You Reap What You Sow

"Good morning," said a woman as she walked up to the man sitting on ground. The man slowly looked up.

This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new.. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life.

His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.. "Leave me alone," he growled....

To his amazement, the woman continued standing.

She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president. Now go away."

The woman's smile became even broader. Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm.

"What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone.

Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked..

"No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"

The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"

"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for awhile."

"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up. "Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything."

" This is a good deal for you, Jack" the officer answered. "Don't blow it.."

Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived...

The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by his table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked. "What is all this, is this man in trouble?"

"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered.

"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business.."

Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."

The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled....... "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"

"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."

"And do you make a godly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"

"What business is that of yours?"

I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company."

"Oh."

The woman smiled again. "I thought that might make a difference." She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"

"No thanks, ma'am," the officer replied. "I'm on duty."

"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"
"Yes, maam. That would be very nice."

The cafeteria manager turned on his heel, "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."

The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.

"That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."

She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently.. "Jack, do you remember me?"

Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."

"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."

"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.

"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."

Jack lit up with a smile. "Now I remember," he said.. "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."

"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble... Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right."

"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.

"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card.. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons...He's the personnel director of my company. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office." She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet... If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you."

There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you?" he said.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. Thank Jesus...... He led me to you."

Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways....

"Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.

"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. "Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And..And thank you for the coffee."

Karmic Affinities

One day, when the Buddha entered a village with his assistant Ananda, he approached a poor woman to share his teachings with her.

However, the woman disliked the Buddha so much, that despite his magnificent and pleasing appearance, she could not even stand the sight of him. Wherever the Buddha went, she would turn away. When he went to her right, she would look left. When he went to her left, she would look right… Even when the Buddha used his supernormal power to levitate above to catch her attention, she looked down and refused to look up.

However, when she saw Ananda, her attitude became the reversed. She was naturally drawn to him, and happily listened to the Buddha's teachings related by him, which she found to be beneficial. This is very interesting as though Ananda almost resembled the Buddha in form, he was still not his equal, and especially not the same in compassion, wisdom and skilful means. How is this outcome possible then?

In a distant previous life, the woman once lost her child and was consumed by much grief. A spiritual practitioner passed by and enquired after her. After hearing about her misfortune, he replied somewhat 'indifferently', that there was no need to grieve as death is natural. As he seemed detached, his words felt cold and hurting, which gave rise to her aversion.

When another practitioner came by and enquired similarly, he kindly offered his condolences, before sharing about the truth of death.

The first practitioner was the Buddha-to-be and the latter Ananda-to-be. Due to these karmic affinities formed, the woman developed a 'natural' disdain for 'the Buddha' and a 'natural' attraction to 'Ananda'.

As such,positive and negative karmic affinities can be carried not only from one moment to the next in this life, but also from one life to the next. This is a crucial reason why we ought to be mindful of the impact of our fewest words and slightest gestures, or even the lack of them, as they can affect present and future relationships for better or worse.

Although the Buddha, with his great wisdom, already knew the outcome of his approaches to the woman, what he demonstrated was the importance of doing our best in connecting to others, with as many skilful means as possible, before deciding the next skilful means is to step back, to let the 'next better player' try.

The inexplicable 'first' impressions we have towards total or near strangers are often due to affinities formed in past lives. As these perceptions are not always rational, and often result from emotional bias, as in the case above, we should learn to manage all relationships anew, to form updated and thus truer perceptions of people as they are now. Feel-good vibes might not always turn out good, just like feel-bad vibes might turn out unjustified. Unless proven 'hopeless' for the time being, all deserve second chances – including ourselves. Remember, if you believe any affinity to be beyond hope, you are fatalistic with dishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbelief in the dynamic nature of karma, whose power you always hold!

For true skilful means to arise,
true compassion and wisdom must arise
to create skilful karmic affinities too.

- extracted from The Daily Enlightenment

Oh Wow!!

In the beautiful and touching eulogy, Steve Job's sister, Mona Simpson, wrote about how his brother prepared for his death.

As he knew that he was dying soon, he prepared for it by meeting the people that he wants to meet, saying goodbyes to his friends and treasuring each moment with his family. He approached his impending death with equanimity, knowing that death is as natural as life.

