Lifesavers
Thaddeus Golas
Before
going further, let’s expand on some of the basic attitudes salted away in
what has gone before. It is not my intention to have anyone remember all the transistorized
thinking in this book, but I highly recommend memorizing the italic lines below.
They are simple enough to stay with you and will work in any mental crisis. Keep
them handy in your mind.
One of my psychedelic excursions had gotten
off to a bad start, and I was sinking into a really satanic bummer. As I looked
about me at people turning evil, shrunken, colorless, old, and weird, I suddenly
thought, “Well, what did you think it was that needed to be loved?”
And just like that, the doors opened and I was in paradise.
------
No resistance. This does not mean that you must be physically passive
or meekly put up with bad vibrations or rip-offs. This means no resistance in
your mind. Be free in your head, act out of love, and do what feels good. There
is no action that is always right or wrong: the only true variable is the love
with which you act. As you open your awareness, life will improve of itself, you
won't even have to try. It’s a beautiful paradox: the more you open your
consciousness, the fewer unpleasant events intrude themselves into your awareness.
------
Love as much as you can from wherever you are. This line is especially
good to recall when you feel frightened, crazy, or have taken some bad dope. Write
it on the wall of your room. You may not want to love what you feel or see, you
may not be able to convince yourself that you could love it at all. But just decide
to love it. Say out loud that you love it, even if you don't believe it. And say,
“I love myself for hating this.”
------
Love
it the way it is. The way you see the world depends entirely on your own vibration
level. When your vibration changes, the whole world will look different. It’s
like those days when everyone seems to be smiling at you because you feel happy,
The way to raise your vibration level is to feel more love. Start by loving your
negative feelings, your own boredom, dullness and despair. It’s hard to believe,
but changing the content of your mind does nothing to change your vibration
level.
For the purpose of raising your awareness, it is useless to change
your ideas, your faith, your behavior, your place of residence, or your companions.
It is not arbitrary nor an accident that you are where you are, so, you might
as well get your attitude straight before you make a change. Otherwise you might
find yourself chasing all over creation looking for the right place, and not even
the Sea of Infinite Bliss will feel right to you.
You take yourself with
you wherever you go. As they say in Zen: If you can't find it where you’re
standing, where do you expect to wander in search of it? There is never anyplace
in the universe to be except among your equals. The direction of change to seek
is not in our four dimensions: it is getting deeper into what you are, where you
are, like turning up the volume on the amplifier.
------
Love yourself. But isn’t the definition of love being in the same space with others? Actually much of what we now think of as our selves—our bodies, our minds, our emotions—involves billions of other beings. Being the ego consciousness of a human body is a little like being Mayor of New York City. The ego is not the only awareness concerned with the survival or function of your body.
We
are free, as individual, unique entities, to leave any group, such as the group
that forms the body, but we will find other beings to harmonize with on any level
we go to.
When you love your self you are in truth expanding in
love into many other beings.
And
the more loving you are, the more loving the beings within and around you. On
all levels we are mutually dependent vibrations. Play a happy tune and happy dancers
will join your trip.
In another sense, loving yourself is a willingness
to be in the same space with your own creations. How contracted would you become
if you try to withdraw from vour own ideas?
Loving yourself is not a matter of building your ego. Egotism is proving you are worthwhile after you have sunk into hating yourself. Loving yourself will dissolve your ego: you will feel no need to prove you are superior.
From:
Thaddeus Golas
The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment
Originally published by the author in 1972
Seed Center, 1972
Bantam Books, 1980, 1993
Gibbs Smith, 1996
Chapter Four, pp. 35-38
Lees het hele boek online.
Question:
How are we brought to meditation?
Maharaj Charan Singh Ji:
By the Grace of the Lord. There is no other way. We may say that we have become
devotees of the Lord because we have found the right teachings, we have found
the path, we have found the Master. It would be quite wrong to think so. Actually,
when He wants to put us on the Path, when He wants to give us His devotion, He
creates such circumstances that we have no option but to follow that Path. We
are ultimately drawn to the Path. It is all in His hands. When He wishes it, everything
becomes clear to us. First is His grace. With His grace we will meet a Master.
Through contact with the Master we will be put on the Path, and with our efforts
we invoke His grace to travel on that Path until ultimately our practice will
lead us to our Home and we merge back into Him. Everything is interconnected.
Without the Lord’s grace, nothing can happen.
From:
Maharaj Charan Singh Ji
The Master Answers to Audiences in America
Punjab (India): Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1966
Pp. 143-144
Lees over Maharaj Charan Singh Ji.
