Some Zen....
Some fifteen years ago David Bell wrote a funny inspirational book of Zenisms.
Great book.
A young monk walked up and down the bank of a wide swiftly flowing river deciding how to cross.
He noticed a great Zen master on the other side.
He cried out to the wise master;
"Great teacher, how shall I get to the other side of the river?"
The master called back;
"You are already on the other side of the river!"
Thanks David.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Friday, 23 January 2015
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
My calendar....
My calendar....
I have a Zen calendar that gives daily inspiration.
Today is particularly apt.
"A Hasidic Rabbi, talking about daybreak, the time for morning prayers, asked his students how they knew when night ends and day begins.
'It is when you can see an animal in the distance and tell if it is sheep or a dog.'
'No' said the Rabbi.
'Is it when you can see the lines on your hand?'
'No' came the answer.
'Is it when you see a tree and can tell if it is a fig or pear?'
'No' said the Rabbi.
"You are all wrong."
"It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that they are your brother or sister.
Until then it is still night."
Hasidic Mondo
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
I have a Zen calendar that gives daily inspiration.
Today is particularly apt.
"A Hasidic Rabbi, talking about daybreak, the time for morning prayers, asked his students how they knew when night ends and day begins.
'It is when you can see an animal in the distance and tell if it is sheep or a dog.'
'No' said the Rabbi.
'Is it when you can see the lines on your hand?'
'No' came the answer.
'Is it when you see a tree and can tell if it is a fig or pear?'
'No' said the Rabbi.
"You are all wrong."
"It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that they are your brother or sister.
Until then it is still night."
Hasidic Mondo
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Friday, 16 January 2015
"A Monks power"....
"A Monks power"....
I don't know if this story is true, or not.
The Monks that I am privileged to know do not have any of the powers in this story.
On the other hand,
maybe they do,
and maybe I need to talk to a few of them about my dreams.....
A most worthy follower of Buddha, who was compassionate and loving, explained to a Monk his most dire financial problems.
He had been very wealthy, but through bad investments had lost the lot.
Now, he explained, he was in big trouble as he not only had to pay back his creditors, but also marry off his daughter.
"My advice is that you should buy a lottery ticket," the Monk told him.
The follower told the Monk that he didn't doubt for a moment that he could arrange anything including a lottery win, and he would wait till the end of the month to pick up his winnings. However he was slightly skeptical of how he would organize the win.
The Monk told him he would fix everything through the Grace of the Universe.
So he bought the ticket and told the ticket seller that the Monk had guaranteed him a win and he would be back for the money.
He then went to the local inn to stay the night before going home.
Staying at the same inn was a wealthy merchant.
That night the merchant had a dream about a Monk having guaranteed a lottery win and that he should exchange his worthless ticket with the winning one.
The merchant asked his servant to find the Buddhist to swap tickets.
The merchant's deal was refused even when offered a few gold coins as well as the ticket.
After much talk the merchant finally offered one thousand gold coins.
Our friend of course had to accept, and so the tickets changed hands.
Our Buddhist friend returned home and married off his daughter in grand style.
At the end of the month the ticket that the merchant swapped won the lottery.
The compassionate Buddhist decided to visit the Monk and ask what happened, and how a worthless ticket could win so much money.
The Monk explained that he had asked the Master of Dreams to visit the merchant and convince him to swap tickets.
"I also saw the merchant give you a thousand coins to marry off your daughter, and after paying your creditors you also donated a great deal of your winnings to the Temple",
said the Monk.
The Buddhist went home most pleased with his donation to the Temple and he became more prosperous than he had ever been before.
"Thank you to the Universe for showing us that even our dreams can be organized by an enlightened Monk."
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
I don't know if this story is true, or not.
The Monks that I am privileged to know do not have any of the powers in this story.
On the other hand,
maybe they do,
and maybe I need to talk to a few of them about my dreams.....
A most worthy follower of Buddha, who was compassionate and loving, explained to a Monk his most dire financial problems.
He had been very wealthy, but through bad investments had lost the lot.
Now, he explained, he was in big trouble as he not only had to pay back his creditors, but also marry off his daughter.
"My advice is that you should buy a lottery ticket," the Monk told him.
The follower told the Monk that he didn't doubt for a moment that he could arrange anything including a lottery win, and he would wait till the end of the month to pick up his winnings. However he was slightly skeptical of how he would organize the win.
