EVERY MINUTE ZEN

Good evening bloggers. The Peace of the Lord above be with you. Namaste! Shalom! and Salam! I just would like to share the importance of living always in the present. You might say, ah! it need not be anymore, as we are doing it already. If that is so, then go on and read this story:

"Zen students are with their masters at least ten (10) years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him, Nan-in remarked: 'I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs.'

Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realinzed that he was unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan-in's pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every minute Zen." (Zen flesh, Zen bones, 101 Zen Stories).

The question now, i propound to you, Do you know now where you left your umbrella, a while ago, is it on the right or left side of the clogs?.......

LEARNING TO BE SILENT

The pupils of the Tendai School used to study meditation before Zen entered Japan. Four of them who were intimate friends promised one another to observe seven days of silence.

On the first day all were silent. Their meditation began auspiciously, but when night came and the oil lamps were growing dim one of the pupils could not help exclaiming to a servant: "Fix those lamps."
The second pupil was surpirsed to hear the first one talk. "We are not supposed to say a word" he remarked.
"You two are stupid. Why did you talk?" asked the third.
"I am the only one who has not talked," concluded the fourth pupil.

(101 Zen Stories)

PAGMUMUNI-MUNI

Hindi ko ganap na maunawaan, pagtatalo sa mga bagay na espiritwal, sa mga ritwal at pamamaraan ng pagdarasal. Kung bakit pati ang pananalangin ay pinagtatalunan. Marami ang nagsasabi, na sila'y mga mananaliksik, sinasaliksik pati ang hiwaga ng Diyos. At marami na rin ang nagsasabi na nakita na nila ang katotohanan. Nakakatuwa, kapag nababasa ang pagtatalo nila. Pataasan ng ihi, ika nga. Mga nagsasabi na hawak nila ang mataas na orasyon o panalangin o mga panira sa cabal at kung anu-ano pa.

Minsan mayroon nagtanong ng aking opinyon, ano ba daw ang pinakamabisang orasyon, yaon bang nasa wikang latin, espanyol, o yaon mga lumang lenggwahe tulad ng aramaic. Ang sabi ko sa kaluluwang ito ay simple lang at deretso - Ang pinakamabisang orasyon o panalangin ay yaon nagmumula sa iyong PUSO, yaong dasal na hindi kayang ipaliwanag ng ordinaryong salita. Nagmumula sa pusong nagmamahal at lubos ng pagsisisi sa mga pagkakamali na kanyang nagawa. Hindi sinabi ni Adonai na pakikinggan lamang nya yaong mga orasyon na minemorya lamang sa wikang latin. Ang mahalaga ay ang tinatawag na sincerity, hindi ang pagme-memorya. Kung ito ang paiiralin natin, malamang tayo ay mapabilang na din sa mga loro na natuturuan magsalita, masarap pakinggan - nakaka-aliw, ngunit walang saysay, walang laman.

At wala rin kwenta na pagtalunan ang tungkol sa kung ano nga ba ang Diyos, Siya ba ay lalaki o babae. Kailanman, walang maka-aarok sa mistryo ng Diyos. Anu man ang mga naglalabasan na aklat na nagbibgay paliwanag tungkol sa kung ano nga ang Diyos ay nagkakamali. Kung ang Diyos ay maipapaliwanag ng isang ordinaryong tao, then, God ceases to be a God. Kaya nga Diyos, dahil walang maka-arok ng kanyang pagka-Diyos.

Tungkol pa rin sa mga cabal o pananggalang, walang sinuman ang may karapatan na sabihin sa sarili niya na kaya niyang sirain ang orasyon o kabal ng iba. Ang mga kaisipang ganyan ay pagpapakita lamang na mabababaw pa ang kanilang pag unawa sa mga gamit pananampalataya o mga bagay na espirtiwal. Kung ang tangan tangan mo ay galing sa AMA bakit hindi ka lubos na nabago nito. Isa ka pa rin hambog, puno ng kayabangan. Ang tao na sumasakanya ang Diyos ay ganap na nababago ang sarili - nagiging mahinahon, mapagkumbaba, walang inisip kundi ang kabutihan ng kapwa. Sa daigidig o realm ng espirito, hindi kailangan ang tinig mo kundi ang tunay na ikaw - isa din espirito. Magandang Gabi. Eidl Ftr nga pala sa ating mga kapatid na Muslim. Salam alay kum salam.

TRUE WISDOM

"Who is wise and instructed among you? Let him by his good behavior show his work in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jelousy and contentions in your hearts , do not glory and be liars against the truth. This is not the wisdom that descends from above. IT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH. For where there is envy and contentiousness, there is instability and every wicked deed. But the wisdom that is from aboveis first of all CHASTE, then PEACEABLE,MODERATE, DOCILE, in harmony with good things full of mercy and GOOD FRUITS, without judging, without dissimulation. The fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace."

