Buddha of Hollywood

2012-01-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world….” The Buddha

Buddhism Today

With the fast pace and high stress of modern life many people are becominginterested in the peaceful philosophy of Buddhism. In particular there is avery deep interest in learning how to meditate, both to overcome stress andanxiety, and to deepen one’s spiritual experience. In response to this growinginterest Kadampa Buddhism offers many different ways of learning about Buddhismand practicing meditation. Kadampa Buddhism was first introduced to the West in 1976 by the renownedKadampa Buddhist Master, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.Since then he has worked tirelessly to provide all the conditions necessary tosupport contemporary practitioners. He has written twenty-one authentic books on Buddhism that are now being translatedinto many different languages.

A worldwide network

Geshe Kelsang has also established over 1100 Kadampa Buddhist centers and study groups in 40 countries aroundthe world where people of all cultures can train in meditation and other Buddhist practices. Thesecenters all have qualified local teachers and offer introductory classes,structured study programs, andmeditation retreats. All Kadampa Buddhist Centers are open to the public. Everyyear Kadampa Buddhists from around the world gather for meditation festivals in the USA and Europe,including two in England,where they receive special teachings and empowerments and enjoy a spiritualholiday.

© 2007 About Buddhism. Allrights reserved worldwide

Dayna Huor's winning extreme bo @ Quebec Open 2009

2011-12-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Dayna Huor - is 13 years old and a second degree blackbelt in taekwondo and a first degree in karate. Her father and brother (Brendon) first taught her martial arts when she was 3 years old and she started taking classes at the age of 4. She has been doing martial arts for over 10 years now. She is a 10-time youth black belt world champion from competing in national and world martial arts tournaments. She also does dance, gymnastics, tumbling and plays the violin.
Her family consists of mom and dad Maura and Kenneth Huor, her two older brothers Brendon and Jason Huor. Her hometown is Davenport, IA and she was born and raised in the Quad Cities. Her instructors are John Sharkey Jr., Jai Johnson, Brendon Huor, Kenneth Huor, and Grand-Master Chung Eun Kim. She currently trains at Sharkey's Karate Studio, and Jai Johnson's Karate Center, and teaches with her parents at DAYNA HUOR MARTIAL ARTS within Next Level Fitness in Moline, Illinois. She is a star athlete member on national/international competition Team AKA (which stands for American Karate Association). She does Shorei-Ryu Karate and Taekwondo, and earned her TaeKwonDo second degree blackbelt at Chung Kim's Blackbelt Academy. She also earned her first degree blackbelt in Karate at Jai Johnson's Karate Center. She trains 6 days a week for two hours per day and is a straight "A" student academically. She attends regular public schools, and currently I am a 8th grader at Wood Intermediate School in Davenport, Iowa.

Dayna recently accepted an offer to become a member of the elite world renown "Team Paul Mitchel" martial art demonstration team. This summer she will begin shooting scenes for the motion picture feature film "Calico".

http://www.thehuors.com/

om mani padme hum - great melody

2011-11-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Karma

Karma is a Sanskrit word from the root "Kri" to do or to make and simply means "action." It operates in the universe as the continuous chain reaction of cause and effect. It is not only confined to causation in the physical sense but also it has moral implications. "A good cause, a good effect; a bad cause a bad effect" is a common saying. In this sense karma is a moral law.

Now human beings are constantly giving off physical and spiritual forces in all directions. In physics we learn that no energy is ever lost; only that it changes form. This is the common law of conservation of energy. Similarly, spiritual and mental action is never lost. It is transformed. Thus Karma is the law of the conservation of moral energy.

By actions, thoughts, and words, man is releasing spiritual energy to the universe and he is in turn affected by influences coming in his direction. Man is therefore the sender and receiver of all these influences. The entire circumstances surrounding him is his karma.

With each action-influence he sends out and at the same time, receives, he is changing. This changing personality and the world he lives in, constitute the totality of his karma.

Karma should not be confused with fate. Fate is the notion that man's life is preplanned for him by some external power, and he has no control over his destiny. Karma on the other hand, can be changed. Because man is a conscious being he can be aware of his karma and thus strive to change the course of events. In the Dhammapada we find the following words, "All that we are is a result of what we have thought, it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts."

What we are, then, is entirely dependent on what we think. Therefore, the nobility of man's character is dependent on his"good" thoughts, actions, and words. At the same time, if he embraces degrading thoughts, those thoughts invariably influence him into negative words and actions.

♫Meditation - Chinese Bamboo Flute♫

2011-11-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

Meditation refers to any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit.

Meditation is generally an inwardly oriented, personal practice, which individuals can do by themselves. Prayer beads or other ritual objects may be used during meditation. Meditation may involve invoking or cultivating a feeling or internal state, such as compassion, or attending to a specific focal point. The term can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state.

There are dozens of specific styles of meditation practice; the word meditation may carry different meanings in different contexts. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity as a component of numerous religious traditions.
Since the 1960s, meditation has been the focus of increasing scientific research of uneven rigor and quality. In over 1,000 published research studies, various methods of meditation have been linked to changes in metabolism, blood pressure, brain activation, and other bodily processes. Meditation has been used in clinical settings as a method of stress and pain reduction.

Attribution from Wikipedia

SHOSHIN

2011-07-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Shoshin : A concept in Zen Buddhism mostly translated as “beginner’s mind” denominating a state of unbiased consciousness.
Also translated as - correct, genuine, original truth.

Popularized in the Western culture by the book “Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind” by the Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki, who says about this approach to Zen practice: “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.”
Mostly misunderstood and misinterpreted as “a child’s mind” - a mind without preconceptions and expectations, without judgements and prejudices a mind of pure and unbound curiosity.

A child’s state of consciousness is a “non dualistic state of consciousness” Arriving in the material world the child has no concept of danger, foul play or hurt. A new born doesn’t have any prejudices and preconceptions therefore he cannot judge one way or the other, he has no concept of right or wrong.

We like to believe of the children’s innocence as something wonderful without realizing that a child will harm himself or others left to his own means. (Imagine a bunch of toddlers left in a room with a box of knives, blades and axes.) We like to believe that a child’s curiosity is something wonderful but have you ever seen a child pulling off the wings of a butterfly? Would you drink out a bottle of detergent to see how it taste like? A child would.

Living in a material world the child has to develop a “dualistic state of consciousness.” In order to know what truth is he has to learn what lie is.
He has to learn the difference between love and hate and in order to know what good is he has to learn what is bad.
With just a mind of pure and unbound curiosity, without preconceptions and expectations, without judgements and prejudices a child is a helpless being heading for disaster. We have to lose our innocence in order to survive.

As we grow up we keep feeding into the “apple” of knowledge and in time we metamorphose into a dualistic state of consciousness.
As adults we live in a deeply divided state of mind, trying to navigate the hard and narrow path of righteousness in a constant battle between good and bad.

We fail more or less miserably at that and live a life of pain and frustration – (The first noble truth.)
As Buddha taught us the problem is “clinging” as I like to translate – (The second noble truth.)

In our dualistic state of consciousness we develop biases – we get “stuck” in attachments and detachments, we pick or reject one side over another – rich over being poor, famous over being humble, powerful over being meek etc. losing the truth that “duality” is just an illusion and starting to believe that our “side” is the right side and that the “other’s” side is the wrong side. We hence live in a constant battle within and without.

Shoshin is the practice of unbiased, unstuck, free mind akin more to the “middle way” of Buddhist teachings than to the unbound curiosity of a child’s mind.
It is the practice of no clinging – no attachments and no detachments.
To this practice we can reach a state of consciousness harmony.

The Science of Meditation - Part Two

2011-06-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Meditation may help squash anxiety. The practice brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 10-minute session.
By Cary Barbor

Meditation: What is It?

Aside from determining its physiological effects, defining the actual act of meditation can be as elusive as imagining the sound of one hand clapping. In his book, "What is Meditation?" (Shambhala Publications, 1999), Rob Nairn talks about it as a state of "bare attention." He explains, "It is a highly alert and skillful state of mind because it requires one to remain psychologically present and 'with' whatever happens in and around one without adding to or subtracting from it in any way."

The physical act of meditation generally consists of simply sitting quietly, focusing on one's breath, a word or phrase. However, a meditator may also be walking or standing. It isn't unusual, in fact, to see a meditating monk in the highlands walking a few steps and then lying prostrate over and over again until he reaches his destination many miles away.

There are many traditions and countless ways to practice meditation, and perhaps because of its polymorphous nature new meditators wonder whether they are doing it correctly. According to Roger Thomson, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in Chicago and a Zen meditator, there is one way to know for sure: "If you're feeling better at the end, you are probably doing it right."

Thomson makes it sound easy, but many people can't seem to get the hang of it, no matter how often they try. "It can be difficult," says Steven Hendlin, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Irvine, California. "It may be a struggle to overcome the internal chatter that we all experience."

Seeking methods for quieting that internal chatter and reducing stress are what initially attract many people to meditation. "It is a very effective stress-reducer, which is a way into the practice for many people," says Thomson, who sometimes refers clients to meditation. "If someone is struggling with feelings of anxiety, he or she may benefit from its calming aspects. And it's absolutely facilitative of mental health because it brings about a higher level of self-acceptance and insight about oneself."

But greater awareness about oneself can be a double-edged sword. Mark Epstein, M.D., a New York City psychiatrist in private practice and a meditation practitioner, extends a caution about one of the ironies of meditating. "It could actually raise your level of anxiety if there are certain feelings you are not owning." In other words, there's nowhere to hide when you're practicing "bare attention." And this, for some people, is both the good and the bad news.

That's why some experts suggest marrying meditation to psychotherapy. "Both allow the person to be present for the moment, open and nondefensive," says Thomson, who explores the complementary nature of the two in a paper published in the American Journal of Psychotherapy. "In both meditation and psychotherapy, we are trying not to get caught up in internal preoccupation, but to be intimately present with what is happening here and now."

To explain his thoughts on the connection, Thomson compares Zen to relational psychoanalytical theories. He writes that it "encourages its practitioners to become aware of the fundamentally distorted aspects of an overly individualistic view of human experience. Recognizing that the true nature of all individuals is emphatically non-individual, neither lasting nor separate, is the wisdom of Zen."

© Copyright 2002-2011 Sussex Directories, Inc.

The Science of Meditation

2011-04-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Anxiety
Meditation may help squash anxiety. The practice brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 10-minute session.
By Cary Barbor

In the highlands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, people look at life differently. Upon entering the local Buddhist monastery, there is a spectacular sculpture the size of a large oak. The intricate carving of clouds and patterns are painted in powerful colors. But as soon as winter gives way, this magnificent work will melt to nothing. The sculpture, in fact, is made of butter, and it is one of the highland people's symbols of the transient nature of life.

And life here is not easy. Villagers bicycle to work before dawn and return home long after sunset. Many live with nothing more than dirt floors and rickety outhouses. Upon entering these modest mud-brick homes, you'll find no tables or chairs—just a long platform bed, which sleeps a family of eight. However, when the people invite you in for tea, their smiles are wide and welcoming. How do they possess such inner calm in conditions we would call less than ideal?

When villagers cook, sew or plow the fields, they do so in a tranquil state. As an approach to life, weaving meditation seamlessly into almost every action throughout the day seems unfamiliar to Western cultures. Is there something we can glean from this way of life that will improve our own? The romantic notion of quitting everything and joining Tibetan monks on a mountaintop is not the only way to meditate. You don't need to quit your job, give up your possessions and spend 30 years chanting. Recent research indicates that meditating brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 10-minute session. Several studies have demonstrated that subjects who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves (the relaxed brain waves) and decreased anxiety and depression.

To explore exactly what part of the brain meditation acts on, researchers at Harvard Medical School used MRI technology on participants to monitor brain activity while they meditated. They found that it activates the sections of the brain in charge of the autonomic nervous system, which governs the functions in our bodies that we can't control, such as digestion and blood pressure. These are also the functions that are often compromised by stress. It makes sense, then, that modulating these functions would help to ward off stress-related conditions such as heart disease, digestive problems and infertility.

© Copyright 2002-2011 Sussex Directories, Inc.

A Basic Buddhism Guide

2011-03-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Who Was the Buddha?

Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found 'the middle path' and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism — called the Dhamma, or Truth — until his death at the age of 80.

• Was the Buddha a God?

He was not, nor did he claim to be. He was a man who taught a path to enlightenment from his own experience.

• Do Buddhists Worship Idols?

Buddhists sometimes pay respect to images of the Buddha, not in worship, nor to ask for favours. A statue of the Buddha with hands rested gently in its lap and a compassionate smile reminds us to strive to develop peace and love within ourselves. Bowing to the statue is an expression of gratitude for the teaching.

• Why are so Many Buddhist Countries Poor?

One of the Buddhist teachings is that wealth does not guarantee happiness and also wealth is impermanent. The people of every country suffer whether rich or poor, but those who understand Buddhist teachings can find true happiness.

• Are There Different Types of Buddhism?

There are many different types of Buddhism, because the emphasis changes from country to country due to customs and culture. What does not vary is the essence of the teaching — the Dhamma or truth.

• Are Other Religions Wrong?

Buddhism is also a belief system which is tolerant of all other beliefs or religions. Buddhism agrees with the moral teachings of other religions but Buddhism goes further by providing a long term purpose within our existence, through wisdom and true understanding. Real Buddhism is very tolerant and not concerned with labels like 'Christian', 'Moslem', 'Hindu' or 'Buddhist'; that is why there have never been any wars fought in the name of Buddhism. That is why Buddhists do not preach and try to convert, only explain if an explanation is sought.

• Is Buddhism Scientific?

Science is knowledge which can be made into a system, which depends upon seeing and testing facts and stating general natural laws. The core of Buddhism fit into this definition, because the Four Noble truths (see below) can be tested and proven by anyone in fact the Buddha himself asked his followers to test the teaching rather than accept his word as true. Buddhism depends more on understanding than faith.

• What did the Buddha Teach?

The Buddha taught many things, but the basic concepts in Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

• What is the First Noble Truth?

The first truth is that life is suffering i.e., life includes pain, getting old, disease, and ultimately death. We also endure psychological suffering like loneliness frustration, fear, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. This is an irrefutable fact that cannot be denied. It is realistic rather than pessimistic because pessimism is expecting things to be bad. lnstead, Buddhism explains how suffering can be avoided and how we can be truly happy.

• What is the Second Noble Truth?

The second truth is that suffering is caused by craving and aversion. We will suffer if we expect other people to conform to our expectation, if we want others to like us, if we do not get something we want,etc. In other words, getting what you want does not guarantee happiness. Rather than constantly struggling to get what you want, try to modify your wanting. Wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness. A lifetime of wanting and craving and especially the craving to continue to exist, creates a powerful energy which causes the individual to be born. So craving leads to physical suffering because it causes us to be reborn.

• What is the Third Noble Truth?

The third truth is that suffering can be overcome and happiness can be attained; that true happiness and contentment are possible. lf we give up useless craving and learn to live each day at a time (not dwelling in the past or the imagined future) then we can become happy and free. We then have more time and energy to help others. This is Nirvana.

• What is the Fourth Noble Truth?

The fourth truth is that the Noble 8-fold Path is the path which leads to the end of suffering.

• What is the Noble 8-Fold Path?

In summary, the Noble 8-fold Path is being moral (through what we say, do and our livelihood), focussing the mind on being fully aware of our thoughts and actions, and developing wisdom by understanding the Four Noble Truths and by developing compassion for others.

• What are the 5 Precepts?

The moral code within Buddhism is the precepts, of which the main five are: not to take the life of anything living, not to take anything not freely given, to abstain from sexual misconduct and sensual overindulgence, to refrain from untrue speech, and to avoid intoxication, that is, losing mindfulness.

• What is Karma?

Karma is the law that every cause has an effect, i.e., our actions have results. This simple law explains a number of things: inequality in the world, why some are born handicapped and some gifted, why some live only a short life. Karma underlines the importance of all individuals being responsible for their past and present actions. How can we test the karmic effect of our actions? The answer is summed up by looking at (1) the intention behind the action, (2) effects of the action on oneself, and (3) the effects on others.

• What is Wisdom?

Buddhism teaches that wisdom should be developed with compassion. At one extreme, you could be a goodhearted fool and at the other extreme, you could attain knowledge without any emotion. Buddhism uses the middle path to develop both. The highest wisdom is seeing that in reality, all phenomena are incomplete, impermanent and do no constitute a fixed entity. True wisdom is not simply believing what we are told but instead experiencing and understanding truth and reality. Wisdom requires an open, objective, unbigoted mind. The Buddhist path requires courage, patience, flexibility and intelligence.

• What is Compassion?

Compassion includes qualities of sharing, readiness to give comfort, sympathy, concern, caring. In Buddhism, we can really understand others, when we can really understand ourselves, through wisdom.

• How do I Become a Buddhist?

Buddhist teachings can be understood and tested by anyone. Buddhism teaches that the solutions to our problems are within ourselves not outside. The Buddha asked all his followers not to take his word as true, but rather to test the teachings for themselves. ln this way, each person decides for themselves and takes responsibility for their own actions and understanding. This makes Buddhism less of a fixed package of beliefs which is to be accepted in its entirety, and more of a teaching which each person learns and uses in their own way.

Prepared by Brian White 1993, with thanks to Ven S. Dhammika.
Copyright © 1996-2011, © BDEA/BuddhaNet. All Rights Reserved.

Buddhism Beliefs

2011-02-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Since some background knowledge of rebirth and karma is useful for understanding Buddhism, there now follows a brief introduction to these topics taken from Geshe Kelsang’s book, Eight Steps to Happiness:

The mind is neither physical, nor a by-product of purely physical processes, but a formless continuum that is a separate entity from the body.

The mind is neither physical, nor a by-product of purely physical processes, but a formless continuum that is a separate entity from the body. When the body disintegrates at death, the mind does not cease. Although our superficial conscious mind ceases, it does so by dissolving into a deeper level of consciousness, call ‘the very subtle mind’. The continuum of our very subtle mind has no beginning and no end, and it is this mind which, when completely purified, transforms into the omniscient mind of a Buddha.

Every action we perform leaves an imprint, or potential, on our very subtle mind, and each karmic potential eventually gives rise to its own effect. Our mind is like a field, and performing actions is like sowing seeds in that field. Positive or virtuous actions sow the seeds of future happiness, and negative or non-virtuous actions sow the seeds of future suffering. This definite relationship between actions and their effects – virtue causing happiness and non-virtue causing suffering – is know as the ‘law of karma’. An understanding of the law of karma is the basis of Buddhist morality.

After we die our very subtle mind leaves our body and enters the intermediate state, or ‘bardo’ in Tibetan. In this subtle dream-like state we experience many different visions that arise from the karmic potentials that were activated at the time of our death. These visions may be pleasant or terrifying depending on the karma that ripens. Once these karmic seeds have fully ripened they impel us to take rebirth without choice.

It is important to understand that as ordinary samsaric beings we do not choose our rebirth but are reborn solely in accordance with our karma. If good karma ripens we are reborn in a fortunate state, either as a human or a god, but if negative karma ripens we are reborn in a lower state, as an animal, a hungry ghost, or a hell being. It is as if we are blown to our future lives by the winds of our karma, sometimes ending up in higher rebirths, sometimes in lower rebirths.

This uninterrupted cycle of death and rebirth without choice is called ‘cyclic existence’, or ‘samsara’ in Sanskrit.

This uninterrupted cycle of death and rebirth without choice is called ‘cyclic existence’, or ‘samsara’ in Sanskrit. Samsara is like a Ferris wheel, sometimes taking us up into the three fortunate realms, sometimes down into the three lower realms. The driving force of the wheel of samsara is our contaminated actions motivated by delusions, and the hub of the wheel is self-grasping ignorance. For as long as we remain on this wheel we shall experience an unceasing cycle of suffering and dissatisfaction, and we shall have no opportunity to experience pure, lasting happiness. By practicing the Buddhist path to liberation and enlightenment, however, we can destroy self-grasping, thereby liberating ourself from the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth and attaining a state of perfect peace and freedom.
We shall then be in a position to help others to do the same. A more detailed explanation of rebirth and karma can be found in the books Introduction to Buddhism and Joyful Path of Good Fortune.

© 2007 About Buddhism. All rights reserved worldwide.

Are You Spiritually Connected?

2010-12-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Understanding Spirituality: Are You Spiritually Connected?

Spirituality lies beyond the material world of proof, beyond what can be measured or counted. It is made up of the inner life, the realm of belief, mystery, and faith. And yet for all the mystery that surrounds it, spirituality is vital to our well-being. It is the foundation of our most closely held values, the seat of our trust and hope. Spirituality brings purpose and meaning to life, and as we develop it we grow in wisdom and love. We begin to experience a sense of awe, a sense of connection to all of life, and a deep reverence for the Divine. We find ourselves moved to prayers of gratitude and moments of spontaneous worship. Spirituality calls a human being to a life of trust and service.

When our spirituality is nurtured and vibrant, we're "connected."? This connection is both a sense of relationship to the Creator, Great Spirit, or God (Divine Force), as well as a relationship to all people and to Mother Earth (our life-giving environment). Spirituality takes us beyond our ego-centered lives by expanding our hearts with compassion toward all.

As a doctor working within the Native American community, I have observed that spirituality forms the framework of many of my patients' orientation to life; it does not dwell in a realm apart. It is not an extracurricular activity. Spirituality involves a reverent attitude toward all things because it awakens us to a divine presence in all things. In this way of seeing and being, all things and persons are interconnected and interdependent. In the Sioux native language, the word for the Great Spirit is Waken, which means "the great mystery." Yet this spirit, full of mystery, is every bit as real as the visible, tangible world.

It is important to differentiate spirituality from religion. Some people have rejected religion in order to escape what they consider to be oppressive rules and regulations. In the process, however, many lose the great gifts of joy and compassion that spirituality brings. Religion and spirituality are related and intertwined, but they are not the same. A person may experience spirituality without being a member of any specific religious affiliation, and even the most "religious" person may feel spiritually bereft.

The true purpose of religion is to enhance spirituality through ritual and practice. This is accomplished when a person approaches his or her religion as a way to enter the great mystery, to become aware of the sacredness of all life. Religion can become a barrier to spirituality when it insists on narrow, judgmental dogma, and estranges its followers from a sense of connection with the Divine. Religion serves us best as a vehicle to nourish and develop our spirituality. It is possible, however, to get too caught up in the vehicle, the religious practice, while losing sight of the destination, spirituality, which is communion with the Divine and compassion for all.

For modern, academically oriented professionals, like physicians and health care workers, spirituality is often a difficult subject. Our training is framed by science. In Western culture especially, we depend on logical, analytical, and rational approaches, and for good reason. These approaches have successfully ushered in a host of life-changing improvements in health care and technology. While honoring science and the mind, our cultural tendency urges us to devalue belief and mystery, but the result is costly: We're left spiritually starved and out of balance.

Some of life's most difficult questions are the spiritual ones. What is the purpose of life? Where does real meaning come from? What is of real value in our lives? If there truly is a God who loves us, how could there be so much suffering and unfairness in the world? Part of our addiction to the busyness of life is an attempt to prevent ourselves from thinking about our mortality, the inevitable fact of our own death. But when we keep ourselves too busy to consider the purpose of our existence, our lives cease to have meaning. Strangely, it is only when we fully accept the reality of our mortality that we truly begin to live. This is the point at which we begin to enter into and learn about the spiritual dimension of our humanity.

As French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin remarked, "We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a physical experience."? Our spirituality is our true essence. It is that part of our life which relates to our soul, which from a spiritual perspective is connected to the Divine and is infinite. This lifetime is but the physical experience of our deeper reality, our spirit, which is our fundamental nature.

