Looking Beyond the Veil of Illusion

In many eastern schools of thought, the world is nothing more than illusion. Ignorance is

believing the illusion and to stop ignorance you have to look beyond. How do you look beyond the veil of illusion? Do we even want to look beyond the veil of illusion?

Everyone individual was born unique. We all have a unique perspective that are different from anyone else. We share opinions in common but you see the world, uniquely, through your eyes. We make choices based on our perspective many a times. But our perspective is innately flawed because we are the only one who sees that way. So what should a person base their views on? If you can't count on your preception what can you count on?

In Buddhism, it is compassion that leads to enlightenment, and helps you overcome that ignorance. Everything is rooted in compassion. If you view everyone, yourself, your friends, your enemies and strangers with nuetrality with equal compassion then you take a step towards overcoming ignorance. Why should you love your enemies? Because your enemies are ignorant and should be pitied for doing harmful actions and accumulating bad karma. With the idea of reincarnation, you never know how your enemy could pop up in your next life. (mother, brother, sister) Good or bad actions accumulate karma. Accumulated karma is what gives you a favorable or unfavorable birth in your next life. It is through love and compassion, in stopping the suffering of others, that you truly break through the veil if ignorance. (Altruism)

So why are we born as we are, unique individuals with these unique perspectives? According to Buddhism again, we are born into a life of what karma we accumulated in the last. Past-life karma creates your position. We are continually reborn until we can transcend karma and try to attain Buddahood. Buddahood from my perspective is not becoming a God, which some would disagree, but is the highest goal of attainment for a human being. Buddha represents the highest transcendence of a human being.

We seem to spend a lot of time in life on ourselves and ego. We are naturally egocentric but has that ever brought you happiness? The more we focus on self, the tighter we wrap ourselves in the blanket of ignorance. We must transcend that ignorance if we wish to be happy.

Dialog between Buddha and Jesus in Heaven

The girl state prostrate on the ground, crying. She felt helpless and started to cry out in prayer.

"Whoever up there who can hear me, I cannot live anymore. This world is cruel and unjust and people are the same. What can I do?"

In Heaven two were listening to her, Jesus and Buddha. Both were ready to speak and started at the same time. They turned to each other in annoyance.

Buddha started.

"She is in pain, because of her Karma. She has built up fruition and will be reborn as a hell being, animal or ghost if she does not counteract it. Her thoughts are about endlessly bad things."

Jesus retorted.

"She is in pain, because she sees and feels the evil in this world created by Satan. She must learn about God's love and his plan of salvation for this world and herself. How many times do I have to tell you there is no such thing as rebirths. You are born to serve God and then you die and come to my father's kingdom."

Buddha didn't lose a beat.

"What you call Heaven, is what I call Nirvana. I have ceased being reborn and now have peace and enlightenment. You were good in your life, sinless, that is why there was no need for your rebirth. You could not understand the workings of Karma."

Jesus shook his head.

"You are in Heaven, the kingdom my father created. God, the father of all, created the Heavens and the earth. You were born because he created you. You died and came to Heaven because of your good life and your self-sacrifice for others. You mistake this idea of enlightenment, this reward Nirvana, for Heaven. God is the Alpha and Omega and I am the Son of God."

The Buddha looked thoughtfully and spoke.

"If you believe in the Brahman, the force of all creation, we are all equally apart of creation. We are made to live a life of love and compassion and to live virtuously. With a wish for the cessation of suffering and its origins, one must train in the path of morality, concentrated meditation, and wisdom, and with a highly directed mind focused on selflessness.

Jesus shook his head again.

"What you call Brahman, is a mistaken term for God. God created the world, which became corrupt as Satan tempted the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Through their sin the world degraded into greater and greater sinfulness and self. People became more comptemptible to the creator and therefore he sent me. I was a pure sacrifice to the world. It is my bloodsheed that made it possible for humanity to come back and be forgiven. It is only through me that one can approach God."

The Buddha shook his head.

"You are telling me that one man is responsible for everyone having a relationship with this God. That all else is wrong and that everyone else is damned to oblivion?"

