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Archive for November, 2008

Career Monk – Career Buddhist

November 29th, 2008
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Marcelo and I got an email from someone I will, for confidentiality reasons, call “John” – John asked about a career as a Buddhist and I answered the following, which in all fairness, opened up a lot of thoughts in my head about “how to integrate Buddhism in a career” and “how could we develop a careers as a Buddhist”?

Comments MORE than welcome.

Here we go:

Dear John,

Thank you for your email and the kind words.

I am not really sure how I best reply to your email as there is so much to say. [...]

Marcelo comes from a “monk background” whilst I come more from the “non monk” background, so to speak. However, we both are devoted to Buddhism, and as you might read, in different ways.

You are asking for career opportunities in Buddhism. I am sitting here, smiling with happiness, because it sounds like you are aiming to apply for a job as a Buddhist. That is a great thought that stimulates my thinking in 2 ways:

- can we create a path for Buddhism where we can offer that as a career choice outside the monkhood? If so, how could we set up a path like that.
- Buddhism should never be a career as it is a devoted path to happiness

The latter I think is true but can be supportive of the first. What am I trying to say?

In my next life I would not be surprised to become a monk. I had those thoughts many times before but in this life I am a devoted husband, father to be and love my commercial (sales) job. However, I can integrate Buddhist principles in my daily life that will enhance my career. And, therefore, become a career Buddhist. I like that thought.

[...]

Love and Kindness,
Volker

Buddhism, career in buddhism

Another week – weekend thoughts?

November 29th, 2008
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Marcelo,

It is so good to hear from you. So let me start to wrap up my week?

Better not. I worked a lot. However, there is still some work to be done. As you say, nothing is ever finished.

Why am I saying that? Because I want to give you a feeling for why I don’t have or don’t take the time to meditate at the moment. I don’t go to the gym and focus solely on the current actions – work. The latter is very busy and demanding at the moment but also very rewarding. I truely love my job and would not want to change a bit at the moment.

So I shall almost say, there is no distraction because I only focus on one thing? Would that make sense? Or there is only one distraction and that is daily life and work.

However, thoughts are of course with my baby, hopefully to be born early June. Having the scan this week makes me think how wonderful life is and how much it will change once it is there. It gives me energy to focus on things like work to get things right now, so I have less to worry later on. We shall see.

But, I believe you Marcelo, that the baby will teach me a lot about patience and spirituality. About life, wonders in life and everything related to it. It is such an amazing process, such an amazing thing to think about. One day I cannot wait to hold the little “parcel” in my arms, the next day I am wondering how I will cope.

It will be like with anything else in life – patience, learning and a lot of work. But we are getting there in the end! Just like life itself.
Have a peaceful weekend.
Volker


patience; children

patience

November 28th, 2008
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Good morning Volker and family and all others!

You know, me and Volker, we just have exchanged some words on msn and we have got a little fun about the sex of his baby, and it was enough to make laugh and have a good start for my day.

Well, being a father or parents is a wonderful opportunity to practice patience and uncontaminated LOVE, so, I have found this words from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, wroten on the book “Transform your Life”. Actually your life Volker is going to be transformed by love and care by themselves.

“…Patience is a mind motivated by a virtuos intention that happily accepts difficulties and harm from others. A person with no patience has no stability of mind and is upset by the slightest obstacle or criticism. In contrast, when we develop real patience, our mind will be as stable as a mountain and as calm as the depths of an ocean. With such a calm, strong mind it will not be difficult to perfect the spiritual realizations fo universal love, great compassion, and bodhichitta.

By thinking skilfully in these ways, we can regard even those who harm or deceive us as our Spiritual Teachers. This is a very important point because it means that everyone can be our Teacher. Whether someone is our Spiritual Teacher or an obstacle to our spiritual progress depends entirely upon our mind. In many ways, those who harm us are the kindest of all because they shatter our complacent view that sees samsara as a pleasure garden, and, like a powerful Spiritual Guide, they inspire us to engage more strongly in spiritual practice. By thinking in this way, we can transform the harm we receive into the spiritual path and, instead of being discouraged, we can learn to cherish even those who harm us. It is specially important to have this attitude towards our close friends and family. Since we spend so much time with them, it would be very beneficial if we were to regard them as pure Spiritual Teachers!”

