Steve Jobs Was a Dharma Teacher Also

Steve Job's death yesterday came as a shock. We all knew he was dying, but were hoping that he would be a part of this world for a little while longer. As a tribute to him, I would like to share this video of him giving the Commencement Speech for the Stanford class of 2005.

I especially appreciated his story about death:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And I thought of the wisdom of another man, not famous like Steve, but just as wise . . . 

This is the truth.

 

Original Posted at:  http://minddeep.blogspot.com

The Lord's Compassion

Putting aside the bonds offspring have for their parents, and giving up the love he felt for his wife and child, the Lord renounced the world and dedicated himself to the quest of truth. He did this for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, for the good, the welfare and the happiness of gods and humans, out of compassion of the world.

Turning his back on wealth and royal glory, and all the security they provide, the Lord renounced his palace to live in the lonely forest. He exchanged a golden palace for the roots of the trees. He did this for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world.

Assailed by Mara and his army, attacked by fearful shapes and sounds, enduring menace and doubt, the Lord remained calm and resolute, never being diverted from his noble quest. He overcame Mara and his army for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world.

When the Lord attained enlightenment and achieved his high purpose, he decided to teach what he had realized to others, rather than enjoy the happiness of liberation alone. The Lord did this for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world.

When he heard that Angulimala was waylaying travelers and murdering them, the Lord disregarded the dangers of the lonely roads and went to teach him the Dhamma of peace. He did this for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world. When the Lord could have partaken in royal banquets, he was content to eat scraps and simple fare. He could have worn cloth of gold gowns but he was satisfied with a robe of rags. The Lord did this for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world.

Disregarding the heat and dust of summer and the icy gusts of the winter, the Lord traversed long roads and paths, byways and jungle tracks, to teach the Dhamma to one and all. He undertook such journeys for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of compassion of the world.

Although abused by Asurinda, denied alms by the people of Pancasala, and mocked by the ascetic Nigrodha, the Lord never turned his back on the hostile, but remained open and friendly to all. He acted thus for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many, for the good, the welfare and the happiness of gods and humans, out of compassion of the world.
 

Composed by Bhante S. Dhammika

Buddha, Buddha, who is "the Buddha"?

Bhikkhu Bodhi was born in New York in 1944. He received a B.A. from Brooklyn College and a Ph.D. in philosophy after moving to California to attend the Claremont Graduate School as he prepared to become a Theravada monk. He moved to the Washington Buddhist Vihara, a Sri Lankan temple. Eventually he moved to the island of Sri Lanka where he studied under an eminent and accomplished monk Ven. Ananda Maitreya.

Bhikkhu Bodhi learned Pali and continued his scholarship under the guidance of the German monks who had arrived a generation earlier. Ven. Nyanatiloka, who created the Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of terms and Doctrines, was the teacher of the German monk Ven. Nyanaponika. Ven. Nyanaponika founded and was editor of the prolific Buddhist Publication Society, before transferring that honor to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the greatest living translator of Buddhist texts.

While living in Washington, Bhikkhu Bodhi was often asked to teach, which impacted his practice. So he created a solution -- a mail order way to learn Buddhism. This was a ten tape series of lectures and accompanying material called The Buddha's Teaching: As It Is. "The Buddha" was the first tape in the series. More in the series may be found here (sobhana.net). After 25 years in Sri Lanka, he returned to the US and currently lives in Upstate New York, at a Buddhist temple called Chaung Yen Monastery, where he teaches and is able to continue his scholarship and English translations.

Original posted at:  Wisdom Quarterly

UCC to celebrate centenary of Dhammaloka 'the Irish Buddhist'

<<< Dhammaloka in 1902 aged about 50 by OLIVIA KELLEHER

THE LIFE of one of the first Western Buddhist monks, an Irishman who adopted the name Dhammaloka, is to be marked by an international line-up of scholars at University College Cork later this month.

The centenary of Dhammaloka, tried for sedition on January 31st 1911, by a judge in colonial Rangoon, will be remembered at UCC on February 19th.

“Dhammaloka Day” also sees the Irish launch of the special issue of the journal Contemporary Buddhism, devoted to the Dublin-born migrant worker who crossed the world to become a pioneering European Buddhist monk in Asia.

Dhammaloka was born in 1856 in Dublin and was known by several names, including Laurence Carroll and William Colvin. Dhammaloka was his Buddhist name given at ordination. Many knew him simply as “the Irish Buddhist”.

The details of his Dublin family, his life as a hobo in the US and a beachcomber in Asia are as mysterious as his eventual disappearance or death and a fake obituary in 1912.

He lived according to the strict rules of the ancient Burmese Buddhist monastic order; yellow-robed, shaven-headed, walking barefoot and taking only one meal a day.

