Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now
with Lama Surya Das
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Many of us feel that the modern efforts to save time have backfired, bringing onerous new problems of their own. Our technological advances and constant availability have blurred the line between leisure time and work. No sooner do we wrap our minds around a new computer program than it becomes obsolete. We can end up wasting precious minutes stuck on the phone with someone on the other side of the world, trying to figure out how to reset the computer brain in our dryer, or stove, or espresso machine. It takes time to learn how to do online banking, connect with friends on Facebook, master the complexities of smartphones and GPS units, and download a best seller to our e-readers. When Excel crashes and the work is lost after we’ve spent an hour entering data for a deadline, our blood pressure skyrockets. There’s even technology to fix stress created by technology. I recently learned of an experimental Google feature called Email Addict that shuts you out of your inbox, forcing compulsive e-mail checkers to give it a break.
Don’t get me wrong. I think we’re living in an amazing age, as miraculous and futuristic as anything out of Star Trek and Jetsons episodes of my youth. I love being able to talk on my laptop face-to-face with someone on the other side of the world or to download a book or piece of music in a minute. The problem for a lot of us is figuring out how to disconnect from all this intensity for some peace and quiet. And how much of the time-related stress in our lives comes from trying to accommodate every single person who wants a piece of our day? Do you suffer from the “disease to please,” striving to satisfy all those who make a claim on your time? Many of us are torn between the desire to be generous with our time and the need to conserve our own energy. It takes only a few seconds to read a 140-character Twitter message, but the cost of the total distraction lasts far longer. The thinner we spread ourselves, the more we skitter over the surface of our lives, never going deep. And since we can be tracked down just about anywhere, anytime, it seems there is literally no escape.
In the pages that follow, I’ll teach you how to wean yourself from the addictions that sap time and energy, to clear out all the debris and distraction—in much the same way that a snow globe becomes calm and clear when you stop shaking it and allow the flakes to settle. You’ll see, for example, that we can stay at our desks or in a traffic jam and, however momentarily, genuinely give our attention to the present moment as a way of finding inner peace.
I want to show you how to coexist peacefully with the inevitable, the inexorable march of time. As a Buddhist, I’ve long studied the question of how to live authentically and joyfully in the present moment, and how to remain mindful, centered, and harmonious no matter what challenges come my way.
In a way, Buddhism is a profound study in time and time management, because the better you manage your mind and spirit, the less hold time has on you. Every moment can be lived fully, free and unconditioned, and every moment holds infinite possibilities and opportunities for a fresh start. Every moment of heightened consciousness is precious beyond price, for awareness is the primary currency of the human condition. Buddhism for me is a study in how to live fully and authentically, not only in our earthly time zone, but in what I call Buddha Standard Time—the dimension of timeless time, wholly now.
Excerpted from the introduction of Buddha Standard Time.
Lama Surya Das is a Western Buddhist meditation teacher and scholar, and one of the main interpreters of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
Where is the discussion? Are we supposed to read x-number of pages per week? I'd like to do this, but I have questions...
The discussion is right here, and it starts today. There aren't set pages to read, but as you get through the book and have questions/comments please post them here. Lama Surya Das is guiding the discussion.
Best,
Sam
Dear Tricycle Sangha,
Lama Surya Das is a beautiful soul. His words make Buddhism relevant for today's world in such an authentic way. Technology and the 'busy-ness' it seems to create in the lives of many individuals seems so superficial. However, if we feel a heartfelt connection with the Buddha we have to find ways of using the technology in a meaningful way for the benefit of all sentient beings. What an incredible challenge. Lama Surya Das certainly helps us do that with this book. Thank you Lama. JR
Technology, like so many things which seem to captivate and overwhelm us, is an excellent servant but a poor master. The problem arises when we fall too much under its power. Thoughts and intellect are similar inner tools which can enslave us if we don't learn to use them wisely.
