Go forth.....to bless the many.

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Tariki

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Go forth, O monks, to bless the many, to bring happiness to the many, out of compassion for the worlds; go forth for the welfare, the blessing, the happiness of all beings......Go forth and spread the teaching that is beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle and beautiful in the end.

(The Buddha)

The dharma can be discovered through the Buddhist tradition, but Buddhism is by no means the only source of dharma. I would define dharma as anything that awakens the boundless heart and brings the direct experience of selflessness. The teachings of Christ are perfumed with dharma. There is dharma in jazz, in beautiful gardens, in literature, in Sufi dance, in Quaker silence, in shaman healing, in projects to care for the homeless and clean up the inner cities, in Catholic ritual, in meaningful and competent work. There is dharma in anything that causes us to respect the innate softness and intelligence of ourselves and others. When the Buddhist system is applied properly, it does not turn us inward toward our own organizations, practices, and ideas, but outward toward the whole vast world of universal dharma. The system has succeeded when the Buddhist can recognize the true dharma at the core of all other religions and disciplines that are based on respect for the human image, and has no need to reject them.

In the spirit of the two quotes given above, a thread of reconciliation and all things related.................please feel free to post as appropriate.....

:)
 
To kick off...................for "misfits" everywhere.....

Laura Gilpin's "The Two-headed Calf"

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass.
And as he stares into the sky, there
are twice as many stars as usual.
 
Hi,

Well if you insist...

"What can a Zen priest learn from a fundamentalist theologian? A Buddhist community takes interfaith dialogue beyond common ground with their evangelical Christian neighbors."

The full article can be found here (links shown for further pages or as a pdf):

Beloved Community

s.
 
Hi Snoops,

hello from the prospective wriggly worm...........

and, yes, I insist.........

In keeping with my original quote concerning the "universal dharma" that is found in literature, and that the teachings of Christ are perfumed with dharma..................I think Jesus spoke much about the coming of the Kingdom.

Here is a poem by R.S.Thomas, called "The Kingdom"....

It's a long way off but inside it
There are quite different things going on:
Festivals at which the poor man
Is king and the consumptive is
Healed; mirrors in which the blind look
At themselves and love looks at them
Back; and industry is for mending
The bent bones and the minds fractured
By life. It's a long way off, but to get
There takes no time and admission
Is free, if you will purge yourself
Of desire, and present yourself with
Your need only and the simple offering
Of your faith, green as a leaf.
 
Once again, in keeping with my original quote........The system has succeeded when the Buddhist can recognize the true dharma at the core of all other religions and disciplines that are based on respect for the human image, and has no need to reject them..........

My mind goes back to the terrible destruction of the Twin Towers, and the subsequent talk concerning Jihad - Holy War. At the time I kept a copy of a newspaper article by a Muslim writer, Ziauddin Sardar, who wrote as follows.....

Creating the Kingdom of God on earth, as it is in heaven, is the basic message of Islam. This is the true meaning of Jihad.........Acts of terror are not Jihad. They violate the explicit word of God, Prophet Muhammad and the reasoned concensus of all believers. The greatest jihad is the war on injustice in one's own soul, the injustice that can conceive of terror tactics and lose all restraits and respect for the sanctity of a human life. Jihad is the reasoned struggle of each individual to work within the bounds of moral action, to extend the protection of justice equitably to every human being, irrespective of colour, creed or place of origin. Jihad is the obligation to make peace a lived reality for all human beings............The faith I hold, the faith of Muslims, the justice we seek is an obligation to promote and make real in each life freedom from tyranny, neglect, need, dearth and suffering. The justice we yearn for is the life blood of a humane society with dignity and freedom for all. It cannot be found by blasting innocents apart in an inferno of twisted metal and concrete. When the innocent are murdered, we all go into the dark with them. When the innocent suffer, their suffering is our own.
 
