Thought for the day:  June 1, 2007

feeling sluggish and dull, and alert and energetic. This applies to vegetarians as well as
feeling sluggish and dull, and alert and energetic. This applies to vegetarians as well as
non-vegetarians. (For more visit Meditation page and scroll to "Vegetarian
Fundamentalism."Fundamentalism."
Thought for the day:  June 2, 2007

am the Buddha, but you have yet to realize it."
am the Buddha, but you have yet to realize it."


The sutras teach us that "all living beings have the Buddha nature, and it is
only because of false thinking and attachments that they fail to realize it."  It is
important to understand what this is saying, because if we don't, we will view
enlightenment as a sort of add-on that we create, rather than something
fundamental to our nature.
Thought for the day:  June 3, 2007

The sutras say that there are "84,000 dharma doors" to suit the natures of all living
beings. This metaphorical number represents the vast variety of Buddhist teachings.
When we first begin to practice the dharma it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast
choice of methods. It is sort of liking walking into a Walmart rather than a small
convenience store. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the choices, concentrate on  
a simple meditation practice, mindfulness of breathing, for example, or mantra recitation,
and stick with it until you get it right.

It is important not to jump around from practice to practice; if one starts with the basics
there should be no need to. The most basic practice takes years to unfold and develop.
A simple practice pursued with sincerity and commitment can lead to profound
realization.
Thought for the day:  June 4, 2007

Yoga asanas (postures) can be just exercise or a form of meditation; it all depends on
motivation. When
asanas are approached with humility and focus one gains the
benefits of physical as well as spiritual growth. Yoga
asanas when practiced as a
meditation often avoid the pitfalls of seated meditation, such as laziness and torpor.
They purify energy channels that enable us to feel more energy in seated meditation,
as well as our everyday life.

In addition to yoga
asanas, pranayama,  breathing exercises, are also a great aid,
with similar benefits as
asanas. These should be practiced with particular care. An
excellent book on
pranayama is Iyengar's, "Light on Pranayama."  His book, "Light on
Yoga
," is an excellent yoga reference, as well.
Thought for the day:  June 5, 2007

Avoid what I call the "self proclaimed enlightened ones," those New Age teachers with no
lineage or certification. These teachers often say that they are Buddhist or Hindu, but
have no formal training in these disciplines. Relying on their own interpretations they go
on to teach others and no one benefits.
Thought for the day:  June 6, 2007

Karma is action; karmic retribution is just the result. Karma ripens immediately or in the
future; but it never fails. Sometimes we may wonder why unpleasant things are
happening to us, especially when we are living in a good way. But, karma does not dance
to our tune and plays itself out in its own, often mysterious ways. If things are not going
right in our lives, it is important to understand it may have nothing to do with our present
actions or recent actions. It is important to understand this because sometimes it can be
discouraging when things go wrong despite every effort to live in a dharmic way.
Thought for the day:  June 8, 2007

To recite mantras all day long with a mind scattered thinking about this and that has little
benefit. The same could be said about all practices.
Thought for the day:  June 9, 2007

It is tempting to seek out a quiet place for meditation, or to avoid meditation because the place
is too noisy. But, from my own experience and what I learned from my Teacher, there is no such
thing as a place conducive to meditation. If one's mind is in turmoil, wherever one meditates will
be unsuitable; if ones mind is at peace, then anywhere is OK. The same thoughts we have in a
noisy apartment will travel with us to a quiet cave. Desire, anger, jealousy, greed and other
disturbing emotions do not disappear because the environment changes. The best place for
mediation is wherever one happens to be.
Thought for the day:  June 10, 2007
Some New Age books proclaim the importance of living in the "Now."  But, I wonder, what
choice do we have?  We certainly cannot bring the past forward or the future to us. And as
Bob Dylan says, "The present now will later be past," I might add, "the present now will later
be future ( as a conditioning factor.") There is no denying that the three periods of time
condition one another.  Our so called "Now" is what it is because of the totality of past
conditions, while our future will be conditioned by the present.

