bodhigirlsmiles

random....who do you consider to be the most powerful disney character, and why??

unfortunately, you are absolutely correct. there are many buddhist who act in terrible ways in direct antithesis to the teachings of the buddha. i feel a terrible sense of dispair inside whenever i hear such stories. no, buddhists certainly have no corner on peaceful living. i think our kind chaplain was simply wishing to point out that buddhism teaches peace as a way of life. this doesn't mean that everyone who espouses buddhism choosed to live this way. perhaps he could have said that he cannot imagine anyone who practices the teaching of the buddha inspiring terrorism. that would be a true statement for buddhists as well as christians, muslims, and a great many other people who follow the teachings of their religion's founder. i certainly hope you are not typing in reference to me. while i do not claim to be a buddhist scholar by any stretch, i am tibetan and have practiced buddhism for the whole of my life. while there is some truth to what you say, i think this is a gross simplification of the teachings of buddhist tradition. i do, however, love mother theresa....she was such a remarkable woman and i am glad i had the oportunity to meet her before she was taken from this earth. thank you for bringing a smile to my face by mentioning her. :) um....i am not sure what to say about this one. i don't think it would be accurate to say that most buddhist monks smoke. i am sure that there are a great number who do (and that is sad ), but i know a great many who do not. my cousin would be one example and the dalai lama would be another. having said all that, i think, perhaps, you may have missed the point of my op. my intention was not to disparage christianity, islam, or any other belief system. i also was not suggesting that anyone should become a monk or even buddhist. my intention was to share some of the rules that buddhist monks follow as i felt that they may prove of benefit to some folks in a stressful and crazy world.

thank you. i know that much of the information is neither new, nor unique to buddhism, but i think it is a nice reminder for each of us to live in the moment.

i wish you the very best of luck with your son :)

what type of things occur at these meetings? just curious! :)

thank you for your kind words. and thank you for sharing that lovely quote! i am a rather big fan of thoreau! must be the librarian/english teacher in me.