There seems much talk of "one way" - to the exclusion of all others - within the various Faiths of the world. In respect of the "universal dharma", another "take" on this drawn from various Buddhist scriptures.........

The Lord speaks with but one voice, but all beings, each according to their kind, gain understanding, each thinking that the Lord speaks their own language. This is a special quality of the Buddha. The Lord speaks with but one voice, but all beings, each according to their own ability, act upon it, and each derives thier appropriate benefit. This is a special quality of the Buddha.

(Vimalakirti Sutra)

I appear in the world
like a great cloud
that showers moisture upon
all the dry and withered living beings,
so that all are able to escape suffering,
gain the joy of peace and security,
the joys of this world
and the joy of nirvana....
The rain falls everywhere,
coming down on all four sides......
The rain moistens all,
none fails to receive its full share.....
...but each grows and flourishes in its own way.
When all the various living beings
hear my Law,
they receive it according to their own power,
dwelling in their different environments....
I rain down the Dharma rain,
filling the whole world,
and this single-flavored Dharma
is practiced by each according to the individual's power.....
by practicing gradually and stage by stage,
all beings can gain the fruits of the way.

(Lotus Sutra)


Just as the nature of earth is one
While beings each live separately,
And the earth has no thought of oneness of difference,
So is the truth of all Buddhas..........

Just as the ocean is one
With millions of different waves,
Yet the water is no different:
So is the truth of all Buddhas......

Just as the earth is one
Yet produces sprouts according to the seeds
Without partiality toward any of them,
So is the Buddha's field of blessings.......

And just as when the sun comes up
It illuminates the world,
Thus does the Buddhas' field of blessings
Clear away all darkness...

(Hua-yen Sutra)
 
The Great Wisdom is the oneness of things, the Great Compassion is the manyness of things

Linking compassion with the "manyness" of things seems real to me. It seems a sad fact that religion is often a force for division rather than of reconciliation.

(Just a frank and open admission.............from time to time there comes news of a motorway accident, a car crash causing multiple deaths. When I hear such reports I immediately feel sorrow for the victims............yet upon hearing that those who have died were (say) "Akmed Ali, his wife and two children" there comes an instinctive sense of the tragedy being in some sense lessened. Yes, because those who died did not share the colour of my own skin........)

Anyway, here is another poem by R.S.Thomas. Thomas was a rector of the Anglican church, and found himself with a parish that covered the hill farms of Wales, and he came to love the people who lived in those parts. I find his words have universal relevance...

"The Hill Farmer Speaks"

I am the farmer, stripped of love
And thought and grace by the land's hardness;
But what I am saying over the fields'
Desolate acres, rough with dew,
Is, Listen, listen, I am a man like you.

The wind goes over the hill pastures
Year after year, and the ewes starve,
Milkless, for want of the new grass.
And I starve, too, for something the spring
Can never foster in veins run dry.

The pig is a friend, the cattle's breath
Mingles with mine in the still lanes;
I wear it willingly like a cloak
To shelter me from your curious gaze.

The hens go in and out at the door
From sun to shadow, as stray thoughts pass
Over the floor of my wide skull.
The dirt is under my cracked nails;
The tale of my life is smirched with dung;
The phlegm rattles. But what I am saying
Over the grasses rough with dew
Is, Listen, listen, I am a man like you.
 
Thank you for the awesome thread, Tariki. :)

Perhaps no thread on reconciliation or misfits would be complete without the following passage, which is often in itself much maligned, misunderstood, and misused. Hopefully, it will fit right in.

(Jesus quoted in Matthew 5, NIV)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(This is a partial. There are technically more, but the last one is a kind of summary, and goes into an area of more specific Christian "theology", and is a transition into subsequent passages, so for the peaceful purpose here, I have only posted these. Somehow, I don't think Jesus would mind this time. ;))

InPeace,
InLove
 
well, funny I should find this post...

sounds a bit "catholic", maybe, of me, but well... I have the calling... to take up the robes...

but, of course, I'm not happy to be a conventional nun and sit in a monastery staring at the walls and peeling potatoes... I have an opportunity to live and work in a religious community for a while, this summer, but I think if I went I wouldn't want to come bk and I don't know yet if I've decided which lineage is best for me to align myself to and so am reluctant to take the plunge...