At this point, you might ask yourself several questions to help assess your own spirituality. Do I have a sense of connection with the Divine? Do I feel compassion for others? Do I feel awe and reverence, and at the same time a feeling of oneness with the Great Spirit, or God? Do I live a life of trust? Am I called to service? Is prayer or meditation an important part of my life?
By Alan Shelton

Emptiness and Existence

2010-11-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

Emptiness

To generate the type of love and compassion that motivates you to seek buddhahood, not for yourself but for the sake of others, first you must confront suffering by identifying its types. This is the first noble truth. From the time we are born to the time we die we suffer mental and physical pain, the suffering of change, and pervasive suffering of uncontrolled conditioning. The second and third noble truths lead us to understand the causes of suffering and whether or not those causes can be removed. The fundamental cause of suffering is ignorance—the mistaken apprehension that living beings and objects inherently exist.

We all have a valid, proper sense of self, or “I,” but then we additionally have a misconception of that “I” as inherently existing. Under the sway of this delusion, we view the self as existing under its own power, established by way of its own nature, able to set itself up.

However, if there were such a separate I—self-established and existing in its own right—it should become clearer and clearer under the light of competent analysis as to whether it exists as either mind or body, or the collection of mind and body, or different from mind and body. In fact, the closer you look, the more it is not found. This turns out to be the case for everything, for all phenomena. The fact that you cannot find them means that those phenomena do not exist under their own power; they are not self-established.

Sometime during the early sixties when I was reflecting on a passage by Tsongkhapa [founder of the Gelugpa school to which the Dalai Lama belongs] about unfindability and the fact that phenomena are dependent on conceptuality, it was as if lightning coursed within my chest. Here is the passage:

A coiled rope's speckled color and coiling are similar to those of a snake, and when the rope is perceived in a dim area, the thought arises, “This is a snake.” As for the rope, at that time when it is seen to be a snake, the collection and parts of the rope are not even in the slightest way a snake. Therefore, that snake is merely set up by conceptuality.

In the same way, when the thought “I” arises in dependence upon mind and body, nothing within mind and body—neither the collection which is a continuum of earlier and later moments, nor the collection of the parts at one time, nor the separate parts, nor the continuum of any of the separate parts—is in even the slightest way the “I.” Also there is not even the slightest something that is a different entity from mind and body that is apprehendable as the “I.” Consequently, the “I” is merely set up by conceptuality in dependence upon mind and body; it is not established by way of its own entity.

The impact lasted for a while, and for the next few weeks whenever I saw people, they seemed like a magician's illusions in that they appeared to inherently exist but I knew that they actually did not. That experience, which was like lightning in my heart, was most likely at a level below completely valid and incontrovertible realization. This is when my understanding of the cessation of the afflictive emotions as a true possibility became real.

Nowadays I always meditate on emptiness in the morning and bring that experience into the day's activities. Just thinking or saying “I,” as in "I will do such and such,” will often trigger the feeling. But still I cannot claim full understanding of emptiness.

A consciousness that conceives of inherent existence does not have a valid foundation. A wise consciousness, grounded in reality, understands that living beings and other phenomena—minds, bodies, buildings, and so forth—do not inherently exist. This is the wisdom of emptiness. Understanding reality exactly opposite to the misconception of inherent existence, wisdom gradually overcomes ignorance.

Remove the ignorance that misconceives phenomena to inherently exist and you prevent the generation of afflictive emotions like lust and hatred. Thus, in turn, suffering can also be removed. In addition, the wisdom of emptiness must be accompanied by a motivation of deep concern for others (and by the compassionate deeds it inspires) before it can remove the obstructions to omniscience, which are the predispositions for the false appearance of phenomena—even to sense consciousness—as if they inherently exist.

Therefore, full spiritual practice calls for cultivating wisdom in conjunction with great compassion and the intention to become enlightened in which others are valued more than yourself. Only then may your consciousness be transformed into the omniscience of a Buddha.

by Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

Meditation and You

2010-11-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

Bringing Peace to the Planet Through Meditation

No one would argue that the world is noisier these days than it has ever been, in some cities and countries reaching nearly intolerable decibels. War, bombs, and explosions have multiplied around the world. The intense and heated shouts of antagonist political and religious fanatics merge into indecipherable racket. Faster, noisier, and more “extreme” seems to envelope the market. What doesn’t disturb our ears, affronts our eyes. Billboards, once merely ugly, now digitally light up the night with advertisements. Unwanted ads float across our computer monitors like phantoms, and then stop, blocking our ability to read more valued words underneath them. In addition, what we see is horrifying. Acts of violence and catastrophic events that have produced pain and suffering are played over and over again, in full color, on the news. Where can peace be found in these times? How can we get there from here? Peace can be found within each of us, at the still, quiet core of our being. And the way to get there is through meditation.

By closing our eyes we turn away from the world, and by turn within, we find what seemed unknowable and elusive, but was always there…peace. As we slow the pace of our breathing and allow our body to let go of stress and anxiety… we find peace. Through the slowing of the hyperactivity of our thoughts, until they gently drift, like falling leaves, and settle into nothingness…we find peace.

This type of meditation enlivens every cell, fiber, and tissue of our being. In this way, this type of meditation can be healing. This type of meditation momentarily ends the jabber of our mind. In this way, it can be revealing.

The constrictions of body and mind disappear when we meditate in this way, and they frequently do not return when we open our eyes and face the world again. The peace that we have experienced within becomes the peace of our actions in the world.

It is, perhaps, more crucial than ever for each of us to meditate — to bring forth peace in ourselves and, therefore, bring peace to the world.

Yoga | Design: NET-TEC Werbeagentur of Holzofen.

Buddha Quotes

2010-10-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

There are fabulous quotations by Buddha.
Posting a few to show his wise approach to life, enjoy...:)

A jug fills drop by drop.
- Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
- Buddha

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?
- Buddha

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
- Buddha

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
- Buddha

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
- Buddha

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
- Buddha

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
- Buddha

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
Buddha

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
- Buddha

He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
- Buddha

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
- Buddha

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
- Buddha

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
- Buddha

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
- Buddha

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
- Buddha

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then beleive them to be true.
Buddha

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
- Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- Buddha

Is Buddhism A Religion? - Part Two

2010-10-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Conditioned, The Unconditioned, and Consciousness

Religions always point to the relationship of the mortal, or the conditioned, with the Unconditioned. That is, if you strip any religion down to its very basic essence, you will find that it is pointing to where the mortal, the conditioned and time-bound , ceases. In that cessation is the realization and the understanding of the Unconditioned. In Buddhist terminology, it is said that "there is the Unconditioned; and if there were not the Unconditioned, there could not be the conditioned." The conditioned arises and ceases in the Unconditioned, and therefore we can point to the relationship between the conditioned and the Unconditioned. Having been born into a human body we have to live a lifetime under the limitations and conditions of the sensory world. Birth implies that we come forth out of the Unconditioned and manifest in a separate, conditioned form. And this human from implies consciousness. Consciousness always defines a relationship between subject and object, and in Buddhism consciousness is regarded as a discriminative function of the mind. So contemplate this right now. You are sitting there paying attention to these words. This is the experience of consciousness. You can feel the heat in the room, you can see your surroundings, you can hear the sounds. All this implies that you have been born in a human body and for the rest of your life, as long as this body lives, it will have feelings, and consciousness will be arising. This consciousness always creates the impression of a subject and an object, so that when we do not investigate, do not look into the true nature of things, then we become bound to the dualistic view of "I am my body, I am my feelings, I am my consciousness."

Thus, a dualistic attitude arises from consciousness. And then, from our ability to conceive and remember and perceive with our minds, we create a personality. Sometimes we enjoy this personality. Other times we have irrational fears, wrong views, and anxieties about it.

Aspiration of the Human Mind

At the present time, for any society in the materialistic world, much of the human anguish and despair arises from the fact that we don't usually relate ourselves to anything higher than the planet we live on and to our human body. So the aspiration of t he human mind towards an ultimate realization, towards enlightenment, is not really promoted or encouraged in modern society. In fact it often seems to be discouraged. Without this relationship with the higher Truth, our lives become meaningless. We cannot relate to anything beyond the experiences of a human body on a planet, in a mysterious universe, all our life really amounts to is putting in time from birth to death. Then, of course, what is the purpose, what is the meaning of it? And why do we care? Why do we need a purpose? Why must there be a meaning to life? Why do we want life to be meaningful? Why do we have words, concepts, and religions? Why do we have that longing or that aspiration in our minds if all there ever is, or all there ever can be, is this experience based on the view of self? Can it be that this human body, with its conditioning process, simply lands on us fortuitously in a universal system that is beyond our control? We live in a universe that is a mystery to us. We can only wonder about it. We can intuit and gaze at the universe, but we cannot put it into a little capsule. We cannot make it into something in our mind. Therefore, materialistic tendencies in our minds encourage us not to even ask those questions. Or else these tendencies make us interpret all life's experience in the realm of logic or reason, based on the values of materialism and empirical science.

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho

...So close but yet so far apart

2010-09-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Two arms, two legs, two eyes,
a mouth, two ears a beating heart.
You grow, you play, you learn.
And everything is fine.
(For the most part)
Time flies
Another year.
First day of school
The start of something wonderful.
First love, first date, first kiss.
First doubts and then a broken promise
The dreams, the love, the lies
...So close but yet so far apart.
A lesson learned.
New rules
An oath, a thought:
Be smart and play it cool
Another spring, another school
Another style, a new disguise
Still trying to look cool and wise.
Still acting like a fool
The job, the work and the commute
Long hours, politics, promotion
The finer things in life and all the loot
you ever dreamed of getting
The modern life in constant motion
That inner voice disturbing and unsetting
A new attempt, another start
...So close but yet so far apart
The loneliness.
A desperate act.
Another lonely stranger or a spouse?
The social contract
New drapes, the kids, a bigger house.
Still wondering: What if...?
The shorter years in hyper speed
The thinning hair, the body getting stiff
So rich, so wise but still in need
Still looking for the perfect deed
The wining hand, the highest prize
You keep on saying:
“Everything is fine”
But coming fast at you the finish line
No arms, no legs, no eyes,
no mouth, no ears, no beating heart.
...So close but yet so far apart

Things you should teach your children

2010-07-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Live fully every moment. Enjoy every day of your life. Once they pass they never come back.
Success is not measured in money, power or fame. The true measure of your success in any endeavor or relationship is your happiness.
Banks and credit cards are not in the business to help you. Banks and creditors are in the business to make a profit out of you.
It is better to have an intelligent enemy than a stupid friend.
The friends you have are more important to your success in life than money or education.
Withholding love does not protect you from pain, it just isolate you from happiness.
Forgiveness frees the one that forgives not the one that is forgiven.
In a bad relationship there are no winners and losers. In a bad relationship there are only losers.
If you live like a hero or like a coward, if you succeed or fail, in the end we all die
And the most important thing you should tell your children:
I LOVE YOU

Is Buddhism A Religion?

2010-05-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

The word religion comes from the Latin word religio, which means a bond. It suggests a binding to the divine, which engulfs one's whole being

It is tempting to think that we understand religion because it is so ingrained in our cultural outlook. However, it's useful to contemplate and reflect on the true aim, goal or purpose of religion.
Sometimes people regard religion as belief in God or gods, so religion becomes identified with the theistic attitude of a particular religious form or convention. Often Buddhism is regarded by theistic religions as an atheistic form, or not even a religi on at all. It's seen as a philosophy or psychology, because Buddhism doesn't come from a theistic position. It's not based on a metaphysical or doctrinal position, but on an existential experience common to all humanity - the experience of suffering. The Buddhist premise is that by reflecting, by contemplating, and by understanding that common human experience, we can transcend all mental delusions that create human suffering.

The word religion comes from the Latin word religio, which means a bond. It suggests a binding to the divine, which engulfs one's whole being. To be truly religious means you must bind yourself to the divine, or to the ultimate reality, and engage yo ur whole being in that bond, to the point where an ultimate realisation is possible. All religions have words like "liberation" and "salvation." Words of this nature convey freedom from delusion, complete and utter freedom, and total understanding of ulti mate reality. In Buddhism we call this enlightenment.

Understanding the Nature of Suffering

The Buddhist approach is to reflect on the experience of suffering, because this is what all human beings share in common. Suffering doesn't necessarily mean a great tragedy or a terrible misfortune. It just means the type of discontentment, unhappiness , and disappointment that all human beings experience at various times in their lives. Suffering is common to men and women, common to rich and poor. Whatever our race or nationality, it is the common bond.
So in Buddhism, suffering is called a noble truth. It is not an ultimate truth. When the Buddha taught suffering as a noble truth, it was not his intention for us to bind ourselves to suffering and believe in it blindly, as an ultimate truth. Instead, h e taught us to use suffering as a noble truth for reflection. We contemplate: what is suffering, what is its nature, why do I suffer, what is suffering about? An understanding of the nature of suffering is an important insight. Now contemplate this in your experience of life. How much of your life is spent trying to avoid or get away from anything that is unpleasant, unwanted? How much of our society is dedica ted to happiness and pleasure, trying to get away from anything unpleasant and unwanted? We can have instant happiness, instant absorption, something that we call "non-suffering"; excitement, romance, adventure, sensual pleasures, eating, listening to mus ic, or whatever. But all this is an attempt to get away from our own fears, discontentments, anxiety, and worry, things that haunt the human mind until it is enlightened. Humanity will always be haunted and frightened by life as long as human beings remai n ignorant and don't put forth effort to look at and understand the nature of suffering.

To understand suffering means that we must accept suffering rather than just try to get rid of it and deny it, or blame somebody else for it. We can notice that suffering is caused, that it is dependent upon certain conditions: the conditions of the mind that we've created or that have been instilled into us through our culture and family. Our experience of life, and that conditioning process, start from the day we are born. The family, the group that we live with, our education, all instill into our min d various prejudices, biases and opinions, some good, some not so good.
Now, if we don't really look at these conditions of the mind and examine them for what they truly are, then of course they cause us to interpret our life's experience from certain biases. But if we look into the very nature of suffering, then we begin to examine things like fear and desire, and then we discover that our true nature is not desire, is not fear. Our true nature is not conditioned by anything at all.

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho

To be cont...

How to cross a river

2010-04-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

Early in the morning a poor fisherman is walking to his boat.
On the bank of the river, looking like a Buddha statue covered in the golden light of the dawn, a young monk is deep in his meditation.
As the fisherman approaches, the monk gets up and starts crossing the river, walking on the surface of the water.
Seeing him, the fisherman stops and nods.
- No, no, no! You are doing it all wrong!
The young monk turns around surprised and looks at the raggedy fisherman.
- Come, follow me. I will show you how to do it. Says the fisherman.
The monk follows him in silence to the old wooden boat where they get in.
The fisherman picks up the oars and starts rowing. When the boat reaches the other shore of the river, the fisherman says.
- See monk. This is the proper way to cross the river.

What is Karma in Buddhism

2010-04-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Buddhism Basics – What is Karma in Buddhism

An Introduction to the Buddhist Belief in Past and Present Actions

Karma has an important role in Buddhism and for Buddhists. Learn more about this Buddhism concept, types of karma and its importance in the Buddhist belief in rebirth. The word ‘karma’ is a Sanksrit word that means ‘action’ or ‘deed’. The concept of karma is a basic Buddhist belief and it helps to understand how the karmic cycle works in order to grasp its complete importance.

Understanding what karma is also helps to understand the concepts of rebirth and the importance of actions in Buddhism. Read on to learn about the role the concept of karma plays in Buddhism.

The Buddhist View of Karma

Buddhism regards karma as central to the position a person is in. For instance, how does one explain the inequality that exists in society? Buddhism relies on karma to explain why one person may be rich and another poor, may have particular talents or differences in fortune. Again, while factors such as heredity and environment do play a role, the basic reason for being born to particular parents or in a particular environment is attributed to karma.

Kevin Trainor describes this in Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide when he writes, “What makes humans differ from one another is karma, the key factor accounting for the variations in people’s physical traits, mental abilities and character.”

Types of Karma According to Buddhist Belief

Karma does not just refer to physical action. In fact, Buddhism regards the thought behind the action as more important. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in Introduction to Buddhism discusses the three types of karma. Mental karma is the intention or determination to perform an action, physical karma is the bodily activity caused by the mental action while verbal karma are the words that are spoken as a result of the physical activity.

Gyatso writes, “From this we can see that mental karma is more important than either bodily or verbal karma.” In other words, whether an action is good or not, depends upon the intention or thought that spurs it.

The Buddhist Belief in Karma and Rebirth

Karma in life plays an important role in rebirth. Good karma creates the foundation for a happy and positive life in the next birth. According to Gyatso, “If we die with a peaceful mind, this will stimulate a virtuous seed and we will experience a fortunate rebirth.”

Trainor describes how past karma determines a person’s circumstances at the time of birth. While the full extent of one’s past karma may be unknown, it can be understood by examining conditions and circumstances at the time of birth and in life, thereafter.

Accumulating good karma is what all Buddhists aspire and aim to do. While it may seem difficult, good karma is more a matter of being compassionate and considerate towards one’s fellow beings and doing the right thing. Following the Eightfold Noble Path will surely make the task of accumulating good karma easier for lay Buddhists.

By Prerna Malik

GRATITUDE

2010-03-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Be Thankful Every Day In Your Life

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step towards achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
~Brian Tracy

Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.
~Christiane Northrup

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
~Melody Beattie

What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it--would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.
~Ralph Marston

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If only people who worry about their liabilities would think about the riches they do possess, they would stop worrying. Would you sell both your eyes for a million dollars... or your two legs... or your hands... or your hearing? Add up what you do have, and you'll find that you won't sell them for all the gold in the world. The best things in life are yours, if you can appreciate yourself.
~Dale Carnegie

Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise--then you will discover the fullness of your life.
~Brother David Steindl-Rast

First Blood

2010-03-03T19:46:00.001-08:00

I was talking to my daughter, trying to explain to her what the big fuss was about the Toyota case hearings in congress.
I explained to her that one of the things that determined our departure from the animal kingdom was the use of tools and how the history of human kind and the advancement of technology and science are closely intertwined.

We started using tools as a way of enhancing our physical abilities.
We used them to develop agriculture and manufacturing and then at the beginning of the 19th century something unusual happened: The first industrial revolution.

Tools not only enhanced our human abilities; tools started replacing humans all together.
For the first time in the human history machines took jobs away from the humans.
Then the “electronic” revolution took place.
Machines start performing mental task that once were reserved only for humans.
We are again being replaced by the machines in controlling all aspects of our life.

But there was a “holy” grail reserved only for humans: The decision making
Although the machines with their lightning speed and almost unlimited computation powers were doing all the number crunching, ultimately we were the ones that took the final decisions and kept everything under control... until now.

Toyota is saying that the computer had a glitch but don’t let the news full you.
The computer did not malfunction. The computer did exactly what was programmed to do; run the car at optimum performance.
It was the human that couldn’t keep up with the technology

Things are changing again. But this time is different. This time the machines are replacing us in the decision making process.
Basically we are not needed anymore. We humans have become obsolete.
Remember 2010: - They have drawn the first blood…

The speed of Life

2010-02-24T20:08:00.001-08:00

I remember going on vacation to Hawaii for the first time…
The first two days drove me nuts.
Everybody moved too slowly.
That got to win the race attitude I acquired in Hollywood was missing.
The people, the life there, were too sluggish for me.
It felt like they had no destination, no purpose in life, no desire.
It bugged me tremendously.

It was about the third day at a cross road when a local waited for me, smiled and signal me to go ahead – although clearly he had the right of way.
I screeched my tires and made the left turn to a pineapple plantation road.
It was a glorious evening and the smell of ripe pineapple was intoxicating.

It hit me like a ton of bricks: “YOU, are on an island! Where the hell do you think you are going?”
When you are on an island no matter how fast you go the best that you can achieve it is to arrive back at the point of departure.
There is no destination - you are there.

The road ended and in front of me the magnificent blue ocean opened its infinite canopy.
The sun was setting and it was painting the sky in amazing Technicolor hues of gold, purple and red.
I stood there in awe and I realized:
Life is an island –you are already there.
From that day I was never in a hurry again.

Although the Hawaiians natives never tell the tourist; all the roads on the island have a speed limit:
“Happiness”

The "Grown up" myth

2010-02-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

As a child you only have one job – you are expected to grow up.
The idea of staying forever young was not even considered – although right now it doesn’t seem that absurd to me anymore.
As a child you were expected to transform continuously, to reach that magical point of adulthood.
Once you have passed that imaginary line – some time around 18 – you had arrived.
From then on you were a “grown up”; an adult. Job done! Mission accomplished!

Or at least that what we thought… but wait! – Life seems to have a different agenda.
That Promised Land, where you have finished growing up, where you know everything and are in control of everything, never materialized.
Like it or not, life keeps throwing you new problems and challenges.
Like it or not you have to learn new tricks and keep changing.

The idea that you are a “grown up” was a pure myth.
You are and will always be “growing up”…

I remember starting up my work as a video engineer – one of my many career moves.
I had to clean and vacuum behind the equipment racks – not a job for a college graduate, I thought.
“You have to pay your dues” – They told me – “We all start like this but one day when you will become a “senior” engineer you will have your own new, guy going through the “initiation”.

Well, I am the “senior” engineer and that day never came.
Instead of becoming the “accomplished” engineer – that fountain of knowledge for the new generation – I have become obsolete.
The new –computerized – generation is looking at me not like a source of wisdom but like an antiquated, obsolete relic.

After the “midlife” crisis I thought I will finally arrive to that “golden” age in every man’s life.
That age of total fulfillment, of stability, of meaning and reward.
That never happened.

I have no idea who I am and where I’m supposed to go.
It is that “unknown”, it is that “emotional storm”, that “emotional instability” that kills me.
I know I have to “reinvent” myself – the question is: Why, to what end?
To change just to survive?
Well, it seems logical, but to me to survive just to survive never had any meaning.

Without the “grown up” destination life seems just to drag on to its inevitable extinction without rhyme or reason.
We need to find another purpose for our “grown up” population.

The case against "HOPE" III

2010-02-17T18:26:00.001-08:00

I was trying to define “worry” and “hope” and it occurred to me that they are brother and sister emotions.
Both “worry” and “hope” are unfounded expectations; one that things will get worse and the other that things will get better – some how.
And both “worry” and “hope” have the same hypnotic power to paralyze action.

I remember growing up under the communist rule.
Life was really hard; things were pretty bad and getting worse every day.
-It can’t get worse than this –people were saying – It is bound to get better.
But things never got better. Not by themselves.

The revolution happened only when there was no more hope left, when all worries and hopes melted into one unstoppable rage.
Action only happens when your worries turn into desperation - or your hopes change to enthusiasm.
Only when you get tired of doing nothing and waiting for things to change you will leave worry and hope behind and start acting.

This is the fundamental “law” of things.
There is no cause without effect and no effect without cause.
If you are not in control of your life somebody else is.
If you are not an “actor” in the “play” of life then you are a “spectator”

The case against "HOPE" II

2010-02-10T18:47:00.001-08:00

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

—Emma Lazarus, 1883

As an immigrant transplant to this land, I cherish this poem perhaps more than any of the other iconic American literary masterpieces.
It embodies, in few but powerful words, the hope of millions that have found refuge and shelter on these shores.

It was the search for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that forged this country.
It was that invitation to all people that aspire to freedom and the opportunity of a better life that made this country great.
It was the “American dream” that powered the most progressive social revolution in the human history.

But now the dream is dead.
We don’t have dreams anymore.
We are not guided by a vision of progress, of a better future,.
We are just dreaming of the “good old days” and the only thing we have is the “hope” that things will get better again.

But things do not get better on their own.
Left to their own devices things just crumble and fall.
Hope without a vision is just an empty promise; a narcotic for the masses.
Hope without action is hopelessness.

