₦airaland Forum

understood we were going through a phase in our lives. The best part was connecting with a good person like you. It was splendid having someone so humble and truthful as you around. It really helped me adjust rapidly. I'm really glad that you were there for me upon my arrival. I thought about you a lot after your departure, no one could fill the void left by your exit. I'm just really glad that we now have the opportunity to build on the foundation we have together. You are indeed a special woman to me

JT

just thinking?

(in my Mind...)

Grinding - Lord Wiling

Clipse & Pharrell Williams is a very spacious and everybody alive with the idea that we have no specialized good as a branch manager for a manufacturing environment in the last saturday before i am not a fan of idle and the prepaid meter reading

[quote author=wHyyyyyyyyyY ni Cum P00p

Eye luv( mi grandmothers sun n datter

i love my grandmothers son and daughter

you love your father and mother

you hate my father and mother

Zazen

BaEnki:
Heyy Muse friend, nice write up, Adherent of Buddha you're ? Do you thing that paradox don't make sense? Maybe the senses were hidden in it.

Are you saying reincarnation is impossible? That opposes Buddha's teachings.

In my free state, unaffiliated to any religion, I believed that the life is endless just like the universe, and the soul, an immortal object.

i am neither a student nor teacher. influenced by all religions, yet affiliated with none.
tao te ching words it clearly, the truth that can be told, is not the eternal truth.
freedom from affiliation is required for insight, religion is divisive (dual in nature). essence has no beginning nor end.
my state is simpatico to you.

When you can do nothing, what can you do?

A Zen koan is a short story or sentence that initially seems paradoxical in nature.

It is a learning tool intended to alter our perception of reality.

A paradox is something that does not make sense.

In the case of a koan, it is how we think that does not make sense.

Once our mind is capable of seeing things more simply, there ceases to be a paradox.

"If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha"

The paradox existed between reality and our thoughts, between opinion and the actual.

Koan Explained

Nobody can answer a koan for you.
It may take years for your mind to see what a koan is telling you - a sudden unexpected flash of insight will occur.
Some interpretations you may come across are rather misleading: esoteric, convoluted religious explanations that assume an understanding of Buddhist precepts.

They go against the child-like simplicity and immediacy of Zen.

"If there was no fixed point, no conclusion, there would be no contradiction" Krishnamurti

Contradictory statements

People employ absurd arrangements of words and believe that they have meaning.
How many ridiculous statements can you find in everyday life?

e.g. One size fits all...
How outrageous is this?
Will it fit a baby? A toddler? A teenager?
A skinny person? An obese person? A short person? A tall person?

e.g. It's all good...
How can it be?
Good is relative to bad.
Without a contrast, there cannot be good.

e.g. The first rule is that there are no rules.
If this is the case, there cannot be a first rule.

e.g. Expect the unexpected.
Surely the contradiction here explains itself?

Insight

We do not understand koan through conventional means.
The answer is not gained through analysis - it must just occur spontaneously - from the subconscious straight out of your mouth.

Koan

Your understanding of a koan will change as you change.

(Koan)

Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind.
One said, "The flag moves."
The other said, "The wind moves."
They argued back and forth but could not agree.

Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch, said: "Gentlemen! It is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves."

The two monks were struck with awe.

(Koan)

A monk asked Kegon, "How does an enlightened one return to the ordinary world?"

Kegon replied, "A broken mirror never reflects again; fallen flowers never go back to the old branches."

(Koan)

What is your original face before you were born?

(Koan)

Shuzan held out his short staff and said, "If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. Now what do you wish to call this?"

(Koan)

When you can do nothing, what can you do?

(Koan)

What is the sound of one hand clapping?


http://www.newcastletaichi.co.uk/zen_koan.htm

*spits and returns to ZAZEN*

Pay attention 2 these 2 words U wrote

I AM U

Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to Zazen,

"Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should resume your own Buddha nature"

Muse

What is your original face before you were born?

The Five Moral Precepts

Following the ancient tradition, the two steps needed to become a student of the Buddha are: taking refuge in the Triple Gem and undertaking the training of the Five Precepts. These are:

1. Avoid Killing
2. Avoid Stealing
3. Avoid Misusing Sex
4. Avoid Lying
5. Avoid Using Intoxicants

"The moon is looking at you"

The Buddha is the first gem

- He is the founder of Buddhism.
- He found the Truth.
- He is the most honoured person in Buddhism.
- He represents wisdom.
- He taught us how to find happiness through wisdom and love.

