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In his recently published book Buddha - A Story of Enlightenment, Dr. Deepak Chopra carefully describes the life and trials and eventual enlightenment of the historical Buddha, who lived in India around 300 B.C. or around three-hundred years before Christ. At the end of this great work is a section that I wish to share with you - it is called the art of non-doing (a practical guide to Buddhism). In this section are several questions and answers. This post will reveal several of these interesting questions and answers, and reveal the great wisdom that Deepak Chopra has not only as a doctor, but also as a spiritual mentor. Indeed, he learned alot from his guru, the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Here goes…

How am I supposed to follow someone who constantly insisted that he was no longer a person and didn’t have a self?
Ideally, you follow him by losing your own self. Which seems impossible, since it is your self that is fascinated by him. It is your self that is suffering and wants to be rid of suffering. The primary message of Buddhism is that this self cannot accomplish anything real. It must find a way to disappear, just as Buddha did.

The self reaches its goal by not being the self. This sounds like a paradox, right?
Yes, but Buddhists found three ways the live the wisdom that their teacher left behind. The first way was social, forming groups of disciples into a Sangha, like the group of monks and nuns that Buddha gathered during his lifetime. The second way to follow Buddha is through ethical living. Buddha was known as the Compassionate One because he loved all of humanity without judgment. The third way to follow Buddha is mystical. You take to the message of non-self. You do everything possible to break the bonds of attachment and live with non-attachment.

So, enlightenment is the same as having no desires?
You have to understand “no desires” in a positive sense, as fulfillment. At the moment a musician is performing, there is a state of no-desire because he feels fulfilled. At the moment you are eating a great meal, hunger is fulfilled, too. Buddha taught that everything desire is trying to achieve exists in Nirvana already. You must go to the source of being to be totally fulfilled and enlightened.

What is Nirvana, then?
Ordinarily, silence and thought are considered opposites, but when you go beyond opposites, they merge. You identify with the timeless source of thought rather than the thoughts emerging from it.

What advantage does merging with our Source have?
You gain peace and you no longer suffer. Death no longer holds any fear. You stand unshakably on your Own Being. In your own way, you walk the path to peace, non-suffering, fearlessness, and everything else Buddha exemplified.

Written by Keith Johnson July 22nd, 2008 Add Comment »

Today’s post is simple! I am giving you ten great links that you can check out.

Each of these links is to a great spiritual site that features OM in some way.

Let me know your comments after visiting.

Swami Krishnananda

Exiled Government of Tibet

Written by Keith Johnson July 21st, 2008 Add Comment »

It is important to have a healthy diet so that your body stays in optimal health, or at least the best possible heath that you can have. I myself am not a health fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, however, Dr. Andrew Weil’s book Eating Well For Optimal Health is a must read if you want a life with continuous health and wellness. Andrew Weil has written several books about health and his unique approach to medicine is sometimes very critical of our modern health care system. He advocates that we start to take responsibility for ourselves and not wait for a doctor to tell us to do something important for ourselves. This book has eight major sections, with chapters comprising each section:

Section One: The Principles of Eating Well
Chapter: A Healing Story: From French Fries to Kale
Chapter: A Healing Story: The Knife and Fork

Section Two: The Basics of Human Nutrition
Chapter: The Macronutrients - An Overview
Chapter: Carbohydrates Revisited
Chapter: Fat Revisited
Chapter: Protein Revisited
Chapter: The Micronutrients
A Healing Story: Integrative Medicine
A Healing Story: Overcoming Allergies

Section Three: The Worst Diet in the World
A Healing Story: Learning to make healthy food

Section Four: The Best Diet in the World
A Healing Story: A Healthy Civic Leader
A Healing Story: I Gave Up Fast Food

Section Five: A Matter of Weight
A Healing Story: Conquering an Eating Disorder

Section Six: Buying Food and Eating Out
A Healing Story: Nothing is easy

Section Seven: An Alchemist in the Kitchen
A Healing Story: Why I eat healthy foods

Section Eight: The Recipes
Soup Recipes
Salad Recipes
Appetizers
Fish
Vegetables
Pasta, Rice, Potatoes
Desserts

Appendix A: The Optimum Diet

Appendix B: Dietary Recommendations

Appendix C: Answers to Common Questions

Appendix D: Surviving Without Eating

Appendix E: Sources of Information and Materials and Supplies

Notes, Acknowledgments, and Index

Thank you, Dr. Weil, for an incredible book!

Written by Keith Johnson July 19th, 2008 Add Comment »

Chapter Seven of the Buddha’s Blessed Dhammapada portrays the Holy Soul called “The Arahant”.

For someone at the journeys’ end,
Freed from sorrow,
Liberated in all ways,
Released from all bonds,
No fever exists.