The case against "HOPE"

2010-02-03T19:20:00.001-08:00

I love reading.
I was 4 or 5 when I started reading.
I do not remember anymore, it was so long ago.
But I remember around 12 I read this book “The factory of death”
It was about the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

The images of death were so powerful that have etched in my memory forever.
People being round up like cattle. People being pushed in train wagons like cattle.
People being hoarded around like cattle. People being treated worse than animals.
People being killed and burned by millions.

I remember this incredible feeling of revolt.
I was mad; how could this have happened.
I wanted to scream at the pictures: Run! Fight!
But the people in the pictures seemed resigned to their faith, unable to run or fight.
That bothered me a lot too.
…
A year ago the country was on the verge of a revolution.
The people were raising their voices against the war, against the bail outs, against the deficit, against the government corruption and inability to govern.
Now everybody is quiet.

The war has just escalated with even more troops being sent in Afghanistan.
Another trillion of dollars have been thrown at the banks.
The government is more corrupt and more inept to function than ever.
Yet, everybody seems resigned.

Are we blind? Are we cowards? What is going on?
And then I realized something:
As with the Jewish people then and always:
We are not blinded and paralyzed by fear.
We are blinded and paralyzed by hope.

I know many people will not agree with my conclusion…
I sure would like to hear your interpretation of this apparent human “apathy”

Waiting for Godot

2010-01-27T22:15:00.001-08:00

About a year and a half ago I started this blog as a way to vent out my frustration with the way the political and economical situation in US was affecting my personal life.
Since then the blog has changed, becoming a way of personal therapy, self reflection and a forum for spirituality ideas debates.
It all comes down to basic Buddhist doctrine that a person is a continuously growing, evolving entity and that proper, positive growth ( enlightenment ), can be learned and applied in real life.

It is this practical spiritual approach that has attracted me in the first place to Buddhism.
(The idea that you have to live miserable in this life and get to heaven in the after life never seemed very fair to me.)
So after about a year and a half I went from frustration to meditation, from rage to understanding, from despair to hope.

Now it seems a new direction in my life is developing.
Hope is gone – at least the hope that some how “they” will get things straightened up.
I realize that “waiting” for things to change in better will not take me very far.
It is time for action.

I guess the lesson I have learned in the past couple of month is that if you are not in control of your life, somebody else is.
It is up to me, and of course up to you to ascertain and take back that control.
It is time to turn wisdom into action, dreams into reality.

… So if I am not spending that much time posting on my blog is because I am spending a lot of time taking care of the things I have neglected in the past.
I have shifted my priorities from a reflective, waiting mode to a clean up my life and start new directions, mode.

I hope you all are well and I thank you for being my friends and sharing your ideas and POVs with me.
I will see you on the blogosphere from time to time and keep you informed of the latest developments.
And of course I wish all of you good luck in all your endeavors.

PS: If anybody has any questions or subjects you want to talk about just drop me a comment and I will be more than glad to answer you.

Peace!

Right vs. Happy

2010-01-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

Would you rather be right or happy?
I know for many people this question will sound rather stupid.
(If it doesn’t sound stupid and actually it makes sense to you, you must be a married person.)
But the question doesn’t only apply to married couples; it is a question we face in all relationships, personal or business.

The status quo answer to that question is that we would rather be right – no matter the cost.
Having it “our way” it is a matter of principles and if “they” do not understand that we are “right” it is our duty to shove it down their throat.
Defending our position and opinions it is as American as freedom and apple pie.

But this is not always the case.
Take for example “dating”.

When we are dating a person our state of mind is not to have it “my way” but rather the other way around.
You could be a football fanatic but if the girl you love asks you to go to an opera or ballet instead, you would gladly ditch your football friends and you favorite team just to be with the one you love.
Same thing goes for her. She might think football is a stupid waste of time, but if she really loves him she will go to a football game and enjoy it too.

This might sound like a non genuine behavior, a trickery, a deceit to get you in good favors with the other person but people that have been truly in love know that that is not the case.
When you love someone you really want to make them happy and all compromises and sacrifices you make come naturally.
It is not anymore about being “right” or having it “your way”, it is about making the other person happy and being happy about them being happy.

Of course that quickly disappears when the relationship becomes official.
Once married we stop trying to make the other person happy and start fighting for what is “right”.
We don’t want it “their way” we want it “our way” and of course we are ready to battle for what we believe it is “right”.
The result: Bad relationships.

And that my friends it is the way things are.
We live in a world divided between “right” and “wrong”.
On one side we have the republicans on the other the democrats.
The religious people vs. the scientific community.
The pro life vs. the pro choice.
The environmentalist vs. the industrialists.
Us vs. them.
Of course “we” are always right and “they” are always wrong.

So are you ready to battle for that or would you rather be happy?

Chocolate Wisdom

2010-01-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

If you are a religious person you regard and believe the religious texts as a true representation of the real world.
Same thing if you are a scientist; you believe the scientific texts are the representation of reality.
So naturally we believe there is a conflict between spirituality and science.
If one is right the other one has to be wrong and vice versa.

But let’s look at religion and science from another angle.
Let’s consider religion and science as not being a reflection of reality but rather a reflection of the people that wrote them – a reflection of their capacity of understanding and expressing reality.
Then religion and science are just two different points of view rather than right and wrong.

The world we live in is the result of our collective actions.
(I think both scientists and religious people would agree.)
Our actions are determined by our thoughts and our thoughts are determined by our belief system.
The fact that one believes in a spiritual, ideal, world or a material, scientific world, it is not purely academic.
What we believe determine our actions and ultimately our life experience.

This is why it is important to look at our beliefs.
This is what these posts are about.
Not about who is right and who is wrong but rather about understanding how our beliefs determine our behaviors.

Here is a story I read on the internet and I would like to share it with you.
And once again, this is not about being right or wrong but about opening your mind to new points of view and new possibilities.

Chocolate Wisdom

Once upon a time a group of former classmates, well established in their careers, got together during a class reunion.
They decided to go and visit an old college professor who was a source of inspiration for all of them.
During the visit the conversation devolved into a series of personal complaints about their lives, careers and relationships and how stressful things were.

While listening to their complaints the professor decided to offer everyone a cup of hot chocolate.
Coming back from the kitchen the professor brought a pitcher of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups and mugs.
Each of the cups was made of different materials. Some were of clay, metal, glass, crystal and porcelain. Some were very simple and others were very ornate. Some were very cheap and some were very expensive.
The old professor invited everyone to serve themselves.
When everybody had their cup in hand the professor shared his thoughts about the chocolate.

- Did you notice that all the fancy cups were chosen and only the modest ones were left at the table?
Even it might seem to you natural to choose the very best in life; this might be the source of all your problems and stress.
The quality of the cups you choose does not change the quality of the chocolate you drink.
What you really need is the pleasure and nutrition of the drink not the cup, but subconsciously you choose the fancy cups.
Life is the hot chocolate. The careers, jobs, and relationships, money and social status are just the cups.
The quality of your cups will never determine the quality of your lives.
The gift of life is free it is up to you to choose the cup you will receive it in.

There is no "IS"

2010-01-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

How do we define reality?
How do we define what “is” is?
Obviously for an old fart like me the answer is simply “faith” but for my younger and educated audience that answer is not sufficient.
Logical, reasonable and a scientific explanations are the only views of the world and reality accepted.
But the problem with logic and reason is that you can not build any logic or reasonable argument on nothing.
You need some a priory foundation to start your argument.

About 2300 years ago, Euclid a Greek mathematician, stumbled on this rather unpleasant problem when he attempted to create a perfect mathematical system based on pure logic and reason.
He could prove almost everything mathematically except for 5 axioms or postulates that could not be proven.

For more than 2000 years Euclidian geometry was considered a true representation of “reality”, until 1823 when two young mathematicians Janos Bolyai and Nicolai Lobachevsky decided to challenge Euclid’s axioms and thus created a new geometry.
Using the same mathematical and logical principles as Euclid, the young mathematicians came to a totally different conclusion of what “is” is.
In this new geometry our “reality” was a curved space, nothing like Euclid had envisioned.

"It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.
If the - if the - if 'is' is and never has been, that is not - that is one thing.
If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement.”
Bill Clinton

So what happens if we challenge the scientific axiom that the world, reality, is material?
Afterwards nobody has ever proved that we live in a material world.
And no, Madonna doesn’t count.

Imagine that we have a pair of magic glasses that allow us to see reality at any scale we desire.
Imagine looking through these glasses at a piece of bread and a piece of cheese.
At first we would see a definitive difference of what bread is and cheese is.
Even when we increase the magnification to say, molecular level, we could still see what bread is and cheese is.
But magnify that vision at atomic level and suddenly there is no more bread or cheese.
At atomic level the cheese and bread disappear, the only thing we see are atoms.

Continue to look deeper and even the atoms will disappear.
Continue to look even deeper and matter, “mass” will disappear as well.
What remains when there is nothing to see is “is”.
What “is” is, it is not material at all.
Our material “reality” it is in fact just an illusion.

And no. this is not some new age Buddhist BS, even some open minded scientists have come to the same conclusion and there is a strong new current of scientific thought – see the string theory development – that challenges the material view of the world.

There is no GOD

2010-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

This is the story of two extraordinary, ordinary men.
To protect the innocent will just call them “Q” and “B”

B was an uneducated old man that believed in faith and spirituality and of course in an ideal world.
B believed in a higher being – he called “God”
He truly believed that this super man “God” was the creator of all men and everything else that existed and it was the key to life meaning

Q, on the other hand, was a very intelligent, educated young man, that believed in reason and science and of course in a material world.
Q believed that men and everything else were the result of evolution and natural transformation.
He believed that the super man everybody called “God” was just a fairy tale ignorant men invented to appease their fear of the unknown.

Frustrated by all the talk about “God” one day Q said to B:
- We have explored the known universe from the bottom of the oceans to the most remote galaxies and we have never seen any signs or met this “God” you are talking about. It simply does not exist and if you insist on your foolish belief I want you to show me a positive absolute proof of its existence.

So B started to look around for something that would proof “God’s” existence but not having that much of a scientific mind he couldn’t come up with any concrete proof of his existence.
Afterwords he was just a story teller dealing in comparisons and metaphors not in scientific data.
So finally after a long, strenuous and empty search B sat down and did the only thing he knew how to do. He wrote a story. It goes like this:

There is no “HUMAN”

This is the story of two extraordinary, ordinary human cells.
To protect the innocent will just call them “Q” and “B”

B was an uneducated old cell that believed in faith and spirituality and of course in an ideal world.
B believed in a higher being – he called “The Human”
He truly believed that this super cell “The Human” was the creator of all cells and everything else that existed and it was the key to life meaning

Q, on the other hand, was a very intelligent, educated young cell, that believed in reason and science and of course in a material world.
Q believed that cells and everything else were the result of evolution and natural transformation.
He believed that the super cell everybody called “The Human” was just a fairy tale ignorant cells invented to appease their fear of the unknown.

Frustrated by all the talk about “The Human” one day Q said to B:
- We have explored the known universe from the bottom of the foot to the most remote tips of hairs and we have never seen any signs or met this “Human” you are talking about. It simply does not exist and if you insist on your foolish belief I want you to show me a positive absolute proof of its existence.

So B started to look around for something that would proof “Human’s” existence but not having that much of a scientific mind he couldn’t come up with any concrete proof of his existence.
Afterwords he was just a story teller dealing in comparisons and metaphors not in scientific data.
So finally after a long, strenuous and empty search B sat down and did the only thing he knew how to do. He wrote a story. It goes like this:

There is no “CELL”

This is the story of two extraordinary, ordinary molecules.
To protect the innocent will just call them “Q” and “B”

B was an uneducated old molecule that believed in faith and spirituality and of course in an ideal world.
B believed in a higher being – he called “The Cell”
He truly believed that this super molecule “The Cell” was the creator of all molecules and everything else that existed and it was the key to life meaning

Q, on the other hand, was a very intelligent, educated young molecule, that believed in reason and science and of course in a material world.
Q believed that molecules and everything else were the result of evolution and natural transformation.
He believed that the super molecule everybody called “The Cell” was just a fairy tale ignorant cells invented to appease their fear of the unknown.

Frustrated by all the talk about “The Cell” one day Q said to B:
- We have explored the known universe from the bottom of the nucleus to the most remote tips of cilia and we have never seen any signs or met this “Cell” you are talking about. It simply does not exist and if you insist on your foolish believe I want you to show me a positive absolute proof of its existence.

So B started to look around for something that would proof “Cell’s” existence but not having that much of a scientific mind he couldn’t come up with any concrete proof of his existence.
Afterwords he was just a story teller dealing in comparisons and metaphors not in scientific data.
So finally after a long, strenuous and empty search B sat down and did the only thing he knew how to do. He wrote a story. It goes like this:

There is no “MOLECULE”

This is the story of two extraordinary, ordinary atoms.
To protect the innocent will just call them “Q” and “B”

…. To be continued.

An Inspirational Video 1 - The Law Of Attraction

2010-01-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Buddhism

The practice of Buddhism began 2,500 years ago. Only within the past century have Western cultures reached out to embrace Buddhist wisdom, whose essence is to awaken and to serve. Blocking one’s mortal path to awakened or enlightened service are egotism, greed and selfishness, each of which leads to endless and needless suffering.
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism can help us move beyond earthly limitations and thereby reach Nirvana, a state of mind that is completely and permanently free of suffering.
The good news is that the love light within us is eager to help light our path to enlightenment. With an awakened heart we can lovingly connect with and deeply appreciate what is — without seeking to change it, grasp it, or to push it away.
How to awaken? Mindfulness is the key to a “spacious” practice of Buddhism. Spaciousness allows us to observe without reacting. To draw conclusions or interpretations is to step out of touch with the here and now. To recognize our interconnection with nature’s five elements — earth, water, fire, air and space — is to embrace their divinity, and thereby manifest our own divinity or inner joy, our very own “flow,” our vitality. Buddhists know that love is a verb, not a noun. The way of a Buddha is simply to stay present, and to be love.

© 2010 American Institute of Holistic Theology

A View on Buddhism

2010-01-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

Whether you are going or staying or sitting or lying down,
the whole world is your own self.
You must find out
whether the mountains, rivers, grass, and forests
exist in your own mind or exist outside it.
Analyze the ten thousand things,
dissect them minutely,
and when you take this to the limit
you will come to the limitless,
when you search into it you come to the end of search,
where thinking goes no further and distinctions vanish.
When you smash the citadel of doubt,
then the Buddha is simply yourself.

By Daikaku

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."

Buddha Quotes

Brain Fitness Test

2009-12-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

Here there are 10 brain teasers.
You get one point for each correct answer.
If you get 10 points you are a genius
5 points you are half a genius.
Zero points - you are no genius :)

1 - If you are in a dark room with a candle, a wood stove and a gas lamp.
You only have one match, so what do you light first?

2 - Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday?

3 - You are caught by the Moroccan police without wearing socks and condemned to spend a night in prison.
You have three rooms to choose from to spend your night.
First is a room full of poisonous scorpions.
Second a room full of sadistic criminals.
And third a room full of lions that haven’t eaten in three years.
Which room should you choose?

4 - Mary’s father has five daughters and no sons.
He named the first daughter Nana, the second Nene the third Nini and the forth Nono.
What is the name of the fifth daughter?

5 - You are participating in a race.
If you overtake the second person in the race, what position are you in?

6 – A father and his teenager son are in a very bad car accident and rush to the hospital.
The paramedics take them to the emergency room.
The surgeon enters the room, looks at the teenage boy and says:
- I can not operate on this boy. He is my son.
Who is the surgeon?

7 – You have three boxes of nails and screws and all three are labeled incorrectly.
The box #1 is labeled “nails”
The box #2 is labeled “screws”
The box #3 is labeled “screws and nails”
Can you put the labels in the correct order by picking only one item from only one box?
How?

8 – Mary wants to buy a red balloon and a pink ribbon.
The total cost is $ 1.10. She asks the clerk how much the balloon costs and the clerk tells her that the balloon costs $ 1 more than the ribbon.
How much does the ribbon costs?

9 - Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager for one room.
The manager later realizes that the room rate is $25 and gives $5 to the bellboy to return to the people.
On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to share among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person.
Now each person paid $10 and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totaling $27.
The bellboy has $2, totaling $29. Where is the missing $1?

10 – A train going 100 Mph leaves Kalamazoo going to Chicago.
At the same time a plain flying 500 Mph leaves Chicago going towards the train.
When the plain meets the train it turns around back to Chicago and when it reaches Chicago it turns around towards the train.
The plain keeps flying between Chicago and the train until the train reaches Chicago.
Knowing the distance between Chicago and Kalamazoo is 1000 miles.
What was the distance the plane flew?

ANSWERS:

1 – The match.

2 - Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

3 – The lion’s room. - After three years they should be dead.

4 - Mary

5 – Second

6 – The mother of the boy

7- Yes. - You pick one item from box # 3 and whatever you pick it will be the correct item.
Let’s say it is a nail then the box #3 is nails. That means box #2 can not contain nails or screws so it has to be “nails & screws” which leaves box # 1 to be “screws”

8 – The ribbon costs 5 cents - $ 0.05 + 1.05 = 1.10

9 - Originally, they paid $30, they each received back $1, they now have only paid $27. Of this $27, $25 went to the manager for the room and $2 went to the bellboy.

10 – The time it takes the train to reach Chicago is 1000 : 100 = 10 hours which is the total time the plane is flying, therefore the distance the plain flies is 500 X 10 = 5000 miles.

Fear and Anxiety IV

2009-12-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.
It is not enough that a thing be possible for it to be believed.”

We all know Mel Gibson as a great actor, movie director and devout Christian.
We all have seen or heard of the movie “The Passion of Christ”
We also know or have heard about his troubles with the police.

Now, let me ask you this question:
How the hell did that happened?
I mean if a guy that has that kind of faith in God and has made such a great deal of worshiping God in such a grandiose and spectacular way, gets into such terrible trouble – what kind of faith in God should a Buddhist like me or an atheist have?

For the “pure anxiety”, the one presumably without cause or reason, the only cure we have is a seemingly unfounded, unreasonable faith in God.
Without that absolute faith in God we have nothing.
Yet, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to unremarkable people.
How is that possible? How does it work?

“Faith… Must be enforced by reason…When faith becomes blind it dies.”

Let’s go back and look at what faith is.
Faith is the result of trust which in turn is the result of our relationships.
You might think that a guy like Mel Gibson has a pretty solid relationship with God and should be able to get some “special treatment” from the all mighty, don’t you think?
But a relationship is a two way street.
It is not only what we think about God it is also – and maybe even more important – what God thinks about us.

If you are an alcoholic, womanizing, racist, hypocrite – you might call yourself a Christian but God will call you an asshole and treat you exactly like that.
Unlike the propaganda of organized religions, God does not play favorites.
Your faith in God should be only based on what God thinks about you not on the promises of your religious leaders.
Your faith in God should be based only on the relationship you have with God.

And here lies the big problem and the untold truth about our anxieties.
We live in the most stressful, depressing, dark age because we live in the most unfaithful time of history.
We live in a permanent state of anxiety because we have forfeited our relationship with God and replaced with the lip service of organized religions.
We live in anxiety because we have no faith, because we do not trust God, because we falsely think God has forsaken us, when in fact is the other way around.

“Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future.
It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.”

So I would like to end this series on “Fear and Anxiety” by repeating something I always say:
You are the question to be answered, the problem to be solved.
You are the path, the obstacle and the destination.
You are the wisdom and the answer you seek.
Within you there is the power of all possibilities.

“Know yourself!”

Fear and Anxiety III

2009-12-09T19:03:00.001-08:00

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

Another little problem I have with the classical definition of anxiety is that I believe in the law of cause and effect and it is impossible for me to accept anything that is defined as “accidental” or “without reason.”
To find out what anxiety is – beyond that “a fear without reason” definition – let’s take another example.

By the end of George W Bush’s second term the country was in pretty bad spiritual shape.
Most people feared the worse and braced for an economical crush.
I would qualify that state of mind as an anxiety-fear for the following reasons.
The danger although present can’t be clearly defined. The economy is a pretty large and vague thing. It is also very unpredictable and certainly very uncontrollable.

So what we can do in a situation like that is to apply the “proactive” approach.
You pay off as much of your debt as possible.
You reduce your monthly bills, by reorganizing your priorities or like in my case by refinancing my mortgage.
You build up some financial reserve to build up your financial stability and confidence.
But after all that is done you will still have the “anxiety” part of your fear present.

“Faith makes all things possible.... love makes all things easy.”

What you really need to stop that anxiety is “faith”
Hope is the reverse of “anxiety” and it came to us in the form of the great, black hope “Obama”
Once we accepted him – based on total faith – as the savior of the nation, things did not seem as bad anymore. Although in truth not much has changed in real life.
Faith makes anxiety disappear.

But what is faith and how do we get it?
Faith is a measure and the result of trust.
We have faith in somebody or something based on the trust we have in them.
Then of course the next question is what is trust and how we get that?
Trust is a measure of our experience.
We trust people or things based on the experience – or lack of experience – we have with them.

“Skepticism is the beginning of Faith.”

We might initially give someone the benefit of the doubt and give them our trust but it is very hard to have faith in somebody that has lied or disappointed us in the past.
The anxiety we are having today about the future of our economy is caused by these bad experiences we had have in the past.
We’ve been lied to and disappointed so many times by our leaders that is very difficult to have any hope.
We try very hard to prop up the hope and give them every chance to prove us wrong again and again.
But we are running out of faith.

“Without faith a man can do nothing; with it all things are possible.”

(to be continued…)

Fear and Anxiety II

2009-12-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

“Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”

By now you might already know I have a little problem with the way we view reality.
It seems to me that in the past decades we have narrowed our point the view of reality to the “scientific” point the view only, leaving outside all the other points of view.
We therefore, define anxiety as follows:

“Anxiety is a generalized mood condition that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which occurs in the presence of an observed threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.”

There is a little problem with this definition.
Reality is not black and white as the definition may imply.
Between “fear” and “anxiety” there is a wide spectrum of emotional experiences I like to call “anxiety-fears” or “fear anxieties”
Let me give you some examples:
The fear of natural disasters and pandemics, the fear of social events – like a stock market crash or the fear of being laid off.

Those all are emotions that do not “fit” the classical definitions of fear or anxiety.
Is the fear of being laid off real or imaginary?
Which one is real today: The fear of the economy collapsing or the hope of the economy is rebounding?
There is no clear answer to that, hence my question. Are we then dealing with fears or anxieties?

The answer to that question is very important because that answer determine the course of action we have to take.
Obviously if you are dealing with fear, direct action is the proper course.
But what if you are dealing with a “fear – anxiety” like the fear of natural disasters?
Obviously direct action will not work – you can’t control a natural disaster – although we have attempted to – see the New Orleans and Katrina event.

“Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape.”

I live in California and I heard many time this remark:
“I don’t understand how people live California with the constant threat of earthquakes.”
The secret of taming that threat is a “proactive” attitude.
When you are facing a potential danger over which you have no control, you take control of the “consequences” rather than the danger.

Practically all buildings in California are built to withstand earthquakes.
On top of that all or the majority of Californians have “earthquake proofed” their houses and the majority of us have a large supply of food and water in storage just for that reason.

The “cure” for fear is direct action and the “cure” for anxiety is faith.
The cure for everything in between would therefore be a mixture of action and faith.
Obviously the more like anxiety your emotional state is, the less action will work and the more faith you need and vice versa.

“Anxiety is the rust of life, destroying its brightness and weakening its power. A childlike and abiding trust in Providence is its best preventive and remedy.”
(to be continued...)

Fear and Anxiety

2009-12-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.”

