What if Religion is being removed from the equation?

What if the God cum religious equation is removed from the present day Middle Eastern if not global scenario of wanton genocidal butchering of man women and children. The accusations of and the claims of  'The Chosen People' the People of the Right Path', the 'My religion and not yours is the way to go'. is not an issue; what would be the issue? Would we still be seeing bombs being dropped from the skies and wrapped around the waist slaughtering the innocent bystanders calling it war? Would the Jews be going all out to wipe out the Palestine and if possible the rest of the Arab if not the Muslim world? Would the Founding Fathers of North America had practically wiped out the Native Americans in the eradication pagan and non believers in the Christian Faith? Would the Hindus and the Muslims be separated into two countries of India and Pakistan and thus till this day is causing a tension between the two nation while killings are ongoing on the Kashmir borders? Would Iran and Iraq had gone for each other's throats claiming that the Shiah faith is right way as opposed to the Sunni? Would Osama Bin Laden had made an impact upon the world or the Twin Towers incident even happened?
Yes they would, and the reason is simple, man id by nature a predator and he is still the top of the food chain where species are concern. man is the most vicious predator as he hunts and kills for sport if nothing else, he has that propensity to kill for no reason but simply because it is in his nature. Even the wildest beast would resist from killing when its belly is full but not man. Man kills not for his survival but to satisfy his urge to kill another albeit man or beasts. If he is not killing physically, he is doing it in his mind, in his dreams in his nightmares. Man seeks the most creative ways to kill and he sell these products on the market making it a lucrative income as a source of employment for his kind. Man kills out of Greed and fear, out of hatred and anger, out of jealousy and envy and he does this with justification and impunity. 
Man's greatest failure is observing the First of God's commandment and that being thou shalt not kill! From the time when Cain took his brother's Abel's life, man has the inherent nature to kill his fellow man. 
Religion cannot unite the people of this world. To unite the people of this world we need harmony and for harmony to happen, we can't have religion as a uniting factor because in religion, too much of differences exist between one religion to another be it about doctrine, practice or observances and when differences exist, nothing gets united. Not unless we learn how to live with the differences by being tolerant, by being accommodative, by compromising or by opening up our heart and minds with a sincere willingness to allow peace understanding and goodwill to come into our lives. At the extreme end, one can also convert others by duress but is that a correct thing to do? Even if only one religion exist in the end, that religion itself is divided into many many denominations. My conclusion is we can't use religion to unite us. We must choose something else. Like a good public policy. Or maybe sports...
Kris Lee's Face Book post.

Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated.
~ George Washington...poste by Ivy Chus on Face Book
.
"You have to pull out the roots of evil rather than simply hack away at the branches. Without looking at the origins of religious servitude, and clearly identifying who these God imposters (that have farmed humanity for eons) really are - and instead focusing on simply identifying and blaming previous and current corrupt governmental models - you are only seeing the puppets dance, oblivious to the marionette pulling the strings. 

The Hebrew Bible story of human origins (known as the tale of Adam and Eve) is a false, misleading, and abbreviated version that was derived from a far more 'well-rounded' rendition that originated in ancient Sumerian cuneiform texts. These recollected Sumerian accounts describe a space-faring species, known as the “Annunaki”, who genetically modified the human race and used them as slaves. "
By Karlos Kukuburra.

We are dancing in the 'Killing Fields'

Hence as we can see in Judaism or the times Abraham and his children already there was a schism between what was one day would be Islam and what was the Judaic or Israel's root through Isaac. There was not even an agreement on who Abraham chose to sacrifice to God of the two sons he had. Personally and logically Abraham would have had to choose Ismael as he was the first born and at the same time expendable for being the son of a surrogate mother. Isaac's mother Sarah would have never allowed Abraham to take her son no matter what...but, well as the Muslim would say WallahuAllam, only God knows. However based on this matter in the religious history of the two religions today we have ISIS today! We have Muslim terrorists and Zionists today at each others's throats for something or other, albeit faith or culture or more so; territory. Had God purposely planned it this way?
Then came Christianity in the middle of the equation with its own Prophet and doctrines as encapsulated in the Bible and Christianity has its own story with twists that further provokes schism between the two religions of Islam and Judaism. The most pronounce of this being the Crucifixion of Jesus of which the Muslims denies as having taken place while the Christians held it pivotal in their belief to the point of defending it with wars against the Muslims. The Christian claims that Christ is the 'Son of God', does little to help the situation nor the claim of the "Holy Trinity'; that of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit. All these claims are anti thesis to the Muslim faith in the One God. This is again my very shallow or brief look at the issues as i am sure allot more deeper matters runs through their differences if one care to make it a research. 
Other than these few major differences in belief and perceptions held by the threes religions, there is a whole lot of similarity between them, enough to make one agree that they worship the same God, Jehovah, Elohim, Allah with these different names for the same entity, the One true God, The God of Abraham, the God of Moses. Jesus and Muhammad. hence all that is going on in the Middle east today, the wanton killing and the disregard for human lives is by right not because of religion per say more so due to Race culture and territory. At the end of the day all believers in the tradition of these three religions will stand before their Maker and answer for their part in this mess whether we are involved directly or not is irrelevant but being a part of the people of the Book makes us responsible. 
The lives lost in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and other various parts of the world including the United States is our Collective responsibilities and we will stand before our Lord and answer where we went wrong; blaming Satan or the anti Christ is not option. We are creating Hell on Earth as foretold by Satan when he confronted God in Genesis.

