Finally
I ask myself
Am I ready?
Can I commit one day of silence?
A month, a lifetime?
Am I able to one hour,
every now and again,
to sit and follow my breath?
At least this practice will lengthen the spaces between the thoughts.
As we become aware it is the spaces that are important,
not the thoughts.
What would happen should the thoughts become less, do we become a lesser person?
Not when we realize how calm we are.
How peaceful our surroundings, how vibrant the colours.
This place must be where The Divine resides.
With the practice comes realization that when there is no thought, we are one with the universe.
Nothing external
All is joined.
All is one.
Our entire practice is based on this premise of oneness.
Enlightenment comes when we let go all past, let go of all future, only the present moment.
We actually achieve serenity beyond our wildest imagination
This enlightenment,
this realization,
frees us from the mundane.
So many Masters offer so much
All we have to do is practice.
One of the greatest lessons we can learn in our practice is the lesson of destiny.
My question is do we have a clear path to ordain our own destiny or are our lives at the whim of others?
I love my life and everything I do.
I love everyone I come into contact with.
It's a choice, a decision.
We start our short existence on the graph of life and it ends before we have even learnt to forgive.
There's a choice how we live, how we behave,
a karmic choice.
We all have a decision to make regarding our destiny.
Our lives are similar to when we build a house.
We start with a strong foundation.
Then we start to build the walls and then build inside rooms.
We start placing stuff inside.
After many years our house collects so much rubbish and stuff, the house falls in on it's self, exactly like what is happening to most of us right now.
How can we succeed in our practice when we have so much rubbish in our head.
Let me tell you a story
A famous yogi from Tibet, Ddromponpa saw a young man circling a stupa chanting.
The Yogi said,
"circling a stupa is well and good but wouldn't it be
better if you practiced dharma."
The young man said to himself perhaps he means this is too simple a practice for me and I'd be better off studying texts.
Later the yogi saw him reading holy books and he said.
"Reading texts is well and good but wouldn't it be better to practice Dharma?"
What should I do the young man thought, maybe meditate.
Again the yogi said when he saw the young man sitting in
meditation,
"wouldn't it be better if you practiced Dharma?"
The young man was getting agitated .
"What do you mean practice dharma ?"
The great yogi replied...
" Turn your mind away from attachment to the worldly life.
You can go round holy objects, go to temples,
meditate in some corner doing nothing, but unless you change your mental attitude, your old habits of attachment, your games you learnt from parents, you won't find peace,
and your practice will be ineffective."
"If you don't change your mind, no matter how many
external things you do, you'll never progress along your spiritual path."
"The cause of agitation will remain with you."
"It's your mental attitude that
determines whether your actions become the path to inner realization and liberation, or to suffering and confusion."
"Dharma practise is the method for totally releasing attachment."
"One Dharma is to understand that we have a destiny to fulfill."
" To choose our own destiny,
or to be steered by others, suffering greatly on the way to death."
"Your life is in the balance right now."
"Do you live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way, or do you stumble from day to day suffering and in pain?"
"Make a choice, make a decision and create destiny."
"It is only when we practice Dharma, that our path is clear"
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Wednesday 26 September 2012
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Free will--
Free will--
On a street not far away lived a magnet and next door lived some iron filings.
One day a few of the iron filings decided to visit the magnet and they began to discuss what a pleasant thing this would be.
Other filings heard and became infected with the same desire. Others joined, until all the filings began to discuss the matter of the visit and the desire turned into an impulse.
" Why not go today?"
said one, but others thought that tomorrow would be better. Meanwhile without their noticing, they had been moving closer to the magnet.
The magnet lay there,
not noticing the filings.
So the filings went on discussing the visit and all the time moving closer and closer, without realising it.
The more they talked,
the stronger the impulse.
The more impatient ones declared, today is the day to go. Some even said it was their duty to go visit the magnet and they should have already left.
And while they talked, they moved closer, not even realising they were moving.
All of a sudden, in one unanimous mass, they were swept together and now were clinging on all sides of the magnet, held fast.
The magnet was pleased.
