All At Sea

21 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags:

FogLiving by the coast it can get very foggy, to the point where you can’t see your hand in front of your face.

That’s where my life is at the moment, and all the chanting in the world doesn’t seem to be making any difference, yet.

All the landmarks, the points of reference have gone and I’m lost. The very things I took for granted have disappeared, maybe because I took them for granted.

So I’m here, trying to get my life into perspective and I have nothing to guide me, other than my Practice.

To be honest, this isn’t the first time it’s happened, even recently, but this time there is a huge difference. This time I have my belief and my Practice to support me and it is a great comfort.

Decisions have, and will have to be, made. I am sure, however, that this time I’m better prepared to pull things together. Like a driver who has invested in a powerful set of fog lamps, I am seeing things more clearly, capable of managing my life-state, and able to navigate through the situation all the better for it.

Something And Nothing

20 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags:

Castles-In-The-AirLast week, I thought I had something, everything my heart desired. This week I found I have nothing.

When we create illusions in our own heads, castles in the air as it were, we leave ourselves open to crushing disappointments. It is only when the illusion has been blown away, like the morning mist, that our vision becomes clear.

Please take my advice, examine situations for what they are, rather than what you hope they are.

The fall from a castle in the air is long and scary, and worse still, it ends with a very painful bump.

The Game Of Life

19 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags:

Rubiks CubeLife can be a bit like a Rubik’s cube, each part is like one of the faces, separate but all connected.

We work to get one face, let’s say Blue sorted out. On it’s own that task is pretty easy and we complete it quite quickly. So we move on to to the Red face, again it’s pretty easy, in isolation, so we get it sorted and we feel a satisfaction in that.

But then we turn the cube back to the Blue side, and it’s all messed up again, because it is connected to the Red side.

Life is like that. Our home life is connected to our family, our friends, our work, everything. Just like Rubik’s cube, unless you know the rules for arranging the sides, it can be pretty impossible.

The only way to get our lives sorted, is to learn the rules governing how they fit together. I say rules, but there’s nothing written down anywhere that will teach you. So it’s a case of trial and error, to some degree. Hopefully our parents teach us the ground rules, but every situation is different, so it’s necessary to modify the ground rules so they fit.

There are two big differences between life and Rubik’s cube. Life is no game, obviously and life is no where as clear cut as getting six coloured faces sorted out.

Whether you are playing with a Rubik’s cube, or trying to sort your life out, good luck. I’m still learning to do both.

Surrounded By Nature

18 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

On one of those days, where your world has gone to hell in a handcart, there are always things that can make life worthwhile.

These photos were taken using my mobile, at the back of our offices in Ringwood …

Morning Morning

RiverRiver

PanoramaPanorama

GeeseGeese

TwilightTwilight

The Dark Passenger had taken control, but just going and looking at nature in all it’s beauty, made me feel a whole lot better.

To view or save the originals, click on the photo and keep it for a day when you need a lift.

Namaste

A Helping Hand

17 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Ouch !!!Generally speaking, today has been a disappointing sort of a day, even for a Monday. No specifics, but disappointing non the less.

Having made it through to the time to go home, I was feeling flat, tired, emotional and generally down. As I drove away from work, I was wondering what the evening would bring.

There is always a queue to get through the town centre, but tonight seemed particularly slow. Then I came across the reason, a chap in a Fiat Punto, had broken down in the middle of the road.

Now a small part of my bad day had been contributed by a rather sore back, but in a fit of madness, I completely forgot about it and found myself offering to help, by pushing him into a nearby side road.

I parked up and having explained that you cannot push an automatic when it’s in park, we got things moving. Other motorists sat and watched, nobody offered any help, but we got it done. I made sure he had a mobile and was going to be able to get help to recover the car to a nearby garage and went back to my own car.

Only then did I notice that the pain in my back had completely gone.

Now, whatever it was that helped with the pain, adrenalin from the exertion, the physical effort of pushing the car on my own, whatever, my back is fixed.

Not only that, but helping a poor soul in need made me feel good too, and double points on the good karma scale into the bargain. Nice end to a dodgy day.

Get It Sorted

16 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Grrrrr !!!Have you ever had a problem or situation that has been there for a while, but you can’t drum up the enthusiasm to fix? I know you have, we all have.

Maybe enthusiasm is not the right word, maybe confidence is a better one. Maybe you should have made a phone call or gone to meet someone, but you know they aren’t going to be too pleased to hear from you when you do.

When I say you know, it’s probably more accurate to say you imagine, you suppose, see what I mean? We all build up little scenarios in our heads, and the more often we think about the problem, the more convinced we become, that our imagined outcome is what will actually happen.

This is where we need a bit of Wisdom, Courage and Compassion.

We need the Wisdom to see that what we imagine is the version of events from our point of view, and may be way off. We also need to accept that any problem that is left to fester, will only get worse and never go away by itself.

We need a deal of Courage to put ourselves into a situation that may be awkward, embarrassing or painful (hopefully not physically). Picking up that phone, or ringing that door bell, when we are unsure of the reception, takes guts. But remember that the alternative may be even worse.