Solidariteit
Nico Tydeman
Zazen, zitten-in-meditatie, is een oefening in solidariteit: heel dit universum, zoals het op dit moment is, welkom heten zoals het is en mijn totale activiteit van dit moment inzetten als een bevrijdende bijdrage voor alles en zonder onderscheid te maken. Zazen is een oefening die ik doe voor niemand speciaal, maar voor iedereen en alles zonder beperking. Daarom is het zo belangrijk tijdens het zitten niets te verdringen, niets af te stoten. Want in zazen is alles het mijne, de pijn is van mij, het geluk, de eenheid en de gebrokenheid, de goeden en de slechten, de slachtoffers van gebrek en geweld, de wanhopigen, de machthebbers en de machtelozen, de rijken en de armen, de uitbuiters en de uitgebuitenen.
In zazen behoort al het bestaande mij toe zonder onderscheid. Dit is het levensideaal van een Bodhisattva, een leven in de erkenning van een identiteit met alle levende en levenloze wezens, een leven in een allesomvattende solidariteit. Zazen is een oefening en tegelijk de uitdrukking van deze absolute vorm van samenwerking en verbondenheid. Tevens wijst deze oefening de weg hoe ik solidariteit gestalte kan geven in de diverse levenssituaties. Zazen vertelt mij al doende wat ik doen moet wanneer ik het inzicht ontwikkel dat alles en allen om mijn solidariteit vragen.
Zazen wijst mij een eigen weg te gaan. Voor de één kan dat de politiek zijn, voor de ander een teruggetrokken leven in een klooster. Voor weer anderen is hun werkplaats het gezin, een relatie, een ziekbed, een levenslange invaliditeit, het verwerken van een teleurstelling of het beleven van een intens geluk, of het ouder worden, het doodgaan. Er is geen plaats binnen dit universum waar de roep om solidariteit niet klinkt, noch is er een plek die ongeschikt is om deze levensvervullende, onbegrensde solidariteit te realiseren.
Uit:
Nico Tydeman
Zitten, de praktijk van Zen
Amsterdam, Karnak, 1980
Blz. 85-86
The Land of Plenty
Leonard Cohen
Don’t
really have the courage
To stand where I must stand.
Don’t really
have the temperament
To lend a helping hand.
Don’t
really know who sent me
To raise my voice and say:
May the lights in The
Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.
I
don’t know why I come here,
Knowing as I do,
What you really think
of me,
What I really think of you.
For
the millions in a prison,
That wealth has set apart -
For the Christ who
has not risen,
From the caverns of the heart -
For
the innermost decision,
That we cannot but obey -
For what’s left
of our religion,
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land
of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.
I
know I said I’d meet you,
I’d meet you at the store,
But I can’t
buy it, baby.
I can’t buy it anymore.
And
I don’t really know who sent me,
To raise my voice and say:
May the
lights in The Land of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.
For
the innermost decision
That we cannot but obey
For what’s left of
our religion
I lift my voice and pray:
May the lights in The Land
of Plenty
Shine on the truth some day.
From:
Leonard Cohen
Ten New Songs
Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 2001
www.leonardcohen.com
www.leonardcohenfiles.com
De geheime tuin
Frances H. Burnett
[…]
“Vader,” zei hij, “ik ben het, Colin. U kunt het natuurlijk
niet geloven en ik zelf soms ook niet. Maar ik ben Colin.”
Evenmin
als juffrouw Medlock, begreep hij wat zijn vader bedoelde, toen deze verwezen
mompelde:
“In de tuin! In de tuin!”
“Ja”,
babbelde Colin verder, “het is door de tuin gekomen, en door Mary en Dickon
en de dieren... en de toverkracht. Niemand weet er iets van. We hebben het geheim
gehouden tot u thuis zou komen. Ik ben helemaal beter; ik kan harder lopen dan
Mary. Ik ga aan allerlei sport doen.”
Het kwam er allemaal zo natuurlijk,
zo gezond uit - hij struikelde van opwinding over zijn woorden, zijn ogen straalden
- dat de ziel van de man trilde van ongelovige vreugde.
“Bent u
niet blij, vader?” eindigde hij. “Bent u niet blij? Ik blijf leven,
altijd en altijd en altijd!”
Mijnheer Craven legde zijn handen op
de beide schouders van de jongen en hield hem vast. Hij wist dat hij de eerste
ogenblikken niet zou kunnen spreken.