i’m not a buddhist monk, nor will i ever become one. i do, however, find great inspiration in the way they try to live their lives: the simplicity of their lives, the concentration and mindfulness of every activity, the calm and peace they find in their days. you probably don’t want to become a monk either, but you can live your life in a more buddhist monk-like manner by following a few simple rules. why live more like a buddhist monk? (i realize that many of you have religious beliefs, and i am by no means advocating your converting to buddhism! rather, i find some of the ways of buddhist monks to be beneficial to a wide variety of people for diverse backgrounds. if it proves to be of use to you, i am glad. if not, please disregard.) so, why then? because who among us can’t use a little more concentration, tranquility, and mindfulness in our lives? because buddhist monks for hundreds of years have devoted their lives to being present in everything they do, to being dedicated and to serving others. because it serves as an example for our lives, and whether we ever really reach that ideal is not the point. one of my favorite zen monks, thich nhat hanh, simplified the rules in just a few words: it doesn’t get any better than that.however, for those who would like a little more detail, i thought i’d share some of the things i’ve discovered to work very well in my journey with buddhist living. i am not a buddhist master, however, i’ve found that there are certain principles that can be applied to any life, no matter what your religious beliefs or what your standard of living. do one thing at a time. single-task, don’t multi-task. when you’re pouring water, just pour water. when you’re eating, just eat. when you’re bathing, just bathe. don’t try to knock off a few tasks while eating or bathing. zen proverb: do it slowly and deliberately. you can do one task at a time, but also rush that task. instead, take your time, and move slowly. make your actions deliberate, not rushed and random. it takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task. do it completely. put your mind completely on the task. don’t move on to the next task until you’re finished. if, for some reason, you have no choice but to move on to something else, try to at least put away the unfinished task and clean up after yourself. if you prepare a sandwich, don’t start eating it until you’ve put away the stuff you used to prepare it, wiped down the counter, and washed the dishes used for preparation. then you’re done with that task, and can focus more completely on the next task. do less. a monk doesn’t lead a lazy life: he wakes early and has a day filled with work. however, he doesn’t have an unending task list either — there are certain things he’s going to do today, an no more. if you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more concentration. if you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do. put space between things. related to the “do less” rule, but it’s a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. don’t schedule things close together — instead, leave room between things on your schedule. that gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned. develop rituals. buddhist monks have rituals for many things they do, from eating to cleaning to meditation. ritual gives something a sense of importance — if it’s important enough to have a ritual, it’s important enough to be given your entire attention, and to be done slowly and correctly. you don’t have to learn the monk rituals — you can create your own, for the preparation of food, for eating, for cleaning, for what you do before you start your work, for what you do when you wake up and before you go to bed, for what you do just before exercise. anything you want, really. designate time for certain things. there are certain times in the day of a monk designated for certain activities. a time for for bathing, a time for work, a time for cleaning, a time for eating. this ensures that those things get done regularly. you can designate time for your own activities, whether that be work or cleaning or exercise or quiet contemplation. if it’s important enough to do regularly, consider designating a time for it. devote time to sitting. in the life of a buddhist monk, sitting meditation is one of the most important parts of his day. each day, there is time designated just for sitting. this meditation is really practice for learning to be present. you can devote time for sitting meditation, or do what i do: i use running as a way to practice being in the moment. you could use any activity in the same way, as long as you do it regularly and practice being present. smile and serve others. buddhist monks spend part of their day in service to others, whether that be other monks in the monastery or people on the outside world. it teaches them humility, and ensures that their lives are not just selfish, but devoted to others. if you’re a parent, it’s likely you already spend at least some time in service to others in your household, and non-parents may already do this too. similarly, smiling and being kind to others can be a great way to improve the lives of those around you. Also consider volunteering for charity work. make cleaning and cooking become meditation. aside from the meditation mentioned above, cooking and cleaning are to of the most exalted parts of a monk’s day. they are both great ways to practice mindfulness, and can be great rituals performed each day. if cooking and cleaning seem like boring chores to you, try doing them as a form of meditation. put your entire mind into those tasks, concentrate, and do them slowly and completely. it could change your entire day (as well as leave you with a cleaner house). think about what is necessary. there is little in a monk’s life that isn’t necessary. he doesn’t have a closet full of shoes, or the latest in trendy clothes. he doesn’t have a refrigerator and cabinets full of junk food. he doesn’t have the latest gadgets, cars, televisions, or iPod. he has basic clothing, basic shelter, basic utensils, basic tools, and the most basic food (they eat simple, vegetarian meals consisting usually of rice, miso soup, vegetables, and pickled vegetables). live simply. the corollary of the last rule is that if something isn’t necessary, you can probably live without it. and so to live simply is to rid your life of as many of the unnecessary and unessential things as you can, to make room for the essential. now, what is essential will be different to each person. for me, my family, my writing, my running and my reading are essential. to others, yoga and spending time with close friends might be essential. for others it will be nursing and volunteering and going to church and collecting comic books. there is no law saying what should be essential for you — but you should consider what is most important to your life, and make room for that by eliminating the other less essential things in your life.

i suppose, then, it depends on what you consider to be "appropriate reading." as a librarian, i absolutely abhor censorship of any kind. this does NOT mean that i would want all audiences reading all things. there is a saying that i've always enjoyed...."censorship, like charity, should begin in the home....but unlike charity, it should remain there." i think it is up to individuals as well as parents (when it involves their children) to determine what is appropriate for them.

btw, i am buddhist, and i have no problem with zombie stories....i think they are just that, stories. i am also a librarian....

i believe that stephanie meyer, the author of the popular series about vampires, is lds. i know that doesn't answer your question directly, but her books tend to have a gory element to them, and i know she has answered questions in interviews about this very topic. perhaps you could look to her for guidance.... (sorry to assume you are lds yourself, if you are not.)

interesting. do you say this from a political or moral standpoint?

thank you for your honesty. what are your thoughts on the death penalty specifically....as in those that have already been captured and are being held for crimes that, in some places, would warrant their life being taken?

thank you. i am not an atheist in a strict sense (intellectual), although many would consider buddhists to be atheists in that we do not adhere to a doctrine of deity. i, however, have very strong morality. in fact, many buddhists (myself included) took binding vows that dictate our moral code.

may i ask why this is (or was) a practice? from where did the idea come?