I feel like I am playing at life, and playing half heartedly, as I feel that really, it's all just in-fill, the period between now, and later, which sees me doing what I feel I should be doing and taking the plunge, and somehow, I feel like its my destiny, if destiny doesnt sound too pretentious, but, of course, I'm worried that I'm deluding myself... I'm not particularly holy, or knowledgeable, or intelligent, or charismatic, but I feel I should devote my life to running round the country and giving ppl the medicine... I've had this "dream" of mine now for a few years, and I thought that maybe I'd hang fire, in case I was just seeking to escape a crappo life, but life is good now, and I'm still hankering after this dream...

should I go forth and bless the many..?

feel free to reply...
 
Sister Francis...hmmm...has a nice ring to it. Are you serious?

InPeace,
InLove
 
Francis king said:
I'm not particularly holy, or knowledgeable, or intelligent, or charismatic, but I feel I should devote my life to running round the country and giving ppl the medicine...

should I go forth and bless the many..?

feel free to reply...
Click to expand...

Hi Francis..................from my own perspective I feel we should continue taking the medicine..........the rest follows naturally, "without calculation"......

:)
 
InLove,

Many thanks for popping in..............I was beginning to think I was creating some sort of self-indulgent blog.....:)

I have always loved the beatitudes, especially.......Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Without seeking to improve upon the "Good Book" -as if! - I would now more say.....Blessed are those who know that they have been shown mercy, for they shall be merciful)

Anyway, enough of my sermonising.....:D

Just as an encouragement to others to pop in and offer a verse ot two in the spirit of this thread I would just say that for me both "Christianity" and "Buddhism" relate in the self same way to the Universal Dharma. I am not seeking in any way to argue that "Buddhism" is "best".......perhaps the world has had enough of "ainities", "isms" and "ologies"!!

Well, to continue.......There is a fine book on the Pure Land tradition called "Tariki" ("Other Power") and sub-titled "Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace". In one section the author, Hiroyuki Itsuki, speaks of a childlike, "ordinary and simplistic" story, yet one he has come to take quite seriously. And I find it speaks to me.........

Our individual lives are like drops of water in mighty rivers flowing to the sea. The sea accepts all the waters of the world, clear or cloudy, pure or polluted, without discrimination. Eventually the warmth of the sun causes the water of the oceans to evaporate and form clouds in the sky, from which once again rain falls down to the earth, and the journey from land to sea begins again.

The more I reflect upon it, the deeper the associations and connections I make with many concepts and ideas................(but then, often my mind makes connections that are perhaps questionable.....:confused: )

Well, another less questionable "connection" with the theme of reconciliation.........a poem by another of my favorites, Philip Larkin, called...."Coming"

On longer evenings,
Light, chill and yellow,
Bathes the serene
Foreheads of houses.
A thrush sings,
Laurel-surrounded
In the deep bare garden,
Its fresh-peeled voice
Astonishing the brickwork.
It will be spring soon,
It will be spring soon -
And I, whose childhood
Is a forgotten boredom,
Feel like a child
Who comes on a scene
Of adult reconciling,
And can understand nothing
But the unusual laughter,
And starts to be happy.
 
We can still be crazy after all these years

Sometimes as we tread the path of the "Universal Dharma" there are watersheds, maybe some words of another that illuminate in a way that speaks directly to us. I remember reading the following, written by the Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron..................from an essay on Loving Kindness....and it became a little bit of a watershed.

