Look Backwards, To Move Forward

30 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

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

Looking Backwards, To Move ForwardThere are situations and challenges in life, when the almost overwhelming tendency is to look inwards, to examine repeatedly, the reasons and causes that have brought us to this point in time.

We may have certain regrets about things we did, or indeed didn’t do, but the fact of the matter is that the past is set in stone.

Of course, making sense of situations, and the events that brought them about, can be very useful if we are to avoid making repeated mistakes or errors of judgement. But a continuous process of navel gazing is never going to get us back out into the big wide world. Imagine what you would miss, if you were to sit and stare at your hands, neatly folded in your lap, every time you went on a train, a plane, or a car journey.

So whilst we must take care to learn from the lessons in life. We must also look forward to using those lessons as we move forward towards a brighter and happier future, buoyed by the knowledge that we are better prepared to meet whatever we might encounter around the next exciting corner.

Life Can Be Proper Tricky

27 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Life Can Be Proper TrickySorting out our life can be a bit like solving 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. Every aspect of life is connected, to our family, our friends, our work, every other aspect. 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 or adapt the rules so they fit.

There are two big differences between life and Rubik’s cube. The first is that unlike the cube, life is no game, obviously, and second, life is nowhere as simple as getting six coloured faces sorted out. So whether you are playing with a Rubik’s cube, or trying to sort your life out, I wish you good fortune. Wisdom, courage and compassion in huge and equal measure will go a long way in many respects. From my point of view, the news is mixed. I’m getting better, but still learning to do both.

Honestly, This Is Taking Forever

17 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

This Is Taking ForeverWhen you are waiting for something, a change, an answer, a decision, an outcome, it can be almost like the world is holding its breath.

Sometimes the World of Tranquillity can be a true blessing, a time to recover after a period of intense work for example.

Sometimes it can be be like the dying notes of a moving piece of music or the fading echoes of the most magnificent firework display.

Maybe the biggest difference between the two is whether you wish for Tranquillity or not.

If you do wish for it, Tranquillity can be the most restful of time, if not it can be like the quiet of the grave, peaceful but not something which you might actively desire.

On The Limitation Of Changes

06 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

The Limitation Of ChangesMy Buddhist practice has changed the way I interact with everything and everyone in my own personal Universe.

The change is difficult to explain, and even more difficult to prove over the short term to others within that Universe.

Those difficulties are still further compounded by the fact that no matter how radical the change, nothing can change the past.

Like karma, my past was formed from the past causes I made. What I can do, is to try to make better causes now, and in the future. What I can not do, is influence the past.

That limitation is a very real sadness on this journey towards a happier and more enlightened future. But we must always look forward and not let our past get in the way of our path through the present into a brighter future.

Carry On Reading

02 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

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

Carry On ReadingSo few of us manage to read enough these days, particularly books of real substance, we are besotted with instant web text.

Reading is a dialogue with ourselves, it is self-reflection, which cultivates profound humanity. Reading is essential to our self development.

It expands and enriches the personality like a seed that germinates after a long time and sends forth a multitude of blossom-laden branches.

People who can say of a book ‘this changed my life’ truly understand the meaning of inner happiness. Reading that sparks inner revolution is urgently needed to help us escape drowning in the rapidly advancing information society.

Reading is far more than simple intellectual ornamentation, it is a battle for the establishment and preservation of the self, a ceaseless challenge that keeps us young and vigorous.

Life, What’s That All About?

25 Nov 2014 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor FranklWe have all asked ourselves this question, maybe once or twice, maybe a thousand times, but the answer to the question turns out to be so simple, so eloquent, so meaningful, when it is asked from a position of total hopelessness.

Taken from Man’s Search For Meaning (p.113), by the late Dr Viktor E. Frankl, this is the most sensible and acceptable explanation of the age old question, ‘what is the meaning of life?’ I have ever read. It is a question we should all ask ourselves on a regular basis, for as you will see, there is no one single answer.

