Thinking Straight

17 Aug 2013 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Right-ThinkingOne of the many aims of Nichiren Buddhism is to smooth out the emotional highs and lows in life. through right thinking. However, one of the most difficult things to do, personally speaking, is to remain in a constant life-state when confronted by the highs and lows of life.

A Buddhist quotation says that “The Wise Man is neither elated by success nor deflated by failure”. That is not to say that you cannot be happy when you succeed, or sad when you fail, it’s about the intensity of those feelings and trying to stay nearer the mid-point.

I find it tough at times, but the more I practice. the better I’m getting at achieving an equilibrium.

The Colour Of Living

06 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Colours Of LifeThere is nobody lonelier or more unhappy than a person who does not know the pure joy of creating a life for her or himself.

To be human is not merely to stand erect and manifest intelligence or knowledge. To be human, in the full sense of the word, is to lead a creative life. The struggle to create new life from within is a truly wonderful thing.

Here we find the brilliant wisdom that guides and directs the workings of reason, the light of insight that penetrates the furthest reaches of the Universe, the undaunted will to see justice done that meets and challenges all the assaults of evil, the spirit of unbounded care that embraces all who suffer.

When these are fused with the energy of compassion that pours fourth from the deepest sources of cosmic life, an ecstatic rhythm arises to colour the lives of all people.

Fulfilment

01 Aug 2013 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 tasks 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 nothing to do, all the time in the world, but feel empty inside.

Time To Ponder

25 Jul 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Cogs In A MachineProbably the best aspect of living alone, is that it allows plenty of time to let me find out who I really am.

Wisdom is rooted in the souls of human beings. One way to acquire it is to follow the simple advice of Socrates, to ‘Know thyself’.

This is the starting point for the establishment of a sense of human dignity, preventing the degradation of human beings into anonymous, interchangeable cogs in a machine.

Remember, the essence of true knowledge is self-knowledge.

If Only …

18 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Rudyard KiplingThis poem by Kipling, encapsulates such wisdom, courage and compassion, and is one of my favourites.

As I read it again today, for the first time in quite a while, I was intrigued by the similarity of the statements within it, and those in Buddhist principles.

IF …

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ‘
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

~ Rudyard Kipling 1895

Kipling was not a Buddhist. He was, from a very early age, a Freemason and a Christian, but I cannot help feeling that his time in India brought him into contact with Buddhism and the ethos of the poem has a Buddhist feel to it.

I hope you enjoyed reading it and that you might take a little of the wisdom contained within it away with you.

Sticks And Stones

25 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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

Sticks and StonesNone of us like to be the subject of gossip, rumour or criticism, but there are times in life when it may be unavoidable. If you deviate from the well trodden path, the route that the many take, or have taken, you will open yourself up to closer, and often hostile, attention.

But when you totally devote yourself to achieving a goal, you will not be bothered by shallow criticism. Nothing important can be accomplished if you allow yourself to be swayed by some trifling matter, always looking over your shoulder and wondering what others are saying or thinking.

The key to achievement is to move forward along your chosen path with firm determination. Let others scoff if they will, but your goal must be your prime focus if you are to emerge from the journey as a victor. So set off with determination in your heart, be strong, and remember that sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you.

Head Down, Pressing On

21 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Branksome Chine BeachThose of you who know me personally will be aware that I am on a bit of a quest to lose some excess weight and get my poor old body back into shape. The same people will also know that I can get a bit addicted to challenges like this, with charts and spread sheets and training plans, the full Monty.

I find it easier to focus on a goal when I know the details of exactly what is required to achieve it, so I decided to do a little maths to work out where I am along this path to a slimmer me.

There are roughly 6618 kcal in each kg of body fat. Assuming that all the weight I want to lose is body fat, that’s another 106,500 kcals I have to burn, over and above that my body uses just to function.

Now I am currently burning around 35 kcal per kilometre, whilst cycling, which means that I will have to cycle another 2960 kilometres (at least) to reach my goal. That’s Land’s End to John O’Groats and back or there about, which is enough to focus anyone’s mind on the task.

So where’s the Buddhism in all this? Well it’s about self-improvement and self-awareness, it needs determination and a degree of courage, tempered by a great deal of acquired wisdom, so as not to injure or make myself ill in the process.

