Three weeks ago I progressed to the point of ordination as an accomplished priest.  It is funny but I have been asked by family and friends several times “Do you feel any different?” or Do you feel any more Holy?” or “Do you feel empowered now?” The universal answer to all these questions is no. I don’t know what one is supposed to “feel” after the ordination ceremony but It is not like a graduation. Nothing is ‘finished’ or done. The process goes on and there is much work to do.  I feel like it is more a recognition of where I am at in the moment. Other than that there is no special handshake I know now that lets me in on any deep secrets. That is part of the process that got me here. (Not the handshake. I mean studying the deeper secrets). I just look forward to progress and clarity every day.

I say that as a definition and I own it. I am not a willing hypocrite but in my failings I know that I fit that definition. The interesting thing is that I know how important daily practice is but I keep finding myself going a day or several days without doing more than myst my basic daily practices. I always do at least one element of my daily practice and I give it contemplation during the day but that just doesn’t cut it. I teach martial arts and I occasionally have students that I know just practice in the dojo and when they walk out  the door and take off the uniform they are no longer martial artists.

In the context of Buddhist mental training it requires daily focused commitment to progress at a good pace. The most critical thing is that if you start something you must finish it. You are never actually done as long as you are breathing but there are processes where you will be reciting a certain number of mantras with visualization and if you stop or create a gap in the middle you really do have to start over again. It is just psychology. Scientists say that our brains require over 20 days up to 60 days of repetition to rewire things so that you are used to doing this every day.

I went through a cycle of charging the mahakaruna dharani mantra which should have taken about a month and a half of repetition every day. It took me over four months because of missing days and having to restart over again. I can blame it on the modern world and a busy life but excuses are just crutches.

The important thing I am trying to get across here is the concept of responsibility. I am going to talk to you in posts about personal responsibility so I want you to know I am not portraying myself as some great guru with wonderful mental control and concentration. What I am more likely to do is tell you what traps I have fallen into because I am probably not as enlightened as any of you out there.

All that being said I am hoping you all can learn something from my ramblings.

Namaste Ya’all

What is religion?

In thinking of religion, the question that comes to mind is why do people have to look for answers outside themselves as if they were separate from creation? If we are created by a supreme being and there is some purpose to our lives and we want to know what said purpose is then we might do well to ask how many of the “W’s” we can figure out.

Who is god? Wow that is a big one. Maybe it’s too big to tackle first so let’s move on for now.

What is god? Easy right? A supreme being! But what does that mean? We are beings and we are made of many parts physical and electrical and that etheric thing that gives us life energy. So we can say that god is many things. Material and energetic. OK that makes sense if you take the quote that “god is all things.”

Where is god? Well some say heaven. Some say everywhere and that seems to make sense if he knows all and sees all he must be there to see it.

When is god? It seems to be held that he is without beginning or end so he is without a time reference.

Why is god? This may be the first real step on finding out the purpose of things. If you want to know why we are here this is the first step. God is god because he has a creation. That is our definition of things most of the time. But then the question may become “Why did he create us?”. I doubt we were created as the result of a bet like the one between two authors that started scientology. Unless you believe in a decidedly more redneck god where the whole thing happened one morning with a “Hey Ya’ll, watch this!  POOF!! Universe. Cool Huh?” then there is likely a more profound reason.

So is Buddhism a religion then?

Buddhism is a philosophy on a path. It can be a religion and is to many millions. At its heart though it is all about Truth. I spelled that with a capitol T to illustrate a point. There is a word we use in Buddhism called Dharma. And there is a word we use called dharma. The word means truth. In most parts of the world Buddhists are referred to as seekers of Dharma or followers of the Dharma. Only here in the west where we assume you have to follow the teachings of a man to reach god is the term Buddhist universal.

There are Dharmas in the universe that are pointed to in the four noble truths and the eight fold path. These are unchangeable and non subjective truth. Then there are little truths that we run into on a daily basis that are also dharmas. That is why I use the big D and the little d like the capitol T in truth.

In Buddhism the point is personal responsibility and proof. If you can’t prove it is real it may still be real but there is no reason to believe in it until it really is proven. Buddhists are more the scientists of religion. The use of Mantra as a psychological tool helps delve into the workings of the mind to see past illusion, ego and cultural trappings. It is a tool for finding truth in daily life and the workings of the universe. It is possible from the Buddhist point of view to be a Christian, Jew, Muslim or atheist and still be a practicing Buddhist. Unfortunately most of the religions that rely on their personal flavor of controlling your life don’t share that view.  In the end Buddhism is a path of self discovery, development and control of one’s own faculties.   So What will you believe?

I think that was a function of overwhelm. I got to the point where I no longer chose to make intelligent decisions about priorities even though I told myself I did. Now my new system is based solely on priorities. This means that if your task isn’t as important as the 28 ahead of it you may never ever get done. Oh well. I am ok with that. Now I know the important things are getting done. It has been one more step in taking charge of my life.

Certain things have to happen every day no matter what. I have to get up in the morning. Bathe, walk the dog. etc,. Now I am managing these have to moments so that they are multi use moments. I need better exercise for my legs so now the dog walk is a dog run. I can’t keep him interested in doing this on foot since there is no way I can keep up with a two year old black Labrador who is jet propelled. Instead I take him on a mountain bike. No he can’t reach the peddles but he is thrilled to run like the wind along with me up and down our back roads.

Management is critical to the successes that I want so I can never let myself not have the time to do what I need to. I have to do something.

I have some background in Kagyu buddhism, a familiarity with Tendai buddhism and am currently studying the Mahajrya multi-lineage tradition. I am an ordained teacher (Adhyapaka) so it is officially OK to pass along teachings of the lineage but this website is going to stay vey universal and general. Yes we will discuss everything from the san ki-e to the kuji-in and kuji-kiri. No I will not be teaching you a “how to” in these subjects. That requires direct communication with a teacher that a website cannot allow. If you need a teacher I may be able to help as I know many in various traditions that are much better then myself.

As it is the process here will be exploring and unfolding traditions in a way the western mind can assimilate them.