dharma

This stuff of a past not worthily lived is also medicine.

Finally there are those who saw at once that the question was a trap. There is no answer. Instead of wasting time grappling with that trap. They decide to act. They look to their childhood and look for what filled them with enthusiasm then and disregarding the advice of their elders, devote their life to it. Because enthusiasm is the sacred fire. They slowly discover, their actions are linked to a mysterious impulse beyond human knowledge. And they bow their heads as a sign of respect for that mystery and pray that they will not be diverted from a path they do not know, a path which they have chosen to travel because of the flame burning in their hearts. They use their intuition when they can and resort to discipline when intuition fails them. They seem quite mad. And sometimes they behave like mad people. But they are not mad. They have discovered true love and will. And those two things reveal the goal and the direction that they should follow. Their will is crystalline, their love is pure and their steps determined. In moments of doubt or sadness they never forget: I am an instrument, allow me to be an instrument capable of manifesting your will. They have chosen their road, and they may understand what their goal is only when they find themselves before the unwanted visitor. That is the beauty of the person who continues onward with enthusiasm and respect for the mystery of life as his only guide. His road is beautiful, and his burden light. The goal will be large or small, it can be far away or right next door. He goes in search of it with respect and honor. He knows what each step means, and how much it costs in effort and training and intuition. He focuses not just on the goal to be reached but on everything happening around him. He often has to stop because his strength fails him. At such moments, love appears and says: You think you're heading toward a specific point, but the whole justification for the goals existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little. But as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you.

Dharma _ the foundation of all human goals be,Refers to obligations, conduct, moral duties;- 25 -

BASIC LIFE ATTRIBUTESFour purusharthas or goals of the life be,So very crystal clear in life undisputedly;1Artha getting useful wealth and prosperity,Finding the meaning for living herein truly;2Kama fulfilling desires, acting repeatedly,It the physical, material desire fulfillment be;14Dharma _ the foundation of all human goals be,Refers to obligations, conduct, moral duties;25Moksha _ the liberation from the web of maya be,Freedom from the cycles of birth and death clearly;33As all the rivers must lead to the sea eventually,All spiritual paths leading to the same goal finally;43And all of the variety of life are created certainly,By combination of the three Gunas undisputedly.44

Don't always use PAIN that you receive as an excuse to GIVE PAIN...

While happiness is an end in itself, it is also the state of mind we can have right now.

Whole world is not looking for religion, it is looking for its own safe side.

Where slightest of conflict exists, there is neither God nor Religion.

Where there is religion (religious following), there are no worries and where there are worries, there is no religion there.

That what keeps us supported is dharma (religion).

How did I get 'IT'? - By crying, begging, yelping! - Any of this helping?

In a Zen retreat we have a format for working with these quicksilver changes: we sit with them, we pay attention to them... Being steady with mindfulness as an anchor for all the changes we go through is the way we practice forbearance. And you can employ this same method anywhere anytime: just pay close attention to the details of what is going on internally and externally. Don't flinch, don't run away. Trust what happens. Take your stand there." (71)

Activities such as chanting, bowing, and sitting in zazen are not at all wasted, even when done merely formally, for even this superficial encounter with the Dharma will have some wholesome outcome at a later time. However, it must be said in the most unambiguous terms that this is not real Zen. To follow the Dharma involves a complete reorientation of one's life in such a way that one's activities are manifestations of, and are filled with, a deeper meaning. If it were not otherwise, and merely sitting in zazen were enough, every frog in the pond would be enlightened, as one Zen master said. D_gen Zenji himself said that one must practice Zen with the attitude of a person trying to extinguish a fire in his hair. That is, Zen must be practiced with an attitude of single-minded urgency.

We are animals descended from five billion years of wanting, striving, and seeking. And life just doesn__ cooperate. So we suffer. And so the solution to that problem is to upgrade our minds, in a distinctly __nnatural_ way, so that the mind clings less and lets go more.

It is possible to refine awareness itself so much that the emptiness of things, and the role mental construction plays, becomes a directly apprehended reality.

At the last stages of the journey, there__ no journey at all.

Sometimes, sitting there on the cushion failing to watch your breath, it can feel like you__e the only weirdo weird enough to be wasting your time in this way. But you__e not! There are generations of weirdos, monasteries full of them, and we have the benefit of their accumulated wisdom.

Part of why I love these angry, straight, white punks is that they are stripping the dharma of its bullshit, and applying it to contexts and styles that, even if they aren__ mine, are at least different from the norm.