”I doubt whether a doctor [we] can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour.

What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.

To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: “Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?” There simply is no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one’s opponent.

The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfilment.

Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it. As each situation in life represents a challenge to man and presents a problem for him to solve, the question of the meaning of life may actually be reversed.

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”

This short explanation, taking less than a page in the book, encapsulates an answer to which I can relate.

The book itself covers Dr Frankl’s own struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. It has tragic as well as surprisingly humorous passages, but reading it will leave you forever changed and, I believe, better for the experience.

Life Sure Is Tricky

22 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Life Sure Is TrickySorting out our life can be a bit like solving 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. Every aspect of life is connected, to our family, our friends, our work, every other aspect. 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 or adapt the rules so they fit.

There are two big differences between life and Rubik’s cube. The first is that unlike the cube, life is no game, obviously, and second, life is nowhere as simple as getting six coloured faces sorted out. So whether you are playing with a Rubik’s cube, or trying to sort your life out, I wish you good fortune. Wisdom, courage and compassion in huge and equal measure will go a long way in many respects. From my point of view, the news is mixed. I’m getting better, but still learning to do both.

Another Year

30 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

Balloons For Another YearYet again,  today is the anniversary of my blog, and there’s been a post of some description each and every day.

As it says in the About it is the story of my path to enlightenment, but it also logs the past four years highs and lows of life.

I would like to think that you can see the progress, gradual though it may be, that I have made since last September.

It’s a fascinating journey as many of you know, and everyone’s is different. I would really like to thank all the people who have left comments on here or on Facebook or Twitter, they are all greatly appreciated and very often show that we are all learning as we go along.

When I wrote the first post, I was determined to keep it up. Whilst I cannot, hand on heart, say that there haven’t been days when I’ve though ‘Oh bum, it’s late, I’m tired and I still haven’t written today’s post’ but I have always made the effort.

As with my practice, it’s the routine of it that makes the difference. It’s the discipline needed to keep going that adds to the progress through the practice, so when you feel like giving up on something, don’t !!!

Barring fire, pestilence or flood, I’ll still be here, blogging away this time next year, and I hope that you are all still reading the posts too.

A Gem Of An Idea

06 Sep 2014 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Sew Those Hidden GemsPassing on the ideas and ideals behind Buddhist teachings is a little like sewing a hidden gem into the lining of a friends clothes.

This is the parable about the rich man, the poor man, and the hidden gem …

A poor man visits a rich friend, gets drunk, and passes out.

The rich man, who has to leave on business, gives his poor man a priceless gem, which he secretly sews into the lining of his friend’s clothes.

When the poor man comes to, he resumes his life as a vagrant, unaware of the treasure he received during his blackout.

Later, he meets the rich man again, who shows him where the gem is concealed, and the poor man realizes his wealth.

Discovering the gem, even years later, can transform a poor life into one of untold enlightened riches, so keep sewing those gems of wisdom into the people you meet in life.

The act of giving benefits both parties and you never know when you might be giving to just the right person, at the right time and place, to transform their life for the better, forever.

Namaste

Good News Cubed

05 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

Good NewsMy own experiences with Nichiren Buddhism have shown me how powerfully it can change your life.

Whether that is simply making you a happier person or helping you see situations from a different perspective, that will help you solve problems in a better way.

As with all good things, you want to tell people about it, so they can share the benefits.

So the greatest feeling, for me, is when someone actually comes straight out and asks. At that point, it’s important to offer as much, or as little as they request. Force feeding them will kill that spark as surely as piling logs onto a smouldering ember. So be enthusiastic, but be reserved as well. Let them set the pace, be there for them when they want to ask for more, and just see what happens.

Giving people a gift is a great feeling. The shining smile you see when they open it and are delighted by what they find. Giving people the way to find Nichiren Buddhism is just like that, only a million times better for both parties.

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