nature-Buddhism

If you reflect in this way

Comment May 4, 2016

RFA photo

Don’t think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down.

When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures.

If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself.

The heart of the path is quite easy. There’s no need to explain anything at length. Let go of like and dislike and let things be. That’s all that I do in my own practice. ~Ajahn Chah
Global Peace

27 January 13, 2016

Our planet is blessed with vast natural treasures. If we use them properly, beginning with elimination of militarism and war, truly, every human being will be able to live a wealthy, well-cared-for life.

Naturally, global peace cannot occur all at once. Since conditions around the world are varied, its spread will have to be incremental. But there is no reason why it cannot begin in one region and then spread gradually from one continent to another… ~Dalai Lama
Not being tense…

Comment December 25, 2015

Not being tense but ready.
Not thinking but not dreaming.
Not being set but flexible.
Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement.
It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.
~Bruce Lee
Poisonous

45 December 21, 2015

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Why cling to the arrows shot at you?
Insults
Wounds
Time heals you see.
Why hold so tightly
Do these things define you?
Do these things set you free?
Why inject yourself with these poisons of the mind
Anxiety
Greed
Anger
Despair
Why not let them go
Set them free.
Accept the choices you have
And your responsibilities.
Accept all that is, rather than “as it should be”
For what does define “you”
What will set you free
What if you never find great meaning
What if, in not clinging,
You find stillness
Calm
Honesty
Health
Peace

~by Jeniffer Edwards
Divorce

90 December 21, 2015

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

As
Our
Hearts
Divorce
From a chaos
Of the wandering
Worries of the mind
We enter into this
Sweet sanctuary
Of freedom
Where
The
Silence
Of love
Is a
Wisdom
Which is so
Divine

~silent lotus
Consciousness

71 December 21, 2015

In
The
Few
True
Moments
Of worldly loneliness
Do you still perhaps possess
Loves sweet silent consciousness
To calmly wait for life to pass by
For all those who are still battling
The questions and worries of why

~silent lotus

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
Listen To The Wind

Comment December 4, 2015

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Spend a day with nature.
Start before the sun.
Leave your cozy house
For something new and fun.

Walk along a path,
Close your eyes and see.
Feel the cold wind brushing
Your skin so tingly,

What do you hear? Listen now.
Listen for the voice.
It whispers softly to your soul
Through all of nature’s noise.

The sky is growing slowly brighter
The breeze seems to quicken,
As if to hide from what is coming
O’re the East horizon.

What is it saying as it hurries,
While foliage laughs in song?
It’s changed its tune as the sun
Comes out to greet the throng.

Feel the warmth now penetrate
Where goose pimples had been,
And a fresh rejuvenation
Fills you from within.

Open your eyes and see the beauty
That you had not yet seen:
Dew on the grass, white butterflies,
Different shades of green,

Mist rising from the earth
Almost like a dream,
Busy bees check on blooms,
Working as team.

Petals on the tiny flowers
Seem more delicate.
And the breezes rise and fall,
Telling the day’s fate.

Breath in the fragrance of the morn’s
Mix of musty smells,
With pollen, dew, earth and such things
The breeze will carry well.

What is it saying? Do you hear?
The wind is whispering.
It’s asking you do dance among
Its fairies on the wing!

The birds now sing the chorus loud
From every nook and cranny.
And if you join in nature’s dance,
You find your joy uncanny.

As you whirl to nature’s song,
You start to feel so free,
You forget all but the sound
Of the wind and trees. Continue reading →
Having compassion for the “other”

Comment September 9, 2015

Compassion for the “other,” whether people, animal species, trees, or other plants, and for Earth itself, is the only thing that will ultimately save us human beings. Most people are primarily concerned about their work, wealth, health, or family. On a daily basis, they probably feel they have more urgent things to worry about than their environmental footprint. Of course, paying attention to this issue would mean having to make inconvenient choices and changes in their lives. I am not so different. Although I had considered giving up eating meat for many years, I became a complete vegetarian only a few years ago. Somebody presented a short documentary that showed how animals suffer before and during the act of killing. Watching it, I could feel the fear felt by the animals. Like a thunderclap, I became aware that these living beings were suffering so greatly simply to satisfy my habitual preferences. Eating meat became intolerable for me at that moment, and so I stopped. ~ 17th Karmapa
Nature of the river

Comment August 20, 2015

One man watches a river flow by. If he does not wish it to flow, to change ceaselessly in accord with its nature, he will suffer great pain. Another man understands that nature of the river is to change constantly, regardless of his likes and dislikes, and therefore he does not suffer. To know existence as this flow, empty of lasting pleasure, void of self, is to find that which is stable and free of suffering, to find true peace in the world. ~Ajahn Chah
Because I Love

Comment August 5, 2015

All, everything that I understand, I only understand because I love. ~Leo Tolstoy