The Experience Of Nothingness Sri Nisargadatta Maharaja`S Talks On Realizing
February 27th, 2010 | No Comments
The Experience Of Nothingness Sri Nisargadatta Maharaja`S Talks On Realizing
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981), a revered master of the Tantric Nath lineage, is an inspiring example of an ordinary family man who attained complete realization of the Infinite. His words carry a rare potency that can jolt the listener or reader into a
THE WISDOM OF EMPTINESS
January 17th, 2010 | No Comments
THE WISDOM OF EMPTINESS
‘I am not, I will not be.
I have not, I will not have.
This frightens all children,
And kills fear in the wise.’
Nagarjuna
CONVENTIONAL AND ULTIMATE WISDOM
Although Albert Einstein was certainly not a Buddhist, these statements sound much like it:
“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest
- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affectation for a few people near us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion
Restraint and Emptiness
November 14th, 2009 | No Comments
Restraint and Emptiness
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,
The Empty House
November 9th, 2009 | No Comments
Emptiness is compared to a empty house, that has nothing in it, not even a person living it.
Thoughts are compared to a delivery man that knocks on the door trying to deliver a package, but no one opens the door because no one lives in it.
The delivery man never gives up, he will come again and again hoping that someone opens the door.
When “no self” is present, then that means
What is emptiness? – Thich Nhat Hanh
November 6th, 2009 | No Comments
What is emptiness? – Thich Nhat Hanh
What is emptiness? What is non-self? Thich Nhat Hanh explains the meaning of this word in this classic dhamma talk (about 20 years ago).
Discovering Buddhism – Wisdom of Emptiness – Ven. Losang Monlam
November 5th, 2009 | No Comments
Discovering Buddhism – Wisdom of Emptiness – Ven. Losang Monlam
(August 21, 2008)
**Please give a few seconds for the audio clip to load and then press play**
The wisdom of emptiness is the ultimate teaching in Buddhism; its main tenet is that our suffering is caused by our inability to perceive the true nature of reality.
These teachings on emptiness are very subtle, profound and deeply transforming, Yet with correct understanding, we can shift our experience of the world.
In this course, we’ll begin to explore these ideas through meditation, understanding the
Papaji – You are that Emptiness which is here
October 26th, 2009 | No Comments
Papaji – You are that Emptiness which is here
A very direct guidance to the emptiness of being
God, Emptiness, and the True Self – Abe Masao
October 16th, 2009 | No Comments
God, Emptiness, and the True Self
Abe Masao
Abe Masao (b. 1915) is a disciple of both Hisamatsu Shin’ichi and Nishitani Keiji, and maintained a close contact with D. T. Suzuki during the last ten years of his life.
After studying law, philosophy, and comparative religion at Japanese universities, Abe attended Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary on a Rockefeller Research Fellowship. He was lecturer at Otani University, Kyoto University, and Hanazono Zen College and a full professor of philosophy at Nara University of Education. He has held numerous visiting professorships, among others at Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Carleton College,
Emptiness
October 2nd, 2009 | No Comments
Emptiness
Emptiness is a key concept in Buddhist philosophy, or more precisely, in the ontology of Mahayana Buddhism. The phrase “form is emptiness; emptiness is form” is perhaps the most celebrated paradox associated with Buddhist philosophy. It is the supreme mantra. The expression originates from the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra, commonly known as the Heart Sutra, which contains the philosophical essence of about six hundred scrolls making up the Maha Prajna Paramita. The Heart Sutra is the shortest text in this collection. It belongs to the oldest Mahayana texts and presumably originated in India around the time of Jesus Christ.
The Heart Sutra.
Translation by Edward Conze
Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom, the Lovely, the Holy!
Avalokita, The Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond. He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were empty.
Here, Sariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness.
Here, Sariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.
Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to: No mind-consciousness element; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to: there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path. There is no cognition, no attainment and non-attainment.
Therefore, Sariputra, it is because of his non-attainment that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.
All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth – for what could go wrong? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this:
Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all-hail!
Taken from: http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/emptiness.html
The Heart Sutra
September 13th, 2009 | No Comments
The Heart Sutra
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty*, and so released himself from suffering. Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:
Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence —
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness —
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.
The Master Will Be Tested
August 21st, 2009 | No Comments
Dhammapada – Impurity 18
“But life is hard
For the man who quietly undertakes
The way of perfection,
With purity, detachment and vigor.
He sees the light.”
Just like silver and gold it shall pass through the fire to be refined, the Master will be tested. You will have good days and you will have bad days, that is just how life is when you seek the way of perfection, the good path.
Our biggest opponent is the opponent that walks and sleeps with us, OUR MIND. Sometimes, we observe the thoughts, but sometimes, we listen and pay attention to the thoughts. Thoughts are like a fiery dart, that if you allow it to stay and burn, it will slowly start to burn the house down. The fire must be put out immediately.
In Christianity, the New Testament says:
James 4-7
“Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. …”
The devil is the thoughts of your mind, your ego, the self. It likes to remind you of certain things or memories, to awaken certain desires or emotions. Observe the thought and do not feed into it but submit to the truth, because those thoughts are not you, it is not truth, its lies that the voices behind the gate, the army of illusion is spitting to you so you can believe and react to it. Its not a spirit, but your mind that is playing the game of reminding. Empty out the mind.
