Category Archives: Observations

Jan 8 – Humans Are Animals, Right?

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It’s the beginning of a new year so returning to basics, briefly, seems like a worthwhile exercise. I mean, I can spend a lot of time trying to answer questions like Who Am I and What Is My Life’s Purpose, etc. but I shouldn’t forget my biology, should I? After all, we are still dealing with mental and physical health, a pandemic, overpopulation and the Sixth Extinction, right?

So, I’m focused this week on our animal-ness, our basic living status and what that might mean when it comes to how we live our lives.

Here’s a question for you: why do we conveniently deny our animal nature? Below are a couple of thoughts to consider.

Question: Why is it, for some reason, that humans try to separate themselves from the animal kingdom when we ourselves are animals?

Response from Flavio Zanchi ·

Religion.

All religions hold that humans are special, created at separate times and under different circumstances from other animals. Some are even so arrogant as to say that humans were made in the image of some creator or another.

That is the problem.

Most, if not all, religions try to explain consciousness with the idea of a “soul” or a “spirit” – something other than the body. Those creeds that allow animals to have a soul, also believe that being an animal is but a stage in a human’s climb toward the essence of creation. So, the soul is human, after all, and the animal just a temporary learning stage for the sublime, divine spirit.

All rubbish, of course, but still at the very foundation of religion. After all, if your beliefs don’t make you special, why have them? If placing faith in such utter balderdash does not serve to at least unite you with similarly weak-minded imbeciles, why have faith at all?

This is the single most important difference between religion – any religion – and a scientific, realist view of the world.

See, if you can’t explain animals, or plants, put yourself so far above them that no explanation is required, except to say that they were made to serve you, either as food and clothing, or as faithful tame companions, or as a step up the ladder of enlightenment.

Repost of Quora Q&R (see https://www.quora.com/Why-is-it-for-some-reason-that-humans-try-to-separate-themselves-from-the-animal-kingdom-when-we-ourselves-are-animals)

Today’s senryu: Humans Are Animals, Right?

my mind is special

my body not so much – breathe

without air I die

In the mood to meditate

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I always enjoy Lynn J Kelly’s posts and this one seems especially worth sharing this week with my focus on various types of mindfulness and the pragmatic advice to experience the benefits. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

lynnjkelly's avatarThe Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

[Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s teacher] Ajaan Suwat often recommended putting yourself in a good mood each time before you meditate. This may sound a little backwards for many of us because we meditate in order to put ourselves in a good mood, and yet he says to start out with a good mood. But when you stop to think about it, there’s really no way you can get good results out of the meditation unless the mind has at least some good qualities in it, some cheerfulness, some patience, some wisdom. These are qualities that act as seeds, that allow the meditation to develop. We’re not totally empty-handed when we come to the meditation. We do have good qualities in the mind, and there are plenty of things we can think about to put the mind in a good mood. …

If you sit down and you feel yourself totally disinclined to…

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Jan 7 – “Nothingness is Infinite Possibilities”

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One last post on the excellent book by Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, (c) 2004.

Centering Prayer (CP) might better be called the “path to your most interior self” or the “abiding prayer of silence.” The name itself is not important it is the practice of meditation that makes a difference.

CP is the creation of inter-religious and interspiritual dialogue. Based on Hindu, Zen Buddhism, Jain, Christian (Catholic, Protestant, Quaker), 12 Step Program for Recovery to Addiction, Transcendental Meditation and Ken Wilbur’s 9-Level Fallacy.

Ultimately, committed daily sitting in silence will encourage you to:

  1. Renew your own tradition (e.g., Buddhist meditation)
  2. Be of service to others in the community
  3. Engage in and appreciate interspiritual dialogue

I highly recommend reading or listening to the audiobook for Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening and/or watching the 1hr/17-minute YouTube video linked above with special attention on the last 17 minutes.

As Thomas Keating said, the nothingness (of sitting in silence) leads to infinite possibilities.

Jan 6 – The Divine Therapy

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Today I’m sharing more highlights from Cynthia Bourgeault‘s book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening with a focus on Divine Therapy.

What is Divine Therapy? How much and how frequently should you engage in it? How helpful and how risky is this form of meditation? Check out the quotes below:

“In the summer of 1983, Keating organized the first Centering Prayer Intensive …. hoping to achieve a more concentrated meditative experience on the model of a Zen sesshin, or deep immersion retreat ….