The Dharma is the second gem

- It is the teachings of the Buddha.
- It shows the Truth.
- It helps us gain happiness.

The Sangha is the third gem

- It is a group of monks or nuns, or lay followers.
- It represents purity.
- It sets a good example for Buddhists to follow.

The Triple Gem is the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

It is called the Triple Gem because it represents three qualities which are excellent and precious like a gem.

They pay respect to the Buddha, learn the Dharma, and follow the advice of the Sangha.

By doing this, Buddhists believe they can become wise and happy.

You're a Buddhist if you've taken refuge in the Triple Gem, and you do your best to live by the Five Moral Precepts. That doesn't mean you don't make mistakes sometimes. The important thing is your commitment. And not giving up when the going gets tough.

BaEnki:
Do you know of a medium I can establish to communicate to lost friend? Rheya died in car crash.
Sorry for many questions, I just wanna do something.

You are the medium (meditate)

Loving-kindness is one of the Four Immeasurables taught by the Buddha.

The other three are sympathetic joy, equanimity (equal spread of feelings) and compassion.

Loving-kindness means you want all beings to be well and happy.

Not just people you know and like, but all beings - including strangers, people that annoy you, even animals.

Loving-kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation is wishing yourself and all other living beings happiness. In other words, you send out thoughts of kindness towards yourself and love and goodwill towards others, including animals.

Whatever good things we wish for ourselves, we also wish for everybody else. It is like a song, that you can sing to yourself and to others.

Here is a practice you may like to try:

1. Sit down or lie down comfortably and close your eyes.

2. Now turn your attention to yourself and say in your mind: "May I be well, may I be happy."

3. Then recall in your mind someone very dear to you and say in your mind: "May (s)he be well, may (s)he be happy."

4. Then recall to your mind your friends and also wish them well: "May they be well, may they be happy."

5. Next turn your attention to the whole world, to all people around you and say in your mind: "May all people be well, may all people be happy."

6. Finally turn your attention to the whole world, to all beings around you and say in your mind: "May all beings be well, may all beings be happy."

7. Finish by saying: "Peace, peace, peace"

The Dharma

Dharma means Truth and is sybolised by a wheel. The Dharma Wheel is a symbol of the continuous spreading of the Buddha's teachings to help people live more happily.

The basis of the Buddha Dharma or the Buddha's teachings are the Four Noble Truths:

1. The Truth of Suffering

The Buddha's discovery of the solution to the problem of suffering began with the recognition that there is suffering in life. If people examine their own experiences or look at the world around them, they will see that life is full of suffering or unhappiness. Suffering may be physical or mental.

2. The Truth of the Cause of Suffering

The Buddha saw that the cause of suffering is selfish desire and greed. People want all kinds of things and want to keep them forever. However, greed is endless, like a bottomless pit that can never be filled. The more you want, the more unhappy life is. Thus, our limitless wants and desires are the cause of our suffering.

3. The Truth of the End of Suffering

To end suffering, selfish desire must be removed. Just as a fire dies when no fuel is added, so unhappiness will end when the fuel of selfish desire is removed. When selfish desire is completely removed, there will be no more suffering. Our mind will be in a state of perfect peace. Buddhists call this state Nirvana.

4. The Truth of the Path leading to the End of Suffering

The way to end suffering is to follow the 'Noble Eightfold Path':

RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
means to have a correct understanding of oneself and the world.

RIGHT THOUGHT
means to think in the right way.

RIGHT SPEECH
means to avoid lying, tale telling, gossiping, backbiting, idle talk and harsh words.

RIGHT ACTION
means not to harm or destroy any life, not to steal and not to use sex in a harmful way.

RIGHT LIVELIHOOD
means not to live on work that would in any way bring harm to living beings.

RIGHT EFFORT
means to do our best to become a better person.

RIGHT MINDFULNESS
means to be always aware and attentive.

RIGHT MEDITATION
means to keep the mind steady and calm in order to see the true nature of things.

BaEnki:
Oh okey, So when you're suffering from the pain of lost friend, how do you explain that in Buddha's term? I see you're his student?

The communication is ineffective. Your friend lives on in another form, centre yourself and accurately establish the medium to connect.

BaEnki:
Are you a Buddhist?

I am a Puritist