The Pure Mountain Path

All of us experience difficulties in our lives. Sickness, aging, death, financial problems, difficult relationships. At such times, our greatest need is often not the quelling of the problem, but quieting the doubt within our hearts. This is where faith in the way is needed. The test of true faith is to go on believing and trusting even while a storm outside is raging.

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He who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor shrinking from the other — take it that such a one has attained perfection–Bhagavad-Gita.

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Q- What can motivate me to practice regularly? Dave- Austin, TX

A- If you want to be liberated from suffering and become one with the Tao, it requires full time dedication. Not part-time, not when it is convenient, or when you feel like it, but a commitment to your practice. Anything less will be less than satisfying- Roshi Hogan

How is the man with the ground for a bed and the stars for a blanket any less noble than the man who confines himself to luxury? I say he is more noble. He knows freedom. He knows not to let himself be caught in the trappings of everyday life. The path is open to all. The man in rags is as welcome as the man in expensive clothes. The thief is as welcome as the saint. There are no requirements other than the devoted effort to become one with the universe.

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Summer at its height– and snow on the rocks! The death of winter-and the withered tree blossoms!–Zen Saying

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Yesterday, I made some prayer flags out of some felt squares my wife had leftover from a school project. Of course they are not really prayer flags, and I did not have the prescribed colors one should use, but they were made and are displayed with genuine feeling. I hope the wind carries the prayers throughout the world and touches others. I hope it is not offending to use such homemade flags…

Health and wholeness are related, but they are not the same thing my friends. It is possible for a person to be in the peak of health, and yet they fail to be a whole person. It is also possible to be a whole person despite having health problems. Remember that body, mind, & spirit must be taken care of for us to be whole. Without this, we are a puzzle that cannot be complete because we are missing pieces.

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One moon shows in every pool, in every pool the one moon.–Zen saying

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Let us pray that we see problems as opportunities; that they give us a chance to practice and demonstrate our wisdom. Let us pray that we refrain from anger, impatience, and brooding over our problems. Let us pray that we are blessed with the wisdom to know that a life without any problems is impossible and expecting a life without problems is foolish. May we be able to deal with our problems in a wise and level headed manner, thus avoiding creating further problems.

The magnitude of needs and suffering in this world can be overwhelming. Sometimes, we may feel unable to do anything significant about this multitude of needs, so we do nothing at all. However, remember that a powerful waterfall is not one continuous drop of water, but is made up of many millions of drops. Small, seemingly insignificant drops. Put all these drops together and that is where the power is generated. The yang is the power of all the drops, the yin a drop by itself.

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Sitting peacefully doing nothing Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself. –Zen saying

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“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred.

Summary: In this society we live in, there are often quarrels. Often people become obsessed with the wrongs they felt were done to them. This causes the anger within them to grow. But those who forgive the wrongs done to them, find that their anger quickly vanishes. They then are able to dwell in peace.

Dhammapada Verse 4

The Prayer Flag Tradition by Timothy Clark/Prayerflags.com

It is quite beautiful to see colorful prayer flags waving in the wind. There is no more delightful and simple way to create good merit in this world than to put prayer flags up. They are used for the benefit of other living beings. Prayer flags are not just pretty pieces of colored cloth with strange designs on them. The ancient Buddhist prayers, mantras and powerful symbols displayed on them produce a spiritual vibration that is activated and carried by the wind across the countryside. It is said that all beings that are touched by the wind are uplifted and a little happier.

The prayer flag tradition has a long history dating back to ancient Tibet, China, Persia and India. The meanings behind prayer flag texts and symbols are based on concepts of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. The Tibetan word for prayer flag is Dar Cho. “Dar” means to increase life, fortune, health and wealth. “Cho” means all sentient beings. Prayer flags are utilized with the natural energy of the wind impartially increasing happiness and good fortune among all living beings.

History

According to some lamas prayer flags date back thousands of years to the pre-Buddhist Tibet. Each color of a prayer flag corresponded to a different primary element – earth, water, fire, air and space – the fundamental building blocks of both our physical bodies and of our environment. According to Eastern medicine health and harmony are produced through the balance of the 5 elements. Priests arranged colored flags around a sick patient harmonized the elements in his body helping to produce a state of physical and mental health.

It is not known whether these priests ever wrote words on their flags. Originally the writing and images on prayer flags were painted by hand, one at a time. Woodblocks, carefully carved in mirror image relief, were introduced from China in the 15th century. This invention made it possible to reproduce identical prints of the same design. Traditional designs could then be easily passed down from generation to generation.