Jesus looked thoughtfully and spoke.

"Yes, there is no other way to the Father except through me"

The Buddha started getting red in the face.

"Then if this is heaven and I must accept this, why am I here?

Jesus paused then and spoke.

"God wanted the amusement.

Spiritiual Awaking...Sleeping in Reality

There is nothing more upsetting when you have that "Ah, Ha" moment, figuring out some great mystery only to have someone say something that leaves you stunned, feeling like you know nothing.
At 4am this morning, reading the Dalai Lama's, "How to See Yourself", I thought I came to a brilliant realization. I facebooked my favorite spiritual healer the revelation "you have to become selfless, eliminating the inherit value given to things and yourself. Only through selflessness you can become free and become apart of the cosmic energy." (Pretty coherent for someone who doen't get up usually until ten)
Later I checked my facebook and she replied "...there are so many ways and thoughts to be more connected...stay with whatever thought feels really good in your being...that's the "right one". I read and re-read that at least twenty times, "a thought that feels really good?" I was stupified. The truth is my mind has more thoughts going through it than trains in Grand Central Station. But then I started to think when was the last time I had a thought that felt really good?
Life is so fast paced, we go to our own uneven beated drummer, walking and thinking usually negativity. We want to achieve, succeed and conquer the world. We are never happy, prone to negative thoughts because they propel us forward to seemingly striving more and greater achievements. Our inner drill instructor seems to get us farther than our inner cheerleader. Why do we follow that uneven beat, because like dancing to music, your dance or life journey is going to lead you to stumble and fall. (not a dancer, here.)
When is the last time you stopped and reflected on a thought that made you feel real good and clung to it for even five minutes? The Dalai Lama says "Love and compassion open our inner life, reducing stress, distrust and lonileness" (8) Love and compassion sounds like a better cure than any anti-depressant, but why is it so hard to find one "feel-good" thought to cling to? Why do we focus on the negative rather than the positive? It is because of attachments but how do we detach?
We are deaf to the universal music of life. We are all trying to move to our own rhythm, in self interest, instead of the universal flow. We can only hear the universal rhythm when we become selfless and therefore find happiness. As to one thought that feels "really good" I will have to get back to you on that. To be continued....

"I am an infant on a spiritual journey...
By old age, maybe I'll have a sliver of insight"

Seeking Spiritual Guidance: A spiritual reflection

I am sitting blogging in my little mini gym at home. Sweat is dripping down my face from various exercises yet my mind is going a mile a minute. My thoughts are a muddle of the present, my future and how to reconcile the two together.

I worked out more and harder hoping for sanctuary. But there was a question that I cannot eliminate and out run, "What is my purpose in this life?" It seems like a normal enough question, which I took for granted asking most of my life, but now I sit here facing middle age. I sit here introspectively day after day asking it with repetition and no clarity. I chose a path of caring for my elderly grandfather so he did not have to go into a nursing home. Most people that I tell that too commend my noble act, but deep down I knew that I was going to be challenged and struggle internally. I knew that I felt resentment before this journey even started.

I raged against my thoughts, trying not to feel that naw of resentment that was growing like a ball of raging fire in my stomach. I resented the situation, not my grandfather. The extra added guilt of feeling resentment only made things worse and I soon became an insomniac. Exercise was my only refuge, but that thought could not be suppressed. I knew deep inside that I had something to offer this world.

We all struggle to find our paths and our spiritual direction. I had searched in a million different ways and everytime I was faced with a wise spiritual leader I would ask the same question, "what is my purpose?" It seemed to be the only question that if answered would quell that raging fire. I received answers from "I don't know', "I wish I could tell you, you must find it on your own" to "we have no purpose we just exist". With answers like those, it is good that I wasn't a depressed character ready to jump off a bridge because that could tip the scales.

The reflective character actively reads and reflects but as one grows older the question never ceases, "what is my purpose?"I want to start exploring this question in hopes of not just catharsis for my soul, but the soul of others. I want my journey to be your journey and for you to share freely with me your thoughts and ideas. Let us come together as one...