"Bears sleep by day.
At night they stay awake
to chase away bad dreams."
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Bear [1]
"In a world where everyone seems to be
larger and louder than yourself,
it is very comforting to have
a small, quiet companion."
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Buddha [12]
" Whatever doctrine and discipline
taught and made known by me
will be your teacher when I am gone. "
" Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you.
All component things in the world are changeable.
All component things in the world are changeable.
They are not lasting.
Work hard to gain your own salvation. "
The Buddha [11]
"Because of so little nourishment, all my limbs became like some withered creepers with knotted joints; my buttocks like a buffalo's hoof; my back-bone protruding like a string of balls; my ribs like rafters of a dilapidated shed; the pupils of my eyes appeared sunk deep in their sockets as water appears shining at the bottom of a deep well; my scalp became shriveled and shrunk, as a bitter gourd cut unripe becomes shriveled and shrunk by sun and wind; . . . the skin of my belly came to be cleaving to my back-bone; when I wanted to obey the calls of nature, I fell down on my face then and there; when I stroked my limbs with my hand, hairs rotted at the roots fell away from my body."
He had experienced pain and tortured his own body like non others and yet have not gained Enlightenment. He recalled the meditation experience he had as a child under the rose apple tree at the ploughing ceremony. He thought that this method of mental development instead of self torture might be a way to Enlightenment. Thereon, he should lead a life that avoid extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification — the Middle Way.
The Buddha [10]
One day Gautama Buddha saw sheep being driven to be slaughtered at a Yajna (sacrifice). He tenderly lifted a sweet little lamb on his shoulder and followed the sheep to the special enclosure where the ruler of the State was performing the Yajna. On being told that the ceremonial killing of the lamb will bring great good to the ruler and the state, Buddha said, "Of course you must admit that a man, a prince, a monk is much more valuable than a tiny trivial lamb. Kill me and win merit, a hundredfold", and advised him about the inner weaknesses and vices that are symbolized by the victims of the Yajna. Buddha argued him out of his false attachment to the paltry benefits promised for ritual correctitude. He told him that the prayer that rose from every Indian at sunrise and sunset was "Let all beings attain happiness". To kill so that you may live longer and with fuller joy is a reprehensible act, Buddha declared. You have to sacrifice, not a bleating sheep, but your own animality, the bestial lust and greed, hate and malice. Sacrifice these and you earn the heaven of unflinching peace.
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