N-lightenment

Something in you already knows.

The Moon Is Real

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My teacher Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) is a very wise man. One year the monks and nuns had opened a new monastery in New Hampshire. It was the first monastery in the United States. New Hampshire gets very cold in the winter, especially compared to the Plum Village Monastery in France they had moved from. Most of the monks and nuns were from Vietnam. They had never seen snow. Nobody expected it to be so cold. They were unprepared. They didn’t have warm clothes.
Sister Annabel, the senior nun, was concerned they might not have enough money to pay for heat and food. She called Thay in a bit of a panic. He listened to her concerns and also the fear in her voice. Then he said simply, “Sister Annabel, put down the phone right now and go out and look at the moon.”
 
This is wisdom. Zen Masters have wisdom. They know what is real and what is not real. That is why they can always help us very much. Sister Annabel had fallen into the trap of believing her thoughts were real. Thoughts are never real. The moon is real.
 
Because Sister Annabel was a Zen nun, she could understand this simple and direct instruction. She knew how to look at the moon. Most of us when we look at the moon are only seeing our thought perceptions of the moon. We are really only looking at our thoughts. But Sister Annabel had been a Zen nun for many years. She knew how to really look at the moon. She knew how to be free of thoughts so she could really see the moon. It is only that in that moment she had forgotten. In that moment she believed her thoughts about the new monastery were real. That is why she was so worried. Thay simply reminded her of what is real and what is not. That was enough.
 
We also have many worries when we believe our thoughts are true. We may not always have a Zen Master around to remind us of what is real and what is not. But perhaps we don’t need one. Perhaps we can remind ourself. Perhaps we can be our own Zen Master. That’s all a true Zen Master ever wants for us. And there’s always the moon.

4 Steps of Acceptance and Transformation

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4 Steps of Acceptance and Transformation

 
Phil Snider came up with a beautiful 4 step process for the real acceptance I am offering. Thank you, Phil for sharing this. This is very much the process that I go through naturally and spontaneously with pretty much everything that happens in my life now. But it took Phil’s generous sharing that helped me put it into words. Or he put it into words for me. This is a very powerful and life transforming practice so please pay attention and put this into practice in your life. This is why I see everything that I experience as a great blessing and teaching. And I mean everything. I certainly didn’t always do this. This only came about after my own awakening. But now it is my natural attitude toward life. So here are the 4 steps Phil shared.
 

1. Gratitude

Thank whatever shows up for showing up. This may take some practice when dealing with painful experience before it comes naturally, but do it. I promise it changes everything. Have an attitude of gratitude throughout your day every day. It is best to practice with the things you currently feel the least gratitude and the most rejection and aversion for, the “Oh no!”, “Why me?” and “What the F*ck!!?” stuff. When you can honestly feel gratitude for those things all the rest will be a piece of cake. Everything that shows up is entirely for your benefit and for your learning, so practice gratitude for it now, even before you realize this is true. It will open your eyes and your heart and help you realize the truth of it.
 

2. Realize

Realize you don’t know everything about what just showed up. This is an important truth of life that most people miss or refuse to accept. What we think we know is almost always wrong or at best a very limited part of the whole picture. Accept that you don’t know. This acceptance of reality is enormously freeing. You may have heard the expression: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.” Often our accumulation of knowledge actually limits our true knowing, which is always open to whatever arises. So accept that you don’t know. It will improve your life and your true knowing, your wisdom.
 
All of my writing and teaching and healing and art come from this place of “not knowing”. From this clear, open and free spaciousness, all things flow spontaneously and effortlessly. It is like a water faucet has been turned on full blast, all the time. Inspiration comes from everything that arises in my life moment to moment. Because I continuously experience a beginner’s mind, I am constantly learning from everything. It was not always like this. I had a great deal of training as a writer and artist. I used to work at this very hard. I thought I knew what was right and I worked very hard to attain that. Now it just flows with no effort or even thinking at all. This is the benefit of realizing I don’t know and letting go of the belief that I do or should. Realize you don’t know. Let go of the belief that you should. And be free.
 

