Namaste ... The year 2013 has been a challenging time for me.   A new year is now beginning ... a new moment in which, traditionally, many people are consciously guiding their lives in a positive direction.  You know ... a New Year's resolution.   For example:  I am going to laugh more.

I am looking toward the Dalai Lama.  He is a laugher and advocate of happiness.

I came across some words of an early Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Longchenpa (1308-1364).  

Since everything is but an illusion,
Perfect in being what it is,
Having nothing to do with good or bad,
Acceptance or rejection,
One might as well burst out laughing!

This could be another positive thought for the new year 

                  .... to look more humorously at life.

Thank you for joining me on the pathway to awareness. 

Namaste!   With the inquiry and contemplation of Self and the question of "Who Am I?",  the thoughts of my many changes has entered into my  questioning.  

Yes, every experience, every thought shifts our energy in what William Blake would call a contracting-expanding way ...  Blake also gave us the words,

"If the doors of perception were cleansed 

everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."

           The following quote from the Buddha about the  

        impartial eye, reminds me of this Blakean thought.

 Golden Buddha, Hyberbad, India

The Buddha says ...

                      “He who experiences the unity of life 
                            sees his own Self in all beings, 
                            and all beings in his own Self, 
                                 and looks on everything 
                                 with an impartial eye.”





For some reason, I saw a connection between the thoughts of  the Buddha and Blake.  What do you think?
       
      Thank you for being here and joining 
            me on the pathway to awareness!

Namaste!  I just wanted to share this photo of a young follower of the Buddha Way and a patron of my art ...

  Kacea drew a picture of the Buddha relief 
that she has placed over her bed.

 

The original piece.

And the mantra ....

 I AM ... an Offering to MySelf

 This Feminine Buddha relief is inspired by the 

ancient Buddhist amulets that are used for votive offerings.  

Created with that thought, 

this piece holds the blessing of remembering 

to bow to the Buddha within.

Thank you for being here with me 

on the pathway to Awareness!

Namaste to you ... These days personal healing has taken over my mind.  I go in all different directions ... meditation, visualation, herbs, healers ... this healing journey has been a long one. 

I came across this quote by Mooji.  Do you know him?  There is lots of information about this guru on the internet ... 

Mooji

The words of Mooji ...
 
                     "Leave your existence to existence, 
                       stop caring for yourself so much 
                       and let the universe care for you;
                                it is the best mother.
                         There has to be some trust, 
                not just belief, because trust is intimate...
                   something lets go to this invitation to 
                           stop holding yourself and 
                          let’s go to existence instead.
                           The very letting go will be 
                          observed in your presence."
  

Yes, this is like jumping from the Zen one-hundred-foot pole.  

Thank you to Mooji for coming into my Awareness.  And thank you for being here!  We are all children of the Universe.

With palms to together, I say "Namaste to YOU!"

May all beings be celebrating new beginnings!  My life hasn't seemed like my life lately.  "Whose dream is this?" I question.  I do feel as if I have fallen down a rabbit hole where everything is unfamiliar and confusing ...

I came across some words of Osho ... they reassure me and keep away the fear.

“Experience life in all possible ways --
good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light,
summer-winter. Experience all the dualities.
Don't be afraid of experience, because
the more experience you have, the more
mature you become.”  

Through the thin of it, I inquire, I contemplate, I meditate. What else is there to do?"

All I can say now is "thank you" 

to new experiences and new beginnings.

Namaste to you ... With questions of "Who Am I?" and what is Truth, I move forward.   I am still contemplating the Taoist thought that can be seen in the roots of Zen Buddhism.  I am so drawn to these writings.  Remember Chuang Tsu and the Butterfly story.  

Thank you to artist Maruka7

                 Here is one version of Chuang Tsu's tale ...

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, a veritable butterfly, enjoying itself to the full of its bent, and not knowing it was Chuang Chou. 

 Suddenly I awoke, and came to myself, the veritable Chuang Chou. Now I do not know whether it was then I dreamt I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. 

Between me and the butterfly there must be a difference. This is an instance of transformation. 

   Thank you for joining me in contemplation

on the pathway to Awareness!

Namaste ... My meditations and contemplations continue ...

A mural of Lao Tsu ... thanks to the unknown artist

Today I was thinking of a Taoist thought presented to us by Lao Tsu.  


After many years of having this particular quote in my awareness, I began to wonder if my meaning had deviated from his words in the Tao Te Ching.  My version:  Sometimes going forward feels or looks like going backwards.  Or some variation of this.

I use this loose interpretation of the quote in regard to a healing, seeking a goal, or finishing a project, etc.  You never know what is happening behind the illusion.

I sought out my old book and found the quote ... underlined as I do.  There it was in the Tao Te Ching, Book 2 Chapter XLI:  

         "The way that leads forward seems to lead backward."

What do you think of this teaching?  With empty mind, I am going to contemplate some more.  

                                 WU-WEI  

Namaste and Happy Full Moon time again ... I have been contemplating our diversity in our unity.  We all are different yet we are all the same.  Our essential beings are One and still we have different opinions ... What do we do with this?