Volker, your baby will be your great Spiritual Teacher, as everyone else also is. All your obstacles, lack of time, distractions and problems are your real Spiritual Teacher, because if you can apply a positive and virtuos mind whenever you face them, you will be learning and developing your Buddha seeds in yourself.

Practicing contentment we can easy become happier and from that happiness we can help all Living Beings.

Have a lovely weekend

L&K

Marcelo



Spiritual Teacher, patience

Balance

November 27th, 2008
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My Dearest Volker and Jen – you are going to have a child!!! How wonderful your lifes will become.

Congratulations for both of you! I am very happy of your conquerer. You have found the balance between your energies and opened the gates to let the mind of your positive seed Karma to enter in Jen’s body, passing through the inner channels and all chakras.

That’s a very important time for both of you, your collective Karma is flourishing and giving some fruits.

About your last post, I can say YES you are right we always, every single moment, we get involved and distracted by everyday things, duties and toughts. You are distracted in essence.

And sure, we use all excuses to not do what we want to do, sometimes we use excuses to not work, to not get up, to not exercise, to not read, to not relax, to not meditate and so forth.But can you imagine a Yogui or a Highest Buddha, they can do everything by their minds, they can do everything at the same time, they do not need to finish one task to start another, actualy for them, remember, there is no beggining and no ending. Is it not incredible?

You are so concentrate on the true nature of all phenomena that nothing can distracte us. Without understanding the true nature of all phenomena you will remain forever in the distracted world. Lossing our life, time, wishes, dreams, desires, aspirations by our self-grasping.

From Shantideva book “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s way of Life, we can have this instructions:

“…It is suffering and its causes that need to be abandoned,
And it is the ignorance of self-grasping that causes delusions and sufferings to increase.
“But there is no way to abandon self-grasping so that it will never recur.”
On the contrary, meditation on selflessness, or empitness, is the supreme method for accomplishing this.

Neither the feet nor the calves are the body,
Nor are the thighs or the loins.
Neither the front nor the back of the abdomen is the body,
Nor are the chest or the shouolders.

Neither the sides nor the hands are the body,
Nor are the arms or the armpits.
None of the inner organs is the body,
Nor is the head or the neck.
So where is the body to be found?

If you say that the body is distributed
Among all its different parts,
Although we can say that the parts exist in the parts,
Where does a separate possessor of these parts abide?

And if you say that the entire body exists
Within each part, such as the hand,
It follows that there are as many bodies
As there are different parts!”

Buddha says, there is no body neither its parts, we are not an unit nor a colection of them. The day we start to understand empitness and put its knowledge into practice, we will be permanent happy and there will not be any distraction, because there is no parts to get involved with and also there will be not unit to be stocked in.

You will never get me wrong. Do not worry, if I cannot understand whatever you are telling me it is because my selg-grasping ignorance and my karma, not because you are not being clear enough.

Love & Kindness

Marcelo

Buddha, emptiness

Love and Happiness

November 22nd, 2008
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Marcelo,

Is that not what I am speaking about – the distraction of every day life to fulfil the purpose you want to fulfil.

Hmm, not sure if that sentence makes sense. Let me try again.

You are so distracted with things that are going on in your life that you are not writing this blog. I am very distracted with things that are going on in my life too, see my other blog for the latest, happiest news!

Yes, I am going to become a daddy next year, and I cannot tell you how happy that make me!!! You are a parent yourself, so you know what it means and how full of joy I am!

But coming back to the blog and life. Are we too distracted to focus? Are we using excused to not do things?

