This Very Moment

This is now.  Not then, not to come.  What we have done affects our present but does not dictate who we are in this moment.  This moment may affect the next or it may not, who can tell what it holds.  We cannot control the past of others which we might have affected or been affected by, but we can try to heal and relieve suffering through what we do now.
70 times 7 equals 490 but ironically it is a number not intended to be taken literally unless someone has developed a pharisaical nature which analyzes every nook and inconsequential cranny of what it means to be righteous.  Forgiveness is very much a now principle I think.  Forgiveness is about letting go ultimately.
Letting go of the irritation at friends who sleep while you weather your darkest hour.  Letting go of leading and demanding well deserved worship.  Letting go of vindictiveness but instead excersizing compassion.  Letting go of controlling the lives of those who you know are about to betray you.  Letting go of the hatred for the soldiers lifting you up on the cross.  Forgiving the debtor and feeling our own release thereby..
To love without price.  How do we show love without price?  This is probably one of life's greatest challenges.  When others pluck the strings of our out of tune soul, shove us out of balance, commit untold tortures up on us wittingly or not.  To love with equanimity.  Not always an easy step,  perhaps like a graceful ballerina we often appreciate the beauty of the finished product and forget the toil and constant training it took to arrive there.  Love with equanimity is such a practice.  Far more beautiful than roses yet destroyed just as easily and slower to grow.
I need to live Now.  Love now.  Love the people surrounding me in the now.  The past does not define who they are now.  The past must not poison the present.  The past is old news, I must let it go to understand the present with equanimity.  To love with equanimity,   and stop shooting myself in the foot.

Hmmm, Buddha and Fowler Stage 6?

So I spent the weekend with kind of a double dose of things I don't necessarily agree with and for the most part, I let it roll over and pass around me.  I will not criticize here or voice my disagreements.  I am an observer, a guest.  I try to view things with what the Buddhist's call equanimity.  To understand both sides.  To me this is to understand that all of this,  belief systems, thoughts, people, are all a natural part of the universe.  There is nothing that is not natural or separate from the Universe.  We are all pieces.  Your piece and my piece are not necessarily better than the other,  the Universe certainly doesn't respect either more than the other as the ultimate end is the same.  This kind of reminds me of Fowler's stage six of stages of faith.

There is one thing I disagree with this chart on.  It makes it look like a progression and that one stage is better than the other.  I don't necessarily think this is true.  Individuals find their needs met by different systems.  Mine happens to be the basic non-supernatural tenets of Buddhism right now (Secular Buddhism).  Could it eventually change?  Well nothing is permanent.  At this moment it is what makes the most sense to me and fulfills my needs.  Which of course, ultimately, are not needs.  How's that for an obscure Zen paradox?

So this community stuff the chart talks about seems a lot like the wider definition of a Sangha or the concept of oneness.  It makes a lot of sense to me.  We become more focused on the whole as opposed to a piece of it.  To some there is a belief that peace is something you are that is given to you  through devotion.  This is fine.  For others peace is something you cultivate, and ultimately, when you are able to accept things, experiences, fate, other people with their idiosyncrasies and beliefs, the natural bi-product is peace to some extent.  Anyway, just some musings today.  Do good, be kind, help where you can, build your community everywhere you go.

Oneness Canoe

Believe it or not this thought occured to me during meditation last night. Having been involved in teaching boy scouts aquatic skills in the past, I am familiar with the problem of two people in a canoe switching places. This usually turns into comedic gold as both plunge into the water in an awkward dance of chaotic flailing. Little known though is that there is a proper way to switch positions in a canoe which avoids this. 

If there is a way to switch positions in a canoe without taking a spill why don't more people do it? Well, the issue lies in people having a tendency to solve problems such as this in a fashion that maintains equality, as two may pass at the same time. Two people pass each other side by side. It happens throughout each day of our lives, one person and another without any sort of thought, naturally avoid crashing into one another or falling down. Each alters their path completely independent of the other to avoid the pain of trying to occupy a space which is mutually exclusive. Life doesn't work that way in a canoe unfortunately. 