The Buddha has his Noble Eight Step Path. I'm thinking to start a Twelve Step Program for Thinkaholics, for so many of us are addicted to thinking and opinions. Whaddya think?
Why not simply practice Mindfulness? In my 22nd year now of recovery from alcoholism, I would suggest - bowing with a Smile - that The Twelve Steps of AA (taken from The Six Steps of The Oxford Movement) really do not lend themselves to what you're characterizing as an "addiction" to "thinking". The Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous) includes this imperative: "The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it." The Steps are just a path to discover what this "spiritual life is" for every person who comes into The Rooms. And, there are Ten Thousand Paths. Those who are here, discussing the Teachings of the Buddha with you, and who Bow to the Divinity that is The Buddha Within, seem to have embraced as their spiritual life the Practices of The Buddha. So the question becomes, "How do we live The Dharma?" and not just recite the elements of, shall we say, Dharmic Theory?
Mindfulness is enough, yes. And, it's also insufficient. This depends on what your trying to accomplish, how you understand the term mindfulness, etc. There's more to mindfulness than just being here now or having presence of mind, in the ordinary sense. Genuine mindfulness-- easily defined as the opposite of mindlessness-- actually implies both seeing things as they are, in the objective lght of clear, unbiased, desireless nonreactive awareness; and also understanding how things function and interrelate, such as karma (cause and effect) and interdependence, intentions and motivation, and so forth. In the Buddha's original teachings it implies an ethical, compassionate dimension as well as the clear seeing aspects which seem ascendent in the Western Dharma practitioner zeitgeist today.
I try not to be confused by poetic phrases found in the Buddhist traditions such as ten thousand paths you mention and the 84,000 Dharma teachings, the Nine Vehicles (yanas) or ascending & deepening approaches, etc. At the risk of sounding square, when in fact I'm fairly round; I personally strive daily to live an peaceful, sane, loving and enlightened life by actualizing the three liberating trainings-- ethical self-discipline, meditative awareness, and wisdom inseparable from empathic compassion-- as expanded into the Noble Eight-fold Path taught by Buddha himself-- the 8 steps to enlightenment which is the skeleton of all the various traditions and lineages.
So, in what way is Mindfulness, as you've described it here, insufficient for addressing an attachment or "addiction" to "thinking" or "opinions"?
It appears there's no way out of thinking other than flat-lining (clinical death). And that's a certainty for all human beings.
I'd be interested in seeing what you come up with. I'm such an over-thinker, not just in my opinion but in others' as well. Bouncing off of the previous response to your comment, I'd certainly guess that meditation is going to be a significant one of those steps, but maybe there are others, and I'd like to see what those you propose might be.
I love the idea of mindfulness as antidote to thinkaholism. :o)
I have been a member of Overthinkers Anonymous for twenty eight years. I was twelve-stepped by a counselor at a rehab center. I am still working on the first step "I am powerless over my thoughts and my life is unmanageable". I have found that if I think the first thought , I can't stop thinking and go crazy. I have found that I can't stay stopped from thinking. The only requirment for membership in Overthinkers Anonymous is a desire to stop thinking. If you want to stop thinking, I suggest you go to a meeting
John M
I also saw this book promoted elsewhere and ordered it. It has arrived today! I'll get reading ...
Hi, Folks
I am delighted by this opportunity. Lama Das's books first attracted my attention towards Buddhism a dozen years ago. His teachings have been life changing for me and for my family. I truly look foward to this!
Although I didn't plan it that way my work for the last dozen years has turned out to be mostly about helping people in their work environment avoid the evils of multitasking. I am even writing a book on the subject. Lama Das's work will be of great support to the final chapter which is all about working to be in the present and improve focus through meditation.
I agree completely with Lama Das's introduction regarding the negative health and psychological effects or our increasingly frenzied pace. My experience with helping work teams reduce multitasking always shows productivity increases of 50-100%, improved quality of results of 50% or more, and reported huge improvements in well being brought about by stress reduction. I don't know how to measure stress reduction or well-being.