The person who has gone beyond faith,
Knows the unmade,
Has severed the link,
Destroyed the potential (for rebirth),
And eliminated clinging,
Is the ultimate person (the “Arahant”).

Inspired Source: The Dhammapada by Gil Fronsdal

Written by Keith Johnson July 15th, 2008 2 Comments »

According to the sages of the ancient Indian school of philosophy called “Vedanta”, the dilemma we face as men and women, alias, human beings, is that all of our experiences are temporal. This is because the nature of material things is temporal. All material things come into manifestation, exist, and then dissolve back to the original essence from which they came: Divine Spirit. The late spiritual master Paramahansa Ramakrishna taught that even the physical, astral, and causal universes eventually merge back into the formless and timeless Absolute Realm, which is beyond explanation. So, where can one find a sense of stability in a world that is inherently changing and temporal? The answer is the Sacred Syllable OM.

According to the sages of Vedanta, OM is the original manifestation of Divine Spirit and from OM all names, forms, time and space came into being. If you meditate or just sit in silence, you will hear a natural vibration that is everywhere you go: the Sacred Syllable OM. Allow this Transcendental Sound to become your anchor and stability. I personally love, very much, all of my good friends, family, work, and experiences, however cannot hold onto them, because their inherent nature is fleeting, or temporal. OM is a sound that is always present, because OM is the true sound-symbol of the Absolute Reality, which is beyond time and space and all causality.

So, to truly understand the teachings of the sages of Vedanta, spend about 15-30 minutes each day sitting in silence and stillness or if you know how to meditate then do so. Listen, and you will hear, for yourself, the Divine Sound of the Sacred Syllable “OM”. Feel its presence, and know that you can always have fellowship and oneness with the Divine Sound at all times, especially in times when material conditions might be stressful or trying on your patience.

For those of you new to Vedanta Philosophy: here is a great website for you to visit:

http://www.vedanta.org

Written by Keith Johnson July 13th, 2008 Add Comment »

We have finally arrived at Chapter Six of the blessed Dhammapada, Buddha’s discourse about life and spiritual enlightenment with his disciples. This particular chapter is called “The Sage”.

Like someone pointing to a treasure,
Is the Wise Person
Who sees your faults and points them out.
Associate with such a sage.
Good will come of it, and not bad.
If you associate with one such as this.

Those who fully cultivate the process of awakening
Giving up grasping and life without clinging
Destroying such toxins
Are luminous and become
Completely liberated in this lifetime.

Inspired Source: The Dhammapada, by Gil Fronsdal

Written by Keith Johnson July 12th, 2008 3 Comments »

There are some groups out there which openly worship evil and malice - groups like Satanists and some strange Pagan groups. These groups usually advocate a life of total self-absorption and indulgence, even at the expense of others’ happiness. This is indeed evil - because this is the path by which others come to experience greater pain and suffering in their lives due to the malicious intent of such evil-intended individuals. By no means do I condemn enjoyment, but at the expense of others, this is completely unacceptable. The common symbol for evil is the pentagram that has a goat, and that is why I have placed this image at the top of this post.

Some new-age thinkers, like the Theosophists, postulate that evil is actually the merger of two words: energy and veil. So, if we take “e” from energy and “vil” from veil, then we get “evil”. But is “evil” really an “energy-veil?” Let us explore this for a moment.

Enlightenment and self-actualization according to Vedanta means the elimination of obstacles that prevent us from perceiving the One Universal Domain that is common everywhere: Divine Spirit. As long as we think that energy is not present somewhere, they we may indeed be experiencing an “energy veil” or some kind of means by which we are blocked from seeing the oneness of all life. This is where the Satanists and some pagans have fallen into: this limitation of perception, hence, their focus on a life of selfishness even at the expense of others’ welfare.

To lead a life of complete self-denial is no good, also, because even the Buddha almost died when he meditated without following the middle-path. He almost died of starvation. So, evil really is falling into a mindset where we fail to see the One Universal Self - Divine Spirit - in all forms of life, and in all perceivable energy forms- the wind, sun, moon, winter, summer, the ocean, etc.

The great sages of Vedanta say that the natural sound of all existence is OM, and OM is present everywhere - in Divine Spirit as well as all names and forms, therefore OM is the way out of evil, or a limited perception of life and being. OM is the way to greater acceptance of others and seeing them also as part of the Universal Self and Universal Being that great sages like Adi Sankaracharya call “Brahman”.

Our world is scarred in many ways because most people, myself included, experience a limited concept of self, as opposed to the Universal Self. We owe it to ourselves to divest our perception from this wrong and limited perspective to one of a greater and all-encompassing nature. This is the way to peace, oneness, harmony, and truly all that is good.

