Death – A Buddhist Viewpoint

25 Jan 2012 5 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Death - A Buddhist ViewpointThe passing of the close friend, of a close friend, led me to seek out a Buddhist poem about 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

Another Turn Of The Wheel

12 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

StarsSadly, a friend’s mother passed away earlier this week after a long battle against illness. For her, gone are the ties that bind us to this physical world. She is now at one with the stars, the universe, and knows no limits.

After a very short time, she will be back, in a different physical form, wiser for her experience during her past lives, and ready to start another rotation of her Wheel of Life.

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

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The First Tiny Signs

05 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

TwilightI have to admit that winter is not my favourite time of year. I don’t like getting up in the dark or going home in the dark, it feels, at some primeval level, rather unnatural. Maybe the caveman in me still yearns to be guided by the sun, waking when it shines, sleeping when it’s dark.

So you can imagine the delight I felt this evening, when for the first time this year, there was still a glimmer of light peeping over the horizon as I left the office. I can’t say that it was still light, certainly too dark to drive without headlights, but it wasn’t totally dark, and in my book, that’s progress.

The year is a big wheel. It never stops turning, but sometimes we don’t notice the tiny changes that happen each and every day. Today was not one of those days, I noticed, and it is a clear sign that the wheel is rolling on.

The wheel of life is a much bigger wheel, it never stops turning either, but make sure you keep your eyes open for those first tiny, almost imperceptible signs, that are there when you take the time to stop and look.

Universal Appeal

30 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Birthplace of stars and usHaving had a few days off has given me the opportunity to watch some amazing TV. Pick of the bunch has to be a re-run of the BBC’s Wonders of the Universe series. After it first ran, I received the book of the series as a present and it’s great to be able to read about the topics after the episode has finished.

I have my own telescope and have seen many amazing sights around the night sky, but the graphics on the program are stunning. The nebulae are some of the most beautiful objects, but are also the birth place of new stars the eventually create the building blocks of you, me and everything on Earth.

As I listened to Professor Cox explaining how all the elements are created during the death of a star, and that all the elements on Earth were create that way, it struck me that again, science is coming ever closer to the Buddhist understanding of the Universe and the Wheel of Life.

Our bodies are made of a collection of the same elements as those created in the stars, iron, carbon even a little gold, but in essence, we are all stardust. When we die, those elements are returned to the Universe and the cycle goes on.

The Universe is around 13.5 billion years old and the cycle of birth and death has been going on for much of that time. We have come from the Universe, we will go back into the Universe. Science facts for the last few years and Buddhist beliefs for more than two millennia. As I say, science is finally catching up with Buddhism.

Till We Meet Again Steve

06 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Steve Jobs 1955-2011Of course there is a sadness about the passing of Steve Jobs, the Apple guy, but it’s only ‘so long’ and not goodbye. Steve will be back with us very shortly, granted in a different form, but as a practising Buddhist, he believed it, and we all do too.

Steve was a charismatic and driven person, an iconic visionary in the field of consumer electronics, and computers in particular. His passing will leave an irreplaceable void in his family’s life, the Apple corporation’s hierarchy and in the business world at large.

But we should not fret for all that. He is simply taking a well earned rest from the sufferings of this life, and preparing himself for the challenges of the next. I love his products, even though I hate the ethos of the controlling nature of Apple, but one can only admire a man who made such a difference to everyone he touched. See you soon Steve.

A New Life Begins

20 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Oliver Richard Savage - dob 20/07/2011It has been a joyous day today. My daughter Charlotte gave birth to a bouncing baby boy this morning. With all the trials and tribulations she, and we, have been through, it is a triumph of medicine, her positive attitude and copious amounts of daimoku from many, many friends. Not necessarily in that order.

So Oliver has started his latest life cycle and it led me to a few interesting questions:

  • Why did he chose this time, this place, this family to be reincarnated?
  • Who or what was he in previous incarnations?
  • What will he do with this lifetime?

Of course it is impossible to answer any of these. Even Oliver will not remember details from his previous lives. Only our Karma follows us from one lifetime to another (unless you believe in regression). But never mind all that now.

