Recharging The Batteries

21 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Recharging The BatteriesI was musing today, about the fact that there are no Buddhist bank holidays in the UK. I’m not sure if they have banks in Tibet, but I’m sure if they do, that they have Buddhist bank holidays.

Anyway, with luck, we all have a short respite from work, a time to chant, take stock and to recharge our physical and spiritual batteries.

They have promised us nice weather, so it will probably rain, but even so, we’re at the seaside and because we’re British, we’ll jolly well enjoy ourselves, come rain or shine.

Have a nice break everyone.

The Wonderful World Of Woollard

13 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

The Reluctant BuddhistAs I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been re-reading and listening to William Woollard’s book The Reluctant Buddhist. It’s a fantastic account of William’s journey from Buddhist sceptic to devout Nichiren Buddhist practitioner.

His second book, Buddhism And The Science Of Happiness is, in my opinion, is an even better read. More scientific, to which I can relate, it shows how modern science is converging towards the Buddhist principles of eternal change and energy, all the time.

Sometimes tasks are a bit of a labour of love. So it was with the process of organising the chapters from William’s books from Jason Jarrett’s podcasts. I worked on the mp3 files for hours, arranging them into a structure that allows me to store them on my mobile phone and play them back through my car stereo on my way to and from work.

Buddhism and the Science of HappinessI find that listening to books on the drive to work, coupled with my morning chanting, puts me in a higher life-state, and helps me apply Buddhist principles to my working day. The same applies to the drive home, the World of learning again raises my life-state and means that I am in one of the higher Ten Worlds for the rest of the day. I find the higher the World I am in, the happier I am.

Given that the main reason I practice Nichiren Buddhism is to make me a happier person, I find that this way I can virtually guarantee that I am happy for most of the day, seven day a week.

So you can just imagine what a happy chappie I am today, almost 48hrs of the Wonderful World of Woollard has been fantastic. Thank you William, please keep the inspiration coming. I would also like to extend my thanks to Jason Jarrett for working with William to bring William’s books to the whole world, through his amazing podcasts.

The Oneness Of Body And Mind

24 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Shikishin-FuniWe must never underestimate the power the mind has over our bodies. If we can remain positive, with high life-energy and in one of the higher worlds, our bodies will respond positively. If we allow negativity to creep in, the battle will be all the harder.

The Nichiren phrase for this connection between our body and mind is Shikishin-Funi. Two, but not two, not two, but two, meaning that they are separate, but cannot function alone.

[色心不二] (Jpn shikishin-funi )

Also, non-duality of body and mind. The principle that the two seemingly distinct phenomena of body, or the physical aspect of life, and mind, or its spiritual aspect, are essentially non-dual, being two integral phases of a single reality. One of the ten onenesses formulated by Miao-lo (711-782) in his Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.” In the Japanese term shikishin-funi, shiki means that which has form and colour, or physical existence, while shin means that which has neither form nor colour, or spiritual existence, such as the mind, heart, and soul. Funi is an abbreviation of nini-funi, which indicates “two (in phenomena) but not two (in essence).” This means that the material and the spiritual are two separate classes of phenomena, but non-dual and indivisible in essence, because they are both aspects of the same reality. In the above annotations, Miao-lo states that, from the viewpoints of the whole and its components, life at a single moment is the whole, while body and mind are its components. Neither body nor mind is a separate entity; there is not one without the other. They are inseparable components of life. In the Lotus Sutra, the principle of the ten factors of life represents the oneness of body and mind. The ten factors are listed in the “Expedient Means” (second) chapter of the sutra, where it states that the true aspect of all phenomena consists of “appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and their consistency from beginning to end.” On “The Profound Meaning” states: “Appearance exists only in what is material; nature exists only in what is spiritual. Entity, power, influence, and relation in principle combine both the material and the spiritual. Internal cause and latent effect are purely spiritual; manifest effect exists only in what is material.” The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings reads, “[Concerning the term dedication of one’s life ] ‘dedication’ refers to the element of physical form as it pertains to us, while ‘life’ refers to the element of mind as it pertains to us. But the ultimate teaching tells us that form and mind are not two.” – Taken from the SGI Dictionary of Buddhism

Now that’s a lot to take in, but in our current situation it basically means that staying positive in our minds will help heal our bodies. Which is exactly what Charlotte needs right now.

Focus On The Positives

21 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Sunshine On A Rainy DayEvery day we have highs and lows, wins and losses, good things happen, bad things happen, every single day.

Problems are an everyday reality, they are part of life and ignoring them will never make them go away.

So focus on what’s good, what’s going right, enjoy that brief spell of sunshine on an otherwise rainy day.