Famous Buddhist masters created most prayer flag designs. Lay craftsmen make copies of the designs but would never think of actually creating a new design. There are relatively few basic designs for a continuous tradition that goes back over a thousand years. Aside from new designs, no real innovations to the printing process have occurred in the past 500 years. Most prayer flags imported to the West today are woodblock printed. Most of the companies in the west prefer to use silkscreen printing techniques as wood carving is a time consuming skill requiring lengthy apprenticeship.

When the Chinese took over Tibet they destroyed much of everything having to do with Tibetan culture and religion. Prayer flags were discouraged but not entirely eliminated. We will never know how many traditional designs have been lost forever since the turmoil of China’s cultural revolution. Because cloth and paper prints deteriorate so quickly the best way to preserve the ancient designs is by saving the woodblocks. Woodblocks, often weighing several pounds, were too heavy for the refugees to carry over the Himalayas and woodblocks no doubt turned into firewood for Chinese troops. Most of the traditional prayer flags today are made in Nepal and India by Tibetan refugees or by Nepali Buddhists from the Tibetan border regions.

Prayer flags are inscribed with auspicious symbols, invocations, prayers, and mantras. Tibetan Buddhists for centuries have planted these flags outside their homes and places of spiritual practice for the wind to carry the beneficent vibrations across the countryside. Prayer flags are said to bring happiness, long life and prosperity to the flag planter and those in the vicinity. Try using these beautiful flags.

Edited by Roshi Alan Hogan

An abundance of information is not wisdom. Some of the wisest people to walk the earth knew precious little about many things. Many people are over their heads in information, yet lack any real understanding about what really matters, kindness, compassion, generosity. That is the bad news my friends. The good news is that wisdom is not a lost art.

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In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. –Shunryu Suzuki

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Uncontrolled Hatred Leads to Harm

“He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.

Summary: If a person broods that he was insulted, assaulted, defeated, or robbed, his anger increases greatly. Such anger has no way of subsiding. The more one goes over and over his imaginary trouble, the greater becomes his desire to avenge it. Vengeance is a bucket with a hole in it. It carries nothing but the promise of emptiness.

–Dhammapada Verse 3

Yesterday was Christmas eve and I was across from an emergency room at a hospital. Sickness, death, they take no holidays. Grim faced family and friends around the ambulances. No one knows if they will see tomorrow or if they do, if they will be in good health. Remember your blessings daily and be mindfully thankful.

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When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing because you are not at the top yet.

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You most likely have heard several ’ techniques’ for dealing with anger such as take a deep breath, say a mantra, or count to ten. You may as well fall on the ground and throw a tantrum for all the good these techniques will do you. There is only one way to effectively deal with anger, and that is to get to know it. Contemplation and prayer will help you to get to know your anger and many other feelings and give you the inner strength to overcome them.

The teachings of Buddha and Lao-Tzu are not fruits. They are seeds. It takes a dedication to practice, patience, and perseverance to grow trees out of seeds.

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The mind should be as a mirror –Zen saying

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Do you find your days full of anxiety and stress? Are your nights sleepless as you replay the events and anger you felt that day? This my friends is not the path to serenity. Anger and stress are not external things. You cannot physically touch them. They are our own internal responses to events that happen to us. The chances are good that they are not even direct responses, but just conditioned reactions that we have been repeating again and again, usually without thinking. The good news is that you can end those repetitive patterns with meditation. Observing the emotions and thoughts of the day and then contemplating whether they were fruitful or not, and then acting to stop those which are not is what we need to do to achieve harmony and bliss. Meditation quiets the mind, stilling the waters and stopping the endless churning that creates discord.

In order to successfully follow the path, you must say yes. Not yes, like yes, I will after…or yes, I will, but first…or yes, I would if…One must be resolute in practice to be the recipient of results. Anything less is haphazard and unsatisfactory.

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Possessing much knowledge is like having a thousand foot fishing line with a hook, but the fish is always an inch beyond the hook —unknown

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Physically, meditation has been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, help manage chronic pain, speed the healing process, and boost the auto-immune system. Many of these are symptoms are brought on by stress and anxiety. Meditation is especially effective in relieving these mental and emotional problems. Meditation can help in alleviating depression, managing anger, fighting addictions, and stopping compulsive behavior.

Many times people are happy to participate in the ritual of lighting incense, banging a gong, lighting a candle, but neglect the real reason for doing all of these things. Practice! Without practice, these activities are like a shell of a peanut with no peanut inside.

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Everything the same; everything distinct. –Zen saying

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The link between meditation and wellness is now widely recognized be even the most conservative and skeptical of Western medical experts. Whereas meditation was once looked upon as ‘odd’, it is now seen as a healthy, normal action performed by millions all over the world.

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Please pray for all those who are suffering from delusion and ignorance; that they may be blessed with wisdom that allows them to see clearly and end their suffering.