Exploring Life

08 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Exploring LifeEvery day can be an adventure into the unknown. If we allow ourselves to go with the flow of events, we can find ourselves in new situations, with new challenges. Making assumptions about where life will take us, to expect the mundane, the ordinary, the usual, may mean that we walk straight past the very opportunity we need to take our lives in a completely different and exciting direction.

The belief taught in the Lotus Sutra provides no easy answers, no escape route from the difficulties of human life. In fact it firmly rejects such easy answers, and instead implores us to take up the two tools for exploring life. The use of those tools, belief and understanding, allows us to continually challenge, and work to perfect, ourselves. When combined with the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, they also provide us with the wisdom, courage and compassion and the energy to do just that.

Happy Inside

07 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

HappinessUltimately, happiness rests on how you establish a solid sense of self or being. Happiness does not lie in outward appearances or vanity. It is a matter of what you feel inside, it is a deep resonance in your life.

To be filled each day with a rewarding sense of exhilaration and purpose, a sense of task accomplished and deep fulfilment, when you feel this way, you are happy. What is more, those who have this sense of satisfaction, even when they are busy and under pressure, are much happier than those who have all the time in the world, but feel empty inside.

A Whole Year

30 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Anniversay PartyAmazingly, today is the anniversary of my blog, and there’s been a post 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 twelve months highs and lows of life.

I would like to think that you can see the progress, slight 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.

Poor Charlotte

28 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Poor CharlotteA very quick post tonight.

Just when we were hoping that things were getting back on track, Charlotte has been admitted to the Bristol Royal Infirmary oncology unit for a series of tests.

I shall be chanting for her, Rob and the boys and doing all I can to help. Your daimoku will be gratefully received. More news when I have some.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

No Answers

25 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Rugby World CupWhat a strange weekend. A eclectic mix of work, sport, walking, sleeping and lots of chanting. I’m not sure that getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Rugby World Cup is having a beneficial effect on me, especially when Scotland managed to lose to Argentina in the last few minutes of their match this morning. Not the end of the world (cup), for them or for England or Argentina, but not the result I have hoped for.

The walk on the heather in the New Forest was great, and that at least solved a few questions, but there are still more requiring answers. Usually, chanting seems to bring situations into clear focus, but not this weekend. Each answer seems to have brought more questions, and each chanting session has brought more doubt.

The answer is, of course, to press on with even more determination. My practice is not the problem, my progress is not the problem either, so I will press on. The problem is my impatience with getting answers. Modern life is all about getting everything now, not later, instant access, not waiting, and realising that, is I guess, another part of the answer.

Tomorrow is the start of another working week, so an early night, followed by an early start will get me off and running. My search for enlightenment goes on, and sometimes, just standing still, rather than regressing, can be seen as progress.

The Right Path

03 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Moral CompassWe all have to find our own path to enlightenment. One person’s way may not be that of another, but we all have a path, if we take the time, and have the courage to find it.

Everyone has the right to flower, to reveal his or her full potential as human beings and to fulfil their particular mission in this world. You have this right, as does everyone else.

This is the meaning of human rights. To scorn, violate and abuse people’s human rights destroys the natural order of things. Valuing human rights and showing respect for other people are amongst our most important tasks.

Family Fortunes

31 Aug 2011 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Oliver Richard SavageAfter much chanting, the great news is that, all being well, young Oliver will be going home from hospital tomorrow. I am so pleased that he is better, but even happier for Charlotte and Rob, that they have their little man back at home.

Is there any better way to confirm your faith, than to see a perfect outcome after sending daimoku for a definite goal? I think not.

A very short post, but a very good outcome.

More Than Precious

30 Aug 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

More Than PreciousSometimes we get a really sharp reminder about what is truly precious in life. Baby Oliver is being kept in hospital with a very high temperature. Tests indicate that it is not meningitis, but such a condition, in such a young baby is cause for concern.

In the midst of Charlotte’s chemotherapy, this just feels like one more challenge to add to the list, but it’s important that I, we, all stay positive and strong.

For me, that involves a lot of chanting, prayer and keeping my focus on the things that are more than precious in life and being there if I’m needed.

I must remember, poison into medicine. Nam myoho renge kyo.

Priorities

16 Aug 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Changed PrioritiesAs we are all aware, life consists of a series of problems or challenges as we prefer to call them. Sometimes they appear in sequence, one at a time, but sometimes they all catch the same bus and arrive en mass. This is when priorities have to kick in.

Today has been such a day, bucket loads of challenges arrived and it’s just not possible to deal with them all at once, so they have to be prioritised. Whilst it is very nice that our new website has lots of traffic, sales are up, and generally it has been very well received, it does generate a lot of work too.

But that’s the side of life that pays the bills, keeps the roof over our head and allows us to feed and clothe ourselves, but what about the more spiritual aspects? Well, although I chant about pretty much everything, having a job is really rather important. Without a job, there’s no money. Without money life gets very messy, very quickly, as I know to my own misfortune.

Even though my practice is the hub of my life, the spindle around which everything else revolves, sometimes it has to happen in the background. Being so busy is a blessing and a bore all at the same time, but this time work has to be the top priority.

What Is It About Mondays?

15 Aug 2011 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

AnguishHaving had a very quiet Sunday, today has been like having a bucket of cold water thrown over me. Over fifty emails waiting in my inbox, our email system then deciding to have a long lunch hour and various other problems have meant that I feel like nothing really got done today.

Of course, it’s always busier on a Monday, with the weekend issues to deal with, but today has felt like swimming in treacle. Good job I have my practice to fall back on, poison into medicine and all that. Remembering back to how I used to be before Nichiren made me feel a lot better.

The day is nearly over, and everything is back on an even keel again. Nobody got eaten by bears and my inbox will be much less full in the morning. So it’s just a case of thinking happy thoughts and letting the waves of anguish lap gently against the solid foundations of calm and reason.

And just to put it all into perspective, I know from personal experience, that it is a lot better to have too much work to do, than have none at all. A little gratitude for the good things in life makes the bad things melt away, but it’s easy to say that now.

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