Buddhism and Management – Balamadana

Hello Marcelo,

I hope you had a peaceful time around Christmas. I had a lovely time with my pregnant wife, my mother in law and our 2 kittens. It was full of food to be honest. We spend more time preparing and eating food than anything else. It was great. Did you spend a nice time with your family also?

However, Christmas is over, so is the quiet time. I am back to work on Tuesday for 2 days and then full on from 5th of January. It seems weird, I managed to really calm down and unwind for almost a week. I didn’t even realise that a whole week has passed.

Marcelo, a new year starts so soon. There are so many things I want to accomplish. So many things I want to do. How will I be able to fit it all into my life?

So, I was thinking how do we accomplish all of our dreams and all of our ideas for next year or any year? How much can we plan and think ahead?

Would my best bet for 2009 be to “take each day at a time”? To start “not to plan ahead” and actually work on my development on a day-by-day basis?

Let’s look at spiritual development: if I plan to attend classes, meditate 5 minutes a day and 30 minutes each weekend – how would that make me feel if I cannot accomplish it?

Let’s look at workouts/sports: if I plan to do 30 minute gym workout each day and 90 minutes at the weekend – how would it make me feel if I cannot do it or don’t do it?

These are 2 examples. However, I think if we were more content and work more on a day by day basis, would we not be happier if we actually go to the gym or meditate. Then we are more positive about improving our performance and do things more often, as it makes us feel better achieving little steps rather than just “ticking the box to achieve goals” – would that make sense?

Marcelo, lets see what happens in 2009 but I aim to make it one of the best ones ever. But, that could mean anything.

Love and kindness.
Volker

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Christmas, circle of life, way of life

27 years ago, today, my Dad passed away, I was very young 15 years old only. The biggest problem was not his forever absences or no phisical presences, because he remains in my heart all time, every day and every single moment – smiling, crying and talking to me.

The problem was to see my family ruins day by day, my mum’s suffering, my brothers and sisters getting lost without knowing what to do to help my mum and each other. It was a hard time but we all survived and it was not so harder as so many other poor people problems. But from our mind full of attachment, self-grasping ignorance and lack of wisdom, it is not easy to understand his death. We have broken down, our hearts, minds, souls were became a wreck.

From the ashes I learnt and discovered myself, even if sometimes it is very difficult to keep this on my mind. And I believe my family did the same – in their ways.

Amazing was 18 years ago my niece was given birth at this same day. Victoria is her name. She is beautiful and lovely, a very special girl. Her heart is full of love and compassion and I am so proud of her existence.

Geshe-la says in his Book Transform your life:

“Although we have developed superior great compassion – the spontaneous wish to take the sufferings of all sentient beings upon ourself – we understand that, despite our strong desire to protect all sentient beings, we do not have the power to do so at present. Just as one drowning person cannot save another, no matter how fervently he or she may wish to do so, likewise it is only when we have freed ourselves from suffering and mental limitations that we are able to free others. If we ask ourself who has the actual power to protect all sentient beings, we shall realize that it is only a Buddha. Only a Buddha is free from all faults ans limitations, and has both the omniscient wisdom and the skill to help each and every sentient being in accordance with his or her individual needs and dispositions. Only a Buddha has reached the shore of enlightenment and is in a position to release all mother beings from the cruel ocean of samsara. If we consider this deeply, bodhichitta will arise naturally in our mind. We contemplate:

I want to protect all living beings from suffering, but in my present, limited state I have no power to do this. Because it is only Buddha who has such power, I must become a Buddha as quickly as possible.

We meditate on this determination again and again until it arises spontaneously.

Since then, I have tried to help my family in many ways, but I cannot do it, I am not able to do it, so I decide to dedicate all my efforts in this life to their benefit and request to Buddha to keep helping them, providing to them all what they need. Not all what they wish for, because their wishes are contaminated by deluded mind – the cause of their sufferings -, but I really request that they could have what they need to, in this life or in the next one, to become free from their samsaras and their sufferings.

L&K

Marcelo

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bodhichitta, great compassion, life and death

Marcelo

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love and happiness, love and kindness

Marcelo,

I apologise for being so elusive the last couple of weeks. Life has been busy.

But what should I say, with the economic downturn and all, we have a great life at the moment and we are very happy and grateful about it. We pray it long may continue.

