Rational Nation USA

  "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

  The following is from Thich Nhat Hanh 's book, PEACE IS EVERY STEP . A book with profound insight it has the power to facilitate transformational change. One person, one family, one community, one nation at a time. Truth, understanding, compassion, love, and mindfulness lead the way to a happier and more joyful life. As you read this, imagine you are holding the book, or the sheet of paper. All the best to all. If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So, we can say the cloud and the paper inter-are. "Interbeing" is a word that that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix "inter-" with the verb "to be," we have a new verb, inter-be. If we look into t...

To understand how to practice mindfulness in daily life, says Gaylon Ferguson, we have to look at all eight steps of the Buddha’s noble eightfold pat  I n his first teaching at Deer Park, the Buddha praised mindfulness: “The Noble Eightfold Path is nourished by living mindfully.” From the beginning, the path of awakening includes all aspects of our human lives: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social. The aim is a mindful life. This means that our relationship to our sexuality and our consumerist economic system, our parenting, and our politics are all part of the path. This approach to living fully is outlined in the eightfold path. “Right mindfulness” is one aspect of this path, alongside right view, right intention, right effort, right meditative engagement, right speech, right livelihood, and right action. The Sanskrit word  samyak —often translated as “right” or “perfect”—can also mean “complete.” Engaging mindfulness encourages complete engagement with life. L...