Everything about operating a canoe in tandem fashion ties the two operators together. No movement one does is not felt by the other. This often leads to contention, of course. One either learns quickly to work in harmony with their partner or they do not move from the place they are in. So, we start to come to the meat of the matter. This harmony is not accomplished from the the two ego's co-existing. There is no side to side switching of positions. It is only when one lets go of the idea of pride and the concept of self that success is accomplished. The two must function as 1 in cooperation. There is no side by side in the process, only the submission of the one to allow the two to succeed. One must lay down and let the other pass over. The process of laying down creates stability as the center of gravity is lowered. This means that the larger of the two gives the most benefit from submitting to the common good by taking the low role. The strong submits to the weak and both benefit. On the Mormon/Christian side of this it probably most closely approaches selflessness, on the Buddhist side this is oneness. Neither side really sacrifices all for the other but both benefit from the ability to work as one. In fact, even for the canoe to exist much interaction occured to produce it and the materials to build it. Of course there really isn't anyway to not be a part of the great whole. 

We are all part of nature, the planet, the universe and can't change that. What we believe, what we do, what we say, is part of this great whole. These affect us, and all that contacts us. To fight it doesn't really change the nature of it but it does change our own piece of it in a way. To accept and work with it rather than fight it allows a smoother flow and inreased harmony. Ironically, this decreases our personal suffering as well as those around us, so perhaps selflessness is not a complete fit, but neither is selfishness. I guess it is just oneness.

Secret Commonality

General Conference weekend has passed.  Mormons meet bi-annually to hear the words of church leaders.  These talks will become the subjects of sacrament meetings until the next conference.  I won't share my opinions on that, suffice it to say I liked the old system better where the members shared their individual gospel knowledge with each other through preparing their own talks from scratch instead of rehashing what had already been said.  Ah well,  I suppose I am an old fuddy duddy.
That's not the point though.  Things are what they are and things move forward.  If you are reading this blog ,  you know I write about my perspective on the whole thing through my understanding of Buddhist philosophy.  From earlier posts you know my attitude towards missionary work , although I am softening.   It really doesn't affect me after all, and it may be of real benefit to some even if it isn't to others.  The other common subjects of course are obedience, scripture reading, priesthood power and  tithing of course.
I won't go into it all.  You can read the talks on lds.org if you so desire.  As a Mormon who sees things through a Buddhist philosophy I would like to take my subject from a talk Dieter Uchtdorf gave in the priesthood session.
It should not be hidden that I do espouse most of the things Jesus taught.  One of my favorite teachings is the concept of doing good things in secret and not for the purpose of showing off.   The concept of self righteousness is very converselly related and the saduccees and pharisees  took this to a new level, at least as it is recorded in the New Testament.  Inner conversion I think is another area Buddhism and Christianity have some crossover in.  Buddhism is by nature very internal  This doctrine President Uchtdorf addressed  is also very internally centered.  We have right mindedness, right understanding, right thoughts, right meditation, and right intention in the eight fold path.  It would seem half of it is centered on the internal development of a person.  Christianity would say that this is also important for it's believers.
If all this is not to put in harmony the inner self, what is the point really?   Whether you are a believer in God or not,  there really is no point if our belief system does not in some way help us be a better, peaceful person ultimately.  Any belief that does not replenish the believer in some fashion will eventually consume them and then what good are they to their fellow man, or God for that matter?  It's kind of like the good parasite bad parasite thing.  A bad parasite kills it's host and destroys it's own home.  A good one allows the host to continue supplying it with life giving nutrients.  In fact,  we humans actually depend on the bacteria in our intestines to function efficiently and benefit from this relationship even though we are completely unaware of it most of the time.  So too is the mark of a successful belief system for all involved.  Inner peace is important and not necessarily a selfish goal.
How can one who does not have inner peace show another what it is like?  It seems to me it is one of those things that requires example.  So I take this away from conference,  don't be afraid of not being acknowledged by other people,  you don't need that validation.  Truthfully, constantly seeking validation from others is a very unhealthy thing as you will always be pulled this way and that and never quite arriving at a firm footing.  It's actually one of the more damaging things people with OCD struggle with.  Jesus taught about this and President Uchtdorf reminded us of it.  We should not be hollywood prop sets with grand looking fronts and nothing behind them.  This helps no one.  We are all pieces of a vast humanity, and the universe if you take it that far, working to make things a little tidier in our portion of it and by working on the inside we create more strength and harmony on the greater whole we are all connected to.