Author: tejvan

Best of July

inca

Inca Gateway – Peru

Photo by: Unmesh Swanson, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

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Is That So? – Zen Story

A traditional Zen Story – Is That So?

“There was a Zen Master who was very pure, very illumined. Near the place where he lived there happened to be a food store. The owner of the food store had a beautiful unmarried daughter. One day she was found with child. Her parents flew into a rage. They wanted to know the father, but she would not give them the name. After repeated scolding and harassment, she gave up and told them it was the Zen Master. The parents believed her. When the child was born they ran to the Zen Master, scolding him with foul tongue, and they left the infant with him. The Zen Master (1) said, “Is that so.” This was his only comment.

continued…

He accepted the child. He started nourishing and taking care of the child. By this time his reputation had come to an end, and he was an object of mockery. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. But there is something called conscience in our human life, and the young girl was tortured by her conscience. One day she finally disclosed to her parents the name of the child’s real father, a man who worked in a fish market. The parents again flew into a rage. At the same time, sorrow and humiliation tortured the household. They came running to the spiritual Master, begged his pardon, narrated the whole story and then took the child back.”

His only comment: “Is that so.”

Version of Story by Sri Chinmoy from: Is That So?

What Can We Learn From This Story?

  • Equanimity. True inner peace comes when we can respond to success and failure, praise and criticism in the same detached way. The Zen Master did not allow the unexpected event to disturb his inner peace and inner happiness. It shows that real happiness does not depend on the opinions of others.
  • Acceptance. Whatever life throws at us, we need to accept the external influences we have no control over. The only thing we are responsible for is our own inner attitude.
  • Character. True character depends on how we respond to difficult challenges.
  • Judging Others. We should avoid making jumping to conclusions on people’s character.
  • Conscience. We can never be happy when we ignore our conscience.
  • Language. Language is very revealing. We can speak with anger and rage or we can speak peacefully.

Related

(1) I believe the Zen Master was Hakuin (1686 – 1768). He helped revitalised Zen Buddhism encouraging zazen meditation and the use of Zen Koans such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Picture by: Kedar, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

Overcoming Persistent Guilt

It is easy to become attached to feelings of guilt, even over small things. This feeling of guilt is actually usually damaging and unhelpful. We are not saying we should ignore our conscience – far from it. What we are trying to do is let go of unnecessary feelings of guilt and move on with our life.

Learn From Mistakes and Move On.

If we have done something wrong, we need to be aware of it. It is only when we acknowledge our mistakes and faults that we can make progress. However, once we have acknowledged our fault, the important thing is to learn from it and resolve to avoid repeating it in the future. By harbouring feelings of guilt, we do not help the situation in anyway. When we feel guilty, we just make ourselves unhappy and when we are unhappy we are rarely able to help others.

Avoid Judging Others

It is an irony that if we keep judging others, we are more prone to guilty feelings ourselves. If we are always criticising others for being late; when we are late ourselves, we start to feel guilty. Judge less and you will be much happier. Avoid feeling morally superior to others and you will be less prone to feeling guilty yourself. Learn to live in the heart where we feel oneness with others rather than separation.

Think of the Positive

The best antidote to feelings of guilty is to focus on the good things we are now doing. Whatever has happened in the past, there is always some positive contribution that anyone can start making now. If we throw ourselves into helpful, selfless activities, how can we retain feelings of guilt?

Continue reading “Overcoming Persistent Guilt”

A Simple Meditation Exercise

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Recently, Shane offered a simple and easy to learn concentration exercise.

The essence of concentration is the ability to focus on one thing at a particular time. This focus and one pointed concentration is essential to good meditation. If we practice concentration exercises it will definitely help our meditation.  In this meditation exercise, we are again concentrating on one particular thing. This time it is our breathing.

As well as concentrating, the secret to meditating well is the ability to silence our thoughts. Although this might feel difficult at first, it does become easier with practice.

Simple Meditation Exercise – Breathing

  1. Be conscious of your breathing. It should not be forced, but, gentle and relaxed. If someone placed a feather in front of your nose it should barely move.
  2. When you breathe in, feel that you are breathing in solid peace. Imagine that this peace is peculating your whole body.
  3. When you breathe out feel that you are exhaling any tension, worries or anxieties.
  4. Just for a moment, you can hold your breathe after the inhalation. When you hold your breathe concentrate on the absolute stillness and silence. No thought should enter your mind.
  5. The aim is to become fully aware of our breathing. We are trying to identify totally with this simple action. But, it is more than just breathing in mechanically. We are exercising our imagination to feel new life and real sense of peace entering our being.
  6. By focusing exclusively on the relaxing movement of our breathing, we switch off from the usual mental thought processes. By doing this we are able to enter into meditation.

Continue reading “A Simple Meditation Exercise”

The Wisdom of the Zen Haiku Masters

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Haiku is a particular type of poem. A traditional Haiku is 3 phrases with 17 syllables; Haiku became popular in Japan, during the seventeenth century, and has recently caught the imagination of the Western World. Haiku gives the poet a unique challenge to express themselves with the minimum of language. There are different aspects of the Haiku which can be particularly instructive.

Paradox

The Haiku masters delight in the paradox, mixing the mundane with the ethereal; the beautiful with the ugly. In part this reflects the quirky sense of humour the poet’s enjoyed.

“This Rooster
Struts along  as though
he had something to do.”

– Anonymous

But, there is also the deliberate effect of mixing sublime truths in the most ordinary of everyday objects. If a Zen master was to gain enlightenment, it was just as likely to be sweeping the floor as it was meditating in a Himalayan cave. The paradox is a reminder to see the extraordinary in the ordinary – the infinite in a grain of sand.

“Where there are people
there are flies, and also
there are Buddhas”

– Issa

Read Between The Lines.

A Haiku is not a university lecture or list of 10 commandments; it is a riddle to be deciphered by the reader. The poet invites the reader to take the 17 words and create his own imagery and own understanding. The process of seeking beyond the literal words is in itself a spiritual exercise. There is a similarity to the zen koan ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping’ A Haiku has the similar effect; we need to work on understanding the meaning and inspiration of the poem. It is a different experience.

A flash of lightning
where there were faces
plumes of pampas grass.

– Basho

Humour

A characteristic of the Haiku Master is that they never take themselves too seriously. Life is something to be observed and enjoyed; but, there is nothing we need to take too seriously, even this business of enlightenment.

“From the nostril
of the Great Buddha
comes a swallow”

– Issa

Continue reading “The Wisdom of the Zen Haiku Masters”

The Infectious Power of Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm

“I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference
of wisdom.”

– Anatole France

Enthusiasm is a great quality. Enthusiasm inspires others and ourselves to transcend our limitations and make a real difference. Without enthusiasm, life can become insipid and boring. Change is created by inspired people not by people who are half-hearted about life. These are some of the benefits of enthusiasm and how to cultivate enthusiasm in our own lives.

Enthusiasm Doesn’t dwell on Difficulties.

“Daring enthusiasm and abiding cheerfulness
Can accomplish everything on earth
Without fail.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Whenever we try to do something new, we will encounter problems and difficulties. We can’t expect to create something worthwhile unless we can overhcome difficulties. If we are half hearted in our approach, these difficulties will be a reason to give up. Our mind will be able to justify our failure by saying the difficulties are intractable. However, if we have real enthusiasm and determination, we will find a way around these difficulties; our enthusiasm will make our aspiration and dreams come true.

Enthusiasm is a stranger to Procrastination.

Procrastination is the biggest killer of any project. In procrastination our initial enthusiasm evaporates and it gives us time to deliberate on problems. This stop start approach will reduce our inspiration and creative flow. Genuine enthusiasm makes us focused and encourages us to overcome difficulties straight away.

Enthusiasm Doesn’t Give Up

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm”

– Winston Churchill

Any project will face setbacks. If we are not determined and enthusiastic we will tend to give up. Enthusiasm can create success in even the most difficult circumstances.

Enthusiasm Inspires others.

“Mere enthusiasm is the all in all.”

– William Blake

Anything worthwhile requires more than one person. If we want to achieve something memorable, we need to inspire others. It is no good having a vision if we keep it to ourselves. If we are enthusiastic and 100% committed to the goal, it will imperceptibly encourage others to follow our lead. If a leader has no enthusiasm for a project, how will he inspire others to join in? Look around at the people who inspire you. It is enthusiastic, dynamic and positive people who encourage us to get involved. An attitude of indifference will turn people off straight away.

Enthusiasm Creates Intensity

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The power of focus cannot be under-appreciated. To achieve something great we need the enthusiasm to concentrate on a goal until it is achieved. Without intensity we will struggle to make the a real difference.

How To Create Enthusiasm in Our Lives

Don’t Listen to the Naysayers.

There are some people who will always find the problems and negative outlook on life. They will subconsciously dampen your enthusiasm by highlighting the difficulties and being suspicious of anything new.

Continue reading “The Infectious Power of Enthusiasm”

Best of June

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The unexpected power of gratitude – A post about the potential of real gratitude in our lives

An Easy to Learn Concentration Exercise – If we can master the art of concentration, we can boost our productivity and learn to tame our mind

Traditional Stories

Some thought provoking stories from different spiritual traditions

Photo by Pranlobha, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

Listening to the Inner Voice

How to Know the Right Thing to Do

There are few greater challenges than working out what is the right thing to do. Sometimes it can appear quite difficult working out what to choose. These are some suggestions for following our inner conscience and creating the life which will give us most satisfaction.

Be Still

To listen to the inner voice, we have to be able to still the mind and quieten our conflicting thoughts. We need to have a faith that something within us we have the wisdom to know our the right thing. To listen to our inner voice, we can try this technique. Repeat the question very carefully in silence and then try to maintain an inner silence for at least 5 minutes; we should not allow any thought to enter, but keep our mind absolutely quiet. At the end of our silent meditation we should have a clearer idea about what to do.

Does it Give You Peace or Anxiety?

If we feel inwardly awkward about a certain course of action, this is a sign that we are doing the wrong thing. When we are doing the right thing, it will be accompanied by a sense of inner peace. Even if others may not appreciate our action, as long as we are acting with the right motives and intentions, we will have a clear conscience and a sense of peace with our decision.

Continue reading “Listening to the Inner Voice”

Living Without Fear

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“At the end of the sorrowful night
Truth appears and smilingly says,
“Beloved, fear no more.”

– Sri Chinmoy

The material advances of the world do not seem to have reduced the amount of fear that exists in our mind. When we fear we weaken ourselves and make it impossible to enjoy life as it is supposed to be enjoyed. To consciously enjoy life we need to throw away fear and retain optimism and a positive attitude to the world. To live without fear is quite possible.

Self Belief.

When we fear we consciously weaken ourselves. If we think of ourselves as an ant, then we will inevitably fear being trampled on. It is important to maintain faith in ourselves and a sense of self belief. This is not the pride of self aggrandisement, but belief in our inner self. If we maintain belief in our inner divinity, then we will not fear the world.

Don’t Judge Others

When we judge and condemn others, we ironically open ourselves upto being judged ourselves. When we pick up on the faults of others, we unconsciously strengthen these very same faults in ourself. Often we start criticising others to assert an unconscious sense of superiority over others; we do this partly out of fear. But, judging others is not a solution to fear; we only make it stronger.

Don’t Focus on Your Weakness / Sin.

If we focus on our ‘sins’ and weaknesses, we start to cherish a guilty conscience. This magnifies our weaknesses and problems, this will only create an attitude of fear. Instead we need to forget unpleasant experiences; it is sufficient to resolve to avoid repeating mistakes. We need to move on and think about the good things we are going to do. When we focus on the negative things we have done we become fearful of their consequences.

Continue reading “Living Without Fear”

How Much for A Glass of Water?

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“Nothing is Worth More than this day

– J.Goethe

A rich man was very attached to his wealth and money. A sufi saint approached him and asked him this question.

“If you were dying of thirst in the desert, would you give half of your wealth for a glass of water?”

The rich man replied “Yes.”

The Saint then asked the rich man, “if you were in agony because you could not pass this water, would you spend half of your wealth to be able to pass the water?”

The rich man replied “yes”

So the Sufi saint said, “Why do you attach so much importance to your wealth when you would give up your entire kingdom and material possessions for a glass of water you don’t even get to keep?”

Analysis

Material wealth is neither good nor bad. What is important is how it is used and our attitude towards it.

A knife can be used to stab someone or cut an apple in half to share. Similarly, money can be used to improve our material wellbeing; but  it can also destroy a person.

If the accumulation of wealth is our highest priority we will be seeking happiness in ephemeral way; we will be doomed to disappointment. Furthermore, when we become possesed with the desire to accumulate wealth, we invariably become mean, selfish and self-absorbed. In this story the sufi saint reminds us of the transitory nature of the world. No matter how much wealth we accumulate in this life, we can not take it with us – nor does wealth help us to understand the deeper meaning of life.

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