3. Ask

Ask whatever shows up what it has come to teach you. There is ALWAYS a lesson here. Every single thing that happens in your life is a LESSON. When your mind is open through gratitude and the realization that you really don’t know why this thing, feeling, situation or person showed up, you have the openness and space to hear the answer. Ask what this has come to teach you. Then be very quiet and listen for the answer.
 

4. Realization

When the first three steps are done with an open mind and heart, awakening and awareness will happen naturally. This practice will transform your life. When you do this enough times you will no longer doubt that everything that happens in your life is entirely for your benefit. You will see the world in a very different way. These are not difficult things to do. It just takes willingness. You may now have a thought that says, “I could never be grateful for this.”, say if someone should steal your car. But try it anyway. It is only a thought whether you are grateful or not. Go through the whole 4 steps and see what a difference it makes in your life. You can do this while you are calling the police and filing a report. It may take some time before you realize why someone stealing your car was actually for your benefit. You may realize this quite quickly or maybe never. This is a practice. And the more you practice the more you realize. Continue doing it with each thing that arises in your life until it becomes your normal experience. I can verify that it is a beautiful way to experience life. And thanks again to Phil for breaking it down into these 4 steps. It is quite vague for me to say accept everything that comes into your life. It’s far more useful to break it down into these 4 practical steps.

Eating Zen – The Meal Gatha 2

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Eating Zen – The Meal Gatha (9 minutes)
This is part of the Awakening Tool Kit – Awakening Practices for Daily Life. Zen is not just about sitting on a cushion. It is about every moment of our daily life. This beautiful meal gatha from Thich Nhat Hanh helps us be aware of the wonderful reality of life. Every time we sit down to eat is an opportunity to awaken.

You can download a pdf file of this Meal Gatha here: Meal Gatha Download

Tomislav’s Dream

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When a sleeping dream can be more real than waking life. This is a profound dream that points directly to Truth.

October 4, 2017
Hello Peter,

I must admit I use sometimes the possibility to contact you without outer reason.

I can not explain why….it is an addition to Satsang and satisfies something in me. Your words always have an effect. I also try not to overdo it.

This morning I had a very strange dream:

I was a German soldier (not exactly sure about it) somewhere in Russia, on a small farm, there was a farmhouse and a barn. A nice sunny day in spring. There where a small boy and a little older girl, but both small children.

I knew there was danger, and I took the boy up, holding him while he hugged me arround my neck, and the girl grabbed my hand. I rushed to go around the house, as there was danger behind me.

Then shots were fired and bullets pierced my back. I did my best to cover the children as I was falling down, so to protect them with my body.

More shots were fired, piercing my body. I was motionless, could not move. I was dead, but satisfied that children were alive. After some time children began to move, trying to get free of my heavy body. I got fear that they will remain pinched down with my heaviness and will die of starvation, but they manage to come free.

They went little back and found their dead father. After that they come to me again. I then recognize I am not dead yet, children know that and come to me, as I am the only one left who cares about them. I want to say something nice to them, but cannot speak Russian. Then I remember few words and tell them: “Ja ljublju vas” (I love you).

At that moment I recognize that I am dying and that I am not only speaking to the children, I speak to all this beautiful existence, to all that life, to all this unbeliaveable beauty, now as I am leaving it all forever.

I see the beauty in everything, this wonderful colors of grass in front of me, and some purple flowers behind it. With my last strength I grab the grass to feel it one last time, to smell it, to enjoy life as it is.

I now see our stupid and futile ways in that we spend our precious moments, wasting them away in trying to conquer, do and own and in similar stupid ways….when we have just to be here and appreciate this wonder of wonders.

I begine to die, all is being stripped away from me….the full tragedy not of dying, but of never really have lived strikes me like a fist.

