone this world, and the people of Haiti.

Read or listen to this writing:

I just finished watching a sad, tear-jerking documentary called “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father.”

Here is a brief description about the movie:
Kuenne and Bagby are childhood friends, and when aspiring filmmaker Kuenne begins making home movies, Bagby frequently appears in them and, as they became more professional in quality in later years, invests in them as well. Bagby is a 28-year-old medical student when he meets Shirley Jane Turner, a twice-divorced Canadian American general practitioner who is thirteen years his senior. Bagby’s parents, friends, and associates are wary of the relationship, but initially Turner seems to keep Bagby grounded and relatively free of stress as he pursues his career.
Eventually, the relationship crumbles and Bagby ends it. Turner relocates to the Midwestern United States but apparently is consumed with anger strong enough to prompt her to drive 1,600 miles overnight to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where she shoots Bagby numerous times in the parking lot of a local park on November 5, 2001 before returning home.
Bagby’s family and friends immediately urge police to investigate Turner, and after a lengthy investigation in which extensive evidence is accumulated, she is arrested. When she is released on bail, she flees to St. John’s, Newfoundland to avoid prosecution. Soon after she discovers she is pregnant. Thus begins a long legal battle waged by Bagby’s parents David and Kathleen, who move from Sunnyvale, California to Canada, determined to gain custody of their grandson and Turner’s rendition for a Pennsylvania trial while she fights extradition to the United States in the Canadian courts while free on bail.
Turner eventually is returned to prison, only to be released again by Justice Gayle Welsh, who feels she has exhibited no behavior that suggests she poses a threat to society. Turner thus regains custody of Zachary. On August 18, 2003, Turner, carrying the infant Zachary, jumps into the Atlantic Ocean from a fishing wharf in Foxtrap; both perish.[2]
No longer just a legacy for Zachary, Kuenne’s film also becomes a polemical rant against the Canadian justice system for catering to a dangerous sociopath and failing to recognize how dangerous she is.

After I finished watching this movie, it brought tears to my eyes, and reminded me of the potential of committing such an act like murder lies within anybody that has a delusional mind. When a person has allowed manifesting of the thoughts of hatred and anger through physical violence to another human being, their mind is completely deluded and blinded by the darkness of Mara. This movie also reminded me about why is that we practice? What is the reason we are interested in walking a spiritual path?

Well, of course it is because we want to save ourselves from the suffering from the ego and to bring nothing but peace and happiness to our lives. But the problem is, it goes beyond this. The reason behind the reason we walk a spiritual path, is to ignite the Light within us so that we can help ignite the Light within others. There are many, many people out in the world, that are lost and blind with deluded minds, and some are at the point that they are having thoughts of murder, suicide, rape or anything evil that you can imagine. But this is happening because their minds are captive by the delusions of Mara/Satan/False Nature.

As people that follow the path of Truth, we have the power that can unlock their minds out of captivity. The Dharma that we know and understand is the power that breaks the chains of mental and spiritual bondage. It goes beyond with just being a person who likes to meditate and that’s it. We need to become like Buddha’s in order to spin the wheel of the Dharma. We need to become like Jesus in order to preach the word of God. We need to become like Mohammed in order to teach the message of Truth. Whatever religion you follow, and whatever spiritual figure or teacher you follow, we need to imitate them and spread the message of hope. This is the reason behind the reason why we meditate, why we study Dharma, why we visit a temple, church, synagogue or mosque, why we are interested in spiritual things. It’s not just for us to be an enlightened person, and fold your hands and that’s it. Let us pray for the peace and the harmony of the world. Let us seize the opportunity whenever we get, to spin the wheel of Truth so we can help others be free from delusion. Do not hide your Light that you have discovered, let it shine out and spread it.

I am sorry that I sound preachy here, I am just a big advocate for helping to make a change in life, so that when we die, we all can leave something behind, something that will reasonate in many lives, something that will move people into wanting to follow the Truth, the Light that liberates their minds. Spreading the power of morality, of love, of peace, of joy, in this world of pride and greed. Putting an end to moral decay and raise the flag of the true meaning of religion, the religion of love and compassion. I pray that this becomes a firey passion within your hearts, so we can become the change that this world so badly needs.

Take care and be well!
May peace uplift your heart everyday of your life!

Namaste!

Your internet friend!

If curiosity killed the cat, then ignorance led him to it.
If ignorance led the cat to perform his action,
then his sensations were led by his ignorance.
If his sensations were led by his ignorance,
then delusion is what encouraged his sensations.
If delusion is what encouraged his sensations,
then delusion has dominion over his five senses.
If delusion has dominion over his five senses,
then suffering is his ultimate result.

If the cat observes and examines the idea of being curious and
understands that his action will kill him,
then ignorance is not leading him.
If ignorance is not leading him, then his sensations are under control.
If his sensations are under control, then he ignores delusion.
If delusion is ignored, then his five senses are mastered.
If the five senses are mastered, then happiness is his ultimate result.

Namaste!

Yours truly,
your internet friend!

A baby is born.
The baby starts to grow up and learn new things.
He or she starts to mimic everything he or she sees or hears.
The mother stays home to baby sit.
The mother has some hard times baby sitting but she is getting used to it.
The baby is grabbing things, moving here and moving there, not focused on anything.
The mother gives it a pacifier, cradles the baby, sings to the baby and eventually the baby slows down and starts to relax and fall asleep.

Here is the meaning of the story. The mind is the baby and the mother is you.
You are practicing meditation but the mind is like a baby it moves here and moves there.
You cannot get frustrated with the baby (the mind) and try to forcefully control the baby (the mind).
You need to cherish the baby (the mind) with loving kindness and patience.
In time the baby (the mind) starts to slow down, and relax and still itself.