His last words as he drew his final breaths were, "Oh Wow!! Oh Wow! Oh Wow!!".

In his death Steve Jobs shows the person that he is. He faced it with courage and acceptance. He also let go of all his earthly attachments, simply just welcoming his final journey.

Even with his last breaths, he demonstrated his fearlessness because as a Buddhist, he knew that there was nothing to fear about death.

His final exclamations seems to indicate the beautiful rewards that he was going towards.

Because he has done so much for the world, the kinds of gifts that he has given to man-kind and the life that he lived, Steve Jobs generated a lot of good karma.

Therefore, when he died, he was shown the kind of paradise that his good karma has prepared for him. And that is why he go towards his next journey with no fear, with no reluctance and at peace.

And that is a good way to die...

Even Gods May Fall

Whoever has accumulated much merit, after his rebirth in the Deva-realms [heavenly planes of gods], lives there till the end of the life-span of that realm is attained.

If, however, the force of the meritorious deed [good karma] that caused his rebirth onto that realm [which is limited] is exhausted before the end of the life-span of that realm, is reached, he dies [and resume rebirth within Samsara, if not yet enlightened].

Some devas sometimes so indulge themselves in the pleasures and enjoyments of the Deva-realms, that they forget to take their food at the due and proper time. Consequently, at last, they come in for a fainting fit and then pass away. Some others die due to extreme anger caused by jealousy against another’s prosperity.

That is because their subtle bodies cannot endure the burning that their anger generates within themselves, so their bodies are consumed and wither. (This description is given in the story of Ghosaka in the commentary of the Dhammapada.)

In describing the actual manner in which death occurs in these Deva-realms, we are told that when death is approaching and a deva is destined to fall away (die), five signs of warning are shown to him: (1) His garland fades, (2) his garments become soiled, (3) sweat exudes from his arm pits, (4) his body becomes ill-coloured, and (5) he feels no delight in his seat even as he remains seated.

It is also of interest and significance to note that from the moment of birth in a Deva-realm to the moment of death, neither the decaying and breaking of teeth, nor the greying of hair seems to occur. A heavenly female being (devi) for instance, maintains the appearance of a sixteen year old maiden all throughout her life, and a male has the appearance of a twenty year old youth.

At the last moments preceding death, however, their bodies lose their colour, they feel exhausted and faint. Up to this last moment they never feel tired. When they near death, they begin to yawn… Only a few of the devas who are the wisest among them know what is about to happen… When devas die, their mansions too vanish and no residue remains, just as when a piece of camphor is burnt.

[Editor: As such, the mere doing of good to create merits for heavenly rebirths is dangerous, as wisdom is needed too, while the safest place for rebirth is a Buddha's Pure Land, where enlightenment will be eventual, where there is no possibility of sensual indulgence, rise of defilements like anger, spiritual complacency, ageing, disease or untimely death.]

- Extracted from The Daily Enlightenment

Karma

Here is a very good discussion about "Karma" by Eckhart Tolle :

Everybody is born into a certain external environment. Also, everyone is born with certain predispositions – they may be partly genetic, they may be other things. A person is born with certain patterns, in other words. We don’t need to examine where they come from, but the fact is that a human being is born into a certain environment. It may be violent, or it may be relatively peaceful. A person is born with inner patterns that you inherit. Even pain-body is partly inherited.

There’s a whole set of conditioning that happens when you come into an environment. The environment conditions you further, and there’s no choice involved – it’s just influences. You find yourself in this world with certain unconscious patterns that have become the conditioning of who the person is. Karma, as I see it, is the unconscious conditioning that runs your life. Karma is partly collective, and partly personal. You can only understand karma not as an abstract subject external to yourself, you can only understand it by observing yourself, and then you know many other things. If you want to understand karma, you need to look at yourself.

I began to understand what karma is when something arose that was not part of karma at all. Here is the key – the arising of consciousness, or Presence, or spiritual awakening, is not part of karma. It is another dimension that breaks into the karmic realm. You do not become awakened by accumulating, as they sometimes say in the East, “good karma”. That’s fine on this level, you can make the walls or furniture in your prison a little more comfortable, but there’s something totally from beyond karma, that can come into your life at any point.