Marcelo, I have to admit that I had little time lately to sit down, think about life and my spiritual development. It sounds quite stupid to say “it is on my todo list” but that is where it is. I haven’t really had much time to sit down and meditate or think about things.

You know, we all have the same amount of time. I consider myself being quite organised too. That would actually mean I should have enough time – so really: it is the same old excuse. Sorry.

Maybe in the new year I can build it into my routine of things and make more progress. Maybe I can join the Buddhist Centre in Goldners Green or the sessions in Covent Garden again. It surely would not harm and gave me some routine. I don’t believe it will be over a year since I have visited any courses or anything. What a quick year.

Probably Christmas is celebrated differently with you. How do you celebrate Christmas? What are you going to do.

I will sit quiet with the family, the 2 cats and enjoy my peace for a few days.

Love and Kindness to you!
Volker

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Buddhism, Christmas

…Marcelo,

Thank you for your post. I am better now, almost a weeks since I have been ill. But, there was not much time to stop, relax, think and get better. That is what people are missing out on these days.

I believe that illness slows us down and makes us reflect on the real meaning of life. That it is not all about money, career, and prestige but about love, happiness and self fulfilment.

Someone was asking me the other day that he has given so much for a friendship and not seen any return. He seemed really frustrated. I suggested that sometimes in friendships you are always on the giving end and that the friendship would not be sustained unless you get something back. However, the invested time, love and care in a friendship will come back one day, as the whole system works. Your karma will make it worthwhile.

That was difficult to understand for him but it made sense to me.

When you are ill you have to give: you need to give your body/yourself enough time to sort things out and you will get it back eventually. If not from this body, then a body in the future…

Marcelo, would that make sense at all?

Volker

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Buddhism, giving, karma

Dear Volker, I hope you can get better sooner.

Good question, why have we always looked inside us when we are sick, having problems or difficulties in life?

Budha gives us some reasons for that.

The main one is because we are afraid of any suffering, we cannot accept any slightly pain. Our attachment to our own things makes us to feel bad about leaving, passing away and let behind our ordinary pleasureable life, our friends, family, work, money, achievements and our afraid of not having time to enjoy all this achievements that we have gathered together but not did it and at the time we´ve got sick we got scared of dying before enjoying all our belongs, money and gains.

Our attachment to our own body and life and mind cannot afford any difficulty, any suffering, sorrow or pain. Immediately it can disturb our mind and request some more care for them. Becoming even more attached to them. In this way the consciousness of our own body, mind and life became stronger and then causes us even more pain and suffering – like a circle, without end… if you tide up yourself even more tightened you will feel even more pain and attachment, nut you cannot let things go, because we want to be attached to something. It is an endless circle of suffering.

Some people has mental pains not just body ones, but those one which are constantly causing them a lot of sorrow, with no peace, their mind, their delusion cause them troubles and unhappiness all the time.

When we have got sicknesses (mental ou body ones) we start to feel more about the real meaning of life, we feel uncomfortable about our pains and more conscious about how distracted or how we waste our time and life in meaningless things.

We just start to look for something more meanigful for our lifes, only when we have realized the drift of being Human Beings. We are all together, love, compassion, kindness, friend, sufferings, pains, sorrows, everything and nothing else, we are one and we are also infinite, we do not start on the bounders of our body or mind, we come and go beyond that, beyond our understanding.

Do you want to find more about yourself, Go and do some meditations, reading and learning more about Buddhism and the greatest Compassion of Buddha.

L&K

Marcelo

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causes of sufferings, sickness, spiritual development

Marcelo,

I have been off work with flu/cold symptoms. And, whilst still working from home but coming to a close the end of the week, I was wondering about sickness and spirituality.

Why are so many people looking for spiritual help when being sick?

Are they looking for comfort? Relief? Or is it guilt because they have an illness that is self inflicted.

I remember about 15 years ago, I was about to go to sleep when I heard someone in the corridor saying “I would like to kill Volker…” – that person was drunk and out of their mind, but I was scared. Although I was not interested in any god at the time, I did what came natural to me, I prayed.

Now, I am not feeling close to dying at all but wonder, does this believe in something greater than us give us hope and relief? Are we trying to look for comfort when we are not well?

How does Buddhism treat that? We are looking into the inside of ourselves and try to find energy inside us to help us getting better. Is that not a wiser approach?

Marcelo, I am curious about your thoughts on that one!

Love and Kindness
Volker

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Buddha, Buddhism, sickness