The Monk told him he would fix everything through the Grace of the Universe.
So he bought the ticket and told the ticket seller that the Monk had guaranteed him a win and he would be back for the money.
He then went to the local inn to stay the night before going home.
Staying at the same inn was a wealthy merchant.
That night the merchant had a dream about a Monk having guaranteed a lottery win and that he should exchange his worthless ticket with the winning one.
The merchant asked his servant to find the Buddhist to swap tickets.
The merchant's deal was refused even when offered a few gold coins as well as the ticket.
After much talk the merchant finally offered one thousand gold coins.
Our friend of course had to accept, and so the tickets changed hands.
Our Buddhist friend returned home and married off his daughter in grand style.
At the end of the month the ticket that the merchant swapped won the lottery.
The compassionate Buddhist decided to visit the Monk and ask what happened, and how a worthless ticket could win so much money.
The Monk explained that he had asked the Master of Dreams to visit the merchant and convince him to swap tickets.
"I also saw the merchant give you a thousand coins to marry off your daughter, and after paying your creditors you also donated a great deal of your winnings to the Temple",
said the Monk.
The Buddhist went home most pleased with his donation to the Temple and he became more prosperous than he had ever been before.
"Thank you to the Universe for showing us that even our dreams can be organized by an enlightened Monk."
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Sunday, 11 January 2015
A story of re birth:..
A story of re birth:..
(My thanks to Fred whose birthday bought back memories of our time together in Fang)
Everything we say,
think and do,
effects our future.
An old man came to the Temple with two ladies.
One was aged about sixty five, the other fifteen.
It was assumed the elder woman was his wife and the child his daughter.
The man then began to discuss with the head Monk his plans to build a meditation hall.
He said he needed to build this hall within one day of his death.
He said that his death was not far off and he had been told this by his first wife.
When he said this,
he pointed to the young girl.
"One moment,"
said the Monk,
"How can this girl be your first wife and the old woman your second?"
And so the old man began to tell the following Dharma:
"This young girl was my first real love and we married when she was fifteen.
I was a wealthy merchant and we were very happy.
I loved her dearly and she was most beautiful and I cared for her every need.
There was however a problem.
She liked to steal things.
We would go out to friends houses and she would steal from them.
I did not know of course as the saying "love is blind" is true.
She would also go into our rice fields and when the harvest was ready and the bundles of rice were placed neatly, she would send our workers next door to steal their rice."
After a moment of silence, he was too upset to continue and the girl
spoke.
"I was happy with him for some twelve years, but one day when walking to the fields, I had a feeling I was about to die.
I was wearing two heavy gold chains my husband had given to me as a wedding present.
I decided to bury them under the foot of a large tree beside the workers hut by the rice field.
And so I died and went to hell.
In hell they told me I had been so bad I had to spend one hundred years before I could be reborn.
My husband of course did not know I had gone to hell.
He missed me so badly he gave a large donation to the Temple in my name.
The head of the hell realm told me that because of his merit I had been given twenty years off my time in hell.
My husband then built a school in my name and again I received a twenty year deduction.
This happened twice more and the head of hell said I had to only serve twenty years for my wrong doing,
not one hundred.
My husbands merit had earned me eighty years off my sentence.
When I finished the twenty years,
I was told I was to be reborn in a town near my husbands home.
When I turned fifteen I was to marry him again and look after him in his old age.
I was told that he was to build a meditation hall in one day after his death.
And so I was reborn.
When I turned twelve,
I started to remember the past and I would go and stare at my husband.
He had now remarried and it made his second wife uncomfortable to have a beautiful young girl stare at her husband.
They thought me mad.
It became worse when I started to tell the people at the village and my school, that I am here to marry an old man who is already married.
On my fifteenth birthday,
I went to see my husband and told him of the gold chains.
Of course I looked and sounded familiar to him and when he finally decided to dig, I was happy to say not only found the chains, but said he would re marry me.
So now we are here to offer and gain merit by building the hall."
The merchant passed away a few years later, and a day after he passed, the meditation hall was built.
The girl died within the week and both were sent straight to heaven.
She to be ordained and to continue to help those afflicted and he to become an Arhat .
(perfect person or saint)
This story was told to me by my Dharma Master,
as was told to him,
as the truth,
by his Master who met the merchant and his two wives at his Temple.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
(My thanks to Fred whose birthday bought back memories of our time together in Fang)
Everything we say,
think and do,
effects our future.
