Rational Nation USA

“As long as space abides and as long as the world abides, so long may I abide, destroying the sufferings of the world.” “If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.” “What need is there to say more? The childish work for their own benefit, The Buddhas work for the benefit of others. Just look at the difference between them.” “May I be a light for those in need of light. May I be a bed for those in need of rest. May I be a servant for those in need of service, for all embodied beings.” “May those whose hell it is to hate and hurt be turned into lovers bringing flowers.” “Just as I defend myself, therefore, From all unpleasant happenings however small, Likewise, I shall act for others' sake To guard and to protect them with compassion.” “Take advantage of this human boat; Free yourself from sorrow's mighty stream! This vessel will be later hard to find. The time that you have now, you fool, is not for sleep!” “It is natura...

 

  Traveling along life's winding path, attachments we accumulate. Items of comfort and pleasure we long for, serve only to increase our torment. Fear of losing what we've strove to acquire, we grasp ever more franticly for permanence. As impermanence is the state of all that is, perpetual grasping brings perpetual suffering. Sitting in meditation, as wisdom grows and clarity arises, liberation from attachments and suffering is realized. LEC   

  Looking into the mind one sees open spaciousness and luminosity's glow , as it baths the infinite  expanses of the cosmos. Aware of the tender compassion that naturally fills the beating heart, love flows forth, as it helps relieve the suffering of all sentient beings in samsara. Realizing that form is emptiness, and emptiness is form, one awakens to enlightened wisdom, understanding, and bliss all three. Sitting on the cushion, deep in meditation's relaxed state, the truth of non-duality arises and manifests in consciousness. Resting in the awareness of one's own Buddha nature, equanimity, serenity, and boundless love and compassion flow. LEC

  Bathed in the warmth of the morning sun I awoke, joyful for the birth of a new day. The blessings awaiting me I could not guess,  but the excitement was great just the same. As the flow of my day rolled along, my heart soared, ever higher, bringing boundless joy and wonderment. Resting in each moment, neither rushing nor resisting, great equanimity and awareness arose. Sitting on my cushion with legs crossed and eyes closed, the understanding of form and emptiness manifested. Seeing beyond the self into the true nature of heart/mind, interconnectedness and interbeing rang true. LEC  

  When such people with stable minds—without being boastful about the mere number of months or years they have spent practicing in retreat—see this entrance and undertake the practice, they will definitely achieve the supreme state of Buddha Vajradhara in this very lifetime. Of this there is no doubt. —  The Vajra Essence , Düdjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection, Vol. 3 Rest in your true nature without effort or distraction — Mingyur Rinpoche teaches the renowned practice of Dzogchen. Lion's Roar -  You are already perfect. You are already a buddha. In fact, there’s no difference between your   true nature , right now as you sit reading this, and the true nature of the buddha, or any enlightened being for that matter. That’s the view of  Dzogchen , a Tibetan word that means “Great Perfection.” Dzogchen is treasured above all other practices in the Nyingma school of Vajrayana Buddhism because it helps us connect directly with our own enlightened nature...

  Today I noticed a lonely little cloud in an otherwise cloudless sky In that little cloud I beheld a field of clover. Today I noticed a lonely little cloud in an otherwise cloudless sky In that cloud I beheld a grove of poplar trees. Today I noticed a lonely little cloud in an otherwise cloudless sky In that cloud I beheld a flock of mourning Doves. Today I noticed a lonely little cloud in an otherwise cloudless sky In that cloud was a vison of the "self", dissolving. Into open spacious emptiness and luminosity.

  Posting will be paused from January 21st through January 27th as I will be on retreat. Have a blessed week .

  Universal basic income (UBI), as a universal and unconditional periodic cash payment directly to individuals, has recently become a topic of interest among politicians, scholars, and religious leaders. It aims to serve as a neatly designed policy tool to address widening income disparities. Even though further studies are required, some  existing evidence  supports that UBI-style programs alleviate poverty, improve health and education outcomes, and do not hinder labor market participation. These programs have drawn more interest and debate during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they are temporarily accepted to serve as band-aid and short-term responses to the unprecedented economic dislocation. The pandemic may push the circumstances to extremes: Even some self-righteous defenders of the free market are willing to concede that if rescue packages are required to bail out failing corporations, many others may need help too! When people are restricted from working to protect pu...

  THE BUDDHIST CORE VALUES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR PROTECTION CHALLENGES: FAITH AND PROTECTION  I. THE BACKGROUND OF BUDDHISM Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into a number of different traditions. However, most traditions share a common set of fundamental beliefs.  One central belief of Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation -- the concept that people are reborn after dying. In fact, most individuals go through many cycles of birth, living, death and rebirth. A practicing Buddhist differentiates between the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation.  In reincarnation, the individual may recur repeatedly. In rebirth, a person does not necessarily return to Earth as the same entity ever again. He compares it to a leaf growing on a tree. When the withering leaf falls off, a new leaf will eventually replace it. It is similar to the old leaf, but it is not identical to the original leaf.  Buddhism is a philosophy of life expounded...