"Additionally, if we take Allah’s statement at its face value, it would lead us to believe that by ordering the angels to bow down before Adam, Allah Himself committed a great sin, which is called shirk in Arabic. Allah castigated the pagans for worshiping the idols, and forbade the Muslims from bowing down to any deity or to any human being. If anyone bowed before anyone but Allah, the sinner would be consigned to the fire of hell on the Day of Judgment. Knowing His own commandment, why Allah ordered the angels to bow down before Adam-a human being- is beyond our comprehension. "
Adapted from; "Without Satan Allah's Universal Plan would have failed" by Mohammad Asghar.

Herein again is another twist in the revelations of the origin of man according to the scriptures which today still is a cloudy issue that has led us to the state that we are - ignorance. It is ignorance of the truth that has led to the ever escalating state of madness that mankind is presently headed for...or so it seems. You are given free will to make the choices for yourself, to read,( Iqrar!) and  understand what Is the truth to break through the veils of ignorance and see the light of Divine Nature that is who you are and not get sucked into the decadence of existence as you are made to believe as who you are through the bonds of conditioning.  

Understanding why- my brief take on Judaism = Christianity - Islam.

Judaism in line with the Judeo-Christian - Islamic religions or the religions of the Book, is the foundation, the historical building block from which all three religions has emerged. It is still the eldest of all three religions and still maintains in many ways the Jealous God of Yahweh.
In Exodus 20:5, it is not that God is jealous or envious because someone has something He wants or needs.Exodus 20:4-5 says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God...” Notice that God is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him. 
Jehovah (Yahweh)The proper name of God in the Old Testament ; hence the Jews called it the name by excellence, the great name, the only name, the glorious and terrible name, the hidden and mysterious name, the name of the substance, the proper name, and most frequently shem hammephorash , i.e. the explicit or the separated name, though the precise meaning of this last expression is a matter of discussion (cf. Buxtorf, "Lexicon", Basle, 1639, col. 2432 sqq.).
In the oldest biblical literature, Yahweh is a typical ancient Near Eastern "divine warrior" who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies;^[6] he later became the main god of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and of Judah,^[7] and over time the royal court and temple promoted Yahweh as the god of the entire cosmos, possessing all the positive qualities previously attributed to the other gods and goddesses.^[8][9] By the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), the very existence of foreign gods was denied, and Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator of the cosmos and the true god of all the world.^{[9] Wikipedia.}

Judaism did not come into being until after the time of Abraham whose second son Isaac was the progenitor of the Jewish bloodline. Abraham's first born was by his maid servant who later went on to become the prognitor of the Arab Muslim Lineage that led all the way to that of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and this includes all the prophets of the Biblical lineages, including Jesus (AIS), son of Mary.

But Abram was concerned, because he had no children and he was growing old. Abram's beloved wife, Sarai, knew that she was past child-bearing years, so she offered her maidservant, Hagar, as a wife to Abram. This was a common practice in the region at the time. According to tradition, Hagar was a daughter of Pharaoh, given to Abram during his travels in Egypt. She bore Abram a son, Ishmael, who, according to both Muslim and Jewish tradition, is the ancestor of the Arabs. (Gen 16

When Abram was 100 and Sarai 90, G-d promised Abram a son by Sarai. G-d changed Abram's name to Abraham (father of many), and Sarai's to Sarah (from "my princess" to "princess"). Sarah bore Abraham a son, Isaac (in Hebrew, Yitzchak), a name derived from the word "laughter," expressing Abraham's joy at having a son in his old age. (Gen 17-18). Isaac was the ancestor of the Jewish people. Thus, the conflict between Arabs and Jews can be seen as a form of sibling rivalry!
Judaism 101.

