Ten Intentions For A Better World

Intention 1- I Support Life

I refrain from opposing or harming anyone. I allow others to have their own experiences. I see life in all things and honor as if it were my own. I support life.

Intention 2 – I Seek Truth

rumi

..

::

Not Christian or Jew or

Muslim, not Hindu,

Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.

Not any religion

`

or cultural system. I am

not from the east

or the west, not

out of the ocean or up

`

from the ground, not

natural or ethereal, not

composed of elements at all.

I do not exist,

`

am not an entity in this

world or the next,

did not descend from

Adam and Eve or any

`

origin story. My place is

the placeless, a trace

of the traceless.

`

Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved,

have seen the two

worlds as one and

that one

call to and know,

`

first, last, outer, inner,

only that breath breathing

human being.

::

sufi mystic – jelaluddin rumi – 13th century

As translated by Coleman Barks, © 1995.

Source

Jalal ad-Din Rumi __ I am not from this world

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Reincarnation, Karma and Presence

Eckhart Tolle, Ramana and the Zen Master Dogen

The following statements by these gentlemen on the topics of reincarnation, karma and presence reflect my own views. Many years ago as a young man I had a vision of great magnitude in which I was standing on a wide path, a road, which came spiraling up from below. It was like an endless funnel and this road, this path, was spiraling around and up the inside of this funnel-like landscape. I recognized it as the path of time and of myriad past human generations. As I gazed mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of this scenario, someone on the opposite side of this ‘inverted mountain’ waved to me. In that moment I waved in return and recognized that the one ‘over there’ was me in another life.

Put on Your Robe as a Free Person.

From The Record of Master Linji

Dear Friends,

The first part of this article consists of some short passages from a text by the Zen master Linji with my comments. The second part is Linji’s complete text. The passages that I comment on are the ones that caught my attention most strongly. Of course, as with any text from the sages, there are many pearls to be found throughout the text. My intention is to make this text more accessible for those readers who may not know of Linji.

Believe in Ourselves…

…reveal the human spirit

Zen: shin ku myo u

“Moment after moment, everyone comes out from nothingness. This is the true joy of life. So we say shin ku myo u, “from true emptiness, the wondrous being appears.” Shin is “true”; ku is “emptiness”; myo is “wondrous”; u is “being” : from true emptiness, wondrous being.”

excerpt from

NATURALNESS

There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believe in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call jinen ken gedo, or heretical naturalness. Jinen ken gedo means that there is no need to be formal—just a kind of “let-alone policy” or sloppiness. That is naturalness for most people. But that is not the naturalness we mean. 

Deep Peace – B4Peace

Wonderful spiritual music by Bill Douglas from the album of the same name.  A beautiful Irish blessing set to music, with lyrics, based on an Irish poem prayer. The most peaceful, relaxing song you’ll ever hear. Thanks to Mr. Douglas for allowing use of his song.

Krishnamurti and Dogen: The Movement of Discontinuity and The Trap of Neediness

There is a Movement of Discontinuity

This short excerpt on J Krishnamurti’s understanding of the movement of discontinuity reveals to me how much my view is conditioned by that which apparently continues from one moment to the next. I see my wife and the mental/emotional habit is to see her as the one I know and have known for some years now. It is the same with most everything in my life; I take it for granted that most things will be as they were the last time I encountered them.

B4PEACE: Say It With Music

Ode to Joy – Beethoven’s 9th – Ode an die Freude 

Alle Menschen werden Brüder / All people become brothers

(YouTube title: “BANCO SABADELL – Som Sabadell flashmob”)

Ode to Joy (English translation)

Joy, bright spark of divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
Fire-inspired we tread
Thy sanctuary.
Thy magic power re-unites
All that custom has divided,
All men become brothers
Under the sway of thy gentle wings.

Being in Love

The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it is not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of the other person – without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.

— Osho, Being In Love

Thanks RetaCatherine Orsten for this quote!