(no subject)
This morning I woke up and eventually reached for one of my favorite books from the nightstand and reread a few chapters. The Book is titled Buddha (A Story of Enlightenment). The Author is one of my favs, Deepak Chopra. His style of writing is captivating and this book is story telling at it's best.
The more I read & research on Buddhism the more I realize that I have been unconsciously practicing it all my life....
The Buddha warned strongly against blind faith and encouraged the way of truthful inquiry. In one of His best known sermons, the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha pointed out the danger in fashioning one's beliefs merely on the following grounds: on hearsay, on tradition, because many others say it is so, on the authority of ancient scriptures, on the word of a supernatural being, or out of trust in one's teachers, elders, or priests.
Instead one maintains an open mind and thoroughly investigates one's own experience of life. This I have done all my life. I called it being a rebel. Not conforming or allowing people to tell me what to think or believe. I always felt that next to my parents that LIFE would be my biggest Teacher and Mentor.
The main Teaching of the Buddha focuses not on philosophical speculations about a Creator God or the origin of the universe, or on a heaven world ever after. The Teaching, instead, is centred on the down-to-earth reality of human suffering and the urgent need to find lasting relief from all forms of discontent. The Buddha gave the simile of a man shot by a poison-tipped arrow who, before he would call a doctor to treat him, demanded to know first who shot the arrow and where the arrow was made and of what and by whom and when and where ... this foolish man would surely die before his questions could be well answered. In the same way, the Buddha said, the urgent need of our existence is to find lasting relief from recurrent suffering, which robs us of happiness and leaves us in strife.
Philosophical speculations are of secondary importance and, anyway, they are best left until after one has well trained the mind in meditation to the stage where one has the ability to examine the matter clearly and find the Truth for oneself.
I can't really say that I have suffered because I know there are many people out there who if they heard my stories they would beg to differ. But I can say that I have Seen and Felt other people's pain & Suffering everyday of my life. Which in turn makes me suffer. I have never been the one who could just walk by and turn a blind eye to the reality. And the reality is that their suffering is in part Mine and Your suffering as well. We are all connected whether we chose to realize it or not. I remember always giving the homeless a few bucks for food or shelter. When I was dead broke I gave this particuliar individual who always came into the pharmacy where I worked $10. He was in need of a room at the mission. I had to...it was FREEZING outside.
I later realized that just giving money and buying food was not enough. It was like cutting the weed but leaving the root. In other words...I wanted to get to the bottom of this social misery, as Cornel West puts it (Thanks Dad ;) I set forth on a journey to find a lasting relief from recurrent suffering, which robs us of happiness and leaves us in strife. This was Buddha's calling.
I feel this is my calling.
I need to eat....perhaps I will continue this topic later.
The more I read & research on Buddhism the more I realize that I have been unconsciously practicing it all my life....
The Buddha warned strongly against blind faith and encouraged the way of truthful inquiry. In one of His best known sermons, the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha pointed out the danger in fashioning one's beliefs merely on the following grounds: on hearsay, on tradition, because many others say it is so, on the authority of ancient scriptures, on the word of a supernatural being, or out of trust in one's teachers, elders, or priests.
Instead one maintains an open mind and thoroughly investigates one's own experience of life. This I have done all my life. I called it being a rebel. Not conforming or allowing people to tell me what to think or believe. I always felt that next to my parents that LIFE would be my biggest Teacher and Mentor.
The main Teaching of the Buddha focuses not on philosophical speculations about a Creator God or the origin of the universe, or on a heaven world ever after. The Teaching, instead, is centred on the down-to-earth reality of human suffering and the urgent need to find lasting relief from all forms of discontent. The Buddha gave the simile of a man shot by a poison-tipped arrow who, before he would call a doctor to treat him, demanded to know first who shot the arrow and where the arrow was made and of what and by whom and when and where ... this foolish man would surely die before his questions could be well answered. In the same way, the Buddha said, the urgent need of our existence is to find lasting relief from recurrent suffering, which robs us of happiness and leaves us in strife.
Philosophical speculations are of secondary importance and, anyway, they are best left until after one has well trained the mind in meditation to the stage where one has the ability to examine the matter clearly and find the Truth for oneself.
I can't really say that I have suffered because I know there are many people out there who if they heard my stories they would beg to differ. But I can say that I have Seen and Felt other people's pain & Suffering everyday of my life. Which in turn makes me suffer. I have never been the one who could just walk by and turn a blind eye to the reality. And the reality is that their suffering is in part Mine and Your suffering as well. We are all connected whether we chose to realize it or not. I remember always giving the homeless a few bucks for food or shelter. When I was dead broke I gave this particuliar individual who always came into the pharmacy where I worked $10. He was in need of a room at the mission. I had to...it was FREEZING outside.
I later realized that just giving money and buying food was not enough. It was like cutting the weed but leaving the root. In other words...I wanted to get to the bottom of this social misery, as Cornel West puts it (Thanks Dad ;) I set forth on a journey to find a lasting relief from recurrent suffering, which robs us of happiness and leaves us in strife. This was Buddha's calling.
I feel this is my calling.
I need to eat....perhaps I will continue this topic later.