At this time I began to be conscious of dreaming (although on some level I always was). I know I have to let it go, to die and be free. But my mind kicks in, I recognize I cannot do anything. Dream and waking state mixes, and before the twister that was stripping me of everything could finish his work….I wake up.

I recognize my usual ways of behaving and thinking has took over, and I lost the possibility of seeing life as it is. I know how I do it, but I cannot change it. It is not in my power to decide when and if I will be free. But gratitude for that insight was in me.

That is all Peter, I shared a dream with you. If you have some words for me I will listen gladly.

I am helpless. I can not find right words to communicate what I feel for you and about your effect on me.

Just thanks and love and gratitude. I am so happy that I have a chance to be in your presence on Satsangs. I will be with you this Saturday if possible. But I also often feel your presence or influence on me.

Tomislav

October 5, 2017
Wow, Tomislav. I am very moved by this dream. It is beautiful. You are a hero, a Bodhisattva, helping all the world even at the loss of your own life. This is very beautiful. I am touched by this. And then you see life as it is, the miracle, the incredible, fragile beauty. Wonderful dream. It has a lot to do with truth. This is the true you. It is interesting because in the dream you experience reality. Then when you wake up you go into the common human dream. 

If you agree, I would like to share this letter on Facebook. This is a dream of truth. Then when you wake up, the powerful habit of conditioning covers over this realization that you had in the dream. This is common. When we wake up from sleeping, immediately the mind-created world goes to work. This is my bed. This is my room. This is my body. This is what I need to do today. It is all so familiar. I am so familiar. The miracle of life as it is, of what I am, is covered over by our waking dream. 

This means you are very close. You see all of this. You experience all of this. You realize all of this. Even your frustration about it is good. It shows your direction is very strong. 

This dream is so amazing. It points to the entire human drama, the ignorance of truth and the realization of truth. Everything is in this dream. It is amazingly profound. Thank you for sharing it with me. It completely touches my heart. 

I would not worry too much about your conditioned thinking taking over. More and more I see this falling away by itself. Just continue with what you are doing. You have seen reality, even if only in a dream, but a very special dream. It’s wonderful, beyond any words. It is natural for a shift to happen. This is better. In your daily waking life, you will notice more shifts, more cracks in the veil of the waking dream, where you can see these miracles of life be revealed. This will happen naturally. Don’t be in a hurry. And don’t let your intention go. Keep your intention strong, but instead of doing and trying so much, relax, observe and pay attention. Pay attention to life. Listen. Life itself is always showing you, teaching you, just as in having this wonderful dream. 

You are open. You are ready. And so more and more you will see what life is showing you. What a great adventure. I am so happy for this. I am so happy for you. 

Thank you for sharing this with me, Tomislav. And if you give me permission I will be happy to share this with others who may be as touched by it as I am. 

Love,

Peter

October 5, 2017
Dear Peter,

of course you can share it.

Thank you again for your words, they are as always a beacon of light for me.

It is as you say, I’m allowed more and more glimpses. Few days ago, as I was doing my physical exercises in the morning, a beam of sunlight lit a small part in front of me. I was in an instant blinded by the beauty of the moment. It was clear for me that the only place where beauty can exist is now….and a timeless now. Not few milliseconds later. Not when you think about it. It was so clear. And then I began to think how I can convey what was seen and little later the movie of my life was on again. But what was seen can not vanish. It is here. The cracks you are talking about. I will do as you advise, pay attention to life and relax more (I think that is happening anyway, by itself).

Thank you again and I am so blessed to have met you

Tomislav

Age and Wisdom

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age-wisdomThere is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. They are not the same. As we age, we can accumulate a great deal of knowledge. If we are very fortunate, we also connect with wisdom. And this is, by far, the most important.

