By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

One thing that no one can tolerate is a meaningless life. You might even say that the entire purpose of our lives is a search for meaning, and we hope to find it in work, family, religion, politics, practically anything you can name. When meaning and purpose fail — after being fired, getting a divorce, or losing a beloved family member — people get anxious and depressed.

This aspect of the human condition is a mystery. Other creatures are satisfied to be lions, whales, rabbits, or shrews, guided by their nature. Humans alone question whether life makes sense. Does it? War is senseless but has endured for millennia. To an atheist, God doesn’t make sense, while to the religiously devout the absence of God doesn’t make sense. Yet few people ask why life makes sense at all.

There are really only two answers to this question. If life makes sense, we are justified in seeking deeper and higher meaning. If life doesn’t make sense — in other words, if existence is random, accidental, indifferent, and simply a mechanical biological process — then seeking more meaning is just escapism. We are fooling ourselves in the hope that things matter.

To me, this is a fascinating question, not a gloomy one. There is actually a third answer: we don’t know why life makes sense. Putting all assumptions aside, being uncertain takes you to a creative place. There is always the possibility that human beings are creators of meaning, and existence provides us with the colors we use to paint reality.

If that is true, then human evolution is itself a creative project. Despite the senselessness that surrounds us — from war, violence, hatred, racism, sexism, etc. — the creative process we call civilization endures age after age. Is there actual proof that this perspective is true? The countless people who are weighed down by suffering, not to mention those who have died needlessly and tragically, make it easy to argue that truth belongs on the other side. No less than Freud believed that civilization was a fragile veneer protecting us from our inner drive toward self-destruction.

But proof in a scientific age needs to be objective. Here’s a credible argument for why life makes total sense, not just human life but all life, down to single-celled organisms. If you consider the human brain, it either creates meaning out of raw sensory input or it processes that input as an agent of the mind. We don’t need to go into the intricacies of mind versus brain here. It is enough that the brain allows us to make sense of life.

That wouldn’t be possible if brain cells were not perfectly organized to do all of this processing, turning invisible photons into a world of sight and air vibrations into intelligible sounds like language and music. For a cell to be this organized, either it is doing the organization itself or there is a higher overseer. Every cell biologist would affirm that the cell is organizing itself, thanks to DNA. But what organizes DNA? Again the answer is that it is doing the whole thing itself.

It can break DNA down into constituent chemicals, chemicals to atoms, and atoms to subatomic particles. At every step of the way, self-organization is the rule. Everything in existence knows how to be itself. More than that, everything belongs to a larger system that organizes bigger projects. The first atoms that appeared after the big bang — hydrogen, helium, and lithium — didn’t simply hang out in space. They contributed to the cosmic self-organization that made stars, planets, primitive life forms, and Homo sapienspossible.

The key word here is “self,” which the Vedic seers of India seized upon by declaring that the Self is imperishable. It is innate in existence, and like matter and energy, the Self cannot be created or destroyed. Being self-aware, humans can recognize that they have a self. “I am” is the most basic aspect of being self-aware, and its two components, “I” (the self) and “am” (existence) cannot be separated. To exist is to have a self, as proven by the fact that every level of nature is self-organizing. If atoms didn’t know how to be themselves, by definition they couldn’t exist.

Creation is nothing but change, and the Self morphs and evolves continuously. Simple atoms become more complex atoms; one-celled animals and plants become multi-celled animals and plants. Visibly, we see these changes and therefore grasp the process of evolution. What we don’t see is that as physical evolution takes place, making a rhinoceros look nothing like a tree fern, the self remains untouched. Once again, the proof lies in the fact that absolutely everything knows how to be itself.

Human beings nurture the changes that make a newborn turn into an infant, toddler, preschooler, school child, and adolescent. We wait a long time before trusting that our offspring are complete enough to be independent and mature. But even at the most helpless stage of the human life cycle, the body and mind know how to be themselves in the midst of constant change.

I didn’t say “Body, mind, and spirit,” because proof of spirit is extremely tricky in the modern secular world. Perhaps only proof by extension will convince people. In other words, if the body and mind have evolved to such incredible complexity simply by being themselves, then by extension the soul or spirit simply continues the self. This is why Self is capitalized when speaking of Vedic philosophy or Yoga and Buddhis. The Self is higher (more evolved) than the everyday self with all its backsliding into senseless behavior, anxiety, and depression.

