BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Active meditation.

To all or none,

The sitting meditation being taken care of by Lisa the Moderator

Thich Nhat Hanh ,wrote the book on active meditation ,which he
is an avid preacher,not the word ,I wanted to use,the other is not yet in my limited vocabulary.
We will start today,with one sharing from page 122 of the book
Buddha Mind,Buddha Body.

Thoughts have millions of pathways,and we are forever pulled along by them into the world of forgetfulness.If we can transform our walking path into a field for meditation,our feet will take every step in full Awareness,our breathing will be in harmony with our steps,and our mind will naturally be at ease .Every step we take will reinforce our Peace and Joy and cause a stream of calm energy to flow through us.Then we say ,"With each step ,a gentle wind blows.

Enough for today

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,

I found the word I was looking for:Proness, prone instead of avid.
Learned 2 new words today,prone and proness.Notwithstanding,
the text posted.

loong
a simple budhist

To all or none,

Thich Nhat Hanh, in appendix B of the same book ,listed
FIFTY ONE MENTAL FORMATIONS.They are listed both in sanskrit and English,I shall list only the English part.

The 5 Universals
contact,
attention
feeling
perception
volition.

The 5 Particulars
intention
determination,
Mindfulness(my favorite)
concentration
insight

WHOLESOME
faith
inner shame
shame before others
ABSENCE OF CRAVING
absence of hatred
absence of ignorance
diligence,energy
equanimity,non-harming

Wholesome mental formations added by TNH
non-fear
absence of anxiety
stability,solidity
loving kindness
compassion,
joy
humility,happiness
feverlesness
freedom/sovereignty

Now we go to the UNwholesome the 6 primary
craving,covetousness
hatred
ignorance,confusion
arrogance
doubt,suspicion
wrong view

20 secondary UNwholesome
anger
resentment,enmity
concealment
maliciousness
jealousy
selfishness,parsimony
deceitfulness,fraud
guile
desire to harm
pride

2nd Middle Secondary UNwholesome
lack of inner shame
lack of shame before others

8 Greater Secondary UNwholesome
restlesness
drowsiness
lack of faith,unbelief
laziness
negligence
forgetfulness
distraction
lack of discernement
fear,anxiety
despair

INDETERMINATE

regret,repentance,sleepiness,
initial thought
sustained thought.


This is by itself quite a list of what I beleive we all live.
If we could only live the wholesome ones.One day(illusion)

loong
messender

To all or none,

There are pine trees that grow on very poor soil on the mountainside.There is very little nutrition there for a seed to sprout and grow.But because of that difficulty ,the pine tree has thecahance to go deep into the soil and become very strong so the wind can't blow it down.If the pine encounters only easy conditions along the way,then its roots may not go as deeply and firmly into the earth ,and when the strong winds come it may be. Blown over.

Sometimes odstacles and difficulties HELP you to SUCCEED.

This must have been written for me 😉

To all or none,
When you make a step,you may visualize that your mother is taking that step with you.This is not something difficult because you know that your feet are a continuation of the feet of your mother.As
we practice looking deeply,we see the presence of our mother in every cell of our body.Our body is also a continuation of our mother's body.When you make a step,you may say,"Mother,walk with me.".And suddenly you feel your mother in you walking with you.You may notice that ,during her lifetime,she did not have much chance to walk in the here and the now and to enjoy touching the earth like you.So suddenly Compassion,Love is born.

Loong's comment:When I was a child ,my mother and I were always at war.At that time ,I had no love for her.She was very mentally
sick ,as I BECAME.Recently ,I had a terror nitemare with my mother
in which ,I remember clearly yelling to her:You killed me inside,
You killed me inside.I strongly believe that all the hate seeds contained in my store consciousness,died at that point.
From now on my mother shall walk with me.

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,

Walking In The Pure Land.
If yo are walking with Buddha's feet,you are walking in heaven ,you are walking in the Pure Land with each step.Every time you move,your foot touches the Pure Land Of Buddha.With Mindfulness ,you become aware of your step,and you touch the Pure Land with
all its wonders.Such a step generates Freedom,joy,and healing.We all know that walking meditation is to enjoy walking into the Kingdom of the Universe,in the Pure Land of the Buddha,and walking like
like that can transform ,can heal,can generate a lot of love inside.

Loong
messenger and practitioner.

That's great Loong. It is interesting - the idea of our mother's love for us is often invoked in Buddhist writings as a way of understanding pure compassion and love. Yet in the West it does not click for many people, because of experiences like yours - damaged, ill, or addicted mothers that could not parent from a place of love, at least not consistently. For so many people, healing childhood wounds, and developing a solid psychological foundation, is the first step on the dharma path. Only after this has happened can one really begin to practice.

To all or none,
With Mindfulness you will be aware that to be present,to be alive on Earth,and to be making steps on this beautiful planet is a real miracle.Master Lin Chi said that the miracle is not to walk on water or in the air,but the miracle is to walk on the Earth.All of us can perform the miracle of walking on the Earth;all of us can
take seven steps.If we succeed ,we can make the eight step and ninth.With the Energy of Mindfulness, our feet become the Buddha's feet.To generate the energy of Mindfulness is not difficult.The practice of mindful breathing generates the energy of Mindfulness.
And with that power,that energy of Mindfulness,we empower our feet ,and our feet become the BUDDHA'S feet.When you walk with the feet of the Buddha,the place you walk is .....The Buddha Land.
From the book Walking with Buddha,s feet chapter.

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist
Note to the reader this text is from the Mahayana Lineage

To all or none ,
These words are written so that a newcomer can understand why 7steps are so important.
It has been written that Siddhartha Gautama dixit the Buddha,
when born ,walked ..seven steps..This is complementary to post #857126.


Loong
Buddhist

To all or none,

I find it deceiving that this thread ,is not visited more often.
THICH NHAT HANH,offers a way of getting meditation in every aspect of your life,washing dishes,peeling potatoes,waxing the floors,doing your nails etc.
Today,s subject is Taking Refuge in the Triple Jewels and much more.

So here goes :when we Take Refuge in the Three Jewels ,who are Buddhah,Dharma,Sangha.When we receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings,we are born again in our spiritual life,and like Siddhartha,we can make seven steps successfully.Step one,touching the earth.Step two,feeling the sky in the earth and so on.

You need only seven steps in order to get .ENLIGHTENMENT.Enlightenment can be realized at every moment of our
Daily life.To be aware that you are alive and walking on Earth
THAT IS ALREADY ENLIGHTENMENT.



Loong
Buddhist ,messenger,learner.

To all or none,
Anyone can practice mindful breathing and produce Mindfulness.
Anyone can make a step in Mindfulness and touch the earth in Mindfulness, touch the Kingdom of the Universe in Mindfulness.
There are those of us who need to go into outer space in order to be able to appreciate the Earth.We have the tendency to take
things for granted.We don't treasure what's here already.

There are so many conditions for happiness and well-being available
to us,but we are not able to get in touch with them.The teaching of the Buddha is to help us to. be Mindful ,Mindful that we are there,that the sky is still blue,that the trees and the rivers are still there ,that we can enjoy every minute of our daily life so
that our continuation will have a better chance.
Mindfulness makes it possible that each moment of our life becomes a wonderful moment.That is the greatest gift we can make to our children.Who are our children ? Our children are ourselves,because our children are our continuation.So every moment of our daily life can become a gift to our children and the world.