Re-birth is of course part of karma. The deeper meaning of re-birth is identification with form. We don’t need to even believe in transmigration, or whatever, you can look at re-birth in your own life. Every time you identify with a thought that arises, which is form, you are born into that thought. Your identity, your sense of self is in it. That’s karma. Your karma is the unconscious identification with these patterns that you have inherited – the conditioned. It is complete identification of consciousness with the conditioned patterns. Consciousness is dreaming, one could say. That is why we use the word “awakening” in many spiritual traditions. Consciousness is awakening, consciousness is in a dream-like state, when you are identified with the unconscious patterns. Many times a day, you are re-born into an emotional or mental reaction, into thoughts that arise.

Karma creates, in the external, confirmation that it is correct. So if you think the world is full of evil people, you will meet many evil people – in other words, unconscious people. Even people who are halfway between being conscious and unconscious, your belief will pull them into unconsciousness. Karma is the complete absence of conscious Presence. It is automatic. It plays itself out.

Time does not free you of karma. That is a mis-perception, that if you only spend enough time, eventually you can become free of karma. Karma renews itself and repeats itself. The only thing that can free you of karma is the arising of Presence. At any point in the wheel of karma, Presence can come in. It can happen to a criminal in prison, condemned to death. It can happen to somebody who’s never heard of anything spiritual. It can happen to somebody who’s been meditating for thirty years.

Presence frees you from karma. Not all at once. Karma has an enormous momentum. The thought patterns, the emotional patterns, the reactive patterns. As Presence arises, gradually karma diminishes and you will experience a fading out of those patterns. Not that it matters that much anymore, because once you are present, those thought patterns may still arise, but it is no longer problematic. They no longer cause the suffering that they would have caused before, because they are seen in the light of awareness. In the light of awareness, the patterns no longer dominate your life.

Painbody is part of karma, which may be strong in some and not so in others. As Presence arises, you are freed from karma. Then you have another completely different factor coming into your life. For example, for a person to become free of collective karma, you need a considerable amount of Presence for that to come in. It then will remove you, either internally or you may find yourself somewhere else.

For a person who is born into vast collective karma, it requires considerable Presence for one not to be drawn into that. When Hitler came into power, not many people were able to remove themselves. Some were, and they left. They could see what was happening and they were strong enough not to be identified with the collective. To take yourself out of that collective karma requires considerable Presence – and some people had it. It is our destiny, then, to go beyond karma by being the receptacles for Presence.

Everyone who is awakening will find that sooner or later that they become a kind of teacher to others. What a spiritual teacher does is point out the possibility of awakening out of identification with unconscious patterns. The spiritual teacher teaches you to go beyond karma. That is your function, and will become increasingly so, whether you become a formal teacher, or an informal teacher.

Spiritual awakening and stepping out of karma are the same thing. Many people will be drawn to you. Anybody who is going through the awakening process is already a teacher. Teaching means you find yourself listening from spaciousness, when somebody speaks or asks a question, or tells you about their problems. You may find that the answer comes out from that Stillness in which you listen. You don’t have a sense that “I’m going to teach this person now”. You will find that teaching is spontaneous. You will help people to step out of identification with unconsciousness, which means going beyond karma. This applies to everybody who is awakening.

As you teach, Consciousness is becoming aligned with your mind. Your mind is able to tune in to the deeper Consciousness and can be used as an instrument. Then the words come out of your mouth. There is ultimately really only one teacher, the awakened Consciousness is the teacher. It can only teach those in whom there is a degree of readiness. The teaching needs to be received. If there is only a density of mind, the teaching won’t happen.

You will be amazed when people are drawn to you – people who are ready – and you find yourself saying something that you didn’t even know yourself. It’s only when the question was asked, that the Consciousness responded. As you teach, you learn. Realizations come. Teaching and learning is the same process. A deepening happens, as you teach. You are here to help people go beyond karma.