Ultimately, it is a great gift that the self isn’t created, whether lower case or upper case. “I am” doesn’t need a human brain to create self-awareness. The self is actually a catch-all for a conscious agency that is innate in creation. Before you and I have an identity, we are provided with the necessary ingredients: love, compassion, intelligence, awareness, creativity, curiosity, insight, and the impulse to evolve.

At the worst of times, the self endures because these ingredients endure, even when we turn our backs on them, flirting with depression, anxiety, violence, and everything that doesn’t make sense. Because life itself makes sense, thanks to the self, human beings have the freedom to explore anything and everything. No matter what harm or peril this leads to, what matters is that this freedom is indestructible.

“I’m scared,” said Pooh.
For a moment, there was silence.

“Would you like to talk about it?” asked Piglet, when Pooh didn’t appear to be saying anything further.

“I’m just so scared,” blurted out Pooh.

“So anxious. Because I don’t feel like things are getting any better. If anything, I feel like they might be getting worse. People are angry, because they’re so scared, and they’re turning on one another, and there seems to be no clear plan out of here, and I worry about my friends and the people I love, and I wish SO much that I could give them all a hug, and oh, Piglet! I am so scared, and I cannot tell you how much I wish it wasn’t so.”

Piglet was thoughtful, as he looked out at the blue of the skies, peeping between the branches of the trees in the Hundred Acre Wood, and listened to his friend.

“I’m here,” he said, simply. “I hear you, Pooh. And I’m here.”

For a moment, Pooh was perplexed.

“But… aren’t you going to tell me not to be so silly? That I should stop getting myself into a state and pull myself together? That it’s hard for everyone right now?”

“No,” said Piglet, quite decisively. “No, I am very much not going to do any of those things.”

“But-” said Pooh.

“I can’t change the world right now,” continued Piglet. “And I am not going to patronise you with platitudes about how everything will be okay, because I don’t know that.

“What I can do, though, Pooh, is that I can make sure that you know that I am here. And that I will always be here, to listen; and to support you; and for you to know that you are heard.

“I can’t make those Anxious Feelings go away, not really.

“But I can promise you that, all the time I have breath left in my body…you won’t ever need to feel those Anxious Feelings alone.”

And it was a strange thing, because even as Piglet said that, Pooh could feel some of those Anxious Feelings start to loosen their grip on him; could feel one or two of them start to slither away into the forest, cowed by his friend, who sat there stolidly next to him.

Pooh thought he had never been more grateful to have Piglet in his life.

Words of Exhortation Concerning Nianfo

By Master Huijing

Part A.