The "Now" advocates would like us to step into an idealistic present reality that is somehow
disconnected from all that is unpleasant from the past --- an impossible feat. Many of the  "Be
Hear Now Advocates" of the 60's realized the impossibility of their effort and got serious about
acknowledging their past wrong views, renounced drug induced highs, adopting the hard path
of meditation, study, and discipline, and cleaned up their past by not doing the same mistakes
again. The rest crashed and burned.
Thought for the day:  June 12, 2007

The Vissudhimagga uses the analogy of a skilled archer to describe the right balance of
effort required to practice the dharma properly. If an archer pulls too hard on his bow, his
arrow will overshoot the mark; while, if he does not pull hard enough, the arrow will fall short.
In our practice of the dharma the right amount of effort is important. If we work too hard, we
burn out and become discouraged, not hard enough, and we fall back. A steady, balanced,
application of effort is the best way to make gains.
Thought for the day:  June 13, 2007

I had a friend who often experienced a clear light during meditation which he claimed was
caused by the rising of his
Kundalini; even though he never had a Master certify the
experience. Some years later, I visited an accomplished yogi in India who had been practicing
meditation in the cave where I visited him for eighteen years. During the course of our visit he
described how the
kundalini rises and I mentioned my friend and how he had a similar
experience. But, the yogi was having none of it, and looked at me in dismay and said, "There
are many lights, Rick!"

The point was well taken, for it caused me to realize the importance of not certifying ones own
states of mind. Whether my friend experienced the
Kundalini or not, I will never know. But, the
importance of not interpreting one's own states was made clear to me by the yogi's comment.
Thought for the day:  June 16, 2007

settling them firmly in the mind and calmly analyzing them to discover where they have
settling them firmly in the mind and calmly analyzing them to discover where they have
their roots. It does little good to trim weeds, but if you take out their roots they cannot
come back again.come back again.
Thought for the day:  June 17, 2007

Discipline is an important aspect of any spiritual practice; but it should never be
practiced for its own sake. Side by side with discipline, a keen interest in the dharma
must also be cultivated, as well as meditation skills.  The disastrous results of
discipling sexual desire, for example,  without properly channeling the energy, has
been amply demonstrated in modern times by priests of one of the worlds "great"
religions. This is not because celibacy itself is a problem, but because sexual desire
bottled up is. While some Buddhist and Hindus practice celibacy, these schools teach
yogic and meditation techniques that make sure the power sexual energy is properly
channeled when adopting the celibate lifestyle.

There are many other disciplines that one may adopt to support one's practice. But,
do not practice a discipline, unless you can do it without having it backfire on you.
Thought for the day:  June 19, 2007

It is human nature to seek the easiest way to accomplish a goal; but this very human
inclination seldom is of value in our ordinary affairs, let alone spiritual ones. It is far better
to assume early on that great effort will be required to reach a spiritual or worldly goal, than
to live under the delusion that everything will happen "naturally."  The mind by nature will
seek the path of least resistance, like water it will flow to the lowest point. No wonder the
sutras teach: "go against the flow."
Thought for the day:  June 21, 2007

Sometimes Buddhists will make statements about not "believing" in God or any form of creator;
without a clear understanding of the philosophical implications of such a belief. Not believing in
God without understanding why is just as bad as blind faith in God. A person who lives
righteously in love and devotion to God, is certainly better off than an arrogant Buddhist
denying God without a deep understanding of Buddhism's
Thought for the day:  June 22, 2007

The Taoist master Chung Tse said: "I don't know about doing things, I just know
about leaving things alone." A good deal can be learned from this. Taoism was
one of the main belief systems in China before Buddhism's arrival, and readily
adapted to Buddhism's more structured approach. The Taoist "non-doing" was not
a selective kind of inaction, whereby one simply lets go of one's responsibilities. It is
rather a fine tuning of one's awareness to recognize when it is best to stay out of
the way.

Often we do not allow things time to run their natural course. We are so concerned
with the outcome that we eagerly manipulate conditions to unfold as we wish. But,
in our ignorance, as we wish, may not be best. Often a little bit of patience will go
along way to assure that our dreams come true
Thought for the day:  June 24, 2007
A good deal can be learned from what goes on between thoughts. When
meditating ask yourself, " apart from thoughts, who am I?" Thoughts often relate to
and events, but apart from things and events, what is there? When the mind is
calmly observed, our thinking is about things, events, self, and others.  Just as the
gravitational field of various heavenly bodies cause then to orbit around one
another, the smaller orbiting around the larger, so too does our everyday thinking
orbit around things and events, etc. Basically, we are caught in the gravitational
field of our desire mind;  the mind of our personal world.

