Christian Buddha.com

Awakening

2009-06-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Keating, Thomas. _Awakenings._ Crossroad, New York. 1997.

"The first manifestation of the spiritual senses is the attraction for God.
It can be simply an attraction to be alone with him, silent, still. It is a
certain dissatisfaction with thinking about God or just talking to him.
Jesus said, 'The kingdom of heaven is close.' Translated into the spiritual
senses, this wisdom saying points to the interior sense of God's presence.
It dislodges the monumental illusion that God is far away because we do not
feel him." p.39

Body Metaphor

2009-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

My body, the house where my spirit lives

My spirit came to my body pure and innocent, from where I do not know.
The house was already furnished, with pictures, narrow hallways that ran one way, with barriers that did not permit access.
And my spirit made my body grow, with rooms and windows it did not previously own.
But where did the evil come from, the envious thoughts, erotic fantasies, jealous hatreds, selfish idolatries?
Were they implanted in the house where the spirit lived, or was the innocent spirit already infected with that virus the whole world suffers?
My body has been my teacher. My body has been my tempter.

My body now is old, with wrinkled skin, puffy legs, with eyes that do not focus, and ears that do not hear. Still the body is clean, uninfected with disease, strong and healthy. The house had a doorway to weight lifting, leading the spirit to habits that gave strength and leaness to the body.

But soon the spirit will find it can no longer breathe within the house. And where will the spirit go then?

2009-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Keating, Thomas. _Awakenings._ Crossroad, New York. 1997.

"The spiritual senses are like external senses because of their immediacy.
They put us in touch with the reality not through the external senses, but
through the intuitive faculties that directly perceive the greater values of
the universe. These can be gradually awakened through contemplative prayer.
The awakening of the spiritual senses is the call of the gospel
to see with the eyes of faith. When the spiritual senses are activated,
then we truly hear, then we truly see; we have the receptive apparatus to
open to the heart of reality. Through faith, hope, and charity we hear the
ultimate message of the universe. The result of that awakening is
symbolized in
what the blind man did on receiving his sight: he followed him." pp.39-40.

Anguish

2009-01-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

Merton, Thomas. _The New Man._ Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1961, pg. 113,
114.

"The inner recesses of our conscience, where the image of God is branded
in the very depths of our being, ceaselessly remind us that we are born for
a higher freedom and for a far more spiritual fulfillment. Although there
is no "natural" bridge between the natural and the supernatural, the
concrete situation in which man finds himself, as a nature created for a
supernatural end, makes anguish inevitable. He cannot rest unless he rests
in God: not merely the God of nature, but the Living God, not the God that
can be objectified in a few abstract notions, but the God Who is above all
concept. Not the God of a mere notional or moral union, but the God Who
becomes One Spirit with our own soul! This alone is the reality for which
we are made. Here alone do we finally "find ourselves" - not in our natural
selves but out of ourselves in God. For our destiny is to be infinitely
greater than our own poor selves: "I said: Your are gods, all of you sons of
the Most High." [Psalm 81:6.]

The spiritual anguish of man has no cure but mysticism."

Loving God

2008-01-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

Meninger, William A. The Loving Search for God: Contemplative Prayer and
The Cloud of Unknowing. Continuum, New York. 1998.

"...Indeed, you will often find that these kinds of prayers will actually
lead you into this simple loving of God. When this happens, do not resist it. Allow yourself
to cease saying the rosary, or praying the psalms, or meditating on the
Bible, and to enter into the peaceful loving of God beyond words, thoughts,
and imaginings. Do not think that you are wasting your time because you are
not involved in mental calculations. Do not think that you are being idle
because you are resting in loving contemplation of God. It is at these
times that you are being most faithful to what you are and what you are
called to be: a lover in union with the beloved." P. 13

The Color Blue

2008-01-24T19:43:00.000-08:00

The memory of the color blue can take me back to the mundane, and can also carry me into the deepest mysteries of life.