1. As Master Yinguang said, gaining rebirth in the Land of Bliss is easier than being born as a human being again in the next life. Why? Rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss is assured, without conditions, for anyone who recites Amitabha’’s name. However, to return as a human being in the next life, one must accumulate sufficient merits from practicing the Five Precepts, which is extremely difficult. Therefore, it is much easier to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and become a Buddha than to be reincarnated as a celestial or a human being.
2. Two things may happen to an Amitabha-reciter if he loses faith in his practice. He may be troubled and get anxious, or he may give up on the Pure Land path and practice a different Dharma path instead. If he does that, he would then really let down Amitabha Buddha. The Buddha reflected deeply on his forty eight vows over five kalpas and, over inconceivable, countless eons, he cultivated and accumulated the incalculable virtuous practices of the Bodhisattvas, all for us iniquitous beings in the ten directions. If an Amitabha-reciter were to practice a different Dharma path, wouldn’t he let Amitabha’s compassion, aspiration and cultivation all go to waste?
3. The modern Buddhist scholar Ouyang Jingwu was an established master in Buddhism, specializing in the field of Yogacara Buddhism. He was considered the top Buddhist scholar in the northern part of China. However, he suffered greatly when he was dying. Revealing his feelings to the people around him, he said, “Alas! I am not even as smart as a country bumpkin who recites Amitabha’s name. What I have learned all my life does not help me to face death.”
4. The great Song Dynasty scholar and poet Su Dong-po was a Buddhist. How did he feel on his deathbed? He was scared and anxious. Someone asked him if Pure Land existed, and did he aspire to be reborn to the Pure Land. He replied, “Yes, there is a Pure Land, but I have no idea how to get there.” The great scholar, hands on heart, believed Pure Land did exist but he was ignorant of the path to it. Su had never cared much about the Pure Land path, caring only about the Chan practice (Zen). At the end of one’s life, the indicator to show if one’s life-long practice can really bring peace and liberation from samsara is one’s feelings at that moment. Su Dong-po showed us that he could not feel peace when dying. In this regard, he was surpassed by any illiterate simple-minded person who has practiced nianfo all his life. Such a person is able to gain rebirth in the Land of Bliss, feeling comforted and peaceful. He can even predict the timing of his end.
5. Amitabha-recitation is an extremely easy and simple Dharma path. One should not complicate it by adding other practices or seek ways that are supposedly very deep, esoteric, difficult, clever or unusual, just trying to be different. Otherwise, we will end up getting lost, like a sheep that has gone astray. We will be easily deceived and get stuck in samsara, unable to be reborn in the Pure Land. None of the above practices or different ways is requisite for rebirth in that Land.
6. A person who can predict his own death is someone who – “knows his time is up when he is near death; his body is free of pains from illness, he has nothing to crave for, his mind is clear, not confused at all, just like someone in a deep meditative state.” This is a person who recites the name of Amituofo often, whether he’s busy or idle. He is focused and mindful in his recitations, with very few distracting thoughts. He is able to have “pure thoughts in succession” while reciting Namo Amituofo. Such a person can often predict the time for his rebirth.
7. Although a positive response from Buddhist practice is a phenomenon of cause and effect, Buddhism does not advocate it as a goal. A positive response serves to enhance our faith in what the Buddha says, believing that when we recite the name of Amituofo we will be reborn in the Land of Bliss. If our aim is simply to experience a positive response from the practice, and only believe the Buddha if there are auspicious resonances, we will easily become obsessive and get carried away. Without understanding the Buddhist principles, we cannot tell what is right or wrong, and will be misled by non-Buddhist indoctrination. It will work against what we strive for. Therefore, do not be fixated with achieving resonance, and do not seek it blindly.
8. Some Pure Land practitioners strive to develop “deep faith [in the Buddha’s salvation] through recitation by relying on self-power” but to no avail, so they give up the practice of Amitabha-recitation, obsessively pursuing that state of faith. However, life is impermanent. If you were to die now, you would be forever transmigrated in samsara. We should know that faith is already there when we recite the name of the Buddha. One thing we should be wary of is the misconception that practicing Amitabha-recitation alone is not enough for our salvation. We would end up abandoning the Pure Land path and practicing some other Dharma paths instead.
9. There is an inner chatter that constantly goes on in everyone’s mind. When we are reciting Amituofo’s name, the Buddha’s light emits from us. At other times, our mental chatter gives off a dim gray light. (Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team; edited by Householder Fojin)

PureLandBuddhism #NamoAmituofo #NamoAmitabhaBuddha

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🏡Pure Land Buddhism
http://www.purelandbuddhism.org/

By Paulo Coelho

A young cloud was born in the midst of a great storm in the Mediterranean Sea. It could not spend much time at the sea as a strong wind was pushing all the clouds in Africa`s direction.

As they reached the continent, the climate changed. The sun shone generously in the sky and below was the golden expanse of Sahara desert. The wind continued pushing them towards the forests of the South, since over the desert, it never rained.

Now whatever happened with children, happened with young clouds too. The young nimbus decided to break free from his parents and all his elderly mature friends, to go out and experience the world.

“What are you doing?” said the wind, scolding the little cloud. “Theres nothing new in the desert! Get back to your life and well head over to Central Africa where there are mountains and lush trees!”

But the little cloud, rebellious by nature, did not obey. Little by little he descended, until he neared the plains and was able to float on a gentle, generous breeze near the golden sands. After moving around a lot, he noticed that one of the sand-dunes was smiling at him. He saw that she was also very young, recently formed by the wind that just went by. Instantly, he fell in love with her golden hair.

“Good Morning!” he said. “How is life down there?”

“I have the company of other dunes, the sun, the wind and the caravans which often pass by. At times its very hot, but its tolerable. And what is it like to be living up there?”

“The wind and the sun are up here too but I get to float through the skies and see a lot of things.”