He travelled extensively between 1900 and 1914 in countries such as colonial Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaya, Japan, China and India.

Dhammaloka became known in many parts of southeast Asia in his time and drew large crowds when giving talks.

He was tried for sedition in Burma by Mr Justice Daniel Harold Ryan Twomey, a native of Carrigtwohill in Co Cork.

Dhammaloka Day will feature an international line-up of scholars of colonial-period and contemporary Buddhism including Burma expert Prof Alicia Turner, York University, Toronto; historian of American Buddhism Prof Thomas Tweed, University of North Carolina; historian of Irish Buddhism Dr Laurence Cox, NUI Maynooth; and scholar of Japanese religions Prof Brian Bocking, UCC.

Uncovering Dhammaloka’s story has involved research by Prof Bocking and his research colleagues Alicia Turner and Laurence Cox.

Source: The Irish Times

Quotes from Einstein and the Buddha - Coldplay The Scientist 720p HD

Click the title above to watch!!!

Famous people include American President praise Buddhism

(wikipedia)

Philip Kotler (1931- ) "My approach is influenced by Zen. Zen emphasizes learning by means of meditation and direct, intuitive insights. The thoughts in this book are a result of my meditations on these fundamental marketing concepts and principles." (Marketing Insights from A to Z)

(wikipedia)

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) "One thing that Buddhism teaches you is that every moment is an opportunity to change. "

(wikipedia)

Stephan R Covey (1932- ) About 6th habit (it is conclusion of this book) "Buddhism calls this "the middle way." Middle in this sense does not mean compromise; it means higher, like the apex of the triangle." (Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pepole)

(wikipedia)

Uma Thurman (1970-) "Buddhism has had a major effect on who I am and how I think about the world."

Scientists praise Buddhism

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) "If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

(wikipedia)

Niels. Bohr (1885-1962) "For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory . . . [we must turn to those kinds of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence." (Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge)

(wikipedia)

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) "The great scientific contribution in theoretical physics that has come from Japan since the last war may be an indication of a certain relationship between philosophical ideas in the tradition of the Far East and the philosophicalSchrodinge" (Physics and Philosophy)

(wikipedia)

Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) "The general notions about human understanding... which are illustrated by discoveries in atomic physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar, wholly unheard of, or new. Even in our own culture they have a history, and in Buddhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place. What we shall find is an exemplification, an encouragement, and a refinement of old wisdom.'" (Science and the Common Understanding)

Psychologists praise Buddhism

Paul Ekman (1934-) "Buddhist conceptions and practices that deal with emotional life make three very distinct contributions to psychology. Conceptually, they raise issues that have been ignored by many psychologists, calling on the field to make more finely nuanced distinctions in thinking about emotional experience. Methodologically, they offer practices that could help individuals report on their own internal experiences, and such practices might thereby provide crucial data that is much more detailed and comprehensive than that gathered by the techniques psychologists now use to study subjective emotional experience. Finally, Buddhist practices themselves offer a therapy, not just for the disturbed, but for all who seek to improve the quality of their lives. We hope what we have reported will serve to spark the interest of psychologists to learn more about this tradition." (Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being)

John R. O'neil He is president of the California School of Professional Psychology and a member of the boards of the Social Venture Network and California Leadership. He advises major corporations and CEOs on planning, leadership, and organizational health. "Perhaps more important was the fact that "real men" who had sneered at meditation found out that their hard-as-nails Japanese competitors used it regularly. So more and more persons in mainstream careers began to study Buddhism and other Eastern teachings and to practice meditation, and weekend retreats incorporationg meditation gew in popularity." (Paradox of Success)

Jeffrey M. Schwartz He is a professor of the UCLA. "We talked, too, about how both quantum physics and classical Buddhism give volition and choice a central role in the workings of the cosmos....According to the Buddha's timeless law of Dependent Origination, it is because of volition that consciousness keeps arising throughout endless world cycles. And it is certainly true that in Buddhist philosophy one's choice is not determined by anything in the physical, material world.... So in both quantum physics and Buddhist philosophy, volition plays a special, unique role." (The Mind and the Brain)

Philosophers praise Buddhism

(wikipedia)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) "The history of the world travels from East to West, for Europe is absolutely the end of history, Asia is the beginning." (The Philosophy of History)

(wikipedia)

James Allen (1864-1912) "Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless. beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it." (As a man thinkth)

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) "In Buddha and Buddhism there flows a source which we Westerners have not tapped, and consequently there is a limit to our understanding. We must first of all acknowledgh that Buddhism is far removed from us and renounce all quick, easy ways of coming closer to it. To participate in the essence of Buddha's truth, we should have to cease to be what we are." "The fact that Buddha's life was possible and that Buddhist life has been a reality in various parts of Asia down to our own dsay -- this is a great and important fact." "It points to the questionable essence of man." (THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS)