The next simple question that was never really resolved by both Jews and Muslims is, who was intended for the sacrifice that God had asked of Abraham. The Jews claims it was Isaac and the Muslims , Ismail. Who do you think it was? If what is going on in the Middle east and around the globe today matters to you, the answers is might help you see the truth. Question is does it matter enough to you?
to be contd.

The Truth is out there...is it?

The truth is with the Lord of Creation, Lord of the Universe, Lord of Power and Mercy; the truth of the matter for me and you is relative to our perception of who or what we hold to be the Divine that is our being in essence. It is not possible to behold the whole truth as only the fully enlightened or the perfect man 'al insan kamil' has the capability to behold the whole truth of what Is. Man is yet to achieve that level of understanding whereby he can comprehend the truth that encapsulate the  sum total of creation itself and much less the nature of "God'. As it is man is too busy still discovering his own self manifested weaknesses and the ills that he has inherited  form his forefathers is still infesting his souls making life itself a misery instead of a celebration as it was meant to be. And yet we wish to discover the whole truth of reality, of what life is all about or what God is or is not or whose God is right or whose is not. NASA has just recently discovered that the black hole is not just a tunnel sucking into itself anything and everything but it also emits stuff out from itself, thus creating yet another anomaly for space scientists to ponder upon.
The wanton barbaric killing of man women and children like there is not end to it is on the increase all over the Middle East, Africa and various other countries like ancient tribal wars, only on a grand scale the magnitude of which has surpassed history and mostly in the name of God; my God as against yours. Mankind is slip sliding away into the heralding of the Third World War; a Nuclear holocaust that will turn the pages of history into a black hole and the only thing that would be emerging from it will be radio active dust. We are witnessing the death of man's capacity to feel, to cherish to love for one another and at the same time are witnessing how man has become the very beast that revelations has predicted that he would become at the end of days. Evolution itself is moving in reverse, instead of evolving to become a super being, complete and whole getting closer to the Godly divine state, man is regressing towards his own demise in the most gruesome manner of wars and pestilence self manifested through Greed, Hate and Ignorance.
History seems to teach us nothing and we keep on repeating where our forefathers left off in the effort to compete and overcome, exploit and manipulate to the best of our own interest for self benefit. We are capable of every possible means to put others down in order that they become subservient to our needs and comfort and we call it success, we call it survival of the fittest, we call it being in God's favor, hell we even declare ourselves the God chosen people while we commit atrocities. Genocide has become a common word, collateral damages has become the norm as we send drones to do our killings for us and we call it tactical or precision bombings while bragging how technically man has become so well verse in the art of killing. Albeit for democracy or for God, man's propensity to annihilate his foe is ever on the rise so much so that the day to day sights of children maimed and mutilated beyond recognition in Face Book posts has become a common thing like not better than the food and the birthday parties posted along with. Perhaps like all else it is a from of preparation for the human mind, or to dull our senses, to be able to accept the holocaust when it eventually arrives.
Where is God is all of this? Your God, my God, the God of the natives living in the heart of the Amazon forest or the Great Plains, what are they up to? Is God orchestrating this whole event that is being played on the Global scale of time and space in order to close His 'human experiment chapter of Genesis'? WallahuAllam...only He knows. The truth is out there somewhere, man has just got to keep on looking for his sake and for humanity's; if not for his children's and his grand children's future.
   

Nothing -Not a thing.