Despite my knowledge of the huge benefits from meditation practice, including some personal experience, I must confess that my own dedication to meditation (nice ring to that!) has been less than steller. It remains a long uphill road for me. I can really use the help doing this work will provide.
Perhaps I can even be of some modest help to people struggling with this in their work environment.
Regards,
Larry Leach
Everyone knows that patience furthers. Patience and forbearance, the Fourth Paramita (Buddhist virtue and panacean practice) of the Bodhisattva is absolutely essential for us today, in our turbulent and violent world. Patience paramita is also the traditional antidote to anger, impatience and irritation. Patience parami also includes tolerance, resilience and acceptance-- so vital in all our relationships and communication. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape!
I also find it quite helpful to try and remember to remember the long term and bigger picture, when it comes to important matters like my personal spiritual practice, meditation, and the enlightenment project and journey; or, for that matter, regarding intimate relations and love and most family matters.
The path of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet, with this step. Practice being there while getting there, every single step of the way. Being here while getting there. Right now.
This is the Bodhisattva's secret: emptiness-infused wisdom-awareness, beyond mere concepts of time and space. Good luck!
My thesis is that it's not time we lack but focus, priorities, and awareness. For we actually have all the time we need; it all depends on how we choose to use or abuse and lose it.
For example: What keeps you from choosing more satisfactorily how you spend your own time?
Is it really true, as so many people tell me, that others take a lot of time... Rather than you yourself give it to them-- work, boss, family or whomever-- and that therefore you have a lot of choice, whether conscious or not, in such matters?
Focus does seem so key. I've stopped telling myself to hurry and started gently asking for focus. Through meditation and mindfulness I really am becoming more skillful at discerning authentic choices for myself. The benefits are evident but one result is that I no longer have the desire to keep so many things going at one time. An obstacle I run into is the sense of loss as I turn away from a friend or activity. Will you please offer your perspective?
Loss is an important part of life. Change is law, and as long as we're attached to or identified with and holding on to anything, whether external or internal, loss may very well be felt and suffered. Everyone has heard less is more, small is beautiful, and the like. These adages are worth reflecting upon and penetrating more deeply. Quality time is also more valuable than mere quantity, as most would probably agree.
The way you speak about focusing makes it sound like renunciation and self-limitation is required. Often this is very true, but not always. At a far deeper level, however, "it is not outer things and relations that entangle us, but inner attachment and fixation which entangles us," as Yogi Tilopa once sang to his disciple Naropa. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said: "Renunciation could mean letting go of holding back." I believe this is worth further inquiry.
I personally find that the Buddha's greatest teaching is the Middle Way, a touchstone reminding us of the need for and virtues of balance and appropriateness, moderation and harmonious alignment: not to much nor too little, neither too tight nor too loose, and moderation even regarding moderation. Using this understanding of the Middle Way as a Pole Star, ones choices and decisions became far more apt and fulfilling.
You wrote: "What keeps you from choosing more satisfactorily how you spend your own time?" My immediate reaction was, "Because I can't predict the future [outcomes of my how I "choose" (key word, thanks for including it) to spend my present time.] There are so many variables between, well, cause and effect. And how would we ever know what the outcome might have been if we'd made another choice. It's not like there's several of me in parallel universes that we can compare as if this were some sort of double blind scientific experiment. Maybe the answer has something to do with making the best choice / educated guess possible (without over-thinking it) and then learning to develop some equanimity with our choice and with the effect (which, of course, becomes another cause for another decision / educated guess for us to make.) I think there's something in here about not blaming ourselves for our past choices, or even present and future choices, because we are not, any of us, in total control of all effects. We are only one of many causes of those effects. Anyway, maybe I'm talking more to myself here, but hopefully others can relate.
In an essay in The Economist in 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson wrote that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." In a way, so do our lives. The difference being that the amount of time available for completing our life's work is unknown in most cases. The question then becomes how much value are we creating with our precious lives as each moment, each day or week, each year passes.
