Every Child

24 Oct 2012 2 Comments

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

Every Child Is PreciousWith my thoughts being dominated by Charlotte, and her slow and painful recovery from the latest surgery, whilst remembering that she is but one of my three children, I was reminded of this explanation, by Daisaku Ikeda, of a relevant parable from the Lotus Sutra.

Every child is precious. The Lotus Sutra tells the parable of the three kinds of medicinal herbs and two kinds of trees. There are many different kinds of plants; their shape, size and nature come in myriad varieties. Some plants grow fast while others take time to mature. In this parable, however, the heavens rain upon all the plants equally, nurturing their growth. And the plants blossom and bear fruits according to their own unique character.

This parable symbolizes the Buddha’s vast compassion to nurture all living beings despite their differences. All children are different; each possesses his or her wonderful unique quality. We must pour upon all children our great love and compassion so that each child can blossom, true to his or her unique quality.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Reflections

19 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

ReflectionsThe misfortune of others is our misfortune. Our happiness is the happiness of others. To see ourselves in others and feel an inner oneness and sense of unity with them represents a fundamental revolution in the way we view and live our lives.

Therefore, discriminating against another person is the same as discriminating against oneself. When we hurt another, we are hurting ourselves. And when we respect others, we respect and elevate our own lives as well.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Finally …

11 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

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

Painful Questions, Honest AnswersGoing back over your mistakes, asking yourself painful questions and giving honest answers is a difficult, but enlightening experience.

We’ve all made mistakes in life, some more serious than others, but talking them through, trying to explain why you made this decision at that point in time, makes you re-examine your own values.

Our history is set in stone, we cannot go back and make those decisions anew. But we can try to make amends, apologise for any hurt we have caused, and, above all, be honest with ourselves and others.

The changes in myself, that I see and feel, the way I view life, and my responsibility for events affecting me and people around me, have come about through my Practice and my study of Nichiren Buddhism.

As I have said before, once you see things in a different light, you cannot undo that change. Nor would I want to, because even though I know I will make other mistakes in the future, I know that those mistakes will be made despite honourable intentions, and with a great deal more Wisdom, Courage and Compassion.

The one thing I really must try very hard to improve is how I hear the answers that others give to the questions I ask. I have been guilty of having selective hearing over the last few months and of trying to dissuade others from taking the path that is right for them.

That guilt has caused a great deal of pain to all parties concerned, and for that I am truly sorry. Sadly, I now realise that trying to impose my feelings upon situations beyond my control was never going to work. I hope that I can take the lessons learned into any similar future situations.

Have Courage

06 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Have CourageWe all have choices to make in life. Everything from whether to take tea or coffee to the major life-changing decisions regarding money, relationships, children and careers. Whatever the choice you have to make, make it with wisdom, courage and compassion.

If you summon your courage to challenge something, you will never regret it. It would be so sad to spend your life wishing, “If only I had a little more courage.”

Whatever the outcome, the important thing is to take a step forward on the path that you believe is right.

Do not worry too much about what others may think. It is your life. Be true to yourself.

Where Is The Wisdom?

02 Oct 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

HH The Dalai Lama - Time to speak out?As a practicing Buddhist, I feel I can be rightly proud, that Buddhism has always been a peaceful philosophy. Apart from some of the political struggles in Sri Lanka, and the forceful annexing of Tibet by China, there has been little or no conflict involving Buddhists, until now.

The recent outbreak of looting and burning of Buddhist villages by Muslim protestors, in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh, appears to have been sparked by a photo of a burned copy of the Koran that was posted on Facebook. Presumably the image was posted by someone who has been identified as a Buddhist, the reports do not say.

It appears, from where I stand, that there is an escalation of religious based violence in the past few months. Is that just my impression, is it due to the ease with which we can get news from anywhere in the world, or are the inter-faith tensions becoming more obvious as the world politics change?

Whatever the situation, there seems to be a surfeit of Courage coupled with a dearth of Wisdom and Compassion, surely a recipe for on-going strife, violence and even war. It is beholding to the leaders on all sides to reduce the tensions through their wise words and deeds, rather than, as appears to be happening, the use of inflammatory speeches to incite further violence.

We are often hearing the Muslim leaders in this country, describing the Muslim faith as one of peace and understanding. Our own Dalai Lama has always gone to great pains to promote a peaceful message. Now is the time for these leaders to come together to defuse a very dangerous trend.

Steady As You Go

25 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Steady As You GoWhen you find yourself in a situation where there is nothing you can do that will help, what should you do? Well if there really is nothing you can do, even after you have chanted yourself silly trying to find something, you must do nothing.

Now if you are anything like me, that is a very tall order indeed. I have to work very hard on my self discipline and use copious amounts of wisdom, courage and compassion, to just sit on my metaphorical hands and leave things alone.

