Daily Meditation:

This is the way of peace: "Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." - Peace Pilgrim
Love, truth, good...peace. Overcome. Overcome. Walk in the way of peace. with each step forward into the world know the peace that comes from being in contact. Establish that contact often. Take no action without forming that contact. Bring forth your relationship with the spirit in everything you do. That being established, being felt, and being seen, go out. Go out into the world and walk in peace. How? Start with the above. Do good, praise good, foster good in yourself and others. Plant seeds of goodness wherever it is you go. Evil is easy. It is fast and sly. Evil is not known as evil until late. Evil cloaked in good. See through the veils that hid the underneath. See through deception. See through fear and anger, find the root. Evil is a harsh word. the evil in our hearts can be as small as self loathing. The evil in our minds as easy as self deception. The evil in our bodies in not taking care of ourselves. Evil creeps. To call it evil is painful but as you say truth hurts.
Knowing truth we overcome the lies. Telling ourselves lies and half truths. Contradictions. The things I thought two weeks ago are not the same as I think today. Taking care of myself two months ago and the protections and walls that were build can be taken down today. Truth is both changing and immutable. The truth that stands universal and the truth that we know for a moment. The river is the river and yet the river is a different river each time we step into it. Wants and needs balanced with truth and love.
Love overcomes all. Love of man, love of self, love of the spirit. There is no room anymore for hate. There is not room any more for anger. The pain and the anger must be cast aside once again. We have to clean out our hearts and minds and places inside where we keep our hate and associated feelings and thoughts. With nurturing love we will open up to the whole of ourselves once again to the possibilities.

Daily Mediation:

Honen Shonin taught people that it was enough to simply recite Nembutsu. He firmly believed that true Buddhism should be able to be practiced easily anywhere and at any time.

Whereas the base of this meditation does not sound inspiring it contains a truth on prayer and mediation. It can and should be practiced everywhere, all of the time. It is too easy for us I think to look at our time with God as separate from the rest of our day and our being. Let us take a moment in the morning to clear our heads and make ourselves known to the universe. Welcome into my life on this day...help me to be of greatest service today...And then a moment at night upon our knees before bed. It is the in between that needs the walk with the spirit. And so we make that contact and the threads that connect us to that being thin and fray, they stretch and pull and at times yes are broken. The thing about that connection with the spirit of the universe is wondrous in that when that connection is severed it is easily reestablished with a simple act. Simple is the action. Difficult is the release of the ego, difficult is the becoming humble, difficult is letting go, difficult is belief. It is time child. It is time.

Daily Mediation:

...always try to be sincere and to be introspective. 3. We extend the circle of prayer help one another and try to contribute to the promotion of social purification as well as to peace and welfare.

I trimmed down the mediation today following the take what you like and leave the rest philosophy. Accepting everything as part and parcel as the whole it not always necessary. It is alright to hear something we like and integrate that into our philosophy and not pick up the whole. Granted there are some teachings that belong together as an entire grouping and philosophy and way the taking bits and pieces out of that cosmology is not fair to either the belief system or too ourselves as practishioners of those beliefs.

Pray for peace. Be peace. Change in the world comes first from change within ourselves. Prayer has the ability to transform. It transforms the heart and the soul. Often times we hear that when there is something wrong with the world and a situation that has gotten us upset that there is something also wrong with us. We hear that when someone has disturbed us. When we feel slighted or hurt or angry over another. That is the time we need to make prayers for them. Focus on them and pray for their health and help and that God may become known to that person and the grace fill them completely. And so in our anger and pain we reach outside of ourselves and pray for that from which our pain is cause and thusly we transform ourselves and our suffering to be joyful in another. I think in this way we build, we build ourselves and the positive in our hearts. We transform and purify ourselves. That place inside that has been building with anger and pain must be transmogrified. To maintain and feed that does damage mainly to ourselves but colors all the relationships we have with others. The color of that pain is reflected outward and touches others, touches our interactions and perceptions. Freeing ourselves allows all other relationships to flourish and grow in a loving manner the way chosen for us to live by the will of our creator. Heard yesterday - before I can pray for the health and help and healing of others it is necessary for me personally to be in a state of humility ready to be healed myself.