Through meditation and analyses we can familiarize ourselves with the realm limited to
personal awareness and begin to gradually  gain freedom from its attraction. We
will begin to see a pattern in our normal thinking and question whether or not it is
possible to step outside of the pattern. This very questioning is the inquiry that
will gradually undermine the view of ourselves as distinct and separate individuals.
Thought for the day:  June 25, 2007

The Path to realization is a long one extending over many lifetimes. It is important
to appreciate the Path itself and find happiness in walking it. Goal driven practice
is sure to end in failure because being anxious about results only gets in the way.
Just as we ideally would give a gift without hope for reward or recognition, should
Thought for the day:  June 26, 2007

"Everything is a test, to see what we will do. If you don't recognize what is before
your face, you will have to start anew," Master Hsuan Hua. My teacher often said
this to his disciples, and of course it is true that life is full of many challenges, both
spiritual ones and conventional ones. Of course, we create the challenges before
us by the aspirations we develop. The importance of creating worthwhile
aspirations cannot be over emphasized; for it is in this way that we give our lives
meaning. Just recognizing a truly meaningful direction in life is difficult enough,
achieving it is full of many obstacles

Tantra is one of the most misunderstood schools of Buddhism and Hinduism.
There is nothing at all "sexy" about Tantra.  Although the New Age interprets
otherwise, Tantra, with few exceptions, is practiced without a partner. While kings
contributed to the current delusion by funding temples and art of deities in union, it
is important to bear in mind that they were simply using their wealth to give
expression to their personal erotic fantasies (often carried out in the royal court.)
There is absolutely no scriptural basis for any of it. Those who busy themselves
with Tantric seminars often site these bogi depictions to give credence to their
capitalistic ambitions, while deluded followers seeking justification to cloak their
sexual appetites in religious garb are all too eager to follow them.

As simple human beings, not yet free of carnal desires, to imitate the Gods and
Goddesses in union, as often depicted in Tantric art, is delusional and distructive.A
cursory study of the ancient Tantric texts, makes it clear that such depictions are
merely symbolic representationss of the union of positive and negative energies
complete within each one of us. These "male" and "female" energies can be
balanced within by the practice of Tantra.
should be given towards what constitutes the best diet for a practitioner. Many will
say that a vegetarian diet is best for dharma practitioners, but there is much more
to consider. While it is true that both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures advocate not
killing living creatures for our own survival, it is also advocated that food should be
taken as medicine and not for entertainment. Greed for fine flavors and excessive
eating afflicts vegetarians as much as meat eaters and creates the same
obstructions. Too much thought about food reflects a mind that is not doing the
work it should be doing, whether the thoughts are about a fine steak or a mango.

There are more reasons for being a vegetarian than simply adhering to
harmlessness. Aside from not killing, a vegetarian diet is more conducive to the
meditative and compassionate frame of mind .Hinduism breaks down food into
three categories, satvic, rajistic, and tamusic;  (broadly meaning,)  pure, agitating,
and heavy. Rajistic food agitates the mind and tamusic food makes it heavy. Meat
is both. Satvic food is pure and does not contribute to heaviness or disturbing
emotions.

In addition to eating right, one also must eat with proper mindfulness and a sense
of gratitude. A vegetarian who is a guest of someone who offers him a
non-vegetarian dish should either not eat or eat with gratitude. The Buddha made it
a point to eat what was offered to him and instructed his monks (who begged for
their food) to be non-selective when seeking alms.  In addition, monks are
instructed to eat with mindfulness, either reciting mantras or considering all the
aspects of the food they are eating---the work that goes into growing it, transporting
it, preparing it, medicinal value, etc. Eating with a scattered mind greatly
diminishes the value of our food and it behooves us to adopt the mindfull disipline
of the monks while taking our meals. Eat healthy, think healthy, and always be a
little hungry.