Announcements 8/25/08

1. For those of you who are enjoying the taooftheday.com podcasts, I have a special new audiobook offer. The website and podcast are currently at around chapter fifty. For those of you who are impatient to finish, you’ll like this:

“The Tao- Remastered” This is a three CD set featuring the entire Tao Te Ching, read by me. This is the same translation we are currently working through on the site, but all the audio has been completely re-recorded in far higher quality than the original podcast recordings.

You get two audio CDs that will play in a regular CD player with all 81 chapters ready to go. There is also a third CD with all the files in MP3 format ready to load into your iPod or other audio player. The third CD also has the entire text of the Tao in PDF eBook format, ready to read online or print out.

The Tao Remastered:
http://www.taooftheday.com/tao-remastered

2. My latest audio show, Arcane Tales, is now online and active. This one is primarily a podcast or audio show devoted to classic tales of horror, science-fiction, and fantasy, read by‚Ķ me of course! At some point in the future, I’ll even be slipping in some of my own fiction stories. The website is at http://www.arcanetales.com or you can subscribe to the audio feed directly at http://feeds.feedburner.com/ArcaneTales As usual with a new podcast, it’s not available on iTunes just yet, but will be soon. I’ll be sure to mention it again when it becomes available that way. There’s also a sign-up form for announcements and notifications that you can join if you are interested.

3. If you enjoy the show or the newsletters, please donate something. I’m not getting paid anything for the work I do here, and sites do cost money. Everything and anything you send in will help cover the costs of improving the site. There are donation buttons right on the website, so it’s easy to find and donate. And yes, there ARE reasons I’m bringing this up more often than I have in the past.

4. Although I will still be answering emails, I am going to be taking next week off from all my newsletters. I have several special projects that will be taking most of the week. Stay tuned!

Namaste!
“I bow to the Divine in You”

This is a common greeting in India, Nepal and Tibet, and is a traditional greeting in many other places a well. Generally it is said with both hands placed together in front of the chest, palms together accompanied by a slight bow. For even deeper respect, the same is done, but with the hands in front of the forehead.

The placing together of hands is what is usually called a mudra, a symbolic placement of the hands that has special traditional meaning. We’ll talk more about these another time, but in this case, one hand represents your divine spiritual nature, while the other hand symbolizes the worldly self. By combining the two, you can see the two halves of the person, as well as the representation that there is a link between you and the other person; we are all connected. But more on that idea tomorrow.

No-Self

Who are you? Who am I?

Are you the same person you were five minutes ago? Five seconds ago? Who will you be tomorrow?

Would you believe me if I told you there is no you at all? This is the Buddhist idea of anatman, or no-self.
Buddha himself said, “form is not the soul, sensations are not the soul, perceptions are not the soul, assemblages are not the soul, consciousness is not the soul. Seeing thusly, this is the end of birth, the Brahman life has been fulfilled, what must be done has been done.”

This has been built upon over the ages to to mean in modern times that our attachment to ourselves, physically, spiritually, and so forth is one major cause of conflict and suffering. If one can only realize that there is actually no self at all, these problems can be overcome. All ideas of “self” are based on ignorance of the true nature of the universe.
This idea is also a big part of dependent origination, which we will cover tomorrow.

This is one of the most complex and difficult of all subjects in Buddhism. If you’d like to discuss the topic, leave your comment below.

Dependent Origination

Remember that everything is impermanent and subject to eventual change. What seems to exist today will be dust in a few years, and was probably something else in the past. For example, look at the table or desk in front of you. What is it? You should probably answer, ‚ÄúIt’s a table.‚Äù

But what is that table? It’s wood, metal, glue, paint, and so on. The molecules of wood are complex, but include a large amount of space; if you take the amount of space inside those molecules as an indicator, the table in front of you is mostly nothing.

The wood from that table used to be one or more trees. Those trees were part of a forest. The forest was made by sunshine, rain, dead animals remains and droppings. What about the carpenter who made the table? His life, dreams, work, education, and his entire history went into his being at the right place at the right time to build that table. What went into making the carpenter? His ancestors, all the food he ever ate, his education, emotions, karma and life history. What about all the people that influenced the carpenter? When it comes right down to it, that table is the entire universe.

You are that table, and that table is you. There is no individual self, we all depend on everything else in order to be created and survive.

“I am you and your are me and we are all together” — The Beatles

And yes, that’s probably the only Beatles quotation you’ll ever see me use.

So You Want To Be a Buddhist?

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A Reader recently wrote:
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I have recently begun listening to your pod-cast, after starting to bring enlightenment to my life, but wanted to ask a question, that has been troubling me for a while.

