The Domino Effect

  One thing leads to another. There has to be a cause before there can be an effect. Intentions lead to actions which lead to results. Everything was caused by something else, like a cosmic domino effect. The strange thing is, good things can sometimes be created by bad. History is full of examples of something dark creating a shining light for the world. World War Two led to India becoming a free nation after 100 years under the thrall of British colonialism. The Civil War led to the freeing of the slaves in America. The list goes on and on.

 

  Think of the Buddhist legend of the demon Kishimojin and her 10 daughters. This Demon is usually seen as a protector but there is a story behind their benevolent behavior.

 

  According to the legend, Kishamojin was once an evil demon who kidnapped and ate babies. To make her see the error of her cruel ways, Shakyamuni Buddha kidnapped and hid her youngest child. She begged him to return her child. Shakyamuni pointed out to her that what she was feeling was how the parents of all the children she ate felt. Kishimojin realized the Buddha was right. She had a change of heart and so the Buddha returned her child to her. From then on, she and her 10 daughters have protected others instead of harming them. They just needed someone to show them the error of their ways.

 

  This story is designed to show two things: How evil actions affect those around us, not just directly but in a domino effect. It also shows how following the path of integrity can transform ourselves and our environment, creating a brighter future for ourselves and those around us. Another domino effect. In the story, something good comes from something bad. If Kishimojin hadn’t once been evil, her children would not have become protectors of Buddhists everywhere. The Buddha’s faith and goodness overcame the darkness in Kishimojin, thus creating a lasting good. A mother’s sin led to ten heroic daughters who make the world a better place.

 

  There is a Passamaquoddy Indian story of the Girl and the Chenoo. (A Chenoo is a huge, carnivorous ogre.)  The girl lived with her brothers. The brothers hunted each day but each night, the fruits of their labor mysteriously disappeared. The girl found giant footprints which belonged to a Cheeno. The brothers considered standing guard at night but feared that the Chenoo would eat them so they huddled in their camp at night, praying that the Cheno would not take their food, or worse, take them! But the sister had an idea. She waited for the Chenoo with food laid out for him. She greeted the surprised creature as a friend and spoke kindly to him. She fed the Chenoo and pitied his lonely life, scavenging for food. The Chenoo was touched by her compassion. The next day, the creature left firewood for them. From then on, the Chenoo became a friend and protector of the family, all due to an act of kindness that changed a feared monster into a friend. For generations the Chenoo would guard the family and future generations would call him “grandfather”. From this ohe act of kindness, generations benefited. A domino effect.

  

  Through the blackness, our inner fire produces a light that is victorious over the darkest parts of our nature. Not just for the people involved but for others involved. A domino effect! Have faith that goodness will win out  like the sun driving out the dark. Our faith will survive the darkness. By rebuking our worst selves, we transform our inner condition and our outer reality. This affects not only ourselves but those around us. A domino effect.

 

  If the Buddha nature manifests from within, the belief is that it will grant protection from without, allowing us to withstand the cold indifference of the darkness of the universe. In times of trial, our goal is to make the impossible possible and turn the darkness into light.

 

Everyone is Equal

“WE ARE ALL EQUAL”

The country has never been so divided between the rich and the poor as it is now. The rich are getting richer and more powerful while the rest are struggling to make a living. The rich were once called “the better class” and there still may be some people who see it that way, but the truth is, no one is any better than anyone else.

Your position in life depends on the whims of fate. It’s all a matter of where and when you are. You can take a very rich man and put him on a battlefield where his money can’t stop bullets and he’ll be no better than anyone else. Take a successful computer technician and put him in Amish country and he’ll suddenly find that his skills won’t get him very far. A famous actor wouldn’t be much help at the scene of car accident. What we think of as “important” or what makes us “better” than someone else is fungible.

Racism is a similar thing. Some people believe themselves to be born better than others because of their color, religion sex or sexual orientation.

  Doctor Martin Luther King was a man who was once told he was not the equal of other men because of the color of this skin. He was told where he was allowed to sit in a bus or a restaurant. But he never accepted the idea that he was a lesser man than anyone else. He defied his oppressors, stood up for what he believed in and led a movement that would change the world. Doctor King knew that everyone was equal and that everyone was worthy of respect. He knew that there should be no discrimination.                                                                                                                                                

  At one time, traditional schools of Buddhism, like so many other religious practices, discriminated against women, denying them equality in their faith. Buddhist women were told that there was no possibility of their attaining enlightenment or becoming Buddha’s. That’s changed today and woman can hold exalted positions. Similarly, the Native Americans were once an oppressed minority. They were called “Redskins”. Hollywood portrayed them as illiterate savages. It’s only in recent years that a more enlightened generation has come to see the error of this.

