With palms together,
Good Morning All,
Being in suffering, I walk recklessly. Being in suffering, my attention is on my pain. Being in suffering, I need to escape my pain. Being in suffering I cannot feel for others.
Being at peace, I walk lightly upon the earth. Being at peace, I am mindful of my actions and my speech. Being at peace, love has an opportunity to exist.
Through practice, develop the wisdom and insight to know these are both seeds within each of us and that they are of the same source. Our path is to begin with one and conclude with the other.
Be well.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A Candle Against Hate
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
May all beings be free from suffering. A simple prayer, yet so challenging. When people hate us enough to kill us, and do so with glee, it is quite natural to want to kill them first. Natural, but not kind. Natural, but not correct. Natural, but not good enough.
I read a prayer this morning from a religious list that essentially petitioned God to punish our enemies. I was struck by this. It was an opening statement on a ethics text commentary.
When we ask God to take sides, we are our discerning self to take sides. The process of taking sides divides humanity into lumps: those we like, and those we don't like. Simple enough on its surface, but in the end it is very dangerous, as it is very easy to be tempted to see those we don't like as somehow different from us, less than us, or just plain evil.
People who hate are people who suffer. When we pray for an end to suffering we must pray for an end to hate, especially within ourselves. Hate has a place to germinate when we close ourselves off. Hate loves the darkness of ignorance. It thrives in the shadows.
Today, light a candle specifically for illuminating the dark places of your heart. Place your attention on the light of that small flame. Witness its steady warmth. One small flame, one large light.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
May all beings be free from suffering. A simple prayer, yet so challenging. When people hate us enough to kill us, and do so with glee, it is quite natural to want to kill them first. Natural, but not kind. Natural, but not correct. Natural, but not good enough.
I read a prayer this morning from a religious list that essentially petitioned God to punish our enemies. I was struck by this. It was an opening statement on a ethics text commentary.
When we ask God to take sides, we are our discerning self to take sides. The process of taking sides divides humanity into lumps: those we like, and those we don't like. Simple enough on its surface, but in the end it is very dangerous, as it is very easy to be tempted to see those we don't like as somehow different from us, less than us, or just plain evil.
People who hate are people who suffer. When we pray for an end to suffering we must pray for an end to hate, especially within ourselves. Hate has a place to germinate when we close ourselves off. Hate loves the darkness of ignorance. It thrives in the shadows.
Today, light a candle specifically for illuminating the dark places of your heart. Place your attention on the light of that small flame. Witness its steady warmth. One small flame, one large light.
Be well.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Not Always So
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
When we pray for peace, what are we doing? What does it mean, to "pray" for peace? Prayer is typically thought of as an appeal to God or to a government, or some other such authority.
But this is not always so.
An appeal suggests a disconnect between two or more parties. If we are one, then what would prayer be?
I see prayer as less an appeal to Other than as a modeling of the thing itself. To pray for peace thus becomes modeling peace. To pray for non-violence becomes modeling non-violence. To pray for the health of others means modeling healthy living. And so on.
When we pray this way, we are expressing the true nature of things.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
When we pray for peace, what are we doing? What does it mean, to "pray" for peace? Prayer is typically thought of as an appeal to God or to a government, or some other such authority.
But this is not always so.
An appeal suggests a disconnect between two or more parties. If we are one, then what would prayer be?
I see prayer as less an appeal to Other than as a modeling of the thing itself. To pray for peace thus becomes modeling peace. To pray for non-violence becomes modeling non-violence. To pray for the health of others means modeling healthy living. And so on.
When we pray this way, we are expressing the true nature of things.
Be well.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Matters of Consequence
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The rain came down hard last night. I watched it from my living room as it soaked the ground. It is a real blessing to witness rain fall. Water is so precious. So much of life's preciousness goes unnoticed when we are not present to witness it. We are often not present for such things because our attention is distracted by 'matters of consequence.' And yet, like The Little Prince, we should stay aware that it is the simplest things that are of the deepest consequence.