“For me, life is short.” said the dune. “I will disappear as soon as the breeze returns from the forests.”

“Does that make you sad?”

“It makes me feel like I exist for nothing.”

“I also feel the same. Once a new wind blows, I will head South and I will transform into rain. Well, this is my fate.”

The dune hesitated a bit, but managed to speak up:

“Do you know that here, in the desert we call the rain as Paradise?”

“I did not know that I could become something so important!” said the little cloud proudly.

“I have heard countless legends by the old dunes. It is said that after the rains, we get covered with herbs and flowers. But I will never know what that would be like because it rains very rarely in the desert.”

It was the cloud`s turn to vacillate now, but he gave her a broad smile:

“If you want, I can pour over you. Even though I just got here, I`m in love with you and I would like to stay with you forever.”

“When I saw you for the first time in the sky, I was also enamored by you,” said the dune. “But if you transform your lovely white hair into rain, you will die.”

“Love never dies.” said the little cloud. “It only transforms from one form to another. And I want to show you Paradise.”

And he started pouring gently over the little dune, tiny droplets caressing her. They stayed together for a long time until a beautiful rainbow appeared.

The following day the dune was adorned with flowers. Other clouds that passed from there towards Africa thought that the dune was the forest they were looking for, and they showered more rain. Twenty years later, the dune had converted into an oasis whose trees gave shade and shelter to the tired travelers.

And this was because once a cloud was not reluctant to sacrifice itself for love

.

Where is God?
By Rumi

I tried to find Him on the Christian cross, but He was not there; I went to the Temple of the Hindus and to the old pagoda, but I could not find a trace of Him anywhere.

I searched the mountains and the valleys but neither in the heights nor in the depths was I able to find Him. I went to the Kaaba in Mecca, but He was not there either.

I questioned the scholars and philosophers, but He was beyond their understanding.

I then looked into my heart and it was there where He dwelled that I saw him; He was nowhere else to be found.

« S’il y a un Dieu, il est caché, il est ailleurs, il est hors du temps, il n’obéit pas à nos lois et nous ne pouvons rien dire de lui. Nous ne pouvons décréter ni qu’il existe ni qu’il n’existe pas. Nous avons seulement le droit d’espérer qu’il existe. S’il n’existe pas, notre monde est absurde. S’il existe, mourir devient une fête et la vie, un mystère…
Je m’amuse de cette vie qui se réduit à presque rien s’il en existe une autre. Les malheurs, trop réels, les ambitions, les échecs, les grands desseins, et les passions elles-mêmes si douloureuses et si belles, changent un peu de couleurs. Avec souvent quelques larmes, je me mets à rire de presque tout. Les imbéciles et les méchants ont perdu leur venin. Pour un peu, je les aimerais. Une espèce de joie m’envahit. je n’ai plus peur de la mort puisqu’il n’est pas interdit d’en attendre une surprise. Je remercie je ne sais qui de m’avoir jeté dans une histoire dont je ne comprends pas grand-chose mais que je lis comme un roman difficile à quitter et que j’aurai beaucoup aimé.
J’ignore s’il y a un Dieu ailleurs, autre chose après la mort, un sens à cette vie et à l’éternité, mais je fais comme si ces promesses étaient déjà tenues et ces espérances, réalisées. Et je souhaite avec confiance qu’une puissance inconnue veille, de très loin, mais beaucoup mieux que nous, sur ce monde et sur moi.»
(Jean d’Ormesson)

Une vieille légende hindoue raconte qu’il y eût un temps où tous les hommes étaient des dieux. Mais ils abusèrent tellement de leur divinité que Brahma décida de leur ôter le pouvoir divin et de le cacher à un endroit où il leur serait impossible de le retrouver. Le grand problème fut donc de lui trouver une cachette.

Lorsque les dieux furent convoqués à un conseil pour résoudre ce problème, ils proposèrent ceci: “Enterrons la divinité de l’homme dans la terre.”

Mais Brahma répondit: “Non, cela ne suffit pas, car l’homme creusera et la trouvera.”

Alors les dieux dirent: “Dans ce cas, jetons la divinité dans le plus profond des océans.”

Mais Brahma répondit à nouveau: “Non, car tôt ou tard, l’homme explorera les profondeurs de tous les océans, et il est certain qu’un jour, il la trouvera et la remontera à la surface.”