My message to Satanists: if you can temper your life of 100% narcissism into 90% narcissism and 10% charity or universal perception, maybe, just maybe one stranger will help you in a way that will help you overcome whatever trauma it was that caused you to become a Satanist. Pure self-indulgence is a spiritual suicide that can only be rectified with a greater sense of self and realizing that basic needs are not only met by one’s individual efforts, but also by compassion of others who feel your pain as well. That is what the Buddha taught consistently in his sermons.

Written by Keith Johnson July 10th, 2008 Add Comment »

The fifth chapter of the Buddha’s blessed discourse, The Dhammapada, discusses “The Fool”.

Here is what the Buddha had to say about foolish people:

A deed is good that one doesn’t regret having done,
and that results in joy and delight.

Rather, one should cultivate solitude.

Inspired Source: The Dhammapada, by Gil Fronsdal

Written by Keith Johnson July 8th, 2008 Add Comment »

On this Friday, the United States will once again celebrate its annual holiday - the fourth of July - remembering the establishment of the U.S. Government and Constitution - declaring its independence from England, back in the late 1700s. Technically, the founding fathers of the U.S.A. were all conspirators and traitors against their mother nation, England. However, the declaration of this new nation’s independence had far greater meaning than just political freedom and independence, but also religious independence.

England, at that time was ruled by the Church of England, and so those who traveled to the American Continent did so because they felt oppressed by the many rules and regulations of worship that the Church of England exerted at those times. The founding fathers of the United States of America were in search of freedom. England engaged the new nation in a mighty battle which they eventually lost, and so all the fireworks that go off on July 4th are a memorial to all those who gave their lives in the name of freedom from tyranny and oppression.

I don’t know exactly what America’s founding fathers would say if they were to visit America today. Would they be happy or upset? I imagine they would probably be excited about all of the great technical advances of civilization, but sad to see how people treat one another and just how vicious our world has become. Instead of fighting with muskets and gunpowder, we fight with money, attorneys and a distorted legal system. America, two-hundred years ago, established freedom and independence from England, however America and the entire world have a long way to go to understand what true freedom really is. Let me explain.

The nineteenth century Indian Guru and Spiritual Master Ramakrishna taught that freedom is an experience that is all dormant within us and all we have to do is meditate to experience this perfect sense of being. Ramakrishna taught that God, or Divine Spirit, is an Omnipresent Force that is manifested in four “tiers” - The Absolute, The Causal, The Astral, and The Physical. The Causal, Astral and Physical Universes are all characterized by limitation based upon name and form. So, the meaning and impact of all things within these realms becomes possible merely because there is limited expression through name and form. However, the Absolute Realm, which is beyond all possible words and descriptions, is unlimited in all ways and there is no name or form that can be used to describe it. Herein lies our freedom.

So, through meditation, especially by using the Sacred Syllable OM, our awareness is able to penetrate the relative physical, astral, and causal realms. In these realms, true freedom cannot be had because the inherent nature of things is temporal. Things arise, exist, and then dissolve. However, at the Absolute Level of Being, all limitations are void and absent. They simply cannot withstand the Simple Presence of Perfect Being. In the Absolute Realm of Being, True and Everlasting Freedom is experienced, and this is the true goal of life, says Ramakrishna in his writings.

So, on one hand, as an American, I am glad to be here to experience the freedoms that my nation’s founding fathers established, such as freedom of religion and freedom of thought. At the same time, there is a way to live such that one transcends the mind and experience freedom that is beyond all definitions that apply to the body and mind. This is the domain of Divine Spirit.

So, practice some meditation each day to experience for yourself the great sense of freedom that is within you. In our lives, there are three levels: body, mind, and spirit. We can indeed experience limited freedoms of the body and mind, through certain actions and thoughts. At the same time, by heeding the advice and suggestions of the great and noble spiritual masters who have gone before us, we can experience yet another level of freedom that surpasses all words and ideas. Such is the blessing of meditation. May all people of the world be blessed with freedom and the chance to meditate to experience the limitless domain of Divine Spirit, our Divine Source, that is always free.

Written by Keith Johnson July 2nd, 2008 2 Comments »

Here is Chapter Four of the blessed Dhammapada (discourse of Buddha to his disciples):

Who will master this world and the realms of Yama and the gods?
Who will select a well-taught Dharma teaching as a skilled person selects a flower?

As a sweet-smelling lotus flower is pleasing to the heart,
And that might even grow in a pile of rubbish along the highway,
So a disciple of the fully Awakened One (Buddha)
Shines with wisdom and virtue amidst the many people who
Travail this life as blind men and lead only common lives.

Inspired Sources: Dhammapada by Gil Fronsdal, ISHWAR website.

Written by Keith Johnson July 1st, 2008 Add Comment »