A rain, a shining sun, the feel of our feet on the ground: these are matters of consequence. The water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear: these are matters of consequence. The love in our life, the hate in our life, and our practice with them: these are matters of consequence.
So we practice to pay attention. We practice to witness true matters of consequence, allowing our witness to nurture the good and burn away the evil.
This is not difficult. Do it now.
Be well.
Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
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Saturday, July 15, 2006
The Middle East
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
May all beings be at peace and be free from suffering. War is not a helpful activity. No joy should be felt in the killing of beings, regardless of the cause.
The Middle East is a place that challenges us all. Deep divisions of culture, time, and faith coexist in increasing conflict and tension. Victims of violence cry and feel angry. Everyone wants to hurt everyone, yet every one wants everyone else to stop. No one trusts anyone. A place where humanity should shine, a so-called jewel of western religion, birthplace of monotheism and three major religions, and what is there today?
Hell.
Still, it is too easy for us here in the USA to point fingers at one side or the other, and especially at peoples and cultures we do not understand. Aren't we naive to suggest that everyone should just stop all this fighting and learn to get along?
It is not so simple to practice serene reflection in the middle of bombs and rockets, or while people are blowing themselves up calling for the utter destruction of another country. Reason seems pale. Compassion is seriously challenged.
Violence and the threat of violence never curtails violence, just as the death penalty never curtails murder. This is so because violence at its root is not rational and, in its presence, incites additional irrationality in the form of fear. We must work hard to train ourselves to resist fear, to resist catastrophic thinking, and embrace our enemies as best we can by trying to understand them.
How do we accomplish this? We practice zazen. We look deeply within ourselves and embrace our true nature, a nature which we all share, a universal nature. We must each respect each other, agree each other has a right to exist and a place to do so. We must support each others differences as well as our similarities. It never does any good to only seek the similarities, while pretending the differences don't exist. Those differences then become splinter's in our fingers.
Our world is precious, as is each being that inhabits it. Practice this.
Be well.
Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
On the web at:
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Friday, July 14, 2006
That Pesky Precept
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
We have brains, hearts, lungs, stomachs, kidneys, penises and/or clitorises. Just as our organs like the brain and heart function without our saying much about it, so too, the others. Yet, just so: because the motor is running does not mean we must put it in gear and step on the gas.
Second. We live in a natural world. Nothing evil or good exists independent of us. We create evil and good by our actions, and our evaluations of those actions. In the end, it is our intent that creates our karma.
Third. If we are using sexual conduct for healthy reasons, that is, for improving our mental and emotional states, or reproducing, then our intent is a benefit. If, on the other hand, this behavior is rooted in a desire to harm, to control or punish, then we are using sexuality as a tool for harm and in so doing, creating evil.
Pornography, by itself, as pictures or film, is neutral. It is like the rock under my foot. Or the thought in my head. It means nothing by itself. We add to it with that thought and then create evil or good with our action.
Fourth. The industry of pornography is a whole other matter and thus a matter for us. If we say that smoking is harmful, then those who produce the product we smoke have a role to play in the responsibility equation. When a film portrays violence for the sake of glamorizing violence and thus, promoting violence, it is creating evil. Just so, pornography. We have a responsibility in consuming such material in that sense.
Lastly, life is complex. We are all infants in the process, learning as we go. Sometimes our best efforts at understanding and doing the right thing are either not good enough or, in the worst case scenario (like a righteous war) short term fixes to long term problems. We should not punish ourselves for our behavior. Rather we should learn from it and do better.
I cannot tell you what better is, only you and your heart and the faces of those you love (or hate) can do that.
Be well.
Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Crickets
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
It is a wonderful morning already. I was out with the dogs and relished the cool desert air and feel of the earth under my feet. Crickets, birds, and the gentle swish of leaves as the air moves them: all sounds so delicious getting out early to hear them is worth the effort.
I hear myself hearing them, I see myself seeing them: sky, mountains and my neighbor's windows. Witnessing the witness, know you are they and they are you, the whole universe reveals its true nature.
Be well.
Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
On the web at:
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