Smile, laugh when you can, and always focus on the positives.

Make the most of every minute, you will never have the opportunity to use that minute again, so don’t waste it.

Make causes today, to make tomorrow better and never give in to the inevitable resistance that you feel when you are nearing your goal.

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind, never fear the truth, use the Wisdom , Courage and Compassion, we all possess, to help others to be positive, it will increase your own life-energy as you encourage them to increase theirs.

Patience Is A Virtue

20 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

The UniverseWaiting for important news can be a stressful time, whether that news is potentially good or bad.

My whole family is waiting for the outcome of my daughter’s biopsy, and at times it feels like time has come to a standstill. So what is the secret for dealing with such situations?

Well my way of coping is to be patient, to refuse to worry about possible outcomes, concentrating on what is real, in the here and now and offering support on that basis. Of course, being calm, collected and rational in such an emotional situation could be seen as lacking in compassion or feeling.

However you look at things, I am not an oncology specialist, so I can’t help in any medical way. How I can help, is by being rational and supporting my daughter and the rest of the family.

I must say that I have obviously thought about the various scenarios that might play out. But rather than waste my life-energy worrying about what might happen, I am saving it for when we know the path that must be taken.

I am also looking for the positives that are coming out of the situation. The whole family is coming together as a unit, to support Charlotte en mass. The silly little squabbles, that occur in all families, are being resolved or forgotten. So although the reason for this unity is something for which we would never wish, even if adversity, there are good things coming out of it.

As you might expect, I am chanting my heart out, to keep my life-energy and life-state as high as possible. I’m praying for us all come out of this in a positive way as well as telling my daughters how much I love them, at every opportunity.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Still Going …

09 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

The Clock's TickingSo the website went live today … WooHoo !!!

The chanting on the way to the office raised a few eyebrows from the people around me, but the batteries were fizzing by the time I got to work.

Since then, I’ve been working all night to make sure everything is working as it should, and it isn’t, quite.

So another missed post, but another productive day (and night).

I’ll try to get time later today to put my feelings and what I’ve learned from the whole experience into words.

And I promise to put a link to the new site once it’s ready for public consumption.

No Time Toulouse

08 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Toulouse LautrecSuch a busy time, project going live tomorrow so no time to write a decent post.

Hopefully tomorrow will be easier, I can feel my Life-Energy draining away.

I think I need a full on, lung busting chant all the way to work in the morning to recharge the batteries …

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo !!!

Finally …

06 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Buddhism and the Science of HappinessSo after days of back pain, I’m finally sorted. No idea what caused it, some kind of muscular spasm according to the doctor, but it’s gone.

I don’t suppose I realised quite how tired I was, the pain woke me every time I moved, so sleeping hadn’t come easily. But last night, having worked until some ungodly hour, I went out like a light and slept soundly till nearly midday.

Funny stuff pain, it can affect your whole life-state, even when you fight against it. Several times today I have found myself realising that it’s not longer there, a bit strange really.

Tonight I have ordered William Woollard’s new book, Buddhism and the Science of Happiness. I’ve heard a little of it on Jason Jarrett’s A Buddhist Podcast and William’s work is always very interesting, but there’s nothing like reading the book. I’ve also ordered a copy of The Buddha, Geoff and Me, to replace the copy I gave to someone a while back.

With the back sorted, I’m looking forward to being back in the office tomorrow. You can only take so much lying in bed, and I’m hoping we will be launching the new website too, so won’t that be exciting?

Radiators And Drains

28 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

DrainsYou might be thinking this is going to be a plumbing 101 lesson from the title, but it’s far more useful than that.

There 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 take energy and enthusiasm from other people, leaving them feeling unhappy and 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.

In Perfect Harmony

22 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags:

Today I have a strange example of man and machine being in perfect harmony.

My poor Nokia mobile has suddenly started to suffer from a leaky battery. Not in the sense that the goo is oozing from it, but in that disappointing way where you leave it on charge for hours on end, and it never gets full.

In a very similar way, my life-energy level seems to have taken a disappointing down turn today. Having got back from work I decided to take a quick nap, in order to recharge my own batteries. Four hours later, ironically, my mobile was ringing, waking me with a start.

Whether my lethargy was caused by an almost total lack of sunshine in the last week, or my life-state hovering around the world of tranquillity, or a combination of the two, I’m not quite sure. It may be that the sad episode of Vince Cable has made a contribution too. It’s such a pity that a man I held in such high esteem, turns out to be as foolish as the next politician.

To end this rather sad entry on a high note, my batteries are now fully charged, and a replacement battery for the Nokia is winging it’s way here as I type.

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