We live in very troubled times - needless to say.
War, climate change, pollution, famine, disease and economical crisis are the main course of our daily news feast.
Fear and anxiety are not any more an exception but rather the norm by what we live.
But what exactly is fear and anxiety?
And most important: How do we deal with them?

“Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat.
It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger.”

Let’s say that you find yourself facing a mean threatening dog.
You can do two things:
You can defend yourself using your body, a rock, a stick or you can run to avoid the attack.
In other words you fight or run – That is the natural response we have to threats.

Getting scared is not a lack of courage, it is a survival skill.
We have to learn how to avoid dangers and fear as well as pain not being our enemy but rather the first line of defense.
Fear and pain are the sentinels that tell us when we are in trouble and peril.

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.”

Although the preferred way to deal with our problems is avoidance, postponing a problem doesn’t solve it in most cases.
In most cases avoiding facing our fears makes our problem even bigger.

I had this dear friend that had a problem paying her bills in time.
Every month it was the same drama taking place.
Bills over due, late fees and penalties, overdraft accounts, pain and misery.
I tried to help her by creating a payment schedule but she never followed.

I couldn’t understand her behavior.
According to my understanding of human behavior, our action are designed to maximize pleasure and to avoid pain, but what she was doing – seemed to me – was to create a lot of unnecessary pain and trouble.
Then I got a revelation.

Imagine yourself not as one person but as two people living in the same body: You and your subconscious mind.
You say to yourself:
-Let’s pay the bills!
- That sound’s like a lot of work – your subconscious replies – Is there anything else we can do?
- I could postpone it – you say to yourself.
- That sounds like a great idea. I prefer the pleasure of doing nothing than the pain of paying the bills.
So you do exactly what you are supposed to do – you avoid the pain – you do not pay the bills :(

“Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear.”

So the way we fixed that is by changing the task presentation.
Instead of asking – Do you want to pay your bills?
The correct question is – Do you want the excruciating pain of late bills?
The answer of course will be different this time :)

Action is the only cure for fear.

(to be continued...)

Tune Up

2009-12-02T21:33:00.000-08:00

My kids were watching “Akeelah and the Bee” the other day.
(If you have kids I highly recommend this movie.)
I was in the room at the same time doing some research on my laptop while keeping tabs on the movie.
(I have this bad habit of multi tasking. - Is it a gift, is it a curse? I don’t know.)
The movie is really good – for the children – but my interest was focused more on my computer.

Suddenly Laurence Fishburne – playing one of the characters in the movie – started in his deep baritone voice, this quote:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
Marianne Williamson

Every process in my brain stopped at that moment as the light of that truth hit me like a ton of bricks.
While still in that “Wow” state I realized something: We are open to the truth we want to hear and consciously or not that is what we hear.

There is fear spreading like wild fire. There is panic and paranoia. There is prejudice and hatred making their voices louder and louder now days.
But there is also hope, compassion and love. There is joy, peace and understanding. There is a booming spiritual movement like an ocean tide sweeping the world.

It is not a new thing. This has been going on since the dawn of human civilization.
We have always had fear and hatred trying to overtake our natural instinct of love and hope.
What is new however is the new technologies that have enhanced the speed and volume of these voices.
What is new is the exponential increase in battle for your ears for your “listening”

Are you listening?
What are you listening to?
Are you listening to your fears and nightmares or are you listening to your hopes and dreams?
Because just like a radio tuned on a certain wave length, your consciousness will pick up exactly what you are opened up to receive.
Don’t let your fears dictate what you hear.
Tune up to love!

The Gift of Giving

2009-11-30T21:37:00.001-08:00

Once again, it is that time of the year when we have to honor the old tradition of gift giving.
I don’t know if you feel the same but for me this tradition has slowly turned from a joyous event into a stressful chore.
(Especially now when the propaganda machine is making me feel like the future of the whole economy depends on me spending the last dime on my name.)
So I decided to write this little post about the lost art of gift giving, hopping it will help you cope with the pressure and maybe even inspire you.

A few month ago, September 12 to be precise, I was celebrating my birthday.
On that day I received three presents:
My wife gave me a watch – I love my Swiss army watch and just it happened that I cracked the crystal on my old watch.
My older daughter gave me a bottle of eau de toilette – I am a sucker for French fragrances, you know :)

Then my little five years old handed me an envelope.
- I made it myself! – She announced and looked at me with wide expecting eyes.
I opened the envelope and pull out the card.
The paper was cut a little crooked and the fold was a little off center.
I could clearly see she wasn’t helped at all.

She decorated the card with drawings of flowers covered in colorful glitter and sparkles.
Inside written in big capital letters were her birthday wishes and a folded dollar bill.
- I did not know what to get you – she said to me – So I gave you a dollar so you can buy whatever you want.
I took her in my arms and I had to fight back the tears.
- This is the best gift ever! – I told her.
- Daaad! – I herd my older daughter whining – What about mine?
Oh, the joy of raising siblings!

This is what I learned from receiving the perfect gift that day.
The perfect gift has to be:
Personal
Creative
Original
Thoughtful
And last but not list: Loving

Now, I do not expect you to knit sweaters or mittens or to build the toys for your children, although believe it or not that is the way gifts were made when I grew up.
But putting that personal touch on the present you give is a must.
Even if the “personal” touch is only the wrapping on the present - do it yourself.
Nothing is duller than a factory or even a store wrapping.

Be creative – My older daughter gave my wife “coupons” for her birthday – back rubs, dish washing and such.
If you do not know what to give the man that has everything, boy do I have a list of coupons that will light up the house on fire ;)
If you are a man – no matter how gifted you think you are – limit yourself at non sexual favors – trust me on that!

Be original – Give the woman or the man you love something unusual like a day at a spa or the beauty salon.
Give yourself a mini vacation for two at a bread and breakfast house.
Buy concert or theatre tickets.
Do not limit yourself at the “old traditional” stuff. Think outside of the box

Be thoughtful. Buy the presents that she or he need, rather than frivolous stuff.
Well, if you love the one we are talking about you should have noticed by now their needs.
If you are a man you have probably not – so here what you do.
Look in the closet and see the most worn out pair of shoes.
Take a picture of them and go with the camera at a department store – do not forget to write down the shoe size.
Ask the clerk to give you a pair of shoes that best matches your photo – stick with the same color.
You can do that with everything else from cosmetic products to clothes.
Nothing shows how much you care as giving a gift that is needed.

And last but not least:
You have to realize that a “present” is not a “present” but just a wrapping.
The gift that you are giving it is - or it should be - LOVE
It is that love that can make a dollar bill the best present a father can get.
That is what I learned from my little girl about giving a gift.
And I hope you will find this post an inspiration as well.

Lock & Key

2009-11-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

Imagine you inherited a box that contains everything you ever wanted.
But there is a little problem; the box is locked with a pad lock and you don’t have the key.
So you take the box to a master locksmith and he gives you the bad news:
The lock can’t be picked or broken.
But there is good news as well:
There in a room that has all the keys to every lock ever made and you are free to look inside and find the key to your box.

Imagine yourself inside this “key” room, holding your box, standing in front of a pile of a million keys.
What would you do?

One thing you can do is to take a key and force it into the lock and if it doesn’t work force it even more and just keep on forcing despite the fact that it still doesn’t work.
That sounds kind of stupid, I know.
Who in his right mind would do a thing like that. Right?
Well, you would be surprised but that is exactly what all of us do at one point or another in our life :)

Another thing you can do is to pick up random keys from the pile and try them one at the time.
That still sounds kind of silly if you ask me, but at least there is a chance you might get lucky and find the right key for your lock.
Who would do a thing like that?
Once again, we all do – right after we figured out that “forcing” a key doesn’t work :)

There is of course another approach.
You can look at the pad lock and find different criteria, like size and shape, that can help you select the right key.
You can then throw away the keys that are too big or too small and narrow down the rest of the keys by their shape.
Of course the more criteria you can find the more precise you will be in finding the right key.

So there is a lesson here to be learned.
We all are looking to find the “key” to our life, the answers to our problems but the way we are doing it is often the wrong way.
The important thing is not the “key” not the answer but the “lock” or the question we are trying to answer.

The lock you are trying to unlock, the question you are trying to answer is YOU.
You might think that what would make you happy is a wonderful wife and a white picket fence house when in fact what would make you happy could be a burly truck driver named Joe.
You might think that the key to your happiness is getting that promotion to the branch manager position but the real key to your happiness could be driving an eighteen wheeler down the interstate.

So stop whatever you are doing and ask yourself really seriously:
-Who am I?
And thus the journey to every Buddhist student starts :)

Thanksgiving Gratitude Thoughts

2009-11-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.”
Buddha

“Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
Albert Schweitzer

“Unless it’s out of the goodness of someone’s heart, I don’t like having things given to me for free. I like working hard for what I earn. It gives me a sense of gratitude, and that’s the only way I can truly appreciate it.”
Sasha Azevedo

“Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.”
Alfred Painter

“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.”
Brother David Steindl-Rast

“The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.” John E. Southard

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G.K. Chesterton

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
Cicero

“If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get.”
Frank A. Clark

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
Epictetus

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”
H. U. Westermayer

“What a miserable thing life is: you're living in clover, only the clover isn't good enough.”
Bertolt Brecht

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
Thornton Wilder

“Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.”
Leroy [Satchel] Paige

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
William Faulkner

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.”
Gerald Good

“Gratitude is the least of the virtues, but ingratitude is the worst of vices.”
Thomas Fuller

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.”
Johannes A. Gaertner

“There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude.”
Robert Brault,

“There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance.” Joseph Addison

“Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.”
Estonian Proverb

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”
Aldous Huxley

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward

The Clay and the Potter

2009-11-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

The clay can’t model itself.
The potter does.
The parent, the teacher and the politician.
The books, the radio and the TV.
The priest the rabbi and the Zen master.
They are the potters

The clay can’t model itself.
The clay has no hands to model.
Desire and need, want and greed.
Fear and pain and if you are really, really lucky; love.
Those are the hands that model the clay.
But they are not your hands.

You might think you want to be rich because fear of poverty and scarcity has been imprinted in you.
You might think that you need power and fame because lack of love and fear of loneliness has been modeled in you.
You might think you want wisdom or happiness because you were taught you lack wisdom and happiness.

You are the clay, the potential of all possibilities.
The potter will model the clay in endless figures.
Another Einstein, Mozart, Hitler or another clerk at the supermarket.
But the clay can’t model itself.
You can only choose your potter.

You can choose the potter you trust or the role model you want to follow,
You can choose the teacher the priest or the politician.
You can choose the book you want to read.
The Quran, the Torah, the Bible or the Sutra.
The TV show, the radio or the blog.
But in the end you will be the result of the potter you choose.

If you think you are you own master you are just fooling yourself.
The fears and the dysfunctionality of your past will only create more anxiety in your life.
The clay can not model itself.
You need a potter - and the best I found so far is God.

Pray, meditate, communion with God any way you want.
Let his love be the hands of your fulfillment.
Let his wisdom be the architect of your life.
Let God be your potter.

Smile - O - Meter

2009-11-20T18:30:00.001-08:00

I have a confession to make:
When I was studying Buddhism I was a very bad student.
Not that I did not like to study or to practice.
All that was fine - I was just a very impatient student.
I wanted enlightenment and I wanted it NOW.
Why all the waiting and delay?

And then, I was never sure if I was doing it right or wrong.
I never knew if I was making any progress or not.
I mean, some days I thought that I had a great break through.
But the next day I would feel more confused and baffled than ever.

I wonder how you are doing on your practice.
I hope you are meditating every day religiously.
Not that it is any of my business but practice is what makes or breaks your study.
Meditation is the glue that brings together the theory and practice of Buddhism.
Because you see Buddhism is more than a religion or a philosophy.
Buddhism is a path to enlightenment and enlightenment is a way of life.

Have you ever seen the Dalai Lama?
He has this smile on his face. Like the canary that has swallowed the cat.
It is not a smug or funny smile. It is a serene, angelic smile.
It is the smile that comes from a light soul and an enlightened mind.
It is, if you would like, the badge of enlightenment. The measure of one’s illumination.

So if you wonder how far you have gone on your path.
If you want to “measure” your enlightenment or the lack off, for that matter.
Here how you do it:

Smile!
I know that you maybe have no reason to do it right now but that is exactly the point.
Smile! :) :) :)
Just put a grin on your face and keep it up.
This is a signal to your body, to every organ and cell, that you have left your pretense down and you can be free to be yourself.

Happiness and for that matter depression and anxiety are not abstract things.
Happiness is a very organic, very basic constituent of life.
Just keep on smiling and soon you will feel that organic happiness ready to burst out.
Do not try to hold it back. The harder you try the more explosive it will get.
Now let it be without forcing it.

You will find yourself smiling without a reason.
Your smile will be somewhere between a frown and Dalai Lama’s smile.
Write it down as a number from 1 to 10.
That will be future reference for your progress.
If this sounds very unscientific it is because it is very unscientific.
Life is not a science and neither is Buddhism.

PS: Do this as often as possible.
It is not only a good measurement it is also a good exercise.
And if somebody just happens to see you smiling without a reason, be prepared.
People do not like other people smiling without reason – unless you are Dalai Lama.
They will be suspicious and probably ask for an explanation.

Here are some very good excuses for being happy:
- Having you as a friend / colleague/ boss/ partner, brings joy and happiness to me.
- Because being happy takes less energy than being miserable.
- Because happy people get laid more often. (don’t say that to your wife!)
- I got Botox today and my face got stuck this way.
- Why not. Do I have to be depressed to live / work / create in this place?
- I have found Jesus Christ.
- My aunt died and left me a million dollars
- I found out I am not pregnant /or/ I found out I am pregnant (don’t say that if you are a man!)
- The Prozac /Lexapro / Zoloft/ Viagra, just kicked in.
- Because I ran out of reasons to be unhappy.

Of course you can get creative and come up with more excuses to be happy.
And if you get any good ones be sure to share them with us :)

A moral dilema

2009-11-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

There was a point in my journey to enlightenment when the study of the scriptures and the daily meditation practice started manifesting into changes in my emotional and spiritual being.
I started to be more aware of other people’s problems and suffering.
I found myself feeling more responsible for the way the world around me was. More compassionate.
I started getting involved in charity and the community efforts to help others.

It was a great feeling; finally doing something, finally being part of the solution and not of the problem.
But the more I got involved the more problems and causes seem to pop up.
The more I give the more I was asked to give and the problems did not seem to get any improvement, the problems seemed to get worse.

After a while the giddy feeling wore out and I started to feel burned out instead.
I even had feelings of being taken advantage of and my good will being abused.
I felt that I was not making any difference after all and that it was a futile, un-winnable fight.
I got frustrated, depressed and finally resentful.
This enlightenment thing felt like another scam and false promise.

I kept my meditation practice and I was still reading – I am addicted to books :)
I guess you might say that I lost faith in myself but I never lost faith in God.
For one thing I have learned and hold as absolute truth – God does not make mistakes, I do.
So I kept contemplating the world and people around me, looking for an answer.

I realize that the world is a dynamic place.
It is not like if you stop a war, a famine, an epidemic or any other crisis, peace and harmony will reign forever.
I realize that while on one side you are busy stopping a war or a famine – on the other side other people are starting another war or creating a new crisis.

When the world is spending billions of dollars on waging wars it is very difficult to have world peace.
When corporations are making billions of dollars in profit from world famines and epidemics it is very difficult to have a world of harmony and compassion.

It is not that we can not stop the wars, famine or crisis.
That is not the problem that is not the difficulty we face.
The real fight, the real challenge, is to make people aware of the evil they perpetrate.
The real solution is to convert all the people to switch from the evil side to the side of goodness.

Wars will stop when people will refuse to carry guns and kill each other in the name of God, democracy or any other reason.
Famine will be extinct when we will replace greed with compassion.
Crisis will cease to exist when humanity replaces hatred with love.

I know it all sounds highly idealistic and highly improbable but it is the only real answer.
The world has to change one person at the time – starting with you.

Just doing my job

2009-11-16T20:53:00.001-08:00

I was picking up my daughter from school one day.
I came in a little late and of course there was no parking left for me.
So I ended up parking in somebody’s driveway but I was thoughtful enough to stay in my car - just in case the house owner would show up and needed the access to his garage.
Honestly, I was feeling a little bit uneasy intruding like that on somebody’s property but I thought that 15 minutes was not that much, especially if no one saw me :)

As I was waiting for the school gate to open, a parking maiden shows up in her carriage.
She promptly parks in the fire hydrant zone – the only spot on the street available – and without any further delay started giving away parking tickets.
These days they have a hand held computer. They just punch in your plate number and out comes the ticket freshly printed.
That makes it very effective and she was quite good at it.

I promptly put my car in reverse and drove a couple of blocks away where I could find a legal parking place, and then I walked back to the school entrance.
There was a little commotion going on as the parents were finding out they were ticketed – and by this time there were quite of few of them.
There were some quiet mutterings and some people were talking about it, but nobody was saying anything to the parking maiden, which was serenely continuing to give out tickets.

So I went to her and asked:
“These are hard working parents picking up their children, why are you doing this to them?”
She answered me something like “please sir, do not interfere with my job” – on a pretty stern voice – and continued undisturbed.
Then I said to her:
“You know the slave traders were just doing their job too. You don’t think that just because it was legal they had right to do it. Do you?”
She gave me a killer look and that same lame excuse “I am just doing my job, sir”
And yes she was an African American.

I don’t know if it was my conversation or the children bursting out of the school gates but she turned around and walked to her car.
And although I did not get a ticket that day it left me with a bad feeling that something was wrong in this country of ours.

We all have a job.
But that job is not what we think it is. Our job is to be decent human beings.
It is what everybody should aspire for – to become a better human being every day.
Our so called “job” or as I like to call it our “trade” is just the way to earn our living, a way to provide goods and service to our fellow men.

Is it not that the government should be a government of the people for the people?
Is it not that our civil servants – as the name implies – should serve and protect us?
Since when have we stopped serving our fellow men and started serving corporations and institutions?

Every great crime against humanity was done by people that were “just doing their job”
That excuse has popped up its ugly head again and it is on everybody’s lips from Wall Street to White House.
If you are “just doing your job” you are one of the perpetrators of injustice and abuse.
After all is said and done, when you have spent your working days and are ready for retirement, the only thing left to you is not your career but that decency of a life well lived.

We all have a job and that job is to be a decent human being.
Everything else is just an illusion.

How to make a soup recipe

2009-11-13T22:16:00.001-08:00

My mother was a great cook.
She learn the art of cooking – and let me tell you; cooking is an art – from her mother.
And her mother learned it from her mother before her.
And thus the art was refined for thousand of years.

When I came to USA probable the second thing I missed most after her love was her cooking.
(I use to dream about eating her food – no kidding.)
Not that I wasn’t get enough to eat – actually I was gaining weight at an alarming pace, a very common side effect for freshly emigrated people to USA :)
But there was more to her food than calories.

So finally when she came over I could once again enjoy that wonderful food.
Eating – I have to add – in other parts of the world, it is not just a “fueling up” thing.
Eating has a social function. It is a family ritual, a way to communion with friends and forge relationships.
Food is not only fuel for the body it is also fuel for the soul.

So I used to invite friends over for lunch or dinner.
And on one occasion I invited my friend Beth over for lunch.
Of course she was very impressed with the cooking and asked me to ask my mother if she could give her the soup recipe.
I have to mention – my mother did not speak a word of English.

Of course she would, she told me.
“There is nothing special to it. You boil a chicken with the carrots, potatoes and onions…” my mother started to say.
“How many carrots?” asked Beth
“Depends how big is the chicken” my mother replied
“How big should be the chicken?” Beth asked
“Depends how many people you want to feed” came the answer.

So we continued this conversation for a while with the mom and Beth getting more and more frustrated.
You see: Beth wanted to make soup according to a recipe while mom thought that you have to make your recipe according to the soup.
In other words a real cook changes the recipe according to the way the soup tastes.
He or she will add more of this or less of that in order to get the best result – and for that there is no recipe :)

Why am I telling you this story?
I was doing some research for writing a post on “success” and I realize that a recipe for success - like a soup recipe - doesn’t really teach you how be successful.
Successful people do not follow a recipe for success they write the recipe for success.
Do you see what I mean?

Why ask Why?

2009-11-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

The evening is field with fragrance of wild flowers.
In the old temple young monks sit in quiet meditation.
The master walks among them with silent steps.
A tense face stands out from the serene smiles.
A sweat bead rolls off from the student’s forehead.

The master taps his shoulder and speaks softly into his ear.
- My son, are you sure you know what you are doing?
- Yes master, I am quite sure of what I am doing
Whispers the student.
- But I am not quite sure of, why I am doing it.

Why are we doing it?
We only ask that question in the moments of crisis.
Other than that, we pretty much think we have it figure it out.
So we just forge ahead doing it
We want to be rich, famous, enlightened, spiritual, wise or influential.
So we keep doing it until the moment we get stuck.
Then we stop to ask the question

Why do we want to be rich?
The usual answer is so we can buy things.
Nobody wants to be rich just to have piles and piles of money.
Which really means nobody really wants to be rich just to be rich.
We want something else.

Why are we practicing Buddhism?
Why do we want to be enlightened?
Then we see that just “doing it” is not what we want.
We want something else.
But we never figured out the “why” part of it

It is like this bloody war going on.
We thought we knew why we were doing it.
So we started it.
Then we got into a crisis and started asking; “why are we doing it?”
We are stuck doing it and the only reason we are doing it is because we are doing it and stopping doing it we believe it would be a worse alternative.

So we keep on doing whatever we are doing.
And after a while we get quite good at doing it.
So we become experts on how to do things and we pass that knowledge on.
With each generation we do it better and better.
But we are not quite sure anymore of why we are doing it.

The value of a silver dollar

2009-11-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

This is a story my grandfather told me long time ago.
As the time passed by I started to get a new appreciation of its meaning and wisdom.
So I would like to share it with you today.

Not so long ago a rich merchant god a very bad news.
He’s health was deteriorating rapidly and his days were numbered.
So he gathered his relatives, his wife and his only son at his bed side to read his last will and testament.
- Since my only son is a no good, lazy, arrogant bum – he started - I leave him nothing.
Then continued by sharing his wealth to the rest of his relatives - and even left something to be given to charity.

After everybody was gone, his faithful and loving wife came to his bed to plead in behalf of her son, asking the dying father to rethink and change his decision.
The father agreed to give his son a chance. He said:
-If my son can go out there and earn a silver dollar on his own merit, I will change my will and leave him an inheritance.

The next day the son wake up early in the morning and was ready to go out to earn the money his father as asked, when the mother showed up at the door with some food she had prepared for the boy.
- Here, - she said – some food for your lunch.
And as she handed the bag to the boy she slipped a silver dollar in his hand.

So the boy went out, find a nice place under a tree and slept till noon, then he ate his meal and came back home.
He walked up to his father and announced.
- Here father, the dollar I earned today.
The father took the silver coin, looked at it, looked at the boy and then tossed the coin in the flames of the fire place.
- This is not an honest earned dollar – he said – You have disappointed me as I thought you would.

The boy left the room and went back to his mother to tell her the bad news.
-You dim wit – she said – At least you could have rumple your clothes and put some dirt on your face, to make it look like you have worked all day!
So, she went back to her husband and once again pleaded for her son.
After all the begging the old man gave up and agreed to give him another chance.

The next day morning the boy left and again his mother gave him food and another silver dollar.
The boy did the same thing as the last day but this time before coming home he made sure to make himself look dirty and tired like he was coming from a hard day of work.
- Here father – said the boy – I have brought you an earned silver dollar.
The father took the dollar, looked at it carefully and then threw it into the fire.
- This is not a dollar earned, son. Get out of my face!