This is a worthy and possibly an eternal question to think about.  Its essence is passed to us through Buddhist stories.

A monk reading a teaching to the young. 

 Here is one such story ... 

                                     You Are Also Correct 

Two monks who came out of a lecture by their master went on a hot debate regarding what they heard during the lecture. Each of them insited that his understanding was the correct one. To settle the dispute, they went to see the master for a judgement.


After hearing the argument put forth by the first monk, the master said, "You are correct!" The monk was overjoyed. Casting a winner's glance at his friend, he left the room.

The second monk was upset and started to pour out what he thought to the master. After he finished, the master looked at him and said, "You are correct, too." Hearing this, the second monk brightened up and went away.

A third monk who was also in the room was greatly puzzled by what he saw. He said to the master, "I am confused, master! Their positions regarding the issue are completely opposite. They can't be both right! How could you say that they are both correct?"

The master smiled as he looked into the eyes of this third monk, "You are also correct!"

Thank you for being here.  

 Let us contemplate this thought 

on the pathway to Awareness!

 

Namaste ... I meditate on this tonight ...

"He who experiences the unity of life 

sees his own Self in all beings,

 and all beings in his own Self, 

and looks on everything with an impartial eye."

                                        --- the Buddha

                I AM ... Joyful ... I close my eyes and I see you-I.

Namaste and Happy Sunday ... I was thinking about life and meditation when I came across this Osho quote:

"My meditation is simple. 

It does not require any complex practices. 

It is simple. 

 It is singing. It is dancing. It is sitting silently.” 

When all things are looked at or performed in awareness ..

                            Can it all be a meditation, I ask?

                                                        Painting by Virginia Peck

 

Thank you for being here 

in celebration of awareness!  

Namaste ... In this moment, I am making a point to remember to love myself ... body, mind and spirit.  Especially, this body that I am dwelling within.    The Buddha taught ---

“You yourself, 

as much as anybody in the entire universe, 

deserve your love and affection.”

 

 

 

When I worked with the children back in California, we chanted love for our body parts taking turns around the circle to call:  Om I love my legs ... Om I love my back ... Om I love my knees ... Om I love my feet.  The children loved it and would chant on and on.   I loved it, too.  

 

                     Today I am chanting the same way!

 

Thank you for being here on the pathway with me.  

We are not alone! 

Namaste ... and Aloha Friday to YOU ... I am still here on the pathway to Awareness.   Yesterday I gathered with a group to casually discuss concerns for our island's health (and in the Oneness of all things, they are concerns for Mother Earth and all beings).  

Today ... I ponder on how to remain a peaceful activist and being instrumental in enlightening the attitudes of others.  "Am I doing enough?  Am I going in the right direction?"  I ask myself.

   

One beautiful pathway!

I keep remembering the Buddha's words about following the pathway.  He says,

“You cannot travel the path 

until you have become the path itself.”

May all hearts gather on the pathway in the  
Truth of Oneness!

Namaste to All ... I have been meditating on and contemplating the Oneness of all Things ... and realizing I am having a problem these days.  Again, it is about duality.  When all is beautiful, my energy is easily flowing with the Oneness of All.  

When I am confronted with anger, hatefulness, a lack of respect for Mother Earth or some other ignorance as defined by Buddhism, the feelings of oneness are illusive and harder to grasp.  It is taking more practice to feel love and oneness with someone who doesn't hold similiar values as myself. 

In asking for help, Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, comes to my heart.  Here is a lovely Asian depiction of her ...

                  

                       "Be like Kuan Yin" is my new mantra.  

                  Love everyone as if they were my own child.  

      Thank you for being here and joining me in our Awakening!

Namaste to You on this day that is one week into the new year ...  Today I was contemplating some life situations and suddenly Suzuki Roshi came into my thoughts.  I found this sweet and colorful painting of him.  Thank you to the artist.

Painting by David N. Goldberg 

Shunryu Suzuki came to San Francisco in 1959 and discovered a group of enthusiastic students who were willing and open to the Zen of Japan.

I came across one of his great quotes for you to ponder.

"If your practice is good, 
you may become proud of it. 
What you do is good,
 but something more is added to it. 
Pride is extra. 
Right effort is to get rid of something extra."

                                   -- Shunryu Suzuki-roshi (1905 - 1971)

                   Thank you, Suzuki Roshi, for your teachings.  

  And thank you for being here and joining me in our awakening.

Namaste to YOU ... In remembering one of the Buddha's teachings from the Dhammapada that can be loosely translated as "we create our lives with our very own thoughts," I am called to make a vow to have right thoughts in every moment --- ones that are positive in nature --- full of love and compassion for all things including myself.

        YES ... I AM THINKING BUDDHA THOUGHTS  

 2013

Smiling Buddhas in Cambodia, 12th Century CE

And I will see the buddhas 

all around me in this "House of Mirrors" life.  

Happy New Year to All.  

Thank you for being here!