Where are you at ,at this moment in time Bahari?! How is the experiment coming along. Still with the nothing doing or not wanting anything to do or being nothing practice? or have we had enough? What have you learned so far? Don't you envy those showing off how they are visiting this five star or that resort for their days off and eating this or that steak at this or that fancy place and sharing it all on Face Book?  Life goes on with or without you participating and is it not better to enjoy participating than to deny what is truly yours by going along with the system, the routine the way that is as profitable like what others are getting for their hours punched in the clock and working at whatever that is there to make a living from? Still insisting that you have had enough of what life has to offer? 
The question is, are you happy? Are you contented? Is this what you have in mind to end your life with. If it is then you have come to a little understanding of what being nothing entails and it is not all peachy, is it? You may be able to isolate yourself from getting involved with the world as crummy as it may seems but the world out there is not going to leave you alone. Not so long as you breath the air like everyone else you are bound by the ties that binds you to others especially your children, your kith and kin, your relatives and friend and those you lay eyes on in the street on a daily basis, the bums and the insane, the greedy and the shrewd,
the hypocrites and the shyster. What has God to do with it all as even as you pray you fully well know that your prayers are not worth the water you wash yourself with and even if God does listen to you what do you think He has to offer you that you deserve? 
Welcome to life, welcome to the drudgery and the tribulations that you call life as your mind keeps reacting to every noise and whispers to every hints of  rejection and judgement to every shortcoming that stands in your way. Welcome to life that has so little to offer in terms of complete peace or comfort without string attached to it to exact an equal payment in terms of sorrow and pins, fears and anxieties.
Life was never created out of fairness, it was created simply so the divine can play with Itself and you being the pawn in the game. Your so called free will is just it, free without any will. Your choices in life is not your own but fabricated by those who had conditioned you since you were born and to step out of this game you are tempted to break from the fold at the risk of your soul being forfeited, or so you think. If you were allowed to express your anger and true feelings of where your mind is at, you might end up being one of those suicide bombers for whatever cause  just so it is a cause to die for, or apply for the mental health room and board, but you are too old to think in those lines of actions, you have missed your boat being a Jihadist or a martyr, you are destined, or so it seems to die a lingering death of old age and and destitute. 
So, Bahari, how far or how near are we from D-Day? How far or how near are you from coming to understand who you truly are? Or is this all has been one long wasted life of not - a - thing, nothing being, accomplished? If it is, it seems too bleak for such a high target set by one who was at one time out to discover his true self. Is this giving up? Is it the end of the journey where the conclusion is even at this very moment is being written? Questions and more questions, unanswered questions and it seems so mundane after all these years. Nothing!  

The Devils who helped me along the Way - 2

They may have done the wrong things in life but they were not evil in the sense that they willfully harm others for no apparent reason; they were simply surviving their lifestyles as drug dealers. I just happen to enter into their space and dimensions at the time of my life when i needed help and help was not forthcoming from the good Samaritans for some odd karmic reasons which included in my case being addicted to liquor and drugs. I had no faith in God nor was i disciplined in any form of spiritual practice when i was living in Green Bay, Wisconsin where for three year of my life i was working in the meat packing plants of green bay as well as Milwaukee. In those years i became worse than the cattle that i was boning. I became the animal with a warped human brain that cost me my marriage and family.
 When i first met Junpo Kelly, he took me under his wing as an assistant in the effort to set up his Zen Yoga center in Corte Madeira, Marin County. I learned from him that he had spent three years in the the federal Penitentiary at San Quentin for drug dealing. After that he had gave up the lifestyle and spent a few years in India studying the Iyengar Yoga and traveled to Ceylon or Sri Lanka where he took up Buddhist discipline. One can read more of his life in his link at the Hollow Bone Zen Center where he is presently the Abbot. My relationship with Dennis was short as turned out but we managed to set up the Kanzeon ZenYoga Center which was actually was located at a school building where Dennis had rented two classrooms and together we converted into a Zendo.  Having met Junpo Kelly was both a blessing and a curse for me as it was meant to be if one were on the way to find a Zen Way of Life.
Ron Parisoto was introduced to me by one of my Dharma Brothers at reen Gulch by the name of Jim Abrams a part Cherokee Native American who was on the road toward spiritual awakening just like i was. We became like brothers and through Jim I met the 'Buddha' Ron who resided at Stinson Beach on the way to Bolinas along the coastal Route 1. Ron was also known as one of the original Beach Bums of Stinson Beach and one will always find him and his fellow buddies hanging out playing frisbies or hacky sack along the beach. I was one of the few fortunate clients allowed into the circle of what were remnants of the Hippie era who settled in the area. Ron was a very spiritual person and was more into Hinduism following the teachings of Neem Karoli Baba through the works of Baba Ram Dass. We became very close friends or should i say brothers as I named my daughter's middle name of Estelle after Ron's mother's name. 
Estelle, Ron's mom was a great lady and we used to meet at the Round Table Pizza on San Bruno Avenue when I moved into the City after living out at Green Gulch. This was where we would hang out once a week and catch up on what went by, I was adopted into Ron's family more or less. I learned a great deal from having met such far- out character, full of energy, unassuming yet very deep in his ways. It was a privilege in more than one way as I was always treated with much care and concern as so were my wife and children when they were later added to the gang. The ganja was only a thread that had bind us together as did the beer and the pizza. 
Joshua Bowes was also a drug dealer when I met him and like most dealers i knew of he was always tight like he was walking on thin ice. I liked Josh from day one when i was introduced to me at the Green Gulch Zen Center. I would drop by His place whenever I was in the City as it was located in the Haight Ashbury, a few blocks from the Golden Gate Park. I used to enjoy lunch or dinner at the Chinese restaurant called Hunan on Haight which was located close by to Josh's apartment. The Chinese chef back then was a  close friend. Kung Pau chicken was one of my favorite without the sweet. 
It is not relevant now to go into detail of my relationship with my friend Joshua but needless to say I owed him a great deal as he took me in when i was booted out of the Zen Monastery at Green Gulch not in an unfriendly way but it was time to leave an make space for others in need of solace just like me. Josh also introduced me to Will Harris Jr. who i ended working for and later became the President of H&H Ship Services where i was his right hand man in charge of 'The yard'. If it had not been for Joshua I would have been out on the streets living like a homeless which I was at the point in my life. The strange thing was i was not afraid of not having a roof over my head nor was i afraid of not having a meal at the end of the day, I was pretty much confident that it was all working out as it should. I was till young then and pretty healthy and was ready to take on a Hobo's life it had come to it and continue on trekking the country as I felt the freedom in me to do so.
Having had the privilege of meeting these three gentlemen who in my book by their own achievements alone were special, I felt the predictions made by the lady who ran the curio shop on Page Street had came true. I had been aided by those who walked on the dark side of the law and survived to become great spiritual beings in their own right. They were t me the Bodhisatvas who played the role of Guardian of the Misbegotten or lost souls. 
   