But Time really is a wondrous element. At times it goes by at the speed of light, at others it moves with all the pace of a growing Oak tree. When I am in a difficult situation, but not allowing myself to try to fix things, I’m in a world of Oak trees, forests of them.

But just as the little acorn grows into the majestic Oak tree, the situation gradually starts to unfold. As it changes, almost imperceptibly at first, different options also become apparent. And like a pot, rotating on a potter’s wheel, I am eventually able to see even the knottiest challenge from all 360 degrees.

And this calm approach does not go un-noticed. The calmer you can remain, the less chance there is that you will inflame the situation. As we mentioned a couple of days ago, because you remain calm, your environment will remain calm too. Now that has to be a beneficial life-state for everyone concerned.

To borrow a quote from today’s SGI-UK Facebook page:

Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law?

-Nichiren

If The Shoe Fits

23 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Old Shoes - Not Jill's BTWAfter spending a very pleasant lunchtime with Bumble and her Mum at The Cricketers, we all adjourned to Jill’s apartment where a footwear based fashion show ensued. Not that it really was a fashion show, more a case of B helping her Mum to appraise the collection of shoes that had been lurking in the wardrobe.

Having walking difficulties, it is imperative that Jill has shoes that help, rather than hinder her progress. So form and function are of much higher importance than fashion, though she did have a rather natty pair of maroon suede ankle boots.

As with so many things in life, a comfortable fit is very important. With shoes it’s all to do with size, width, sole and heel. With relationships it’s more to do with how characters and characteristics mould and match.

In both cases it can be all a matter of time. New shoes can be exactly the right size and fit, but give them time, a short running-in period, and they will become moulded perfectly to your feet. Likewise, as a relationship grows over time, the characters and characteristics of those concerned can also change to fit perfectly, given a degree of wisdom, courage and compassion.

Another perfect example of the law of the oneness of self and the environment.

A Piggin’ Dilemma

22 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

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

PiggiesIt’s been a beautiful day, blues skies and bright sunshine, although the breeze had a little autumn nip to it. Because the weather forecast has been warning that it will all change tomorrow, we decided to take a trip out to the Frome Valley farm shop at Frampton Cotterell.

It would be a lie to say that I am a vegetarian, but I don’t eat a lot of meat these days. But as Bumble has been suffering from a lack of iron, we went to the farm shop to buy some ‘happy’ lamb’s liver. I say ‘happy’ because the butchers in the farm shop know exactly where their meat comes from, and more importantly, that is has been reared in an ethical and humane way.

As we arrived, we could see that there were a lot of people feeding scraps to the pigs who live in the enclosure next to the shop. But as we got out of the car, we could smell the unmistakable aroma of frying bacon. There are few things that smell quite as nice as bacon in the pan, but it did seem a bit sad when you could see the parents and siblings, the relatives of the rashers that were sizzling away.

Now I’m not saying that we should stop meat production, or that it is unethical to rear animals for food, but seeing the livestock rooting in the mud, whilst smelling the results of their slaughter being fried so close by, I did wonder whether they associated the smell with their recently missing relative.

Pigs are pretty intelligent animals, by all accounts, and although they clearly happy to wallow and root around in the mud of their nice little field, I really hope they are unaware of their ultimate fate. If not, I doubt that ‘happy’ would be the right word to use.

Changing Tack

21 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Changing TackDealing with the ever changing aspects of life is a little like sailing a yacht in a squally breeze. There are external influences that push and pull on the direction of our path. Our role as skipper of our own craft, is to deal with the challenges that those influences bring, whilst trying to steer in the direction we want our lives to go.

The similarity to sailing is most evident when you compare the way a yacht has to sail across the wind, in a direction as close to, but rarely directly towards, the desired goal. So there has to be a degree of compromise in order to make progress towards that goal.

Life is exactly the same. It is pretty rare to find, that the influences on our lives, push or pull us directly towards our goals. The old adage of ‘two steps forward and one step back’ is often very accurate. A little progress in the right direction is often followed by a period of consolidation, during which we may even find that we have slipped back a little.

It is good to remember that, as illustrated in The Buddha, Geoff and Me, resistance is not only inevitable, and a measure of our progress, but is essential for some processes to work at all.

One By One, By One, By One

14 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Little Ducks In A RowThe little challenges that life presents now and again can be solved if we use wisdom, courage and compassion. Usually they appear one after another, but occasionally a coach load turn up all at once, and then what do we do?

First thing I do is chant. Chanting allows me to sort them into order of priority, determine which need to be solved quickly, before they cause still more challenges. Then having my running order, I chant some more to visualise the solutions to each one in turn.

Of course there are no guarantees, but this works for me. Work, family, health, money, you name it, we get challenges in every walk of life. If you can stay focussed, prioritise, and meet each challenge one by one, not only will you succeed, you will learn with each and every one.

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