Last week I received an email from a grad student who went to Bhutan to research the ecological situation in the land touted as The Happiest Country in the world, where the king himself has proclaimed that they must measure the Gross Happiness Quotient as carefully as the Gross National Product. My young friend complained that she "can hardly get anything done, because everything moves so slowly here."
Her tiny tale of woe reminded of Mira Bai Bush, a dear old friend from India days who now teaches sometimes with me, telling me one day at lunch last winter that--when she was living in India in the early Seventies, fresh out of grad school-- she often felt quite frustrated with the amount of time we all used to spend waiting on line in that country: for a train, a bus, a via office, a bank line, etc. Anyone who has visited the third world can relate to this. In Mexico, for instance, where questions of when will often be answered with the all-purpose phrase "Manyana", meaning tomorrow (or whenever).
Indian life is even slower-- at least, outside the new hi-tech capitals of that traditional, backward, populous and still developing country. So Mirabai, even the intrepid seeker-- Ask, and ye shall find-- inquired, or perhaps even complained, to this to one of her Indian gurus.
He said: "Yes, that is very true. This is a great opportunity for you to learn and cultivate The Practice of Waiting."
My parents emigrated from the Philippines to the US after WWII. They had to reboot their perception of time to keep up with the pace of "modern" life (1950's). "Manyana" equated with getting behind the eight ball socially, financially. Better to leave such antiquated notions behind. Were they (and their children) better people for it? Hard to tell. Today I can't imagine living without the infinite possibilities provided by high tech.
I remember years ago, when I was working as a waiter in Philadelphia, PA, I took a vacation in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One day I was in a restaurant where the service just seemed so slow. I thought that I should move down there and I could make a killing waiting on so many more tables than the local waiters, running circles around them. Today, a couple of decades later (and no longer a waiter but a civil servant in a governmental child welfare protection agency), I'm at a point in my life where I want to have the pace of life that those waiters in San Juan had back then (and maybe still?), not to make so much more money. I'm not sure if that's a reflection of my maturity or my stage of life (I'm in my mid- to late-40's.) It's certainly not a reflection of any kind of increase in financial security.
I totally connected with your comment, Dominic, - initially, but then I wondered how do we know what our life's work is? Also, eventually, the commentary of a couple of therapists I've seen over the years, as I made similar statements about creating value with our (my) time and activities, trickled back into my consciousness. And maybe this is because I sometimes drive myself too hard or feel too much guilt when I don't - which might not by your or others' experience - but, those therapists have responded by saying things like, "You're valuable just for existing. You don't have to earn your time here on earth." Hmm. I still don't completely 'understand' their feedback. I have so much parental and societal messaging that is more about earning your keep, justify your existence. I'm sure there's a middle path somewhere in there but I'm such a black-and-white thinker. Any thoughts, suggestions?
Hi Ricomo. I've been practicing Buddhism as a member of Soka Gakkai International since 1973. That's the one where you chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. In another discussion in Tricycle (home->magazine: Soyen Shaku: One Hundred Years Ago, by Diana L. Eck) it's alluded to as the Law of the universe. For myself, I've realized that my "life's work" is my career as an artist and teacher, as well as my role as a father and husband. Doesn't sound very earth-shaking, but it's the conclusion I've arrived at after many years of chanting and reflecting on the meaning of my life. It's not been easy. Along the way I've also experienced many struggles about which direction to take. Bottom line for me is that my happiness, or enlightenment, can only be derived from my efforts at making other people's lives happy and worthwhile. And doing it without having to be anything spectacularly different than who I basically am.
PLEASE... I want to know how to download the book while i wait for a copy (just ordered) to arrive.
Could someone tell me how to download this book so i may begin reading and join the discussion?
Thanking you in advance
After you order the book you should receive an email that includes a link to download the book. If you have difficulties please contact support@tricycle.com
Kind wishes,
Sam
Life is time, time is life. How we spend our time is our life; it's how we choose to live, with whom and for what purposes-- whether consciously and intentionally, or unconsciously and mindlessly.
