The Practice

Irrigators regulate the waters;
fletchers straighten the arrow shaft;
carpenters shape the wood;
the wise control themselves.

                               ~The Dhammapada, verse 80

To Sivaka (Number 1)

The Teacher was once staying at the squirrels' feeding ground in the Bamboo Grove at Rajagaha. Then the wanderer Topknot Sivaka approached and exchanged greetings with him. After a pleasant and courteous conversation, he sat down to one side and said, "Gotama, there are some wanderers and brahmins who voice the opinion and hold the view that whatever a person experiences—be it pleasant, painful, or neither—is caused by what was done in the past. What do you say about this?"

The Buddha answered, "Some experiences are caused by bile, some by phlegm, some by wind, some by all three together. Some experiences are caused by the change of season, some by poor care, some by sudden assault, and some are the fruit of one's actions.

"You can know for yourself how such experiences occur.

" People in the world agree on how such experiences occur.

"Those who believe that all experience is caused by what was done in the past overestimate what can be known by themselves and what is accepted as true in the world. Therefore, I say that those wanderers and brahmins are mistaken."

~The Samyutta Nikaya

To Sivaka (Number 2)

Again the wanderer Topknot Sivaka approached and exchanged greetings with the Teacher. After a pleasant and courteous conversation, he sat down to one side and said, "You talk of a 'clearly visible dharma,' sir. In what respect is the dharma clearly visible, immediate, inviting, uplifting, to be personally experienced by the wise?"

The Buddha answered, "Let me ask you a question about this. Respond as you see fit. What do you think: When there is greed within you, do you know 'there's greed within me,' and when there is no greed within you, do you know 'there's no greed within me'?"

Topknot Sivaka answered, "Yes."

The Buddha continued, "With greed, hatred, delusion, and those qualities of mind associated with greed, hatred, and delusion, when they are within you do you know they are present? And when they are not within you, do you know they are absent?"

Topknot Sivaka answered, "Yes."

The Buddha said, "It is in this way that the dharma is clearly visible, immediate, inviting, uplifting, to be personally experienced by the wise."

Sivaka said to the Teacher, "Excellent, sir. From now on regard me as an adherent who goes for refuge as long as he draws breath."

~The Anguttara Nikaya

Family

The Buddha confirmed and emphasized family relationship, exhorting all persons who decided to remain in the worldly life to maintain family ties together with the honor and dignity of the family as a social unit.

~Hammalawa Saddhatissa, in Buddhist Ethics

Starving-Student Potato and Cheese Casserole

4 cups of mashed potatoes
1 cup of your favorite cheese, grated
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Cayenne powder to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the mashed potatoes with 1/2 of the grated cheese and the two beaten eggs.

Season with the cayenne to taste.

Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve hot with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

Poppy Seed Noodles

1 (8 ounce) package of wide noodle, cooked and drained (do not rinse)
1/4 cup of butter, melted
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Toss the noodles with the melted butter and the poppy seeds.

Season to taste with the black pepper.

Okra Succotash

3 cups of sliced okra
16 ounces of sweet corn
1 (14 1/2) ounce can of stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup of chopped onions

Combine the ingredients in a large skillet.

Cover the skillet and simmer for 15 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper (or cayenne powder).

Note: For a change you can saute the onion is a little melted butter until they begin to caramelize. Proceed with the recipe as usual.

Intimacy

If the aim or purpose of theistic traditions is for a more intimate relationship with the divine, in Buddhism the emphasis is for a more personal, a more intimate understanding of oneself.

The Canon

The Buddha's teachings were memorized and passed down orally for four centuries before they were first written down on talipot palm leaves (ola leaves) in Sri Lanka around 80 BCE.

There tends to be a bias in the modern world towards oral traditions. Yet, two groups of monks from the Ganges Valley memorized the Teachings. One group migrated south to Sri Lanka and the other to the northern areas of India. Today, we find an extraordinary degree of agreement between these two, now written, collections. They obviously came from the same original material. 

Low Self-Esteem Magnifies the Power of What Assails One

When they find a dying serpent,
Even crows behave like soaring eagles.
Therefore if I'm weak and feeble-hearted,
Even little faults will strike and injure me.

                                 ~Shantideva, in The Path of the Bodhisattva

The Sangha

Navajo Flowers

Understanding the Teachings and the Practice, the Realities, of Buddhism is the work of a community, the Sangha, over time. This is not a task for one mind, however brilliant, working in isolation.

The Buddha, the Teacher.

The Dharma, the Teaching.

The Sangha, the Community of Students.

Thunderstruck

But all my foes will cease to be,
And all my friends will cease to be,
And I will also cease to be,
And likewise everything will cease to be.

All that I possess and use
Is like the fleeting vision of a dream.
It fades into the realms of memory,
And fading, will be seen no more.

                                   ~Shantideva, in The Way of the Bodhisattva

Change

It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to arrange, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating change.

The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new.

~Niccolo Machiavelli, in The Prince

To Kaccanagotta

The Teacher was living at Savatthi. Then the good Kaccanagotta approached him, greeted him, sat down to one side, and said: "You say 'complete vision,' sir. In what respects is vision complete?"

"By and large, Kaccana, this world relies on the duality of 'it is' and 'it is not.' But one who sees the arising of the world as it happens with complete understanding has no sense of 'it is not' about the world. And one who sees the ceasing of the world as it happens with complete understanding has no sense of 'it is' about the world.