But yes, every time you meditate, it can seem like its a nursery room, where the mind is roaming here and there. Do not detest you senses, do not get mad at your thoughts, or what your ears are hearing, wishing that there is quietness around. Sometimes there may be noise from your neighbors or the streets or whatever it is and you can get agitated, but let go of that feeling, do not attach to it. Observe it with compassion but do not dwell on it, notice it and let it move along. The thoughts are like cars driving by, do not try to identify each car, because you will get overwhelm and tire out your spirit. You become like a dog chasing its own tail, stirring your mind with more mind.

Be patient like the mother that is baby sitting her baby. Just concentrate on your breathing and remember that your thoughts and the sounds you hear are like phantoms, they are like clouds, they are like dreams, they are not tangible, they cannot affect you only if you allow it to affect you, disturb you. The thoughts and sounds are like a little kid next to you poking you on the shoulder for hours waiting for you to get up upset and say something to him, but you patiently ignore the little kid and stay quiet, the little kid will stop and get tired.

The peace and calmness is inside of you and nothing can take that away from you, not even a so called “bad meditation.” Remember THERE IS NO SUCH THING OF A BAD MEDITATION or GOOD MEDITATION, so stop labeling your progress. Forget about loss and gain, because that derives from dualistic thinking and dualistic thinking is sickness to the mind.

Quieting your mind is like baby sitting, the importance is that you take time to baby sit and if you don’t the baby will grow up to do whatever it likes without any discipline.

Meditation is training of the mind.

I hope this was helpful to you as it was helpful to me.

Take care and be well, namaste!

Your internet friend.

I had to write this after receiving a beautiful and inspiring email from someone that visited this blog.

This writing is from the bottom of my heart to everyone that visits this blog.

I give my life to this cause, the cause of trying to help human beings realize and to cultivate their inner peace.
I have nothing to offer you. I only have some humble words that are born within my heart, and that spills out through my soul like a fountain of freedom. I write without knowing who will read this, without trying to “market” these writings, but allowing for the hungry heart to seek and find it on their own. Once I had a dream and heard a voice that said, “Build a City,” and a city I will try to build, I don’t know how nor am I concern on how it is built, I will just do want I feel in my heart, this feeling that burns like a fire, a love that I have never felt before, which I know it is the love from the Divine. I give my body, my hands, my feet, my eyes, my entire life to this cause.

I walk as an imperfect man, but I’ve learned that perfection doesn’t matter at all. The importance is that I TRY, that WE TRY to walk this path, this path of love and compassion. We do not need to force love and compassion, let it flow naturally, because we have this inside of us, because we are pure in heart. Just remember the days when you were a baby, that innocence is your True Nature, reconnect to it because it is still there, we just need to go back to it. Its about practicing to stay connected to it daily, and rewiring our minds from our old way of thinking. Its about awakening our right brain and quieting down our left brain.

Meditate, let go of everything, rely on nothing, just observe your breathing. Quiet your mind, connect with your True Nature. Deep meditation is described as a baby sleeping inside the womb of his or her mother, with no thought, no concern, no worry, no idea, no concept, no religion, no idea of God, no wants, no attachment, just EMPTINESS. Realize that God is in You and You are in God, you are ONE with God, just like Jesus said, “Me and the Father are ONE, I am in Him and He is in Me, WE ARE ONE.” You become ONE with God when you decide to crucify your old self, your ego, your false nature on the cross and seek enlightenment, and then you will resurrect into a new person, you become born again, you go back to the womb symbolically speaking. You awaken your Buddha Nature, your True Self, God within you. A plant cannot flourish and grow unless the seed dies in the ground. Become like a caterpillar that transform into a butterfly.

Its like the analogy of the ball of clay, if I would take pieces of clay from a huge ball of clay and make several balls of clay, each ball of clay is still clay. We are from God, we are pieces of God, we have the mind of God, we have the heart of God, we are Pure, we are Free, we are Peace, we are Love, we are Light.

I am going to end this writing with these last words. The path is not easy but it is not hard, ask questions to a spiritual teacher (Yogi, Monk, Pastor, Priest, Guru) that you know is a true follower of the Truth (by their fruits you will know them). Also you have an inner guru, your True Nature, who is Wisdom. Pray that you can see, hear and learn the Truth. Eventually you will see and hear great Truths either through reading the Dharma, or reading a spiritual book, or listen to a song, or listen or watch lecture recording etc. And you will always have me as a friend for you to reach out and ask a question and I will try my best to answer you and if I can’t answer you I will try to lead to the right resources.

I care for you, even if I don’t know your name, even if I never met you or will never meet you. We are ONE, we are ONE BODY of the Absolute, we are the BODY of the UNIVERSE. Just imagine if 100 million lights turn on from all around the world….darkness will dwindle and slowly lose its grip and uncover the eyes of many of our brothers and sisters minds. Many people out there are living in complete misery, tormented within, having uncontrollable self destructing feelings. Let us practice each one, teach one. It is not about trying to convert someone into a religion, NO! Don’t force any belief down anybody throat, beliefs do not matter here. Just practice LOVING KINDNESS and spread that like fragrance from a flower.

Keep you inner light lit and guard your mind from delusion. I transmit the peace, love and strength from the Absolute into your entire being right now at this precise second, receive it!

Take care and be well. Yours truly your internet friend!

Dhammapada – Flowers
“Follow the awakened and from among
the blind the Light of your wisdom
will shine out, purely.”

Here is a rap I wrote called “Faithful Bodhisattva,” in which as a follower of the Buddha is what we all want to become, is to become a Faithful follower who has cross over the shore of Samsara and to spin the wheel of the Dharma and help save sentient beings as a Faithful Bodhisattva. Before I entered the Noble Eightfold Path, I use to rap for the world, about self centered things which profit nothing to anybody nor myself. Now I have changed my view in life and decided to use my personal talent to help spread the message of the Dharma.