I only really came across these teachings after I began learning meditation from a local Buddhist monk, as a way of combating frequent migraines. The more I learned about the meditation, the more I picked up on the Buddhism aspect and this has brought me to learn about the whole thing and bring some positive order to my life. However I have never lived like a saint, and have lived a life that frequently went against everything that I am now learning and wish to follow (although nothing illegal). I don’t want to wash away what I have done in my past, as they are all actions that at the time I chose to participate in, and I believe that my past actions define who I am.

I accept that starting to learn and follow the Buddhist path will help to reverse the negative karma that I have accrued, but is there a way to properly draw a line under things (much in the same way a Christian is Christened?), and begin on a healthier path?

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And my response:
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I’m guessing you are looking for the Buddhist equivalent of “Being Saved” or even something like a Baptism from Christianity. There really isn’t anything like that. If you want to become a monk and actually live in a monastery, there are many vows and rituals to take, but I am assuming that’s not what you want. You’re a regular lay-person and looking for a way to “start over” as a Buddhist.

I found an answer to this question at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080520062700AA5dngY there are also several good responses to the answer there. Basically, their answer is:

How does one formally convert to Buddhism?

The historical Buddha referred to his teachings as a “system of training,” not as a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle. As a result, the concept of “conversion” doesn’t really exist in Buddhism.

Buddhism is a practice tradition, not a faith tradition. Buddhist practice, or training, cultivates the qualities of compassion, wisdom, generosity, and creativity.

This means that Buddhists don’t have to adopt any doctrine, creed, or belief system. Even the concepts of refuge and precepts are completely dependent on each person’s interest and experience.

All that’s required is practice. If there’s a Buddhist center near your home, you can visit and get instruction from them. If there’s no center, nearby, there are many books that can teach you how to practice.

Basically, my advice is to sit down and meditate for a while, and try to act in a mindfully Buddhist manner from now on. That’s all there is to it. If you want to BE a Buddhist, then just start “acting” like one. Once the ‚Äúact‚Äù becomes a normal way of doing things, you’ll be there. That’s all there is to it!

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A Reader recently wrote:

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What are Buddhist weddings like?

I’ve been raised in a Christian home, so I’ve been taught the traditional wedding..white dress, reception, exchanging of vows, etc.

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And my response:

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There is no special “Buddhist Wedding Ceremony” from ancient times; usually it depends on the country and culture that the couple is from. VERY generally speaking, usually only family or very close friends are invited and the ceremonies are predictably very simple. There are usually vows of some sort, and the ceremony is presided over by a priest.

Beyond this very basic and sketchy outline, it’s all different depending on the ‚Äúdenomination‚Äù of Buddhism and the nationality of the people and families involved.

I have posted a few wedding photos from various groups:

Dealing With The Family

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A Reader recently wrote:
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I’ve been a Buddhist for the last 3 years or so after a mentor introduced me to meditation and I started getting more insight on my life. Since then my life has improved about 400% (in ways that I cannot explain) and making it my practice has been a great journey. I have every intention in continuing my practice for the rest of my life and will do so.

I’ve come from a family background that is primarily Catholic. Since I am young and in college I’ve only discussed my decision to be a Buddhist with people who fully support and trust my decisions – mainly my mother and good friends. The rest of my family however isn’t accepting to anything that isn’t based in Christianity and I know that the day will come when I will have to admit that I don’t associate myself with Christianity like they do.

I wanted to know if you had any advice on how to mentally deal with this situation. I know I will be fine and I need to stick to what I am passionate about, but I know I will get some resistance from certain members of my family. How do I deal with this when the time comes?

I know with confidence and meditation I will be fine, but I’m simply looking for some words of wisdom.

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And my response:
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I think what you describe is a common situation here in the West, especially in the USA. Although the government is required to be religiously tolerant, that doesn’t mean our families have to be. Sometimes families, in their eagerness to ‚Äúhelp‚Äù us, cause no end to additional suffering, especially when there is a disagreement over something so personal and individually important as our beliefs.

I have the same problem. My closest family knows about my Buddhism, but with my aunt, uncles, cousins, and other extended family, it’s never really come up, although I expect that it will eventually. In my case, however, none of my family is really what I would call overly zealous about religion. They probably wouldn’t understand my choice, but they wouldn’t go to any effort to try and change my mind.

Not everyone is so lucky. Many religions, not just Christians, go about things with the “We are right and everything else is wrong” approach to other faiths. Some people will go to any lengths to change your thinking, and that can only lead to conflict.

I would suggest the best approach is to make sure your family sees you acting in the finest traditions of Buddhism (without necessarily advertising the fact). They’ll see and experience you as a good person, doing good in the world, alleviating suffering where and when you can. Be an exemplar of the best ‚ÄúChristian values,‚Äù and when your ‚Äúshocking secret‚Äù eventually comes to light, perhaps, just perhaps, they’ll be willing to talk rather than judge you out of hand.

I’m sure plenty of readers have experienced this themselves. I would love to hear and share your stories about reactions of your family or friends to your Buddhism.