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Browse published articles attributed to E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock, with full-archive search.
When we say that we are a Christian, or Buddhist, Jew, Muslim, or Hindu, what does that mean? When I was a faith-based Christian, it meant that I believed. I believed in God, Jesus, the Church, and I believed in Catholicism. I was proud of being a Catholic. It didn't matter whether my beliefs ...
The Buddha was called the great physician. In his quintessential teaching: The Four Noble Truths, he took us under his wing, as a good doctor should, to care for his favorite patients. In his First Truth, he diagnosed us as being very ill. In his second, he explained exactly what was making ...
IMPORTANT: Always check with your medical and mental health care professional before beginning any new regimen. 1. EXERCISE: Brisk walking: Three to five miles a day. Neck roll: Twice a day. (Do this exercise slowly and carefully until your neck and spine become loosened up). Touch your left ...
Life can be a beautiful thing, but if we don’t understand life, we might end up fighting it. More often than not, it’s you and I against the world. Making a living, holding on to our relationships, to our wealth, our political and spiritual beliefs, these can become monumental struggles. Worry ...
We compromise every day. With every moment, with every thought. Should I do this or that? Should I go here or there? If we didn't compromise, we would not consider choices, and if we didn't consider choices, then we would be less than animals, and we wouldn't survive. Making compromises reflects ...
An old man with shaking hands counts out some crumpled bills to a receptionist in a doctor's office. The sign above the cashier's window says: "If you are a Medicare customer you will be required to pay your $135 deductable before service is rendered." But the old man only comes up with ...
Global swarming is a phenomenon far more impending than greenhouse gasses; global swarming involves the very fabric of our lives. Therefore, how we handle global swarming will determine the quality of our future here on earth. In the past, we have ignored global swarming as if it doesn't exist, ...
Once upon a time, in a magical land far across the sea, there lived together a donkey and an elephant. This was very difficult, because they both had such different ways. The elephant loved to trample trees and make a lot of noise, while the donkey nibbled on lowly grasses and said almost ...
1. Christian: Orison (Introversion) – Christian meditation and prayer. Conversion: Here a practitioner converts from an exte al to an internal emphasis, as the search for Truth, or God begins. Practitioner has good intentions, and prays or meditates occasionally. Eastern: Practitioner begins ...
Sex … Money … Power … Fame … Good Looks … Ambition … Successnn If any of these Seven become tangled up in the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride), look out! Otherwise, they are simply to be enjoyed, but not to bet the farm on - it's only when we begin to ...
Business ethics are quickly becoming meaningless. As a matter of fact, ethics can actually become roadblocks to maintaining the almighty bottom line. We have seen this lately in the mortgage markets where dishonest loans lined pockets on Wall Street while ruining many common people's lives. ...
"In the moments before death," a John began, "your whole life will flash before you and you will be able to see each separate moment simultaneously, noticing where you did well and where there is room for improvement. The reason that this only takes a fraction of a moment, which is a complete ...
Something quite dramatic is happening in the political arena - a new vision nothing like the old politics of greed, hatred, and spin. Accustomed as we are to division, bickering, and animosity, this will take some getting used to - and may not happen in this cycle – but it is coming. Voicing ...
The new Christianity will include unselfish prayer, followed by not worrying whether or not the prayers will be answered. And God will be described as providing our building blocks, but it is up to us after that. And Christians will begin facing and accepting their destiny, and then taking ...
She finds herself at a McDonald's late one night, sipping black coffee from a plastic cup. The place is empty, except for a small night crew, half asleep. She finishes her coffee and looks around, and realizes that no longer is there anywhere to go. She waves to a worker cleaning the floor, ...
Of all the things in the world that we can think of, kindness is the one that cuts through all barriers. Since Barack Obama has been running for office, people of color have begun feeling good about themselves, and white people have begun feeling good about people of color. Maybe soon, people of ...
The Buddha introduced a number of things that are unique to all religions and spirituality. Two of these are The Four Noble Truths and Interdependent Origination. The Buddha claimed that one could not attain enlightenment without understanding both of these intuitively, or with the heart, and ...