The iron filings had no doubt that the visit was of their own free will.
The filings were unconscious.
Unconscious, they didn't have free will.
Unconscious,they didn't have freedom.
They didn't even think,
didn't even ask, is this my will, or was this the Divine's will?
Some of us, believe we have our own will, we believe we have choice.
We believe we choose this life, this wife, our children.
Think about it again, do we really have choice?
Was it an accident, did we have a choice, or were we a victim of an impulse .
Whatever happens in our lives, happens more or less by accident, or by choice?
We laugh at the iron filings,
this is our situation,
humanities situation.
We can however rise out of our unconsciousness,
then we have free will.
In unconsciousness the ego exists, and there is no free will.
There is no point in asking about our will or if it is the will of the Divine.
I believe there is no distinction between ourselves and the Divine.
I believe we are the Divine.
The whole problem is simple.
Are we conscious or not.
When we are unconscious we have no will, we only dream of free will.
When we are conscious our will comes into play with everything we say, think and do.
We become the magnet and attract all things.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
On a street not far away lived a magnet and next door lived some iron filings.
One day a few of the iron filings decided to visit the magnet and they began to discuss what a pleasant thing this would be.
Other filings heard and became infected with the same desire. Others joined, until all the filings began to discuss the matter of the visit and the desire turned into an impulse.
" Why not go today?"
said one, but others thought that tomorrow would be better. Meanwhile without their noticing, they had been moving closer to the magnet.
The magnet lay there,
not noticing the filings.
So the filings went on discussing the visit and all the time moving closer and closer, without realising it.
The more they talked,
the stronger the impulse.
The more impatient ones declared, today is the day to go. Some even said it was their duty to go visit the magnet and they should have already left.
And while they talked, they moved closer, not even realising they were moving.
All of a sudden, in one unanimous mass, they were swept together and now were clinging on all sides of the magnet, held fast.
The magnet was pleased.
The iron filings had no doubt that the visit was of their own free will.
The filings were unconscious.
Unconscious, they didn't have free will.
Unconscious,they didn't have freedom.
They didn't even think,
didn't even ask, is this my will, or was this the Divine's will?
Some of us, believe we have our own will, we believe we have choice.
We believe we choose this life, this wife, our children.
Think about it again, do we really have choice?
Was it an accident, did we have a choice, or were we a victim of an impulse .
Whatever happens in our lives, happens more or less by accident, or by choice?
We laugh at the iron filings,
this is our situation,
humanities situation.
We can however rise out of our unconsciousness,
then we have free will.
In unconsciousness the ego exists, and there is no free will.
There is no point in asking about our will or if it is the will of the Divine.
I believe there is no distinction between ourselves and the Divine.
I believe we are the Divine.
The whole problem is simple.
Are we conscious or not.
When we are unconscious we have no will, we only dream of free will.
When we are conscious our will comes into play with everything we say, think and do.
We become the magnet and attract all things.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Thursday 13 September 2012
The ritual.....
The ritual.....
A man went into a bar and ordered six whiskies.
He then drank the first,
the third and the fifth glass leaving the second, fourth and sixth untouched .
When asked why he did that, he said that the doctor told him he was allowed to have the odd drink.
We can always find a way around a rule, a law, an advise.
We make it a ritual, a way of life to escape commitments.
The ritualistic person can be a cunning person. They can be with the ritual, but remain untouched by it.
They can do the ritual but not be transformed by it.
Prayer can be a ritual , most are not aware how to pray or even that they are part of the ritual.
This is why so many pray for change, but remain the same.
Millions of people praying,
with no fragrance in the prayer, no love, no compassion,
no flow.
Something's wrong.
They are being done
because they have to be done.
It is ritual, it is duty, a pretense.
The cunning person keeps the heart out of anything they do.
Empty gestures.
Always a loophole for escape.
The basic problem is not ignorance, it is knowledge. Ignorant people are not cunning, only knowledgable people are clever enough to be cunning.
We have to become ignorant again.
Consciously ignorant.
To be knowledgable and unaware is to be unconscious.