To the Devils who Helped me along the Way

David Silva shared a photo to David Chadwick's Timeline.

October 13 at 11:27pm · 

David: do you know where this photo might have been taken? This is rumored to be Mel's priest ordination.

Old Plum Mountain: The Berkeley Zen Center, Life Inside the Gate 

Sometime in 1983 -84? I landed at San Francisco International Airport having arrived from the Austin Stroebel Airport in Green Bay Wisconsin; it was my 'Hijrah' or change of pace and space inner and outer. I was practically made to leave the cold Wisconsin State by an elderly lady who was also my fellow printmaker at the print studio at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. I was told it was time form to make my change in my lifestyle as i was becoming self destructive as well to others. Rosella Kelly told me to leave for New York where her son was being ordained a Zen Priest and had intended to open his own Monastery after. I agreed with her and the same day went around to look for all the financial support i could find so that i can find my way there to the Daibosatsu Zen Center in the Catskill Mountains.

"On America's Bicentennial, July 4, 1976, International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monastery, opened its doors. Located on 1,400 acres high in the Catskill Mountains Forest Preserve, DBZ continues to offer an ideal setting for authentic Zen practice to lay and ordained Zen students of all religious and cultural backgrounds.

Students from all over the world gather to receive traditional monastic training. Here they are given the opportunity to actualize true realization and understanding through deep, introspective inquiry."

I never made it to New York however, as i later the same evening learned from Rosella that her son, Dennis Kelly was moving to the West Coast in the San Francisco Bay Area to set up his own Monastery.instead of New York. Hence I changed my destination the next day and bought a plane ticket to San Francisco to meet with a man i had never met who has just been ordained a Zen Priest with his new Buddhist name Junpo Kelly. When i landed at the Airport my initial reaction as i was about to step out from the airport entrance was fear. I practically turned back and as i was making my turn I bumped into a bald headed gentleman all dressed up in a priest robes carrying in his hand large stick. We stepped back from each other apologizing and his assistant handed me a brochure saying that i should go to Berkeley where the old Korean Monk  was going to give a talk that evening. Somewhere in one of my sketchbooks of that time I might still have this brochure stuck to one of the pages. What are the chances of such a meeting and i took this as my cue that I was destined to enter the Zen Buddhist faith and the road opened up for me from then on.

I took one of the airport shuttles into San Francisco and later found my way on to the BART train that took me all the way to Berkeley. I walked up and down the main street looking for the Zen Center asking every stranger i met and was finally pointed out the Berkeley Zen Center or the Old Plum Mountain Zen center and that was where i first met Mel Weisman, who was not yet the Abbot then. Off curse i was refused any form of lodging for the night and was told that perhaps i should go to the'City Zen Center in down town SF on Page Street. So i headed back to the BART station and along the way noticed a sign stuck to a window of a laundromat that had the picture of Lord Ganesha on it and below it said that there was a celebration of Deepavali being held at the Golden Gate Park sponsored by the Hare Krishna Movement and there was free food and drinks  provided. My journey continued on to the Park hoping that i will find some help there which I did not. There was no food or free drinks but a whole lot of religious books on Hinduism and an elaborate statue of a Hindu Priest a Swami Prahbu something and western Hindu devotees dancing and all over the place clad in safron baggy pants and half naked with long beads hanging from their necks; Hare krishna! Hare! Hare!