Time is an endangered natural resource, and we scarcely know it. We squander it or take it for granted at our peril. Killing time just deadens ourselves. We shall all die, but who will truly live, today, now?
My ex-girlfriend used to call me Serious Das in the Seventies, but I'm much lighter here and now. Let's lighten up as well as enlighten up; life ain't much fun if we take ourselves too seriously. Once upon a time I was no more; though it lasted not, one must live as if it were true.
You've really got me thinking along these lines! I've been inviting connection and deeper interactions into my life. But as I read your book I'm realizing that I have surface relationships with many people. I'm struggling with the idea that I need to give up or at least stop expending a little energy on a lot of relationships if I want to focus on a few deep relationships. Any insights?
I once read that R. Buckminster Fuller had contemplated suicide and that instead he decided to live the rest of his life as if he had killed himself. Your comment, "Once upon a time I was no more..." brought this story back to me.
re: 12 step program, I think it's a great idea. Back in Yonkers, Roshi Bernie Glassman began working on such a program. It was called, I believe, "How to tame an ox"; referring to the famous ox-herding pictures.
We all have our addictions. A Buddhist approach to help us manage them and free us from our constantly wandering mind is a great idea. Sign me up!
Timelessness is not a psychological trick that we play on ourselves while we somehow, in the back of our minds, really think that time Is. That the continumn of movement from past to future is "really" a reality, I mean, all the physists that we honor today rely on the the "arrow of time" to explain the movement and change of the universe. However, one of the most obscure teachings in Buddhistm is timelessness. You don't hear or read much about it in the texts, except in passing or as part of very advanced Buddhist philosophy. And we go, "oh yea...no past, no future only now." LIke we read it on the back of a ceral box. Timlessness is the reality of our lives, the univers and arising appearance. The Big Bang did not happen 13.7 billion years ago on some cosmic timeline that really exists. It happened now. All events only happen now, now and now. But one has to have direct gnosis or intuition and understanding of this truth founded in our experience and lives. I honor Lama Surya Das for putting this topic on the front burner in the Buddhist, Western conversation. It's high 'Time' that someone did and Lama Surya Das has enough chutspah to pull it off in the West.
After practising for some years now I have finally realised that the notion of time is just another concept created by man in order to come to terms with the constant change arising out of cause and effect. This is why time is subjective and goes fast or slow according to our perspective of a particular situation.
What is fascinating is that all those 1000's of years of history stretching behind us and all those yet to come, are actually only in a single 'timeless' moment!
It would be helpful if you could expand on what you mean by the word "time" versus the idea of "the idea of the timeless/deathless now". For myself, the less I think of time as a "spendable commodity" and rather see it as a relative (ie not absolute) truth akin to how I now think of the concept of "me/self" the more I can let go of the "time is money" type of conceptual understanding. When I bring myself back to right now it actually does feel a bit "timeless". Am I all mixed up in my concepts? Help me better understand!
Ditto. Thank you for your question (and the insight that led to it.)
I hate to admit it, but you're right about the timeless now or absolute time, and the changing times of past, present and future which Buddhism calls "the three times". The fourth time or ascendant deepest timeless time -- or the holy now-- vertically bisects each and every moment of horizontal linear conventional time, and the wholly now is the great crossroads and portal to the timeless and deathless plane.
I have in my mind that conventional time is indeed horizontal and is simply a form of measurement we can use to make appointments, know when to start and, thankfully, finish work, catch a bus or train, or time stamp comments in chat forums.
Of the fourth time you mention here, the "holy now"; perhaps it is that the universe is unfolding, like a flower, so it makes sense that true time is unfolding in a similar, multidimensional way. Perhaps it is unknowable, but meditation and reflection might help us appreciate time from the other side, rather than the side that laments, "there's never enough time", "where did the time go?" "I don't have the time."
I'll keep reading ...