Keating produced a tape-video series then a series of books …. in an innovative synthesis, Keating interweaves the traditional wisdom of Thomas Acquinas, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross with the contemporary insights of Ken Wilbur, Michael Washburn, Jean Piaget, and even the Twelve Step Method of Alcoholics Anonymous. The result is a comprehensive psycho-spiritual paradigm that begins in woundedness and ends, if a person is willing to take it that far, in transforming union. He calls it the Divine Therapy.” Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, (c) 2004 Cynthia Bourgeault, The Psychology of Centering Prayer, pp. 91 – 93

Keating explains in his own book, Intimacy with God, (c) 1994, the real meaning of the term transforming union is “we can bring the false self to (church), but we cannot bring the false self forever to contemplative prayer because it is the nature of contemplative prayer to dissolve it.” p.98

Bourgeault goes on to explain that “a period of committed sitting is often the emergence of a patch of pain long buried and several days of emotional turmoil …. and quotes Keating once again with his explanation that (committed sitting) ‘will reduce anxiety for perhaps the first three months. But once the unconscious starts to unload, it will give you more anxiety than you ever had in your life.’ For individual practitioners he recommends a limited dosage – twenty to thirty minutes twice a day is the normal prescription – to prevent the premature emergence of material into the conscious … by repositioning meditation as a tool for the purification of the unconscious … the ‘Divine Therapy’ is gentle and it always holds paramount the need for integration of psyche and spirit.” p.98-99.

So, as always, “buyer beware” and be gentle with yourself with whatever form of contemplation, meditation or mindfulness you choose to practice. Remember, healing in any dimension (i.e., physical, psychological or spiritual) takes longer than we expect and sometimes we feel worse before we feel better.

Jan 5 – Imagine a River of Consciousness

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“In one of his most colorful teachings Thomas Keating describes (the Centering Prayer contemplation) process using the metaphor of boats on a river. The river, as he depicts it, is your consciousness – which is in fact a constantly moving “stream.” Down it floats boats, i.e., your thoughts …. on and on they float, down the river of your consciousness.” Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, (c) 2004 Cynthia Bourgeault, p.36

The metaphor continues by describing 5 types of boats or thoughts that will traverse your mind as you seek to reach deeper levels of awareness in your meditation practice. Thoughts will come and go “like clouds on a windy day”, Thich Nhat Hanh would say. That’s okay, just let them gently go.

Bourgeault continues, “The Art of Letting Go – the goal in Centering Prayer is not to stop the thoughts, but simply to develop a detached attitude toward them. As long as they are coming and going of their own accord …. this gentle, laissez-faire attitude toward the thoughts is reinforced through a simple formula called “The Four Rs“:

  • Resist no thought
  • Retain no thought
  • React to no thought
  • Return to (your) sacred word

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, (c) 2004 Cynthia Bourgeault, p.39-40

Ultimately, contemplation, meditation, mindfulness is more about going with the flow of “stream of consciousness” rather than fighting with our ordinary awareness level.

Today’s senryu: Imagine a River of Consciousness

particle and wave,

matter and spirit, flowing

gently down the stream

Jan 3 – Contemplation – Mindfulness by Another Name

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This week I am focusing on mindfulness aka contemplation or meditation. Today, I focus on Richard Rohr‘s 90-minute video offering a Christian perspective of contemplation. Here are the top 10 key highlights for me:

  1. the quicker we let go of ego and move beyond a positive self-image, the quicker we realize that we are spiritual beings learning how to be fully human
  2. religion is both the best and worst thing in the world if we never transform beyond our ego
  3. Christianity is simply learning how to lose graciously; a Christian is someone who has met one
  4. We shouldn’t say prayers; rather we should be one
  5. it’s right relationship over correct performance
  6. move beyond limousine liberal imaging
  7. how you do anything (in the present moment) is how you do everything
  8. the first half of any contemplative sit is seeing our own “garbage” and hopefully the second half is letting it go to reconnect with present moment awareness
  9. to observe is far more effective than attacking
  10. the most radical thing we can do is contemplation

Finally, I especially appreciated Rohr’s summation that we should not confuse meeting attendance or group membership with transformation. The bigger picture of contemplation is not to get hung up on posture, process or programs. Contemplation is about reconnecting with our higher power and recognizing our relationship with everyone and everything.

Today’s senryu: A Rose Is a Rose …

no navel-gazing

let your ego go and then

reconnect with love

The Buddha’s teachings or Stoicism?

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Sample then choose. Hope you enjoy Lynn J Kelly’s post below as much as I do. For more information on the similarities between Buddhism and Stoicism check out her website: https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com

The Buddha’s teachings or Stoicism?

Posted on January 2, 2023 by lynnjkelly

Some Buddhist teachers draw an analogy between digging many shallow holes vs. one deep hole, with sampling different spiritual paths vs. practicing deeply with one (at a time).  While it’s interesting to discover commonalities between spiritual paths, if we explore only the surfaces of many, we’ll have plenty of superficial understanding, but it probably won’t produce enough of a road map to result in significant personal growth.

For this reason, I’m going to list my main reasons for choosing the Buddha’s teachings rather than Stoicism.

