Rational Nation USA

  When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna

  "Buddhanature is the inn ate primordial freedom of the mind, which is naturally imbued with wisdom, compassion, power, and bliss."         Karl Brunnholzl "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."    Steven Covey

   "Buddhanature is the innate primordial freedom of the mind, which is naturally imbued with wisdom, compassion, power, and bliss."         Karl Brunnholzl 

  SOURCE

 

 

The six foundations of the Natural State are: In the natural state the meditator is connecting with something beyond the realm of the mind. Zen master Bankei called it the Unborn Mind because it is never born or created; it's eternally present. Effortless meditation is resting within a perfection and wholeness that is already present, it is not created through meditation practice it is discovered.  1) No Grasping Non-grasping means you cannot grasp or comprehend the natural state of meditation with concepts.  Any attempt to grasp the natural state with your thinking mind will not only fail it will become a big obstacle to resting in the natural state. When your mind says “I’ve got it” it hasn’t. What it boils down to is best described in the first line of Tao Te Ching “ the Tao that can be named, is not the real Tao ” .  2) Stillness Stillness is a great  pointing out instruction  and one of the few direct methods. The only thing to do in the natural state of m...

Open Awareness (OA) is an expansive perception that promotes a resourceful state and the following qualities: Introspection – metacognitive awareness in which we can mindfully observe mental activities, emotions and somatic  experience. Outrospection – heightened awareness of others and the ways that we relate to them, which cultivates empathy and  compassion. Envirospection – broad awareness of the space around us which connects us to everything in the environment and the  cosmos. SOURCE

Have you ever watched your mind? I mean really watched your mind???  If you have you no doubt found it a very active place. A non stop procession of  random unrelated thoughts, ideas, and stories run through your mind like a rolling river during heavy rains. No wonder life can seem so confusing. Right? The mind never ever stops. But a lot of  folks probably don't pay a lot of attention to the mind. I suppose that's because the mind simply runs on auto pilot accumulating experiences and building stories based on ones life experiences. And when one considers all of the societal conditioning we all experience in life and add that to all the stories we tell ourselves (to support what we want to believe of course) it's reasonable to think perhaps reality is not what we've always believed it to be. When one sits down to meditate (with right intentions) they do so to calm the mind while focusing on the breath and the present moment. After all the present moment is the ...

It is believed that the whole universe, in its most fundamental form, is made up of vibrating, pulsating energy. Vibration produces sound and AUM is considered the  humming sound  of this cosmic energy. AUM is said to be the primordial creative sound from which the entire universe has manifested. Without using any jugglery of heavy and fancy spiritual words, I would straightaway like to answer  in simple words – 1. OM is a word while AUM is the sound of this very word OM i.e. Om is an auspicious word which should be pronounced as AUM (AAAUUUMMM )while chanting. AUM in itself is just the sound ,not any word. Further,theoretically speaking  , English Alphabet ‘O’ is spelled as a symmetrical combination (diphthong) of A & U in sanskrit and hence AUM. To feel the   play of vibrations, chant AAAUUUMMM. 2.Regarding mystics about AUM, when you pronounce AAAUUUMMM continuously ,you can very well feel the upward surge of energy as explained in one of my earl...

  Pema Chödrön teaches us “sending and taking,” an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion. With each in-breath, we take in others’ pain. With each out-breath, we send them relief. Tonglen practice, also known as “taking and sending,” reverses our usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In tonglen practice, we visualize taking in the pain of others with every in-breath and sending out whatever will benefit them on the out-breath. In the process, we become liberated from age- old patterns of selfishness. We begin to feel love for both ourselves and others; we begin to take care of ourselves and others. Tonglen awakens our compassion and introduces us to a far bigger view of reality. It introduces us to the unlimited spaciousness of shunyata (emptiness). By doing the practice, we begin to connect with the open dimension of our being. Tonglen can be done for those who are ill, those who are dying or have died, or those who are in pain of any kind. It can be...

To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem. To meditate means to observe. Your smile proves it. It proves that you are being gentle with yourself, that the sun of awareness is shining in you, that you have control of your situation. You are yourself, and you have acquired some peace. – Thich Nhat Hahn

Paul Condon draws on traditional Buddhism and Western psychology to show how the act of taking refuge is available to us in every moment, wherever we are. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I love you.” My grandma Corriene died in January 2018 after suffering from dementia for years. My last visit with her was an awkward, failed attempt to interact. But as I said goodbye, something shifted, and there was an effortless, joyful, simple connection as she said those words: “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I love you.” We resonated for a moment longer, maybe not even for thirty seconds. In my mind, I can still picture her presence and how I felt as she beamed at me with love and curiosity while I put on my winter coat and hat. Years later, I realized that this simple moment of care could be the basis for meditative practice. To take up the Buddhist path begins with taking refuge in the Buddha, the dharma, and the accomplished sangha—other people and beings who embody qualities o...