As I have listened to people tell me of their life activities, I have heard the words "I have been busy" or "I have been just crazy busy," as if being "busy" is a negative quality or attribute.
I re-placed the word "busy" with "full." I now say "my days are full." That changed how I perceive my daily activities. Work and other activities are now opportunities to serve and utilize my talents rather than being burdens or chores that must be completed.
We may not have much control of the responsibilities we have and our conditions, but we can change how we perceive them.
To use an indirect example, some people view wheelchairs as being negative, yet for many people who use wheelchairs, they are a source of freedom. Same with hearing aids. Some people perceive that the use of hearing aids as a negative sign of aging and/or somehow a flaw in our character, but hearing aids open the doors of more opportunities to hear the sounds around us better.
Lovely! Thank you so much for your Post.
For it is not What we do, by How we do everything we do....
Moving into the Stillness of Being,
Bowing with a Smile....
You wrote, "I re-placed the word "busy" with "full." I now say "my days are full." That changed how I perceive my daily activities. Work and other activities are now opportunities to serve and utilize my talents rather than being burdens or chores that must be completed." Thank you. I'm going to try that.
Two general comments: Being a slow reader - or, apropos this book / topic, a busy one, I wish that the wonderful folks at Tricycle could give more lead time between a book's availability and the announcement of an online discussion about it, on the one hand, and the beginning of that discussion on the other hand. I've barely had a chance to get into this book and don't want to waste anyone's time (again, probably apropos this book / topic) with questions or comments that are already there, addressed in the book waiting for me to read them.
Secondly, I'm hoping that one of the topics I find in this book and/or discussion is my tendency, when reading about and focusing on being in the moment, to go to, maybe, some other extreme, from hyper-busyness to laziness (or what I call, less pejoratively, and maybe too irresponsibly) honoring my body's energy - which inevitably ends up meaning I call out of work a lot, am late a lot, don't get much done around the house, etc. It's hard for me to find balance between these two extremes. What might be a good question to ask myself when I'm faced with a decision to dive into some activity or to chill and maybe take a nap? Maybe start it out with, "Is my decision (own the decision!) about what I'm about to engage in (or not) going to ...?"? Maybe to continue the question, "...make me feel...?"? (But, really, it can't only be about how I feel, or can it? Or maybe how I feel about it after-the-fact might be some indication as to how the decision I made and the activity I engaged in (or lack thereof) contributed to my values, which includes not just my own comfort, but also the interconnectedness of all beings, being compassionate - towards others as well as one's self, leaving the world a better place than I found it, being the best that I can be, living up to my potential, etc. Feeling guilt would be one indication that my decision did not contribute to my values, but then again, guilt can be toxic too.) Others' thoughts about this? Thanks.
Hello,
Lama Surya's teaching have strongly effected my life for about a half-dozen years, Buddhism for about 43 and thoughts of space, time and the eternal now have, occupied my mind since reading sciience fiction in my teen years in the 1950s. And I've been a digital lurker for a long time with this being my first ever post.
Jenneil thanks for your post, I like your idea about substituting full for busy. The difference hits a note on the cord of “have lots going on” by still requiring an evaluation and prioritizing but in a more gentle yet profound and natural positive way then the connotations associated with busy does. Like deciding how full the glass is and how much space is still there after all.
When it comes to space/time though, I’ve found that by reminding myself to think about it not as a linear progression of time segments marked out with a specific space on a calendar or clock of life but more like an ever changing continuously ebbing and flowing of movement from one defining pivotal moment to another, each filled with events and decisions that marked and roiled the soul unfettered by consideration of concepts and constraints of space, time, place or condition, I then tend to live more often in the eternal now and see what needs to be done and have the time I need to do it.