This rap was written and recorded ONLY to selflessly promote the Pure Path. If people in this world can rap about sex, drugs and alcohol, why not rap about the Pure Truth that is made to liberate the souls out of samsara?

I hope you enjoy it, Namaste!
This is not a professional recording…sorry.

To download this song, just right click on this link and select “save as”..
http://www.wrdz.com/Faithful-Bodhisattva.MP3

Read The Lyrics:
Chorus:
All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
Everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 1
I walk through the shadow with the light so bright
take a flight, put up a fight, to keep my mind insight
never bent or slight with the Truth that’s right
walking with Mindfulness, I absorb His might
Maitri, kindness, compassion, peace, bliss
the Eightfold Path is what I’m following swift
it raised me up and lifted my hearts soul is rich
not taking heed to mara or receiving the kiss
the death “Will” will switch, suffer down a ditch
I understand the Four Noble Truths and its list
now I pump like this
I spread the Truth like this
it’s time for you to awaken
from your sleepfulness.

Chorus:
Wake up, wake up the alarm is ringing,
the end is near, the new beginning
now is the time, the plan is divine,
seek and you’ll find, its laying so shine,
as the Divine
Life is the Source, it matters of course,
your soul will rejoice, to making the choice
to hearing God’s voice,
revolution has begun, the revolution has begun

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 2
Enter the stream,
there’s no more dreaming of cream
other words, money, dough, bling and all these things
because that’s not the goal
and if you say it is so
then your life is going no where and it will surely blow
far away, away like leaves to a tree
because money, sex, and power will never make you free
but bound around
so I deliver this sound
of Enlightenment to awaken your nature
Buddha Nature, major awareness
the yellow robe is what I want so I wear this
on my sleeve, pure life is what I breathe
what I see, is what I want to be
a Faithful Bodhisattva.

Chorus:
Wake up, wake up the alarm is ringing,
the end is near, the new beginning
now is the time, the plan is divine,
seek and you’ll find, its laying so shine,
as the Divine
Life is the Source, it matters of course,
your soul will rejoice, to making the choice
to hearing God’s voice,
revolution has begun, the revolution has begun

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Verse 3
Come on ya’ll let’s join this revolution
lets bring a solution to the table with a resolution
break off confusion, unite spark up a fusion,
merge into one body, kill the illusion,
lets not separate, divide because of religion,
religion means union, so lets start the communion
join the community, come unto unity
walk into One path righteous and purity
its all the same no matter where we come from
whatever, your a Christian, Buddhist or Muslim,
whatever religion, you see its all just labels
lets get together and bring solutions to the table
don’t be one sided, one minded, just fight it
get rid of dogmas that is made just to divide us
so one for all , all for one,
lets get up and join this revolution.

(2 times) All people of all nations,
the final time has begun,
claim your stake, join this revolution
everyone, everyone

Be a faithful bodhisattva

Credits: The beat is from the Jewish Rap Group Ta-Shma: “Come Listen” Album, from the song called “Revolution.”

One Garden?
First draft. Excuse me if you find any misspellings.

Read or listen to this writing:

Once there was a boy who lived in a beautiful garden that was surrounded with a golden gate. This garden was filled with flowers that had beautiful colors and soothing aromatherapy. He was instructed by his parents to maintain and keep the garden everyday.

His parents also taught him that this was the only beautiful garden in the whole world, it offers the best aromatherapy, it has the most exquisite and lustrous colors. They also taught him to beware of other gardens that reside outside from this garden, those gardens smelled horrific, it offers nothing, it lacks color and were made out of artificial material that appeared like real flowers but were imitation.

Many people like these other gardens but they are fooled and do not know what is the real garden. One day the boy asked his parents, “have you ever saw these flowers face to face?” and the parents replied, “No, there is no need to because because we believe it is as mentioned, therefore it is truth.”

Ever since they taught him these things, the boy always sat in the garden and pondering on that idea and question it in his mind, but it didn’t dare to verbally mentioned his questions.

So one day when his parents were sleeping, the boy decided to venture off on his own outside of the garden to find the other gardens. So the boy grabbed some flowers from his garden and went out on his journey.

He walked for miles and miles. He finally came across a beautiful garden that didn’t have a gate surrounding it, in fact there were people going in and going out freely. This garden had a long field filled with beautiful flowers.

The boy ran closer to the flowers to see if they were fake flowers and if they smelled horrific like his parents had taught him. He went up to the flowers and smelled them. He paused for a second in amazement, because the flowers had a distinctive beautiful smell just like the flowers he knew from his garden. The flower petals were soft and gentle and contained a beautiful color just like the flowers from his garden. He loved the flowers so much that he grabbed a few and put them together with his first batch of flowers and continued his journey.

He walked for miles and miles and came across another garden without a gate.
He went into the garden and discovered the same as the other garden. The flowers were real, they smelled beautifully, and they gave him the same soothing feeling when he smelled them just like the flowers from his garden. He loved the flowers so much that he grabbed a few and put them together with his first batch of flowers and continued his journey.

The boy walked and walked in his journey and came across a several other gardens. He experienced the same thing as every garden he came across, they contained real flowers and they smelled beautifully. He plucked flowers from every garden he came across and created himself a bouquet of flowers.

The boy decided to start walking back home. As he was walking he started to think about the things he learned in his journey. He learned that all of the flowers in the bouquet had a distinctive fragrance, they all had different colors, they were all beautiful, and most of all they were real flowers. He learned that a flower is a flower no matter. He thought to himself, “why would someone say such bad things about these flowers, if they never experienced the flowers personally?”

