InvestIdeas

Committing to the Path

The Buddha pointed out that the seeds of liberative understanding and clarity, of kindness and compassion, lie within each of us.

And the path to their fruition lies in our commitment.

—Christina Feldman, “Doing, Being, and the Great In-Between”

Moving Out of Loneliness

If we can experience being lonely and see our thoughts about being lonely, then we can move out of the gap.

Practice is that movement, over and over again.

—Charlotte Joko Beck, “Attention Means Attention”

Discerning What Is True

When all is said and done, mindfulness is really about wisdom, about discerning what is really, really, really, true from what is mere appearance, or what you’re attached to because you want it to be true.

—Jon Kabat-Zinn in conversation with Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, “The Untold Story of America’s Mindfulness Movement”

Do not hunger for comfort or riches; hunger for bliss.

- Baba

Life’s Caring Energy

A sacred embodied presence may be available to us if only we are open to it.

This can happen in the meditation hall, in moments of crisis, on the sidewalk of our hometown, anywhere at all.

The energy of compassionate caring exists in our world and can be present to us.

—Sandy Boucher, “Meeting the Friend She Always Knew”

What change should happen in us through worship during any holy festivals?

The festival is observed by contemplating on the Divine and cleansing one's self of all impurities, to experience the Divinity within.

The weapons to be worshipped are the divine powers within. When the Divine is worshipped in this way, one is bound to progress spiritually.

On the contrary, the usual practice now is to treat the Divine and the devotee as separate from each other. This is wrong.

The Divine is omnipresent and is in everyone and in every object. Realising this oneness, all actions should be done as an act of dedication to the Divine.

Imagine the bliss that can be experienced in such a state of mind! It is essential to celebrate the festival in this sacred spirit.

It is not enough to do this for only ten days during the festival. It should become the rule all through one's life, till the time one draws one's life-breath.

- Divine Discourse, Oct 14, 1994.

The body derives its value from the spirit within. Hence it should be regarded as a sacred temple.

Source: radiosai.org

Street cleaner in China gets surprise first photo shoot
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLa2lpKhhQ

Cultivating Skillful Effort

Cultivating skillful effort, we learn to distinguish the “right” amount of effort.

Not too little. Not too much.

Just right. In tune.

When we find the right pitch, our practice flourishes.

—Peter Doobinin, “Skillful Effort”

What are the real offerings we should make during sacred festivals?

During sacred festivals, there could be form of worship called "dedicating various limbs and organs to the Divine".

In the performance of this, there is a form of self-deception.

When a devotee says, "I offer my eyes to the Divine" and offers only a flower, one is indulging in deception.

The proper thing would be to say that one is offering a flower.

Mantras like this are intended to indicate that one is using one’s eyes only to see the Divine.

The real significance of the Mantra is that you think of the Divine in whatever you see or do.

Therefore, true worship is to declare that you offer all your limbs in the service of the Divine. This means that whatever work, you do should be done as an offering to the Divine.

Sacred festival should be used as an occasion to examine one's own nature whether it is human, animal or demonic, and strive to transform animal nature to human, and finally divinise human nature.

- Divine Discourse, Oct 06, 1992.

Wisdom cannot be acquired from outside. It has to be got through inward Spiritual Practices.

Source: radiosai.org

Already Enlightened

This ignorant, deluded self, just as it is, is no other than the enlightened self.

If you can appreciate that, then this practice is a simple matter.

—Gerry Shishin Wick, “Zen in the Workplace”