  Sometimes all it takes is one person with courage to remind us of this truth. Sometimes, all it takes is a Martin Luther King or a Gandhi to light the flame and soon there will be two, four, eight and then eighteen and then eighty and then eight hundred and then eight thousand and so on, who stand up against those who say they are inferior. More and more, people today are awakening, as if from a sleep, joining the march toward enlightenment.

  On our own, we sometimes doubt our potential. But it’s always within us, even when we doubt. Just like a tree in winter, waiting for a bit of warmth to help it bloom. We’re like the trees, waiting for the moment when we’ll bloom. We don’t realize our full potential until we are inspired to unlock it. As Emily Dickenson said, “We never know how high we are until we are called to rise.”

  Our commitment may ebb at times. One day we may feel that we can conquer the world and the next we let small problems get the better of us. But it’s when we are feeling weak that we need to remember that every one of us has greatness inside.

  A great leader or teacher, like a Gandhi or a Dr. King can help bring out this latent greatness which we all have. Sometimes inspiration is the difference between a life of unhappy mediocrity and a life fulfilled.

  “Teach me half the gladness that the brain must know, such harmonious madness from my lips would flow, and the world would listen then, as I am listening now.” Mary Shelly.

  We can all learn and we can all achieve Buddhahood. When Martin Luther King said “We’ll get to the promised land” he spoke for all of us who would plant the seeds of indestructible fortune in our lives and make a better world, with equality and victory for all.

 

BE DETERMINED

CONSISTANCY AND DETERMINATION

When I was growing up, my best friend’s name was Brian. He was a boy genius and his mother made him study every day. I used to get mad that he couldn’t come out to play more often. Why did he have to study every day? Well, he eventually got a science scholarship at Cooper Union. That’s why he studied every day.

  The best athletes train every day. Great writers clear at least one hour a day off their schedules just to write. Inventors work for years, putting in hours each day, to invent something amazing. Just as these great examples do, we need to keep constantly in practice and strengthen our faith daily or our devotion will weaken and we won’t become what we are capable of becoming.

If you’ve ever been really determined to do something—whether it’s get rich or win a trophy or get cast in that big acting role—you know that you won’t do it with a half-hearted effort. You know that success in anything worth having takes daily commitment; otherwise the dream will ultimately wither and fade.

            We must live what we preach. We can’t find enlightenment and evolve to something better than we are with a part-time, sporadic effort. Just like the body needs exercise every day to maintain its fitness, a spirit needs to be nurtured every day in order to become a powerful soul. Going to church once a week or chanting a ritual once a month will not do the job. It takes commitment for someone to become greater than they are. If you want to walk on a higher plane, you need to climb another rung of the ladder every day; otherwise you’ll never reach the top.

The Native American Indians have a lot of rituals which they pass down to their children and encourage the next generation to keep in practice or they may find themselves only going through the motions and losing the heart of the tradition. Buddhists chant every single day, without fail. Often for hours per day. Of course, most people don’t have that must time anymore but even modern city Buddhists try to fit in a half hour of chanting each day.

            So my advice is to live it, don’t just talk it! If you want to be a better person, do something every day that makes you a better person. If helping other people makes you feel you are evolving as a person, then try to do a favor for someone every day. If you feel you need to pray or chant or do a ceremonial dance or whatever makes you feel connected to a greater universe—do it! Even if you can’t fit it in every day, do it as much as possible.

            Don’t let your soul atrophy and don’t lose what you’ve gained by being complacent. You need to feed and exercise your soul constantly if you want to become an evolved, enlightened being.

Peace on Earth

70 years ago, General George Patton said, “Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” If this is true, it’s a sad commentary on the human condition. Why, most people ask, can’t the nations of the world unite with the same efficiency for world peace as they do for world wars? We wait and hope that our leaders will see the light one day. But the real answer doesn’t lie with them, it lies with us. Inside each of us is the key to peace. This endeavor for peace is aimed at transforming human consciousness and uniting people everywhere.

