All My Ancient Twisted Karmas...

All my ancient twisted karmas, from beginninngs time, Greed, Hate and ignorance, I now fully avow. This is the first of the Vows taken for the purification process of a practitioner towards becoming a Bodhisatva and later a Buddha. This was what i had learned while a resident at the Green Gulch Farm or also known as The green Dragon Zen center which is  located in Marin County California. Why am I bringing this out now? Well it just happen to pop up when i was looking for something to bicker about..

All my ancient twisted Karmas, all the sins of my past, my wrong doings, my  wasted  time spent in this form from the  moment of creation of who i am or the moment when i came into being. From beginningless time, since the begining of time itself, my original Buddha Nature, that before my parents conceived me to be. Greed, Hate and ignorance, the three Klesas or illnesses that every sentient being are in inflicted with. The three flaws that  are the causes of human suffering or Sansara. I now fully avow. I now acknowledge and repent or surrender or something like that...

I am the master of my own destiny and I write my own  story . It is a story about who i am and what it took to discover my own being throughout this sixty odd years of my life. It took my from the east to the West and a brief stop in between and it took me many a sleepless nights, many a broken relationship, and untold  number of sins and falling by the roadside to get to me here where i am. 

So i took the Bodhisatva vow  at Green Gulch Zen Center and i was and still am serious about having done this and it has had a profound affect on my life and what are the vows? I will try and share a little of what i stood it to be but it is best if you make the effort to read it from the original sources which are readily available on the internet. This is my version, that of the Cheeseburger Buddha so it can be full of holes and erroneous views.

The first of the vows goes: BEINGS ARE NUMBERLESS, I VOW TO AWAKEN WITH THEM.  I vow to awaken with them, what does it means? Lets head back some two thousand five hundred years ago in Indian where the one called The Buddha was awakened after sitting under the Bodhi tree by a river. He was said to have uttered, "I am Awakened and the Universe is Awakened with me." .Many great Buddhist intellects and scholars will have many great explanation of what this meant, but I have had my own and have held on to it as such. i understood it to mean that the Buddha upon waking up from his deep Samadhi after having sat for forty odd days in meditation realized that His awakening was directly related to the awakening of the Universe itself, liberated from darkness. This is the ultimate goal of the Bodhisatva, the one who swore to never become a Buddha until all suffering is being eliminated. The Historical Buddha, the Prince of the Shakya clan was a Bodhisatva incarnate of the Nirmanakaya Buddha who returned for the last time to fulfill the besiege and request of  the Dharma Kings for the sake of humanity in this Dharma ending age.    

So the Buddha came back as one who lived the life of a prince and later as a mendicant monk to seek the truth  abut this, birth and death and rebirth, the cyclic phenomena the all sentient beings are subjected to. In short why are we alive in the first place. Being alive why do we go through so much pain and suffering? Why is life sometimes seem unfair and full of loopholes for some and dark holes for others. These are questions that most mankind have given up hope of finding answers to while many who does lack the inkling to teach or share with others. Thus a vast section of humanity today live in darkness and most have become immune to its negative effect it gets worse as we drift towards the dropping of the curtain for this our little planet.

GREED, HATE AND IGNORANCE OR DELUSIONS!  The flip side of which is  WEALTH, POWER AND KNOWLEDGE as Alvin Toffler  wrote in his book "The Third Wave"?? Those who have these three attribute will rule the world like America for example So what is wrong with this picture? Why cant we exist in harmony and less destructive having wealth, power and knowledge?  BALANCE. The Buddha upon awakening also had a realization about taking the Middle  Way where life is concern, not to be extreme; like the strings on an instrument, too tight it is out of tune and may even break, too lose, well  off course not in tune: JUST RIGHT.

These to me were insights that Buddhism has imparted to  humanity in order that we can cope with what is looming ahead of us, the impending disaster we are all headed for due to our Ignorance, Greed and Hate. It is the Boddhisatva's altruistic vow that has brought me to write what I write for the sake of the few who read what I write disguised in the form of a blog, in the form of Art and Humor. It is only the beginning and as I venture deeper into the meanings my transformation will transform the those who are ready to transform.

We are all Buddhas! Our original Nature was Buddha Nature, Perfect, Strong and Powerful, we somehow fell from this grace just like we fell from Heaven through Ignorance. Instead of acknowledging our Buddha nature we have succumbed to out beastly nature.: We are back to our Dark Ages. It is the vow of every Bodhisatva in this Bharma ending age to rescue as many a soul as possible from being sucked into the cyclic rounds of Birth death and Rebirth and hence your teachers, you loved ones your elders and whoever that preaches Peace and Harmony or who endeavors to show you the Right Path in whatever form it may be. he or she is the Bodhisatve. He may not wear the saffron or the yellow or black robes but so long as he shows you the right way he practices the Bodhisatvic vow. His motive is to bring you back toward the path that leads you to your original Divine Nature. A Nature of Compassion, of Peace and Love, Being Human.. Being a Buddha Nature. 

So we were awakened at one time or another and somehow through our lack of understanding and attachment to this illusive world of Maya we are slowly drifting like in a dream towards a nightmare that will be a rude awakening call at the end of the day. The Buddha unraveled the mystery of life, he 'Untangled the Tangles" for our benefit but not many of us today are will to even acknowledge the fact that we are living in Ignorance or merely sleep walking through life.

All religions and all teachings of our forefathers  are for this same purpose and that is to lead us out of this darkness into light. To awaken us from our sleep into wakefulness to remain  awake once and for all!