A Year On

21 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Death - A Buddhist ViewpointA year ago today, being present at the passing of the father of a close friend, and later being involved in his funeral, led me to seek out the deeper meaning of death, from the Buddhist viewpoint.

Though we may relinquish our body in this lifetime, we are not gone, nor will we ever be.

This body is not me.
I am not limited by this body.
I am life without boundaries.
I have never been born, and I have never died.
Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars, manifestations from my wondrous true mind.
Since before time, I have been free.
Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey.
Birth and death are a game of hide-and seek.
So laugh with me, hold my hand, let us say good-bye, say good-bye, to meet again soon.
We meet today.
We will meet again tomorrow.
We will meet at the source every moment.
We meet each other in all forms of life.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Cutting The Chains

10 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

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

Cutting The ChainsEach and every one of our actions in previous existences are engraved, and contained, in this lifetime. The causes for our present suffering or joy, misery or happiness, all lie in our own past actions.

But Nichiren Buddhism enables us to fundamentally reform our destiny. When we truly base ourselves on Buddhism’s view of life’s eternity, we realize the first thing to change is how we live in the present.

In Nichiren Buddhism, change arises from the depths of our being. Strong, pure vitality abundantly wells forth. The iron chains of destiny are cut, and our original identity, the fresh and robust world of Buddhahood, appears.

New Beginnings

13 Jun 2013 1 Comment

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

LilyThe funeral of a loved one marks the final chapter in The Wheel of Life.

Whilst being a very sad and solemn ceremony, it is the human ritual where we say goodbye to the earthly body of the person we knew and loved, and as every religion has its own way of saying goodbye, so does Buddhism.

There is a moving chapter in The Buddha, Geoff and Me, which covers the ritual of a Buddhist funeral and that is how I would like my final chapter in this life to end.

At my Father’s funeral I read the following poem by Henry Scott Holland …

Death is Nothing At All
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It it the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.

It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, and it brings tears to my eyes reading it now. I feel however, that it embraces the Buddhist idea that death is not the end, it is merely a new beginning.

Happy Birthday Dad

30 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

DadToday would have been my Dad’s 87th birthday.

This photograph of him hangs on the wall next to my desk at home, and I look at it often and remember him with great fondness and love.

He wasn’t a religious man, only going to church for weddings and the like, though he always supported my Mom in her church activities.

As a boy, I remember him as always being at work. Back then, it was quite common for people to work on Saturdays too, and as a printer, he was always busy.

My Mom was definitely his Honzon. If ever she went away for the day, she would leave him a packed lunch, an apple cut into quarters and maybe a cheese sandwich, just to make sure he ate something. He was a bit lost whenever she wasn’t around.

His one big love in life, apart from his family, was printing. Our house was always full of books and paper and print samples, and if he was ever given a book as a present, he was far more interested in who had printed it than what it was about.

In later years, he had a passion for free pistol shooting, he kept meticulous sets of figures of his scores, and used to compile the tables of scores for the club to which he belonged. He was very angry when the Government brought in stricter gun laws, and he was unable to keep his much cherished guns. He always felt that they were punishing the innocent, for the sins of the guilty.

Sadly he spent the last couple of years of his life in the World of Tranquillity. He had a heart condition that meant he didn’t have the life-energy to get out and do very much. He still read quite a lot and watched sport on TV, but he slept a lot more.

You were a great Dad, and, in your own quiet way, a great man. You were Wise, Courageous and Compassionate in so many ways, though maybe I didn’t always appreciate it at the time. I pray for you every morning and evening during Gongyo, and although I know you are back here with us somewhere, I miss you a great deal.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Stairway To Heaven

18 May 2013 Leave a comment

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

In The Court Of The Crimson KingI’ve had a wonderful time today reliving my teenage years, listening to Led Zeppelin whilst enjoying more sunshine lying on the balcony. Each and every song hold memories of years gone by.

Zeppelin were one of the first supergroups and I was a huge fan back in those days. Along with groups like Cream, Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, they wrote the soundtrack to my youth. I could name many, many others, but the list would fill the page.

Things were very different back then. An Afghan was an embroidered shaggy coat that smelt awful when it got wet, not what it means today. A trip to Oasis in the old Bull Ring was always an adventure filled with Loons, Tie-Dye T shirts, Joss sticks and psychedelic cheesecloth.  My first live concert was at the Town Hall in Birmingham in 1969. It cost 6/- (six shillings), 30p in today’s money, and I watched Genesis, Lindisfarne and Van der Graff Generator on their first tour and soaked up every last note with my mate Martin Loake.

But listening to the music today, some 45 years after I heard it the first time, revived memories in a way that only certain smells can emulate. I say smells, because in my case, the smell of steam engines takes me right back to childhood holidays in Margate. Each morning, or so I recall, my grandfather took me to the shunting yards to watch the tank engines arranging the commuter coaches into the trains for people to get to work. One whiff of coal smoke and oily steam, and I can see it all so clearly.

The music took me back to school days. Long hair, those loons, tie-dye T shirts and evenings spent in my bedroom with the commandeered family PYE gramophone, and a reel to reel tape recorder blasting out the latest Progressive Rock tracks. I was supposed to be studying, or doing homework, but all I can remember is trying to pick out the chords on my six string and practicing riffs. No wonder my exam results suffered.