We’re all votaries of change, improvement and evolution, and it’s our mission to instill in people’s hearts a deep appreciation for the ultimate value and dignity of human life and the necessity for peace. The Buddha said, “Better than 1,000 hollow words, is one word that brings peace.” The Oglala Indians believe “There can never be peace between nations until it is first known that true peace is within the souls of men.”

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Some people would say that it’s human nature to fight. But the weaknesses of human nature can be overcome through faith, heart, will and determination, and the belief that we can become better than we have been. Our faith should be a kind of evolution, where we attain a wisdom that allows us to solve the world’s problems without violence. Martin Luther King said, “Peace is not merely a goal, it is the means by which we will arrive at that goal.” William Shakespeare said, “Peace is the best kind of conquest because both sides are subdued.”

The Native Americans used to smoke a ceremonial peace Pipe which was passed around between former enemies as a convenant of peace. We should have more civilized ceremonies devoted to peace. The core of the humanistic spirit is our eternal mission to rid the world of suffering and misery by transforming the human consciousness. As Gandhi said, “peace is its own reward”.

A Spiritual Revolution

POST 13:   Great Moments in the Spiritual Revolution

            “Not in the clamor of the crowded streets, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng but rather in ourselves lie the victory and defeat.” H. W. Longfellow.

            One of the main aims of the lives of a seeker is to evolve and improve. We hope to create change in our souls and in our natural environment by creating profound change within ourselves. By getting in touch with our own Better nature, we can be catalysts for a grander evolution of the species. But looking at the world of chaos we live in, a Spiritual Revolution may seem very far away. In such uncertain times, can we still cling to the hope of changing the world for the better? Is it possible?

            The answer is…Sometimes it works! And we need to be heartened and motivated by the victories we see and let them inspire us to seek out more victories. We need to be proud of any positive change in the world because it came from the good intentions and brave hearts of people who believed it could happen.

            As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Great is not he who can alter matter, but who can alter his state of mind.” It is our hearts that change other hearts. It doesn’t happen quickly but sometimes it works. There’s a Buddhist teaching that “In all things, patience is the key to victory. Those who cannot endure cannot hope to win. Ultimate victory belongs to those who can forebear.” And so we wait. And occasionally, through the dark times, we see the light of proof. We see evidence of a victory in the Spiritual revolution.

            One victory can lead to the next. In 1963, when segregation was still common, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his legendary “I have a dream speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 100 years before that, Abraham Lincoln read the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery. When Dr. King read his speech a century later, no one present thought they would ever see in their lifetime what they saw in November 2007. On that historic occasion, Barrack Obama became the first African American Commander-in-Chief of the United States. It was a great moment in racial equality and an amazing moment in the Spiritual Revolution. It was proof that if we just wait, it can work. It’s “the triumph of hope over experience.”  

             ‘The structure of society is secondary to the human spirit.’  The day free elections were held in the former Soviet Union was another victory, as was the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. These Victories are as grand as they are rare and they are evidence that sometimes it works. There are victories to be celebrated.

            Thomas Edison explained that the secret to his success was to never stop trying until he beat the problem. Once you give up, you are defeated. We have a responsibility to the world to keep trying to recreate these rare victories and to never stop believing that our actions count. When one does nothing, one is responsible for everything.

            There are billions of dreams for a better world being dreamed every day. There are billions of people all hoping that the problems of yesterday will be gone tomorrow. But how many have faith to really believe that? There is so much sadness in history. What about the Native Americans? Look what happened to them! They were conquered and went from masters of a continent to an oppressed minority. That was not a great moment for the species, was it? No, it was not! And the fact is that not every battle will be won. No matter how good your intentions are or how positive your attitude, there are no guarantees in life. But what’s admirable about the American Indians is that they may have lost the war but they didn’t lose their heart.

            Positive change can occur. Not always, true, but sometimes it happens. We’ve seen the proof. It doesn’t come at the point of a gun, but rather in the hopes and prayers of the people who find greatness within themselves. We are, as Tennyson said, “One equal temper of heroic heart, made weak by time and fate but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield!”

            We’ve had our victories in the past. We have proof that battles in the Spiritual Revolution can be won. We’ve done it before and we can do it again, as long as we don’t lose hope.

Freedom

Post 12: FREEDOM

“Oh, to be the ruler of life, not a slave.” Walt Whitman.