Once the boy returned back home to his garden, he ran up to his parents and gave them the bouquet of flowers and said, “this is for you, all of these beautiful flowers are for you.” They looked at the bouquet of flowers and said, “I only see our beautiful flowers in that bunch, the other flowers we do not recognize therefore we will not consider them to be flowers.” The boy said “but these are flowers from the other garden, they are real, just smell and touch them and you will see for yourself.” The parents looked at the boy with disgust and said, “we will not smell or touch these fake flowers. Why have you strayed so far from the true garden? You have become delusional.” The boy tried and tried to convince his parents but they will not listen to him, so the boy gave up.

The boy decided to leave the garden and create his own garden filled with flowers from the seeds he collected from all of the gardens in the world. The garden grew up to be beautiful with soothing aromatherapy. This garden attracted many people from all around the world to come and find a place to rest and be happy.

The boy grew up to be a happy and free man. He learn to not accept anything in face value but to exam and question until he found the answers, and that is what he did.

Each garden represents a religion. The boy represents the person that is seeking the Truth. The parents represent the religious teachers or leaders that follow a religion with blind faith and has accepted a concept without questioning anything. These concepts are doctrines and dogmas, that shape the fundamental ideals of a religious organization.

Since most of these doctrines were set up by human beings, it cannot help itself but to contain some “selfish” views that produced discrimination, and division. History clearly reveals the painful results from these selfish religious point of views.

One of the selfish religious point of views that I use as a example in this story is the false perception of uniqueness or separateness. The boy parents was teaching him that there was no other garden like the garden they have, and the boy discovered that this was not true. This scene represents the reality of the many religions that are in this world, that offer the Truth, but some religious groups say there is only one Way or there is only one Truth, and this is not true.

Religions are an expression of who and what God is, or what Truth is, or what the Way is, or what Love is, or what Peace is, or what Wisdom is (I can go on and on with these labels…”of what ____ is”…).

All religions have truth but it is not fully understood with the human small limited mind. So people create or say hard comments or ideas that this is not true, or this is true and they get into a whole dualistic religious debate. Within all these wars, arguments, and debates, nothing but death, anger, division, contention and ignorance has been generated from it.

Don’t use your energy to debate about whether or not God is real, don’t debate about Jesus being a Jew or an African, don’t debate about if Buddha was a false prophet. All of these debates stem from ignorance, which do not lead to anything.

In fact, what we should being doing is acknowledge all the positive things that come out from these religions, see what these religions have in common, and you will realize the answer is “LOVE, COMPASSION, PEACE, PURENESS OF HEART AND MIND.” Forget about the name calling or labeling, I am a Christian, I am a Buddhist, I am a Hindu, I am a Jew, I am a Muslim…WHO CARES about that!!! None of those things matter. What matters is that you become human and join other humans to act like humans and love one another.

To discover the Truth in all the religions requires an open mind, a non-judging mind and as a human being, that is not easy. Us human beings are habit forming creatures. It is hard to reprogram a mind to think differently, but when it is done, it is liberating! That is when you start to feel free.

There was a time where I was following Christianity for many years, with a one sided view of, “this is the only one true religion” view. After the third year, I had a falling out from the religion, where I left the entire faith because I wanted to explore the world at the age of nineteen. After consuming all the goodies the world had to offer, I found no peace in any of those things. I learned that there was nothing in this world that could satisfy my cravings.

My life was in complete mayhem. I smoked so much marijuana day and night to make me feel better, because I was depressed, but I was in complete denial that I was depressed. This cycle of misery was for thirteen years. As years gone by, I got married, I got my own place to live but I kept on with my bad habits. Marijuana took me away from the realities of life, but after the high was gone, I was miserable and I often took my anger on my wife with hateful words. My marriage was so rocky that I was planning for a divorce because I thought I could find peace in another women, but little did I know the problem was within me.

To put a cherry on top on my misery I got laid off from my job. Now I was forced to really stop and reflect on my life. I said the first thing I need to stop is smoking pot, because this is keeping me from seeing reality. So once I stopped I started visiting a psychiatrist and he started to medicate me with pills. One side of me liked it, but the other side of me didn’t want this. So I stop seeing the psychiatrist and I started to go back to my spiritual roots which was Christianity.

I started to read Proverbs from the old testament, and that helped me to gain spiritual strength to slowly pull away from bad habits and quit smoking. I started visiting churches and it helped me a lot, but something was missing. I loved Jesus but I couldn’t see Jesus the way people from the church was seeing Jesus. I didn’t like the idea of this is the only Way and everything else is false. So I stop my visits to churches and stood home. My quest went on for months, day and night, without giving up. I made this my personal mission.

I decided to read other scriptures from other religions like Hinduism, Bahai, Islam, Sikhism, Gnostic, Buddhism and they all had beautiful things. But out of all things Buddhism stood out from the rest to me. The saying from the Buddha that stood out for me was when He said, “Do not take anything as the truth, exam it.” So that is what I did, I exam everything.

One day I thought about a tattoo that I got 6 years ago when I was 27 yrs old. I never stop to think about the meaning of my tattoo. The tattoo I have is a Shambhala Dragon. I started to do a google search on the web, and I happen to find out that in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia. I never knew this tattoo on my arm had some connection to Buddhism. So it gave me more of a interest to read more about Buddhism. One day when I was staying over my father in laws house, I came across one of his books from Shambhala publications, a book from Pema Chodron about Loving Kindness, and the word Shambhala stood out to me, so I picked it up and started reading it.

I don’t believe in coincidences so I took it as a sign to follow this path. Ever since reading that book I started to buy more books and practice meditation. To make a long story short, I had to discover for myself that there is Truth in all religions, its just explained differently, but you will have to jump over the hurdles of the “selfish” religious views that are found mixed in religion. I have chosen Buddhism as a guide for me in following the Truth, but it doesn’t stop me from reading the bible or other beautiful sutras from other religions, with a more practical and non-dogmatic view.