I remember first my brand new bicycle with shiny spokes and rims, a chrome spring to cushion the ride, white side walled tires and painted blue like the summer sky. I rode it around and around the block that Saturday morning, one of the happiest in my life. I remember our new blue Chrysler, purchased from uncle Carl, driving it out of his garage and down Mill Street where it stalled after going through a puddle, the spark plugs too wet to fire. And loading it with six bicycles, camping equipment for a weekend, six humans and a dog, all for a short ride on the Elroy trail after assembling and disassembling at both ends of the trip.

But blue has deeper meaning. I am filled with awe and wonder even during these sunlit days when I look up at the sky, brushed with white clouds, the golden earth and the pale blue heaven. I remember the campfires with the pale moon shining in the dark blue sky, walking into the darkness of the night and marveling at the twinkling jewels unfathomable distances away, the mystery of space. I remember the gray blue mountains of water as we crossed the ocean going to war, sensing the depth, the mystery of mammoth and strange sea monsters. I remember the blue eyes of a pretty young girl looking deeply into mine as she applied my makeup for our comic routine, the blue eyes of Lloyd, my friend, as he peers unflinching into mine and we tentatively explore our friendship, the mystery of persons.

Moment to Moment

2008-01-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

Keating, Thomas. _Awakenings._ Crossroad, New York. 1997.

"The lessons of the liturgy following the Epiphany are about the significance of being incorporated into what Paul calls the body of Christ. In each moment of chronological time, the divine value of each moment is available to us in proportion to our sensitivity to the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit suggests what is to be done at each moment in our relationship to God, ourselves, other people, and the cosmos. When we listen to the movements of the Spirit rather than to our own bright ideas and self-centered programs for happiness, the internal commentary that normally sustains our emotional upsets comes to an end, enabling us to accept difficult situations and people. The neutral zone that we provide allows the Spirit to act."
pp.35-36.

Meditation's Effect

2008-01-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

Merton, Thomas. _New Seeds of Contemplation_. New Directions Publishing
Co.
1961, p. 217-218.

"Meditation is a twofold discipline that has a twofold
function. First it is supposed to give you sufficient control over your
mind and memory and will to enable you to recollect yourself and withdraw
from exterior things and the business and activities and thoughts and concerns of
temporal existence, and second - this is the real end of meditation - it
teaches you how to become aware of the presence of God; and most of all it
aims at bringing you to a state of almost constant loving attention to God,
and dependence on Him. The real purpose of meditation is this: to teach a
manhow to work himself free of created things and temporal concerns, in whichhe
finds only confusion and sorrow, and enter into a conscious and loving
contact with God in which he is disposed to receive from God the help he
knows he needs so badly, and to pay to God the praise and honor
and thanksgiving and love which it has now become his joy to give."

Buddhist Adventure, concluded

2008-01-07T14:33:00.001-08:00

I should add here that each evening we gathered in our respective places in the meditation hall for a “dharma” talk lasting about an hour as we sat uncomfortably on our zafus or prayer benches, explaining what the dharma is in Buddhism and explaining its importance in our lives.

Finally the ten days were over and we were released from our vows of silence. It was fun to talk to other participants from our generation and for me, in particular to meet with the guy not quite as old as I but who I heard day after day groaning with pain and shifting his position to lessen it.

And for the first time we were permitted to make a monetary contribution of our choice, since this particular organization has decided that they will not accept contributions from anyone who had not gone through a first ten day retreat. And as I learned later from attending other retreats there is a rule that no teacher is permitted to charge for his or her services, but must take only what is offered by the student.

There was a feeling of being released as I hurried to my car praying that it would not fail me as I turned the ignition key and heard the wonderful sound of the motor turning over. I confess that I stopped at the first two or three rest stops to gorge myself on bacon and ham with greasy potatoes and fried eggs that never before had tasted so good.

I’ve attended a number of retreats since that first one, complying with the suggestion that a student of meditation attend at least one retreat each year.

I hope that all of this might be of service to anyone considering making meditation a part of their life style.

Buddhist Adventure

2007-12-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

We were awakened before dawn to grope our respective ways to the toilet where there were not enough sinks or stools to accommodate all of us at once, but after standing in line, most of us, we reached our destinations. Then as directed we walked up the covered path pictured in a photo below to the meditation hall, another large cement block building. Inside were probably one hundred fifty meditation mats lined up quite close together but with a broad aisle running down the center, separating the men from the women who had entered on the other side. Most of the meditators had their own personal prayer benches or zafus to sit on, but an inventory was offered at the entrance for those like me who had not yet acquired them. My place was in the next to the last row indicating that someone had made a judgment from the written applications that I was not to be placed in the last row.