  Following is a list of the10 greatest threats to sentient beings life on this beautiful and marvelous home of ours. Planet Earth. Following the list is a link to the full article. Enjoy. Or perhaps, become more aware. Really aware so as to take action personally on those things we (all) can have a positive and healing impact on. 10. Nuclear War 9. Biological Warfare 8. Global Pandemic 7. Climate Change 6. Loss Of Biodiversity 5. Artificial Intelligence 4. Nanotechnology 3. Super Volcanoes 2. Asteroid 1. The Unknown Note: The top three may be completely beyond our control. Four through ten are certainly within our ability to influence and perhaps eventually control if one through three doesn't happen anytime soon. Therefore, it just seems like time to get REALLY serious about taking actions to impove our situation and ultimately to reverse the trends human started at the dawn of the industrial age. Link to article. 8. Global P

  What Is Emptiness? Emptiness (in Sanskrit,  shunyata ) is a foundational doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism. It is also possibly the most misunderstood doctrine in all of Buddhism. Too often, people assume it means that nothing exists. But this is not the case. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama said, "The  existence  of things and events is not in dispute; it is the  manner in which  they exist that must be clarified." Put another way, things and events have no  intrinsic  existence and no individual identity except in our thoughts. The  Dalai Lama  also teaches that "existence can only be understood in terms of dependent origination."  Dependent origination  is a teaching that no being or thing exists independently of other beings or things. In the  Four Noble Truths , the Buddha taught that our distresses ultimately spring from thinking ourselves to be independently existing beings with an intrinsic "self." Thoroughly percei...

  All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death. Knowing this, one should, from the very first, renounce acquisitions and storing-up, and building, and meeting; and, faithful to the commands of an eminent Guru, set about realizing the Truth. That alone is the best of religious observances. Milarepa In harvesting of evil deeds, the human race is busy; and doing so is to taste the pangs of Hell . . . The piling up of wealth is the piling up of others' property; what one thus storeth formeth but provisions for one's enemies... I wash off human scandal by devotion true; and by my zeal, I satisfy the Deities. By compassion, I subdue the demons; all blame I scatter to the wind, and upward turn my face. Milarepa

  The link below takes you to Lotsawa House where lots of great information is available at the click f a mouse.  I've found the site useful and hope you will too. Translations of Tibetan Buddhist Texts

 

  We break from our regular posting content to highlight the rampant spread of Covid 19 among the American people. Those who blindly accept the blatanly obvious lies of the Republican party are the one most responsible for our national crises of confidence.  Trump (along with his sycophants) merely understood what was bothering the American people and and then proceeded to manipulate the narative so as to skew reality with lies to serve Trump's own narcisistic self interests. What follows was found at Progressive Eruptions and clearly reminds us of the  egregiously  sick body that is the Republican Party power base. I A well-known conservative activist in Arlington, Texas, who peddled COVID-19 vaccine misinformation has died of complications caused by the virus—just a few weeks after attending a “symposium” against the shots. The Arlington Republican Party confirmed the passing of Kelly Canon on Facebook. Could all of the above be part of America's increasing diffi...

  The Zen of Not Knowing “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few.” By  Zenkei Blanche Hartman JAN 06, 2022 Beginner’s mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind that is innocent of  preconceptions and expectations, judgments and prejudices. Beginner’s mind is just present to explore and observe and see “things as they are.” I think of beginner’s mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement. “I wonder what this is? I wonder what that is? I wonder what this means?” Without approaching things with a fixed point of view or a prior judgment, just asking “What is it?” I was having lunch with Indigo, a small child, at City Center [a Soto Zen practice center in San Francisco]. He saw an object on the table and got very interested in it. He picked it up and started fooling with it: looking at it, putting it in his mouth, and banging on the table with it—just engaging with it without...

Although most westerners have heard of karma, there's still a lot of confusion about what it means. For example, many seem to think that karma is only about being rewarded or punished in the next life. And it may be understood that way in other Asian spiritual traditions, but that's not exactly how it is understood in Buddhism.  To be sure, you can find Buddhist teachers who will tell you that karma (or  kamma  in Pali) is all about good or bad rebirth. But if you dig deeper, a different picture emerges. Karma The Sanskrit word  karma  means "volitional act" or "deed." The law of karma is a law of cause and effect or an understanding that every deed produces fruit. In Buddhism, karma is  not  a cosmic criminal justice system. There is no intelligence behind it that is rewarding or punishing. It's more like a natural law.  Karma is created by the  intentional  acts of body, speech, and mind. Only acts pure of  greed, hate and delusio...