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Browse published articles attributed to E. (anagarika eddie) Raymond Rock, with full-archive search.
According to Patricia Cohen of the New York times, A new five-year analysis of the nation's death rates recently released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the suicide rate among 45-to-54-year-olds increased nearly 20 percent from 1999 to 2004, the latest year ...
For seven years, congress has done relatively little regarding the very serious problems we face, such as a failing economy for the middle class, a war that we are bogged down in and where we are at the mercy of powerless Iraqi government that sides with Iran, a looming social security crisis, ...
Lack of adequate guidance Lack of resolve or faith Lack of confidence Lack of courage DistractionsnLaziness Anger Lack of adequate guidance: According to the Buddha, who is arguably the quintessential expert on enlightenment, in order to become enlightened we must understand how to ...
I thought you were going to the community," a John said, his eyebrows Raised. "Yes, yes, I am on my way," Moosawa stammered, looking surprised. "But isn't it in the other direction," a John inquired." "Of course, I should have known that," said Moosawa. A John tried to ease the key ...
Conqueror and I remained at our vantage point in the foothills until the weather exhausted itself. With the floods beginning to melt into the countryside, and with no signs of my enemies from the north, our journey to the far country and the cave resumed as we headed for lower ground. Each ...
Understanding oneself, one's drives, one's emotions, the way in which one's mind works, is the minimum requirement for successful relationships. Without this understanding of oneself, without taking the time to learn about oneself, relationships can be merely a tug of war between two independent ...
This article is about nothing. Therefore, after you read it, you won't know anything more than you did before reading it; it will be a total waste of your time because I have nothing to say. I mean, what can be said about mountains so high that the snow never leaves their peaks, and as we gaze ...
It can sneak up on you like a thief in night; change that is. One day, you are content and happy with your life, and the next, it's as if you find yourself living on mars. Everything around you has somehow changed, and you haven't, or maybe you have changed and everything else has remained ...
· Reducing stressnn· Feeling better mentally and physicallynn· Eliminating fear and uncertainty from our livesnn· Changing aspects of our lives we do not likenn· Deepening and improving our relationships with othersnn· Becoming more ...
Meetings of yesterday - seeds of tomorrow’s partings Planted as hope - the sadness I know, Growing straight and strong for so long, And now fallen down in an ocean of tears. Had I but known of the heartaches ahead, And if I did, what matter? What escape from this velvet noose, This ...
WASHINGTON (AP) People who tend to the elderly, change diapers, and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers. Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report . . . When we work with old people, ...
1. Misunderstanding what a relationship is all about. A relationship is an opportunity to give, rather than take. If one or both partners have plastered on their forehead, "What's in this for me," things will get dicey. The key to a successful relationship is always uncompromising trust, and ...
The sound of pacing reverberated throughout the high spire, echoing along the halls of the upper chambers. I stopped pacing long enough to gaze longingly at the valley below, slowly, from one end to the other, this precious kingdom that would be mine someday. Everyone looked small and ...
Love. Stay! Do you understand? I want you. Stay! Are you my love? Will you make me happy? Please make me happy. Be my love. Stay! Will you always love me? Love me forever? Please love me forever. Be my love. Stay! Are you my love? Will you change? Please don’t change. Be my love, ...
The forest was deliciously cool now, waiting silently, reverently for the day ahead, while lively birds and animals greeted the new morning with their familiar cries. The trail was a lush, fragrant tunnel of large ferns, bamboo groves, and tropical flowers surrounded by endless trees, foliage, ...
A recent report from the prestigious Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life comes down to this - Christians are getting restless. The report, other than indicating the consumerish attitude of modern religion shoppers, may indicate a deeper trend; it could mean that religion, as a mystery, as an ...
When we think of heart, we think of our emotions. In the context of this article, however, heart means the summation of all that we are; our emotions, our thoughts, our bodies, and our minds – and the affairs of life that we all share. Affairs of the heart always begin with a solitary ...
Although meditation is thousands of years old, it is relatively new in the west. Here in America, new ideas seem to introduce themselves at three levels. First, a new idea is viewed as threatening and it is feared. Later, it is made fun of, ridiculed and laughed at. And finally, it is accepted ...
The mind is a curious thing. Oddly enough, it seeks security in such silly concepts as the past. But what if the mind learned not to do that? What if the mind trained itself not to seek security in the past and only focused on what was happening in the present? What would happen then? That, ...
It is important that we remain true to our own ambitions, whatever they happen to be. If they are harmful or helpful to others, or ourselves, we will find out soon enough through the reflection of our associations. Learning to play our instrument flawlessly is very important. We should be aware ...
No, it's not to make babies! Although making babies is a very important consideration regarding the propagation of our species, especially in Europe and the United States where the birth rate is plummeting, it's not the prime purpose. And it's not to keep you company. Or make you financially or ...
An excerpt from Wikipedia.org (Religious Left): “The Christian Left holds that social justice, renunciation of power, humility, forgiveness, and private observation of prayer (as opposed to publicly mandated prayer) are clearly mandated by the Gospel text . . . Bible scholars observe that early ...
Spirituality is an innate quality we all have in various degrees. For that spiritual quality to move from an innate to an active mode, however, depends upon three things. If any of the three are missing, spiritual tendencies could be smothered by our instinctive reactions of greed, hatred, and ...
If a star is originally only gasses that are compressed into a burning sun, then someday that star will become only gas again. If the universe was at one time pure energy, then all the stars and planets will become pure energy again; dust to dust so to speak. And this constant change, I ...
This is fun! Just score each issue, add up your score, and see who's your man . . . or woman! It is important, really important I feel, to not only do our civic duty and responsibly research who matches up to our particular preferences, but to make sure and vote. As Thomas Jefferson once said, ...
