Monday, October 17, 2016

Don't Let the Sound of Your Own Wheels Drive you Crazy

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.
Life is eternal.
We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.
This is a precious moment.
It is a little parenthesis in eternity.


Paulo Coelho


Sunday, October 16, 2016

Preliminary & Ultimate Objectives of Practice

      Our task is to discover a freedom that's independent of all circumstances & times.
      Kornfield J, Breiter P. "A still forest pool. The insight meditation of Achaan Chah." Quest Books, Wheaton IL, 1985.
 

     As such, the object of the path is awareness and not clinging to anything. But initially, our objective is not clinging to that which is unsatisfactory, stressful and doesn't belong to us.                                Joseph Goldstein

     So what can we hold onto?

     “If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
      If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
      And if you let go completely, you will have complete peace.”


        Ajahn Chah. “The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah - Single Volume.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=4CEF53DF37C241A3AE9327D1D40921BD

     
See also: http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/10/two-levels-of-practice.html

Rays of light are ephemeral; other things less obviously so.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Opening, Intimacy, Meaning, Mindfulness, Happiness, Authenticity


     "Mindfulness is a phenomenon generally understood in cognitive terms, although it has a holistic impact on an individual’s being. Meaning in life is seen as a construct that expands beyond what a person does in life (meaning through doing), but it also depends on each person’s relationship with her or his essential being (meaning through being)." 
      Bellin ZJ. "The Meaning Connection Between Mindfulness and Happiness." Journal of Humanistic Counseling 2015; 54: 221-35.
 
     Essential intimacy with "self", others, & life:



 
Opening to Nature through the Mind-Heart of a Four-legged

Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Goal of Buddhist Practice

     Nibbāna (full enlightenment or awakening) – the goal in Buddhism - as described in a Saṁyutta Nikāya Sutta below. This state is beyond the ordinary (conditioned) mind's capacity to conceive.

     “It is the unformed, the unconditioned, the end, the truth, the other shore, the subtle, the everlasting, the invisible, the undiversified, peace, the deathless, the blessed, safety, the wonderful, the marvelous, nibbana, purity, freedom, the island, the refuge, the beyond. 
     Having nothing, clinging to nothing, that is the island. There is no other. That is nibbana. I tell you, the total ending of aging and death.”

Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA