Kamma

Stop!

STOP!

"I have stopped, Angulimala. You stop."

Then the thought occurred to Angulimala, "These Sakyan contemplatives are speakers of the truth, asserters of the truths, and yet this contemplative, even while walking, says, 'I have stopped, Angulimala. You stop.' Why don't I question him?"

So Angulimala the bandit addressed this verse to the Blessed One:

"While walking, contemplative, you say, 'I have stopped.' But when I have stopped you say I haven't. I ask you the meaning of this: How have you stopped? How haven't I?"

Seeing the changing suffering within

Now, the mind is alright, it is normal.

It won’t be
and it thinks again.

We watch that. Watch it clearly

Become familiar in watching, and skilled.
Be a champ in watching.

It is good to see suffering.

To see suffering is the most excellent thing.
Suffering gives rise to ‘BUDDHA’.

If there was no suffering, there would be no BUDDHA.

Don’t be the one who is suffering: see it!
To see suffering is to be the BUDDHA, a little BUDDHA.

The BUDDHA is the One who knows,
the Awakened One, the joyful One.

It doesn’t mean a person, rather, it is the quality of
knowing, of being awake – that is the BUDDHA.
The state of seeing is a quality,

it is the standard of life,

it is the Path.

It is NOT 'I am Suffering',

rather it is 'THERE IS SUFFERING!'

Kamma Reloaded

Page1

"Be careful", he said to her as she sat on the bed amidst the crumpled bedsheets handling his revolver... "its loaded"

"Is it for your wife?" she asked

"No" he replied, "better to employ a professional for that"

"Will you hire me?"
"Hahahaha " he laughed, "who will want to engage a girl to kill??!!"

She looked at him through the gun sight... "Well, your wife would"

Bang!

-the end-

TQ

The 10 MOST powerful 2 letter words are:

If it is to be,

It is up to me

2 letters

This email provides a unique description of what life is like for quake and tsunami survivors in Japan on the ground now.

When tragedy strikes, it reminds us of what is really important in life and the little things we once felt we had lost, such as community solidarity and the sight of a carpetful of twinkling stars in the night sky.

Life Lessons from Japan

First email sent by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist Master and founder of Plum Village, France, to friends in Japan. Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of the book “The Miracle of Mindfulness”, and promotes engaged Buddhism.

Dear friends in Japan,

As we contemplate the great number of people who have died in this tragedy, we may feel very strongly that we ourselves, in some part or manner, also have died.

The pain of one part of humankind is the pain of the whole of humankind. And the human species and the planet Earth are one body. What happens to one part of the body happens to the whole body.

An event such as this reminds us of the impermanent nature of our lives. It helps us remember that what’s most important is to love each other, to be there for each other, and to treasure each moment we have that we are alive. That is the best we can do for the dead. We can live in such a way that they feel they are continuing to live with us more beautifully, mindfully and deeply in each of us, tasting every minute every second that we are still alive and living for them.

Here, at our centres in France and many countries around the world, all of us will continue to chant and send you energies of peace and healing to offer support. We are praying for you with our heart, breath and with the daily actions with more compassion and understanding and to treat each other with more respect. Thank you for reminding us this lesson.

The second email sent by a Japanese lady to the Plum Village sangha (community of practitioners) in HK

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,

First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologise for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend’s home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.

Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, “Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.”

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often. We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not.

No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend’s husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realise from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that is much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all,
Anne

Impermanence

Can I live and die without regret?

Birth and Death is a grave event;
How transient is life!
Every minute is to be grasped.
Time waits for nobody.

--

如如不動