Eons ago when we lived in caves, we would get hungry, and when we got hungry, we would become very unhappy and mad as hell, and we would go out and kill something to eat! Today, if we become unhappy with our situation, whatever it may be, we get mad as hell and change it! So unhappiness has its ...
It was 1981 and my wife and I were living at a monastery in the remote jungles of Northeast Thailand practicing as a Buddhist monk and nun . . . and Janet was having problems stomaching the coarse food. With only one meal in the morning and no further food permitted the rest of the day, she ...
I made my way back toward the monastery and noticed a middle-aged man waiting near the entrance; he had his hands clasped, indicating that he would like to speak with me. When I walked over to where he was waiting, he said, “Thank you for a moment of your time. I must make a difficult decision ...
We worry a lot, and the things we worry about are unlimited. For example, the current hot issues - the war, the economy, immigration, global warming, health care - and the list goes on. If these weren't enough, how about our personal problems, our jobs, our relationships, our families, our ...
A common mistake made by new and intermediate meditators is the frittering away of the insights and energy that result naturally from meditation practice. Unless a meditator knows how to manage this energy and insight, he or she will fall into the trap of a premature re-embracing of the world. ...
Ask any educator today about the purpose of teaching, and they will more than likely say that it is to bestow knowledge, not much different from programming a computer. But is that the true purpose of teaching, or is that only an obsession with past, dead information? Another educator might say ...
From the Bible, we learn all kinds of things about God. What we don’t know about God, however, are things like; what does He do on Sunday afte oons? Since we are created in His likeness, He must like the same things we do. Doesn’t that make sense? So, He must like football games! Go Packers!nn ...
We have all foolhardily said, at one time or another, that if we only had so and so, we would be happy forever. I remember saying it when I was a little tyke and wanted a two-wheeler, and later when I was a young man and wanted a house, three kids, and two cars! I think we set ourselves up when ...
Men and women, seeking spiritual answers they can't seem to find in Western culture or traditional religious pathways, are trying meditation. A large (and growing) number of people are taking up the practice, including open-minded Christians and undocumented millions of seekers who are ...
When a Buddhist monk or nun ordains, they give away everything. They give away their relationships, their families, their business career or job, house, car, clothes – everything. They trade it all for three simple robes and a begging bowl, and perhaps a chance to see the "Dhamma" -- a catalyst ...
"Thou shalt not bear false witness" - the Ninth Commandment that is probably more abused than any other! Lying is one of the Buddhist precepts as well, the fourth to be exact. The problem with Buddhism, however, is that lying is not simply a matter of making an untrue statement, lying goes much ...
Feel-good spiritual paths espousing light and love and the prospect of some kind of an enlightenment with little or no effort are plentiful, but have they really changed you? A trend is developing toward a serious approach to spirituality involving personal, in-depth, permanent changes in ...
1. Relying on your feelings rather than your intuition. Feelings regarding a new relationship will almost always involve powerful lust. This is natural. When an interest grows sexually, it grows as quickly and as surely as a child. Each interaction doubles the desire until the need to be ...
Creativity and vision are what distinguish the exceptionally successful person from the ordinary person. Once creativity and vision are established, energy, passion, and leadership follow. To acquire these is surprisingly easy because we are all naturally creative and visionary. Some of us, ...
Let's say that a caveperson makes some baskets. Other cavepeople like the baskets, and trade some fruits and berries for a basket. This is legitimate. But let's say that an enterprising caveperson prints some money, and uses that to pay for a basket. Then, the basket maker only holds a piece of ...
The subjects of this article are cherished goals. What could be more rewarding than a life fulfilled, or expressing ones deepest felt emotions and thoughts? The problem is; one person's fulfillment might be another's tragedy. Take for example the dream of home ownership. A young woman, ...
If we are accustomed to eating out three times a week, and for financial reasons can only eat out twice, we feel deprived. Additionally, if we only eat at exclusive restaurants (wouldn’t be caught dead in a chain!), then we will feel disadvantaged if we have to eat at an Olive Garden, or, dare I ...
People of all religions and spiritual persuasions are attempting to get at the root of their faiths. They are doing this by deepening their awareness and examining religious beliefs instead of just reading more books. They are searching for real answers this time to their deepest questions - ...
Below our conscious mind is a stream of subconscious, emotional activity. Buddhists call this stream the Life Continuum Consciousness, or the Bhavanga. Sometimes we call it just karma. It is what remains with us from lifetime to lifetime and impels us to do what we do, whether they are good ...
Politics, defined as "social relations involving authority or power," dominate a religious organization when the religion is no longer relevant; the operational words being "social," and power." When a religion becomes more of a social event instead of living up to the original tenets of ...
What can we expect to gain from meditation? Nothing, in the beginning, except for a somewhat annoying practice that always seems to get in the way of our doing something more important! If we are half-way serious about our practice, however, we will persevere, and eventually get to a point where ...
Research has revealed that the part of our brain that is stimulated when we are in love is not the emotional centers as once thought, but the part of the brain that controls physical lust. In other words, being in love has everything to do with sex and little to do with love. Emotionally, after ...
As long as there is hope, there will be despair. As long as there is experience, there will be death. Yet fervently we seek both. nnn Human beings are strange creatures. What creatures of earth aren't? For one thing, we eat each other. The child Buddha saw this one day at a ploughing festival in ...
Counting calories, ordering special diet meals, measuring out portions - these are indications that we remain mesmerized and captivated by food - food has taken over our entire lives with no escape; food is an addiction no different from heroin, and maybe more dangerous because we think that ...
"I need you," is not something we hear too often these days. When we do hear it, however, it touches a very deep chord in the depths of our being. To be needed, to be necessary and important means so much, because as human beings, we will always need each other. When we are not needed, when ...