Breaking Through The Chains That Bind Us

08 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

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

Chains

When you realise that karma, the simple law of cause and effect, dictates the course or our lives, it really makes the events that toss us this way and that, so much easier to accept.

Our actions in previous lives are all engraved upon, this lifetime. The causes for our present suffering, our joy, happiness or misery, all lie with our own past actions. But Nichiren Buddhism enables us to fundamentally transform our destiny.

When we truly base ourselves on the Buddhist view of eternal life, we realise the first thing that must change is how we live in the present. In Nichiren Buddhism, change arises from the very depths of our being, brought about by our daily Practice.

When we practice with vigour, strong pure vitality wells forth in abundance. The chains of our destiny are broken, and our original identity, the fresh and robust world of Buddhahood, shines forth. Far from being set in stone, our destiny truly is in our own hands, through our everyday thoughts, words and deeds.

The Road Not Taken

22 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

The Road Not TakenAt times it is all too easy to be led by your heart, hoping that the happiness you gain will offset the unhappiness of others. On the other hand, the unhappiness you may cause to others could easily put a dark cloud over your own feelings, not just for the immediate future, but for eternity.

In the end, the final decision may not even be in the individuals own hands, making it doubly difficult. We are all keen to having our destiny under our own control, so relinquishing it to someone else just adds to the feelings of angst.

My gut feeling, and my Buddhist teaching tell me that, in general, we should sacrifice our own feelings so that others do not have to, but time will tell how it is resolved.

Mulling it all over and over in my mind, knowing that whichever way things turn out, we will never know whether it was for the best, reminded me of the poem by Robert Frost.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Writing Nice Letters To Ourselves?

02 May 2014 Leave a comment

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

Creating Our Own DestinyThe law of cause and effect, action and reaction, applies to everything in life and forms the basis of our Karma.

The results of all the causes we have made in this, and previous lives, is precisely why we are where we are today.

The more good causes we create, generally speaking, the more good effects we see, and the happier we are with our lives.

Dora, in the book The Buddha, Geoff and Me, explains that Karma is a bit like letters we write to ourselves. Many of those letters were written so long ago, that we have forgotten all about them.

The nice letters are lovely surprises when they arrive. Nasty ones come as a bit of a shock, they may annoy us and we might even write another nasty one in response. Of course, in time, those responses get delivered too, so the cycle can repeat itself, time after time.

That is, of course, until you understand the way the process works. Once you realise that you create the causes, you can create causes for nice, or good effects, rather than going round and round forever.

I cannot imagine a more important lesson to learn, to know that your Karma, and hence your future, is determined by you? It is the most empowering feeling, to take control of your life and to have your destiny in your own hands.

Breaking The Chains That Bind Us

21 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

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

Breaking The Chains That Bind UsOur actions in previous lives are all engraved upon, and contained within, this lifetime. The causes for our present suffering, our joy, happiness or misery, all lie with our own past actions. But Nichiren Buddhism enables us to fundamentally transform our destiny.

When we truly base ourselves on the Buddhist view of eternal life, we realise the first thing that must change is how we live in the present. In Nichiren Buddhism, change arises from the very depths of our being, brought about by our daily Practice.

When we practice with vigour, strong, pure vitality wells forth in abundance. The chains of our destiny are broken, and our original identity, the fresh and robust world of Buddhahood, shines forth. Far from being set in stone, our destiny truly is in our own hands, through our everyday thoughts, words and deeds.

Are You Writing Nice Letters?

15 Oct 2013 2 Comments

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

Creating Our Own DestinyThe law of cause and effect, action and reaction, applies to everything in life and forms the basis of our Karma.

The results of all the causes we have made in this, and previous lives, is precisely why we are where we are today.

The more good causes we create, generally speaking, the more good effects we see, and the happier we are with our lives.

Dora, in the book The Buddha, Geoff and Me, explains that Karma is a bit like letters we write to ourselves. Many of those letters were written so long ago, that we have forgotten all about them.

The nice letters are lovely surprises when they arrive. Nasty ones come as a bit of a shock, they may annoy us and we might even write another nasty one in response. Of course, in time, those responses get delivered too, so the cycle may repeat itself, time after time.

That is, of course, until you understand the way the process works. Once you realise that you create the causes, you can create causes for nice, or good effects, rather than going round and round forever.

I cannot imagine a more important lesson to learn, to know that your Karma, and hence your future, is determined by you? It is the most empowering feeling, to take control of your life and to have your destiny in your own hands.

Breaking Free

17 Oct 2012 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Breaking FreeOur actions in previous lives are all engraved upon, and contained within, this lifetime. The causes for our present suffering, our joy, happiness or misery, all lie with our own past actions. But Nichiren Buddhism enables us to fundamentally transform our destiny.

When we truly base ourselves on the Buddhist view of eternal life, we realise the first thing that must change is how we live in the present. In Nichiren Buddhism, change arises from the very depths of our being, brought about by our daily Practice.

When we practice with vigour, strong, pure vitality wells forth in abundance. The chains of our destiny are broken, and our original identity, the fresh and robust world of Buddhahood, shines forth. Far from being set in stone, our destiny truly is in our own hands, through our everyday thoughts, words and deeds.

W, C & C

01 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

George PapandreouAfter all the negotiation of last week, of the leaders of the Euro zone countries, putting together a bail out (or is it bale out) plan for Greece, it was unbelievable that the Greek Prime Minister announced a potentially deal breaking referendum.

One of Uncle Ken’s favourite quotes is “A great inner revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of an entire society and, further, will cause a change in the destiny of humankind.” Well I’m not sure that George Papandreou has actually had an inner revolution, or that the change in destiny is quite that envisaged by Ken’s quotation, but it is frightening that just one man’s decision can wipe billions off the world’s stock markets at a single stroke.

George Papandreou has, without doubt, courage in abundance. I do however fear that it is not matched by equal measures of wisdom or compassion. I fear that his decision was taken for personal reasons, in an attempt to bolster his flagging political popularity, rather than as an attempt to secure a deal of control, over their financial destiny, for the Greek people.

From the newsreel footage from across Europe today. It is clear that Minister Papandreou has done immeasurable damage to his popularity amongst his peers, though for him, that may be an inconsequential aside. I hope that the Greek people see the bigger picture, realise that Europe is trying to help them out of a state of bankruptcy, but that hope may just be pie in the sky. Time will tell whether they grasp the chance to control their own futures at the expense of the rest of the world.