The important thing to know is that time does not free you of karma. The egoic mind says “I need more time to become free”. The only thing that people may need more time for is that they need time to realize that they do not need time”. It may be another twenty years of suffering for them to realize that they do not need time. They may need to suffer a bit more before they realize the power of the timeless. The timeless is of course the end of karma.

- by Eckhart Tolle

Giving With Wisdom

A long time ago there lived a Bodhisattva of great diligence who wanted to achieve Enlightenment as soon as possible.

In his practice, he emphasized the core principle of having no attachments even though he was very rich and prosperous. Therefore, he announced publicly that he would give away everything that he has.

Many people came to him and he gave generously - money, food and anything that anyone asked him for. Those who benefited from his generosity praised him for his kindness and his non-attachment to his wealth and property. The Bodhisattva was pleased.

One day, a rather disagreeable beggar came and asked him, "Is it true that you are ready to give away anything that people ask you for?"

The Bodhisattva replied, "Yes, I will give freely away everything I have, whatever you ask for."

The beggar then said to him, "Give me your right hand."

The Bodhisattva took a knife, cut off his hand, and gave it to the beggar with a smile.

The beggar then said. "I could never accept something given with the left hand. This is really improper!"

In that instant, anger arose in the Bodhisattva. "You are so ungrateful!" he shouted at the beggar.

And with that he abandoned the Bodhisattva path...

True giving is all about giving without attachment. Even if the recipient rejects your gift or treat it with disrespect, if you have given generously, with great wisdom, the response would not have mattered to you.

The karma would have be upon the recipient. If he is very grateful, he would have generated good karma. Being ungrateful and unappreciative would cause evil karma to be visited on the recipient.

So, the giver would have generated lots of merits if he gives with wisdom, gives without attachments and gives with equanimity...

Once the act of giving has taken place, the result of the giving is inconsequential to the given. That is giving with wisdom.

Great Flood of Queensland

The above shows the great flood surging through the town of Toowoomba, with the flood level peaking beyond 25 meters.

Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia, will face peak flood level tomorrow as the Brisbane River rises to a new record of more than 15 meters. More than 75% of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone.

Everything has been swept away. Mercifully, the death toll has been low, less than a 30 people has died in the floods. Even then, any death in such a situation is unfortunate.

This massive flood is the result of man not respecting Mother Nature.

Queensland has been enjoying a the fruits of a huge economic boom because it has been raping Mother Earth through open mining vast areas for coal, emptying the streams and rivers to grow more produce for export and building towns and villages on flood plains.

Just 2 months ago, in Nov 2010, many farmers in Queensland and New South Wales were up in arms about their water rights when the Federal Government revealed its Water Plan for the Murray-Darling basin. Many faced cuts in their allocations even though there were enough rain at that time to bring the 10-year drought to an end.

Isn't it ironic that Mother Nature has now flooded these areas with more water than they can handle? La Nina has spoken and girl, did she screeched!!

And of course, the State Government of Queensland got a lot of the economic rewards. The pity is that it did not spend these abundance wisely but wasted it on superfluous projects and government spending, thinking that there would be lots of money coming from its vast natural resources.

All this is really karma.

Because of man's selfish actions, it has disrupted the natural order of Mother Nature. With indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels, like coal and oil, the earth has gotten warmer over the years. With that, storms have gotten fiercer and hurricanes are stronger. As a result, the damages have been more serious.

Well, Mother Nature has spoken and it will costs tens of billion dollars to recover from this calamity. Produce will costs more as a lot of top-soil has been washed away in the floods. Many areas may suffer desertification.

In the years to come, many countries which import most of their food will face increasing costs in their food. There will be riots and war over hunger and the lack of water.

May people, who has endured this suffering, be awaken to the consequences of their actions. May they be wiser in their dealings with Mother Nature and be grateful for the blessings of abundance that they have enjoyed for so many years...

You Don't Have To Do The Big Things

How many times have we felt the need to take action but held back or hesitated because we were afraid that we would be embarrassed or we think that the results would be insignificant?

How many times have we turned away from addressing a problem or resolving an issue because we think that we are inadequate to the task or think that what you do is inconsequential.?

How many time have we thought that we cannot contribute to society because we are too poor, we do not have the power or we are just a nobody?

Please don't!!