After being seated in our assigned places a young lady appeared from behind a drape on the dais before us and seated herself cross-legged.

Instructions were given by Mr. Goenka on tape, directing us to simply take note of the sensations at the tip of our noses as we breathed. And we did this for an hour despite the pain in our knees, admonished to ignore it, or concentrate our attention upon it, discovering its elements and that it was impermanent, as were all events and sensations in life. Unfortunately in this context it meant only that the pain moved to another area of the body.

And this is what we did, an hour at a time, aching for the sound of the bell that ended a session. Between sessions we walked in an adjoining field, slowly and deliberately with our attention on our movements and the sensations felt in our feet and legs, doing a prescribed walking meditation. This was our routine for the ten day period with meals at six and eleven in the morning, with a piece of fruit at five. All of this was done in silence with the exception of the recorded instructions given by Mr. Goenka. Silence meant we were not to talk to anyone nor communicate in any manner, even with simple eye contact.

After three and a half days while meditating in the hall we were told to direct our attention to the middle of our head, to the soft spot where the skull comes together. When I did this it was like someone was standing before me pushing his thumb down on my head. Then as directed we consciously directed this sensation spreading it over the top of the head feeling prickly sensations wherever the attention was directed. This was the manner of our meditation for the duration of the retreat, deliberately scanning our body as directed by our teacher, learning that these lively sensations were always there to be discovered. (to be continued)

Meditation 1

2007-12-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

Underhill, Evelyn. _Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of
Man's Spiritual Consciousness._ E.P. Dutton, New York. 1961.

"(5) Certain processes, of which contemplation has been taken as a type,
can so alter the state of consciousness as to permit the emergence of this
deeper self; which, according as it enters more or less into the conscious
life, makes man more or less a mystic. The mystic life, therefore, involves
the emergence from deep levels of man's transcendental self; its capture of
the field of consciousness; and the 'conversion' or rearrangement of his
feeling, thought, and will--his character--about this new centre of life."
pp.67-68

Buddhist Adventure

2007-12-10T13:59:00.003-08:00

So after filling up on meat I returned to the "temple" and killed some time talking to others who had arrived early and waiting for the four o'clock check in time. A young lady finally set herself up at a card table and we waited our turns to validate our preregistration, done thoroughly many weeks before when we filed our written applications, responding to questions about our previous meditation retreats and medications we took.

As directed I parked my car in a neighboring field, warned that I should remove anything I needed diuring the retreat because I would not be allowed access to it until the retreat ended. A young man then showed me to my "room," created in a large cement block building with drapes hanging from ropes strung across giving each of the participants a private area. Mine was just large enough to contain a cot with space for me to climb into it and a place to set my unopened suitcase. But it was located close to the shower room and toilet comforting me with the thought that someone was aware of the needs of an elderly person.

Supper was in another dimmly lighted cement block building on the other side of the breezeway served buffet style with picnic benches to sit on. Strung across the room was a canvas curtain screening us from the women whose chatter we could hear on the other side. Their sleeping accomodations were on the other side of the building in the old farm house. Great pains were taken to keep us separate at all times during the retreat.

After supper another young man told us how this world wide vipassana organization was created through the efforts and financial resources of S.N. Goenka, an Indian industrialist who suffered from migraine headaches and finally found relief through this particular method of meditation. He also informed us of our ungodly hours, rising early in the morning with a half hour for getting ready, meditation before breakfast served at six, lunch at eleven and a piece of fruit or juice in the evening. There were rest periods after the meals, but most of the time was dedicated to meditation. (to be continued)

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:09:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:08:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:06:00.000-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:05:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:04:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:02:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T17:00:00.001-08:00