i'll throw one out there about buddhism.... myth: karma is about fatalism fact: the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of the present moment karma is one of those words we don't translate. its basic meaning is simple enough -- action. but because of the weight the buddha's teachings give to the role of action, the sanskrit word "karma'' is packed with many meanings and the English word "action'' can't carry all its luggage. this is why we've simply airlifted the original word into our vocabulary. but when we try unpacking the connotations the word carries, now that it has arrived into everyday usage, we find that most of its luggage has gotten mixed up in transit. in the eyes of most westerners, for example, karma functions like fate -- bad fate, at that: an inexplicable, unchangeable force coming out of our past, for which we are somehow vaguely responsible and which we are powerless to fight. "i guess it's just my karma,'' i've heard people sigh when bad fortune strikes with such force that they see no alternative to resigned acceptance. the fatalism implicit in this statement is one reason why so many people are repelled by the concept of karma, for it sounds like the kind of callous myth-making that can justify almost any kind of suffering or injustice in the status quo: "if he's poor, it's because of his karma.'' "if she's been suffered the horrors of rape, it's because of her karma.'' from this, it seems a short step to saying that he or she deserves to suffer, and so doesn't deserve our help. this gross misperception comes from the fact that the buddhist concept of karma came to the west at the same time as non-buddhist concepts, and so ended up with some of their luggage. although many asian concepts of karma are fatalistic, the early buddhist concept was not fatalistic at all. in fact, if we look closely at early buddhist ideas of karma, we'll find that they give even less importance to myths about the past than most modern americans do. for the early buddhists, karma was non-linear. other indian schools believed that karma operated in a straight line, with actions from the past influencing the present, and present actions influencing the future. as a result, they saw little room for free will. buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. this constant opening for present input into the causal process makes free will possible. this freedom is symbolised in the imagery the buddhists used to explain the process: flowing water. sometimes the flow from the past is so strong that little can be done except to stand fast, but there are also times when the flow is gentle enough to be diverted in almost any direction. so, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. who you are -- what you come from -- is not anywhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. we take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. if you're suffering, you try not to continue the unskilful mental habits that would keep that particular karmic feedback going. if you see that other people are suffering, and you're in a position to help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity in the present: some day you may find yourself in the same predicament that they're in now, so here's your opportunity to act in the way you'd like them to act toward you when that day comes. this belief that one's dignity is measured, not by one's past but by one's present actions, flew right in the face of the indian traditions of caste-based hierarchies, and explains why early Buddhists had such a field day poking fun at the pretensions and mythology of the brahmans. as the buddha pointed out, a brahman could be a superior person not because he came out of a Brahman womb, but only if he acted with truly skilful intentions. we read the early buddhist attacks on the caste system and, aside from their anti-racist implications, they often strike us as quaint. what we often fail to realise is that they strike right at the heart of our myths about our own past: our obsession with defining who we are in terms of where we come from -- our race, ethnic heritage, gender, socio-economic background, sexual preference -- our modern tribes. we put inordinate amounts of energy into creating and maintaining the mythology of our tribe so that we can take vicarious pride in our tribe's good name. even when we become buddhists, the tribe comes first. we demand a buddhism that honours our myths. from the standpoint of karma, though, where we come from is old karma, over which we have no control. what we "are'' is a nebulous concept at best -- and pernicious at worst, when we use it to find excuses for acting on unskilful motives. the worth of a tribe lies only in the skilful actions of its individual members. even when those good people belong to our tribe, their good karma is theirs, not ours. and, of course, every tribe has its bad members, which means that the mythology of the tribe is a fragile thing. to hang onto anything fragile requires a large investment of passion, aversion, and delusion, leading inevitably on to more unskilful actions in the future. so the buddhist teachings on karma, far from being a quaint relic from the past, are a direct challenge to a basic thrust -- and basic flaw -- in our culture. only when we abandon our obsession with finding vicarious pride in our tribal past, and can take actual pride in the motives that underlie our present actions, can we say that the word karma, in its buddhist sense, has recovered its luggage. and when we open the luggage, we'll find that it's brought us a gift: the gift we give ourselves and one another when we drop our myths about who we are, and can instead be honest about what we're doing with each moment -- at the same time making the effort to do it right.

