The Way

The Way.....

The Abbot from the Temple in WuTaiShan was sitting on his favorite rock.

I asked permission to join him 

The Abbot said,

"We follow the first patriarch Bodhidharma  and the great Master said,"

"All know the Way,

but few actually walk it."

The Abbot stared at me for what seemed minutes and then continued;

"If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain.

 It's true, you have the buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. 

Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help. 

If, though, by the conjunction of conditions, someone understands what the Buddha meant, that person doesn't need a teacher. Such a person has a natural awareness superior to anything taught. But unless you're so blessed, study hard, and by means of instruction you'll understand."

I thanked the Abbot for his wisdom and as I slid off the rock I felt as though I was floating on a cloud.

There was a void in my mind 

An empty space

All I thought I knew 

I didn't

My journey had began

Nathan 

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Daffodil

Daffodils.--  

Her daughter rang her again about seeing the daffodils, she wanted to go but the drive was two hours.

Anyway she hadn't seen her grandchildren  for three weeks,

so she promised for Tuesday.

 It was raining and cold, but she promised, so off she went to see her daughter and the children.

"Forget the daffodils it's cold and wet and I only came to see you and the children" she said when she arrived.

The daughter insisted and drove the twenty minutes more through the mist and driving on an unmade small road, arrived at a small church.

The children took grandmas hands and walked down a path next to the church.

As they turned a corner at the back of the church, the grandma gasped, before her lay the most glorious sight.

It was as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and the surrounding valley.

The flowers were planted in great majestic swirling patterns of orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron and butter yellow.

Each different variety was planted in large groups so they swirled like a river.

There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" the mother asked.

"Just one woman, she lives here in that house there, by herself."

She pointed to a small A frame well kept modest house sitting on the edge of all the glory of the flowers.

On the patio they saw a poster,

Answers to the Questions 

I Know You Are Asking 

50,000 bulbs 

One at a time. 

 One woman.

Two hands, two feet.

One brain.

Began in 1938.

This was a life changing experience for the grandma,

she thought of this woman ,

who didn't talk to people, 

who for more than 70years,

 one bulb at a time, brought her vision of beauty and joy for the world to see.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived.

One step at a time she had created extraordinary beauty and inspiration.

The principle,  her daffodil garden taught,  is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

"It makes me sad in a way" grandma said,

"What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal 40 or 50 years ago"

The daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way

"Start tomorrow" she said

She was right, it's pointless to think of lost hours of yesterday.

The way to make learning a lesson of celebration, instead of a cause for regret, is to ask;

"How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle.

Stop waiting and do it 

One Bulb At A Time.

Nathan

 

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Restoration--

Restoration--
I was asked,
my attitude towards death.
Laughter, towards life and death?
Sadness, fear, apprehension?
Whatever our attitude towards life will be our attitude about death.
Death comes as the ultimate flowering of life.
Life exists for death.
Life exists through death and without death there can be no life. Death is not the end,
but a culmination,
a crescendo.
Death is not the enemy,
it is a friend.
It makes life possible.
So with death, as is life.

Whatever we choose in this life,
we must express truth.
Eating, sleeping, singing, talking, all must be an expression of truth.
When the Zen Master hits his student he is expressing his truth.
It is only when we start to think about the situation,
then it becomes a lie.
Why?
Because we add our bits.
Why did he hit me?
And then the mind starts.

The Zen Master Roshi Taj was approaching death and his senior disciples assembled at his bedside.
One of them remembered the Roshi loved cake.
He rushed off to buy his favourite.
With a small smile the Roshi took a small bite and began to eat.
He grew weaker and the disciples leant forward to hear his final words.
"Yes" the great man said,
"This cake is delicious ."
and he died.
What a man.
A Buddha.
Each word, each act, only the truth.
The only moment that was true was the cake .
Anything else would have been false.
If he had talked of The Divine, Nirvana, some profound saying,
all untrue.
At that time , only the cake.
Unconditional .
The taste of the cake.
What a death.
Nathan









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A potential student went to see a Holy Master and asked

A potential student went to see a Holy Master and asked
"If I work really hard, how long will it take me to become enlightened?"
"Ten years" the Master replied.
"No, I mean really work at it."
the student said.
The Master replied,
" I am sorry I misunderstood you,
it will take you twenty years."
The student said,
" I am serious I am willing to do anything to gain enlightenment."
"Oh that's different,"
said the Master,
"it will take you thirty years."