I think this is because when I have this underlying viewpoint, breathing the breath of the present eternal now and letting it fill all relative thoughts of remembrances past, of events present or those yet to be and metaphysical concepts of time and space or of the me now or before I was me, with the fresh awareness of the eternal now, it all becomes one nanosecond of time, yet forever timeless, one infinitesimally small point, yet limitless, that is everything, that is nothing, yet filling all universes; relative, absolute, daytime, dreaming, with pulsating vibrating radiant freedom and the eye of clarity. Then. Now. Unfolding. And then no matter how many countless plans and numberless revisions littered my mind’s floor I am more able to relax into life let it unfold. Until I forget and remind myself again.
ThAnk you food offering this! I have already ordered the book from elsewhere but would like to download the ebook. How can I do that?
Hi lintenn, The ebook and the hard copy are a package deal. You'll find the offer here. Thanks, Sam
is this discussion going to be archived? i ordered the book, but, ironically, i don't know if i'll have time to read and participate in the time given, but i would like to read the discussion as well as the book....
Yes! Comments will be closed at the end of October, but you will be able to read through the discussion under the "Community" tab up top.
My original Zen teacher, Ven. Samu Sunim, said that meditation is "entering timeless time." When I was a mother of a young and very active child, I often grew impatient, feeling that other people wanted me to "be more productive with my time." I should get a job and put my kid in daycare; I should make more money; I should get a jogging stroller (which I couldn't afford) and jog; and so on. I was 35 when I had Josh, so mostly I was just exhausted with full time child rearing, so I surrendered to it. If it took me 6 months to do something from intention to manifestation, so be it. I breastfed him for 3 years. My house was generally a mess. An eternity of changing diapers, or wrestling him in and out of the car seat, stretched out before me. I worked hard at raising a human being who does seem to have zero percent doubt that he is worthy of love, and capable of loving and who is a self-declared Buddhist, now 22. At one point, when I felt especially impatient at how busy life seemed to be, with not enough time to get things done, I realized that this was all complete delusion. If the phone should ring when my son was away from home, and a voice should tell me that he had been in an accident and had died, which of course can happen, I know for a fact that I would know I had been completely insane not to have understood and lived in the timeless moment of joy that connects to the next timeless moment of happiness that connects to the fulfillment of the life of parenting in the here and now. The Metta Sutta describes that happiness. And it really is real!
Hi Mushim. You exhibit great faith in the Law. As well, your behavior as a mother is none other than that of a Buddha. NIchiren Daishonin teaches that, above all else, it is your heart that matters. Great good fortune to you and your family.
This is like a sutra to my ears. Let's call it "The Timelsss MamaSutra" and spread it to mom's and pop's everywhere.
The 101 years young Zen master Sasaki Roshi once said that hugging is a moment of timelessness, and the American meditation; I love that.
Dear Lama Surya Das, Thanks for the sutra title. Yeah! Very bizarre that you should quote Zen Master Sasaki Roshi, since I named my son (who is my only child) after him, taking Roshi's Dharma name, Joshu, and adding an "a" to make it "Joshua." I did a Rohatsu sesshin when I was 5-1/2 months pregnant with my son and Roshi gave me the koan, "How do you manifest true nature as baby?" I did my best, and every age was just as good, although "How do you manifest true nature as Terrible Twos and Horrible Fours" really gave me a run for the money. We are now at "How do you manifest true nature as 22 year old computer guy" and the koan is JUST AS GOOD AS IT EVER WAS. I mean, this is a Grade A plus koan... because it points so directly, for me, to timeless time.
Ha, synchronocity (sic)! Yes. good koan work you're doing. The master Sasaki gave me the koan "How do you realize God while driving car?" at a week-long sesshin in Colorado in the mid-Seventies. He gave my buddy Roch, a couples therapist, the koan, "How to realize God with wife in marriage?" Both Rich and I seem to be still on that road/path. It's a great one, although we do occasionally get ticketed for "violations".
Isn't the existential koan HOW TO BE YOURSELF (or Buddha) at every moment thru each and every action, the main one, the American Koan-- The One for today. (For every day.) Just doin' what you're doin' while bein' what you be.
I can guarantee that if you ain't her now you won't be there then.