The boy went to his mother and gave her the bad news.
Once again the mother went to ask for another chance.
- I love you dear, more than anybody on this world but you have to admit our son is a no good bum and he doesn’t deserve to inherit my fortune. I will give him one more chance only if you promise this is the last time you will come to me on his behalf.

The woman agreed and the next morning her son was ready to try again.
This time when his mother tried to give him a silver dollar the boy refused to take it.
-I don’t know how he does it – said the boy – but father knows when I am dishonest, so today I will go and earn an honest dollar.

So he went to a nearby farm and asked for some work.
And the farmer was glad to give it to him because he had a lot of hard work to do.
The boy spent the whole day working on the farm, feeding the animals and cleaning the stables.
At the end of the day the farmer gave him, as promised, a silver dollar and the boy went back to his father.

-Here is a dollar I have earned – said the boy, handling the coin to his father.
The old man took the dollar and looked at it very careful then tossed it in the fire place.
- This is not an honest earned dollar – he said.
And as he was saying that the boy jumped and with his bare hand pulled the coin out of the fire.
-This is a dollar I work for all day. How dare you throw it away like that?
Said the boy.
Then the father smiled and said.
- Indeed you have earned that dollar with honest work, for now you know its value.

10 Steps to focus your life

2009-11-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

I’ve been working on this list for a while and I decided to publish it just to see if anybody has any suggestions how to improve it :)

1) Decide what you want
We all want to accomplish more, learn more or experience more.
You have to understand that wanting too much is as bad as wanting too little.
So you have to take the time and choose and set clear goals for your life.

2) Write it down
This is where most of us fail.
We take the first step but we never follow through.
You have to turn your thoughts into concrete action and the first “concrete” manifestation of your thoughts is putting them down on paper.
Write a plan.
Put down the steps you are going to take
Set a time table.

3) Find a witness.
Share your plans with the people you love.
Keep them informed about your progress.
Get them involved, curious and excited about your plans.

4) Join forces
Find people or organizations dedicated to the same goals that you are pursuing.
Find friends and make connections.
Exchange ideas and personal experiences.
Join forces with them.

5) Create habits
Everything is easier to do when it becomes a habit.
Create a daily routine.
Create a work space inductive to your work.
Focus on being consistent rather than on your performance.
Keep going even when you feel like quitting.

6) Eliminate disruptions
Set aside a time to work on your goals.
Get read of the people that sabotage your work.
If those people happen to be your family then you have to get away from them.
Like do not work home instead rent an office outside your house.

7) Elevate your energy
Improve your diet and eating habits.
Exercise regularly.
Improve your sleeping habits.

8) Control your emotions
Meditate, pray and/or recite daily affirmations.
Give thanks daily for the things you have and the things you have accomplished.
Forgive and forget the people in your life and their wrong doings.
Stop being judgmental.

9) Check and review
Set a weekly time aside for reviewing your progress.
Alter the plans and your time tables accordingly.
Find your weak spots and reinforce them.

10) Reward and punish
Give yourself rewards for a job well done and for keeping your goals.
Punish your bad habits.
No more TV watching, no more video game playing or no more web surfing are pretty good “incentives” for the un cooperative types.

A matter of taste

2009-11-06T22:47:00.001-08:00

It is Friday night and I am having a quiet moment.
I am listening to soft piano music and eating a pomegranate.
I am thinking:
This must be world’s most aerobic fruit.
I am burning more calories eating it, then the calories I am getting eating it.
(If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should try eating one :)

I am also noticing the really subtle flavor of the fruit and I am thinking:
Funny how lately everything I eat seems more flavorful than usual.
And I don’t think that they are selling better produce at the market.
I think it is because I have changed my diet recently.

You see, I thought I was eating pretty healthy.
I knew I had a sweet tooth but other than that I thought I was doing great.
That was until I got my physical exam and discovered I had my triglyceride levels way above normal.
In other and simpler terms I had way too many calories in my blood stream than I need it.

I found out that my love for sweets, nuts and avocados – which I thought were the healthiest things on earth – were part to blame for this problem.
Of course the other part of the blame was my lack of physical exercise.
Living the modern life means that we are burning far less calories than our ancestors while our calorie intake has risen dramatically.

So I took a quite drastic decision: No more sugar in my life.
At least not the refined or the fructose syrup kind.
I stopped adding sugar to my coffee, tea and anything else.
I also stopped drinking soda or anything artificially sweetened.

At first it was dreadful – well that is a bit dramatically – but you get the point.
Nothing tasted right and I thought that I would forever miss the sweet life.
But then something strange happened: My taste buds grew so much more sensitive.
Simple things like bananas suddenly were so much sweeter, so much tastier than usual.
I discovered that my coffee and tea - which I thought were quite bitter and unpleasant in the beginning, had more flavor than I ever experienced.

Taking sugar out of my diet didn’t mean not enjoying sweetness anymore but contrary it meant enjoying it more and deeper than before.
So I started thinking: What about the other senses?
We are being bombarded, over stimulated with everything from louder music and ever increasing complex and faster video effects to over exposure to sex and violence.

There is a continuous assault on our senses and emotions.
But are we getting more out of this “over exposure” or are we getting less?
Is more, more or is more, less?
And then, if that is so – Does it mean that less is more?

2012 - The End Of The World

2009-11-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

“…It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.”
R.E.M
Note: The operative words here are “as we know it”

Yes; the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012.
But; the Mayan calendar did not start with the beginning of the world.
The Mayan calendar started only 5125 years ago.
Pretty damn remarkable for a “primitive” civilization, but there are still 15 billion years unaccounted for before that, and 15 billion years still left to count after.

Yes, there is a planet, solar, galactic alignment coming up.
It did 5125 years ago and it did 5125 years before that and 5125 before…
…You get the drift.
This is neither the first nor the last of planetary, solar, galactic alignments.
Alignments happen.
Blame it on Galileo and Newton.

Why is this “alignment” cycle any different from the others?
Why is this “the end of the world”?
It is not!
It is just another way for unscrupulous people to make a buck.

Do you want a proof?
Ask any of those “prophets” of doom to bet you $1000,000,000 that 2012 is the end of the world and I guarantee there will be no takers.
Prophecy and supernatural knowledge stops at the bank’s door.
(Nobody will put money where their mouth is :)

But besides that:
It is the end of the world as we know it.

Every day the old ideas and the old ways of living are been challenged.
Every day more and more people are waking up from the mass hypnosis and social conditioning of the political/ military/banking system.

Every day people are realizing that they have been sold into financial slavery by the very politicians that were supposed to serve and protect us.
Every day people are realizing that we have exchanged happiness for material success.
That we have exchanged love for fame and power for brute force.
That we have exchanged compassion for charity and faith for reason.

Things can last much longer the way they are run now days.
Change is not only something that sounds good in political speeches.
Change is a formidable force and is coming like it or not!

PS: If you get some body to take your bet about the end of the world on December 21 2012 don’t worry about loosing.
Who is going to ask you to pay up any way?

The Chicken Time

2009-11-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

This morning driving my daughter to school, I got stuck in a traffic jam.
Since Sunday was daylight time saving change back to normal, I was expecting the Monday morning traffic to be lighter than usual but then again, traffic in LA it is never to be expected light.
Having the time and not much to talk about we started talking about time and what “daylight saving time” is.

Long time a go we – the people - had a different way of looking and interacting with time…
I remember growing up on my grandparents’ farm.
Nobody had a watch.
The only time keeping piece we had, was this massive pendulum clock on the hall way.
And that was one of the few clocks in the village.

People told time by the church bell strokes, by the passing of the local trains and when too far in the field by the shadow of the sun on the ground.
(Mid day is when the shadow is the shortest – I still remember that :)
We woke up in the morning when the Rooster sang and we went to bed with the chicken – I mean when they did :)
I call that - living by the “Chicken Time”

Time was “organic” then.
We woke up at incrementally different time each day as the day grew longer and conversely each day latter, when the days were getting shorter.
In the summer the day were long and filled with a lot of work and play.
In the winter the days shrunk to a blink of an eye.
There was little work to do and we spend the cold days mostly inside gathering around the fire place, listening to stories or celebrating the holydays.

We never considered the day as a “fix” amount of time.
We wrapped our lives around the day light without regard to what the clock was saying.
That was the way we lived for hundred of thousand, or even more, years until we entered the “technological” revolution of the modern era.

The advent of industrial manufacturing, the rise of cities and industries meant that the old “organic” relationship with time had to change.
No longer “time” served us but we became servants of the time.

We invented the kerosene lamp, the gas lamp and finally the electric lamp.
We changed the night into the day and wrap our lives around “time” in a “mechanical” way never experienced before.
Life did not longer dictate the flow of time.
The flow of time through that mechanical conductor “the clock” dictates the flow of life.

Of course there are some rare cases when this “mechanical” time shows its ugly side.
There are some people super sensitive to this artificial arrangement – and consequently we invented some “disease” to explain their problem with adapting to this artificial time arrangement, but in large our science – which boasts how “objective” and “impartial” is – never studied the effects of this “mechanical” time on our “organic” clocks, on our physiology and our psychology.

Of course when turning night into day got to eat at the industry’s “profits” we remember that once upon a time the “sun” offered free light and we invented the “daylight saving time” which is nothing more than a bastardized form of the old ”organic” time arrangement.
So now if your kids are going to ask about the “daylight saving time” you can tell them the story about how once upon a time people lived by the “Chicken Time”

The Man Who Slowed Down The World

2009-11-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a young prince very much in love with a young princess.
Everything was great with their relationship except for one little detail.
The young princess was always late.
And I mean that in the nice sense :)

She was always late for her dates with the prince, always showed up late at the balls and she was constantly late at her work.
Which made her earn the nickname “the Tardy Princess”

It was one Friday evening when the Tardy Princess showed up late at the prince’s apartment causing them to be late for the evening social gathering causing a lot of funny remarks from the prince’s close friends.
The prince took the jabs chin up, with a forced smile on his face but some where in his mind he knew that something had to change.

That night the prince woke up in the middle of the night from a dreadful nightmare.
He new the next day it was a very important day – he was planning to introduce the Tardy Princess to his family – and everything had to work out as planed.

But how could he make the Tardy Princess not to be late even for one day?
Or maybe, just maybe there was another solution to his problem.
And then an idea hit him.
If he couldn’t make the princess hurry up, he will make the world slow down!

So he gently got out of the bed without waking up the princess, took her watch from the night stand and set it 30 minutes ahead.
Then he did the same thing with his watch, with the alarm clock and every other clock in his apartment.
Then he went back to sleep with a smile on his face.

The next day they woke up and did everything that they have planed and even if they were always late nobody complained because everybody else thought they were in time.
They went to his parents, they went to a concert, and they had a wonderful time without the princes noticing anything until she went back to work.

That Monday morning – to everybody’s surprised – the Tardy Princess showed up at her office in time.
It was at that moment when the Tardy Princess noticed that her watch was 30 minutes fast.
She called the prince and told him the story and he acted very surprised.
“Maybe you need a new battery” He said.
And with that, the whole story was forgotten.

Well, not completely forgotten because till today I still have my watch set 5 minutes fast – I mean the price has his watch set 5 minutes fast – Or as he like to say “My watch is fine but I have slowed down the world 5 minutes”…

…I know you might thing this story is kind of silly but trust me, it is not.
If you just happen to find yourself in a constant rush through the day, you might try slowing down the world instead.
All you have to do is set your watch 5 minutes faster :)

The Meaning of Life VII

2009-10-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

A very interesting comment on my last post made me write this response.
Here is what “Don’t Feed The Pixies” said:
“An interesting post - because what I really, really want from my physical neighbour is to be left alone to get on with my life.
I have no particular need to be their friend or to be involved in their life and my approach to "love thy neighbour" is to give them that opportunity to live their life the way they want to”

Love is an expression of freedom.
Love is unconditional.
If you love some one you set them free, you do not chain them up.
If you love some one, you love them without expecting anything in return.
Other wise what you have is not love but just another dysfunctional relationship.

Here is a little example of what “love thy neighbor” is not:
USA invasion of Iraq in the name of democracy.
USA totally ignorance of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Forcing ones values, life stile or beliefs on somebody else is not love, it is totally the opposite.
Ignoring somebody’s suffering and turning your head the other way is not love either.

Let me ask you this:
If you would see your neighbor house on fire or being robed by burglars would you call 911 or ignore it and not get involved?
If your house was on fire or robed would you like your neighbors to call 911 or would you like them not to get involved?

There is a fine line between letting some one be free and ignoring some one.
Give your neighbor freedom but do not ignore them.
Say hi to them and give them a chance to know you.
You do not have to get “personal” or “intimate” with your neighbor to be a good neighbor.
I guess “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself” meaning is not in the “love” part but in the “as you love yourself” part.
Treat your neighbors like you would like to be treated.

Being part of the social fabric is a fine and it seems to me lost art.
Having some one next to you in your moment of despair is the greatest blessing one can have.
If you have ever lost some one you love, or your job or your health, there is nothing more comforting more uplifting than somebody that tells you “Do not worry, I am here with you”

You can write the best book in the world, it will mean nothing if nobody reads it.
You can compose the most sublime music in the world; it means nothing if nobody hears it.
You can have the greatest success, victory or accomplishment and it will mean nothing if you have nobody to share that joy.

Yes we need our “neighbors” yes we need our family members and our friends.
Maybe not all of them, maybe not the ass holes we can not stand, but we need to do a better job on this, we need to treat each other better because we are in this together.

The Meaning of Life VI

2009-10-28T23:20:00.001-07:00

A person should be more than just an individual.
A family should be more than a convenience union of people.
A community should be more than a bunch of families sharing the same neighborhood.
This country should be more than a union of states bound together by the same constitution.
And the world we live in should be more than a quilt of different countries sawed together at the borders.

We are all threads, fibers in the fabric of life.
The way we interwove in this structure is what gives us and our life meaning.

Show me a lonely person and I will show you a fearful, depressed and unhappy soul.
Show me a lonely human being and I will show you an abused individual.
Show me a lonely being and I will show you rage and hatred ready to explode.
Show me a lonely person and I will show you a wasted meaningless life.

In my practice I’ve seen a lot of lonely people.
They all have one thing in common:
They all believe their loneliness is a symptom, a result of their problems and the most difficult thing to show them is that their isolation, their separation and distance from the people around them is not a symptom, but the very cause of their dysfunctional life.

Show me a prejudiced person and I will show you a person that hates himself.
Show me a person that loves himself and I will show you a person that loves his neighbors.
We are to ourselves what we are to others.
The things we do to others are the things we do to ourselves.
The victim of today will be the aggressor of tomorrow.

It is hard to understand that in the spiritual world you can only have what you give.
For the “me” generation it is hard to understand that the less you give the less you have.
Just think about it:
If all of us are there to find some one to love us, to take care of us, to makes us happy then there will be no love, care or happiness in the world.
If all of us would change that point of view and live in this world to love and care and make the people around us happy, then this world would be a paradise.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is not an empty phrase or just a nice thing to say.
Love your neighbor, is the fundamental key of this spiritual world we’ve been talking abut.
Love is the knots, the glue that holds this fabric of life together.
Without it, everything falls apart.
Without it we are all doomed to a lonely, meaningless life.

I'm taking a break today :)

2009-10-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

The Meaning of Life V

2009-10-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

I was reading a psychology study on how culture determines the way we think and see the world.
The researchers gave a bunch of students a pile of pictures, let’s say a monkey, a goat, grass and a banana, and asked them to group the pictures together.
The Western students grouped the monkey and the goat together and the banana and the grass together, while the Eastern students grouped the monkey with the banana and the grass with the goat.
We Westerners see the world as objects while the Eastern people see the world as relationships.

In the Western culture we understand reality by taking it apart and putting everything in little groups.
We have medics for each part of the body and a branch of science for each part of nature.
We know everything about something but nothing about everything.
And that doesn’t even bother us :)

How would it be to see the world as a world of relations instead of a world of objects?
A whole working system, not as separate parts.

I remember when I was 6 or 7 I heard this riddle:
“What came first – the chicken or the egg?”
It bothered me tremendously because the only reasonable answer would be:
“There is no such a thing as a chicken and egg”
Yet growing up on a farm I was surrounded by chickens and eggs.

What? Do you think you have the answer? Do you think you understand?
Then try out this riddle: “What came first; life or death?”
See, we see life and death as two separate things, like the chicken and the egg, but also as tied together – you can’t have one without the other.
Now, what is the answer?

We see chickens as real and eggs as real but we can’t conceive a chicken-egg reality.
We can’t see this …chicken-egg-chicken-egg-chicken-egg… thing – for us, such thing doesn’t exist.
We can’t see our reality as a life-death thing.
We can see ourselves as part of a larger system, a meta reality.
We see my life and my death as different and separate from your life and your death.

We think of ourselves as appearing in this world from a black hole hanging around for a while and then disappearing back into that black hole.
But life is a continuum a …chicken-egg-chicken-egg-chicken-egg… thing not a random spontaneous act.
Nobody just pops out from nothing on a deserted island.
We might feel separated and independent but we are just a link in a chain.

Reality is not made of separate objects but of systems.
Each system is made of sub systems and each system in turn is part of a larger meta system.
It is easy to se how humans are in fact a digestive system, a circulatory system, a nervous system and all the other systems that make up a human being.
It is very hard to see ourselves as part of a larger system.
But there is hope as we have started to discover and analyze the natural ecosystems.
We are one step from discovering and analyzing the spiritual system of which we are all part of.

So looking from that perspective you will realize that the meaning of your life is given by the relationship you have with the rest of the links in this chain of life.
You can not love or be loved by yourself.
You can not be successful, famous or powerful by yourself.
You can not define who you are and what you are by yourself.
Your life has no meaning whatsoever if separated from this life continuum.

The Meaning of Life IV

2009-10-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately on Stumble Upon.
(If you have some time and would like to see my collection of Buddhist and spiritual sites, you can click on my Stumble link above the followers’ widget.)
Any way. One of things about Stumble is that people send you really odd stuff – like this video of a cowboy that is dragged and tossed around for a really long time before he finally decides to let go of the rope.
Watching this video made me think about the way we are holding on to the material world and even as we are being dragged and tossed around we just would not let go of a bad situation.

So how do we get hooked to the material world?
Let’s take a little example: Clothing and fashion.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we are very fragile beings.
Without a thick skin and fur to protect us from the elements we need clothing.
So we started to invent all sorts of things to cover our body and keep it warm and dry.
Some were on the history line we also invented fashion.

We do not need fashion to protect us from the elements.
We need fashion to make us feel good about ourselves, worthy and special – but then again so does crack cocaine :)
We go to the mall and find and buy, the latest and greatest of the new fashion and for a moment we are on the top of the world.
But just as a high from a drug, this “feel good” feeling, doesn’t last for long and pretty soon we find ourselves unhappy again and in need of a new “fix”

So basically that is the way we get addicted to the material world.
We screw up the dynamic between us and the objects that are supposed to serve us.
In the first place clothes were supposed to serve us, to protect us, to fulfill a function.
On the second, clothes take control of our feelings. We are no longer the masters; we have become the slaves of the fashion trends.
And that my friends, happens with all the other material things that take over our life.

So that brings up the ultimate question: are you the master or the slave of your material world?
Do you feel like all you do is trying to keep up your life style?
Are you pushed in life by your bills or pulled by your dreams?
Are you in charge of your life, or is your life spiraling out of control?

Many years ago I was “hooked up” to the material world.
As any emigrant coming to America I bought into the Idea of a better life.
After all, what else can be more alluring than the promise of a better life?
I wanted everything that was symbolizing the “better” life without realizing what a better life really was and what I was really doing.

To make a long story short, some were in the 90’s, during the last economical recession I found myself heals over head deep in debt.
I bought a house I couldn’t afford to buy, a car I really did not need, I maxed out my credit and all the money left I invested in the stock market.
In other words I was living the American dream.
Then one day the company I was working for decided to “cut the fat” and I got laid off.

And suddenly I found myself falling down from my castle in the sky without a parachute.
So I did what naturally all of us do in a situation like that. Try to save as much as possible. Try to hold on to it, like the cowboy in the video :)
I did not realize what was going on.

Banks are not in the business of “helping” people as the majority of us think. Banks are in the business of making “profits” and that is all they care about.
When you are down, you will not get a break, you will be pounded till your last drop of blood, till you have nothing more to loose.
Then you will let go. Then they will let go.

So I lost everything. My house went in foreclosure, my investments went into the ground I was basically back where I started coming to America.
But that wasn’t the bad part.
The bad part was going through that fall.
The nights I spent in fear, despair, anxiety, pain and stress.
That gut wrenching feeling in my stomach and my heart.
It wasn’t the material loss; it was the trashing of my soul that hurt the most.

So I put myself together and slowly I came back to life.
But during that period I had a long look at my life and what went wrong.
So I decided I did not want the “good” life anymore.
I didn’t want the big house in the fancy neighborhood. I didn’t want the fast flashy car.
I did not want to be rich, I wanted to be happy.

I want a safe, secure, peaceful, balanced and harmonious life.
I want true neighbors that care about me not about how big and expensive my house is.
I want a woman that loves me for who I am not for the fast flashy car I drive.
I want true friends that will be with me when the going gets tough not only when the times are good.
I don’t want things, I want to be happy.

So there it was; the fundamental shift in my relationship with the material world.
I am not any longer the slave of the things around me.
I might not have much material wealth but the things I have serve me, not the other way around.
I might not be rich but I have peace of mind and a good night of sleep.
I might not have much but I have less to worry about :)

But do not get me wrong; I am not asking you to live your life my way.
All I am trying to do is to open a discussion, to look at different points of view, to try to understand life, the way it works and ultimately to find its meaning.
Your life is your journey and you should live the life you want, the life that makes you happy.
As I will do it with my life.

The Meaning of Life III

2009-10-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Let's take two material objects: A lump of coal and a diamond.
At first glance it seems we have chosen two objects totally different.
One ordinary, insignificant and almost worthless.
The other one rare, exquisite and probable one of the most valuable and precious things on earth.
But here is the funny part of the story: Chemically speaking the two are identical.
Both the lump of coal and the diamond are made out of the same element; carbon.
What makes the diamond so different and special is not its matter but its structure.

As scientist are piercing deeper and deeper into the microscopic world we are discovering that all material things are made up from the same fundamental particles.
The difference between a piece of cheese and a bar of gold is not material but structural.
As a matter of fact there is not such a thing as cheese or gold only cheese structure and gold structure.
Deep at the subatomic level they are made of the same matter.

What gives the material world its “quality” is not material at all.
What gives the material world its form is the empty space in between.
That immaterial reality inside the matter is what determines what matter is.
In other words the spiritual part of the universe is what give the universe its meaning.
The material world it is just a canvas for the creativity of the spirit.

Let's take another two material objects: A house and a home.
At first glance it seems we have chosen two identical objects.
But anybody knows, or it should know, that there is a big difference between a house and a home.

We call home a place were our heart is.
Home gives us security, safety and peace of mind.
Home is warm, cozy and soothing.
Home is filled with memories, heirlooms and love.

It is not the material aspect of the house that makes it a home it is the spiritual meaning.
You can have a home in Beverly Hills or in the slums of Calcutta.
The size value or location doesn't matter and does not make a house into a home.
You fill a house with love and it turns into a home.
You fill a house with hatred and you turns it into a hell hole.
It is the spiritual reality inside the house that it gives it meaning.

So here you have it: The quality of your life is not determined by the material but rather by the spiritual reality of your life. And by spiritual I don't mean religious.

Do I want a nice home for me and my family?
Do I want nice clothes and nice things?
Do I want good food, clean water and air?
Do I want a rewarding fulfilling job and career?
Of course I do. I want a decent , good, normal life.