This is general, not related to you or me not posting. But are we getting caught up in the excuses for not posting, not meditating, not pursuing our spiritual development because there are so many other things we put first.

I admit: I DO. I don’t think you do as you are so much more advanced and ahead of the game than I am. You are still finding the inner peace and the happiness from withing. I am happy too, don’t get me wrong.

However, looking at the world I am thinking that we put work, career, money and all of our possessions in a much higher priority than any of our other objectives like spiritual and personal development. We do not put the emphasis on this as much as we should do and let other things like TV, pubs, socialising take over life.

I am not saying we should not be able to relax, watch TV and socialise. But we should not forget – and I admit, I am forgetting sometimes that there is more to life, there is something beyond, there is love and happiness within us. And, I know and I see and feel it.

And, I will develop it. Because I do and because I can.

Have a lovely weekend, Marcelo. As always, good to hear from you.

Love

Volker

PS: I found this lovely picture on this site, thanks for that. Buddha is my god though.

love and happiness, love and kindness, personal development, spiritual development

Maitreya Empowerment

November 19th, 2008
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Next year Geshe Kelsang Gyatso will be given to us a Maitreya Empowerment at Manjushri Centre in Ulverston, UK. You cannot miss it!

L&K

Marcelo



Buddhism

patience

November 19th, 2008
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Dear Volker, sorry I have been quite quiet to you, to us and to myself.
Yes, I have been working this month very hard. Full of tasks to do and 3 subjects are distracting me: my elder brother’s sickness, a job decision that I have to take and a process to change my daughter’s guard as she wants to move in and live with me.
Besides that being a Professor at the Uni it has been a demanding duty.
For many times I sat down here to write some words, but it did not happen because I had got involved with other matters.
I did like the flags I just think they should not touch any surface and they should blown in the wind all the time, to clean up your space, your inner space and external. They are so protectful.
The Buddhas are all happy, sometimes they are not laughing because inside them they are crying about all Living Beings sufferings and also to protect us from the evil spirits.
L&K

Marcelo

Buddhism

Laughing Buddha

November 16th, 2008
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Marcelo,

I know you have been extremely busy, so have I. But, I don’t want to forget about you, Buddha or our blog. So, my weekly post and reminder.

Have I been practising? Patience I have been practising and I am also stressed. Should have taken advise to meditate to de-stress but did not. My apologies. So will keep it in mind for next week to meditate at least 3 times.

I had a conversation with my wife yesterday about the laughing Buddha. She asked, why is he laughing? I said because he is happy :-)

This morning I did some reasearch and found some facts.

The laughing Buddha is a Chinese Buddha known as the friendly and loving one, part of the Shinto culture. He has become a deity of contentment and abundance. The sack he is carrying is full of rice plants (indicating wealth), candy for children, food, or the woes of the world. He is patron of the weak, poor and children. According to legend, if one rubs the Laughing Buddha’s great belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

What a nice story behind it, isn’t it?

And, here is a video to it too – have a blessed Sunday.



Buddha, Buddhism, Shinto, inspiration, laughing Buddha, love and kindness

Another week?

November 8th, 2008
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Marcelo,

How are you keeping?

I was down with a cold this week and had a pretty busy week. Not a lot of spiritual development. You never said if you liked the flags?

I am home all weekend and hope to find some rest, recover and make some development.

Let me hear how you are getting along.

All my love
Volker

Buddhism

Prayer Flags

November 1st, 2008
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Hello Marcelo,

Prayer flags, as you know, are there to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom.

  • Blue (symbolizing sky/space)
  • White (symbolizing air/wind)
  • Red (symbolizing fire)
  • Green (symbolizing water)
  • Yellow (symbolizing earth)

I thought it would be nice to share that in our little garden. Whilst everyone here is in a Halloween fever, I thought it might be nice to put some prayer flags up.

Wonder what the neighbours think :-)

Have a lovely and peaceful weekend.

Love & Kindness

Volker



Buddhism, buddhist realms, offerings, prayer flag