yes, i am one to dredge up issues that have been discussed ad infinitum, but i am just curious....do you agree with the death penalty? if so, why? if not, why? do you agree with the statement below by the dalai lama? please keep in mind that, while i do agree with the man i hold to be my spiritual leader, i am in no way intending to condemn another's opinions. i am genuinly interested to hear your thoughtfully considered ideas on this momentous topic. thank you! His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama MESSAGE SUPPORTING THE MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY In general, death is something none of us wants, in fact it is something we don't even like to think about. When death takes place naturally, it is a process beyond our control to stop, but where death is willfully and deliberately brought about, it is very unfortunate. Of course, within our legal systems there are said to be certain reasons and purposes for employing the death penalty. It is used to punish offenders, to prevent them ever repeating their misdeed and to deter others. However, if we examine the situation more carefully, we will find that these are not the real solutions. Harmful actions and their tragic consequences all have their origin in disturbing emotions and negative thoughts, and these are a state of mind, whose potential we find within all human beings. From this point of view, every one of us has the potential to commit crimes, because we are all subject to negative disturbing emotions and negative mental qualities. And we will not overcome these by executing other people. What is deemed criminal can vary greatly from country to country. In some countries, for example, speaking out for human rights is considered criminal, whereas in other countries preventing free speech is a crime. The punishments for crimes are also very different, but usually include various forms of imprisonment or hardship, financial penalties and, in a number of countries, physical pain. In some countries, crimes that the government considers very serious are punished by executing the person who committed the crime. The death penalty fulfills a preventive function, but it is also very clearly a form of revenge. It is an especially severe form of punishment because it is so final. The human life is ended and the executed person is deprived of the opportunity to change, to restore the harm done or compensate for it. Before advocating execution we should consider whether criminals are intrinsically negative and harmful people or whether they will remain perpetually in the same state of mind in which they committed their crime or not. The answer, I believe, is definitely not. However horrible the act they have committed, I believe that everyone has the potential to improve and correct themselves. Therefore, I am optimistic that it remains possible to deter criminal activity, and prevent such harmful consequences of such acts in society, without having to resort to the death penalty. My overriding belief is that it is always possible for criminals to improve and that by its very finality the death penalty contradicts this. Therefore, I support those organizations and individuals who are trying to bring an end to the use of the death penalty. Today, in many societies very little importance is placed on education or the development of human values through social programs and entertainment. In fact, if we take television programming as an example, violence, including killing, is regarded as having a high entertainment value. This is indicative of how misguided we have become. I believe human beings are not violent by nature. Unlike lions and tigers, we are not naturally equipped to kill with sharp teeth and claws. From a Buddhist viewpoint, I believe that the basic nature of every sentient being is pure, that the deeper nature of mind is something pure. Human beings become violent because of negative thoughts which arise as a result of their environment and circumstances. I wholeheartedly support an appeal to those countries who at present employ the death penalty to observe an unconditional moratorium. At the same time we should give more support to education and encourage a greater sense of universal responsibility. We need to explain the importance of the practice of love and compassion for our own survival and to try to minimize those conditions which foster murderous tendencies, such as the proliferation of weapons in our societies. These are things even private individuals can work towards. Tenzin Gyatso

awww....you picked those just for me....

what is your favorite thing to bake?

have a few odd questions (but then again, that's just the way my mind works) for those who care to answer.... what is your favorite smell? sound? taste? and why??

as i am fairly new to lds.net, i realize that this topic may have been considered before, but i am curious....do you believe in ghosts? if so, what do you suppose them to be?

i think i would go quite mad without my tea! i know i'm a silly buddhist.....

i see a lot of missionaries in salt lake city and they often approach me. i think they are wonderfully kind and i am always happy to talk to them, although when i tell them i am buddhist, they often don't know what to say to me! i know this is a little off topic, but can anyone tell me why this is?? is it because they are better "equiped" to deal with christians of other faiths?

take this as my $.02, but i have a very good friend (and professor) who is lds and he often says, "i am a follower of christ, but i am not a christian." i think there is deep meaning embedded within this simple phrase.

very well said. thank you for your candor.