Removing or dispelling the ignorance from dogmatic views is not an easy thing to do, it requires a lot patience and determination. If this is something that is happening to you, do not give up. There was a time when I almost gave up on religion completely and I was going to believe in nothing because I was sick of it all. But I continued to seek, ask questions, and I found the light in the midst of the darkness. That is the reason I created this blog, to help people in finding their path.

I hope this writing was of some kind of help to you as it was for me in a big way.

We are One, let us walk together, let us shine together and help every brother and sister in this world with this light that is growing within us, second after second.

Namaste!

Your Internet Friend, Happy Holidays!

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In the Zen poem “Hsin Hsin Ming, Inscribed on the Believing Mind,” written by Sen-Ts’an, there is verse that says “Two come about because of One, but don’t cling to the One either!”
And that is the verse we are going to concentrate on today.

I am coming to a point in my life that, I am not having enough time to do anything especially because my wife is expecting baby soon. The preparation for my son’s arrival, spending time with my family along with taking care of my daily responsibilities, and trying to practice meditation and read/study the Dharma.

It is not easy to balance life with spiritual practice. So far, I am trying my best to not miss a day of sitting, stilling the mind and connecting to the Absolute. There are times that I am not able to practice with the amount of time I would like to have. At times it results in, for me not having such a great day if I do not have a long session of meditation or meditate at all. But one day in my meditation, I reflected on the word “attachment,” and I realized that I was getting attached to meditation, in which I was depending on it too much. If I didn’t meditate or have a long session, my mind will interpret that to a bad day, which in reality it is not true.

I came to a conclusion that from the day I made my vow to follow the path, and by trying my best to live the life in harmony with the teachings of the Buddha, my Buddha Nature doesn’t depend on anything for it to do what it does. Its not what I do that makes me have joy or peace, its all in the mind that paints a false perception or interpretation of what my outcome will be if I do this or not. When we come to a point in our lives of practice, when we reach a certain stage in our lives, we no longer need to depend on anything, in fact, the Buddha said to rely on nothing, not even on emptiness.

The stages are: we first renounce all impure living and make the vow to follow the eightfold path, second is to practice to sharpen your mind with the Dharma which ultimately gives you wisdom to purify the mind, thirdly its to follow the path using the wisdom you have gained but rely on nothing. After all this, we come to a point in our lives that its not about trying to be enlightened, its not about trying to be in emptiness, its not about trying to still the mind, its not about how long we sit for meditation, it becomes about “nothing.”
Yes, the purpose is to understand all these things and to achieve all those points I have mentioned above, but it just doesn’t become our focus, that is not our reason why we practice, we practice because we breathe, because we walk, because we see and hear, its because its a way of life, its nothing special.

Also, in my practice, I notice that my wife use to get upset because there would be times that I totally didn’t spend enough time with her, because I would be occupied in practice. But the problem was I was not attending the house, I was not attending my marriage. I had to learn that there is a balance in everything, because too much of one thing is never good. I have to attend my spiritual house and my physical house in order to find true success within and without. I was learning that it was fine to go and lock myself in a room to practice in complete silence or go to temple. But I also needed to be out there in the real world, where I have my responsibilities as a husband, as a brother, as a son, as a friend, as a son-in-law, as a member of a sangha etc.. I was learning that balance is key for good practice.

Be here in the now, see your family, see your friends, see the outside nature, take a walk, go for a jog, swim, live life, for all this is giving to us to enjoy in a pure way. And if you do not have 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour to practice, just practice mindfulness while you drive, walk, or talk. It is not the end of the world if you do not do it. Do not get me wrong, it is ideal to practice everyday, because it is the vitamins to your spiritual life, it is your fueling station. But if you honestly can’t practice at the moment, practice mindfulness, be in the here and now, think of Dharma, and attend your daily activity. Also, if you notice it is becoming a bad habit that you are not finding anytime, then you should reevaluate your time schedule and see where you can squeeze in some time.

The main thing is that you do not get attached to anything, do not even let practice be a dependent in which you find yourself, feeling sad and feel like you are a bad practitioner if you do not take time to do it. Because then you are listening to mara, the false nature is lying to you and you are buying it.

So do not beat yourself over the head because you do not practice as much as you want, or that you have not reached a level you would like to get to, that is all not important. The importance is your intention. Your drive to do it.

Dhammapada – the man who is awake
“If you wounded or grieve another, you have not learned detachment.”

You can also say, if you have grieved yourself, because you feel that you are not having good meditations or do not practice too much, you have not learned detachment. There is no such thing of a good or bad meditation or practice. Just do it without labeling your progress.

Also in the Zen poem “Hsin Hsin Ming,” it says:
“Never tag after the realm of entanglements.”

Do not get caught up with anything not even your practice.

It also says:
“Leave it! Let things take their course!
In the end there’s neither going nor staying.
Follow your nature, blend with the Way,
be free and easy, a stranger to all care.”

Be free and easy, to yourself, stop being hard on yourself, just relax and just be, let things take its course, and be a stranger to all cares!

Let go of all your cares, all your issues, all your worries, just let it go!

Keep on trying, and live in peace.

I hope this was some kind of help to you as it was for me.
May peace be upon you and your family!

Your Internet friend!
Namaste!

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Recently, I had a weird dream that had me thinking for a while. Normally I do not think that every dream I have is some great revelation of some sort, but there has been some that have revealed me some great truths. This dream had a message that was trying to make itself known to me.

This is how the dream went…
In my dream I was walking on top of a high mountain with a group of friends.  I knew that this mountain was a mountain that many people have climbed.  In my dream I said, “In order to get rid of my fear, I need to climb down this mountain.”