"By and large, this world is bound to its prejudices and habits. But such a one does not get caught up in the habits, fixations, prejudices, or biases of the mind. He is not fixated on 'my self.' He does not doubt that when something is occurring, it is occurring, and when it has come to an end, it has come to an end. His knowledge is independent of others'.

"In these respects his vision is complete.

" 'Everything is' is one dead end. 'Everything is not' is the other dead end. The tathagata reveals the dharma from a middle that avoids both dead ends."

~Samyutta Nikaya

Peace

The destiny of a nation is too important to leave to politicians alone.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Yeshua and Krishna

Peace Walk

There is no walk for peace; peace must be the walk.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Food

Food can be delicious without using the flesh of animals.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Think Good Thoughts

Words become actions,

Actions become habits.

Habits become character.

Character become destiny.

A Warrior's Creed

I have no parents: I make the heavens and earth my parents.
I have no home: I make awareness my home.
I have no life or death: I make the tides of breathing my life and death.
I have no divine power: I make honesty my divine power.
I have no means: I make understanding my means.
I have no magic secrets: I make character my magic secret.
I have no body: I make endurance my body.
I have no eyes: I make the flash of lightning my eyes.
I have no ears: I make sensibility my ears.
I have no limbs: I make promptness my limbs.
I have no strategy: I make "unshadowed by thought" my strategy.
I have no designs: I make "seizing opportunity by the forelock" my design.
I have no miracles: I make right-action my miracles.
I have no principles: I make adaptability to all circumstances my principles.
I have no tactics: I make emptiness and fullness my tactics.
I have no talents: I make ready wit my talent.
I have no friends: I make my mind my friend.
I have no enemy: I make carelessness my enemy.
I have no armor: I make benevolence and righteousness my armor.
I have no castle: I make immovable-mind my castle.
I have no sword: I make absence of self my sword.

                                                                             ~Anonymous Samurai, fourteenth century

Freedom

Remember, you cannot abandon what you do not know. To go beyond yourself, you must know yourself.

~Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Discovery

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

~Marcel Proust

Wisdom of Runes

As I cultivate my own nature, all else follows.

                                                                              ~Ehwaz

Vegetarianism

Practicing vegetarianism will not stop animals' suffering or their being killed. But vegetarianism is a single small step one can take, a very simple step, a step that costs nothing, a step that will help diminish at least some of the suffering in the world. It will also help reduce one's complicity in the suffering. 

The Three Jewels

The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha inter-are. Each jewel contains the other two. When you take refuge in one, you take refuge in all three. When you have confidence and trust in the Sangha and practice with the Sangha, you are expressing your confidence in the Buddha and the Dharma. It is crucial to practice the mindfulness trainings with a Sangha, a community of practice. You need a Sangha to support you in the practice. A true Sangha always possesses in it heart the Buddha and the Dharma.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pumpkin Seeds

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup of raw hulled pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes and pierce a few times with a fork or a thin-bladed knife to prevent them from popping open while they're baking.

Place on a foil-lined baking pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until they're very soft.

Meanwhile, in a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the pumpkin seeds until they're lightly brown and pop around a bit in the pan. Remove the seeds to a bowl and set them aside.

When the potatoes are done, remove their skins and mash them with the butter.

Season the mashed potatoes to taste with the salt and the pepper.

Stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds and serve hot.

Potato, Cactus, and Carrot Soup

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3/4 cup of rinsed and diced bottled cactus*
1/4 cup of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring, until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, the garlic, the oregano, and the cumin. Cook until the tomato juices reduce and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, the potatoes, and the carrots. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the cactus, the parsley, the salt, and the pepper.

Simmer the soup until it is completely heated through and the flavors have blended.

Serve the soup hot.


*Cactus, or nopalitos, can be purchased fresh or canned. If buying canned, choose water-packed and avoid the brine-packed.

Look to Your Actions

Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.

~The Dhammapada, verse 50

Awareness

The wise live without injuring nature, as the bee drinks nectar without harming the flower.

~The Dhammapada, verse 49

To Be Unaware

As a flood sweeps away a slumbering village, death sweeps away those who spend their lives gathering flowers. Death sweeps them away while they are still gathering, caught in the pursuit of pleasure.

~The Dhammapada, verses 47 and 48

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf

What is this life of mine?
Rambling on, I entrust myself to fate.
Sometimes laughter, sometimes tears.
Neither a layman nor a monk.
An early spring rain drizzles on and on.
But the plum blossoms have yet to brighten things up.
All morning I sit by the hearth,
No one to talk to.
I search for my copybook
And then brush a few poems.

                                        ~Ryokan

To a Visitor

Listen to the cicadas in treetops near the waterfall;
See how last night's rains have washed away all grime.
Needless to say, my hut is as empty as can be,
But I can offer you a window full of the most intoxicating air.

                                                                                    ~Ryokan

The Teachings

Buddhist Teachings are provisional whose purpose is to promote the alleviation of suffering through not holding onto attachment. The Teachings are not a means of explaining the Universe. The Teachings are simply words that may help us realize Freedom.

The Teaching of Buddhism

The central intention of all Buddhist Teaching is the alleviation of stress, anxiety, discomfort, suffering—in short, dukkha.

This is what the whole things is about. This and this alone.