"The wise are restrained in body. They are restrained in speech as well. They are also well disciplined in mind.
They, who have safeguarded the three doors, body, speech and mind, are supremely restrained"
The Buddha
Dharmapada 234
Doorways......
There are many doorways we need to go through in our lifetime.
These doors take us to places we want to go,
and sometimes, to places we don't like.
When we are lost, we look for a door to enter that will fix our emotional state.
The doors I speak about, are the door of the body,
the door of speech and the door of the mind.
The one we enter is not important.
The door is only important when we are lost, and at that time, the closest door is the one we choose.
The tension in our neck and shoulder might be the nearest entrance,
or our doubting mind,
or our inner critic.
We often overlook the closest door and pick the longest way.
We have a shop that sells Feng Shui and Buddhas.
We have a large Buddha at the front of our shop.
It's a small shop of only thirty square meters.
It has a front door to the street and a large double door at the back.
We are part of the Victoria market, so a lot of people visit us.
We are very busy.
People rub the Buddha's stomach for luck.
They see the money in his hand and ask why.
I explain if they drop a coin or two in the Buddha's hand, he will take away their problems.
As a side benefit,
the coins go to charity.
Just tell him your problems.
See the size of his ears,
See the size of his bag,
Put your problems in his bag and then you won't have them.
He is not there for his good looks.
He is there to change your world.
He will stop your anger,
your greed, your jealousy.
He will give you love compassion and calm.
He will show you how to smile.
Can you look at him and not smile?
I tell them that he is a doorway to peace and happiness.
That's fine,
one person said,
a smile doesn't fix the problems I have,
He won't pay my debts.
He can't feed my children.
And on and on with negative agitation, irritation, and anger.
She asked me if I was a doctor, and if I wasn't, how can I give advice.
I told her I was just a person of love and compassion.
However I do offer medicine just like a doctor.
This medicine pills can be taken daily, whenever the symptoms arise.
The symptoms are
agitation, irritation and anger.
These are the cause of all negative thoughts and actions.
The cause of suffering.
Now you can have three pills to take at least three times a day, I told her.
The pills are;
the pill of stillness,
the pill of silence and
the pill of spaciousness.
These pills can open doorways of refuge.
When we find ourselves agitated:
take the pill of stillness and not practice distraction,
but feel the stillness within the agitation.
When we hear irritation and complaint in our voice, we can take the pill of silence.
We can actually listen to the silence within us.
When anger takes over and our minds are filled with things we should not say or do, we can take the pill of spaciousness and settle into it's calm.
These pills are offered freely and available to all.
Most don't take the medicine I offer,
as it doesn't taste sweet.
It's too simple and as we have to do something when we take the pills,
it becomes too hard.
So to make it easy.
I give instructions with the pills.
When we are rushing around and become agitated.
We realize we have chosen agitation.
I advise at that moment to
take the pill of stillness.
It's the same when we hear complaint in our voice, we can take the pill of silence and with anger, we take spaciousness.
These three emotions are the doorways to our body, our speech and our mind.
Agitation effects our body,
Irritation effects our speech, and anger effects the mind.
These doorways can be opened with my pills and in this way we are able to discover a deeper truth to all our problems.
The problem is in opening a doorway that has been closed all our lives,
we might find something we don't like.
Taking a pill is the easiest way to liberate the suffering experienced through the doorways of body, speech and mind.
In taking these pills we can show others how positive, calm and cultivated we are.
How loving and compassionate we can be.
In opening our doorways,
we can benefit others through the positive qualities that become available to us.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
