(31) BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS APPLIED

FOUND AT PAGE 24:
"Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide." -- Buddha [Gautama Siddharta] (563 - 483 BC),

>>FOUR ULTIMATE REALITIES:

CONSCIOUSNESS
MENTAL FORMATIONS
MATERIAL PHENOMENA
NIBBANA

>>FIVE AGGREGATES OF BEING:

MATERIAL PHENOMENA
FEELING
PERCEPTION
MENTAL FORMATIONS
CONSCIOUSNESS

>>LOGICAL PATTERN: FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS:

THERE IS SUFFERING;
THERE IS A CAUSE OF SUFFERING;
THERE IS AN END TO SUFFERING;
THERE IS A WAY TO THIS END.

>>PREMISE:

SUFFERING BEGINS WITH IGNORANCE.

>>PROGRESSION:

IGNORANCE IS THE CONDITION THAT, WITH THE IMPETUS OF DESIRE, INITIATES VOLITIONAL FORMATIONS:

VOLITIONAL FORMATIONS ARE THE CONDITION THAT CONDITIONS CONSCIOUSNESS:

CONSCIOUSNESS ERRONEOUSLY VALIDATES NAME AND FORM OF MATERIAL PHENOMENA:

NAME AND FORM ENGENDER THE
SIX SENSE-BASES:

THE SIX SENSE-BASES CONDITION CONTACT:

CONTACT INFORMS FEELING:

FEELING CAUSES CRAVING:

CRAVING RESULTS IN CLINGING:

CLINGING ENGENDERS EXISTENCE:

EXISTENCE IS THE CONDITION FOR BIRTH, OR REBIRTH:

BIRTH IS THE CONDITION FOR AGING AND DEATH, THE LONG CYCLE OF SUFFERING THAT IS CALLED 'Samsara'.

ENOUGH that you sustain your body,
Throughout your journey,
On the path of enlightenment,

ENOUGH that you perform acts of compassion,
For all other beings,
As they follow their destinies (karma).

JWD 12/30/2010

From www.shambhala.com: A PRAYER

The one whose mind knows the clarity of perfect wisdom is never afraid or even anxious. Why? Because when being at one with the living power of wisdom, the mother of all buddhas, that person has the strength to remain in a state of undivided contemplation even while ceaselessly and skillfully engaging in compassionate action. The wise one is enabled to act because of concentration on a single prayer:
“May all beings never leave the path of enlightenment, which is their own true nature and is empty of separate self-existence.” Prajnaparamita

TOOLS: FIVE SPIRITUAL FACULTIES

FAITH
ENERGY
MINDFULNESS
CONCENTRATION
WISDOM

TEN TRANCENDENTAL PRACTICES

GENEROSITY
ETHICAL CONDUCT
PATIENCE
EFFORT
MEDITATION
WISDOM
SKILLFUL MEANS
VOW
POWERS
KNOWLEDGE

THE EIGHT-FOLD PATH OF DHAMMA:

RIGHT VIEW
RIGHT INTENTION
RIGHT SPEECH
RIGHT ACTION
RIGHT LIVLIHOOD
RIGHT EFFORT
RIGHT MINDFULNESS
RIGHT CONCENTRATION

A SINGLE EXCELLENT NIGHT
(Bhaddekaratta Sutta)

“Let not a person revive the past
Or on the future build his hopes;
For the past has been left behind
And the future has not been reached.

Instead with insight let him see
Each presently arisen state;
Let him know that and be sure of it,
Invincibly, unshakeably.

Today the effort must be made;
Tomorrow Death may come, who knows?
No bargain with Mortality
Can keep Him and his hordes away,

But one who dwells thus ardently,
Relentlessly, by day, by night ---
It is he, the Peaceful Sage has said,
Who has had a single excellent night.

PROMISE:

TRANQUIL ABIDING WHILE ENGAGING IN COMPASSIONATE ACTION;

FELICITY

1) One goal in life that will not fade away,
1) A goal that is greater at the end of day,
1) Purify your mind, Practice Compassion,
1) Abide in Enlightenment, with mindfulness,
1) Share Compassion with all things,

2) Student asks teacher, what goal is that, dear sir?,
2) That I might surely, with hard work, attain,
2) The goal, my fellow traveler, is understanding ‘No Goal’,
2) And the work, the way, is understanding ‘No Way’,
2) Be at Peace, Purify your mind,

3) And may peace be with you, my teacher,
3) Yet, good sir, how may I understand ‘No Goal’ ?,
3) Truly, in peacefulness, Purify your mind,
3) Yet, good sir, how may I understand ‘No Way’ ?,
3) Truly, in peacefulness, Practice Compassion,

4) And may peace be with you, my teacher,
4) Yet, good sir, how may I Purify my mind ?,
4) Truly, in peacefulness, Practice Compassion,
4) Yet, good sir, how may I Practice Compassion ?,
4) Be at Peace, Purify your mind,


Written down in November, on the fifteenth day, of the year 2009, from walking meditation;
John Daugherty

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal GOD, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism. Albert Einstein in "Albert Einstein: The Human Side

Buddha Nature is said to be unimaginable; however, given that the human realm, with it's many pleasureable attachments, is an instructional world for buddhas and bhodissatvas, let us take that for a license of sorts and imagine a matrix of beings that is infinite in space and time and Karmic register:

DHAMMA;
The divine vehicle:

“It’s qualities of faith and wisdom
Are always yoked evenly together.
Shame is its pole, mind its yoke-tie,
Mindfulness the watchful charioteer.

“The chariot’s ornament is virtue,
Its axle jhana, energy its wheels;
Equanimity keeps the burden balanced,
Desirelessness serves as upholstery.

“Goodwill, harmlessness, and seclusion:
These are the chariot’s weaponry,
Forbearance its armour and shield,
As it rolls towards security from bondage.

“This divine vehicle unsurpassed
Originates from oneself.
The wise depart from the world in it,
Inevitably winning the victory.”

Samyutta Nikaya/ Maggasamyutta/ Mahavagga, pp 1526

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

MIDDLE LENGTH DISCOURSES OF THE BUDDHA
trans: BHIKKHU NANAMOLI & BHIKKHU BODHI

CONNECTED DISCOURSES OF THE BUDDHA
by: BHIKKHU BODHI

FACES OF COMPASSION
by: TAIGEN DAN LEIGHTON