Time to take a break from all that computer work! Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and enjoy a few moments of peace, and the soothing sounds of harmoniously pulsating life in the rain forest...
With Music ...
Or with only the sounds of nature (my preference)...
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday's MeditationMom Moment - Don't Have A Reason
Q: If one believes in the Buddhist idea of karma, isn't trying to be compassionate in order to create good karma fundamentally selfish after all?
MM: The more one practices to cultivate a calm mind, the more one becomes oneself and the more one goes beyond dual concepts like selfishness and unselfishness, good karma and bad karma, etc. Once one is truly oneself one can neither be called selfish nor compassionate. Just like the sun which causes both skin cancer and makes our food grow - we become who we are and move beyond worry and dual concepts.
Q: That sounds like people just need to put up with us - both our negative and our positive sides.
MM: Whichever way you are, Hitler or Buddha, people either put up with you, or they don't. They do have the freedom to choose. Whether you are all negative, half negative/half positive, or all positive - people decide for their own reasons whether to put up with you or not.
Even if we were all positive (which we may or not may not achieve in a lifetime) - but lets imagine we were to rise to the level of Buddha or Jesus - as close to "all positive" as we can imagine - this still will hurt people. Men abandoned their wives and children to follow these teachers, religions sprung up that caused millions of deaths, etc, etc. So there is no reason to try to become "all positive" out of compassion for others. Just like there is no reason to try to become "all positive" for oneself if it requires a ton of self denial and sacrifice.
To become "all positive", and infinitely compassionate, is a simple byproduct of total relaxation. Total relaxation means relaxing all fears and all desires, not just in meditation, but in everyday life.
Q: Doesn't that say one shouldn't bother to try as it requires a lot of self sacrifice. That is a selfish attitude. Don't we need to take a stand, instead of choosing an easy life?
MM: The only way to stand up to injustice and all kinds of things in the world that are wrong, and to do so effectively, is in a totally relaxed and fearless way, and without any personal desires. Jesus is a good example.
I did not say to "not bother" so one can enjoy "an easy life". I said - don't have a reason. Reasons will betray you. Wars always have reasons, peace doesn't need a reason.
( The full conversation lives at Boards.ie)
MM: The more one practices to cultivate a calm mind, the more one becomes oneself and the more one goes beyond dual concepts like selfishness and unselfishness, good karma and bad karma, etc. Once one is truly oneself one can neither be called selfish nor compassionate. Just like the sun which causes both skin cancer and makes our food grow - we become who we are and move beyond worry and dual concepts.
Q: That sounds like people just need to put up with us - both our negative and our positive sides.
MM: Whichever way you are, Hitler or Buddha, people either put up with you, or they don't. They do have the freedom to choose. Whether you are all negative, half negative/half positive, or all positive - people decide for their own reasons whether to put up with you or not.
Even if we were all positive (which we may or not may not achieve in a lifetime) - but lets imagine we were to rise to the level of Buddha or Jesus - as close to "all positive" as we can imagine - this still will hurt people. Men abandoned their wives and children to follow these teachers, religions sprung up that caused millions of deaths, etc, etc. So there is no reason to try to become "all positive" out of compassion for others. Just like there is no reason to try to become "all positive" for oneself if it requires a ton of self denial and sacrifice.
To become "all positive", and infinitely compassionate, is a simple byproduct of total relaxation. Total relaxation means relaxing all fears and all desires, not just in meditation, but in everyday life.
Q: Doesn't that say one shouldn't bother to try as it requires a lot of self sacrifice. That is a selfish attitude. Don't we need to take a stand, instead of choosing an easy life?
MM: The only way to stand up to injustice and all kinds of things in the world that are wrong, and to do so effectively, is in a totally relaxed and fearless way, and without any personal desires. Jesus is a good example.
I did not say to "not bother" so one can enjoy "an easy life". I said - don't have a reason. Reasons will betray you. Wars always have reasons, peace doesn't need a reason.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Peace Pilgrim
Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981) was a woman who walked from coast to coast for several years in the US during the sixties and seventies, promoting peace. She only ate, or slept in a bed for the night - if it was offered to her. Otherwise she did without and never asked.Her message to all the people she met, was:
"This is the way of peace:
Overcome evil with good,
and falsehood with truth,
and hatred with love."
Even though this is a one hour documentary it is well worth watching. Many well known people like the Dalai Lama, Mary Angelou, and famous authors comment on Peace Pilgrim's life and teaching, and there are great clips of JFK and other old TV moments.
She said that the world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who feel that evil needs to be overcome with evil, and those who feel evil needs to be overcome with love and compassion. In other words - even if we ourselves already live peacefully - when threatened or attacked, instead of just wondering whether "to fight back or not to fight back", we should not only consider not to fight back, but go even another step further and respond with kindness.
Her message is a strong one, especially since she - literally - walked her talk. Her teachings have survived her and are available on the Peace Pilgrim Center website.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Forgiveness
"What does forgiveness mean to you?" Oprah Winfrey asked her guest, a young British woman who had lost her legs in the London subway bombings. "It just means peace to me" she answered. What a beautiful answer. The one who was forgiving, and the one who needed to be forgiven, had disappeared. There was no-one there. Only when there is no-one there - no "I" and no "You" - can there be peace among us, and God's presence becomes known to us.
The suicide bomber is dead of course, not playing golf somewhere enjoying himself on two healthy legs. Sometimes peace is a lot harder to come by. But it is always possible. No matter the size of the waves of the ocean, deep down it is peaceful.
The suicide bomber is dead of course, not playing golf somewhere enjoying himself on two healthy legs. Sometimes peace is a lot harder to come by. But it is always possible. No matter the size of the waves of the ocean, deep down it is peaceful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)