Gaia: The Sacred Pool - Masters, Mystics, Saints - Buddhism

Faith: A Buddhist Perspective

http://ClarityQuest.gaia.com — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:43:42 GMT

“The Buddha said, “Faith is the beginning of all good things.” No matter what we encounter in life, it is faith that enables us to try again, to trust again, to love again. Even in times of immense suffering, it is faith that enables us to relate to the presentmoment in such a way that we can go on, we can move forward, instead of becoming lost in resignationor dispair.” ~ Sharon Salzberg

“Faith is the ability to offer our heart to the truth of what is happening, to see our experience as the embodiment of life's mystery, the present expression of possibility, the conduit connecting us to a bigger reality.” ~ Sharon Salzberg

“Faith is the animation of the heart that says, `I choose life,' ” Sharon writes. “This spark of faith is ignited the moment we think, `I'm going to go for it. I'm going to try.' ”

True faith, according to Sharon, is the action of the heart opening to admit life in all its unknown potential. It does not need to constrict around a particular belief or view, because it flows from an inner sense of reality, “a homing instinct for freedom.”

“The tendency to equate faith with doctrine, and then argue terminology and concepts, distracts us from what faith is actually about. Faith is not a commodity we either have or don't have-it is an inner quality that unfolds was we learn to trust our own deepest experience.” ~ Sharon Salzberg

Rinjai's Cat

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:23:41 GMT

THERE WAS A MONASTERY in an ancient land. It had two wings, and the master had a beautiful cat. In this monastery there were one thousand monks: five hundred in one wing and five hundred in another. In the middle was the master's hut.

The cat was friendly and used to visit, first one wing and then the other. And this cat was so soft and loving that all the monks wanted to keep it as long as possible. Often there were quarrels and fights over who would get the cat.

The master became tired of the bickering so he called all the monks together. Holding the cat in his lap, and stroking its fur, he said, "It has to be decided. This cat has become a disturbance. If somebody can do something that shows he is a meditator, that he has encountered truth, then the cat will be given to that person, and that wing to keep.

"Otherwise, If nobody can prove his awareness, then that leaves me only one possibility to end this dispute. I will cut the cat in two and give one half of the cat to each wing."

The monks were shocked! What could they do to prove their meditation? They poured over scriptures to discover proper techniques. They sat in lotus position, stood on their heads, and chanted difficult prayers to prove they were holy.

They tried the whole day, but they could not deceive the Master. Finally, because nobody could prove their awareness, the master cut the cat in two. He gave the dead pieces to both the wings.

Just then Rinjai, a young monk who had gone for some work in the city, came back and heard the story. He could not believe it!

He stomped into the hall, walked up to the master, and slapped his face shouting, "Listen, Old Man, don't ever do such a foolish thing again!"

The master bowed to the ground and touched Rinjai's feet. With tears of gratitude he said, "Where have you been? All day I have been waiting, hoping someone would stop me. If only you had been here one hour before, the cat would have been saved. One thousand monks - and not a single one grabbed the knife from my hand to save the cat. And it would have been enough. But they could not give any true response."

The master was crying, because he would miss his cat. But the master was also crying with gratitude because, finally, from a thousand monks, he had found a meditator, a man of truth.

Zen Teahouse Practice - Jane Hirschfield

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 04:48:34 GMT

"Teahouse practice means that you don't explicitly talk about Zen. It refers to leading your life as if you were an old woman who has a teahouse by the side of the road. Nobody knows why they like to go there; they just feel good drinking her tea. She's not known as a Buddhist teacher, she doesn't say, "This is the Zen teahouse." All she does is simply serve tea - but still decades of attentiveness are part of the way she does it. No one knows about her faithful attention to practice, it's just there, in the serving of tea and the way she cleans the counters and washes the cups."

from Fooling With Words

Re: Holy Smoke

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:04:56 GMT

Thanks, BB. Your response made my day.

Re: Holy Smoke

http://BabasBoy.gaia.com — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 04:09:23 GMT

Loved this Soooooo Much Wendy !!!!

Absolutely Loved It !!!!

In His Love,

Baba'sBoy

Holy Smoke

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 19:19:50 GMT

Holy Smoke

I want to share a hookah with the Buddha.
Yes, that would be heaven, just imagine--
reclining in royal ease, or even on our backs
eyes on clouds or stars approached by
dancing smoke in fantastic shapes:

             girls at play
             men with swords
             flocks of birds
             or butterflies
             a man and wife
             with tenderness
             embracing
             with a kiss
             thunderous men
             and all their works
             little fists
             around knives and forks
             a stalking cat
             a river of bats
             women at ease
             or laboring
             an old man dying
             his loved ones crying
             a mother nursing
             young men cursing
             old women praying
             old men playing
             cards or chess
             a boy exploring
             the local wilderness...

all these pictures I would exhale as we smoked
and when the last curling image had dissipated
he'd blow a shape like a question mark.
A deep breath in and three puffs out, my response
would hover there: Y - E - S.

from the Heart Sutra

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 16:40:14 GMT

The Heart of Perfect Understanding

The Bodhisattva Avalokita, while moving in the deep course of Perfect Understanding, shed light on the five skandhas and found them equally empty. After this penetration, he overcame all pain.

"Listen, Shariputra, form is emptiness, emptiness is form, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.

"Hear, Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are neither produced nor destroyed, neither defiled or immaculate, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is neither form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor mental formations, nor consciousness; no eye, or ear, or nose, or tongue, or body, or mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realms of elements (from eye to mind-consciousness); no interdependent origins and no extinction of them (From ignorance to old age and death); no suffering, no origination of suffering, no extinction of suffering, no path; no understanding, no attainment.

"Because there is no attainment, the bodhisattvas, supported by the Perfection of Understanding, find no obstacles for their minds. Having no obstacles, they overcome fear, liberating themselves forever from illusion and realizing perfect Nirvana. All Buddhas in the past, present, and future, thanks to this Perfect Understanding, arrive at full, right, and universal Enlightenment.

"Therefore, on should know that Perfect Understanding is a great mantra, is the highest mantra, is the unequaled mantra, the destroyer of all suffering, the incorruptible truth. A mantra of Prajnaparamita should therefore be proclaimed. This is the mantra: Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha [Gone beyond, beyond, utterly beyond.]