Daily Meditation:

It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other. - J. Krishnamurti

Our. We each of us, all of us joined together upon this spaceship we call earth. I do not remember the first time I heard the concept of Spaceship Earth. traveling in circles around a radiant sun. Warming our bodies and our souls. Joined together through a natural force that is unseen but uniting. It is really amazing when you think about it. What if the earth were like a part of us. Not separate. Not apart from. What if with every tree that was cut we felt the pain of the earth. What if with every furrow dug the scars upon the soil were transferred to our bodies and psyche. What if with filling the skies with the belching black gook so too were our lungs filled. Not really something that is possible or even considered but...

Our Earth. Together United in a journey upon this planet. Very separate from the earth. very separate from each other. Joining together. One and another. Blending. harmonizing. More people join together and their voices unite and become one. A force. Change can then occur. The whole 100th monkey thing. Critical mass occurs.

Helping each other. We build each other up, we do not tear each other down. We watch what we think and say in order to build up the people. Do not cast dispersions. It does not hurt the other only ourselves. Those words stick not to them but to ourselves. Reach out a helping hand on this day. Lift up our brothers and sisters and provide for them a caring heart. Even if only a whispered prayer on passing, it is enough to change and grow.

Destruction of the other is easy. People filled with fear. Fear and Hate. We do not understand the other and fear what we do not understand. Fear of losing what we have. Fear of ourselves and what we are capable of. How can we as a people, we as human beings transform that fear into love? How can each of us individually and as a race bring forth the shining light and embrace the world? I wish I knew.

Performancing.com | Helping Bloggers Succeed

Performancing.com | Helping Bloggers Succeed
I think becoming a professional blogger would be cool.

John Around Him

I recieved a call today from South Dakota. Our friend and relative John Around Him passed away on Wednesday evening. John was a drummer and a singer from the Pine Ridge Reservation. It is not fair to his legacy to say only that. He was a father, grandfather, friend, leader, teacher. I read today of his work with incracerated folks and taking the drum and songs and language into the prisons. He would speak often of tolerance and kindness. John was an elder of his tribe. He was of a generation of men and women who were raised in a culture not their own and he and others were able to return to their culture and revive from the near extinction it faced. For that the people are eternally grateful to him. I ate with him on occasion and spent not enough time with him during my time in SD. His voice and his teaching will remain with all of us who knew him and stood with him in circles. To his family I wish comfort, health, and help. Peace be with you all at this time. Pilamaya yelo.

Daily Meditation:

In this life, you will achieve benefit from any Buddhist practices you choose. Jodo Shu practice can bring rebirth in the Pure Land and enlightenment, and is easy for anyone to follow.

In reading a bit on Jodo Shu Buddhism I think the basis is to do it. It does not really matter what you choose to do to form and nurture a connection with the infinite just as long as you build, maintain and use the relationship with the divine. The theory being if you pray. if you praise. if you lift up your voice, the external the internal you will be heard and comfort will be gained. The peace you find within as a result of the relationship with creation will spread throughout your life and the light and love with which you live will shine for all to see.

Wake, pray. walk, pray. eat, pray. action, pray. inaction, pray. in all that we are, in all that we do, pray. I use the word pray because it is understood. It is more then what it is however. Prayer needs to become more. It needs to evolve out of a rigid up and down on the knees distant understanding of communication with god. Prayer needs to become the personal connection with creation. Prayer needs to become our communion with the spirit of the universe. Something we keep and hold deep within us on a personal and peaceful level. Okay so the fear I find this morning is not based in anything except for my lack of faith. No not even that. I have faith. I forget that sometimes. TO easy to turn to the self and inside of my head instead of to the inside residence of the creator. The dwelling place of the divine within my heart is a grand palace most of the time. On occasion I relegate the position of the divine to a tar paper shack on the outskirts of my memory.

about_great_coffee

about_great_coffee
I think I found the oklahoma coffee shop I have been searching for, and alas it is located in Tulsa...
Granted Barbara at Coffee Dan's still pulls the best shot in town.

