the story so far

two travellers meet on a road which breaks into 3 paths.
one contemplates the paths,
the other stops to ask why...

this is the story of my life so far

the dish

-- i want to sit on top of my house and read those good books
the man who sought truth did not have books to read
--
-- i see
-- its within me?
the man who gave the wise advise and wrote the word on the paper lived long before there was even the word
-- do u write programs?
-- computer
-- ?
not any longer
not for many months
-- can u advice me
-- i want to learn programming

then learn to wash dishes
in learning to wash dishes you will learn to program
-- how
return to me when you have mastered the washing of the dish

Om

-- did u marry
not yet
perhaps someday
perhaps not
i have not decided
-- come india someday
-- i am waiting for u
i would like that greatly
-- to get something
however, the path that leads there may or may not be
-- haha
remember this...
you make yourself happy
-- ok
but if you say to yourself "how can I feel less sad" you will never be happy
only when you say "how can I feel happy" can you find happiness
--
-- good
-- i feel like being with u
-- knowledge
-- i like learning it
-- but do come to india. promise me!
we are like travellers meeting on a road
it is possible the direction i choose will lead in your direction
it is possible it will not
however, i will tell you a secret
if you promise me you will tell no one else
keep it in your heart
-- yeah
--
and let it bring you happiness
-- say it brother
do you promise to keep the secret ?
-- i do
--
all roads lead home
-- trust me
-- is it the secret?
-- i think u pointing at death

home
h om e
-- OM
-- clever dude
-- !
--
keep it in your heart
and always remember
the clouds do not know where they go, but the sky does
we are the clouds
-- yep...
--
go and be happy
--
there is nothing more I can teach you
-- i am
--
-- those stories
-- cant u read me more
-- they are really good
-- i think i dont have money to buy those good books
-- ?
-- can i steal
-- i am good at it
-- om show cam
remember the prince
and the words of his father

the story of my life

what of eros ?
-- i mean.. eros is absent from self-love
-- isnt it
like all things, that is for you to decide
how can you love yourself if you do not love yourself ?
it is like the knife
it is not the knife that is positive or negative
a knife can be used to kill
but it can also be used to set someone free
--
-- oh
it is only the intention that is positive or negative
if the intention is to kill
that is negative
if it is to set someone free
that is positive
-- what do u do for earning living william!
i haven't yet decided
-- why so?
-- then where do u get ur money from
-- ur parents?
several paths lay before me like the ways that lead out of the forest
--
money finds me
I once was a rich man
-- ok
-- when?
now I am rich in contentment
--
I have no money
-- u seem to b enlightened
I have less than $5 to my name
-- but dont u think.. money helps
-- haha
-- hahaha
-- lo
-- lol
this is by choice
-- i also have 15$
there is no happiness to be found in anything in this world
-- like u can help tsunami sufferers
only suffering and pain
--
however, through mindful action and pure intentions, peace, love, kindness, compassion, joy and all the things we dream of having can be had
suffering and pain are only in our bodies
with hope the seeds of virtue grow into the flower of joy
rooted in virtue
--
-- where did u learn from ?
buddha
-- hey om brother.. who helped u to enlighten

buddha
-- why dont u meet me when u come to india
-- i will cure myself.
-- will try my best
there once was a man who searched for truth
across thousands of miles he searched, turning aside happiness and suffering all things in the search
-- yeah
one day he heard of a man who knew where the truth could be found
and he made his way to the man
he found him sitting in his room quietly
-- ya
and the man asked the wise man, "where can I find the truth ?"
the wise man said
"travel for one thousand miles and you shall find the truth you seek"
and the man set out immediately
and turned aside happiness
suffered greatly
only to be stopped by an ocean
where he could travel no farther
now without hope
-- can truth be found by meditating
the man travelled back to the wise man
in despair and without hope he arrived to find
the wise man had died
but in his place was a piece of paper with one word written
the man once reading the word
smiled in contentment
-- yep
and sat in the room
waiting for the next to arrive
what was the word ?
-- Death?
-- Knowledge?
-- smile?
truth
--
the moral of the story is this
truth cannot be found
it cannot be seen
-- haha
it cannot be felt
it only exists within you
along with hope

On the road two meet

Hello
-- i am better
-- my chemotherapy is in its 3rd cycle
-- i am feeling extremely weak
-- but i am better

are you happy ?
-- yeah...that was unexpected
I am happy to hear you are happy

-- tell me one thing
-- why do we miss people, whom we love
-- is that negative?
-- what is love?
once there was a king named Calamity
whose country was conquered by a neighboring warlike king named brahmadatta
king calamity, after hiding with his wife and son for a time,
was captured but fortunately his son, the prince, could escape.
the prince tried to find some way of saving his father but in vain
on the day of his father's execution,

-- ok
the prince in disguise made his way into the execution ground where he could do nothing but watch in mortification the death of his ill-fated father.

-- ok
-- go on
the father noticed his son in the crowd and muttered as if talking to himself
"do not search for a long time; do not act hastily; resentment can be calmed only by forgetting it."
afterward, the prince sought after some way of revenge for a long time.