Déconcertés, les dieux proposèrent: “Il ne reste plus que le ciel, oui, cachons la divinité de l’homme sur la Lune.”

Mais, Brahma répondit encore: “Non, un jour, l’homme parcourra le ciel, ira sur la Lune et la trouvera.”

Les dieux conclurent: “Nous ne savons pas où la cacher car il ne semble pas exister sur terre ou dans la mer d’endroit que l’homme ne puisse atteindre un jour.”

Alors Brahma dit: “Voici ce que nous ferons de la divinité de l’homme: nous la cacherons au plus profond de lui-même, car c’est le seul endroit où il ne pensera jamais à chercher.”

Depuis ce temps-là, conclut la légende, l’homme a fait le tour de la terre, il a exploré, escaladé, plongé et creusé, exploré la lune et le ciel à la recherche de quelque chose qui se trouve en lui…

Auteur inconnu

A king was coming out of his palace for his morning walk when he met a beggar. He asked the beggar,

“What do you want?”
The beggar laughed and said,

“You are asking me as though you can fulfill my desire!”

The king was offended. He said,

“Of course I can fulfill your desire. What is it? Just tell me.”

And the beggar said, “ Okay if you insist but on one condition..so think twice before you promise anything.”

The emperor had seen many beggars – but beggars with conditions?

And this beggar was really strange, a very powerful man. He was a Sufi Mystic. He had charm, a charisma, his personality had an aura. Even the king felt a little jealous. And conditions?

The emperor said, ” What do you mean? What is your condition?”

The beggar said, “It is a very simple one. You see this begging bowl?
I accept only if you can absolutely fill my begging bowl.”

It was a small begging bowl. The king said, “Of course. What do you think I am? I cannot fill this dirty small begging bowl?”

The beggar said, “It is better to tell you before, because later you can get into trouble. If you think you can fill it, then come, start filling.”

The king called his vizier and told him to fill it with precious stones, with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Let this beggar know with whom he is talking. But then came the difficulty. The bowl was filled, but the king was surprised- as the stones fell into it, they would disappear. It was filled many times and each time it was again empty.

Now he was in a great rage, but told the vizier, “Even if the whole kingdom goes, if my all treasuries are emptied, let it be- but I cannot allow this beggar to defeat me.”

And all the treasures, it is said, disappeared. By and by the king became a beggar. It took months. And the beggar was there, the king was there and the whole capital was there and everybody was wondering what was going to happen, what would happen in the end.

Everything was simply disappearing.
Finally the king had to fall at the feet of the beggar and he said, ” Forgive me, but before you leave just tell me one thing. What is the secret of this begging bowl? All has disappeared in it “

The beggar started laughing.
He said, “It is made of human ego, everything disappears in it, nothing ever fulfills it.”

” Bêtise de la tristesse : elle ne signale que ce qui nous manque. Doigt pointé sur l’absence, elle montre ce qui n’est plus. Une obsédée du néant. Intelligence de la joie : elle nous désigne ce qui est. Les yeux ouverts, elle s’étonne d’être et d’avoir ce qu’elle a. Une émerveillée.
Pour la tristesse, le monde est vide ; pour la joie, il est plein.
Tristesse, une sale gosse qui dénigre.
Joie, une fillette qui admire.
Tristesse, la grimace qui nie.
Joie, le sourire qui célèbre.”

( Journal d’un amour perdu – Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt )

Ne vous laissez pas abuser.Souvenez-vous de vous méfier.Et même de l’évidence :elle passe son temps à changer. Ne mettez trop haut ni les gens ni les choses.Ne les mettez pas trop bas.Non, ne les mettez pas trop bas. Montez. Renoncez à la haine : elle fait plus de mal à ceuxqui l’éprouvent qu’à ceux qui en sont l’objet.Ne cherchez pas à être sage à tout prix.La folie aussi est une sagesse.Et la sagesse, une folie. Fuyez les préceptes et les donneurs de leçons.Jetez ce livre. Faites ce que vous voulez.Et ce que vous pouvez.Pleurez quand il le faut. Riez. J’ai beaucoup ri.J’ai ri du monde et des autres et de moi.Rien n’est très important. Tout est tragique.Tout ce que nous aimons mourra.Et je mourrai moi aussi. La vie est belle.

Jean d’Ormesson