Now we need a huge dollop of Compassion. The fact that we have put off doing something about this issue probably means that we feel that we are in the wrong, in some way. So we need to steel ourselves for a potential tirade, whilst remaining calm and sympathetic. We need to understand the problem from the other persons point of view. That will take a dialogue of some nature, and maintaining a compassionate nature may help defuse the situation. We need to bite our tongue when we may feel like giving a little back. I don’t mean a complete capitulation, more a flexible approach to understanding their side of things.

I imagine that each and every person who reads this has an issue, be it large or small, that falls into this category. Only you know what it is, so gird your loins, take a deep breath, and get it sorted today. You’ll feel a lot better when you do, believe me, I know from experience.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The Last Word

15 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags:

LotusNo matter the situation, make sure that the last thing you say is not something, you or the person you say it to, will regret for the rest of your life.

We’ve all been there, a disagreement or a heated moment, where we’ve said something we later regretted. Imagine if that were the last conversation we ever had with that person, it could leave a shadow hanging over you forever.

In terms of karma, it’s never going to be in the plus column, is it.

So whatever you may be feeling, however the situation will be left, you can always find something positive, kind or caring with which to end the conversation. What’s the worst that can happen? It may be the last chance you ever have to say it, so have the Wisdom, Courage and Compassion to make it constructive.

Namaste

Inner Strength

14 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

BuddhaBefore I became aware of Nichiren Buddhist, through Jason and Karen Jarrett’s A Buddhist Podcast initially, I found disappointments very difficult to handle.

I have always been prone to setting my expectations too high, and that leads to disappointment when the expectation isn’t met. My Dad, on the other hand, always seemed to be a little pessimistic, he never appeared to have very high expectations, never got overexcited about anything, so didn’t allow himself to feel disappointment, or that was the way it looked to me.

Since I have been practicing Nichiren Buddhism I have an inner strength that helps me through difficult times. It is a great comfort and I would recommend it to anyone who is struggling with issues or problems.

The strange thing is that Buddhism doesn’t always make the problems go away, although that does sometimes happen, but it gives me a different way of looking at the situation and a focus that makes the problems more easy to understand and to bear.

In general, my life has been very easy. I have a very loving family, great parents and had a very stable home life in my formative years. I’ve been through a few troughs, the usual things like losing my grandparents, my father and failed relationships, the same as every one else. I’m not looking to test my practice to that extent, but I truly believe that my inner strength will see me able to cope with such times much better now.

If I were to try to pinpoint the single most important reason for this, I would say it was a new found mental calm. I’ve never been a fighter. At school I used to use humour to get out of the usual scrapes all kids get into. But I was prone to letting my feeling show, particularly when disappointment was involved.

Now, because I can see the situation from all angles, just like those reviews on the web, where you can spin the item around and look at it every which way, I can rationalise more easily. Being able to see a situation from other peoples perspective allows me to make sense of how things appear to them, and understand why they are reacting in the way they are.

It has changed my life, or at least the way I look at it, and it can help anyone. Maybe it could help you.

A Predictable Outcome

13 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

ballotAs I write this, there is a huge furore over the outcome of the Oldham by-election.

My question is, why? With the Coalition having to put the country through the financial mill, for pretty good reasons, you could have bet your shirt on the result.

In these kinds of by-elections, the people take the opportunity to give the Government a good kicking, safe in the knowledge that it won’t bring about any major change.

Let’s remember who put these politicians in power in the first place. We voted them in, because the alternative was even less palatable, and gave them the mandate to steer The Good Ship UK for a while.

We are all responsible for our own Karma, the result of all our actions, in this and previous lives, is where we are now. Both individually and collectively, we must take responsibility for those actions and understand that the outcome is our own doing.

So don’t moan when the results of your actions are not quite how you imagined they would be. If we want things to change, we must take the actions for that to happen.

A Day Of Learning

12 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

The World of eLearningMy day has been a spent in the world of learning, though not as you might expect, about Buddhism.

We are using a new software package at work, to build and support a brand new website. As webmaster I will be responsible, to some extent, for the performance, stability and content of the new site, and today was a very pleasurable learning session.

Ok, it’s not rocket science, though they do say that even rocket science isn’t rocket science. Learning of any kind, is a process of personal growth, and I find it very stimulating. As with so much software, is has it’s little quirks and problems, but that almost makes it more fun.

I look on it as a game of mental chess, the software taking the role of a very capable opponent. I want it to lay out a page in a certain manner, it lays it out in the way I tell it, and the two are not always a convergent point. So I have had to exercise the grey matter and, so far, progress has been good.

A project as large as this requires the skills of a dedicated team. My colleagues have, and continue to do, a fantastic job. Some have designed data structures and management processes that will never be visible to our visitors. Others have been concentrating on the look and feel of the new site and have been honing the copy that will appear on the web pages. Everyone has done their bit, and the result is far more than the sum of the parts.

So the learning goes on tomorrow and the pleasure of working in a close kit team continues.

As a slight aside, I have continued to listen to the podcasts of The Buddha, Geoff and Me, so my Buddhist learning has not taken a back seat, and that gives me a great deal of satisfaction too. Chapter 3 of this great book is about Ichinen and Kyo Chi Gyo I. Click on the links to learn more for yourself.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

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