What is freedom? Is it living as we choose, our spirits unchained and unhindered by expectations and obligations? Is it releasing the inner entombed soul? A fire that stirs and wakes those living in unhappy resignation? Bob Dylan asked “How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?” So what exactly is freedom?

Freedom is a touchy subject when it comes to the Native Americans. The Native Americans once ruled the continent until the arrival of settlers who conquered the old American Indian tribes in wars that came close to genocide for the Indians. The victorious American government put aside some land for the remaining Indians to live on, which have become known as reservations. There was an unwillingness to share the same land with the defeated race. These reservations have been the home of most, but not all of the remaining American Indian population. This mass segregation turned the once dominant American Indians into an oppressed minority. There are 24 million Native Americans remaining, which is a very small amount considering the population of the country. The new culture of reservation life that the Indian nations were forced to accept has spawned the new social problems which plague them today.

             Beyond the more ethical and political definitions of freedom, there is the concept of inner freedom. Being free, in this context,  means to avoid spiritual paralysis, to follow your beliefs and become a complete human being. It is the destiny of all people to be free. It’s similar to Dharma. Dharma is our ultimate purpose or higher truth. It is our duty to find our personal truth. We must free ourselves and create our own future. Buddha described Dharma as the practice of Freedom. To quote the Buddha, “Just as there is only one taste in the ocean—the taste of salt—so in Buddhism there is only one taste. The taste of Freedom.

            Dharma is a discipline that leads to Freedom. Many may think that discipline and freedom are opposite things. But they’re not! It takes more discipline to live free and prosper than to follow. Freedom also requires courage. Daisaku Ikeda said, “Freedom doesn’t mean the absence of restrictions. It means possessing unshakable conviction in your choices in the face of an obstacle.”

            Buddhism is about awareness, the power to view the options of the world with your eyes open. Freedom to see; Freedom to choose; Freedom to be free. But while Buddhism is meant to free our minds, what about our society? Can we be free thinkers in a society of expectations, judgments and conformity?

            We live in what is euphemistically called a ‘Free Country’ but are we utilizing our Freedom? Are we willingly limiting ourselves? We’re told we should follow our dreams but if we’re brainwashed from childhood about what our life goals should be, are we really thinking freely when we say “I want to be a success” or “I want to be famous”. Aren’t our standard dreams just following the program? If we just do what everyone else is doing, what does that make us? There’s a difference between independence and Freedom. Independence means self-sufficiency but freedom means that we’re not imprisoned by anyone else’s words, deeds or thoughts. People have been trained to love license instead of freedom.

            If you’re hungry, there’s little choice when you’re eating from an apple barrel. All you can eat is an apple. Wouldn’t you rather eat from a fruit cart where you can choose what you’d prefer to eat? 

Can we break out of the cocoon of imposed thoughts or is that idea too frightening for us? Wordsworth said that we tire easily of Freedom. Choices can be scary. Sometimes it’s easier to live in chains. The Buddha, however, once said “Life is constant change. Don’t be as still as a stone.” Freedom is the path to happiness and happiness usually lies in the place we don’t look for it.

            To paraphrase the Buddha, Freedom does not lie in trying to escape but in accepting the impermanence of the physical world and freeing yourself from attachment to material things. We need to free ourselves from what we think we want. We’re given all of Earth to love but we choose only one or two things to care about. Yet do we really choose what we care about or is our choice made for us?

            Do most people realize how constricted they are or is it too painful to think about? Shakespeare said “Others cannot abide the question ‘Are you free?’ simply because they know they aren’t.”   

            Are we free? Do we want to be? In whose service is perfect freedom? Ours or society’s or both?  If we are free to be greater than we are, what heights could we aspire to? We could do great things with our freedom because Freedom is a noble thing. Lincoln said “Freedom is honorable both in what it gives and what it preserves.”

Freedom is always and exclusively for those who think differently. Just think what your life would have been like if you were, as free as nature first made man to be! Buddhist Daisaku Ikeda said something similar when he said “Once we attain Buddhahood, we’ll be Buddha’s in life after life. And we’ll enjoy Freedom throughout eternity!”

Is Time on Our Side?

Post 11: OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TIME

“We know what we are, not what we may become.” William Shakespeare.

            People have always had a vitriolic and vituperative relationship with time. Let’s look at how our battle with time makes us unhappy and consider how we can look at time a different way.

 In one way or another, we’re almost always thinking about time. We’re always thinking about what we have to do later today and what our schedule is for tomorrow. We’re always rushing and worrying about being on time. Our minds wander through time. This is called Not-Being-In-The-Moment.

            The truth is that most of our problems exist in the past or the future. We worry about something that may happen in the future. We feel guilt or anger or sadness about something that has happened in the past. And while it’s true that we do have bad experiences, that’s not what happens most of the time. We just dwell on those moments far too much.  The Cherokee say “Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” Similarly, the Pawnee believe, “What is past and cannot be prevented should not be grieved for.”

            We tend to look at time negatively, like an enemy. We talk about “the race against time”. We describe time as if it were something we’re short of, as in “We’re out of time”, “There’s not enough time”, “I wish I had more time” or “Running out of time.” Or sometimes we have “too much time” and then we have to “kill time”. Time seems to always be against us. Why do we see it that way?

            We should live in the present and find our eternity in the moment. We live in a time where growing financial demands and expectations cause us to look to the future more dreadfully. To the presentation we have to give tomorrow; to the money we hope to save for retirement; to the dollar tomorrow might bring. We’re dragged kicking and screaming out of the present. We don’t take the time to really savor the NOW. To relax, reflect and feel connected to ourselves.

              “Man partly is and partly hopes to be” as Shakespeare said. Taking action now is the only way to be sure that we’ll get where we’re going. And we can’t let thoughts of the past deter us from our future. It’s the past that leads to doubt and lack of confidence. The past can hold us back. We can’t change the past. “What’s beyond help should be beyond grief.”  The past is gone but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called ‘the Present’.

 We need to start our Eternity in the Present moment. What we are and what we will be depends on the choices we make now and the faith we have in our ability to ascend and create a new world for ourselves and for everyone else. Our faith may be a small candle flame but it lights its way through the darkness and ultimately into the light. A flame always reaches upward. Even a tiny flame aspires to rise to new heights.   We all have the capacity to be better than we are if we deepen our faith every day. So what are we prepared to do today?

One Nichiren Buddhist story speaks of the Lion King (Not the Disney one) who took three steps and paused before striking. Between the hunt and the kill, there was a moment when the lion was in-the-moment, pausing to reflect on the experience before rushing to the conclusion. The lion wasn’t thinking about what he had to do tomorrow.  His mind was totally in the moment.

 Why can’t we savor the moment like the Lion King did? Why do we live in the past or the future? Why are we all too willing to be seduced away from our rightful and essential need to be ourselves in the moment? Is it possible to find happiness between ‘tick’ and ‘tock’? Between the bad memories of ‘tick’ or the dread of ‘tock’. How many hours do we spend reliving bad experiences from yesterday or dreading the years ahead, despite the fact that we—all of us—have the instinctive knowledge that there is a better way. A way of greater sanity.

Two things that continually rob us of our happiness are negative thoughts of the past and future. Fear is only a prediction and anger is only a memory. “The greatest blow the enemy of the human soul can strike is to do fury honor.” We can learn from the past and we can plan for the future but we must live in the present.

            Some people work so hard to become successful but never take the time to enjoy the money that they struggled so many hours to earn. And what happens to the people who lose their money before they had a chance to savor having it? Too many people focus on getting something they don’t have but take for granted what they have now. We all take the present for granted even though it’s all we have.

            Shakyamuni Buddha was a wise man, possessed of a clarity that most of us lack. He taught people how to come to terms with the conditions they live in. He advised people to look deep within themselves and acknowledge the way in which their own actions hurt them. He knew that disregarding the precious moments that make up our lives, only diminishes us.

            Buddha said “Life is ever changing, moment to moment. The only constant is change”. So if the world is constantly in flux, hurtling towards unpredictable possibilities, and since the past is irrevocably gone, then all we have for certain is NOW! So why not cherish what we have? Why not live in the moment?

  It’s been said that the universe gives you what you need. Buddha might have said that we have all the time we need. We just need to learn to use it better and appreciate it more. Don’t wish it away or take it for granted. Enjoy here and enjoy now.

            A great quote from Hamlet is “I could be bound in a nutshell and count myself king of infinite space.” Well, we’re all bound by the constraints of time but if we learn to live in the moments, instead of the years; then we can come one step closer to that Buddha nature that lives between ‘Tick’ and ‘Tock’.