Zen - Chanting 'What am I?'
Just a few years ago I wouldn't be caught dead chanting. I'm not a praying man, and seeing chanting to deities I don't know or believe in, that's not me.
Then, some time after participating in a Yong Mang Jong Jin (YMJJ) sesshin at the Providence Zen Center, I found that one of my fondest memories of the Zen Center was the chanting time. I'd often listen to audio recordings of their chanting sessions just so I could remember the pace of each "song" that we chanted.
Want to be rich?
One of my favorite books these days is a very short Buddhist book titled "Life in Relation to Death". While you might think the answer to that statement is obvious (death comes after life), well, I wrote the answer here before, and I'll repeat it again:
"In enlightenment, death has no relevance to one's state of being."
As the chef Emiril would say, "Bam!"
In regards to those wanting wealth, the author offers another gold nugget.
Telepathy and coincidence
Here's a story for you:
Let's say that I tell you that on the same night I had an OBE at my old house (the house my wife and I lived at), I also saw one of my dogs have something like a seizure. He was flailing around uncontrollably, and dying, and no matter how hard I tried, there was nothing I could do to save him.
Then let's say that some time later, that same dog actually did have an incident like this. It was apparently a stroke, not a seizure, but it went just like I saw it, and it did end up killing him.
Dreams of two Shirleys
Two night's ago (January 24, 2011) I dreamed of some relatives I haven't seen in about thirty years. Their names are AJ, Shirley, and Gene. The only things I really remember from the dream was seeing AJ first, and Shirley was pregnant. I think the third person was Gene, but it may have been Shirley's husband, Paul.
Wisdom of the Zen Masters
I had a dream of death this morning, more specifically life after death. In the dream I was forced to move into some area where my body would be burned to death. I had plenty of fear of pain going to the area where I was to be killed, but the pain didn't last too long, and to my surprise I heard the "thud" of my body fall over to the ground (presumably) while my "soul" left my body, and was in no pain at all.
Meditating in the ER
Unfortunately I ended up in the ER today. I'll skip what I was doing there for now, because I'd just like to focus on two emotions I experienced there today.
Dream of the death of a friend
I woke up at 3:06 a.m., crying in my sleep as I dreamed about the death of a friend. There are times you think you can handle anything, and mentally you're doing just great, but I was bawling my eyes out, and nearly hyperventilating from the effort.
It's hard to go back to sleep after something like that, but I eventually did. The dreams the rest of the night weren't any worse, but they weren't pleasant, either.
Life in Relation to Death (book)
Geez, if you're ever interested in Buddhist thought on life and death, the super-small book "Life In Relation To Death
Here are a couple of sample lines from this wonderful little book:
An OBE coming on; time running out
If I were a betting man, I'd bet that under normal circumstances, tonight I would have an OBE. I've read that an epileptic can tell when they are about to have a seizure, and over the last two years I've been very accurate in predicting when I will have an OBE.
"This body is not me"
I read these great lines in a Buddhist chanting book today:
This body is not me.
I am not limited by this body.
I am life without boundaries.
I have never been born,
and I have never died.
I wonder how many people read those lines and really believe them? I don't know why most people become Buddhists, but I consider myself very fortunate to have had many experiences where I can read these lines and at least feel like I know what they mean.
