Daily Readings from the Word of the Buddha

Whoever attentively reads a small number of countless ‘speeches’ of Buddha is soon aware of a harmony in them, a quietude of soul, a smiling transcendence, a totally unshakable firmness; but also invariable kindness, endless patience.  As ways and means to the attainment of this holy quietude of soul, the speeches are full of advise, precepts, hints

Click on the image below

The Thief and the Master

One evening, Zen master Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras when a thief entered his house with a sharp sword, demanding “money or life”. Without any fear, Shichiri said, “Don’t disturb me! Help yourself with the money, it’s in that drawer”. And he resumed his recitation.

The thief was startled by this unexpected reaction, but he proceeded with his business anyway. While he was helping himself with the money, the master stopped and called, “Don’t take all of it. Leave some for me to pay my taxes tomorrow”. The thief left some money behind and prepared to leave. Just before he left, the master suddenly shouted at him, “You took my money and you didn’t even thank me?! That’s not polite!”. This time, the thief was really shocked at such fearlessness. He thanked the master and ran away. The thief later told his friends that he had never been so frightened in his life.

A few days later, the thief was caught and confessed, among many others, his thieft at Shichiri’s house. When the master was called as a witness, he said, “No, this man did not steal anything from me. I gave him the money. He even thanked me for it.”

The thief was so touched that he decided to repent. Upon his release from prison, he became a disciple of the master and many years later, he attained Enlightenment.

The Life of Buddha

In general, people may not be so attracted to the idea of embarking on a journey to become enlightened as Buddha did, but I am conviced that if we are to ask any person if  they would like to know how to stop suffering in their lifes, they would more likely respond with a resounding “YES, how do I do that, show me!”.  And that is the main question that Sidartha asked himself when he realized, after living for many years in his kindom, that there was suffering, he then embarked on a journey that would lead him to reach enlightment.

This video shows a very well done documentary of not only what Buddhism is about, but most importantly, the life of Sidartha.  You will see how he made four journeys out of his palace.   Each journey would reveal to him an aspect of life that had been hidden from him as he lived in his palace, to his astonishment he dicovered the existence of age, disease, death and it was the fourth sign, renunciation that pointed to Sidartha’s future: a man wearing a simple robe and a begging bowl that had renounced the pleasures of the world in order to confront reality and seek counsel to his painful existence.

He finally, found the state of absolute wisdom and bliss, known as englightment.

Maitreya Buddha

I have decided to devote some of my time to follow Buddha and his wonderful teachings.  A few years ago I was impressed with the compassionate words I heard from the Dalai Lama when he was interviewed on CNN.  Since then, I have been perusing (at least more conscious) an active spiritual life.

I have created this blog in order to have a place for my own reference and study of the teachings of Buddha as I strive to realize my Dharma.  My hope is that others may share the path as I walk on a journey until I find myself face to face in the near future with Buddha.

I found the picture used in this post on flickr and I really find interesting what the author says:

Thiksey monastry is one of the most beautiful monastries in Ladakh. It is around 25 km away from Leh. You can see this huge Buddha statue there. The H.H. Dalai Lama constructed this Buddha, 15 meters tall, in 1980 to commemorate a visit to Thiksey.

This is the largest Buddha statue in Ladakh which took four years to construct and is made of clay and covered with gold paint. This was made entirely by the local craftsmen and represents Maitreya (compassion in sanskrit) – The Buddha of the future.

The prophecy made of the future Buddha is that the world will be undergoing such chaos that the future Buddha will teach compassion to the people.