Tired and worn out from walking and lugging a huge back pack on my back and portfolio in my hand filled a whole lot on my prints which I had hoped to be able to sell and earn my keep, I set to find the San Francisco Zen Center located on Page Street. Where is Page Street I asked a stranger passing and he pointed up above my head at the street sign and lo and behold, Page Street It said and still does. I was at the very end of the Street which ends up at Golden Gate Park. There was only one direction to head on to, to find 300, Page Street, the Zen Center and I started walking not carinf how far i had a walk ahead of me, I felt happy inside and free.

I passed by a curio shop that had lots of strange stuff like strange looking incense and all kinds of colored candles. I was curious and took a few minutes to look into the shop and then i noticed a beautiful lady with long black hair smiling at me an she called me in and i was captured. I ended up having my Tarot card read at the cost of $25 which back then I could ill afford as i was in need for my survival on the street in the next few days, but she managed to talk me into it, she told me i need to have my tarot read as it was destined. The thing that i remembered most of the reading was that she told me that the Devil was my ally. I was hocked and somewhat disturbed by this revelation and she felt it. She smiled at me and told me not to fear as sometimes the Devil can be one's biggest ally in times of need. She told me not to assume the Devil as being negative all the time; I left still feeling disturbed by the whole episode. 

Thus began my quest for the Zen teachings which I later spent several years of my life. Although I never did get to listen to the Zen talk that was supposed to have been given by the Korean Zen Master in Berkeley, I did ended up living in the Zen Monastery at green Gulch Zen Center in Sausalito, Marin County, California. No doubt many devils helped me along my journey and three was drug dealers who happened to be the best of my friends and who were among the most spiritual people i had the opportunity to met up with. This included Dennis kelly who was at one time a drug dealer and then there was the 'Buddha Ron' who lived at Stinson Beach and then there was Joshua Bowes who lived on Haight and Ashbury, without whose help i would not have had the time of my life in San Francisco.

Stinson Beach is a census-designated place in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located 2.5 miles east-southeast of Bolinas, at an elevation of 26 feet. Wikipedia

Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight.^[5] The neighborhood is known for its history of, and being the origin of hippie subculture.

Jun Po Denis Kelly began his Buddhist practice at Zen Center San Francisco in the early ’70s, later becoming a student of Eido Shimano Roshi in New York and subsequently a monk. He received his Zen Master recognition in 1992. Interested in bringing his Zen lineage (Rinzai tradition) into American culture without the Japanese cultural bindings, Jun Po left the monastery and founded the lay Buddhist Hollow Bones order, of which he is abbot. A yoga instructor as well, he traces his lineage to BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. He established the Hollow Bones seven-day Zen retreats for the Mankind Project.

Awakening of Intelligence 2

Down with flu the last few days and low energy level in dealing with the daily routine of no routine. Doing nothing and being nothing is not as easy s it may seem and as a matter of fat it seems much easier to be doing something or at least make it looks like i am. So what is the problem here? What is it that is not working or what is suppose to be be working when one decides to take on the idea of doing nothing? Nothing! yes by right nothing, not-a-thing. But here it is everything is happening and all at once or so it seems. How does one describe the perimeters of 'doing nothing' or being nothing'? Perhaps this whole exercise is a futile attempt at nothing and there is no answers to the issues as there is no way of drawing the lines as to when or how one goes about being nothing. Unless someone yells at you, " You are good for nothing!" perhaps that is a good place to start. 
When you have looked deep enough within and come to realize a little of how your mind works in relation to your everyday activities, your relationships and your assumptions of what life is all about, you begin to see that you are living everyone else's life on top of your own and you cannot escape from doing so. This is perhaps the significance of the Bodhisatva vows whereby you swore to awaken with all beings and that you swore to overcome all delusions for the benefit of all mankind. Finding peace and harmony for oneself is not the end but just the beginning of the journey of a 'meditator'. Humanity is in need of a healing power that can eradicate so much of the Universal suffering that is presently infesting the planet that, to find peace and solace, comfort and joy for one's self alone is of no significance or benefit to mankind. When humanity itself has learned to sit and meditate upon its own self healing process then and only then can we find peace for all or make headway at least towards healing this planet that is on the verge of entering another dark age, darker than ever before.
To be able to enter into the sphere of collective consciousness where the collective mind can project simpleminded positive  healing energy to counter the plague that is infesting humanity one needs to be able to be totally absorbed in silence where only consciousness prevails. In this state of being here in the moment absolutely present is like being a reed that is hollow or a conduit that is free to allow any form of energy or current to flow through it without any resistance. No blockage, no veils, no masks, only pure being and for this to happen one has to have mastered a certain amount of ability to sit in silent meditative state. It takes some doing and never too late to begin for anyone can do it given the desire and mindfulness to take it on. Man has to clear his head from all the clutter that he has accumulated through all forms of conditioning since the day he was able to say Mama or Dada. We all go to the grave with our heads full of ideas of who we thought we were yelling and screaming to our last breath that we were framed! Conditioned! Trapped in bondage towards serving all the demigods of Greed, Hate and Ignorance. Only very few made the effort to free themselves from this bondage, the Buddhas and the Prophets, the Saints and the Sages and lately some Scientists, Artists  and philosophers are joining in calling for the awakening of Humanity's Collective Consciousness.