It’s also about the level of focus needed. Being aware, every waking minute of every day, of the effects of all your actions, be that eating, walking, drinking, sitting, cycling, you name it. For every cause, there is an effect, so when the desired effect is known, it is all about making more causes to foster that effect than those that deter the effect from happening.

So far so good, and interesting how well Nam Myoho Renge Kyo fits my breathing pattern when I’m head down, pressing on.

Flying Free

14 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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

Little Owl ChickVisiting our local Owl and Raptor centre yesterday, and seeing the birds flying around so effortlessly, reminded me of this lesson from Nichiren Daishonin in which he uses the metaphor of us as caged birds, striving to be free …

Nichiren writes: “Myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddha nature of all living beings…. The Buddha nature that all these beings possess is called by the name Myoho-renge-kyo” (wnd, 131). Regarding how to manifest one’s innate Buddha nature, Nichiren explains: “When we revere Myoho-renge-kyo inherent in our own life as the object of devotion, the Buddha nature within us is summoned forth and manifested by our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is what is meant by ‘Buddha.’ To illustrate, when a caged bird sings, birds who are flying in the sky are thereby summoned and gather around, and when the birds flying in the sky gather around, the bird in the cage strives to get out. When with our mouths we chant the Mystic Law, our Buddha nature, being summoned, will invariably emerge” (wnd, 887).

In Nichiren’s metaphor, our innate Buddha nature, whose name is Nam myoho renge kyo, is a bird trapped in the cage of ignorance. In other words, our deluded minds create this cage that imprisons our Buddha nature. But when we chant Nam myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon, which expresses Nichiren’s enlightened life and the potential of all people, our dormant Buddha nature becomes activated.

The singing of the caged bird is our chanting, and the birds flying in the sky are the Buddha nature in our environment, particularly as it is expressed in the Gohonzon. Through our chanting, the Buddha nature within our lives and the Buddha nature inherent in the universe begin their dynamic interaction.

For Nichiren’s metaphor to work, however, it is necessary for the caged bird to recognize the birds in the sky as being its own kind. In other words, when we pray to the Gohonzon, rather than thinking of it as an external power or deity, we must think of it as the mirror image of our own Buddha nature. If the caged bird thinks of itself as an elephant, it is unlikely to give the slightest thought to flying.

Nichiren Buddhism clarifies that the teaching of the Buddha nature is a teaching of faith and practice. All people have it, but not many can believe in it. Furthermore, some of those who believe in their Buddha nature may not practice to manifest it, erroneously thinking-I’m already a Buddha, so I don’t have to do anything. One’s faith in the Buddha nature must be expressed in one’s actions to manifest it.

Those who see the universal Buddha nature of oneself and others, and work to awaken it in all people are already Buddhas, for such actions belong to none other than a Buddha. As we cultivate our inherent Buddha nature through our conviction and actions to manifest it no matter our circumstances, we begin to see it and experience it. In our everyday lives, seeing may be believing. But in the world of Buddhism, believing in the Buddha nature is the first step toward seeing it.

(from Living Buddhism – February 2005)

Get The Message?

04 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Errr Hello !!!Sometimes it feels as though nobody is listening to us. No matter how important our message may be, it is falling on deaf ears, or so it seems. So maybe we speak a little louder, make our words a little more pronounced, like we are speaking to a child, nothing happens.

Actually, we may be right, maybe our message really isn’t getting across, but speaking louder, even shouting, still won’t make people listen. So what is really going on here? Well, the problem is that we are transmitting on the wrong frequency, or using the wrong type of media, or language.

Of course I am being metaphorical, we all speak within a frequency range between about 60 and 7000Hz, varying slightly person to person. But unless someone is ready to hear something in particular, they may not respond to you at all.

We have all had the experience of being in a noisy room, at a party or on a busy street where all conversation is a jumble, until someone calls out our name. We hear it, we can pick it out from all the background chatter and clatter, we are programmed to do exactly that, almost from birth.

So if you want to get a message across, say the name of the person with whom you wish to converse. Then, when they have stopped saying whatever they were saying, or doing whatever they were doing, they will be ready, and most likely willing, to listen to what you have to say.

If, having got their attention, you can deliver the message in a positive and friendly manner, there is even more chance that they will take in the content of the message. If you can actually make those contents helpful to the recipient, you really have got it cracked.

Focusing On The Positive

03 Jun 2013 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, each and every day.

Problems are an everyday reality, challenges 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.

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