As those memories came flooding back, it got me thinking about how wonderful it would be if we could recall events from our past lives. I have been through past life regression sessions in the past, with some interesting results, but that’s not quite what I mean.

My life has been a cycle of repeated events, some good, others not so good, but the cycle is quite clear. Finally I have seen the light, I’m taking steps to avoid another cycle and trying to learn from past mistakes.

My Buddhist Practice, and particularly the study of Karma, have made me look at the past in a different way. I now realise that I created the causes for that cycle to repeat and by stopping doing that my life will change course forever. It can be a painful realisation, seeing where you have been going wrong all these years, but not as painful as going on the way I had.

Life has changed, I have changed, and the music is as brilliant as it ever was.

Is It Finally Here?

24 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Spring LambsDespite the recent gloomy weather it is so heart warming to see the green shoots of Spring finally starting to appear. It was beautiful in Ringwood yesterday, temperatures of over 20°C and lovely warm sunshine. And not before time, farmers all around the country are warning of late starts to their crops, with the ground temperature being kept low by the cold east winds.

Of course, in Buddhist terms, Spring is the first chapter in the year’s Wheel of Life. The reincarnation of nature, following the apparent demise of trees, flowers and shrubs over the Winter months.

As sure as day will follow night and Spring will follow Winter, our rebirth follows the death of our earthly bodies. Exactly the same way that plants use Winter to build their reserves for the Spring, we use death to recharge our souls ready for rebirth.

It is a time of lengthening days, warmer sunshine and the emergence of banks of daffodils  and other Spring flowers. With the recent change to British Summer Time, we can but hope for a better summer than last year and to being able to make the most of the nice long evenings again.

The Wheel of Life continues to turn, today, tomorrow and for Eternity.

Merely Another Beginning

17 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Merely Another BeginningThe funeral of Margaret Hilda Thatcher was performed with dignity and a degree of humour, befitting such a huge political figure. I was pleased that, although there were occasional expressions of dissent from the crowds lining the funeral route, there was no apparent protest.

Whilst many people harbour angry memories of the policies of Mrs Thatcher during her time in government, I was privatised myself whilst working for British Telecom, her death is not, in my opinion, a fitting time to resurrect those feelings in any public fashion. Of all the aspects of life, death is the one and only event that comes to us all, whether we be rich or poor.

The Christian funeral service celebrates the passing of the soul from this world into the next, an ending of earthly things and a beginning of heavenly ones. In this respect, Christianity and Buddhism agree, death is not the end, merely another beginning.

Buddhism looks at death in a similar way to sleep, it is not the end of something, it is a period of rest before the beginning of something new. In the case of sleep, it is the beginning of a new day. Death, on the other hand, is the beginning of a whole new life.

So I do not fear death, though I do not wish to hasten its coming. I intend to make the most of each and every day, and when death does arrive, as it will, I will enjoy the rest before being reborn into a new and exciting experience.

Poignant Memories

13 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

My Nan, Charlotte and HannahMarch the thirteenth always stirs up the saddest of memories for me and my family. It is exactly twenty one years ago today, that I lost the second most important lady in my life, my paternal grandmother. Just to make it even worse, if that were at all possible, ironically, March the thirteenth 1992 was a Friday, probably the worst Friday the thirteenth ever.

She was the most wonderful grandmother anyone could ever have had. She looked after me when I was very young, when my Mom was suffering from Tuberculosis, in the days when it was often fatal. She was a tweeny, a maid between stairs, in the days when Upstairs, Downstairs was a lot less romantic that it is on TV today. She was married to my grandfather Walter, in the days when Wally wasn’t a derogatory name.

She lived in a council house in Erdington, Birmingham, never owned a car, never really had two pennies to rub together, but was dignified and always proud of the way she looked and the way she kept that house. I spent many, many happy school summer holidays there, and remember being spoiled rotten.

She made the best bread pudding in the world, always had peaches or pears and trifle on the tea table and knitted me more school jumpers than I can count. We went on lots of holidays together as a family, but never outside the UK, in fact she may never have been abroad in her whole life. She was never happier than when she had something to worry about, but she was always happy and full of love.

She was just wonderful, was always there for us and is greatly missed. It makes me happy to know that she is back in the world somewhere and I know she will be spreading love and light wherever she (or he) is. We are thinking of you Nan.

Why Are We Here?

07 Mar 2013 3 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Josei TodaWhy are human beings born? This question has posed a great challenge for civilisations and societies all around the world for thousands of years.

The second president of the Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda, had this to say about his own conclusions.

“This world is a place for people to, as the Lotus Sutra states, ‘Enjoy themselves at ease’.

We were born here to thoroughly savour the joys of life.

Faith in Nichiren Buddhism enables one to bring forth the great life-force needed to lead such an existence.”

The arrival of a new-born baby makes us think about such questions and such an answer goes a long way to solving the riddle.

Another Turn Of The Wheel

06 Mar 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Wheel of LifeSadly, my aunt passed away yesterday. I say sadly, but actually that is only for those of us who remain. For her it is but another phase of the Wheel of Life.

For her, gone are the ties that bind us to this physical world. She is now at one with the stars, the universe, and currently knows no limits.

After a very short while, she will be back, in a different physical form, wiser for the experience gained during her past lives, and ready to start her new Life.

While we who are left behind mourn her passing, we should remember to rejoice in the certain knowledge that she has broken free of the shackles of her worldly body, and celebrate the achievements of her past life.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

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