The Four Sublime States - Loving Kindness.

Loving Kindness is in this day and age is a very rare commodity that is if one is fortunate enough to even come by, it is like seeking for a very valuable antique or digging for the greatest find in history. Loving Kindness is something not many care to even understand the significance of its meaning much less put it to practice. In my observation of the day to day activities of those around me i come to realize how far we have become such a self serving self aggrandizing and selfish individuals without even knowing it.
What is Loving Kindness?
The word chosen by the Buddha for this teaching is metta from mitta, a friend (or better "the true friend in need").Metta in the Buddha's teaching finds its place as the first of four kinds of contemplation designed to develop a sound pacific relationship to other living beings. The four are:metta, which will be rendered henceforward by "loving-kindness," karuna, which is "compassion" or "pity," mudita which is "gladness at others' success," and upekkha,which is "onlooking equanimity.
Metta (loving-kindness) is defined as follows: "Loving-kindness has the mode of friendliness for its characteristic. Its natural function is to promote friendliness. It is manifested as the disappearance of ill-will. Its footing is seeing with kindness. When it succeeds it eliminates ill-will. When it fails it degenerates into selfish affectionate desire."
Nanamoli Thera - 1994

It is commonly accepted in the West the fact that 'Money talks and bullshit walks.'One can elucidate all the higher principles of life, quote the ancients and reflect upon the masters teachings but if one is not of financial or fame standing in the community, nothing one share is acknowledge or even recognized and the as such the ancients' teaching is today falling on deaf ears like raindrops upon the lily pads. For that matter, how many people do really read anymore and especially reading such boring dry subjects like Loving Kindness or the Four Noble Truth. Even those who have been over the years striving for an understanding of these ancient teachings are beginning to waver and give up in their pursuit often discouraged and disillusioned. I have been a perhaps is still guilty of this often full of doubts and not having the will to forge forward my intended journey every time i am faced with a trial or tribulation. Perhaps age and my failing health has something to do with it but of late i feel like i am loosing ground in my progress towards better grasp of what the teachings are calling for.
What is it that I am expecting to find beyond what i already have? I am flip flopping from my practice letting my attention and awareness be taken over by external events and those i do really care about like my two children. I even tried to break from my promises to do nothing and accomplish nothing and decided to have a solo exhibition next month and even sent some of my works to be framed but i doubt i can afford it anymore as even the framing is too costly. So i am trapped again into making choices of doing something and accomplishing something with the hope that it will help me financially or help my children for that matter...I am getting myself sucked into the whirlwind of being busy again. I guess that is why they call it being in 'business'.  
What has all these got to do with Loving Kindness? Nothing really. I am just letting out my steam and no one has to read this boring personal crap but such is...even keeping my on going blog alive has become tedious as it is. However such is Loving kindness, to be doing something for the benefit of others even if it touches one heart or reader. Loving kindness is to give despite the fact that there is nothing more to give and giving has become a cliche. Loving kindness is overlooking the despair around you and striving to overcome your dull witted mind from regression and rebound yourself to greater heights so that you will not succumb to defeatism. Yes i may be down, but i am far from out. I may moan and groan over silly nothings this life has to throw at me but it does not mean I have to eat crap  and die.
To be able to bring a smile to a solemn and depressed person is an act of loving kindness. To share one's joy and success with those who have been downtrodden and despaired and elevate their condition is an act of loving kindness. To give a little when it is most needed without any thought or attachment to the giving in other words to give selflessly is an act of loving kindness. To feel empathy towards the suffering of others is an act of loving kindness and just to simply be there for someone when they most need you to be is an act of loving kindness. Your heart contains the universe within and without and there is plenty of room for you to share it with those who need to find solace in. 

The Cause of Pain.

