NMRK – The Power To Soar

11 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Everything From NothingThere is the temptation, whilst continuing to practice, to wonder whether we will ever become a Buddha or doubt whether Buddhahood even resides within us. With his usual wisdom, Nichiren showed us the truth of the matter in his simple words.

“A bird’s egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts, and the bird soars into the sky.

We, too, are the eggs of ignorance, which are pitiful things, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, which is like the warmth of the mother bird, we develop the beak of the thirty-two features and the feathers of the eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the skies of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things.”

~ Nichiren Daishonin

Back To School

10 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

L PlatesEvery now and then it is a good thing to brush up on the basics. That applies to pretty much everything in life, be it academic, occupational, sporting or more especially spiritual.

Let’s imagine that the Government decided to bring in some form of driving test for experienced drivers. Now I have been driving since the 6th of March 1973, over 40 years, since petrol was 50p a gallon, not a litre, a gallon, so I consider myself to be pretty experienced.

I fear however, that were I asked to take a driving test tomorrow, I would fail. Not because I am a bad driver, but because I have picked up bad habits over the years, habits that would be frowned upon in a test environment.

So what, I hear you ask, has this got to do with The Ten Worlds or the World of Learning. Well, having been a Buddhist for a little over a third of the time I have been driving, I have picked up bad habits there too. Well not bad habits exactly, but the lessons I learned in the early years have been reinforced by lessons learned more recently, reinforced, but also made slightly out of focus.

When you feel a loss of focus, there is only one thing to do, so I am studying the basics yet again, to generally sharpen up my Buddhist act once more. Besides, the World of Learning is a wonderful place, so rather than filling me with any form of dread, it fills me with a renewed excitement and a yearning to re-examine all I have learned to date.

What A Drama

09 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Ups and Downs Of LifeMany things happen in life. There are joyous days and times of suffering. Sometimes unpleasant things occur. But that’s what makes life so interesting. The dramas we encounter that are part and parcel of being human.

If we experienced no change or drama in our lives, if nothing unexpected ever happened, we would merely be like automatons, our lives unbearably monotonous and dull.

Therefore, it is important to develop a strong self so that you can enact the drama of your life with confidence and poise in the face of whatever challenges you may encounter.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

When Less Is More

08 Dec 2013 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Flames Of WisdomSo many of the ills in modern society are driven, if not caused, by our insatiable desire to earn, to own, to use, more and more.

Companies spend millions creating adverts to reach our deepest psyche and flick on the basest of urges, often I suspect, without us even realising the manipulation we are undergoing.

Aside from our own mental suffering, our cravings are having disastrous consequences in third world countries, the collapse of the clothing factory in Bangladesh being an indirect result of our need to ever cheaper garments.

Nichiren spoke of earthly desires being used as fuel for the flame of Wisdom.

Buddhism teaches the converting of personal ambitions and desires, even base ones, into good traits like Wisdom, through altruistic living. A Buddhist doctrine that earthly desires are enlightenment, indicates that greed, anger through violence, and egocentricity can be transformed into altruistic traits such as compassion, trust and nonviolence.

The underlying delusions that drive our desires, including the desire for the development of science and civilisations, can be essentially transformed in a way that changes selfishness into altruism, violence into nonviolence and suspicion into trust.

The Western exploitation of emerging countries, for cheap labour and materials, simply to satisfy an ever growing market is totally unsustainable and must change. Until we can stop enriching certain groups at the expense of others, and concentrate on enriching all people by our actions, there will never be a sustainable peace, economy or even happiness in the world.

No Pain, No Gain

07 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Life Is A StruggleThere is no self-improvement without effort.

Without taking action, happiness will never come, no matter how long you wait. A life without peaks and valleys is a fairy tale. Reality is strict, because it is a win or lose struggle.

This is the way it is for human beings. Therefore, you should not allow yourselves to be battered about by reality but rather willingly rise to its challenges and use them as opportunities to train and strengthen yourselves.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

In Other People’s Shoes

06 Dec 2013 5 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

In Other People’s ShoesSo the HCRV diet is going rather well. I’m hoping to get over to Thailand next summer for the inaugural Thai Fruit Festival, but situations may not conspire to make that possible. Never the less, I am trying to make the causes to see it through to fruition.

I have to be careful, however, not to evangelise about the diet too much, even though the benefits are incredible.

It’s easy to sit here, in the quiet of my living room, and pontificate about eating a vegan diet, when I only have myself to consider. Being able to do so real life family situations is so different from the theory, but it does give you a really good measure of how much you want to make the change.

When you read some of the topics on my blog, and think ‘I could never be like that’ or ‘I would like to give that a try, but I just can’t see it working for me’ remember that I’m only human too, and that even though I do try my very hardest to practice what I preach, it doesn’t work all the time.

The trick, if that’s what you would like to call it, is not to give up completely just because you have a slip up. Learn from the slip, in this case seeing things from another’s viewpoint, and be determined to try harder next time. You will get there in the end.

