Buddhism: Words

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What are words really? Words describe experiences.  An old Buddhist teaching compares words to a finger that points to the moon.  The finger is not the moon, but it indicates the moon.  The finger leads to what it is describing, just as words describe the actual experiences.

Words are just labels.  Words are cluttered with our own belief systems.  When we hear a word we have so many preconceptions, ideas, feelings, prejudices, or memories that go along with it.  For example, a big issue currently is the fear of Islam.  If you hear someone is Islamic you instantly think of terrorism and you remember 9/11, and, although it may be involuntary, many are struck with a sense of alarm.  But what is an "Islamic" person, really? They're just a  person, just like every other.  Islamic is just a label we put on them, and yet, it causes so much distress.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness is all about being here in the present.  It’s about appreciating things while they’re in front of you.  Mindfulness can be achieved through meditation.  So recently I decided to give this old Buddhist practice a go and try my hand at meditation.  I kind of had a rough start, not knowing how to clear my mind.  Eventually, I went on the Internet and found this meditation guide written by Joseph Emet.  It went like this:

TAKE YOUR TIME Take your time breathing in, breathing out, Look deeply as you say "This is me", You and your breath, you and the wind, As humming bird and flower, have always been together.Take gentle steps, feel the ground curl your toes, Is there a line between you and this path? You and your step, you and this earth, As butterfly and blossom, have never been apart.

At first I thought it was a little silly, but I decided to give it a try anyway.  It was a nice day, so I stepped out into my back yard walked around a bit, and read this paragraph to myself.  It took me a while but in time I sat down, and was able to settle my mind to some extent.  I tried to only pay attention to the things that were happening at the present moment.  I thought about the feel of the gras, the slight breeze and the warm temperature of the air.  I noticed the humming of my pool sweep as it cleaned.  I tried to forget about the previous things that had happened that day, and to stay in the current moment.  When I felt I got distracted, I tired to focus on my breathing.

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I really worked hard at trying to star focus and I think at some points I achieved the desired states, because I would have an itch or something but realize that prior to that itch I had no idea what I was thinking about, and perhaps I wasn’t thinking about anything at all.  Perhaps I had briefly been able to empty my mind.  

At the end of the experience I felt tranquil.  I think that this is something that I should work to do more often. It’s a lot less stressful if you just live in the present and fretting so much about the past and future.

Buddhism Origins

Siddhartha Gautama, who lived form 560—4 80BC, founded Buddhism. Siddhartha was a wealthy prince, had a beautiful wife, and two sons. He lived a good life to say the least. But material satisfaction was not enough and at the age of 29 he saw four visions. The first three were of suffering: death, old age, and sickness. The finial vision showed happiness and it was of monk. These visions left him dissatisfied with his current life so he gave up his life as a prince. This part in his life is often referred to as the Great Going fourth. It’s the triumph of the spiritual over the worldly life. Siddhartha Gautama sat under a tree until he became enlightened. Then he spent the rest of his life wandering and preaching.

I find the origins of Buddhism very interesting. In some ways I can relate Siddhartha Gautama and Buddhism to my own beliefs of Jesus and Christianity, in the sense that both of them had a lowly life style and wandered around preaching their word. But what is interesting about Siddhartha is that he gave up his life, his perfect life. To me, that’s a little disconcerting. I mean, he had everything that I’m working toward right now: wealth, a nice spouse, and a good family. He had all these desirable things, and he gave them up, and now a whole religion is based onhis life. A whole religion is based on giving up everything that I’m working towards. It just makes me wonder if I’m on the right path with my life. If I achieve my goals, will I be happy? Will I be content with my worldly life? Or will I seek more?