If I wanted a life of devotion I would have shaved my head, put on the orange robe, join the monastery and spend the rest of my life studying the holly scriptures.
So living this normal life rather than a holly life implies dealing with the material aspect of daily existence.
After all we all need a place to stay, cloth to wear and food to eat.
We might be spiritual beings but as Madonna said “we are living in a material world”

It is dealing with this material world that gets us into trouble.
It is the art of balancing the spiritual and the material we have to master
It is the understanding of the dynamic of the two aspects of reality that will put us in control and ultimately give our life meaning.

The Meaning of Life II

2009-10-18T22:09:00.001-07:00

I am a very practical man.
For me spirituality is a very practical thing, not lovey – dovey nonsense.
I see spirituality as a way of looking and understanding reality and life.
I see spirituality as a set of tools for changing and improving life.
Other wise I would stop burning up brain cells and pick up a hobby.

So when I wrote my first post of “The Meaning of Life” I wasn't thinking of starting an academic discussion or a scientific debate.
The point I was trying to make is that reality as we see it and experience it, has two major principles at its roots.
The creative, constructive principle on one hand and the destructive principle on the other.

Out of the interaction of the two principles, out of the dance of creative and destructive forces our reality takes shape.
The destructive principle – entropy – is a quality of the material, physical world while the creative principle – life – is a quality of the spiritual world.
Out of the interaction of the two principles we, human beings come into existence.

But as some wise man before me said:
“We are spiritual beings having a material experience, not material beings having a spiritual experience”
And although a majority of people see themselves and identifies their being as spirit rather than body, a large majority of us worship the material side of reality not the spiritual.

There is a quite know saying that exemplifies that worship and philosophy:
“The guy that dies with the most toys wins”
Why do we think that a guy that dies with a billion dollars in a bank is a winer and a guy that dies with a billion dollars in debt is a looser?
To me, if material possession was a factor, I would say that the guy that dies in debt is ahead in the game. But that isn't even the point.

The point of this entropy vs life debate was that the material world is impermanent, ephemeral illusion and the only eternal existence is the spiritual one.
All the material things that we value and worship are transitory.
The great pyramids will crumble to sand, empires will rise and fall, given enough time the sun will grow cold and die and in the end even the universe will cease to exist.
Yet the simple truth of these words will live forever.
The spiritual world I am trying to make you aware, this truth I am talking about, existed long before the universe was born and it will exist eternally after the universe is gone.

Holding on to the material world is not only superfluous but it is a major part and cause of our human suffering.
Understanding that you can not hold to the “impermanent” part of reality, that holding on to material things is a formula for disaster and pain is a must step in the spiritual awakening.
But I do not want you to do it because it is “immoral” or because the bible said so.
I want you to understand why it is so, I want you to see that the spiritual things; love, truth, beauty, harmony and peace – just to name a few – are the true eternal values of our reality.
The love, the truth and for that matter the suffering and lies of your life are the only wealth you have, are the only treasure you will always poses.

Everything else is just an illusion.

The Meaning of Life - I

2009-10-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

This post is a tough one, so I am asking you for a favor; give it a chance :)
It is a tough read but I believe that in the end the patient reader will be rewarded with a new understanding of life in general and his or her personal life in particular.
There are endless blogs out there talking about the meaning of life; to the point that any concepts on the subject matter have turned into clichés.
So on that note, let’s take a path less traveled and look at life from a different perspective.

The general consensus is that death is that specific event in time when life ends, in other words death is the passing away moment of our life.
But look at it carefully and you will see that death is not merely a moment in time.
Death is a state that existed long before our birth; it is interrupted for the duration of our life journey and resumes its course after our passing away.

From that perspective, life and death are two exclusive ways of existence of the universe.
The “dead” or inorganic existence and the “live” or organic existence.

Due to extensive scientific work in the last decades we have come to know a great deal about this “dead” material existence and unfortunately very little about the “live” or as I like to call it; spiritual existence.
We know that the physical universe is ruled by physical laws.
One of my favorite of the many laws concerning the physical universe is the law of entropy.

According to the law of entropy the universe has a tendency to attain the maximum of homogeneity in which all matter is at uniform temperature – or level of energy – also called heat or thermodynamic death.
To put it in lay terms the fundamental principle of the physical universe is “death”

Anything that exists has a tendency to degrade, break down, crumble, decay, die and turn into dust.
The brand new car you just bought will be old in 10 years, in 20 it will be junk and in 50 an antique!
Like a wind up toy, the universe will spend up all its energy and come to a stand still.
(At least that is what the law of entropy tells us :)

One question the scientists never ask and therefore never answer is; who the hell wound up the universe in the first place?
If the pyramids will crumble to sand it is because somebody built them in the first place.
If my hair is falling off, leaving behind a dignifying bold spot, it is because I used to have a full head of hair.
You get the idea; in order t have destruction you have to have creation in the first place.

Life and death are two opposing forces in the universe.
Like the mythical Sisyphus life pushes existence up while death is trying to tear it down.
Like the universe our human existence and everything in our life is the result of this “dance” of life and death.
Understanding this principle and its far reaching effects will put your life in a different perspective.

“Life is suffering” – Buddha
“Not quite so” – Buddha of Hollywood

(Actually I believe that the master did not say “suffering” and what we got actually is a bad translation :)
Any way: Life is a continuous effort against this infamous “entropy”
That makes life arduous, challenging, demanding – but does it make it painful?
No, not at all.

What makes us suffer, what makes life painful is lack of love.
Conversely what makes us happy, what makes life wonderful is our love.

Going to work to a job that you hate makes that job into a painful ordeal.
Going to work for a job that you love makes that job into a rewarding experience.
A relationship with a person you don’t love is a burden and a pain.
And of course, a relationship with a person you love – no matter how demanding – makes it into the most wonderful thing in the world
Take for example raising my two daughters: It is a very hard demanding thing but I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in this world.

So next time something breaks down in your life – a car or a relationship – don’t look at it as bad luck, look at it as “entropy” in action.
Realize that life is a continuous effort and that effort is both the source of your happiness and satisfaction as well the source of your pain and suffering.
Life is not merely being alive, breathing and having a pulse.
Life is the dance of creation and destruction.

To be continued…

The Spiritual World

2009-10-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason when I talk about the spiritual world I get the impression that some people think I am talking about the world of ghost and ghouls, monsters and vampires.
(It must be the Halloween coming up soon:)
So I have to write a short post about my spiritual world, just to keep the two separate.

Thousand of years ago when the human race started to develop thinking skills we look around and assessed our environment as been both spirit and matter.
In all cultures as far as we can see, we have always seen our world as having the same two components making up the reality – the hardware and the software.
That is until about the 19th century when science took the leading role in human thinking and we declared God dead and the world as a pure mechanical one, where only mass energy and space were real and everything else was bologna.

Well, that is not quite accurate. The scientist couldn’t dispense of TIME a very inconvenient element because it does not exist but without which you couldn’t develop the scientific dogma so we shovel it in the material world, although nobody has ever proven its materiality.

Things got a little out of hand because you can dispense of God and faith but you can’t dispense of all spiritual world.
We still have feelings, emotions and concepts that you can’t dispense of because they are part of us.
You might be an atheist and believe there is no God but how can you not believe your depression, anxiety, love or hate?
So we try to materialize them and force them to conform to the dogma.

We turned the spiritual world into a material one by making everything be chemical reactions and electric circuits.
According to this new doctrine children were manufactured in uterus as cars are manufactured in factories.
We came out of nothing and at death we turn into nothing, because emotions and memories and thoughts did not exist.
They were just a figment of our mind of our imagination – which did not exist as well.

Things started to get a little out of hand when we started looking at the intimate structure of our material world.
To our surprise our material world was not as material as the new science made us believe.
Our material world is more nothing than something.
Peering through the electronic microscopes we found out a lot of structure but no mass at all.
The latest scientific view consider mass and energy as “qualities” rather than as stand alone “things”

We discovered DNA the fundamental building block of life.
And DNA is nothing more than encoded information.
After all babies were not made but grew out of structure, information.
After all we are software with a body not a body with electrical circuits.
Chemical reactions do not determine anymore our emotions, but our emotions determine the chemical reactions in our brains.

We discover Quantum mechanics and for the first time we realize that the reality is not what we observed but rather the result of our observations.
We entered the communications, computer information age and suddenly we had to deal with software with information and programs.
Our world is turning rapidly in a world of ideas, connections and interactions rather than the world of brick and mortar of our parents.

Like it or not the world we live in is a dual one of both spirit and matter.
We are at a crucial point in human understanding of this reality.
Science the way it is right now is not equipped to deal with this spiritual aspect of reality, and the old religious and spiritual believes are so old so antiquated that makes anyone that calls himself a spiritual person look like a nut or a charlatan.

I am a spiritual person because I believe reality is both software and hardware.
I think the key to human evolution depends on how we learn and understand this dichotomy.
I would like to be one of the people that pioneer this new understanding – although I lack both the time and the finances to conduct such an exploration.

So for now, I consider myself an “amateur” metaphysician, one that experiments on himself and that looks for like minded people to share their experience, their understanding and knowledge on the subject.
I do not have anything to sell nor do I look for people to follow me.
I am not pushing any religious belief and I am not trying to convert anyone.

I accept all debate and challenges to my opinions expressed in my blog because I believe that only through intelligent, rational debate we can come to a better understanding of our world.
Anybody is welcome to post on my blog if you feel you have something pertinent to say.
Anybody is welcome to express their opinions and participate through the comments to our discussions.

Manifestations III

2009-10-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

How do you grow a third eye, develop a sixth sense or connect to the power and wisdom of the universe?
To put it in the simplest way: You don’t!
Other wise the series would be titled “Metamorphoses” instead of “Manifestations”

To manifest one self is to become oneself.
This process of manifestation starts when an individual becomes aware that he or she is not living at the full potential of his talents and abilities.
To live at your full potential it is not a supernatural transformation, it is a spiritual one.

We are human beings – that means we are both spirit and matter – body and soul.
When a soul comes into this world to inhabit his body, it comes in as pure spirit.
As pure spirit we are connected to the spirit world 100 %
However we are just entering the material world and that implies some changes.

The new born child believes anything is possible – as in the spirit world there are no material limitations.
We have to teach the child the limitations of his human body.
We have to teach them that you can’t fly, you can’t jump from a building, you can burn if you put your hand in a fire and you drown if you fall into water.

Some of the teachings are good:
Like learning how to walk and talk, eat or swim.
Some teachings are not so good or even bad:
Like telling a child he’s stupid or that he’s never going to amount to anything, or that he or she are ugly.

In time that initial connection we have with the spirit world with the universe becomes to narrow.
I imagine the flow of power and wisdom as a river that runs through us.
As soon as we start throwing negative thoughts into it, doubts and fears, the flow starts to subside.
We get clogged in doubt and that makes us loose even more faith.
It is a snow balling, going down degradation that feeds and perpetuates itself.

I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful and enlightened childhood.
That means by the time I was in my 20 I was still full of faith, hope and energy.
I still believed I can do anything, that I can change the world, that I can make this world into a better place, that I can bring my positive contribution to humanity.

Then the reality settled in: The humanity did not want my contribution.
The humanity wanted me to buy things so the big corporation can make a hefty profit.
The humanity was not interested in love and happiness the humanity was interested in making me comply to the rules.
By the time I reach my 40’s my energy flow and my connection with the universe was dead.
Anxiety and depression and the hopeless feeling that there is no place to go, no escape, settled in.
At a point I even contemplate suicide – but I felt like an old sour looser – suicide looks good on a young man not on a middle age one.
So that got me thinking: What ever happened to the young, energetic, enthusiast, hopeful, creative, invincible guy I use to be?
What ever happened to all my dreams and all my plans?

I realized that I have changed; that instead of doing my thing, playing my play, I got caught up in this stupid rat race that I was pushed by my bills not pulled by my dreams, that I have exchanged faith for doubt and courage for comfort.

So I started cleaning up the mess.
Removing the doubts and fears one by one and as I continued to do it I felt that flow of energy, that creativity, that intuition, the hope and courage coming back.
The dreamer was awakened once again.
Once again I was in the flow of the universe.

So it is not that you need anything to do this, to reconnect to the infinite power and wisdom of the universe.
The connection is there already!
You can do as I did; pick up a constructive, transformative philosophy and practice.
In my case; Zen Buddhism and the practice of meditation.

Here is how it works:
The no mind and mindfulness concept.
The meditation state empties your mind of all thoughts – positive or negative – of all fears and doubt – it is like removing all the debris from the river.
When all the garbage is removed the mind fills up with the natural flow of the universe.
You have achieved the mindfulness state.
Of course that needs a lot of practice to become effective.

A really fast way to do it is to surrender to a higher authority – God.
You recognize your inability to deal with the overwhelming problems of your life and you surrender to God.
But here is the catch – Most people surrender the problems to God not their soul.
You can’t do drugs and beat up your wife, cheat and still and pray to God!
To surrender to God is to live the life of the prophet – might that be Moses, Jesus, Mohamed or Buddha.
So a leap of faith might be a short cut but it has to be a real leap of faith not just pretend.

Of course this is been my experience but that leap of faith might have a thousand forms.
I now of a guy – friend of mine – very nice and talented, that got his wake up call from falling in love.
He found a girl that literally turned him from a geek to a successful confident man.
So I don’t know what might work for you but I know for sure that you have everything to succeed in life if you have faith.

Manifestation II

2009-10-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Every time I write a post like my last one, I get a lot of people very excited.
Of course that excitement doesn't last too long and by now all the enthusiasm and euphoria are probable gone.
So being the very practical guy I am, I have to come back and talk a little bit more abut “manifestation” in the hope that it will cement better into your understanding.

Your mind is a window.
Through that window the universe comes into fruition.
Through that window you manifest the changes in your life.
Pretty simple, no? - Maybe too simple.

What people do not really understand and fully grasp is that our “reality” is the effect not the cause of change.
The real cause of change is your mind.
You will not change your “reality” until you change your mind.

What we usually do is to focus on changing our life our reality.
We want a better life, a better job, better relationships, better health or whatever we want.
Very few people understand that our life, our reality is the product of who we are.

People expect that the changes in our life, our reality, will change who we are, the way we are and feel.
We expect that by getting a new job, anew car, anew house or lover will make us happy, or that if we loose some weight will make us more self confident.

It doesn't work like that at all.
Like somebody said: “You have to become the change you want to see in the world”
You have to become the cause of change in your life.

This becoming of the source of your transformation, means simply that you have to drop the old way of thinking and get a new one.
To change your life you have to change your mind.

Here is where the opening of your mind to the infinite power and wisdom of the universe comes into play.
This is the key you have to turn, the “secret” sort to speak, of your manifestation.

Opening the “window” of your mind doesn't require a monumental effort.
It is simply a matter of faith – or in some cases, of utter desperation.
We all have done it at one point or another in our life.
You should know already what I am talking about because you've been there before, haven't you?

If you have never experienced this “opening” of your mind you are kind of screwed because it is impossible to explain it - it is like talking to a virgin about sex – bad example, I know, but it is late and I'm getting a little tired.
So I'll end my post with a little prayer for me and for you my friends:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

Manifestation

2009-10-08T21:47:00.001-07:00

We are a creation of the universe. We are not separated entities.
The universe manifests us like a tree that blooms in thousand flowers.
You are a flower but behind you there are the branches, the leaves and the roots.
You are the universe supreme creation but you are not alone.

When you see yourself as the “ego” the “I” or “me” you see yourself separated from the universe.
You cut yourself off from that connection and you become alone.
Alone you are weak, alone you are scared and lost.

But all that separation is just an illusion.
The universe is fragmented in billion manifestations but none stands alone.
We have been fragmented, created but never separated.
Separation can not possibly be – it exists only in your mind.

And by the way – this concept that sounds like grand new age bull shit is one of the few things that science will agree and concur to.
Just get off your chair and jump. You will see that you are tied by invisible strings to the ground.
No matter how hard you will jump you will always be in the space time continuum.
You can not break free from that “glue” that holds the universe together.
Actually the scientists say that a black hole might tear a hole in the universe and allow travel through other dimensions but until then I think it is fairly accurate to say that you are just a part of the big enchilada.

But that is great news!
That means that you are connected, that you are part of the infinite.
You are not alone. You are not weak and for sure you don’t lack resources.
The whole universe, which means infinite energy and wisdom, is behind you.

Forget about the “secret” and all the empty promises of the servants of the “ego”.
Ego is a weak master and an even worse servant.
You say you want abundance in your life?

There is infinite abundance ready to manifest through you.
But you have to become the conductor of that energy and wisdom behind you.
You have to let the universe burst through you.
You have to let abundance flow through you.
You have to become a live wire.

Alone you are weak, lost and scared.
Choose to be the whole instead.
Feel like the whole.
Think like the whole.
Act like the whole.

Training Wheels

2009-10-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my little daughter reached that milestone we all reached at a point or another – riding a bike without the training wheels.
I can’t tell you how proud she was and I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I was.
As I was running behind her huffing and puffing like a steam locomotive, waves of fond memories flooded my mind and my heart filled up with melancholic joy.
(My daughter is not a baby anymore :)

I also realized how growing up involved leaving behind the “training wheels”
And I don’t mean just learning how to ride a bike but learning everything.
In every step of our developmental growth we have - at some point - to leave behind our “training wheels” and do it on our own.
That is at least until we take the last set of “training wheels” off and leave the safety of our home nest becoming independent adults.

At that point something happens; we settle down for the comfort zone.
We find a place where we feel comfortable and safe and stay there pretty much for the rest of our adult life, unless of course something major happens that forces us to leave our comfort zone and start growing again.

As adults we loose that natural curiosity, that thirst for knowledge, that adventurous spirit of exploration.
Or maybe it is just because there is nobody behind us anymore to push us to learn more.
We become dogmatic, pragmatic, boring and predictable.
Life becomes static with every day after day repeating the same old routine.
We can feel it and we sometimes complain about it but we hardly ever do anything about it.
We are stuck in being us

I don’t know, maybe I’m just talking about myself and everybody else is very happy with whom they are.
Not that I am not happy with who I am, just that I feel that there is so much more to life, so much more to me than this.
I know that doesn’t sound very Buddhist of me wanting more, but I am not asking for more things in my life, I am asking for more me in my life.
Is that as wrong?

I want to enlarge my horizons, to learn new things to explore new possibilities.
I want to challenge this old body to push the boundary of my physical and intellectual limits.
I do not want to fade quietly in my golden, old age.
I want to get excited about my life, like a little boy getting excited for his new bike.
I want that wild ride feeling again even if it means leaving my comfort zone behind.

The older I get the less I fear dying, the more I fear not living enough.

Beyond the "Secret" V

2009-10-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

“I am that I am”
God
“I am that I am”
Me too

Has not life offer you opportunities?
Has not life posed you challenges?
Has not life given you love?
Has not life given you grief?
Has not life filled you with joy?
Has not life stricken you with pain?

Have not you being successful?
Have not you failed?
Have not you loved?
Have not you hated?
Have not you laughed?
Have not you cried?

What a wonderful life you have had!
Yes, it could have been better.
But look behind. Why wasn’t it better?
Is it because life, the universe has deal you a crooked hand?
Or is it because you have made mistakes?

Then, think:
What was the secret of your failures?
You got the wrong knowledge, the wrong information; you did not know any better, you did it wrong.
What was the secret of your successes?
You had the knowledge; you knew what you were doing, you did it right.

Think:
What will make you a success in the future?
What will make you a failure in the future?
Same things that made you a failure or success in the past.

We all know that our thoughts determine our lives.
We all know that to change our lives we have to change our thoughts.
There is no secret in that.
You have to go beyond the secret.

Beyond the secret is to work in harmony with the universe.
Beyond the secret is to understand the cause and effect relations.
Beyond the secret is to become the cause of successful action.

Nothing happens without an action.
Money will not appear in your bank account from thin air.
Somebody has to put it there.
Sitting in front of your computer the love of your life will not fall from the sky.
Nothing happens without action.
And nothing successful happens without “right action”

Hey, “right action”!
Where have I heard that before?

Beyond the "Secret" IV

2009-10-03T01:01:00.001-07:00

THERE IS NO MAGIC
Some things might appear to us as magic but that is just because we do not understand them.
If you want to understand “magic” you have to look behind the curtain – where the wizard is pulling the ropes.
That’s why this series of posts are called “Beyond the Secret”- neither before nor beside.

Let’s suppose for a moment that you have become a master of the “secret”
You wish for $1000000 and the next day you receive in mail a check from an anonymous benefactor with the million dollars you asked for. – hey, it is magic!
Would you take that money?
Do you think you deserve that money?
Would you use the secret to gain things you do not deserve?
Do you think that is cheating the universe – God?

If you think you would use the “secret” to only get the things that you deserve, I got good news for you.
You are in fact getting what you deserve.
You might not agree or like what you are getting but that's exactly what you are getting.
God is a very fair guy – trust me.

“For every action thou shall have an equal and opposite reaction”
God
“There is no free lunch”
Dad

By understanding the laws governing life we can gain insights and power over the events and course of our lives.
By ignoring these laws or by abusing them we can put ourselves in harms way, as individuals, as groups or countries.
What else are wars, social and economical crisis but the unavoidable result of human prejudice, ignorance and greed?

Beyond the "Secret" III

2009-09-30T20:17:00.001-07:00

OK. This is it!
I’m sick and tired of following the 8 fold path.
Having the right thought, right talk and right conduct takes way to much energy and time.
(Plus my back hurts from too much sitting in meditation ;)
Why do all the hard work when you can have instant gratification?
Just – ask, believe and receive!
Welcome to the “fast food” of enlightenment!

So what we will talk about on our blog now that all that our problems are solved and all our wishes are fulfilled?
I got an idea; we’ll tell jokes!
Here is a good one:

A Buddhist monk dies and goes to hell.
(Yup, all non Christians go to hell – Read the bible!)
But because he wasn’t a bad person God cuts him a slack and assigns him a “helper” job at the boiling tar cauldrons.
First guy he meets looks awful. Only skin and bones all covered in tar.
-What is wrong with you? He asks.
-Well, I’ve been assigned to tend a pot of Jews.
(Yup, Jews are really screwed. They killed Jesus – See the movie!)
-Every day they plot to get out of the cauldron and I have a hell of a time pushing them back.
The next guy he meets looks wonderful, clean, healthy and relaxed.
-What is your secret? He asks.
_Oh, nothing. I got a pot of Polacks. Every time one tries to get out 10 others pull him back in the pot.
I know, it is an old one but I still like it :)

So now that we solved the problem of “content” let’s go and use the “secret”
It sais here on the brochure:
YOU can get all the money and reaches you want.
YOU can get joy and happiness.
YOU can get fame and fortune.
YOU can get the career or the woman of your dreams.
Hell YOU can have anything you can dream of.
The universe with all its resources is at your command!

Great! But the brochure doesn’t say who this mythical “YOU” with God like power is...
…What do you mean is me?
I thought it was YOU!
…It is? …And he and she and them as well?
Wait a minute!
Don’t you think it is a little deceiving to say that the universe is at “YOUR” command instead that the universe is at “OUR” command?

Because you see there is a big difference if the universe serves only “YOU” or it serves “ALL” the living creatures of the universe.
(See the post #1 :)
You might think and see yourself as Mr. or Miss wonderful, powerful, successful and famous.
But if the people around you think of you as a conceited, vain, selfish, egotistic, and narcissistic greedy prick:
Who is the universe going to listen to: “YOU” or the other people?
After all that “wishing” you were doing, you might discover that getting out of your hell hole it is not that easy when you have 10 Polacks tugging at your heels ;)

Beyond the "Secret" II

2009-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.
Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one.
Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”
Buddha

The latest incarnation and bastardisation of the law of attraction is“THE SECRET” craze.
This fad sweeping the nation is promising a Ferrari car in every garage if you buy “the secret” for $79.95.
Note: Even if they call themselves the masters of the secret they are still making money from selling you BS for $79.95 rather than by using their own “secret” :)

So what is this secret they are selling?
It is a scam, much like the people selling you the how to buy real estate for $100 dollars or any other get rich quick scams.
It simply teaches you that you can have anything you desire if you wish for it.
(That would explain all the poverty, the suffering and sickness in the world:
Nobody wants want to be rich, happy or healthy.)
Of course if you don’t get it, it is because you don’t wish hard enough.