What is Pain? What is physical, emotional or psychological and spiritual pain? Why do we suffer any single one form or another of these pains throughout our lives? Our parents suffer pain from the day we were born and so did we, we came into the world screaming and crying like our mother did; so why the pain? Nothing is more excruciatingly painful than a tooth ache some say while others felt the lose of their only child an unbearable pain. Being left out of the loop can be quite a painful experience for some while for others being spiritual poverty is a major pain. I am suffering from all of the above at one time or another every moment of my existence or so it seems. 
There is no sense anymore of trying to escape from this condition that i am trapped in as from much looking into and experiences i have had the more I try the less i find myself free from this condition. I realize a a certain point in my life that i need to trust in my own self realizations and work on finding my way out of this circle of Birth - Life and Death - Rebirth in my own being.All that I have learned and acquired through knowledge have led me to this moment in time to realize that if i stay my course as i see it I stand the chance of transcending this trap that is of no trap. There is no trap, none to be trapped and none to free from the trap; it is all part of the conditioning of the trap that I see a trap that is not there. When you are making the choice to swallow the Red or Blue Pill as in the matrix your are taking a leap of faith or selling your soul to the devil.  
It is fear that led you to have to make choices, to choose between what is best for your own survival or what is best for others, choices whether to believe in this God or the other One, choices between who to believe the Jews or the Arabs. Fear is the Key to your feeling trapped or is actually living in one. The fear of ending up in hell as opposed to heaven and the fear of the unknown that surrounds you when evening falls. Fear is the Controller and to understand what is fear listen to the talks by J.Krishnamurti on You Tube or a host of other Great minds on the subject. How does fear affect our mind when it comes to making choices?
"Conquer fear and i promise you , you will conquer death!" ..Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela.
Deep down within our hearts and Soul we each and everyone of us feels that there is something more to than just me as I am. There is a higher order and there is a lower that governs our lives our very being, our choice is to make sure that we do not end up suffering even after this life is completed because we have been making the wrong choices. The we have just jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Heaven or hell as in the Jewish - Christian and Islamic religions, the final Pari Nirvana or Complete and perfect Enlightenment of the Buddhas or the dispersal of every unit of cells and molecules that had comprised the human body into the Cosmic Consciousness of the Universe; pick your choice. Only through Right Understanding can we come to a realization for our own self and for that to happen one has to ask the simple question, Who Am I. Not finding the answer to this question is the cause of Pain. As I am, I suffer Pain...when the I is no more pain also vanish.

The Four Sublime States. - Compassion..

‘ Compassion’ is the most frequently occurring word in the Qur’an. Each of its 114 chapters, with the exception of the 9th, begins with the invocation ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful…’ yet a great deal of the escalating violence and terrorism that we are living with today can be attributed to Muslims. How can we come to terms with this obvious contradiction?
The World Community of Christian meditation.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Dalai Lama

Compassion is the ability to provide for a space in your heart for someone else to exist.

David Lueck, a fellow Dharma brother at green Gulch.

The second of the Four Sublime States of Mind is Compassion and not religion, belief or faith in the history of man is compassion not a Cardinal or Golden Rule for mankind. A man does not deserve to be called a Man if he does not hold compassion in his heart for his fellow beings. 
It is out of Compassion that revelations and teachings of great religions comes into being as a part and parcel of humanity's survival kit.
Every single being that walks, crawl swim or fly upon this earth was at one time your mother...The Dalai Lama.
How can we be cruel to or own mother? Why are we killing our Planet? When was the last time you grew a tree? 
" And with a little kindness, you'll overcome the blindness of the narrow minded people and their narrow minded ways..."

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.

Dalai Lama

At the heart of Muslim belief is the principal of tawhid or oneness. This oneness, or unity, has been described as that which dominates the mind in Islam, while the heart is intrinsically linked to the concept of compassion. “My Mercy encompasses all things” (Qur’an 7:156). “My mercy takes precedence over my anger” (hadith qudsi, a saying in which God speaks through the Prophet). Islam sees the sentiments of love and compassion, ‘com passio’ - the ability to feel with the other, as expressions of the interconnected oneness of all human beings, reflecting the oneness and unity of God.

Sheelah Treffle Hidden - London.

When the White settlers almost wiped out the 'Savages' of North America, there was very little Compassion being present at the time in history. Man was ruled by hate and greed. Only through acts of compassion can Karmic consequences be wiped out as only through patience can anger be pacified. I have not learned to become a master at any of these two virtues thus late in my life but i try to keep reminding myself that i am am Meditator, by practice and as such I am duty bound to strengthen my position when upholding compassion and patience.

M

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O Sol Negro - Livro

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