The United States is a youth oriented culture. We promote and admire the beauty of young bodies. And why not? They are beautiful. But as our own bodies grow older, this can be a problem. There are entire industries single-mindedly devoted to the attempt to keep aging bodies still looking young: wrinkle creams, botox, plastic surgery, hair dyes, hair transplants, and the list goes on. What it all comes down to is another attempt to deny reality. All bodies age. This is natural. When we reject this simple obvious truth, we suffer.

Some bodies age sooner and more obviously than other bodies. But all bodies age. All bodies change. And all bodies die. This is reality. We may have a great deal of knowledge about all the ways western science can slow down this process. But when we deny the reality of this, we suffer. And this is not wisdom. Wisdom is seeing reality as it is and accepting that reality. Because of our conditioning, it is common to wish and even believe that reality can be other than it is. We may even have knowledge showing us how these imaginings could be true. But this is not wisdom.

As our bodies age, many people become disturbed by these signs of aging: another gray hair, a receding hair line, another wrinkle, less flexibility or strength, an incapacitating injury or disease, loss of memory, the death of loved ones. Because of our conditioning we may believe these things are not supposed to happen or won’t happen. They come as an unpleasant surprise. Wisdom prepares us for all these things. If we age without wisdom, we will have many unpleasant surprises. This is why my aunt said after her husband developed Alzheimers, “Old age isn’t for sissies.”

It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care for our bodies and keep them as healthy as possible. That’s common sense. But don’t deny that aging happens to everyone and that means it will happen to you. Learn to accept reality as it is. This is wisdom.

My father was a very talented athlete. He continued winning tennis tournaments against much younger players even into his seventies. But at seventy-eight, he quit. I was playing with him the day that happened. His body simply said, “Okay. That’s enough.”

We love to hear stories of marathon runners, like Jamie Kelly, who was still running the Boston Marathon in his seventies, or model Christie Brinkley who still looks young at sixty-two. This encourages our fantasies that we too will never age if only we do the right things and buy the right products. We believe this will make us happy. But that’s not wisdom. Wisdom knows this will not make us happy and, instead, this denial of reality will simply create more suffering in our life. If we can’t complete a marathon in our seventies or look like Christie Brinkley at sixty-two, we’ll feel as if we have failed. And the more we continue denying reality, the more we must fail. Fantasies are not real. Reality will always upset our fantasies. That’s not a buzz kill. That’s its job. Wisdom knows this and does not indulge in fantasy. Wise people accept reality as it is and avoid the suffering that comes from living in a fantasy.

I love climbing the red rocks around Sedona, especially Cathedral Rock. I have an intimate connection with those rocks. If you think a rock is just a rock, you don’t understand rocks or reality. From the first day I arrived in Sedona six years ago, I heard this koan: “The rocks and you are exactly the same. There is not an inch of difference between you.” Where this koan came from I could not say exactly, from an inner voice or perhaps from the rocks themselves. I know now that the koan came from wisdom. And this wisdom is in these rocks just as it is in me. It is the same wisdom. It is not only available to those of us who have lived through many moons in this life. It is as available to an eight-year-old as it is to an eighty-year-old. It does not come from knowledge. It is always present everywhere. It is often that those of us who have a few more years slow down a little and spend a little more time in silence. Here is where wisdom is found. When we are young we may be a bit too busy conquering the world to notice that we are not separate from it.

Those red rocks are no longer young. They are no longer growing. Pieces are falling off, crumbling. Their age may be well over a million years. Twice they were under an ocean. I am only sixty-seven. But the difference in our ages is only relative. It is unimportant. We are the same. I do not reject or ignore the crumbling nature of their current life cycle any more than I reject or ignore my own. It is simply what life is. And the absolutely exquisite beauty of all of it has not gone unnoticed. This is wisdom.

If we want to have a happy life, especially as our bodies grow older, don’t focus on the myriad ways technology offers to maintain an appearance of youth. It is a losing game and only ends in suffering. Instead focus on wisdom. This is what the rocks have taught me. After a million years or so, they should know something. 🙂