Walking in the rain, one can often be distracted from the bigger picture of what life is all about. I was thinking about the living lesson which is the Dalai Lama one morning as the damp winter chill penetrated my old bones and specifically : “The purpose of our lives is to be happy”.
How odd to think that our purpose isn’t to save the world from hunger perhaps or injustice and how wise. Living in the world, in our proper place, that of being one of the infinite bits of the whole, is so much better than the grandiose ideal of semi godhood we seem to want to impose upon ourselves. If our purpose is to be happy we should remember that being happy promotes happiness. Have you ever seen the infectious reaction around a truly happy person.
inside a raindrop
infinite worlds evolve
in happiness
Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods); Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods); Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm); Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm); Me purifies greed and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts); Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm).
under the winter moon
pure white snow in soft drifts
the earth sleeps
love and joy greet them
though they come from afar
the earth sleeps
hand in hand they walk
with understanding hearts
the earth sleeps
sharing what they have
life’s brothers and sisters
the earth sleeps
free from want they walk
ignorance behind them now
the earth sleeps
(c) G.s.k. ’14
My reflections:
We are made up of many things … but as we walk the earth one of the most difficult aspects for us to overcome is our animal instinct, and yes, we still have them and they are strong. The magic word fear describes our animal instinct very well. Fear of the different … fear of not having enough … the fear that what we have can be taken from us. So to overcome this animal aspect of our soul we must overcome fear. If we learn wisdom and compassion … the fear calms and the earth sleeps, here “earth” meaning our animal nature which becomes calm.
Ignorance comes from the word to ignore … to ignore means to fail to give proper attention or importance to something, but it also means that we don’t know what that something is. Prejudice … means that we judge something without investigating it .. giving it a value without considering alternatives. To overcome ignorance and prejudice … which are usually fonts of fear if not expressions of fear helps us overcome our animal nature … and the earth sleeps.
Here are the words of the Dalai Lama which Chèvrefeuille posted on his beautiful prompt for the Shuukan this week:
“It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast… The first, Om […] symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[…]”
“The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.[…]”
“The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom[…]”
“Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility[…]”
“Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[…]”
Thoughts to be had whilst chanting transcribed in simplification keeping essence:
Being and non-beings proliferate loving compassion and indivisible intelligent equanimity; Om Mani Padme Hum.
That is the natural ubiquitous pervasive force of consciousness. These frequencies are in the Sanskrit tongue, act as a harmonic sound resonance against blocking energy, or sleeping energy. Plants reflect this action as well because of the phonetic strength of vibration that is stimulated by natural pronunciation. His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Here is our host’s approach:
lost in the field
only stars as my compass –
cry of a snowy owl
mysterious fields
hidden in mists and greyness –
the cry of an owl
the cry of an owl
resonates through the night
mysterious fields
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Bastet and Sekhmet's Library 