My friends thought I was crazy, but I just walked over to the edge of the mountain and started to climb down.  As I started to climb down, I looked down the mountain and realized that it was too steep and I couldn’t do it. I was petrified and I felt like I was going to fall and lose my grip. I said to myself, “Why did I do this, what was I thinking, I am going to fall and kill myself.” Then I look to my left side and I saw that there were flatter edges of the mountain that will allow me to place my feet and climb back up. I leaped towards the left and started to climb out, and then I made it to the top.

Finally I stood next to my friends and one of my friends took some photos of me trying to climb the mountain.  As he showed me the photo, I noticed it was a photo of “myself” looking at “myself” climbing down the mountain. I was confused because, how can I be in a photo staring at myself staring at myself. When I woke up from the dream, I didn’t understand what it meant.

After a couple of days it finally hit me, I thought of a scripture from the Dhammapada that made sense of it.

The Elephant
“Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts.”

It made sense to me; I was observing myself climbing a mountain which was too difficult for me to climb. These past few days, I have been struggling with quieting my thoughts and I felt like I was trying to hard which was wearing me out. Lately I have been asking in prayer, that I want to learn more on how to control my thoughts.

This was my answer…I need to be the observer of my thoughts, of my sensations, of my feelings, of my desires.  I need to watch them and understand that is the only thing I can do, watch them as they come and go, without clinging to my thoughts or feelings. It’s like staring at cars driving fast in a highway, you can choose to look and describe each one by one by saying the year of the car, what kind of car it is, what color, what horse power it has etc.. and then do this to every car that drives by.

The problem is there are too many cars driving by in a fast pace, and you will become overwhelm trying to identify each car.  The cars are symbolic to your thoughts and feelings.  As they past by in your mind, do not attach to each thought, do not identify each thought, just see it and let it go without trying to make it go away.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.”
Old Testament – Zechariah 4:6

Your True Self, your Buddha Nature, your Christ Nature, God within whatever you want to call it, that Divine Nature within you is who does these things. You do not need to force your mind to be quiet, because it’s not by power, its not by might, but its by letting go and doing nothing. Your True Nature lives in total emptiness, detached from trying or forcing anything.

That is why in my dream, I decided to climb down a mountain in order “to get rid of my fear,” but that was by MY might an by MY power, in which I later realized that I couldn’t do it.  I just have to watch and observe my thoughts as it comes and goes.

On the same week I had my dream, I happen to bump into the same teaching in a book that I am currently reading, called “Entering the Stream.” I was reading a chapter called “The Practice of Recollection,” which is also about self awareness.

These are the lines that confirmed my message to me:

“What then is “practice” of recollection? How does one go about it? Recollection is, quite simply, remembering to establish the attention with full awareness on the present, on the here and now. It is the “unsupported thought,” the “fast of the mind,” the true “noble silence.” As each object arises into consciousness, through whichever of the six entrances (the five senses and the imagination), it must be seen as it is, without welcoming it or rejecting it, without clinging to it or trying to push it aside-just “letting it go as though it were a piece of rotten wood,” as the great Huang Po puts it. This is the real meaning of the “Middle Way” of Buddhism, to see each (and every) object as it arises, with a mind that is “alert, fully-conscious and self-recollected, avoiding either attachment or aversion to anything.” Do not like, do not dislike, all will then be clear.”

Summary:
1. Be the observer of your thoughts and feelings, do not force to quiet your mind, just observe it, and it will go away.
2. Be in the present moment, the here and now.

I hope this was some help as it was for me.

Be well, take care, namaste!

Your Internet Friend!

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The world offers tons of images, sounds, objects, substances, advice and conclusions, but none can satisfy.
None point to freedom.
Is there anything pure anymore? The world is chasing money, flaunting what they have purchased, lusting over uncovered skin, to the point of giving up the sacred vow of marriage.
The animals and plants don’t even know the sickness of war, pride, greed or buying and selling that us humans know.
The youth of the world is immersed into the newest trend and TV and radio has become their ultimate teacher. The people of the world relies on money, sex and power and abandoned the idea of compassion as a useless tool.

The sickness of the ego is sweeping the world. Great powers of the world have cared less for the hungry and homeless. Where is the compassion?

It is time for us to arise! You have been called to make a difference. Darkness is covering grounds, but there is also a huge Light that is sweeping the world. This Light doesn’t contain any dogma or doctrine. This Light is empowered by the pureness practiced and lived by the people. When we meditate, when we pray, when we chant we are spreading loving-kindness, we are spreading the power of the Light all across the world, all across the universe. You are making a difference when you are doing these things.

Spread this positive energy everywhere you go. Let your energy dissolve the negativity that is sweeping the lives of many. Many people are drowning in the sea of samsara and we have a responsibility to help them get out. Yes, it is true, first save yourself, and then save others, but when an opportunity is opened to you, to help, to spread a message of enlightenment, to turn the wheel of the Dharma, do not hesitate.

Do not get comfortable and so relaxed that you have forgot the purpose of all of this. Be that person of change, be the person that makes another person smile. Spread the joy and peace that you have gained in your time of emptiness, in your time of prayer, in your time of meditation.

Become like a tree that produces fresh fruit, where people can come and eat off of you, and maybe sit and rest under the shadow of your leaves. If you like to sing, sing the Dharma, if you like the teach, teach the Dharma, if you like to do art, make art for the Dharma. Use your talents to spread the message of hope to sentient beings. Be an instrument for the Divine. Speak, teach, paint, sing, cook, write, create a blog, whatever it is do it! Spread the Light that is within you, don’t be afraid. Spread it!

I had to write this after hearing the news which is always horrific news, and watching what is being played on TV. My heart always sinks whenever I see how much hate and ignorance is in the world. We as a people need to step up and spread the message of hope, spin the wheel of the Dharma for others to escape the cycle of birth and death.

