November 2020 — Page 2 of 5 — Jendhamuni-Buddhism

To live gratitude is to touch Heaven

3 November 26, 2020
Jendhamuni at Greylock Mountain on November 22, 2020. Mt. Greylock is the tallest mountain in Massachusetts.

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. — Johannes A. Gaertner

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. — Henry Van Dyke

Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other. — Randy Pausch

Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have. — Catherine Pulsifer

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. — Charles Dickens
Every day should be a day of Thanks

Comment November 26, 2020

Although Thanksgiving comes but once a year, every day should be a day of Thanks. Among all the challenges that we face as people with hearing loss there are certainly brighter moments in every day — moments that deserve to be recorded in our Gratitude Journal. — Monique Hammond
When we realize how blessed and lucky we are

2 November 26, 2020

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are. — Joyce Giraud
The Story of Mahadhana

Comment November 26, 2020

Verse 123: Just as a wealthy merchant with few attendants avoids a dangerous road, just as one who desires to go on living avoids poison, so also, one should avoid evil.

The Story of Mahadhana

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (123) of this book, with reference to Mahadhana the merchant.

Mahadhana was a rich merchant from Savatthi. On one occasion, five hundred robbers were planning to rob him, but thy did not get the chance to rob him. In the meantime, they heard that the merchant would soon be going out with five hundred carts loaded with valuable merchandise. The merchant Mahadhana also invited the bhikkhus who would like to go on the same journey to accompany him, and he promised to look to their needs on the way. So five hundred bhikkhus accompanied him. The robbers got news of the trip and went ahead to lie in wait for the caravan of the merchant. But the merchant stopped at the outskirts of the forest where the robbers were waiting. The caravan was to move on after camping there for a few days. The robbers got the news of the impending departure and made ready to loot the caravan; the merchant, in his turn, also got news of the movements of the bandits and he decided to return home. The bandits now heard that the merchant would go home; so they waited on the homeward way. Some villagers sent word to the merchant about the movements of the bandits, and the merchant finally decided to remain in the village for some time. When he told the bhikkhus about his decision, the bhikkhus returned to Savatthi by themselves. Continue reading →
Water the flowers in your garden

Comment November 26, 2020

Water the flowers in your garden, don’t water the weeds. ~Ajahn Brahm
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life

Comment November 25, 2020

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. — Melody Beattie

Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. — Alice Walker

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good. — Maya Angelou

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are. — Joyce Giraud

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. — Epictetus

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. — Theodore

Roosevelt

Continue reading →
When you have lost hope, you have lost everything

Comment November 23, 2020

When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. And when you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope. — Pittacus Lore

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope. — Thomas Merton

Everything that is done in this world is done by hope. — Martin Luther

The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. — Barbara Kingsolver

Hope itself is like a star- not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. — C.H. Spurgeon

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment. — Henry David Thoreau

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. — G.K. Chesterton

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. — Nelson Mandela

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. — Aristotle

If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality. — Dr Roopleen

Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower. — Shigenori Kameoka

Don’t worry if people think you’re crazy. You are crazy. You have that kind of intoxicating insanity that lets other people dream outside of the lines and become who they’re destined to be. — Jennifer Elisabeth

It is because of hope that you suffer. It is through hope that you’ll change things. — Maxime Lagacé

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. — Desmond Tutu

I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. — Anne Frank

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. — Dale Carnegie
It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop

Comment November 22, 2020

You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. — George Lorimer

Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. — William James

Choose to be optimistic; it feels better. — Dalai Lama

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it. — Jacques Prevert

In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. — Robert Frost

It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop. — Confucius Continue reading →
The meaning of life is just to be alive

4 November 21, 2020

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves. — Alan Watts

When one drives away the negligent through vigilance, he climbs the heights of wisdom, and can see the suffering masses. Serene, you look upon the lost like one that stands on a mountain sees those that stand upon the plain. Gautama Buddha

Jendhamuni at the summit of Wachusett Mountain in Massachusetts on November 15, 2020. It took us a little over an hour to reach the top of this mountain.
Wakefulness is the way to life

Comment November 21, 2020

Wakefulness is the way to life.
The fool sleeps
As if he were already dead,
But the master is awake
And he lives forever.

He watches.
He is clear.

How happy he is!
For he sees that wakefulness is life.
How happy he is,
Following the path of the awakened.

With great perseverance
He meditates, seeking
Freedom and happiness.

So awake, reflect, watch.
Work with care and attention.
Live in the way, and the light will grow in you.

The fool is careless.
But the master guards his watching.
It is his most precious treasure. Continue reading →