An old man came to the Temple with two ladies.
One was aged about sixty five, the other fifteen.
It was assumed the elder woman was his wife and the child his daughter.
The man then began to discuss with the head Monk his plans to build a meditation hall.
He said he needed to build this hall within one day of his death.
He said that his death was not far off and he had been told this by his first wife.
When he said this,
he pointed to the young girl.
"One moment,"
said the Monk,
"How can this girl be your first wife and the old woman your second?"
And so the old man began to tell the following Dharma:
"This young girl was my first real love and we married when she was fifteen.
I was a wealthy merchant and we were very happy.
I loved her dearly and she was most beautiful and I cared for her every need.
There was however a problem.
She liked to steal things.
We would go out to friends houses and she would steal from them.
I did not know of course as the saying "love is blind" is true.
She would also go into our rice fields and when the harvest was ready and the bundles of rice were placed neatly, she would send our workers next door to steal their rice."
After a moment of silence, he was too upset to continue and the girl
spoke.
"I was happy with him for some twelve years, but one day when walking to the fields, I had a feeling I was about to die.
I was wearing two heavy gold chains my husband had given to me as a wedding present.
I decided to bury them under the foot of a large tree beside the workers hut by the rice field.
And so I died and went to hell.
In hell they told me I had been so bad I had to spend one hundred years before I could be reborn.
My husband of course did not know I had gone to hell.
He missed me so badly he gave a large donation to the Temple in my name.
The head of the hell realm told me that because of his merit I had been given twenty years off my time in hell.
My husband then built a school in my name and again I received a twenty year deduction.
This happened twice more and the head of hell said I had to only serve twenty years for my wrong doing,
not one hundred.
My husbands merit had earned me eighty years off my sentence.
When I finished the twenty years,
I was told I was to be reborn in a town near my husbands home.
When I turned fifteen I was to marry him again and look after him in his old age.
I was told that he was to build a meditation hall in one day after his death.
And so I was reborn.
When I turned twelve,
I started to remember the past and I would go and stare at my husband.
He had now remarried and it made his second wife uncomfortable to have a beautiful young girl stare at her husband.
They thought me mad.
It became worse when I started to tell the people at the village and my school, that I am here to marry an old man who is already married.
On my fifteenth birthday,
I went to see my husband and told him of the gold chains.
Of course I looked and sounded familiar to him and when he finally decided to dig, I was happy to say not only found the chains, but said he would re marry me.
So now we are here to offer and gain merit by building the hall."
The merchant passed away a few years later, and a day after he passed, the meditation hall was built.
The girl died within the week and both were sent straight to heaven.
She to be ordained and to continue to help those afflicted and he to become an Arhat .
(perfect person or saint)
This story was told to me by my Dharma Master,
as was told to him,
as the truth,
by his Master who met the merchant and his two wives at his Temple.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Monday, 29 December 2014
The Tao....
The Tao....
Master Lieh Tzu asked gatekeeper Yin if he could explain the following;
"Only the perfect man can walk under water and not drown, can walk on fire and not burn and can pass over a multitude of lives without fear.
How is this possible?"
Gatekeeper Yin replied;
"It is because he preserves his original breath, and this has nothing to do with knowledge, work, persistence,
or bravery."
"Everything has a face, form, sound and color. These are just appearances."
He continued;
"How is it possible that this thing or that thing are separated from each other?"
"Indeed why should each be viewed as the first of all beings?"
"They are just forms and colours and nothing more."
"However everything arises from what is formless, and descends into that which is changeless."
"If we grasp and follow this using it to the full,
nothing can stand in our way!"
"It means being able to reside within limits which have no limit,
be secluded within boundaries which have no beginning,
go to where both the beginning and the end of all life is;
combine essential nature, nourish the original breath, harmonize Virtue and, by following this Path, commune with the origins of life."
"We will guard our unity with Heaven,
and then our spirit will be without fault,
nothing can get inside and attack us."
"We must retreat to the serenity of Heaven and as a result nothing causes us harm."
"We must recognize that everything under Heaven is united."
"It is possible to get rid of the rigors of punishment and execution, of chaos, violence and war."
"This is the Tao."
"We must not cast aside the Heavenly, and ignore the human aspect; only then will people draw closer to the realization of Truth."
This is a Dharma from the writing of Chung Tzu and I thought it appropriate to the situation we both face right now.