“Laten we de tuin ingaan, mijn
jongen,” zei hij eindelijk, “en vertel me dan alles.”
En de kinderen namen hem mee naar binnen.
De tuin was een bonte kleurenpracht
van herfstig geel en oranje en blauw en vlammend rood, en langs de muren stonden
late lelies, witte en wit-met-rode. Hij wist nog goed, hoe ze die hadden geplant
om de pracht die ze er juist in dit late seizoen van verwachtten. Late rozen hingen
in trossen van de bomen en bloeiden nog tegen de muren, en het zonlicht dat de
langzaam gelende bomen nog dieper en warmer tintte, maakte dat de teruggekeerde
man zich als door een gouden tempel omsloten voelde. Hij stond stil, zoals ook
de kinderen stil hadden gestaan toen alles nog grauw en doods was. Verwonderd
keek hij om zich heen.
“Ik had gedacht dat alles dood zou zijn,”
zei hij.
“Dat dacht Mary eerst ook,” vertelde Colin. “Maar
’t is weer levend geworden.”
[…]
Uit:
Frances H. Burnett
De geheime tuin
Uitgeverij Christofoor, Zeist
Zevende druk, 2000
Voorleesboek, 9-10 jaar
Blz. 215-216
Vertaling van
The Secret Garden
Verschenen in 1911
Vijf Stappen naar Vrede
Neale Donald Walsch
Een - Ik erken dat enkele van mijn oude overtuigingen over God en over het Leven niet langer werken.
Twee - Ik erken dat er dingen over God en het Leven zijn die ik niet begrijp; ze wel begrijpen zou alles kunnen veranderen.
Drie - Ik ben bereid om een nieuw begrip van God en het Leven aan het licht te brengen; een begrip dat op deze planeet een volstrekt nieuwe manier van leven zou kunnen voortbrengen.
Vier - Ik ben bereid om dit nieuwe begrip te verkennen en te onderzoeken, en om mijn geloofssysteem ermee uit te breiden als het op één lijn ligt met mijn innerlijke waarheid en kennis.
Vijf - Ik ben bereid om mijn leven te leiden als de demonstratie van mijn overtuigingen.
Uit:
Neale Donald Walsch
De nieuwe openbaringen
Een openhartig gesprek met God
Utrecht/Antwerpen, Kosmos-Z&K Uitgevers, 2003
Blz. 48
Swimming in de-nial
Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi
Many of us would like to believe that Zen practice is going to take care of all our needs; psychological, spiritual and mental. The problem is that most of us have developmental limitations that act as barriers and hindrances to our accomplishments in the practice. Often these limitations need to be worked through with professionals who are trained to focus on those problems.
But it can be difficult to find the right person to work with, one who can understand our spiritual practice and who has the insight and training to move us along on the path. Most Zen teachers do not have the time nor the training to address the personal hindrances that may be uncovered through practice. It is not that the Zen tradition is somehow lacking, this issue is simply part of the koan that we want to face in the West.
A related question is, how do we transmit the Dharma through the Eastern model that has been monastic and primarily male, to the West which is generally non-monastic and more open to woman working alongside man? It is blind, or at least naive, to believe that the Asian model is going to fit all of our Western needs. If we are to become complete human beings who manifest and embody the Buddha-Dharma, we must be willing to work on our own limitations and barriers. We can sit on the cushion for ten, twenty, even thirty years and still remain in denial about how little we really manifest the Buddha’s teaching.
The age-old problem in Zen is to become stuck in our insights and realizations. It is especially easy to get stuck in the absolute perspective and to ignore all the karmic consequences of our actions. And the more position we inherit, the more problems we can create. It is essential that we honestly and continuously look at ourselves, and then to remain open to working on the limitations that we find. If we are not growing, we are regressing.
Zen training helps us to develop our skills of single-minded focusing—but that is not enough. We must also learn to maintain simultaneous awareness of our surroundings and the effect of our actions. The more senior we become as Zen students or teachers, the more we can abuse the power that we have been entrusted with. In fact, the question we really need to ask ourselves is, how, where and when do I abuse that power? We must stay vigilant because it is so easy to use zazen to hide from the consequences of our actions. Maybe we are like a person happily driving down the road, eyes focused ahead, never glancing into the rear view mirror. We can live our lives in some kind of delusional contentment, never seeing the havoc that we are causing or the accidents we leave in our wake. Of course the consequences will catch up with us eventually; like a surfer who naively believes he is racing in front of the ordinary wave, when in fact it is the tidal wave.