When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, they often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It's a bit like saying, "If I jog, I'll a much better person." "If I could only get a nicer house, I'd be a better person." "If I could meditate and calm down, I'd be a better person." Or the scenario may be that they find fault with others; they might say, "If it weren't for my husband, I'd have a perfect marriage!" "If it weren't for the fact that my boss and I can't get on, my job would be just great." And "If it weren't for my mind, my meditation would be excellent!"

But loving-kindness - maitri - towards ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try and change ourselves. Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.

Sometimes among Buddhists the word ego is used in a derogatory sense, with a different connotation than the Freudian term. As Buddhists, we might say, "My ego causes me so many problems." Then we might think, "Well, then, we're supposed to get rid of it, right? Then there'd be no problem." On the contrary, the idea isn't to get rid of the ego but actually to begin to take interest in ourselves, to investigate and be inquisitive about ourselves.

:)
 
And while I have a little time, a few words on the Dharma......

The Buddha did not teach Buddhism. He taught the Dharma, the law. He did not teach a set of beliefs or dogmas, or systems that have arbitrarily to be accepted. Through his own experience of enlightenment, he pointed the way for each of us to experience the truth within ourselves. During the forty years of his teaching, he used many different words and concepts to point to the truth. The words or concepts are not the truth itself; they are merely a pointing to a certian kind of experience. In the Buddha's time, because of the force of his wisdom and skill, generally people did not confuse the words for the experience. They heard what the Buddha had to say, looked within, and experienced the truth in their own minds and bodies.

As time went on and people started to practice less, they began to mistake the words for the experience. Different schools arose, arguing over concepts. It is as if in attempting to explain the light on a full moon night one points up at the moon. To look at the finger, rather than the moon, is to misunderstand the pointing. We should not confuse the finger for the moon, nor confuse the words pointing to the truth for the experience itself.
 
Francis king said:
I feel like I am playing at life
Click to expand...

Well don't take it toooo seriously, In a game of life, the contestant always losses...

Francis king said:
1. I'm not particularly holy, or knowledgeable, or intelligent, or charismatic, but I feel I should devote my life to running round the country and giving ppl the medicine...

2. I've had this "dream" of mine now for a few years,

should I go forth and bless the many..?

feel free to reply...
Click to expand...

1.You don't have to be "righteous" or "holy" to heal and aid those less fortunate... Charismatic has nothing to do with it either, to be a caring and loving person is all you need....

2. Never give up on your dreams... All ways, reach for them. :D
 
Hi Francis--

1. What Angel said. :)

2. Ever been out traveling in the country, or even just going back and forth to work, and you notice a certain ribbon of road or pathway that keeps beckoning to you, but you haven't ever gone down it because you haven't had time or maybe are leary about where it leads? I've found that it helps me to go ahead and check it out and solve the mystery. But I would say it is wise to wear some shoes your are comfortable with and make sure you have plenty of fuel. Take a good lunch with you. Heck, you could even look at a map first....but sometimes that ruins the adventure...;)

I guess I am just saying go where your heart takes you, but you don't have to leave everything behind yet. Maybe at least an overnight bag. You can always lose that later if you choose to. I think maybe this is what Tariki was getting at, too. (maybe?)

3. I think you'd be really good at it. I doubt anyone could slip anything deceptive by you--you have a good eye!

InPeace,
InLove
 
InLove said:
Hi Francis--

1. What Angel said. :)
Click to expand...

You agree with what moi said? :eek:

Francis king said:
cheers all
Click to expand...

Franc!!! I am being totally cereal, if you are looking to get work in giving medical aid and help to others, that kicks buttocks... There couldn't be any greater job satisfaction I am sure.... I want to be a vet.... Not on your level there but close... To be able to save helpless living beings and cure them care for them... I think pay wouldn't even enter my mind, thats just there.. My work bonuses would be to save that cat/dog/rat/hamster/gerbil/goldfish/horse/rhyno... lol. And I am sure that is how you feel.... Go for it :)
 
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