Namaste!
Your Internet Friend.

Daily, I try my best to walk this Pure Beautiful Path. Meditating and reading the Dharma daily. I am starting to see the changes in my life, from being less anxious and more like the controller of a situation. Not allowing anger to shine through when someone does wrong to me, but brushing it away like dirt and then wish peace unto him or her. Is it easy? No, not at all. I am dealing with my past karma. All the wrong seeds I sowed, I see it coming back to haunt me, but like the Buddha did under the grove tree, I take no heed to mara. The seeds of my past were from pure ignorance. I see it in a dream, I hear it when I walk or drive, but I take no heed to mara. I go into meditation and quiet all my thoughts and make my mind still like the water. I empty myself from all that I know. I study, reflect and meditate on the Dharma and from there I learn how to control my life. I understand in order to gain control or to become the Master of my life, I need to put in time and effort to see a transformation.

I titled this writing, “You can teach an old dog new tricks, but it will cost you.” It is based on karma, conditioning, and dealing with it.

This reminds me of a story about a person who adopted a young dog. The young dog was cute and playful but it barked furiously at anybody that rang the door bell. This became a huge problem for the owner because it was a continuous behavior from the dog. One day the owner thought of a trick to distract and pacify the dog when ever the door bell rings. When ever the door bell rang, the owner would take out a doggy treat and give it to the dog, and immediately the dog would run to the doggy treat and chew on it and forget that the door bell rang. This would pacify the dog so much that the owner had no trouble opening the door and invite his friends or family into the house. Again and again this occurred, the door bell would ring and the dog would get a treat. This went on for years and the dog never knew the difference. So as years went by and the dog got really old along with its owner, the owner stop giving doggy treats to the dog but the dog learned stop barking at the door bell. But the dog was so used to getting a doggy treat when the bell rang, that the dog would salivate all over the carpet when ever he heard the sound of the door bell. The owner would get so angry because the dog would salivate all over the carpet. But the owner realized that he has conditioned his dog to expect a treat every time the door bell rang.

So, we are like this old dog, we have conditioned ourselves for many, many years to think a certain way, act a certain way, live a certain way. That “certain way” is the ego’s way, the self-centered way. We were so accustomed to I want, I want, I want and me, me, me. We have learned how to cheat, how to lie, how to curse, how to lust, how to hate, how to be angry, how to gossip etc.. And now we have come to a point in our lives that we want to change and become a better person. I want to be kind, I want to love, I want to serve and help mankind, and walk a Pure Path. But we will need to face and deal with the karma we sowed. We have to deal with the bad habits we once lived with. All these seeds we planted are in the mind. Now we are putting away our bad habits and saying “Good bye to the bad guy and hello to the good guy.” But the issue is we are haunted by the attitude from our past on a daily basis. Its the voice in us that says, “That person is an idiot,” or “shut up, don’t bother me.” These were old attitudes that once conditioned us and by living it we have sowed those seeds of bad karma.

But the good news is, we can learn new tricks to get us out of this mess. New tricks that will put an end to suffering. New tricks that will eliminate the bad karma, but it will cost you. What does it cost? Time and effort on a daily basis.

Dhammapada -The Way
“It is you who must make the effort.
The masters only point the way.
But if you meditate and follow the law
you will free yourself from desire.”

Freeing yourself from desire is the main goal. You will need to spend time in meditation to figure out what are these conditions that are in your mind and you will have to address them one by one. By meditating and making a conscious effort to being mindful of everything that comes into your mind. By practicing mindfulness we are analyzing all of our thoughts and stopping the stream of the bad ones. The bad thought comes but you must reject and detach from that concept, because that is not you thinking but your false self, the old you. Let go and drop the bad thought like a hot potato.

Yes, it will be challenging, sometimes the thoughts seem to be so thick you do not know how will you be able to cut right through it. And when you are meditating the mind can be so noisy, filled with thoughts and images. Don’t worry, don’t get depressed, don’t get discouraged. It all takes time.

Here is a quote from the book “Entering The Stream” that helped me.
“As meditators, we would be wise not to become depressed or discouraged when faced with these difficulties, but instead to understand that it takes time it change the ingrained mental habits of years. It can be done only by working repeatedly, continuously, patiently, and persistently.”

So no matter how bad our past was, and how many things we were so used to doing, we can change the way of thinking, we can change the pattern. Practicing meditation and learning the Dharma will liberate you. Put in time and effort and be determine.

I hope this was of some kind of help to you as it was for me.
Take care, be well and Namaste!

Your Internet Friend!

Dhammapada – The Just
“The true master lives in truth,
In goodness and restraint,
Nonviolence, moderation and purity.”

Today we are going to focus on the word “restraint.”
Lets see what the dictionary says about this word.
Restrain – keep under control; keep in check; the act of controlling; to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement.

The true master practices restraint. First lets understand who is the master? The master is you. The master is your true self, the true self is the real you, your Buddha Nature, your Christ Nature, the Likeness of God, Atman, no-self, whatever you want to call it. The master is the pure divine nature that you have once experienced when you were a child. This nature is also described to be your child-like nature. It is the same nature a person experiences when they get enlightened. This nature is also called God. We are pieces of the Divine, that is why in Judaism and Christianity it is said we are made in the image of God and that mage is the nature of God, the likeness, the character, the attributes of God, the Pureness, the Light.

