bodhigirlsmiles

good morning to you! i felt i should put in my $.02 as i think i am the only buddhist on this forum and meditation is to buddhism what prayer is to christianity.... the amount of meditation that i do each day may prove a little much for some people, but i have had my whole life to become accustomed to it. it begins each morning. as i wake up in the morning and open my eyes i usually recite to myself.... Waking up this morning I smile knowing there are 24 brand new hours before me. I vow to live fully in each moment, and look at beings with eyes of compassion. i try can start my day with the happiness of a smile and the aspiration to dedicate myself to the path of love and understanding. i am aware that each day is a fresh, new day, and i have 24 precious hours to live. also, wherever i walk, i try to practice meditation. this means that i know that i am walking. i walk with freedom and solidity, no longer in a hurry. i am present with each step. and when i wish to talk i stop my movement and give my full attention to the other person, to words and to listening. of course, this doesn't always work. we often get in a hurry in life and forget to take the time to "smell the roses," so to speak. we should be able to do it in every moment. look around and see how vast life is, the trees, the white clouds, the limitless sky. listen to the birds. feel the fresh breeze. life is all around and we are alive and healthy and capable of walking in peace. it is so nice to enjoy every step we make. each step is nourishing and healing. as we walk with mindfullness, we imprint our gratitude and our love on the earth. how many of us get the opportunity to be outdoors every day? probably very few of us....the buddha did not, however, teach that we must go to a quiet place of solitude in a forest in order to meditate. we can practice meditation literally anywhere. to participate in working meditation can be a great happiness. when we wash the cars, or turn the compost piles or make dinner (or do homework with children), we can stay mindful of our breathing and the activity that we are doing. we speak only when necessary and about the work at hand. we can maintain a light and easy feeling as we work. sweeping and mopping we see that we are already practicing to calm our mind and body. try not be in too great of a hurry to get the job done. working meditation links us to our everyday life, both at work and when we return home. as we are working at our computer or preparing dinner for our family or teaching a class, we can practice stopping, calming and refreshing ourselves with our conscious breathing. we can relax and smile at our co-workers and pace ourselves to maintain a light and serene state of being. all this is very easy, right?? it takes a great deal of practice. the miracle of it, however, is that there is great joy and benefit from even the practice. there is much, much more i could say on meditation (from sitting traditionally in the lotus position to meditation before bed), and if you care to hear it i am happy to share. i hope all is well with you and i wish you peace.

help us all the day there is!

now THAT is disgusting!! LOL. i have never tasted meat in the whole of my life, but if i had, i can imagine that the greasy fried variety would get old after a while....

is there something saying it has to be green jello, or do other colors work as well? i get the feeling that this is something that is well understood in lds culture, so i apologize for asking what may be the obvious!

i never knew that! that is so interesting....do most lds folks like to eat it, or is it like fruitcake at christmas time....everyone gets it as a gift and then throws it away?

HELP!! i'm so confused....why is this significant?

it is always so easy to say harsh words about those whose shoes we have never had the luxury to fill.

what about fire arms?

now really....who would be guilty of such a thing?

how very unthoreau of you!! do you think there is a sense of urgency for christians with regard to life (or what comes after)? is it a sin to waste time? if so, what is considered waste?

if she already knew that, she ignored it....

motion in favor of allowing missingsomething to go on record stating that she wishes there was a "political forum" so that she can avoid it. do we have a second?

there is a story told of aa young buddhist who was on his journey home one day when he came to the banks of a wide river. staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey, he saw a wise teacher on the other side of the river. the young buddhist yells over to the teacher, "oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river"? the teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, "my son, you are on the other side". life is all about our perspective, right? what do you use every day to keep your problems in perspctive....from a christian point of view. sorry if this is a strange question, i am just wondering how my lovely lds friends (and other christian friends) smile every day.

droonkher tashi delek!

regardless of its origin, it is known that the british used the song to taunt (insult, annoy, harangue) americans before the revolutionary war. (now before all the lovely folks from the uk hunt me down, let me just say that i LOVE england and i LOVE the english people!! i always have.... water under the bridge, my friends, water under the bridge....)

blessings in the dharma light to you my friend....may your day be one of peace and miracles....

seeds are indeed miracles! they contain the promise of eternity....

great question! of course, there are the type of miracles such as healing someone who is ill, or floating in the air, or that sort of miracle. let me talk of this type of miracle first.... in one sutra in the digha nikaya, the buddha was asked to perform miracles so that "those who do not believe will believe, and those who already believe will have more faith". the buddha's answer was telling: "the enlightened one can perform such miracles: he can read minds, he can float in the air, etc etc etc. however, the greatest miracle is the miracle of the dharma, the teaching that destroys all sufferings. thus, this is the only miracle i will perform here". the ability to perform miracles does not make one an enlightened one. if one were to judge if a person is enlightened just by his performing miracles, one would be missing the point entirely. i think one of the true marks of enlightenment is when the enlightened one refrains from performing miracles, like the buddha has taught. the enlightened one knows that the greatest miracle of all is the destruction of sufferings and he does not have to resort to showing off his magical powers to teach, spread and share his dharma. he is confident that the power of the dharma alone can change lives and bring about faith, peace and happiness. if a teacher has to resort to showing off miracles to spread his dharma, something must be very wrong. another story illustrates the buddha's attitude towards miraculous powers. one day the buddha met an ascetic who sat by the bank of a river. this ascetic had practised austerities for 25 years. the buddha asked him what he had received for all his labour. the ascetic proudly replied that, finally, he could cross the river by walking on the water. the buddha pointed out that this gain was insignificant for all the years of labour, since he could cross the river using a ferry for one small coin! when the uninformed, the unsophisticated and the naive see the performance of miracles, their faith and incredulity deepens. the converts who are attracted to a religion through witnessing these powers embrace a faith, not because they realize the truth or gain in wisdom, but because they are either frightened or impressed by matters they do not understand. in contrast, the buddha appealed to the reasoning power of people to consider his teachings. i realize that much of this is true of christianity as well (from what i have read)....in other words, seeing this type of miracle is not, in and of itself, a miracle. to me, the gentle words of thick nhat hahn sum this up very well indeed.... life is a great miracle to me....the varieties in nature, the smile of a child, the kindness of strangers, a waterfall, a raging fire, the endless stars, a warm embrace from someone who loves us, the whisper of the wind....all of these are miracles to me. perhaps i do not define miracle in the same way that others do. i am, afterall, just a crazy buddhist!

o, did you! what a great thing....was there a good response from folks?

the buddha once said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” what miracles do you see around you?

and there are many kinds of asians....

do you think women are suited for law enforcement?? why or why not?

shaolin monks are so fascinating to me....i definately need to learn more about them.

WOOPS!! i missed that there was a whole page i had not read!! sorry for the VERY late response....

granted, but now every time you open the pantry door you find it overflowing with low-sodium spam. i wish my dog would stop laying on my hair every time i fall asleep....