Suddenly, I found myself in a mist, and through the mist, I dimly made out what appeared to be a cave. As I moved closer, my perfected insight revealed exactly what it was – the den of the Great Dragon of Atta. Three of the dragon's guards lie dead and decomposing at the entrance, obviously ...
There once was a man who thought that he knew. He thought that he knew about life and the afterlife. One day, he was asked how he knew, and he replied that the knowledge was given to him. Who gave it, he was asked, and he said that it was given through his holy book, and that he was certain that ...
Working at a third world job and trying to survive in the wealthiest economy in the world just isn't working out. A friend of mine works part-time in a book store, spending the rest of her time living with and helping ill parents who are barely making ends meet because of all the confusion and ...
"What is troubling my great king now," Weepasa inquired with a disinterested look on his face, as he carefully peeled a mango. "There are many things I have learned throughout my travels, but some of my questions have never been answered," I complained, "and they are now a constant burden." ...
These seven areas are not necessarily the ones we think of or connect to when discussing the spiritual life. They are not only unusual, but authentic measuring sticks if we truly want to determine what progress we have made. Some of the terms may be unfamiliar, but their strangeness doesn't mean ...
The farmer found the mare lying on her side near the edge of the pasture. She was lying peacefully, almost as if sleeping; only occasionally raising her head to look back at where her first-bo was soon to meet this wondrous world. It was as if she had done this many times, and perhaps she had, ...
2. Living consciously. (From a talk by Ajahn Jagaro, the abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat when Janet and I trained in Thailand as a Buddhist monk and nun in 1981) "Now this (contemplating death) really does free us up, enabling us to live our lives more fully. The contemplation of death, rather than ...
Concentration calms the mind, but concentration alone will not grant the freedom we are looking for. Concentration is crucial in establishing the next step, however. Something needs to stir up the calm mind that we have developed similar to stirring up mud on the bottom of a pond so that we ...
When we strive to be free, when we try to release ourselves from the burdens that we have laid upon ourselves, we miss the point: we are already free. We simply forget that we are free. We forget by becoming bogged down in our difficulties, by pitting ourselves against others, and fighting for ...
Other than outright bad luck and unforeseen circumstances, whenever we fail to reach our goals, it's a good bet that one of these five culprits had a hand in it - 1. Taking our eye off the ball: The easiest way to get sidetracked from our goals is to become distracted by a good time. A "good ...
In a bubbling stream, And a lonely wind, That whispers Through an endless night.nn************************* In the crying of a baby, And its anxious mother, That whispers 'Till it's light.nn************************* At the end of a rainbow, And the start of the journey. And the end of ...
"Everybody knows that you are here," he said, putting up a good front. "Killing me will do you no good." Expressing no emotion, I calmly asked, "Why would I want to kill you?" "You know why. You are a threat to the king and I know that you are here," he haughtily replied. "But I am the ...
When I entered Weepasa's room the next morning, he asked me to sit down and immediately began talking about insight, "Insight results from a concentrated mind that is aware of everything it comes in contact with, but it clings to nothing. Insight is not a focused concentration centered the ...
This is an article about the root problem that forms the basis of our many problems, from the shooter who randomly kills on campus, to the worry that plagues us daily; to the restlessness we feel when we are bored. This problem is seldom explained adequately. Tragedies are usually explained by ...
No one wants to be a coward, so if we know what it takes to be a coward, perhaps we can avoid becoming one! When we read books or articles on how we can improve, or self-help books that tell us how we can help ourselves, we are in a twilight zone of assumptions and speculation. To get real, ...
St. John of the Cross claimed that all the pleasures of the world are as crumbs from the table of God. Hmm, saints must be experiencing something pretty outstanding! Actually, meeting God, face-to-face in this very lifetime, no differently than the prophets of old did, is not only possible but ...