So let’s see how this works:
You just got dumped by your girlfriend or boy friend or both, whatever the case may be, and would like to meet that perfect “one” for you, whatever she, he, it might be.
Great! All you have to do is wish for it and it would be delivered to your step door.
You start visualizing her, felling her, hearing her, touching her making love to her and you do that believing it as hard your heart can believe.

You do that for a while and nobody shows at your door, so you decide to go in the “real” world to see if “the secret” has made you a magnet for hot dates.
You will discover that it didn’t.
You will discover that the harder you wish for this ideal somebody, the more rejected you will be by everybody else.
You will discover that the more desperate you get the more chances you have to be rejected and abused.
You will soon figure out that “the secret” is working against you.

I choose this example because everybody at one time or another has experienced something similar, so it will be a got starting point for our analysis.
What’s going on? Why is “the secret” not working?
You will be surprised but the answer is:
“The secret” or better said “the law of attraction” is working perfectly the way it is supposed to work!

You are “broadcasting” “projecting” into the world, the universe, the image of a person hurting and lonely.
An image of low self esteem and low confidence.
You are projecting into the universe need and spiritual poverty therefore you are going to get back rejection and abuse.
That is the way the law of attraction woks.
Everybody knows that the only way to get that special one is to be self confident, secure, loving and happy.
You project love into the universe and the universe will respond with love.
That is the law. That is the real secret.

So you can forget about the brand new Ferrari showing up in your drive way and the only way Angelina Jolie will sleep with you is if you can convince the universe that you are a better man than Brad Pitt.
Well, actually at that point you will get a brand new Ferrari as well :)

So “the secret” is that some unscrupulous people are making a lot of money from a lot of credulous people that believe in getting something for nothing.

There are ways of making money in real estate – it is called; get your real-estate license and work your butt off in the field until the opportunities to riches will open up to you.
There are ways of making the universe respond to your “wishes” – it is called; become a better person worthy of the love of the universe and the universe will show its gratitude.

But of course that involves a lot of work and who as time for becoming a better person when you can “trick” the universe for $79.95!

Beyond the "Secret" I

2009-09-26T23:16:00.001-07:00

The universe as we know it is not an accident.
There are physical laws, such as the law of conservation of mass and energy or the laws of thermodynamics just to name a few, that govern every aspect of the physical existence.
The fact that waters flows following the path of less resistance is not an accident.
Every physical phenomenon in nature occurs with absolute efficiency.
Nothing is lost. All transforms from one form to another. It is the law.

As part of the physical universe, life is not an accident either.
I know I am ruffling some scientific feathers here with my statement but if we are part of this universe we should be subject to the same laws as the rest of the inanimate matter.
So life as well, has a set of laws that governs it as well.
(Granted science has paid very little attention to them.)

The laws governing life are in many ways similar or part of the physical laws but at the same time there are major differences, such as the free will interaction.
If you look at the law of conservation of mass and energy and its corollary - that all processes are done with absolute efficiency - we can see a similar law governing the live systems.
All live systems have a tendency to “optimal” performance.

I don’t know if I read that some where or I just made it up but the point remains the same.
Life is not accidental, a chaotic, lawless, everything goes happening.
Life is a constant process of “optimization”
Evolution is not something that is happening to an organism or live system.
Evolution is a result of life and its laws.

Just take a look at any natural ecosystem and you can see that law of “optimization” at work.
Everything into an ecosystem works in harmony and synchronicity.
All components of the system complement each other.
The system “rewards” the members that benefit the community and “punish” the ones that abuse the system.

That law of optimal performance defines not only ecosystems but everything that is alive, from cells to animals, from human beings to human societies.

Through out the human history we have been noticing this law at work.
References to it in various forms are present in every human civilization from the Native American people where the philosophy of living in “harmony” with the environment formed basis of their spirituality and culture.
To the people of far East, that have known it as the “Karmic” law.
To the Christian bible: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
To the modern day spiritual movement where we have come to know it as “the golden rule” or “the law of attraction”

Wolves

2009-09-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
— E.B. White

I wake up in the morning full of energy and enthusiasm
I take a shower, brush my teeth, do a quick meditation, eat breakfast and then proceed to the daily chores.
As long as I stay inside my house, I can control my life with no problems.
The moment I open the door – the physical one or the informational one– the outside world rushes in bringing with it the inevitable negativity.

It could be some well intentioned friend emailing me about the swine flu pandemic.
News of war, death and destruction or economical and political disasters.
It could be some guy cutting me off on the freeway or my boss in a bad mood.
Some colleague with some petty office quarrel or a million other irritating, useless garbage.

You try to stay positive.
You try to be the loving and understanding “good” guy.
You turn the other chick, you make amends, you forgive and forget.
In the end you end up tired and polluted.
You go home, take a shower, do your meditation and go to bed hoping the next day will be a better one.

There is this old Cherokee story:
One evening beside the fire an old man is telling his grandson a story
“Inside every of us there are two wolves in a battle of life and death.
One white, pure and good, full of love, hope, joy, kindness, generosity, compassion and faith.
The other one black as the night, evil, full of anger, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment and hate.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied,
"The one you feed the most."

I couldn’t agree more – I would just add:
“Be careful who else you let feeding them as well!”

Leave your life

2009-09-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

Teaching Zen is like teaching fish to swim.
Impossible and potentially embarrassing.
So when I write, I prefer to write about my life, rather than Zen dogma, in a hope that some how I will entice the reader to take a trip out of the ordinary way of thinking into some wild and unexplored corner of his mind.

There are a lot of Zen and Buddhist blogs on the internet that “regurgitate” wise Zen stories or obscure scripture passages and I don’t think the internet needs yet another zealot trying to convert the world to his beliefs.

What you need to know you already know.
You just don’t know it that you know it, yet :)

I was born in a communist country – I shall repeat myself.
And leaving behind that was my given “destiny” I have become –more or less – that that I have dreamed of being.
Life is a journey.
You can not learn too much if you stay put – mentally and physically.

I found a lot of my American friends have a mistrust, almost a fear of foreign places and foreign ideas.
It is almost like they are afraid that some how they will loose their identity and become somebody or something else if they step out of their familiar surroundings.
When the reality is that only when you know a foreign land and a foreign culture you truly become aware of who and what you are.

I dream to go to far away places, to see the pyramids in Egypt and the Taj Mahal in India.
I dream going to Mecca and Jerusalem and of course I dream to see a Zen temple in Japan.
Right now I do not have the material means to do it.
So I enjoy exploring the world through the internet and books.
But that doesn’t stifle my hope. Maybe one day I will.

I like to read.
My bed stand is full with books.
True, most of them are about Buddhism but also I read the Bible and the Quran and anything I find stimulating to my mind from Tolstoy to Nietzsche.
Does that make me a bad or a lesser Buddhist?
I don’t think so.

I don’t believe you can be a bad or a good Buddhist, or a bad or good Christian, Jew or Muslim, for that matter.
God has not created Buddhists, Christians, Jews or Muslims.
God has created human beings.
The only thing you can ever be, the only thing you will ever succeed or fail in your life is to be a good human being.

Back to Life!

2009-09-21T21:14:00.001-07:00

I keep no secret of my fascination for the human mind.
I look at myself: It is me, in the most intimate thoughts.
Yet it is an infinite universe I don’t even start to fathom.
It is so simple and so complicated.
It is strange and comforting at the same time, sometimes wonderful sometimes frightening.

So why is that?
Why do we ask questions and look for answers?
Why do we look for happiness and a higher meaning of life?
“Why not?” Will be the simple answer.

The so called “serious” life, the going to work, making money so we can buy more things it is a pretty dumb life to have, if you ask me.
It is the little, insignificant things in life, like writing on my blog, listening to a good song or playing with my children, that make me happy.
It is the total silliness and the playful side of life that keeps me going not the serious stuff.

If not for those little interruptions, weekends, holidays, vacations, family reunions and celebrations, life would be totally meaningless.
Where is the “rat” race taking us?
How the hell do you even win it?
Has anybody ever won it?

We have evolved from the hunter and gatherer of thousands years ago into the modern masters of technology of today.
We have more things that anybody in history before us.
We have more food that we need, more entertainment than we have time to watch.
We move faster and faster we accumulate more and more things.

But there is a difference between being alive and living and most of us don’t know it.
What I want for me and for the ones I love is to live life with infinite passion instead of just dragging through life one day after another.
What I want is to open my mind to new horizons and possibilities, instead of following the same old, tired concepts and beliefs.

What I know is what dictates how I live.
My mind is the auto pilot of my life.
I am tired of living my life scared.
Scared of wars and economical crisis and swine flu and climate collapse.
I don’t like the way I’m pushed in life by fear.

I need to hit that “reset” button.
I need to reprogram my mind for a new life.

My Weekend Project

2009-09-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

I want to be more creative.
It is something I need in my life.
Something I need to feel complete.
So I started exploring more creative venues.
This is my first attempt.
What do you think?
Any suggestions?

And yes Ted, I am kipping my day job :)

Does that makes me crazy?

2009-09-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

God gave us wings and reason chopped them off.
Sanity is the chain and ball that keeps us tied to the ground.
But deep inside we all dream to fly.

We all have flirted with insanity one time or another in our life.
What else is our experimenting with drugs, alcohol or transcendental meditation?
How else would you explain our fascination with getting high?
What do we do it for?
What other reason but to leave reason behind.
To escape the sanity of the mundane and go out of our minds.

Sitting on the razor’s edge.
Contemplating the abyss.
Flirting with the possibility…
Time for another feel good fix.

The problem with the feel good pill and other chemical “enhancers” is that after the effect wears off you find yourself back to the reality you were trying to escape.
Same world, same problems, same prison of reason.
The problem with the “good pill” is that it doesn’t get you out of the hole.
It digs you deeper and deeper…

So after every feel good trip, same question persist:
How would it be to leave reason behind, to never come back?

Imagine you are really, really high at this moment.
So high you are out of your mind.
Leave reason behind for a moment and escape reality.
Get away from yourself and the world for a moment.
It is not a bad feeling, isn’t it?

A good meditation, is far better than any drug and a thousand time safer.
But the problem with spiritual journey out of your mind is that unlike the good pill where the effect wears out, the spiritual trip doesn’t end abruptly it lingers on.
It creeps into the “regular” life.
It starts challenging your sanity, your accepted social values and order.
(Which is not a bad thing for you but poses serious problems for the people around you.
Especially your family.)

So you don’t have much of a choice but to pretend you are normal, just like all the other people pretending to be normal just like you.

Time for another antidepressant pill.
The acceptable alternative to spirituality.
(Trust me I have had people looking at me funny for being a Buddhist, but taking antidepressants is like a badge of honor – you are living in the fast lane, you have made it!)
The question I would like to ask the “doctor feel good” is:
Is this happy pill supposed to preserve my sanity or to take me away from it?

Perspective II

2009-09-15T23:10:00.001-07:00

“Insanity – Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
“If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know where you are going.”
Somebody else

Here is another useful “tool” for getting a better perspective on things.
This is not as remarkable or disturbing as to see your life through the eyes of people at the opposite spectrum of life or as seeing yourself through the eyes of your nemesis, but it is never the less useful.

There are some life problems I call “dramas” problems that deal with relationships and emotions – very hard stuff to handle, especially if you are a male.
You need to put yourself out of the equation and look at the “drama” from a different perspective.
You can do that by making up a story, a fable, a narrative of the events but with different people and in a different setting – you can even use animals as characters.

Let’s say you just had a fight with someone you love or have been dumped by your lover or betrayed by your best friend or whatever your situation might be, and you don’t know exactly what and why it happened or even worse you don’t see a way out of the situation.
Write down the story in a theatrical play up to the present time, but do not stop, make up an ending to the story, preferable positive.

Take a break after you are done and come back in an hour or two, or even better go to bed and read the story the next day morning.
You will see that there will be parts that do not make sense anymore, parts that sounded true when you wrote them down but now looking with an objective eye doesn’t ring true any longer.
You will also see mistakes the characters have done and even ways of solving the drama that you did not considered before.
Edit the story until you feel it reflects exactly the reality of your situation.
Play the drama until you find a solution or closure to your emotional pain.

I know it sounds like a silly way of dealing with a problem but give it a try, you might be surprised by the results.
Here is a little story I wrote, inspired by somebody I knew. The Swan and the Swine
You can see the characters and the drama unfolding from the outside perspective the story tale gives you.

Of course the best way to get a different perspective on your “problems” is to get a different perspective.
If you have the money and the time, a visit to a good shrink – therapist – can do wonders.
A good and wise friend or relative can be also as useful - although I find that free advice is seldom taken seriously.

And of course you can always find more ways of looking at life by asking in your blog:
What is your most favorite and efficient way of getting a perspective on your problems?

Perspective

2009-09-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?”
Hahlil Gibran

Birthdays as well as some major holydays have been – at least for me – a time for reflection and resolution.
The problem with reflecting on ones life is that it is very difficult to be objective.
To look at yourself and give yourself a good analysis and measurement it is practically impossible.
It is like trying to figure out if you have a piece of spinach stuck to your teeth without a mirror.

What you need is somebody else’s point of view.
A very good friend that knows you inside out and also somebody you can trust to be absolutely honest with you – and as you know, it is so very rare and so hard to find such a friend.
So what you can do – what I do – is to borrow somebody else’s eyes and look at my own life from their POV.
Like the starving child in my last post.

Here I am fighting my “weight problem” while a child in Africa is dying of starvation.
Do you realize what that means?
Do you realize that half of the world population can not even afford to have my problems?
From that standpoint my problems are “luxuries”
It is a very sobering point of view and it puts my life in a totally different perspective.

I have a very good life.
I have the life I dreamed of having when I defected communism and immigrated to USA.
I’m living my own dream yet some where in the back of my head there is this nagging feeling that some how my life is not quite the way it should be.
Why is that?
Why do we feel that way when we know that we have nothing to complain about?

That is because your subconscious mind is not a logical, reasonable mind.
The subconscious judges reality based on emotion not on data.
The subconscious sees life as a dynamic, as quantitative changes, not as static status quo.
In other words it looks at what your life was and where your life is going.
And in the last couple of years my life was in a very static “survive” mode.

So here it is – the feeling that I am stuck.
Not that I have a bad life, nor that I am a failure but that ominous feeling that my life is going nowhere at this point.
I need to get “un stuck” or it will drive me bananas :)

One year older

2009-09-11T23:00:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday so I started doing a little “my life so far” review and some how I ended up with another blog post instead.
Here it is:

I got a speeding ticket.
My car’s water pump is making a weird noise for a while.
I have to finish replacing the water pipes in my house, which I started about a year ago and I dread finishing.
I have to go to the small court because the IRS wants $3200 from me.
I did not get a raise in the last five years and I am afraid that I am stuck in my job until they fire me.
About ten years ago I started loosing the hair on my head and getting hair in places the sun don’t shine.
My triglycerides levels are 3 time the norm.
My sex drive has dropped into the pits with my hair.
I dream of being an artist and I fear I will never do it.
…
At this moment these are the biggest problems in my life, all the other problems in my life are smaller than that.

Do you think I have problems?
Do you think any of my problems are more than a challenge, inconvenience or routine maintenance?
I don’t think so either.

Yet, they bother me more than it should.
Do you know why?
Because I get stuck in this “fix the problems first” frame of mind.
Because instead of focusing on what I want to accomplish I focus on the shitty little inconveniences.
Because I’M MAKING this little shitty inconveniences the center of my life.

I need to put some passion in my life.
I need to light up a fire that will burn all that little crap away.
I need a new direction, a new purpose, a new vision.

I think I’m getting to humble, to soft.
I need to be more daring, to grow some balls.
Which is not quite the Buddhist way of doing things.
Remember the Buddhist way is the middle way :)
But it just doesn’t work for me at this moment.
It looks like too much Zazen makes my butt itch.

I have to go Back to my radical Zen roots.
Just wanted to let you know, in case I’ll get to weird or too wild.
Don’t worry. It’s just another phase.

A hard to swallow pill

2009-09-10T23:00:00.001-07:00

From the day we are born we start a process of evolution both physical and spiritual.
(Actually too be more precise we start that process way before the moment of birth, but to keep things simple let’s say that our journey starts at birth.)
For the first years of our life on this realm, we have very little choice and very little to say about our development.
Basically our parents are molding us into what they think is best for us.
Our parents are in the driving seat of our life and we are just a passenger.

Now there comes a time – usually around puberty – when we get this idea – probably imprinted in our genes – that we know everything, and we have our first attempt to take that steering wheel in our own hands.
Usually that doesn’t happen – unless you run away from home – and we spend the next couple of years in a state of two or more people steering our life at the same time.
Until that faithful day when we get our first job, our first place and we are now under the false impression that we are in control of our life, our destiny.

Soon we found out that we don’t know anything, really.
The way we thought things will work out doesn’t quite work and pretty soon we are experimenting or even copying other people thoughts and actions in order to gain some control of our life.
We end up with a mix bag of philosophies and beliefs from all the people and situations we’ve encounter in our life and call it “experience”

We use that experience more to avoid making the same mistakes again and very few of us gain as much control as to become the makers of our own destiny.
Eventually even the most dysfunctional of us start realizing that it has to be a better way, that something is fundamentally wrong and we have to change the whole scenario and live a better life, have a better experience.

It is at this point in life when we look for that “teacher” the “master” that holds the key to the eternal happiness and the answer to the meaning of life.
We jump on the band wagon of the “trend du jour” spiritual craze and start chasing the pie in the sky get “happy quick” schemes just to find out we’ve been taking advantage of by unscrupulous people in search of a fast buck.

Eventually we figure out that there is no “secret” and giving control of your life to another person is the easiest way to find your life out of control.
To be master of your own destiny is to be the master of your own destiny.
There is no other way.
But that is a lot of work and we all want instant gratification – who after all, has the time to be himself?
So we keep looking for that pie in the sky “secret” that is going to change our life overnight.

Here is the unpleasant truth:
If for ten, twenty, thirty years or more of your life you have been eating junk food and have gained 100 extra pounds you are not going to reverse that in a couple of month of dieting.
You might loose all that extra fat but 99 % you will gain it back and then some more.
What you want to do is not a diet but to look at what and how a healthy person eats and try to do the same thing.

So what does dieting has to do with enlightenment?
It is a way to show you that you can’t change the programming of ten, twenty, thirty or more years of bad experiences in one day of meditation.
It is like expecting to get physically fit after eating one salad.

Your unhappiness, or better said, your happy less, is not a simple belief or idea that can be changed by reading a blog post.
After so many years your unhappiness is now a habit.
To change it will take as much as an effort and determination as it will take for example to stop drinking or taking drugs.

The real secret of spirituality is that in order to get a better life you have to get a better you and in order to get a better you, you have to take the control and the responsibility of your own life out of the hands of other people.
It takes courage, discipline and perseverance.
It takes faith, good friends and a lot of time, but trust me; once you start on that path of self reliance it only gets easier.

So go back to your spiritual practice whatever that might be, and if you don’t have one, get one asap.
You are not getting any younger.

Through her eyes

2009-09-09T20:40:00.001-07:00

“My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy.
I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?”
Charles Schultz

Yesterday I took my little daughter to her first day of kindergarten and through her yes I saw myself going to school on my first day.
And I remembered – like it was yesterday - the wonder and excitement, the mixture of thrill and anxiety and that feeling of entering a new phase of my life, a new experience.
And at that moment I realized – No - I felt in every cell of my body, that I have nothing to learn, that all I have to do is to remember.

Through the eyes of a five years old I saw what happiness is:
Happiness is to love life totally, absolutely and unconditionally.

Happiness is:
To love the sunny day for chasing the butterflies and the rainy days for playing in the puddles.
To love things for the joy they bring, not for how much they cost.
To love people for the love they give, not for who they are or what they can do for you.
To love yourself because you are love.
To be happy because you don’t need anybody’s permission.

No, there is no secret to happiness.
(I am sure that if there was it would be for sale on eBay.)

Of course there is pleasure for sale, but that it will only empty your soul even more because pleasure is a tax on your soul and the more you get it, the less it will stimulate you.
In search of that illusory high which we mistake for happiness, the path of pleasure will take you only to the path of extreme
And at the end you will be spent, empty and burned out

Happiness is not in what you get.
Happiness is in what you give.
I know that sounds insane but it is true…

The Unbearable Happiness IV

2009-09-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

I hope that you have been practicing your meditation or that at least you are familiar with some sort of meditation practice because now we are going to do some practical application of that.
If by any chance you are not familiar with the practice here are the links to the meditation posts:
Relaxation Meditation

Contemplative Meditation

Guided Meditation
So, tonight as you lay in your bed or sit in your lotus position ready for your meditation practice think about doing a little exploration into your inner happiness.

Clear up your mind.
The very act of thought cessation is a very powerful tool.
By stopping the mind’s continuous chatter we focus into the present moment.
This very act of “being” in the present is a very positive, healing experience.

Go into a contemplative mode and witness your negative emotions – this is relatively easy to do since the very powerful negative emotions have overpowering tendencies.
You will observe that these emotion appear as defined “object” like balloons floating into a room or fish swimming into a glass bowl.
You are not the “emotions” you have “emotions”

As the emotions come and go into your field of perception you will attempt to “deal” with them.
Remember if you are not proficient into your meditation you will revert to your “reasonable” state and you will snap out of the meditative state.
So do not “grab” do not “analyze” or try to understand your emotion.
When you feel a negative emotion just “wish” it away.
Say to yourself “cancel that” or simply “cancel” or “delete”
The words do not matter at this level. You have to “feel” the act of letting go of that negative emotion, feeling or memory.

Assuming that you are pretty good and can maintain the meditative state for a good period of time you will eliminate all negative emotions one by one.
At this point you will experience a state of mental and emotional blockage.
It will feel like you have a cork a lid stuck into your brain or like your brain is constipated.
It is not a bad or painful feeling, it is how lack of happiness feels like.

Remember that happiness is your natural state.
You should be happy unconditionally and the only reason you are not is because you have learned to suppress that flow of happiness.
You have plugged a cork or put a lid on the “spring”, source of happiness.
You have turned your natural state of happiness into the habit of happy less.
The joy or sorrow we confused as happiness or unhappiness are just sparks of pleasure or stabs of pain on the gray background of suppressed happiness.
That is the reason our so called “happiness” is always temporary and we need more and continuous positive stimulus to maintain it.
The only way to be really happy is to “unplug” that “cork “ and let the happiness we are flow unrestricted.

To do that we are going to use a little technique borrowed from our yogi friends.
Breath in through your nose.
Visualize the flow of air every step from your nostrils through your passages into your lungs, to your organs to the last of the cells of your body.
Oxygen is a very powerful cleaning agent.
Oxygen is rejuvenating life giving force.

Breath in that energy and focus it on your mental blockage.
Exhale through your mouth.
Keep your lips together like you are blowing out a candle and feel the pressure of the air getting out of your body.
Keep repeating this.

Done right this exercise will ease your back holding and decongestion your mind.
The happiness that you are will start manifesting itself automatically.
You will feel an unconditional and universal joy in your whole physical and spiritual being.
At first it will be small just sipping through the blockage but it will eventually burst into a luminous explosion like your whole body would light up in fire.
This is so powerful that you will snap out of your meditation and jump out of your bed.