  1. The Buddha himself is an exemplar of what completion of the path looks like. You may or may not believe that a human can be fully awakened, but there are significant characteristics we can observe in people like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh who have walked the path. In Stoicism there are practitioners, but it’s hard to point to someone who would claim to have “realized the path” completely.
  2. Unlike other spiritual or religious paths, the Buddha left a coherent, comprehensive set of instructions pointing the way to less suffering and eventually to full liberation. Each of us is invited to try out and test these instructions for ourselves. In Stoicism there are wise and useful writings, and historical figures, but there is no practical road map.
  3. The stated objective of Stoicism is to “overcome negative emotions” and this endeavor relies on reason alone. The purpose of the Buddha’s teachings is to guide us towards freedom from all forms of suffering, and our efforts necessarily incorporate more of our faculties than reason. Our faith in the path grows as we see the cumulative results of our efforts. We are also encouraged to practice compassion as a foundation.

Of course, choosing to commit to one path doesn’t mean we don’t learn from other sources. It can be beneficial to consider goals and views other than the ones we’ve (currently) chosen; and if we find a different path that seems to suit us better at a particular time in our lives, we can switch with confidence.

There is value in every established spiritual/religious/philosophical tradition. As author and theologian Karen Armstrong has written, all religions begin with an acknowledgement that something is wrong; we are afraid, we are hurting, what can we do to make it better? The answers vary wildly but all traditions attempt to address this need. It’s important that we explore with the intention to find our way to a path that will guide us in a good direction.

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra,

“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”

Posted in Compassion, Dukkha, Friendships, Mindfulness, Relationships, Wisdom | Tagged Buddhism and Stoicism, Mindfulness, Why Buddhism? | Leave a comment

lynnjkelly's avatarThe Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

Some Buddhist teachers draw an analogy between digging many shallow holes vs. one deep hole, with sampling different spiritual paths vs. practicing deeply with one (at a time).  While it’s interesting to discover commonalities between spiritual paths, if we explore only the surfaces of many, we’ll have plenty of superficial understanding, but it probably won’t produce enough of a road map to result in significant personal growth.

For this reason, I’m going to list my main reasons for choosing the Buddha’s teachings rather than Stoicism.

  1. The Buddha himself is an exemplar of what completion of the path looks like. You may or may not believe that a human can be fully awakened, but there are significant characteristics we can observe in people like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh who have walked the path. In Stoicism there are practitioners, but it’s hard to point to someone who would claim…

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Jan 1, 2023 – Happy New Year

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Every new year, new day, new breath is a new beginning. May we enjoy the present moment more often this year.

Below is a repost of today’s daily meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society. https://henrinouwen.org/meditation/

May we be inspired and re-energized for the moments to come.

“What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.” Henri Nouwen (https://henrinouwen.org/)

A New Beginning!

We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises.

Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to the voice saying to us: “I have a gift for you and can’t wait for you to see it!” Imagine. Is it possible that our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives? Yes, it can!

The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: “You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will just be a repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best you can.”

There are many cunning foxes jumping on our shoulders and whispering in our ears the great lie: “There is nothing new under the sun… don’t let yourself be fooled.” When we listen to these foxes, they eventually prove themselves right: our new year, our new day, our new hour become flat, boring, dull, and without anything new.So what are we to do?

First, we must send the foxes back to where they belong: in their foxholes. And then we must open our minds and our hearts to the voice that resounds through the valleys and hills of our life saying: “Let me show you where I live among my people. My name is ‘God-with-you.’ I will wipe all the tears from your eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone” (Revelation 21:2–5).
Let us go forth boldly with awe and wonder

Peace will come, even if it is, one by one. Happy New Year.

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Beautiful message from John Castellenas and singer Melanie. Check out his website at https://johncoyote.wordpress.com/

johncoyote's avatarjohncoyote

 Peace shall come, even if it is, one by one.

I was a soldier once and I didn’t paint the face of war.  I attempted to forget the damn wars with the good drink, the kind women and the ancient cities.
A pretty Auburn hair Texas gal in Belton asked me. Johnnie, Johnnie. Are you drinking again? I told her. I am drinking more, laughing more and dancing some. Sometime dear Brigid, we can reach the dead-end. She laughed at my words and she knew. Hell-board spirits ain’t seeking happiness, till they decide they need some kindness.

I told her. Old poet, the old drunk cannot see the good no-more. I believe Bukowski told us. Never truth a man or women, who don’t drink. The non-drinkers tell us, God will save us. Where was God when my friends were killed in far-away wars? Where is God today? Killing women/children and…

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The illusion of control

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Great post from Lynn J Kelly on the Buddhist/Stoic concept on the “illusion of control.” Check out Lynn’s blog at https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com/

lynnjkelly's avatarThe Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

A foundational practice in both Stoicism and Buddhism is the idea of understanding and accepting that there are some things we can control and many things we cannot.

Once a bridge teacher said to me: “You can only choose from the available choices.” He was talking about bidding in a bridge game, but it occurred to me that this was a valuable mantra, essential when we are struggling to make a decision. We can spend some time and list out, mentally or in writing, what our actual choices are, and changing someone else’s behavior is never on this list. What we want to have happen and what we might do to bring about the desired result are two separate things. Our words and actions are what we do have control over.

As an example, in bridge, you can only bid based on the cards you hold in a particular hand. You…

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