And this nature is always threatened by the ego. Ego wants to conquer and dethrone the true self. How can the true self be dethroned? By having desire, passion and all the false selfish characteristics and attributes of mara, the devil, darkness, the ego, the false self, what ever you want to call it. This false nature lives inside of us all. It’s like the sun and moon, we experience them both everyday. Light and darkness, good and bad, ying and yang, God and Devil, the list goes on, there is many names to this. But it depends on us, who we want to be King, Lord, Teacher, Master to sit on the throne of our hearts. In this teaching, we are talking about the true self, which means we are talking about the person who is seeking enlightenment, who is walking the path of purity, the person who is practicing restraint, who has denounced the desires of the false self.

When the false self penetrates the mind, it is when it dethrones the true self. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Have you lost your mind?” That is when your true nature is dethroned by false self and you start to become a bitter, self-centered person, one without happiness, one that is reacts to the thoughts of mara. The person that has given into the desires and lies of the false self has lost its mind. When the mind has been lost, the mind has been high jacked by deception. When the Buddha mentioned the word “restraint” in the above verse, he knew this is a very important word. Restraining is self-control. Self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit in Christianity. Practicing restraint or self-control means we are restraining from the angry thought that comes into our mind when someone cuts us off when we are driving or talking, when someone curses us out, when we lose our job or anything we love, when our feelings are hurt. Practicing restraint is controlling our emotions. And if you notice the word restraint, it has the letters “re,” which stems from the action of repeating something. Lets do a little word play and look at some words that use the letters “re.” Repeat, recall, remember, remind, reenter, retake, reconnect, reevaluate and the list can go on. These words are things that describe things that repeat, things that we do again. Lets look at the word strain and its meaning: sift: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements; or filter: remove by passing through a filter; “filter out the impurities.” Therefore, just like a traffic police we need to direct the traffic of our mind. By noticing each thought we can filter or sift out thoughts that come into the mind. This process is an everyday thing because it is an on-going process until the day we die. But the good news is the notions and thoughts that rise into the mind become less and less effective and influential when we get deeper into our daily practice. That means we are meditating and studying the Dharma on a daily basis.

In the Heart Sutra, the Bodhisattva of Compassion discovers that to remove all suffering we need to recognize and understand emptiness. Emptiness is the key to remove the potential of allowing mara to have access to our minds and hearts. When we empty our life and detach from everything, from our ideas, our concepts, our beliefs, our thoughts, then we will realize that there is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought. When we fully understand this, then we go beyond, way beyond, into an awakening. We know what this emptiness feels like because we have experienced it when we were in the womb of our mother. We had no object of thought. There was no meaning of anything. Our minds were completely still, in complete peace, because we were empty. Can you remember when you were in your mother’s womb? I don’t think so. You had no thought in the womb. Since you didn’t have any thought when you were in the womb, you had no suffering. And since there was no thought in the womb, you were empty, there was no self, and you didn’t have any notion. When there is no-self, then is no suffering. When it is removed, the notions and thoughts that rise into the mind cannot grasp or cling to anything, because there is nothing to grasp, there is only emptiness, there is nothing to settle on, no one is home, your house is empty.

In the Heart Sutra, the Bodhisattva clearly saw and understood about emptiness when he was practicing deep prajna paramita, in other words, when he was meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom. This is the perfection of wisdom of the heart. The Buddha said in the Dhammapada – Impurity, “The Way is not in the sky, the Way is in the heart.” In Judaism Old Testament in Proverbs 4:23, it says “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” So in this verse we see it talks about mindfulness. Keep your heart; protect your heart, practice restraint. The Way and the issues of Life are within you and you can only see this when you go within and meditate deeply. And once you know your true self, then you can say, “I AM, that I AM.” You are not what your parents named you; you are not what you have defined yourself to be. Peel off everything you have learned and adapted to and empty yourself and look within, into the heart. Know your true self.

In Christianity, Jesus Christ died on the cross, which was symbolic to what we need to do to the false self. We need to crucify it on the cross; we need to let it die. The death on the cross also means “emptiness.” Jesus didn’t live for himself; He didn’t live a selfish life, He lived in emptiness, there was no self. He lived for the cause, to liberate mankind from suffering. Jesus said, “Me and the Father are One.” He didn’t live for himself, He lived for God, He emptied himself. And the resurrection of Jesus is symbolic to the awaking to a glorious body, to enlightenment, to the true self, the pure nature. So when we empty ourselves from all selfishness, we awakening or resurrect our true self, our Christ Nature, our Divine Nature, our Buddha Nature.

You have this pure nature already. You have emptiness already. But you need to rediscover it. You need to reconnect to it. You have purity, you have courage, you have peace, you have love, you have joy. You can also say “I am peace, I am love, I am joy, I am confidence, I AM FREE!” Free yourself from guilt, free yourself from all suffering and let go and smile because you are free!

It’s like in the movie Wizard of Oz, the scarecrow wanted a brain, the lion wanted courage, and the tin man wanted a heart. They didn’t know and understand they had these things within themselves already. They needed the Wizard to point this out to them and give them something tangible so they can believe they had these things.

Summary:
The Buddha teaches us that we need to stop the stream of thought and direct them. Everything that comes to the mind is not true, but you need to know what is true is true and what is false is false. We need to become a traffic police for the mind. We need to direct the traffic of our thoughts. Directing the traffic of our thoughts means we are becoming vigilant of our thoughts. This is called Awareness, being mindful, watching, and guarding our mind. Do not let the negative thoughts infiltrate and gain access to the mind. The main goal of the false self is to gain access to your mind, and then gain access to your heart and then eventually blossom into an action which will result into suffering.
And most of all know your true nature and empty yourself from all of the misconceptions you may have of yourself. Detach from your ego, let it die, and awaken your true nature. Let go of all things!

Keep on practicing restraint and being mindful. Suffering ends when you empty yourself, you can do this.

I hope this has helped you as it helped me. If you have any questions, please send me an email or write a comment. Take care and be well!

Yours truly,
Your Internet Friend.

Namaste!