What exactly are we supposed to do? We hear about change all the time, but instead of motivating us to do something, our politicians only know how to complain - with few real solutions. I'm afraid that it is up to us to make the moves, not our politicians. But make what moves? This is where we ...
A positive attitude is a great benefit. With a positive outlook, we can psychologically reap the advantages of happiness without relying on necessarily positive results. Even if things fall apart, our positive outlook regarding how good things will be in the future keeps us satisfied. For ...
Finally, I knew that I couldn't jump and reluctantly made my way back to the old man's room and stood there in front of everybody, pathetically defeated. Weepasa laughed heartily, "Well, you actually do have some wisdom to go along with your tiny bit of compassion. Good! You cannot train with ...
The next morning I discovered a dull ax behind the cottage that I sharpened to a razor's edge. I thought that cutting a few days' supply of firewood and stacking it neatly along the fence to repay the maiden for her thoughtfulness would be a good idea. I must admit; I was quite taken with the ...
If we don't like our job, our house, or if we are generally unhappy about our position in life, we naturally try to change our circumstances. When we are uncomfortable with any situation, we instinctively attempt to escape from it. We might feel angry inside, or frustrated thinking that ...
Do you love and hate? If you do, then you are very normal. If you just hated, or only loved, there would be consistency, but when you do both, the mind finds itself in conflict all the time, and this produces stress. So if you want to find the underlying cause of your stress, look no further ...
I am Buddhist, and while practicing meditation, I detected thoughts blossoming, one after the other, in a corner of my mind. Each one initially appeared as a single frame but quickly developed into a storyline, a dramatic movie. It might begin with a picture of myself sitting cross-legged and ...
"There is only one way that my training can be taken to heart," Weepasa warned, "and that is if mindfulness is uninterrupted each wakeful moment of each day. Do you understand what I have just said? Each wakeful moment of the day! Initially you will feel lost and confused because when your mind ...
Access Samadhi is a stage of meditation where interesting things can happen. It is the active gateway to fixed Samadhi. The danger with access Samadhi is that a meditator can become so engrossed with the unusual aspects of access Samadhi that they lose interest in going further. The ...
Being born again is a great start, but if you are finally ready to complete this "work in progress," here are seven areas to monitor: nn · Is there any lingering ill-will toward others that may not agree with you?nn· Are you self-righteous? (I'm right; you're wrong!)nn· ...
The routine in the community was delightful, and I immediately felt comfortable with these men and their shaved heads. Conqueror roamed freely among the key seekers who took an immediate liking to the crippled, old horse, spoiling him with rice and honey cakes they saved from their meals, which ...
"Trying to change this ‘I thought' requires trying to change something very ingrained," cautioned Weepasa. "It involves the destruction of ‘ourselves' because this ‘I', this ‘Me' is mixed up with our every thought and emotion. We can never put aside this ‘I' thought ...
Janet and I were taking our three-mile walk around the neighborhood this morning when we met another couple walking in the opposite direction. The woman smiled and said in passing, "Ever feel that youre going around in circles?" I looked back over my shoulder and quipped, "That's life!" Then I ...
Weeja apparently felt that he was making a crucial point as he repeated it to make certain we understood: " Contact is that instant when a sound touches my ear or a sight touches my eye. This contact lasts but an instant because right after the moment of contact, a feeling arises; desire, ...
Conqueror, my mystical horse, was not getting any younger. He had lived well beyond a normal lifespan and I wondered how many trips he could still make. Was that old, robed man, who brought an enchanted colt to the Kingdom of Ayatana those many years ago, the sorcerer? Of course, he was, and he ...
I threw myself into my practice of investigation, and did exactly as Weeja instructed, alte ating between the Calms and Investigation for the next two months, but I was having problems. I investigated my body and mind tirelessly by observing the various contacts with my senses, then I watched ...
I resignedly went back to my training, somewhat relieved, but in my heart, I knew this whole episode with Weepasa was simply my mind trying to squirm out of the inevitable – the constant mindfulness he insisted would be required. In time, I was able to see that these questions were not ...