Be courageous and take concrete actions. Do not think that what you do will be of no consequences.

Just like a pebble thrown into the pond, the ripples will spread far from the centre of where the pebble enters the water. You do not know how far-reaching are the results of your actions.

You do not need to do the BIG things.

Why? Because not everybody have the capability or capacity to do the BIG things.

BIG things like President Obama changing a country for the better. BIG things like Oprah building schools for the poor in Africa. BIG things like a scientist discovering a cure for cancer.

You can start by doing the smaller things.

How about giving freedom to a caged bird so that it can fly and sing its beautiful songs? How about a word of kindness to someone who needs it desperately? How about nurturing a child by reading a book or sharing your time with him.

As long as you do it with the goodness of your heart, the Universe will register your intentions and create good karmas down the line.

So, do not hesitate. Each small things will slowly accummulate into BIG things. You may not know the impact your small gestures may have in the lives of someone else.

So, please be brave and just throw as many pebbles as you can into the pond....

The Beggar Woman

Once, there lived a beggar woman in ancient India.

Nobody really knew how old she was - she was old beyond her real age.

Her sufferings showed in the lines of her face, the lack of food has shrunken her body frame until you can see the ribs and the weight of her existence hung on her shoulders until she can barely walk.

She was dirty, smelly and nearly blind. She shuffled in her torn shoes, with a sturdy stick that she depended on to support her fragile frame. Her teeth was rotted and her hands were all withered and diseased.

People avoided her when they saw her. They ignored her and her tragic presence.

Some kind souls would some times give her some food, some water and a coin or two.

One day, this beggar woman walked past a temple. Usually, she would keep on walking pass the temple but on that day, something stopped her. She heard beautiful chants and music coming from within the temple.

She stepped through the doorway and made her way slowly towards the altar which has a statue of Amitabha Buddha.

The chanting stopped when she entered the temple. Everybody looked at her to see what she was doing.

When she stepped into the temple, she felt a sense of peace and a lightness in her heart. When she came to the altar, she knelt in front of the statue of Amitabha Buddha.

From her tattered pocket, she took out a beautiful flower that she had plucked from outside and offered it to the Buddha. She bowed respectfully and muttered something quietly under her breath.

After that, she got up, shuffled slowly to the donation box and drop in a coin. Then she sat down on the bare floor to rest and to behold the beautiful face of Amitabha Buddha.

At the side of the temple, there was a gathering of monks. All the monks of the temple were present and kneeling respectfully in front of a raised platform.

On the platform sat a serene and kind-faced person with a majestic air about him. He was Sakyamuni Buddha, the Enlightened One.

He spoke "Did all of you see what the beggar woman did?"

One monk replied "Yes, my lord. She made an offering to Amitabha Buddha."

Sakyamuni Buddha said "Yes, she did. And do you know the merits that she had earned by her simple deed?"

Another monk replied, "No, my lord."

Sakyamuni Buddha said, "By her giving from a sincere heart, she has earned so many merits that even if the king should come here and offered his kingdom and all his riches, it would pale besides her offerings."

"Her offerings is so immeasurable that if all the money, gold and jewels in the world would be piled high until it reach Mount Sumeru, it would still not be equal."

Sakyamuni Buddha proclaimed, "My disciples, do not look down on this beggar woman. She is suffering in this life because of her bad karmas from her previous lives."

"By her generous act of making an offering of a flower to Amitabha Buddha, she has generated immeasurable merits and good karmas. In many kalpas to come, she will become a Buddha and help deliver sentient beings from all sufferings!!"

Ananda, the Buddha's personal assistant, got up and walked across the temple to the beggar woman. He bowed before her, lifted her up and asked her if she would want to become a disciple of the Buddha.

When she agreed, she was given clean clothes, food and she joined the monks to listen to Sakyamuni Buddha preaching the Dharma.

And for the first time in her life, she was happy and a sense of serenity descended on her heart...

The Dharma that she heard filled her soul with a fullness that she had never felt before.

The above Dharma story has a very simple message :

It is not how much you give, it is how sincere your heart is when you do give. Even the smallest kindness will generate a lot of merit.

So, give. And give with no reservations...