If we don’t take care of our psychological handicaps we will certainly abuse the power that we gain through samadhi. Samadhi is a two edged sword: it can be used to cut through delusion and it can be used to abuse others through our own ego trips. If we do not see clearly all the levels and aspects of consciousness, how can we truly say that we are accomplishing the Buddha Way? And, if we cannot see ourselves as others see us, how can we say that we have realized the self? Even though we may realize that truly there is no self or that this self is unfixed, all of us continue to operate with some façade of self.
Regardless of how long we have practiced, we must guard against the arrogant belief that we know or have accomplished the Way. Forever, we are travelers and students of the Way, and there are no masters. I don’t say there is no Zen, I only say there are no masters of Zen. If you need help, seek it. If you don’t need help, seek it anyway. Don’t go for a swim into that deep river in Egypt called ‘de-nial.’
naar bovenUit:
de Lotusvijver
herfst/winter 2000
Tips voor ouders en verzorgers
Ingeborg Bosch
1.
Gevoelig zijn voor de behoeften van je kinderen
Goed ouderschap begint
met gevoelig zijn voor wat je kind nodig heeft. Hiertoe zullen we allereerst onderscheid
moeten maken tussen de behoeften van onze kinderen en onze eigen behoeften. Dit
onderscheid zullen we alleen goed kunnen maken wanneer we onze eigen onvervulde
kinderbehoeften hebben blootgelegd:
- als we bijvoorbeeld door onze oude onverwerkte pijn de behoefte hebben om in het heden greep op alles te houden, zullen we het kind meer structuur opleggen dan het nodig heeft (bijvoorbeeld elke dag, ongeacht de omstandigheden, op hetzelfde moment eten, in bad of slapen);
- of als onze oude onverwerkte pijn ons ertoe drijft onaangename dingen te ontkennen, zullen we proberen de aandacht van het kind af te leiden als het zich pijn doet of zich niet lekker voelt;
- of als wij als kind vaak emotioneel verwaarloosd zijn, zullen we onze kinderen misschien verstikken en hun de vrijheid benemen om de wereld te ontdekken terwijl zij zich in hun eigen tempo ontwikkelen.
In het uitoefenen van het ouderschap worden we vaak door onze onvervulde kinderbehoeften uit het verleden gedreven en niet door de behoeften die we bij ons kind in het heden waarnemen.
[...]
Uit:
Ingeborg Bosch
De herondekking van je ware zelf
Een zoektocht naar emotionele harmonie
Uitgeverij L.J. Veen
Vierde, herziene druk, 2003
Lees alle tips op de website van het KRO-programma Home Sweet Home.
Lees een samenvatting van Past Reality Integration-therapie.
Bezoek
de website van PRI-therapie.
Just
Sitting
Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi
To
become comfortable in meditation, we must first become comfortable in our own
skin. This is not as easy as it sounds. We have become habituated to being busy,
distracted, and entertained—always doing, watching, listening, or thinking.
When we begin a meditation practice, just sitting still can be difficult. In a
strange way, I already had ten years of preparation by the time I started practicing
zazen. I had been a lifeguard, and sometimes that meant sitting eight hours a
day, alone in a little tower on an empty beach. At times I was so uncomfortable
and bored, I would do anything and everything to keep my mind occupied.
Meditation gives us the opportunity to practice simply being with ourselves—with
our own body and mind. It’s a great chance to confront all the things that
make it uncomfortable to just sit. In the beginning we may notice pain in our
body. Later on we discover that our mind is also in pain. Just sitting upright
and staying attentive can leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable. Over time our
discomfort with this lessens, and we begin to feel very alive, awake, and dignified.
It becomes easier and easier to sit.
Practice is all that is needed to
develop comfort in sitting and in being with ourselves, so we need to decide if
achieving some level of comfort is worth the practice it will take. There are
so many other things to do, so many things going on in our lives, we may wonder,
“Do I really need to add one more thing?” In making our decision, it
can be helpful to look at how we usually go about deciding such things. Are our
priorities based on what benefits our total well-being, or are they based primarily
on avoiding pain and experiencing pleasure? We can also pay attention to what
our intuition says would be good for us. For me it was the feeling of coming home
that made me want to continue to meditate. For you, does becoming truly comfortable
in your own skin and at peace in your mind seem as if they might be worth some
effort? Perhaps the ability to be with ourselves is a good thing for us as individuals
and also for the world.
From:
Dennis Genpo Merzel
The Path of the Human Being:
Zen Teachings on the Bodhisattva Way
Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2003Available in August