Daily Meditation:

Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

My friend Bill Trey one evening, picked up a hot coal from a fire. He held for a long while. He did not get burned. He had a kind of faith that said he would not get burned. It was amazing to watch that happen.

The anger we keep within does not harm anyone else. Yes, it colors our thoughts and actions. it blocks us from love, it changes our outlook and anger changes the way we are with others. That anger is dangerous. Yoda always says... "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." It is time to let go of that anger. It is time to set down the coals we carry in our hearts. It is time to heal the wounds the anger has caused our souls and our bodies. We carry that anger and it is burning us. We do not even feel the burn any longer. It has been with us so long we carried with passion, with justification, with pride even. The coals of our anger have burned us yes, but they are also given us warmth and comfort. The anger gives us a reason and a direction for our fears to be expressed. Without our anger we have fear again. without anger our hate does not manifest. without suffering we are free again to live in light and love.

We can carry our anger around for ever. We can hold onto those fears. We can nurture the coals and keep the glowing and alive and ready to spark a wildfire in a moment. We know those feelings, those thoughts, those actions. They are comfortable and necessary. That which we know. In freeing ourselves of the anger, in letting the coals burn out we are left with unknown. We fear the unknown. What possibly can come into our lives to replace the fear and anger? What can we let into our hearts to douse the coals of anger. Love. Peace. A relationship with the creator. We have these things. Love and Peace, tolerance, a direct connection to the spirit of the universe. And yet these must share and fight for a place within against our anger. the heat burns also our love. The heat keeps at bay peace. the heat burns the ties to the creator.

That place inside where the anger is kept is needing to be healed. I wish I could say how to do it. I wish I could give directions. I wish also I could let go of my own angers and be free of those burning coals. Little by little they are extinguished. Little by little the anger is lifted and replaced with acceptance and love and compassion and tolerance. How? Prayer. Taking care of the self. walking. talking (sharing) with others. guiding principals. I know that anger needs to be released. Those burned places need to be cleansed and prepared so that healing can take place. It is time. Regardless. It is time.

Daily Meditation:

Where is the temple of God? In our heart. Therefore that's where we have to go and meet Him. - Swami Chidvilasananda

In our heart. In our hearts. God resides there. In our hearts. all of the external seeking that we do and it leads us back to the most simple and easiest place to access and that is our own heart. Meeting God within our hearts. Communing with the spirit of the universe not as some sentient outside greater then thou white beard father figure but as loving gentle personal manifestation within our souls. I believe it is time to cast off the oppression of a god that is dictated by others, a god that is said to be loving and caring and is used by man as a method of fear and control, a god that is external and distant to subjugate and relegate our lives...Yes, we must let go of old ideas about a supreme being and embrace God in a personal relationship as a relative.

Daily Meditation:

It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow. - Ralph Ellison

This mediation is instrumental. Change and growth. We know these things are happening. Nature has dictated the course. Acceptance of that growth and change and implementation of those changes in daily life is the commitment. I need to talk on commitment a bit...What is a commitment? When are we released from a commitment? What does it mean to make a commitment to ourselves, to another, to creation? Answer these within ourselves. The evolution of ourselves is going to change the way we view the world and our actions/reactions to the world. We have made a commitment to live in a peaceful way. Ideals, we set forth an ideal and strive for it. We try to keep those things. Being human, being as we are One must know we will not be able to achieve, to keep all those commitments we have made. And what to those commitments to which we have been freed. Not by choice have we been released. No regrets, no worries, no fear, no guilt.

Commitment to grow and to change. What am I doing today to change and grow? What can I do daily? What can I do internally? Externally? What can I do to foster that change within and without. Am I willing to commit to the necessary way to being to be the change I want to see in the world as Ghandi would say? Or Black Elk - If you want to do as I do, Live as I live. Are we willing to live in that way? Is it even our destiny? How do you want to live? Where do you want to be? Perhaps we are already living the way we want to live. We are who it is we want to be. Just simply accept I know myself already and I am asking questions in a circular manner and not really getting anywhere...until I make the change in life necessary.