Two Weeks in a Row.....
I went to Church, of sorts, tonight, that makes twice in a row. Never mind, we're off to Great Barrier and we're staying at Uncle Darren's the night before, which is next Sunday, and unless I tag along with Dorothy if she heads of to (Catholic) Church, I don't think there's much chance of me and a hat-trick. And it was more Temple than Church.
I attended the Buddhist temple, it was fabulous, very welcoming, very easy to follow the chanting (in whatever language it was), and some great stuff in the literature they gave me when I asked for it:
The Buddhist Path. The Buddha taught a path of spiritual awakening, a way of 'practice' that we can use in our daily lives. This 'Path of Practice' can be divided into three mutually supportive aspects - Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom.
and, The Five Precepts (to be taken along with a commitment to the Three Refuges (Wisdom, Truth and Virtue):
1. To refrain from killing living creatures.
2. To refrain from taking what is not given.
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. To refrain from harsh and false speech.
5. To refrain from taking intoxicating liquor and drugs.
and, the longest quote I've seen in a while:
Do not rely upon what you have heard proclaimed, or upon custom, or upon rumour, or upon scripture, or inference, or established principles, or clever reasoning, or favouring a pet theory. Do not be convinced by someone else's apparent intelligence, nor out of respect for a teacher.... When you yourself know what is wrong, foolish and unworthy, and what leads to harm and discontent, abandon it.... And when you yourself know what is right, develop it"
So. Be respectful, and improve yourself - because it's the right thing to do, not because someone tells you to.
I like that.
posted by The Gorgeous Debbie at 10:37 pm
3 Comments:
Oh, freak-out!!! I am 3/4 of the way through The Naked Buddha. And I have only had it two days. Have you ever read something which makes total utter sense to you? It's like I have been thinking like a buddhist all along, so weird, everything speaks to me. I am going to make a little meditation altar now, start on that path to enlightenment. So inspiring!
Yep, I've always thought that buddhism was the way for me, if I was going to pin myself down to any one type of organised religion thingee, I think Buddhism would be the choice. I think I like that it's man in the mirror stuff, improve the world one person (you) at a time, do stuff becaause it's intrinsically the right thing to do, not because of guilt about what someone else might have said, done, thought, or what they might say, do or think about/to you.
Although I have a long journey ahead of me - last night, right after I wrote that post, I wandered down to the kitchen, saw a white-tailed spider, screeched, swore, grabbed some toilet paper, squashed him and picked him up with it, threw him down the toilet and then flushed it. So I killed a living creature AND spoke harshly in the same incident, not 20 seconds after I was feeling all enlightened, lol!
Lol. Yes, I was contemplating the *white tailed* issue yesterday, as they have a thing for Kyla, but I saw one outside the other day and left it alone. Yay.
What I love about it is that it makes allowances for our flaws (of which I have many) AND no *god* talk, how refreshing. Loving it, fits well....shall we go on a retreat together, meditate, wear yellow robes and shave our heads? ;)
Enjoy the Barrier Island! xxxx
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