Continuation

My paternal aunt passed away last week from the effects of pancreatic cancer. She was visibly in pain but she requested to return home to be with family rather than stay at the hospital. She was bedridden and mostly laid on her side due to pain. 

Despite this she was described to be alert and communicated well till her last breath. She remained fully conscious of her body and made a final action to lie straight in bed, clasp her hands, and let the breath depart. 

She left a graceful sign for those who witnessed it.  

Grace in the face of death is fearlessness, knowing there is no death.

 

"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."

-- John 11: 25-26

"When conditions are sufficient things manifest." 

"When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear." 

"Walking slowly in the moonlight through the rows of tea plants, I noticed my mother was still with me." 

"Just because we do not perceive something, it is not correct to say it doesn’t exist."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

Battefield with Pain

 

There is no intention to fight or to suppress.

You are your mindfulness but you are also your pain.

We should not transform our self into a battlefield, the good fighting the evil. 

That's not the practice.

-- From Thich Nhat Hanh's dharma talk held on August 26th, 2013 at Blue Cliff Monastery, Pine Bush, NY.

Another realization of how difficult it is when one is ill. We're so used to being in control of our lives and when illness comes we fight it. The fight response is so natural and socially accepted. When learning to embrace it we are often confused and feel we are going the other way, that is, flight. Then we think we're defeated and emotions go downhill.  Our mind tends to be dualistic on many levels: me vs. illness, fight vs. flight, win vs. lose.

Formations

Fresh from a shower the beautiful twilight sky is filled with swallows darting and feasting away.

My little dog pees, walks, and sniffs away, unperturbed.

It's interesting humans have this capacity to appreciate the various external forms and internal feelings going on about us. Likewise this capacity also gets us into a mess when things do not go smooth in life.

A simple bout of flu can be a big thing for me as my sinus gets easily infected and makes it a long tedious road to recovery. My work plans are derailed, my time is spent cooped up at home. I feel aches, heavy headed, limp, clouded. Anger is easier to spark off and there is hesitation to communicate. Bad habits start to surface such as watching Youtube for hours aimlessly.

So how has the practice of mindfulness helped me? Foremost, I am better able to watch these feelings and realize it's not very practical in aiding recovery. I think this watching is very different from my past response which unknowingly lets the mind go astray. There is a quicker turn around to get back to the business of rest and recovery.

I am also better at observing which parts of the body need attention. I can better keep anger in check by not speaking and I can pull away from that long running TV drama on Youtube. It takes a while to return to my body with its present ill state so hopefully with practice I can better smile at suffering.

Reminders from the Five Mindfulness Trainings:

When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak.

I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption.

Effortlessness

When you sit and watch television, you don't make any effort. That is why you can sit there for a long time. When you sit in meditation, you struggle a lot, and that is why you cannot sit for very long. Please imitate the way you sit in the living room. Effortlessness is the key to success. Don't fight. Don't try hard. Just allow yourself to sit. This relaxing way of sitting is also resting. Allow your body to rest.

When you pour fresh juice into a glass and let it stand for fifteen minutes, all the pulp and particles sink down to the bottom of the glass. If you allow your body to sit in a relaxing, peaceful way, it calms your body and also your mind. Sitting like this allows you to enjoy your in-breath and out-breath, to enjoy being alive, to enjoy sitting here. To enjoy your in-breath and out-breath is a miracle, the miracle of being alive.

-- from "The Path of Emancipation" by Thich Nhat Hanh

Reflecting on Superman

The Christian and Jewish symbolism in the movie, Man of Steel, is quite obvious as the creators of Superman were children of Jewish immigrants in USA and Canada. However the symbolism can be much more rich depending on how we perceive them.

A beautiful child appears in the heart of the lotus flower.

Notice how the space ship carrying baby Kal-El opens and closes like the petals of a lotus flower.

"There is a Boddhisattva, whose name is Avalokitesvara, in Vietnamese we call her Quan The Âm, in Chinese, Quan Yin. It means: 'Listening deeply to the sound of the cries of the world'. And listening deeply is the practice of mindfullness. But if you are full of pain, full of anxiety, full of projections, and especially full of prejudices, full of ideas and notions, it may be very difficult for you to practice deep listening. You are too full. And that is why to practice in order for you to have space, to have freedom within, to have some joy within is very important for deep listening. Avalokitesvara, Quan Yin, she practices deep listening to herself, and to the world, outside. She practices touching with her ears."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

There is a scene where young Clark Kent is freaked out by his enhanced sense of sight and hearing and hides in a closet. And his mother, Martha, guides him to focus on her voice to regain calmness and concentration. Indeed, a mindful mother. Many parents are quick to reprimand or minimize the problems of their child.

The beings suffer embarassment and discomfort;

Incalculable woes press in upon them.

The Sound-Observer, by virtue of his unblemished knowledge,

Can rescue the world from its woes.

众生被困厄 无量苦逼身 观音妙智力 能救世闻苦

-- Ch. 24, Lotus Sutra 

(Opening the Heart of the Cosmos: Insights from the Lotus Sutra)

Sin

Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, from now on do not sin any more.”

-- John 8:10-11

Use the key of impermanence to unlock the door of reality -- the nature of inter-being, of no self, of emptiness. That is why you should not look at impermanence as a notion, a theory, or a philosphy, but as an instrument offered by the Buddha so that we can practice looking deeply and discover the true nature of reality.

-- Answers from the Heart, by Thich Nhat Hanh 

The religious conversations around sin are numerous. Sin is seen as an obstacle, as leading to punishment, and even classified into degrees of severity. Unfortunately it is also a notion often used to judge, to discriminate, and thus add suffering around the original wound.

Instead of casting sin away, sin can be a useful instrument for contemplation when we shine the light of mindfulness on it. 

If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

-- 1 John 1:8

Discrimination

I received an email addressed to many persons. The person spoke against my community, not knowing I am part of that community. My partner says such discrimination is to be expected. Yet it continued to bother me.

Breathing in ...

Breathing out ...

I look at discrimination

I see ignorance, doubt, and fear

I look at discrimination 

I realize I am neither of this community or that community

I look at discrimination

The one who discriminates is not out there

The perpetrator and victim inter-are

I look at discrimination

I vow to live each moment mindfully, not in ignorance, doubt or fear

We look at discrimination

I bow to my wise teachers, the wonderful teachings, and spiritual friends