(wikipedia)

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) "Buddhism is a hundred times as realistic as Christianity. Buddhism is the only genuinely positive religion to be encountered in history." (THE ANTICHRIST)

Writers praise Buddhism

Daniel Pink "Science and Buddhism are bery similar,"... "because they are exploring the nature of reality, and both have the goal to lessen the suffering of mankind." (A WHOLE NEW MIND)

Alan Wilson Watts (1915-1973) "The Buddha was a very skillful psychologist, and he is in a way the first psychotherapist in history, a man of tremendous understanding of the wiles and the deviousness of the human mind." (The Philosophies of Asia)

(wikipedia)

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) "fragrant myth of Gotama, the Buddha, the wise man of the family of Sakya. He possessed, so the believers said, the highest enlightenment, he remembered his previous lives, he had reached the nirvana and never returned into the cycle, was never again submerged in the murky river of physical forms. Many wonderful and unbelievable things were reported of him, he had performed miracles, had overcome the devil, had spoken to the gods. But his enemies and disbelievers said, this Gotama was a vain seducer, he would spent his days in luxury, scorned the offerings, was without learning, and knew neither exercises nor self-castigation." (Siddhartha)

Leo Nikolayevitch Tolstoy (1828-1910) "To life in the consciousness of the inevitability of suffering, of becoming enfeebled, of old age and of death, is impossible - we must free ourselves from life, from all possible life," says Buddha. And what these strong minds said has been said and thought and felt by millions upon millions of people like them. And I have thought it and felt it. (A CONFESSION)

(wikipedia)

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (1917-) "Of the faiths that had existed before the coming of the Overlords, only a forn~ of purified Buddhism-perhaps the most austere of all religions-still survived." (Childhood's End) Buddhism will spread to the West.

(wikipedia)

Arnold J Toynbee (1889-1975) "The coming of Buddhism to the West may well prove to be the most important event of the Twentieth Century."

Copyright (c) '08-'10 The Meaning of Life in Buddhism all rights reserved.|

Where science and Buddhism meet

Where science and Buddhism meet

(Gerald P.) Science and Buddhism meet in terms of emptiness, interconnectivity, and the true nature of reality (the three marks of existence). The positive intention and approach of the video's creator is evident. As he shares a meaningful message, he is discerning the profound convergence of two disparate fields of endeavor, which only seem like opposing ways of perceiving and understanding reality. They in fact have many commonalities. (This video is available as a free download directly from Vimeo).

Partial list of Sources

Wave/Particle Duality

• Tao of Physics (pp. 67, 69)
• Quantum Enigma (p. 10)
• Wave-particle duality
• Quantum mechanics, the Uncertainty Principle, light particles
• Atom (howstuffworks)
• The Fabric of the Cosmos (p. 206)

The Emptiness of Atoms

• The Space Between Atoms
• Atomic structure

The Quantum Field

• Quantum field theory
• The Tao of Physics (p. 210)

Did Jesus Study Buddhism? (BBC) Did Jesus learn what he knew from India? Where was Jesus and what was he doing from ages 12-30?

(BBC) Did Jesus learn what he knew from India? Where was Jesus and what was he doing from ages 12-30? What happened to him after his Crucifixion? Why does the Bible leave out this important information?

Buddha's Teaching Can Help Global Peace - UN Sec Gen

Buddha's Teaching Can Help Global Peace - UN Sec Gen
Courtesy The Buddhist Channel May 8, 2009

<< Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General

United Nations, New York -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message delivered to the world communities on Wednesday that the Buddha's teaching could help the world become peaceful.

"All of us can learn from the Buddha's spirit of compassion. His timeless teachings can help us to navigate the many global problems we face today," said Ban Ki-moon in his message.

His message came ahead of the Buddha's birthday, traditionally known as Vesak or Visakah, a full-moon which this year fell on 9 May, 2009.

Vesak is the name of the month of the Buddha's birth in the Indian lunar calendar. Buddhist communities around the world celebrate the full-moon day with great reverence and piety as the day synchronized the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha.

"The need for global solidarity may seem like a modern concept, but it is not. More than 2,500 years ago, the Buddha taught that nothing exists in isolation, and that all phenomena are interdependent. Just as profoundly, he taught that we cannot be happy as long as others suffer, and that when we do reach out, we discover the best in ourselves," he added.

He also urged every individual to resolve to help people who are suffering, in order to secure a better future for all, in his message marking Vesak.

Dr. Albert Einstein on Buddhism

Albert Einstein
(German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity" A widely cited, but apparently spurious quotation attributed to Albert Einstein

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. -Albert Einstein

A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
-Albert Einstein

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. -Albert Einstein