Thoughts first hit the mind, then if you accept it, it will hit the heart, if you allow it to hit the heart, the next place it will hit, is the action. If you commit the action you will have to immediately pull away and resubmit yourself to the truth and go and meditate to quiet the mind. Detach from the thoughts projected by the army of illusion, the mind. Submit to emptiness, practice it daily, learn what is emptiness, so that you want nothing.
Dhammpada – The Just 19
And yet it is not good conduct
That helps you upon the way,
Nor ritual, nor book learning,
Nor withdrawal into self,
Nor deep meditation.
None of these confers mastery of joy.
O seeker!
Rely on nothing
Until you want nothing.”
The way to perfection is not easy, but it is attainable. Only because you are following the path of goodness, the path of God, it doesn’t mean you are exempt form problems. Everyone receives the same weather, rain or sunshine, but it all depends how you receive it and how you react to it. Master the mind and practice emptiness. All virtue lies in detachment.
In other words you cannot give up, this world needs you, not everyone wants to seek the good path, because its not easy. The road to the good path is narrow, but the road to perdition is wide and spacious, and that is the path the majority of people want to walk on, because its easier, no rules, no laws. But the sad thing is that Karma is more real than we think. What goes around, comes around. Karma is real, but our motovation should not be fear of karma. Our motovation should be to love the path of purity, love and peace. There is nothing like this path and the feeling can only be describe by people who are actually walking on it. Every person that seeks the good path of purity, delivers positive energy into this world. Too many people are lost in the path of destruction and people like you and I, are needed to continue to walk the good path so we can give the message of peace and hope. Let us be mouth pieces for peace and love, for God, for truth, for the sake of this world.
Stay encouraged, stay blessed, keep seeking and walking in the path of purity and goodness.
Here is a song that helped in my time of testing, I hope you enjoy it.
Its from Trevor Hall – Parachutes.
Sandals and a Glass of Water
August 21st, 2009 | 2 Comments
Sandals and a Glass of Water - Symbolic to Purity During Meditation
In Judaism, in the Old Testament, Moses went to the mountain of Sinai which means the mountain of God. In the mountain of God Moses saw a burning bush which was God revealing himself to Moses. God told Moses to remove his sandals because the floor he walks on is holy ground. Holy means to be set-apart, to be separate from evil, to be empty from ego. The mountain of God, the state of complete peaceful bliss, pure consciousness, is the place where we want to be, which we can only get there through meditation. The mountain of God is where “self” doesn’t exist, when you are totally empty of ego. When you are in complete emptiness, you enter the mountain of God, the mountain of Nirvana, Enlightenment, the mountain of the Absolute, the mountain of OM, or what ever you want to call it, its all the same. In order to enter that holy, peaceful and pure ground, you must be separate of self, of ego, in total emptiness, which means you must remove your sandals.
The glass of water in this photo symbolizes the living water you will drink when you remove your sandals or deny the ego.
In Christianity, in the New Testament,
Christ said:
“Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again;
But anyone who drinks the water that I shall give
will never be thirsty again: The water that I shall give
will turn into a spring inside welling up to eternal life.”
There are two streams of water, one stream of water is what the self offers, what the passion of ego offers, what the world offers, and this stream of water cannot quench the thirst. Every that is offered in this stream of water offers a temporary fix, like alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, sex, trips, movies, shopping; anything that offers to take your mind away from your current suffering or stress. When I mention things like trips and movies etc.. they are not bad things, but most people do these activities to get their mind off things and when they arrive back to their home, the thoughts or desires are still there. The fix has to be done internally not externally.
The other stream of water which Christ mentioned is only found in the mountain of God, or in other words, the path of purity, the good path, which all spiritual teachers talked about. Buddha, Jesus, Tao, Krishna, Muhammad etc. talked about this path of truth, the path of pureness. The living water is offered to everyone within this path.
Dhammapada – Desire 24
“Do your thoughts trouble you? Does passion disturb you?
Beware of thirstiness
“Lest your wishes become desires
And desires binds you.
Quieten your mind.
Reflect.
Watch.
Nothing binds you. You are free.”
Beware of thirstiness, if you are thirsty, you will seek and seek for water and drink from where ever you can find water. The worldly stream of water, or the stream of water from the passions of ego, will give you temporary comfort. Some say, I am stressed, I need a cigarette, or I need a drink, (or even a glass of wine because deep inside of you, your “self” says, its good for the heart anyways”) and then after that, the issues are still there, and you become dependent on a substance to give you temporary comfort. Some say, whats wrong with wine? There is nothing with wine, its the reason behind drinking wine is the problem. Are you drinking wine to relax and get a quick fix or are you really drinking it to help your heart? Here is a truth test that will help you discover if you are dependent or addictive to wine: stop drinking wine for a month and see if you are addicted to the effects of wine. Remember, you need to be honest with yourself. It is better to not be addictive to any substance, because the true comfort comes from within. The issues in your life is like an elephant in the room. You can choose to ignore the elephant or deal with the elephant and get it out. Because if you do not deal with the elephant in the room, it will eventually destroy everything that’s inside the house. The house is your life, and if your desires are not dealt, with your life, work, friendships, marriage, health, and mind is in jeopardy. The elephant be many things like: anger, pride, lust, selfishness, addictions, impatience, jealousy, deceit, anything that is self-centered is the elephant that you need to deal with and get out of the house.
Bottom line: Remove your sandals of ego, enter the path of enlightenment, the path of purity and drink the living waters of joy, peace and happiness, it will flow internally and eternally within you. This living waters is good for your mind, body and soul, plus you live longer, its not rocket science; you can do this! 
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