"Whence do wars and quarrels come among you? Is it not from this, from your passions, which wage warin your members? You covet and do not have; you kill and envy, and cannot obtain. You quarrel and wrangle, and you do not have because you do not ask. YOU ASK AND DO NOT RECEIVE, BECAUSE YOU ASK AMISS, that you may spend it upon your passions. ADULTERERS, do you not know that friendship with this world is enmity with God?" (JAMES 3;16 - 4:4)

KNOWING WHEN TO TALK

" A person can be rebuked in the wrong way, it may be wiser to keep quiet than to speak. But it is much better to rebuke the person than to keep your anger bottled up. Admit when you are wrong and you will avoid embarassment. Using force to get a point across is like a castrated man trying to rape a girl. Some people are taught to be wise because they don't talk too much; others are disliked because they talk too much. Some people keep quiet because they don't have anything to say ; others keep quiet because they know the right time to speak. A wise person will not speak until the right moment but a bragging fool doesn't know when that time is. No one can stand a person who talks too long and will not give others a chance to speak". (SIRACH 20:1-8)

THE TIME OF THE END

"The angel wearing linen clothes saith, 'At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved. Many of those who have already died will live again some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. The wise leaders will shine with all brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like stars forever". (Daniel 12:1-5)

THE AWFUL HORROR

"You will see the Awful Horror standing in the place where he should not be. Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. A man who is on the roof of his house must not lose time in going down into the house to get anything to take with him. A man who is in the field must not go back to his house for his cloak. How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! Pray to God that these things will not happen in the winter! For the trouble of those days will be far worse than any of the world has ever known from the very beginning when God created the world until the present time . Nor will there ever be ever anything like it again. But the Lord has reduced the number of those days; If he had not nobody would survive. For the sake of His chosen people, however he has reduce those days.

Then, if anyone says to you, 'Look there is the messiah or there he is! - do not believe him. For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible be on your guard! I have told you ahead of time." (MARK 13: 14-22)

TROUBLES & PERSECUTIONS

"Jesus said to them : Watch out and don't let anyone fool you. Many men claiming to speak for Me, will come and say, 'I am He' and they will fool many people. And don't be troubled when you hear the noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen but they do not mean that the end has come. Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of birth.

You yourselves must watch out. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings for my sake to tell them the Good News. But before the end comes, the gospel must be preached to all peoples. And when you are arrested and taken to court do not worry ahead of time about what you are going to say ; when the time comes, say whatever is then given to you. For the words you speak will not be yours, they will come from the Holy Spirit. Men will hand over their brothers to be put to death , and fathers will do the same to their children. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me , but whoever holds out to the end will be saved." (MARK 13: 3-13)

- I need no longer explain the contents, you! understand the meaning of the words.

SACRAMENTALS - How does it differ from those we call as amulets/charms?

Good evening to all of you dear fellow bloggers! Tonight, i just would like to post some of my thoughts on Sacramentals and Amulets. Sacramentals are those things which the Holy Mother Church blesses for the intention of arousing in ourselves lively sentiments of faith. In the past, wearers of these sacramentals whether in the form of medals, rosaries, or holy water itself deem it to be some kind of heavenly protection on one's person. On the otherhand, Amulets and charms are of pagan origin designed and kept by person believing that these would protect him/her from harm. Glancing from these statements, there is one common word worth discussing or delving for - Protection. Yes, both are used for protection, although, in the case of sacramentals, it is more directed in arousing our faith in God. Unlike, in the use of amulets or charms, the mind is focused on the thing itself, although it uses formulas derived from prayers, but the intention is on the amulet or charm. An amulet wearer would say i do have faith in the one i call upon, because He protects me - if this is so, then why most of them feel restless, whenever they forget to bring along with them their "things". If the same truly arouses faith just like in sacramentals, then why fear if the said amulet whatever you call it is not with you or not on your bodies. This is not the kind of faith in which the Lord Jesus Christ taught us. If one has faith, he or she does not need any outward things to help him/her. It is enough that deep within our hearts we believe in the powerful words of our Saviour, that He will defend and protect us wherever we are, whatever we are in.

I for one do have these "things" (see previous posts) but i never considered them as lucky charms or objects of protection, rather, whenever, i have them with me, though i don't mumble many prayers, i do believe that God's protection is with me, for i am HIS child. The same feeling also occurs even though i don't have them with me. We must remember - it is not the thing itself that brings protection, rather it is the one whom we remember whenever we see those "things".

Good evening and God bless all of us!