When we become conscious,
we become enlightened, aware, we are full of light.
The whole effort of knowledge is to investigate the mystery of life. The man of knowledge does not destroy the mystery,
he simply closes his eyes to the mystery until it is proven.
The man who knows he is ignorant, has started knowing, this is the point of consciousness.
A five year old boy gave a loud whistle In the middle of a sermon in church.
The Minister stopped and asked the boy why he whistled?
"I have been praying to God to teach me how to whistle and God answered me just now."
The childs prayer is to learn how to whistle, someone else for money, for romance, some one else to be prime minister.
All ask for the ego.
For some importance,
some superiority.
Few ask for nothing.
Real prayer does not ask for anything.
Real prayer is just thanking The Divine for what we have, for what we have already been given.
My prayer is for you and yours.
May you all be guarded and guided.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
A man went into a bar and ordered six whiskies.
He then drank the first,
the third and the fifth glass leaving the second, fourth and sixth untouched .
When asked why he did that, he said that the doctor told him he was allowed to have the odd drink.
We can always find a way around a rule, a law, an advise.
We make it a ritual, a way of life to escape commitments.
The ritualistic person can be a cunning person. They can be with the ritual, but remain untouched by it.
They can do the ritual but not be transformed by it.
Prayer can be a ritual , most are not aware how to pray or even that they are part of the ritual.
This is why so many pray for change, but remain the same.
Millions of people praying,
with no fragrance in the prayer, no love, no compassion,
no flow.
Something's wrong.
They are being done
because they have to be done.
It is ritual, it is duty, a pretense.
The cunning person keeps the heart out of anything they do.
Empty gestures.
Always a loophole for escape.
The basic problem is not ignorance, it is knowledge. Ignorant people are not cunning, only knowledgable people are clever enough to be cunning.
We have to become ignorant again.
Consciously ignorant.
To be knowledgable and unaware is to be unconscious.
When we become conscious,
we become enlightened, aware, we are full of light.
The whole effort of knowledge is to investigate the mystery of life. The man of knowledge does not destroy the mystery,
he simply closes his eyes to the mystery until it is proven.
The man who knows he is ignorant, has started knowing, this is the point of consciousness.
A five year old boy gave a loud whistle In the middle of a sermon in church.
The Minister stopped and asked the boy why he whistled?
"I have been praying to God to teach me how to whistle and God answered me just now."
The childs prayer is to learn how to whistle, someone else for money, for romance, some one else to be prime minister.
All ask for the ego.
For some importance,
some superiority.
Few ask for nothing.
Real prayer does not ask for anything.
Real prayer is just thanking The Divine for what we have, for what we have already been given.
My prayer is for you and yours.
May you all be guarded and guided.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Wednesday 5 September 2012
A man seeking help went to see the Buddha.
A man seeking help went to see the Buddha.
He told the Buddha he was a farmer.
"I like farming but sometimes it rains too much and then not enough and one year we nearly starved."
"I like my wife but sometimes she nags too much and my children are good but they don't show enough respect,and...."
the man went on and on.
The Buddha sat through all the farmers problems and finally when he finished the Buddha said;
"I am sorry I can't help you"
"Everyone has problems,
in fact we all have eighty three problems"
The Buddha then told them all to the farmer from birth to death.
The Buddha finally said that he may be able to help the man with the eighty fourth problem.
"What's the eighty fourth problem?" asked the farmer.
"The problem of wanting to not have problems"
replied the Buddha.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
He told the Buddha he was a farmer.
"I like farming but sometimes it rains too much and then not enough and one year we nearly starved."
"I like my wife but sometimes she nags too much and my children are good but they don't show enough respect,and...."
the man went on and on.
The Buddha sat through all the farmers problems and finally when he finished the Buddha said;
"I am sorry I can't help you"
"Everyone has problems,
in fact we all have eighty three problems"
The Buddha then told them all to the farmer from birth to death.
The Buddha finally said that he may be able to help the man with the eighty fourth problem.
"What's the eighty fourth problem?" asked the farmer.
"The problem of wanting to not have problems"
replied the Buddha.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
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