One Hundred Percent

We do not need to wait for the big challenges in life to work on developing our virtue. We can work at increasing virtue in small, everyday ways. We can practice moderation in eating just what we need to be healthy and in sleeping just enough to be rested. We can work on our patience while waiting in line at the post office and on our impartiality when two children are each telling us their version of how the glass was broken.

Gradually, we will become more adept at our practice and as we encounter life's more difficult challenges, we will be better skilled at reacting wisely and calmly.

I realize this sounds very simple and obvious, but unfortunately, even small acts of virtue require much effort on our part to accomplish them perfectly. So while this may sound simplistic and repetitive, the question we need to ask ourselves is "Am I doing this one-hundred percent of my time with one-hundred percent of my effort?"

Moment of Darkness

This is too moving not to share. Please click the post title below...

The Moment of Darkness

I want to spare my daughter this. I want to instill, to whatever extent a father can, the high and driving Spirit, the sanguine craving to restore. Of course it is too late to change everything, and always has been. Everything is too big. But each of us can do something where we are, and there are millions of us.

We could look at the world’s troubles and sink into grief, as we could when a fire sweeps through a forest or a flood wipes away a city. But forests and populations generally come back, sometimes better. We can mourn for the already extinct species, lakes and forests as we mourn our dead, but as long as we remain alive we are greater than grief. Nature will return, and with our help can return in time for our species to appreciate.

And for most of the world, it is not too late. Just a few years ago peak oil and climate change were obscure ideas, and they rapidly spread until they broke into the mainstream. We are trying to return to a simpler life, and so are millions of others – the largest movement ever, happening in every part of the world. I want her to know that we are not trying to turn the tide, for tides are natural. What is happening to the world was done by men, and will be undone. I want her to know, as Tasman McKee did not, that she is not alone...

Snowed under in Australia

I've been receiving emails and phone calls to see if I'm okay. Not to worry, I'm still here! ;-)

I just got buried under some files for my Teacher that need urgent work. While I'm digging out, I invite anyone who would like to write some comments about their practice or maybe how the holidays were this year compared to other years or your thoughts for next year or what is currently on your mind.

I look forward to reading your comments and will back to writing something myself in a few days.

Thank you for your patience!! And I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful holidays.

Only Four Shopping Days Left till Christmas!

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm sounding like amazon.com and looking like your local mall. It's the shopping countdown to Christmas and the pressure is on. It's the time when people are supposed to be happy in their giving to others, but in reality it's a time when the suicide rate spikes, depression sets in, and people spend money they don't have in order to give gifts that won't last.

If you're looking for that perfect gift, you just might get inspired by clicking this image:

For the real gift of happiness, give where it will matter. You don't have to be wealthy. You might give a small gift through Changing the Present, or KIVA, or your local food bank, or an environmental or animal rights organization. Take the time to find the organization that matters to the one your gift is on behalf of. And give happiness to the recipient, the receiving organization, and the benefactors of the organizations.

Only One?

Recently I was told about a woman who chanted "Amituofo" for hours every day. All her friends were impressed with her dedication. Her family was very proud of her, and she felt that she was doing very well in her practice.

Then one day, she suddenly became ill and died. When she opened her eyes in another realm, she expected to see the Western Pure Land. But to her great consternation, she looked around and realized she was in a very different place! Panicking, she began to try to figure out what was happening. Then she saw the king of the underworld approaching her.

Not understanding any of this, she asked "Where am I? What is happening?" The king of the underworld confirmed her worst fears. She was indeed in the hell realms. Not knowing how this could have happened to her, she told him about the thousands of hours she had chanted "Amituofo." She asked why wasn't she in the Pure Land.

To be just, the king told an attendant to bring out a large sieve as well as the bag containing all the chants the woman had done. Feeling more confident the woman felt that now everything would be straightened out. As the attendant began to pour the bag of chants into the sieve, the only sounds were of the chants pouring into the sieve. And then came the sound of them falling through the sieve's holes.

The woman leaned over and peered into the sieve. She saw one lone chant that was large enough to have not fallen through the holes. She looked up at the king questioningly. He returned her gaze and asked, "Do you remember the day you were under a tree when a terrible thunderstorm suddenly blew over? You were terrified and curled up next to the tree trunk. Suddenly a large flash of lightning lit the sky all around you and at the same instant there was a tremendous crash of thunder right above you. You called out in fear "Amituofo!"

"That is the one lone chant that was large enough to have not fallen through the holes in the sieve. That was your one chant of true concentration and sincerity."