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.

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

At Long Last

04 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Here Comes The SunAfter what seems to have been the longest winter, today really feels like spring. Not that it’s really that warm, about 9°C here in Poole, but the sun is just so beautiful it makes you want to smile.

Now sometimes, when you get a tune stuck in your head, it drives you a bit bonkers. Today I have this one stuck in mine, but it’s alright…

Here Comes The Sun

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
It’s all right

~ George Harrison 1969

And so the Wheel of Life continues to turn, before we know it, it will be the longest day.

The Fragility Of Life

27 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

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

Thoughts For The VictimsReading reports of the tragic fire in Brazil my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims. Initial investigations are reporting that over two hundred clubbers have been killed following a fire that was started by fireworks set off by a band.

Apart from the obvious thoughts of it being a needless loss of life, two other things crossed my mind. The first being that although we live in a world typically cossetted in reams of health and safety measures, life is still very fragile and should never be taken for granted.

The second though is for the person, or people, who set off the fireworks. I cannot imagine, in my wildest dreams, that there was any intent to cause a fire, but regardless of that, the responsibility for two hundred deaths lies squarely at the foot of the instigators.

I wonder how many times we make a poor decision, nip out into traffic, run that amber light, take an un-necessary risk, and get away with it? Imagine, if you can, how we might feel, if as a result of that risk, we caused an incident in which someone, maybe a child, was killed.

So as we think of the victims and those mourning the loss of their loved ones, killed in the most harrowing of ways, let us also take a moment to put ourselves in the place of the people who, albeit inadvertently, caused the deaths, for they will have to live with the responsibility of their actions until the end of time.

Universal Appeal

11 Jan 2013 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Stargazing Live - Jodrell BankWatching Stargazing Live on the BBC over the past three nights has left me feeling comfortable in the knowledge that we are all part of an incredibly beautiful Universe.

Whether the inane comments of David Baddiel left you saddened at the continued ‘dumbing down’ of science programs on the BBC, or not, you could not have failed to be in awe of the wonders on view.

The numbers involved in astronomy are are simply mind blowing, astronomical you might say. The Earth is our own very special piece of rock, orbiting a very ordinary star, but that star is one of billions that we know of up to now. So to imagine that we are the only life in that Universe is little short of preposterous. Just because we haven’t found it, or it found us, doesn’t mean life isn’t out there.

With the Buddhist view of the Wheel Of Life, the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth, I believe we experience changes in external form, whilst remaining the same ‘packet’ of energy throughout eternity and across the entire Universe. The more science learns about the laws governing energy, be that by way of quantum physics or the nature of astronomical phenomenon, the better the fit with Buddhist teaching seems to become.

Dara O’Briain and the ever popular Professor Brian Cox have again brought us another excellent program about astronomy. Their enthusiasm is infectious, reminding us of the late great Sir Patrick Moore, who will be sadly missed by many viewers. I’ve been keen on astronomy for more than fifty years, and it never ceases to amaze me to see Buddhism and its principles, going hand in glove with a science I love.

Normality Bites

03 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Wheel Of LifeSo that was that then.

Pretty much everyone was back from their Christmas holidays today, and already they are saying things like ‘it all seems ages since Christmas Day’ and ‘when is the next bank holiday?’. It’s March the 29th, Good Friday, for those of us in England and Wales, just in case you were wondering.

It appears that most people had a good holiday, a nice rest, and some even had a dose of the Norovirus just for good measure. Whether they are Christians or not, everyone enjoys the break over Christmas and the New Year, but as with all events, we work ourselves into a lather as it approaches, find it all too fleeting when it arrives and bemoan the loss once it’s gone.

The Wheel of Life turns inexorably, always forward, never backwards, for eternity, time without end. So although it seems as though Christmas takes ages to get here, flies by in a flash and then seems like it was months ago, even though it happened last week, we really shouldn’t be surprised.

Making the most of every moment makes time pass in a more uniform manner. Wasting time seems to slow it down, being in a rush to finish something always makes it feel faster. But whatever speed it appears to travel, there is one fact that we should all remember. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, so don’t waste one single second, today or any day.

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