3 posts tagged “buddha”
There is a quiet place, within yourself, away from the storm. In the center of the whipping winds and stinging rain, there is sunlight, peace and tranquility.
This world, and often this blog, is often full of the terrible side of life – the things people should know about, don’t really want to know about, might want to think about and could benefit from being aware of…but also could suffer from, might be anguished by, become fearful of, or worry about.
In the center of all that, I want to remind myself and others, is a place of serenity. Of Knowing. Of a warm, all-encompassing and comforting love. It is there. At the center of all our atoms is the vacuum, that which binds and connects all things. But we must all participate in the act of finding it. At the very least we must recognize it is there and still the mind, to prepare our awareness. To create a place within ourselves for that quiet feather to land.
This can be very difficult, or it can be amazingly simple. We alone control our bodies, and our reactions towards the outer world. If we don’t – well, go back and read some of the things from my second paragraph. Yes, there are agendas, energies and devices being set against our peace of mind. But they are not our god. Our spirits have much, much greater powers than these.
Awareness is the first step. Then there are things we can do to foil them, to fight that battle. The armor is there. Find it and put it on. Go back and read the old masters. They knew this enemy. This type of struggle is exactly what they were referring to.
Enlightenment can come in a day; even in a minute, a second. Or it can come long and painfully, after much suffering. Just ask Buddha.
The Way can be lined with annoyances and unscrupulous people. But it is always there, ready to receive, ready to heal, ready to teach. Just ask Lao Tzu.
Love is our ultimate weapon. The energy we radiate back out into the world, even as we are bombarded with unimaginable atrocities and negativity, is what will change our reality. Just ask Jesus.
It’s only as hard as we think it is. We
only have as much power as we allow ourselves to have. For that matter,
the dark side only has as much power as we allow it to have. Just ask Yoda.
We are all bubbles of energy that radiate far outside our physical bodies, and interact with our reality; a feedback loop of information going in and out. Which information will we choose to receive, which shall influence us? And which shall we choose to release back out into the world?
Follow your heart, not the programmed knee-jerk reactions of your world gone mad. Take back what is rightfully yours. Peace of mind. Harmony. Start with yourself. Many will follow; meanwhile, just stay strong. Stay fiercely focused. We are poised for the most incredible journey we can imagine. Yes, – amidst the chaos of these days, is a bright and wonderful future, hiding there in the center of it all. Waiting for us to see it.
These are not pipe dreams. It can and indeed will happen. The question only remains, who will join me on this Great Journey? Who will be there to guide me when I fall down?
Discernment comes not from the mind, not from reading a book or following a set of rules or rituals, but through the spirit. Learning to Surf the Tao means acquiring the skill to bypass thought, and listen instead to the Voice within. Our sages, the true masters, attempted to teach this; though their words might be different, the essence is the same. “Be still, and know that I am God”(Psalms 46:10); “Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, Know the sweet joy of the Way.” (Buddha); “When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.” (Katha Upanishad); “Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace.” (Lao Tzu); “If your have not liked yourself to true emptiness, you will never understand The Art of Peace.” (Ueshiba).
‘Tao’ means ‘Way’, and it was originally meant to set forth a Way of Life, not as a ‘religion’ or sect. Buddha’s original teachings mirror this philosophy. Indeed the words of Jesus also point this Way, but in all of these cases their words were added to, and shaped around differing sects and worldly institutions of power and control. Instead, the Way is far simpler. Live in love, and follow its divine essence in every aspect of life. If you do, you can begin to Know for yourself, who the ‘good guys’ are. They teach this simple truth, despite the paradox of trying to put the Unknowable into words, for as Lao Tzu wrote, “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”
The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.
The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable.
Because it is unfathomable,
All we can do is describe their appearance.
Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream.
Alert, like men aware of danger.
Courteous, like visiting guests.
Yielding, like ice about to melt.
Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.
Hollow, like caves.
Opaque, like muddy pools.
Who can wait quietly while the mud settles?
Who can remain still until the moment of action?
Observers of the Tao do not seek fulfillment.
Not seeking fulfillment, they are not swayed by desire for change.
(Tao Te Ching, verse 15, trans. Fia-fu Feng and Jane English, Vintage Books Edition, 1972.) For more on my website, check out http://www.surfingthetao.com/The_Good_Guys.htm
“Few cross over the river.
Most are stranded on this side.
On the riverbank they run up and down.
But the wise person, following the way,
Crosses over, beyond the reach of death…”
-Teachings of the Buddha (from the Dhammapada, trans. Thomas Byrom)
The Buddha was born a prince in ancient India, and raised in wealthy seclusion. He began to see the misery of much of the rest of the world as he grew older. He left home as a young man to seek the truth of what he found, hoping to find an end to the sorrows of human existence. He lived for awhile as an ascetic in the forests, but soon realized he had found no further wisdom in such a life. He one day realized that peace of mind and freedom of spirit could be found in a simple life of balance. He called his teachings the Dharma, or “Way”. (Remember that “Tao” is Chinese for “Way”.)
The word ‘Buddha’ means ‘one who is awake’. The Buddhist tradition attempts to teach the experience of ‘awakening to the truth of life’. They seek to liberate the body and the mind from the materialism of the world, offering instead a Middle Path of peace and balance.
Buddha’s words are in fact strikingly similar in spirit to those of Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching. Of course the religious practices that have developed down the ages took different angles. However, if we consider the original words passed down by these two sages, it begins to seem as if they were both talking about the same realizations – and indeed much the same Way to live.
Buddha said, “Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.” (Dhammapada) Lao Tzu taught, “The master…is good to people who are good. She is also good to people who aren’t good. This is true goodness.” (Tao Te Ching)
Buddha taught, “Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, Know the sweet joy of the way.” Lao Tzu may have had a different tone and spoke a completely different language, and yet the spirit of his words is familiar: “Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond ‘is’ and ‘is not’. How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see...if you want to be given everything, give everything up.”
“The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao, that is what gives her her radiance…she doesn’t cling to ideas,” wrote Lao Tzu. “A mind unshaken when touched by the worldly states, sorrowless, stainless, and secure, this is the blessing supreme,” taught the Buddha.
Both also recognized the futility in the very act of trying to put the great truths into words. Lao Tzu commented, “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.” In turn Buddha lamented, “Words! The Way is beyond language, for in it there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today.” (trans. Richard B. Clarke)
One cannot but help notice that the teachings are similar in tone to other great teachers of note, including some I have mentioned previously such as Ueshiba and Tagore. Once a student begins to truly internalize this higher awareness, they become aware of a ‘Way’ to live or to be, a simple, loving, unselfish and calm state of mind. They see the divine in the mundane, and allow the Way to spread before them, “If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go,” wrote Lao Tzu. Or, as Buddha put it so beautifully, “To live in the Great Way is neither easy not difficult…Just let things be in their own way.”