He’s a beautiful healthy little boy, I’m a proud grandfather (again) and I promise to fill his life with as much happiness as I can.

Welcome to the world Oliver Richard Savage.

A Sad Truth

26 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

The Grim ReaperHaving my Mom stay for a few days is great. It means that we have time to chat and catch up, but more enjoyable than that, the chance to relive old memories.

Sadly, as Mom relates many of the incidents of my youth or family recollections, all too often the final line has been ‘they are in care’ or worse ‘they are no longer with us’.

Of course it’s only one of the facts of life, we all age and die, but I find this inspirational Daisaku Ikeda writing helps put it all in perspective.

“How painful and frightening is the prospect of death for human beings. No matter how wealthy or powerful we may be, all is vanity before death. Everything is empty, like a dream or an illusion. But people do not face this fact.

Nichiren Buddhism teaches us that we can transform our karma and attain a supremely peaceful death that is the start of a journey to our next life.”

Death is the final stage in the Wheel of Life, the stage that precedes our re-birth. There is nothing to fear, we have all been through it time and time again.

Make The Most Of Your Life

10 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

The Grim ReaperDeath does not discriminate, it strips us of everything.

Fame, wealth and power are all useless in the unadorned reality of the final moments of life. When the time comes, we will have only ourselves to hold to account.

This is a solemn confrontation that we must face, armed only with our raw humanity, the actual record of what we have done and how we have chosen to live our lives.

All that remains to ask is this …

Have I been true to myself?

What have I contributed to the world?

Which areas give me a sense of satisfaction, and which a sense of regret?

Think about this each and every day, for one day, maybe sooner than you think, it will be too late to make amends.

Is It Going To Be A Good Friday?

14 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

The Wheel of LifeThe next phase of our web project is nearing completion, and not before time.

With over a million items of stock to be carefully catalogued and stored in the database and a brand new website with well over a hundred pages to be designed, created and published, it has been a labour of love.

The launch date, planned for next Tuesday and the onset of the inevitable teething problems that ever such project encounters, we look set to be working into and maybe over the Easter break.

It struck me that as a Buddhist, Easter should not be such an important festival. Of course I respect all other religions and their important events. But Easter may be one of the closest encounters that Christianity and Buddhism have throughout the year, because of the not small matter of reincarnation.

Of course Christians do not consider that Jesus was reincarnated, they believe that he rose after the third day, and after meeting with a few of his disciples, rose up to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God.

Buddhists believe that we all, some say forty nine days, but certainly shortly after passing on from this life, come back, reincarnated in another life, over and over again.

What is clear, is that neither belief can be proven beyond doubt, but both offer a strong message of hope for us when we come to the end of this life.

The one big difference that I see in this, is that the Buddhist belief brings a certain continuity to the process. If you believe that the karma in your next life is the result of the causes we make in this life, I feel there is a real incentive to make good causes in order to lay the path for our next life.

Buddhism In The Stars

14 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Birthplace of stars and usThe new series of the BBC’s Wonders of the Universe with Professor Brian Cox is superb. Brian Cox is the new pin-up boy of science, but his easy style and the excellent way he conveys some difficult concepts make this a must-watch series.

I have my own telescope and have seen many amazing sights around the night sky, but the graphics on the program are stunning. The nebulae are some of the most beautiful objects, but are also the birth place of new stars the eventually create the building blocks of you, me and everything on Earth.

As I listened to Professor Cox explaining how all the elements are created during the death of a star, and that all the elements on Earth were create that way, it struck me that again, science is coming ever closer to the Buddhist understanding of the Universe and the Wheel of Life.

Our bodies are made of a collection of the same elements as those created in the stars, iron, carbon even a little gold, but in essence, we are all stardust. When we die, those elements are returned to the Universe and the cycle goes on.

The Universe is around 13.5 billion years old and the cycle of birth and death has been going on for much of that time. We have come from the Universe, we will go back into the Universe. Science facts for the last few years and Buddhist beliefs for more than two millennia. As I say, science is finally catching up with Buddhism.

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