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A small circle: Dharma |
Category: Inspiration 3 comments
18 Jul 2006 @ 04:08 by martha : Energy 18 Jul 2006 @ 17:41 by i2i : Meditation The original title of this post, which is more of a quote/music/image collage kind of a thing, was originally "Meditation." I usually prefer to leave the meaning of such pieces to the viewer's imagination because of the ability of meditation to touch us in ways, which are beyond the every day noise of our ordinary subjective reality and daily preocupations, and which relate to that part of us within ourselves that is deeper than us, which sometimes speaks through us and to us and beyond us - it speaks of the things we all share, the things that bring us together (which are many more than some would have us believe) rather than of our differences. "Dharma" was suggested to me by Hanae, as was the quote by Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh coined the word "Interbeing" which relates to our interconnectedness, interdependence and interrelatedness - he was once nominated for a Nobel peace prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who himself once proclaimed: "We are all caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality ..." Hanae spoke of "interbeing" before in a comment on another post on NCN, here: Evey's choice: "Teachers who say not to pay attention to the problems of the world like hunger, war, oppression, social injustice, who say that we should only practice have not understood deeply enough the meaning of mahayana... What is going on in the world is also going on within ourselves, and vice versa. Once we see this clearly; we will not refuse to take position or to act. When a village is being bombed and children and adults are suffering from wounds and death, can a Buddhist sit still in his unbombed temple? If he has wisdom and compassion, he will find ways to practice Buddhism while helping other people...If we cannot see what is going on around us, how can we expect to see into our own nature? [Thich Nhat Hanh, "Interbeing"] ---6 Apr 2006 @ 05:04 by Hanae @68.165.234.38 : Interbeing - one Buddhist 's perspective Hanae could just have as easily quoted the Dalai Lama: "The world is increasingly interdependent, so that lasting peace ~ national, regional, and global ~ can only be achieved if we think in terms of broader interest rather than parochial need. ... As the world grows smaller, we need each other more than in the past." As to the meaning and origins of the word Dharma, well, I have never been much of the "how many angels can fit on the head of a pin" school, and there is already so much out there about it: link. In so far as to its more immediate use, as to the way it relates to this post, the following will do: "[Dharma] is, so to speak, the essential nature of a being, comprising the sum of its particular qualities or characteristics, and determining, by virtue of the tendencies or dispositions it implies, the manner in which this being will conduct itself, either in a general way or in relation to each particular circumstance. The same idea may be applied, not only to a single being, but also to an organized collectivity, to a species, to all the beings included in a cosmic cycle or state of existence, or even to the whole order of the Universe; it then, at one level or another, signifies conformity with the essential nature of beings…" (from Guenon's "Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines") 18 Jul 2006 @ 18:02 by jstarrs : Definitions I like the way this post is focusing on the necessity to be active, to open ourselves up to our human family whilst following a spiritual path, instead of letting the spiritual path become an ego mandala. There is often a lot of confusion due to the language-translation problems that arise from spiritual terminology that comes from another language. I was hit the other day, by a term that has long been translated from sanskrit into english as "blessings", as in blessings from ones teacher but whereby a more precise term was suggested as "inspiration", in that we ask for inspiration for our teachers so that our own path becomes active and not passive, as blessings may suggest. Other entries in Inspiration 19 Sep 2006 @ 00:38: Does Man deserve to be saved?
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17 Jul 2006 @ 20:38, by D