Hinduism: We are All On

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A mind-boggling idea was presented to me today. The Hindu belief that we are all one. We are just one thing, but to make things interesting, we’re pretending that we are different things. Well we started off pretending, but we eventually forgot we were pretending and now we think that we are different, but in actuality we are all the same thing. We are all just one thing. And everything we know is not real. It’s just a “game” we made up to keep ourselves entertained. I didn’t really get it until I watched these two videos, and it’s still a little nebulous to me. Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB0NsAukay4) and part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53XRnWpybqc)

I really like this idea though. I’d never really thought about it before. I always thought things are exactly as they’d seemed. I think that this big idea really broadened my mind. I’m not saying that I believe, but it’s definitely something to think about, to mull over in my mind. When it comes right down to it, it’s no more unrealistic than anything else. Personally, I think that it’s really stimulating to think that we are just one thing. That’s part of the reason I’m intrigued by other religions. I like hearing other ideas. I never would have even considered this possibility had I not been introduced to Hinduism.

Hinduism Overview

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world today.  It was started in 1800 B.C. and has about 900 million followers, mostly in India and other eastern countries.  No one person can be credited with starting Hinduism.

Hinduism can be divided into 6 different parts: Braman, Atman, Maya, Moksha, Karma, and Reincarnation.  Brahmnan is the idea that all people are bart of a common essence; that we are all one.  Atman is the God inside of you. I think of it like the soul.  Maya is the what causes trouble.  Its an illusion or incorrect way of seeing.  Moksha is enlightenment, what Hindu's strive to achieve.  Karma is basically the law of cause and effect.  You get out what you put in.  Reincarnation is the idea that after you die, your sould lives on and you are reborn again.  It is directly related to karma, because you reincarnation is based on the karma you accumulated in your previous lives.

Hinduism: Reincarnation

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One aspect of hindu religion is the belief in reincarnation.  The basic idea is centered on the "wheel of rebirth."  This is the idea that the atman, or individual soul, is destined to be reunited with it's source,  moksha, which can be described as the hindu form of heaven.  But to you are fit to enter the realm of moksha you must be first be reincarnated from one life time to another.  It is believed that most of the personality is not carried from one life time to another, and in most cases you cannot remember past lives.  However, some people are convinced they know who they were in a past life.

In this first video (seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWwzFwUOxA), a young boy named James seems to be a reincarnation of a fighter pilot from WWII. His strong interest in airplanes and mysterious knowledge of war proves to be strong evidence of reincarnation. Another seemingly convincing case of reincarnation (seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruh9H7NjybQ), a woman, Sherrie Lea, a singer from Canada, has the strong conviction that she is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe, and others are convinced too.  The psychiatrist she was seeing to help her get over her supposed delusion of being the reincarnated Monroe, was so convinced that he wrote a book.  Though I can't help but notice Lea is now dying her hair blonde and has had a significant increase in publicity since this whole reincarnation of marlin Monroe thing took off.  I can't help but think that there might be some ulterior motives behind this alleged reincarnation.

All Religions

Credit: iStockphoto/Dawn Poland

What is religion? Well, according to the Oxford American Dictionary, religion is
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power.  So by definition, all have religions have at least one thing in common: A belief in a higher power. Typically, the goal of of religion is to experience this higher power.  But what religion will lead you to experience this higher power?  Some believe that all religions will present you with that opportunity, and that each religion is just a different pathway to the experience.


A recently conducted study at University of Missouri neuropsychologist suggests that all people, regardless of their religion, have the same neuropsychological function during a spiritual experience.  Is this evidence that all religions will allow a person to experience the transcendence that everyone seems to be searching for?  Some would disagree, believing that there is only one true way to God, and that any religion besides their own, is incorrect.  Brick Johnstone, a professor of health psychology in the MU School of Health Professions, believes he has proven them wrong, when he states, "It is important to note that individuals experience their God or higher power in many different ways, but that all people from all religions and beliefs appear to experience these connections in a similar."

Photo by Tom Brady

Well, Brick Jonstone, I agree with you.  And I think that it's important to keep an open mind as we delve deeper into the many religions of the world.

--Perplexed Polly