Buddhahood In This Lifetime?

05 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Buddhahood in this lifetime?Religion must teach us an “attitude to life”. To live a life of true human dignity is certainly difficult.

Life is change; it is continuous change. Nothing is constant. The four sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death are an eternal theme that no one can escape.

Amid harsh reality, people yearn from the depths of their beings to live with dignity and for their lives to have meaning, and they make efforts toward that end. The product of these human yearnings, these prayers, is religion. Religion was born from prayer.

What is Nichiren’s response to these prayers of human beings? What attitude toward life does he teach? The answer, in short, is the principle of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

What is needed to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime? Wisdom, Courage and Compassion and that comes from sustained, diligent practice.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Is It You?

04 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Radiators And DrainsThere are two types of people in this world, and no not those who say ‘There are two types of people’ and those who don’t. The two types are those who are Radiators and those who are Drains.

A Radiator is the kind of person who leaves you feeling more energetic and enthused, after you meet or speak to them, than before. They radiate positive energy and are happy to share their life-energies with others. They appear to have a permanent smile on their faces, as though they know something others do not. In fact they do, they know that the secret path to a happy life is to pass on their happiness to others.

Drains are the complete opposite. They have the unfortunate knack of being able to sap energy and enthusiasm from other people, leaving them feeling unhappy or flat. When you meet one, and there are plenty around, the conversation is hard work, they are negative about things when you ask about how they are. In fact, you probably walk away wishing you hadn’t met them in the first place.

Our life-state can dictate whether we are a Radiator or a Drain if we let it, but concentrating on the positive side of life can change all that. When we are in Heaven we tend to Radiate energy to other people, when we are in Hell we Drain energy from others.

So think of all the good things in your life, walk around with a smile and a cheerful disposition, be a Radiator and see how people react positively towards you.

We all know a Drain when we meet one, and if you don’t, then it’s you.

Measuring Progress

03 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Swimming Against The TideWe all have a mental view of where we are going in life, what we would like our future to look like, a set of challenges that we must conquer if we are to find our utopia.

Each day, maybe even each second of each day, that view changes, usually just a little, sometimes quite a lot.

In a way, we can look at this from the view of a swimmer who is trying to swim against the flow of a river or a tide. He or she can swim at a constant pace, from their own viewpoint, a set number of strokes per minute, but their progress, from the viewpoint of an observer on the bank or the shore may be anything but constant.

It all depends on the strength of the current. If the current is flowing slower than the swimmer, the swimmer moves forward, if it is flowing faster than the swimmer, the swimmer moves backwards. Unsurprisingly, if the two are the same, the swimmer stays in exactly the same place.

Now we know that rivers and tides change, hourly, daily, in fact all the time. In order for the swimmer to know how fast to swim in order to make his or her desired progress they need to have a constant unchanging point on which to focus, a pole in the river, or a landmark on the shore, a point against which they can measure that progress.

Our situation in life changes in a similar way, so when we are striving towards our goals, we may think we are ‘swimming’ fast enough, think that we are making progress, when in fact, from another viewpoint, we are going nowhere, or even going backwards.

So what can we use as our ‘pole in the river’, our landmark by which we can measure our progress? Something that is constant, no matter what else changes around us. The answer, for me at least, is my practice. It is unchanging, it is strong and resilient and is always in the same place, no matter what else may be going on around me.

My practice gives me a great view of my progress. No matter what the challenge, when I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, my perspective on things is focussed on a wider view of the situation rather than just my own viewpoint. So I know whether I am ‘swimming’ fast enough to reach my goal, or whether I need to put in more effort to achieve my aims.

A Balanced View?

02 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Everything In BalanceThis China Study book is really getting under my skin. Having already rid my diet of meat and fish many years ago, I have turned from Vegetarian to Vegan in the past few weeks, hence adding dairy and any animal derived products to my list of ‘banned’ substances. However, having put effort into researching the pros of such a diet, I need to investigate the alternate view.

I have found a few interesting counter-arguments on the internet, belittling the research of Dr Graham or citing other research that appears to reverse the findings used in the book. There is one difference between Dr Graham and his detractors however, they all seem to have some agenda or are trying to sell something.

I am trying to keep an open mind, despite reading evidence that overturns almost everything I have ever been taught about diet and nutrition. I would like to be able to present the truth, but it seems that it comes in a number of various hues.

You may have read my posts about the book. If you would like to read the other viewpoints I suggest you Google (other search providers are available) ‘china study myth’ and take your pick of the articles available.

From my own point of view? Well I didn’t start my HCRV diet because of the book, I fell into the book because of the diet. I feel that the example of Freelee and DurianRiders health and fitness lends at least as much evidence to back the diet as does the book.

I guess it’s a bit like not walking under a ladder, just in case you end up with some unfortunate outcome. Maybe it’s far more complicated than I’m describing, but with all the horror stories surrounding the food industry, I’m sticking to fruit and veg for now.

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