I ask myself
Am I ready for enlightenment ?
Can I commit to one day of silence?
A month, a lifetime?
Am I able to one hour, every now and again, to sit and follow my breath?

As a broom sweeps the street;
My breath sweeps my mind.

I am told this practice will lengthen the spaces between my thoughts.
I then become aware it is the spaces that are important,
not my thoughts.
What would happen should my thoughts become less,
do I become a lesser person?
Not when I realize how calm I am.
How peaceful my surrounding, how vibrant the colours.
This place must be where my Buddha Nature resides.
With the practice comes realization that when there is no thought.
I am one with the Universe.
Nothing external.
All is joined.
All is one.
My entire practice is based on this premise of Oneness.
Awareness comes when I let go all past, all future.
I actually achieve serenity beyond my wildest imagination .
This awareness and realization frees me from the mundane.

Is this enlightenment?
All I have to do is practice........
Nathan




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The more laws......

The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer people become.
The sharper weapons, the more trouble in the land.
The more clever and ingenious people are,
the stranger things happen.
The more rules and regulations,
the more thieves and robbers.
"Laozi"

He reputedly lived around the sixth century BC
Everything  changes
but humanities behavior
stays the same
Nathan 


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To sow seeds.

To sow seeds.
In Brazil, some two hundred years ago, a small village was starving.
The crops had failed once again and things were desperate.
The head man called all the smartest young men and chose one to go and find a way for the village to survive.
All the gold was collected and given to this smart young man.
This was the first time anyone alone had left the village to go outside.
Two years later, the smart young man came back.
The head man was the only one who had believed the young man would come back.
"What have you brought us after all this time?" the head man asked.
"Seeds", he replied " they are called coffee".
History tells us Brazil was placed on the map by this one young smart man.
In the last century Brazil became the largest coffee producer in the world.
So the question is, what seed have we to give others a future?
The seed can be love, or hope.
The seed can be a Dharma from a good book .
All of us have seeds that have not been shared.
Some seeds never sprout, never grow, because we don't know, or understand, that the seeds exist within us.
When we operate from our true self, our inner self, the self that has no ego, no fears, no thoughts of past or future.
This is the self that operates in the now.
The present moment.
This self, this pure self, knows about the seed.
Nathan



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Holiday--

Holiday--
When I announced that I was going to take a holiday,
friends said" enjoy yourself, don't do anything I wouldn't do".
What does that mean?
That's really scary, would they eat someone?
I most certainly wouldn't do the things my wild friends get up to. Not that there is anything wrong with being wild, I just don't do wild things.
I go on holiday to relax.
I try not to speak, not a lot of social intercourse .
Just commune with nature, and watch the Divines work firsthand. Of course , there are other things, like food, always the food.
The most important part for me, is
the letting go. We carry so much nonsense around with us, so much garbage. Concerns from the past, future dreams that will never happen.
The stress and suffering caused by past and future.
When we realise the cause, we become truely enlightened.
All of a sudden, our surroundings look and feel different.
Very clear, crystal clear,
no judgement, only joy and love.
Even when transport is not on time, service not the best, there are flies and bitey things, never mind.
We rise above the argument in the mind. We overcome obstacles that normally stay and build,
until we share with strangers what we hate about everything.
I don't do that anymore.
I realized that I caused the problems.
I was the argument.
I only saw in others ,what I didn't like in myself.
All that has changed.
There is nothing I don't like about me now.
Unconditional love, for myself and all beings.
It's not easy, practicing a no judgement attitude.
Practicing unconditional love takes work.
The decision to practice, is the work.
It takes a decision.
Our whole life is based on decisions.
To get up in the morning,
till the time we sleep,decisions.
The decision to be nice,that is another matter.
What to eat,what to wear,which wife ,which life.
These are the easy decisions.
When it comes to behavior, that is another matter.
To be at peace with oneself is the key. How can we be at peace when our behaviour is determined by our emotional state?
Most spend all their waking life in discontent, worry, anxiety, being
depressed or other negative states of mind.
These directly effect behavior.
When we are able to enjoy simple things, like listening to the sound of the wind, or the rain, or watch the beauty of clouds moving across the sky.
Be alone without the feeling of loneliness, not needing to be entertained.
When we find ourselves treating a complete stranger with kindness.
We find a space has opened up,
our behavior changed.
It is this space that gives us a sense of well-being, of peace, of what the Indian sages called Ananda-the Bliss of Being.
We appreciate simple things, our own company and we relate to others with loving kindness.
The common element contentment
peace
being alive
being
I love holiday.
Nathan


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