With Metta
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Master Lieh Tzu asked gatekeeper Yin if he could explain the following;
"Only the perfect man can walk under water and not drown, can walk on fire and not burn and can pass over a multitude of lives without fear.
How is this possible?"
Gatekeeper Yin replied;
"It is because he preserves his original breath, and this has nothing to do with knowledge, work, persistence,
or bravery."
"Everything has a face, form, sound and color. These are just appearances."
He continued;
"How is it possible that this thing or that thing are separated from each other?"
"Indeed why should each be viewed as the first of all beings?"
"They are just forms and colours and nothing more."
"However everything arises from what is formless, and descends into that which is changeless."
"If we grasp and follow this using it to the full,
nothing can stand in our way!"
"It means being able to reside within limits which have no limit,
be secluded within boundaries which have no beginning,
go to where both the beginning and the end of all life is;
combine essential nature, nourish the original breath, harmonize Virtue and, by following this Path, commune with the origins of life."
"We will guard our unity with Heaven,
and then our spirit will be without fault,
nothing can get inside and attack us."
"We must retreat to the serenity of Heaven and as a result nothing causes us harm."
"We must recognize that everything under Heaven is united."
"It is possible to get rid of the rigors of punishment and execution, of chaos, violence and war."
"This is the Tao."
"We must not cast aside the Heavenly, and ignore the human aspect; only then will people draw closer to the realization of Truth."
This is a Dharma from the writing of Chung Tzu and I thought it appropriate to the situation we both face right now.
With Metta
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Monday, 15 December 2014
Eric's new book.....
Eric's new book.....
"I have heard....
One day or so after the Buddha's enlightenment, a man saw the Buddha walking towards him.
The man knew nothing of the Buddha, but could see there was something very different about him.
He asked:
"Are you a God?"
"No", the Buddha answered.
"A magician,
a sorcerer, a wizard?"
"No."
"An angel?"
"No."
said the Buddha.
"Then what are you?"
"I am awake,"
the Buddha replied."
.............
I have been so fortunate to receive a present of a book from my friend
Eric Dowsett.
This, 'Collapsing the Wave,'
his fourth book,
just on the market,
is about change.
Of course change cannot happen unless we choose to change.
Most are asleep, dozing, non-compus.
Not caring for anything other than desire and the pursuit of dreams that are out of all proportion.
Eric challenges us to step out of this cycle.
Not to become involved.
To be in this world, but not part of it.
To rise above the mundane, the madness and the futility that our suffering causes ourselves and others.
Eric talks of our conditioned mind.
To let go.
I am enjoying this book, a reminder of things I did do and shouldn't have done, and of things I haven't done and should do.
I highly recommend and will write more after I read more.
Thanks Eric
www.ericdowsett.com
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
"I have heard....
One day or so after the Buddha's enlightenment, a man saw the Buddha walking towards him.
The man knew nothing of the Buddha, but could see there was something very different about him.
He asked:
"Are you a God?"
"No", the Buddha answered.
"A magician,
a sorcerer, a wizard?"
"No."
"An angel?"
"No."
said the Buddha.
"Then what are you?"
"I am awake,"
the Buddha replied."
.............
I have been so fortunate to receive a present of a book from my friend
Eric Dowsett.
This, 'Collapsing the Wave,'
his fourth book,
just on the market,
is about change.
Of course change cannot happen unless we choose to change.
Most are asleep, dozing, non-compus.
Not caring for anything other than desire and the pursuit of dreams that are out of all proportion.
Eric challenges us to step out of this cycle.
Not to become involved.
To be in this world, but not part of it.
To rise above the mundane, the madness and the futility that our suffering causes ourselves and others.
Eric talks of our conditioned mind.
To let go.
I am enjoying this book, a reminder of things I did do and shouldn't have done, and of things I haven't done and should do.
I highly recommend and will write more after I read more.
Thanks Eric
www.ericdowsett.com
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
Friday, 5 December 2014
Holidays;
Most of us are about to take a holiday,
Friends will say:
"enjoy yourself, don't do anything I wouldn't do".
What does that mean?
That's really scary.
What do they expect us to do?
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 Universe at work.
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 should be left at home.
Of course 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, and if we don't, we share our problems 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 of us spend our waking life in discontent, worry, anxiety, being
depressed or other negative states of mind.
These directly effect our 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
just being
I love holiday.
Nathan
Sent from my iPhone and
http://www.dharmamaster.com
With love
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