Buddhist Adventure

2007-11-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

It was in the spring of 1997 that I made my first venture into Buddhist meditation at the Vipassana Center whose web site can be accessed at the left. How did I choose, or even find the place? It must have been from an edition of Sanctuaries, a fascinating book by Jack and Marcia Kelly, fascinating because it listed monasteries and meditation centers offering hospitality with telephone numbers and addresses making it easy to determine whether it was a place you’d want to visit. And this for me, at the age of 72 would be an adventure. I’d been to Snowmass for a ten day retreat, but I sensed that this would not be nearly so comfortable. An attraction too was seeing that I only had to drive east on Interstate 90, turn left at I-94, exiting at Greenfield to drive the short distance to Shelburne, Mass. But I was apprehensive, not knowing what to expect, anticipating shaved head monks in saffron robes living in a temple designed in Tibet. So I planned to arrive early enough to scout out the place, driving there in the morning to look things over. And what I saw is pictured on the next posts: an old farm house, with young professional people working on the lawn, doing carpenter work on the buildings and other odd jobs.

Reassured, I drove back to Greenfield and the nearest Mac Donald restaurant to load up on hamburger, knowing that there would be no more meat for the ten day retreat. (to be continued)

Needing Another

2007-10-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Loving is not just looking at someone, it is living with him. It is sharing our life and all our reasons for living with another, sharing even our self awareness. It is becoming inseparable. Loving is forming a bond so close, that our inmost being would change if the other ceased to exist. We can no longer see ourselves except in terms of this other. So we truly no longer belong to ourselves. We are radically stripped bare of our self possession because we know that everything we are is in relation to another, in communion with him. There is nothing left but this presence.
This presence can be obscure but it must either remain our deepest truth or we perish. We cannot live otherwise. Our poverty is so radical that it must be a cry to God. God cannot be purely and simply absent. Our poverty itself speaks of him and he dwells in it.
Praying is keeping away from all those things where we do not find what we seek. We are waiting, appealing for him who can satisfy us. We turn towards him. We live in vital need of him. We are open to him. We cry for what will one day satisfy our heart and is already present in hope. We can now only guess at the fulness for which we are made, and our desire for it. Our openness to God is a grace, a gift. We should accept it as such and live with it, in simplicity. We are barely aware of it, we wait. However it is by this gift that we are all that we are. It is our one deep truth. The gift of living in prayer is one with the gift we shall receive of living in heaven. It is the same living reality and the seed contains the fruit. So our humble prayer contains within it a hidden fulness. The only worthy praise of God is our whole being involved in communion with him and only living in and through this loving communion. This is the joy of being filled by God, turned towards God.

from Courage to Pray, by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
and Georges LeFebvre

Prayer's Purpose

2007-10-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God’s purpose. Prayer does not consist in battering the walls of heaven for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to headquarters for orders. It is not bending God’s will to ours, but our will to God’s. In prayer we tap vast reservoirs or spiritual power whereby God can find fuller entrance into the hearts of men.
G. Ashton Oldham

Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

2007-09-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

"If I had to choose the one form of prayer that has made the presence of Christ most
real in my life and given me the deepest sense of being supported and surrounded by
the loving providence of God, I would unhesitantly choose this, the last form of prayer
I propose in this book, the Prayer of Praise." I would also choose it for the great peace
and joy it has so often brought me in times of distress.

The prayer consists, quite simply, of praising and thanking God for everything. It is based
on the belief that nothing happens in our lives that is not foreseen and planned by God—
just nothing, not even our sins."

Then after giving the biblical and liturgical support for this De Mello concludes with this story:

"There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields."
One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the neighbors sympathized with
the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'
A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this
time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, 'Good
luck? Bad luck' Who knows?' Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one
of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very
bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'
Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied
youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with the broken leg they let
him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Sadhana, A Way to God, by Anthony DeMello

A Calm Mind

2007-09-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

As long as there is a lack of the inner discipline that brings calmness of mind, no matter what external facilities or conditions you have, they will never give you the feeling of joy and happiness that you are seeking. On the other hand, if you possess this inner quality of calmness of mind, a degree of stability within, then even if you lack various external facilities that you would normally consider necessary for happiness, it is still possible to live a happy and joyful life.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

My Gene Pool (1922 A.D)

2007-09-23T07:21:00.001-07:00