Saturday, June 25, 2011

Forgotten Dharma Opportunities

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Like a safe cracker working on a vault,
there are times when you can almost hear
the tumblers fall into place for
us to finally enter the spiritual path in a
truly meaningful and profoundly transformative manner.


The last tumbler falls into place,
our hand is poised on the vault’s handle
and then like a dog responding to a silent whistle
we turn to our higher power and say,
I think I hear my mother calling… ta ta
and off we go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StHwAffUNxo


Well that’s anticlimactic!
But how does that happen?
Inner conflict.



Yes, there is a part of us that does NOT want
any more sorrow, anger or fear, BUT
our aversion to suffering is still NOT stronger then
our aversion to change or
our aversion to taking the action that
we could assume will be expected of us.


Yes, the phantom menace of preconception strikes again!
Far too many of us have bought the myth
{hook, line and sinker} that enlightenment takes
numerous lifetimes to accomplish as well as
a superhuman amount of effort to pursue.


How tragic it is that we could honestly believe that
we must forsake our:
• work,
• home,
• mate,
• children and yes,
• even furry little pets
to accomplish Buddha’s teachings… but we don’t!


Come on now, you’ve heard the story,
of the child in sex-ed class who asked,
When I watch Humphrey Bogart films
I see the stars sitting in bed with cigarettes.
Teacher, is one supposed to smoke after sex?



To which the instructor replied,
Only if you’re doing it wrong!


Likewise, if our experience of the spiritual path is
painful and just plain "NOT fun," then
we’re doing it wrong.

So then…” we might ask,
…does the real problem lay in our mistaken beliefs?
Not so much.

I like quoting Christ,
he too was a kick ass Jew,
and he taught that spiritual hunger was an absolute prerequisite to
successfully traversing the spiritual path.
And ya know what… he was right!


Just like the fabled skeleton key of literature that
unlocks all doors it encounters,
truly ravenous spiritual hunger is the key to
overcoming our obstacles to practice.


Does that mean we’ll never have the
dynamic desire to practice effectively until
life absolutely stomps us into the ground?
Nope, not so much.


When we watch the movie “Little Buddha” we see that
Siddharta’s life was pretty sweet.
You see, it was only after he viewed the heart-rending sufferings of others that
he experienced an unquenchable desire to
resolve the problem of suffering’s tyranny.

So, simply by taking a break from
the relentless self obsession that is our lives, and
exercising the courage to open our minds and hearts to
the sufferings of others could
really be all that is required to
light the fires of our spiritual hunger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h75MiZmYwv4



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May you and yours be
happy and healthy!

Om Mani Padme Hum,
NON-sectarian Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika


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1 comment:

Sword In Stone said...

I love this one - as usual - they always come at the moment that hits me in the heart!