--
-- ok
at last he was employed as an attendant in the brahmadatta's palace and came to win the king's favors.
on a day when the kind went hunting

-- ok
the prince sought some opportunity for revenge
the prince was able to lead his master into a lonely place
and the king
being very weary
fell asleep with his head on the lap of the prince, so fully had he come to trust the prince

-- ok
-- ok
-- go on brother
the prince drew his dagger and placed it at the king's throat
but then hesitated
the words his father had expressed at the moment of his execution flashed into his mind
and although he tried again
he could not kill the king.
suddenly the king awoke and told the prince that he had had a bad dream
in which the son of king calamity was trying to kill him.
the prince, flourishing the dagger in his hand
hastily grasped the kind and
identifying himself as the son of king calamity
declared that the time had finally come for him to avenge his father

-- ok
-- ya
yet
he could not do so
and suddenly
he cast his dagger down and fell on his knees in front of the king.
when the king heard the prince's story and the final words of his father
he was very impressed and apologized to the prince
later
he restored the former kingdom to the prince
and their two countries came to live in friendship for a long time

the dying words of king calamity,
what do you think the moral of the story is ?
-- No need to ponder over the past
-- maybe
-- it brings regret and discontentment

"do not search for a long time" mean that resentment should not be cherished for long.
and "do not act hastily" means that friendship should not be broken hastily.
resentment can not be satisfied by resentment it can only be removed by forgetting it.
-- how is it related to love?

why do you miss ?
-- coz she's not with me

and you resent that
this is attachement
but no good can come of the attachment
if she were with you now, you would not resent her
you would not miss her
and your love would only be good
but since she is not with you
and you have not forgotten your attachment
you miss
and this causes suffering
so you must let the attachment go
and forget the resentment
-- ok

in the same way that the prince threw away the dagger
you must throw away your attachment
like the knife... it can only cause you pain

-- man , i miss her.... i try to overcome it ..but memories of the past ..
-- i try. i fail
failure is ok
think of the prince
he did not listen to his father's words
it was not until he failed first to listen
then to act
then to listen to the dream
of the man he would have killed
that he finally allowed himself to let go

it is only through failure that we learn
never do we learn from succeeeding
so failure is good
because it gives us a chance to learn and grow

-- i get it
so say to yourself

I have failed
and that makes me happy
because I have earned the right to learn from that failure
and I will never let myself feel bad when I fail
because I want to learn
and the only way to learn
is to fail

Does this help ?
-- i am pondering and uploading it into my memory

love is love
it, like all things is what it is
only we make it positive or negative

in ancient times they had 3 words for what we call love today
eros
philius
agape

-- penis
-- phallus
-- sorry
--
eros is physical intimicy

-- ok
philius is brotherly love, love of the family

-- does it include sex?
-- eros
-- ?
agape is emotional love

so there is
love of the body,
love of the family, and
love of the heart

buddhism teaches another kind of love,
lovingkindness who's result is compassion
-- ok

eros can also be called lust
-- lust is negative!
not necessarily
as with all things
only we can make something negative or positive
is a wolf negative ?
is a sheep positive ?

-- so
i have been quoted as saying that "true love" involves all 4

the love of someone's body and heart
which leads to family,
which requires great compassion
and lovingkindess to raise

-- why does love die out after marrige?
because it was not true love
like a boat that is not sealed
it will float for a time
but fill and sink


-- ok
-- i am learning
-- can u send me some buddhist book?
there is one more love that one must have before true love can be found

-- what's that?
loving yourself

-- loving myself?
-- is it hard
-- isnt it sans all those four parts?

true love does not start with the love for another
true love starts with the love of yourself
how can anyone love you if you do not love yourself ?

The 8 fold tea

Mix

2 bags of green tea,
and 1 bag of each of the following:
decaff chai,
1 chamameel,
1 orange,
1 apple-cinimin,
1 earl grey,
1 black tea with peach,
3 scoops of 'mystic chai' brand tea
and 4 liters of water

let it steep for at least an hour, overnight (8 hours) for best results.
serve hot or iced.

makes about a gallon of the most powerful tea on the planet :)

Brothers

"Are you a Buddist??"
Yes. You ?

"I am learning how to be one... I mean, i am trying..."
Joyous !

"How does a Kelt becomes a Buddist??"
What is a Kelt ?
"Celtic..."
a kelt may become a buddhist simply by choosing to
"yap... ok..."

how does the river become the ocean ?
"by flowing and growing, I think"
Yes, that is a good point

how does the stream become a river ?
"that i don´t know... perhaps by adapting itself..."
hmm... yes I think you're right on that as well

how does the trickle become the stream ?
"you know, sometimes i think it´s so difficult for us, western people to follow the teachings of the Master...."
yes, we do have it more difficult than those who grew up in the east

"The only way is to be so disciplined... but sometimes it is quite complicated... so methodical, perhaps???"

the ocean is complicated,

and is filled
with all the water
from all the rivers.
but the trickle
that becomes the stream
is very simple

"yes, you are wise..."
i thank you for saying so, but I am just a man.

how does the drop become the trickle ?
"don't thank me, thank yourself... how can we gather the drops in ourselves??"
the same way,
the trickle becomes the stream

"and the stream becomes the river"
yes exactly !

from where does the drop fall ?
"mainly from above, but also from sides and everywhere..."
hmm... yes that is true.

how does the ocean become the drop ?
"because everything is impermanent...????"
hmm... yes,
that is an interesting way
of translating
the metaphor
back
to your mind...
excellent work !

"because the ocean itself may be an illusion???"
"because everything turns on the wheel of life???"

those who believe in buddha
taste the universal purity of oneness
in everything,

and in that mind
they feel compassion for all
and have
a humble attitude to serve
everyone.
therefore,

they should cleanse their minds of all pride
and cherish humility,
courtesy and service.

their minds should be like the fruitful earth
that nourishes everything without partiality,
that serves without complaint,
that endures patiently,
that is always zealous,
that finds its highest joy in serving all poor people
by planting in their minds
the seeds of the buddha's teaching.

thus, the mind that has compassion for poor people,
becomes a mother to all people,
honors all people,
looks upon all as personal friends,
and respects them as parents.

therefore, though thousands of people may have hard feelings
and cherish ill-will toward buddhist lay followers,

they can do no harm,

for such harm is like

a drop of poison
in the waters
of a great ocean.