Do not feel disappointed if you will not experience this at your first try.
To get that kind of result took me a couple years of practice and the first time it happened to me was by accident.
One night after failing on my meditation I gave up and decided to just relax and go to sleep instead.
The moment I let go and completely relaxed the dam burst and I felt that bright white explosion.
Needless to say I got so much energy in that split second, I couldn’t go to sleep till early in the morning.

The Unbearable Happiness III

2009-09-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have been searching for truth – whatever that might be- all of my life.
I have been learning and accumulating life experiences like a bee gathers pollen and I thought that I had everything figured out in my head.
Trying to put that truth into words and conveying it to other people made me realize that I still have a lot to learn.

I have two sources of knowledge:
What other people have experienced, discovered and shared with the world.
In other words the collective body of work and knowledge of humanity.
And metaphysical knowledge. Knowledge that I started uncovering while doing experiments with self hypnosis and meditation.

Let me give you a little example of what I mean by that.
I’ve been meditating about the meaning of happiness lately – since this is the way the blog discussion has taken me.
During this exploration one thing I found for certain.
Happiness is an absolute.

Happiness is like “life”. You are happiness the same way you are alive.
We are confusing happiness with pleasure and joy, much the same way we are confusing love with sex.
Pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow are emotions and feelings we get when we experience life.

Pleasure and pain are feed back signals that we get when we are doing something right or something wrong.
Both of them are extremely important, if we learn to understand their meanings and we learn how to manage them.
The blind pursuits of pleasure as well as the avoidance of pain at all cost are extremely bad habits we have developed as modern people.

I found out that many people do not know how to manage pain – both physical and emotional pain.
The horrific trend our modern society has taken in dealing with pain, is that we consider pain as bad and try to eliminate it by means of drugs.
But pain is not a problem. Pain is a symptom and by eliminating the symptom instead of fixing the problem that has caused that pain, we are creating even bigger problems.

Here is a little true story:
I have a colleague that suffers from low back pain – much as I do :(
For years he has been taking drugs in order to manage the pain – really heavy stuff like morphine injections and patches.
Finally after a couple of years his spine became so screwed up they had to take him to surgery and bolt his spine with metal screws.

Any way, I would like to share with you my little bag of tricks on dealing with life’s problems, pain and sorrow.

Realize that much of life’s problems are not that much of a big deal.
On my last day of my perfect vacation I got a speeding ticket.
Did I feel bad about it? Of course I did.
But then I asked myself “Am I going to let this incident ruin my vacation?”
Of course not. It is not worth it.

When something bad happens to you, think how big of a deal that would be if it happened to somebody else.
We have a tendency to see our own problems blown out of proportions but looking at a problem from another perspective will give us a better measure of our trouble.

Also 90 percent of our problems are material loss.
Is it worth it to suffer for a material loss?
After all “it is only money”.
Once you put it that way, things are not as bad as before.

Realize that much of your life problems are impermanent.
I fell in love at 16 and been dumped at 17.
I was so crushed I swear I would never love another girl for the rest of my life.
Of course that did not last for too long before I fell in love again.
So remember: Whatever your situation might be. “This too shall pass”

What if there is something like a scar that wouldn’t go away for the rest of your life?
Learn to practice forgiveness.
Here is a very good post I wrote about the power and practice of forgiveness:
The Power of Forgiveness

These are some of the tools available at consciousness, level.
The problem in dealing with emotions in a “reasonable” manner is that even if we know that we are right some time it is difficult to overcome the emotional trauma by means of logical argument.
There is another level – the subconscious – of dealing with pain and suffering but that implies that you are familiar with the meditation practice.
I will share with you some of that on my next post.

The Unbearable Happiness II

2009-09-04T02:06:00.001-07:00

If you want to know what happiness is don’t look into the holly scriptures and don’t talk to the holly men, just watch some children play.
I often watch my children play in the playing room.
I look at their pure and unadulterated joy and I can’t stop thinking that I was once just like that.
I look at them and I can’t stop asking myself: “What ever happened to that happy boy?”

I grew up on a farm at a time when ADD was not a childhood disease but rather a childhood requirement,
If you did not climb up trees and jumped over fences, if you did not have a permanent assortment of scars and bumps, you were considered a weird, abnormal kid.
We did not have a lot of toys, computers or video games, but boy, did we have fun!

The first “joy kill” memory I can recall was going to church on Sunday morning.
Going to an orthodox catholic church was a very grim and scary experience.
There is no joy and laughter, not even smiling in an orthodox church.
I don’t know if joy was considered a sin – pleasure was a sin for sure – but I remember being scolded for having fun in the church.
God was not supposed to be fun. God was supposed to be feared.

Then I remember going to school.
I remember distinctively being asked to wipe of the smile of my face.
“Stop smiling / laughing / like an idiot!” they would say, the implication being that only mentally retarded people can have that kind of unconditional joy.
Normal people needed a reason to be happy.

Some how, in time, that idea become embedded in my mind.
Happiness was not something that you are. Happiness was something you were supposed to find and to get from outside.
That meant that you are not in control of your own happiness, that your happiness is controlled by external factors and people.

Once you give up that control you are bound to spend the rest of your life in spiritual misery, at the mercy of other people and institutions.
And that my friend is the short version of how we got to sell out our happiness in exchange for being accepted into the club of civilized and unhappy people.

The Unbearable Happiness

2009-09-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

You are just as God intended you to be
(Or 15 million years of evolution, if you are so inclined to believe :)
By any account: YOU are PERFECT!

You were born totally and absolutely free.
No fears, no anxieties.
No hatred no bigotry.
No low self esteem no negativity.
No bad experiences no regrets.
No pain and no suffering.

All the negativity, the hurt and suffering you are experiencing right now; it is not YOU.
It is luggage you have accumulated growing up.
It is behaviors and habits you have learned, not the essence of what you truly are.
And the only reason you continue to feel less than PERFECT, is because you are holding on to that baggage, like a precious heirloom.

For the last two weeks I’ve been living the “enlightened” life I’ve been preaching about for almost a year.
For the last two weeks I’ve been waking up with a smile on my face and going to bed with the same smile.
For the last two weeks I’ve been living the illusory “happiness” I so hard tried to capture.
And I did it without meditations, drugs or any effort.
I just took a two weeks vacation :)

But now I am back to work, to the old routine, to the “serious” business of life and I just realized something very important:
Unadulterated, spontaneous happiness is not socially acceptable.
Happiness is bad form and manner.

Try to laugh without any reason tomorrow when you go to work.
Or at least try to spend the whole day with a smile on your face.
You will be reprimanded or at least looked upon with suspicion.
You are not on vacation, you are at work and you are not supposed to be happy.
(Well, theoretically you were supposed to be happy but at the same time not to show it :)

We all say that we want to be happy.
Happy like children, genuinely and unadulterated.
We all look for that truly and profound inner happiness they have.
But at the same time we are repressing all that innocent joy we have, every day of our life.

We want to be professional, serious, and appropriate.
We want to be happy inside but proper outside.
We want to be what God intended us to be and what the society wants us to be at the same time.

We want the cake and eat it too.
And that my friends is something not even the enlightened Buddha can accomplish.
(Well, unless you are ready to take a permanent vacation from life :)

Vacation

2009-09-01T00:01:00.001-07:00

As you can see I am back from my vacation and ready to pick up my “blogging” experiment.
But first let me thank you for allowing me this departure and for keeping the “flame” burning while I was away.

I love vacations.
Not only for allowing me to recharge my batteries after months and months of continuous work, but also because a vacation in a far away place is truly a spiritual experience.

When you go on a vacation you get removed from the “known”, the mundane and predictable, and in a matter of hours you are completely immerse in the “unknown”.
Your mind opens and expands instantly.
The further and more exotic the destination the more shocking and profound the transformation.

That is of course if you are the “adventurous” type.
If you like to explore the place and meet and talk to the people.
If you just want to stay into a nice resort far away from the “natives” you will get only the relaxing and recharging part of the vacation :)

Four years ago I took a ship cruise to Alaska.
The departure was from Seattle Washington so we had to fly to Seattle to catch the boat.
It was my first ship cruise so I did not know what to expect.

The whole trip was an extremely frustrating experience for me.
As one of the “mates” on the ship put it:
“Ship cruises are for the newly wed and the nearly dead”
My adventurous spirit was crushed by the tight schedule imposed by the ship.
We spend too much time on the ship and very little off shore.

I vouch I would come back one day, and explore the North West coast on my own terms.
So this year I took my family back to Seattle WA for one week and further north to Vancouver BC Canada for another week.
Next summer – hopefully – I will go up to Alaska for a week or two.

That is the only way to do it.
I mean ship cruises are nice if you want a convenient all you can eat buffet open 24/7 but at the same time they too big to get close to the glaciers and to slow to get close to the wild life.
They are more interested of you spending your money on the ship’s casinos and restaurants than to explore the shores.
So if you really want an adventure with no strings attached you have to do it yourself.

Guided Meditation

2009-08-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most powerful and useful tools in meditation is the “guided meditation”
If you believe that we exist on parallel universes or if you just believe that the human mind can conceive infinite outcomes of a certain scenario, is up to you.
The cert fact is that if we pose a certain question or quest to our subconscious mind, we will receive the optimum answer each time – some how :)

This is also the most difficult of the meditations techniques to perform.
It requires that you have already mastered the “relaxation” and the “contemplation” meditation.
(So you may have to wait a year or so before you try this :)
But I want to finish this series of posts on meditation, so here it is my final advice to you.
(Anything beyond this point would be for you and I, yet to be explored.)

Let’s say that you are a physicist working on the grand theory of unified physics, or whatever you are working on.
You go into your regular meditation and when you reach the state of contemplation with a good, clear visual, you gently start “guiding” the scene to the following scenario:

You are in Sweden at the Nobel Prize Ceremony and you are announced to be the winner of the Physics award for the work you have done.
You get to the podium and start explaining to the audience how you have solved and discovered whatever you want to discover.
You repeat this scenario until you are able to clearly see and understand everything.
(Incidentally many of great scientific discoveries have been made during a dream state.)

But you don’t have to be a scientist to use this method.
You can be a musician imagining the debut of your first symphony.
Or you can be a painter at the opening of your first gallery.
Or even you can imagine yourself on your first date with your future spouse.
The uses to this technique are limited only by your imagination.

Like I said before; these are my own “experiences” and this is how far I have come in my practice and understanding of the spiritual world.
There are many practices and techniques out there and you can experiment and find your own path.
I put a great deal of emphasis on practicality and not that much on religious side of spirituality.
Like my relationship with my physical father, my relationship with my spiritual father is intimate and personal.

So let me know how your practice and journey goes.
By this time I should be back from my vacation.
So I am curious of how is everybody doing?

Intern Net

2009-08-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

I was studying to get my hypnotherapist license.
(This was about 16 years ago.) And part of the program was hands on practice.
We – the students – were encouraged to practice on anybody that would volunteer for “experimentation” – which is a really bad idea; do not volunteer!

So I was working with a friend of mine that had a strange affliction:
She was afraid of cats.
Nothing major – I thought.
Some early childhood drama involving cats that had left some buried trauma in the subconscious.

I did an induction and then started a time regression.
I asked her to regress – to go back in time – to the first time she had experienced that feeling of anxiety towards cats.
And she did.
The only problem was that she did not go to her childhood, she went to antique Egypt.

She told me this strange, and very elaborate story, of being a girl in a temple.
She was in charge of cleaning after some holy cats and she was being punished for not doing a very good job.
She could name the priestesses and describe in great detail everything in the temple.
I was completely perplexed – they did not teach us that in school.

The way I understood – up to that point – the inner workings of the human mind was like this:
The human mind is like a computer.
We have the I/O cards – eyes, ears, nose, mouth and touch.
We have a RAM – the short term memory – and we have a Hard Drive – the long term memory.
And of course we have the CPU – the part of the brain in charge of reasoning.

According to this model we are born with a BIOS – the human instincts and whatever abilities and qualities we inherited from our parents through our DNA – and everything else is programmed – learned – as we grew up.
Inside of our memories should be nothing except that, but as I was exploring this strange new world I discovered more and more things that were not supposed to be there.

So the only conclusion I could deduct is that there was something else about the brain we didn’t know about.
We are connected to an “intern net”
We are getting outside “information” in ways we are not aware of.
Here is a very interesting VIDEO for you to watch

Contemplative Meditation

2009-08-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever witnessed a sunset so beautiful, so majestic that it took your breath away?
Have you ever had that spiritual experience of wonder, that “wow” moment, when your mind and soul opened up to a higher understanding?
Of course that would be just for a brief moment because the instant we will feel that way we would try to analyze, to grab and hold the experience and of course that would be the end of it.

If you want to know what “contemplation meditation” feels like that would be the closest thing to it.
Contemplation meditation is an altered state of mind in which you experience a sense of wonder.

As you continue to practice the relaxation meditation you will observe on the back of your mind some strange, minute, random, things happening.
You will perceive glimpses of images and strange sparks of light.
You will perceive sounds and sensations, fragments of memories and emotions.

These “anomalies” popping up randomly, without any rhyme or reason, are the workings of your subconscious mind starting to surface into your conscious mind.
Actually the process would be exactly the opposite; your conscious mind is starting to peer, dive into your subconscious :)

We are using less than 10% of our brain power to reason and think.
The other 90% of our brain is running everything else from the complex system we call the human body to mental tasks like memory and emotion management.
We take all that work for granted.
We never think much about our immune system or digestive system, unless something wrong happens to us.
We also get only some glimpses of the workings of the subconscious mind when accidentally we become aware of our dreams.

So as we are practicing in our meditation this process of “contemplation” will be a natural progression.
You do not have to do anything special just to be aware of the “grabbing” and “analyzing” tendencies of your mind and gently let go.
In time, the little spark and glimpses will become clear images and you will enter what many call a “lucid dreaming” state.
This will be your first real exploration of your subconscious mind.

Here is a good video: HOW TO MEDITATE
The video would be fantastic if it did not make any references to religion but that is my personal preference :)
Have fun and keep up the practice!

Magic

2009-08-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke
“Any sufficiently badly-written science is indistinguishable from magic.”
Aaron Allston

I do not like to look at things in a scientific manner and don’t like to look at them in a superstitious manner either.
I always like to look at things in a rational manner.

By that I mean that I do not believe in magic and supernatural as explanation for the spiritual occurrences.
Magic and supernatural are just labels we attach to things we do not understand.
There is nothing super or sub natural.
God itself is as natural as nature can be.

Of course I do not take the scientific point view on spirituality either.
Just because you say something doesn’t exists you can’t make it disappear.
I’m sorry but the world we live in is not only a material world; it is as much or even more a spiritual world and the scientific community will have to come to grips with that reality sooner or latter.

If we look of some of the things that we thought were “magic” a long time ago, like talking bushes and magic mirrors that showed images from far away, we realize that they are not “magic” anymore.
We send pictures through radio waves, talk on telephones, make birthday cards that sing and fly to the moon.

“That is no magic” you will say “That is just technology” but try to explain that to a tribesman living in the Amazon jungle and he will tell you that it is magic.
Walking on water is magic to us not because it is supernatural but because we don’t understand how it is done.
Once you understand how something is done, it is not magic any longer.

We know so little about the human mind and about the spiritual world.
Actually know more about our oceans and about the universe than about our mind.
We have not even scratched the surface of the spiritual world.
We are about were alchemist were before modern chemistry arise:
90% superstition and about 10 % knowledge.

So you might look at this and see a dismal situation.
Or you can look at it and see a great opportunity.
Ether or we have a lot of work ahead of us.
I hope you are practicing your meditation technique ;)

Relaxation Meditation

2009-08-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”
Swami Sivananda

Like I mentioned in my last post “meditation” is just a label describing a certain state of mind.
We all have experienced this altered state of mind in a natural occurring form.
If you have ever exhausted yourself on a mental task – like doing your taxes or working long hours on computer – you might have experienced a momentary lapse of reason.
You might have found yourself staring at the computer screen with nothing in your mind at all.

If the brain was a muscle, meditation would be the complete relaxation and let go, completely limp of the brain.
It is the cessation of all conscious thought.
Or to put it in the simplest form – relaxation meditation is “spacing out” at will.

The first thing to do is to find a comfortable position.
There are many schools of meditation that insist in specific positions of meditation – the most mentioned being the “lotus” position.
But since I suffer from a lower back pain and being allergic to religious dogma I prefer lying on my back in my bed – which also gives me a really good excuse to fall asleep – another good side benefit of meditation.

The second step is tricking your mind into not thinking – which, if you think of it, is an oxymoron since you can’t control your mind not to be in control.
So the trick is to focus your mind on something else than your own thought process.
Once again there are different techniques.
The classical method is the breathing method.

In this method you follow, watch or concentrate on the air coming through your nose into your body and going out. Some people count, time, the length of inhale and exhale but I found that distracting to the process of quieting down of the mind.

Personally I prefer the “OM” meditation.
I have a CD with an "OM" chant for 15 -20 min.
I play the CD while I’m comfortably lying in my bed with my eyes closed and in my mind I join the chorus of monks in their chant.
The hamming will produce an instant cessations of the thought process.
The mind will quiet down and enter a state of total relaxation.

Here is a place you can download a clean OM CHANT
This kind of meditation is not much of a spiritual journey but it is an essential step in preparing your mind to become that vehicle of exploration.
You may choose to stay at this level and enjoy all the health benefits of meditation.
Or you may choose to go further in your practice and step into the ocean of spirituality.

Spiritual practice

2009-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

“The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal.
It can't be organized or regulated.
It isn't true that everybody should follow one path.
Listen to your own truth.”
Ram Dass

There are many spiritual practices going around.
Everything from scientology to transcendental meditation.
From anti depressant drugs to catholic sacraments.
From hypnosis to psychosis.
One for every budget and taste :)

My personal practice is meditation.
(For those of you that have never done it, it might sound like a good waste of time, like a lot of doing nothing when you could do something more constructive.)
But so far – after trying almost everything available out there – I found meditation to be the best suited practice for spiritual exploration.

Meditation is actually just a label describing a particular practice.
There are a lot of other practices like, prayer, chanting, yoga, hypnosis or self hypnosis, that are just different packages of the same thing.
In essence all spiritual practices use an altered state of mind to open a door into the subconscious and if you believe in it, into super-conscious.

I like meditation because it can be practiced without any religious strings attached.
You do not have to join a church or a cult and you don’t even have to believe in God.
It is also relatively easy to do. It doesn’t require any equipment and it can be practiced almost anywhere at any time.
Also there are many health benefits coming out of meditation – and this is not BS – Meditation is one of the few techniques that have been scientifically tested and proven to benefit your physical health.

(There are religious practices that will deliver a greater punch – at the expenses of giving up the control of your experience – but I am not very kin on organized religions – I am more of a free spirit – but for those of you that are adventurous enough I have to mention that other paths are available.)

But if you decide to practice meditation you will soon find out that meditation can also be a tool for exploration beyond the confines of our consciousness.
I know, some of you might not believe that such a wonderland exists but frankly we do not have a choice on the matter.
What lies behind the realm of human consciousness is up to the spiritual explorer to find out.
You have to see it and experience it yourself and don’t take anybody’s word for it.

Talking to God

2009-08-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

If you pay attention to the holy scriptures you might be able to see how our forefathers, our spiritual leaders and prophets have come to the understanding of the word of God.
If you look carefully you will realize that all the moments of revelation, the moments when we got access to a higher awareness, a higher knowledge, were moments of solitude.

Where did Moses get his commandments?
According to the Bible Moses went on Mount Sinai, alone, praying for 40 days before God gave him the 10 commandments.
Where did Buddha get his sutra?
Well, according to the legend he sat, alone, under the Bodhi tree meditating for 49 days before he got his enlightenment.
Do you see a little similarity here?

It is not that God doesn’t want to talk to us.
It is that we are too busy to listen to him.
We are too easily distracted by the sensationalism of the media, by the glitter and magic of Hollywood or simply by the noise around us, to hear what God has to say.

We are continuously in a state of hyper excitation.
It is this continuous bombardment with fear, impending doom, global pandemics, war, crime or simply junk gossip.
We are suckered like little children with the rattle of mass media while the thieves are emptying our pockets.

On top of that we have our “personal” problems.
Our little drama is going in our head 24/7 and even at night when we go to bed our minds are still preoccupied with the problems of the day.
So you see the “system” is rigged so you will never find the truth.

It might sound simplistic to you but before you can hear anything you have to learn how to listen.

The sacred Book

2009-08-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

I know that one time or another we all had this crazy thought that life would be so much easier if it came with a user’s manual that would tell us exactly how it works and what to do.
Well, believe it or not we do have such manual.

You are the question, the puzzle, the quest, the discovery to be made.
You are the path, the road and the journey.
You are the obstacle on the road but also the power to overcome it.
You are the solutions to all the problems.
You are the destination, the end result and the final destination of life.

You are the beginning and the end of everything and you are perfect in any way right here and right now.
There is nothing missing, nothing lacking in you to be perfect.
You have all the love, the joy, the intelligence and talent.
You have the knowledge and the power to do and to be anything your heart desire.
All you have to do is to experience it.

How would you know that red is red and green is green if you were never taught that?
How would you know the beauty of a sunset or the harmony of a song if that knowledge wasn’t part of you?
How would you know a truth you have never heard before, if that truth was not already known to you?

You are the truth.
You are the Bible, the Quran, the Talmud and the Sutras.
You are the holy parchment that fire doesn’t burn and water doesn’t wash away.
You are the word of God that time will not forget and lies will not corrupt.

The truth is written into your very being, into your DNA so nobody will be a stranger to the word of God.
Not the sailor lost at sea nor the shepherd on the top of the mountains.
The knowledge you seek you have always carried with you so you would have it in your darkest, loneliest hour.
No matter how far from the world you get you’ll never be far from God.

So the problem is not that we don’t have the knowledge.
The problem is that we were taught to look for answers outside.
The problem is that we are waiting for the answers to be given to us by the media, scientists, scholars or our religious leaders.

Nobody has the answer of who you are and what your destiny is; except you.
You are the answer you seek.
You are the sacred book.
Why would God give that answer to anybody else?

Changing the world

2009-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

My six year old daughter came to me the other day with a big apple and asked me to take a bite.
Those of you that have children know exactly what I’m talking about.
Small kids can’t eat an apple unless it is cut into smaller pieces or bitten first.

When people ask me how do I attain enlightenment or how do we solve the world’s problems, I have a similar feeling.
I feel like I have to bite into a watermelon.
It can’t be done unless you cut it into small pieces.

I understand the frustration of some of you that are looking for answers but you have to understand my frustration too.
It is hard to write a post on spirituality with a beginning and an end and try to make some sense at the same time.

Spirituality is like a thread that goes from deep inside our individual being into our relationships, our families, our communities, our countries, our planet, the universe and back into our subconscious mind.
It all connects together in a never ending looping and evolving web of causes and effects.
It affects everything and it determines everything; the quality and outcome of our whole life.
I know it is a corny image but it is “the circle of life”.

There is nothing more important in our lives than the beliefs we hold.
What we believe determines how we act.
Our beliefs determine who we are and in turn “we” the individuals are the foundation of the society.
If we want to change the world we have to challenge and change the current set of beliefs; to change how we think and act.

The problem I have with that is that I do not believe you can, or should, try to change another human being.
It is like the damn thing we are doing in Iraq.
You can’t impose democratic change at gun point.
It is like forcing a woman to have sex in the name of love.
If you have to use a gun it’s called rape – at least in the communist country I grew up in.

So by sharing my thoughts and beliefs with you I am going against my own philosophy, some how.
I do not like to preach and teach.
I’d rather have a dialog or a debate where I can learn and grow as well.
But I don’t know any other way to connect with you and that bothers me – in a way.