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http://www.UrbanDharma.org
...Buddhism for Urban America
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The
Urban Dharma Newsletter...
February 11, 2003
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In
This Issue:
1.
Flapping flag
2. The Concept of Dukkha
3. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS ...Teachings by Ajahn Sumedho
4. Temple/Center/Website- of the Week:
Friends of Peace Pilgrim
5. Book Review: The Four Noble Truths:
Fundamentals of the Buddhist Teachings His Holiness the XIV
Dalai Lama ...by Dalai Lama, Thupten Jinpa, Dominique Side
-------------------------------
1.
Flapping flag
Four
monks were meditating in a monastery. All of a sudden the prayer
flag on the roof started flapping.
The
younger monk came out of his meditation and said: "Flag
is flapping"
A
more experienced monk said: "Wind is flapping"
A
third monk who had been there for more than 20 years said: "Mind
is flapping."
The
fourth monk who was the eldest said, visibly annoyed: "Mouths
are flapping!"
2.
The Concept of Dukkha
*
http://vihara.freeyellow.com/page4.html
To
understand the concept of Dukkha is very important if
you want to understand the central teachings of Buddhism. The
word Dukkha is not only keyword to the Four Noble Truths
but to the other important teachings of the Buddha as well i.e.
The Three Characteristics of the World (Ti-lakkana )
which is the Buddhist view of the this world and The Philosophy
of Dependent Origination ( Paticca-samuppada ) which
is the Buddhist understanding of how things work and relate
to one another for their very existence.
So
not understanding Dukkha in its true sense means not
understanding Buddhism itself. As a result, you could be cherishing
a pessimistic attitude, not just towards Buddhism but probably
towards your own life as well.
Dukkha
Many
translations of the word Dukkha into English have now
been around for almost a century and a half since Buddhism was
introduced to Europe. Dukkha has been translated into
English as suffering , illness and unsatisfactoriness. I would
like to say that none of these retains the true meaning of Dukkha
but instead the word Dukkha covers all these meanings
and more.
Actually,
Dukkha embraces the whole of existence, whether sentient
or non-sentient, animate or inanimate; happiness, suffering,
like, or dislike, a pleasant or unpleasant condition or a neutral
one, all come under Dukkha . Each of these is classified
as Dukkha not necessarily because it is a kind of suffering
as it is understood but simply because it is changing constantly,
all the time, at any moment. All those things, happy or unhappy,
they come and go, begin and end. The whole process of this world
just operates in this way. For this very reason, they are Dukkha
. The Buddha taught us in His First sermon in a very simple
way: whatever is impermanent or changing, all that is Dukkha
. (Yad aniccam tam Dukkham). Before he said so he observed
the whole world and found nothing but a process of change. So
changing means the world. The very characteristic of our
existence that remains there all the time is but change whether
for better or for worse.
We
fall ill and we suffer. That is suffering and that suffering
is Dukkha . It comes and goes. We enjoy good fortune
and that fortune is not everlasting but will one day go. Human
beings are born and will definitely die. That is Dukkha
.
We
get into a bus and sometimes we have to sit next to some one
who appears to us very unpleasant. That is Dukkha . If
you react to the situation by thinking, "Today I am very
unlucky to be meeting such people, I am stupid to be here on
this bus", then you are creating Dukkha . We meet
someone somewhere in our life and at a certain point, we each
have to go our own way. So we feel sad. That is Dukkha.
If you do not try to experience the meeting or the departing
mindfully, as it is, but reacting - again, you are creating
Dukkha out of it. We want a Mercedes Benz car and we
get it. We are happy but now people say a BMW, or a Rolls Royce
is better, more luxurious. We are no longer content with our
Mercedes Benz. This is Dukkha. We feel frustrated at
work. This is Dukkha. We want a word of thanks from someone,
from our boss, from our neighbours but we are criticised instead.
Therefore, this is Dukkha. To get it is all right. An
appreciation is good. But if that makes us get caught up in
that sort of esteem then we cling to it. We keep expecting to
it more and more. This is Dukkha .
We
want our child to behave in a certain way but it turns out just
the opposite. So we feel disappointed. Disappointment is again
Dukkha. All these bear the nature of arising and falling
away. They come and go.
In
this world, we feel anxious, despairing, frustrated, irritated,
upset, disappointed, discomfort, anguish, painful and disgusted.
Therefore, these are Dukkha in their nature, not because
the Buddha said they are Dukkha .
Sometimes
we have a success and feel very satisfied with our own performance.
However, this satisfaction itself is again Dukkha , simply
because it does not stay forever. In a higher stage of meditation
practice, you do not feel any mental annoyance at all. It is
very calm and peaceful. It is called Sukha - happiness.
Again, this happiness is Dukkha, not because it causes
unhappiness or suffering at that moment but because it does
not stay forever. It changes. It starts and finishes. So it
is Dukkha . You see Dukkha does not cover only
the negative side of life but the positive one as well.
Actually
Dukkha , I emphasise again, means the world. I just cannot
see anything, which is not Dukkha . Alternatively, to
put it in a very simple way, all we experience is Dukkha
- whether it is through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind.
To Buddhist analysis the world means only what we experience
in our daily life through our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body
and mind. We experience the so-called world through these six
sense doors. It is all Dukkha because of its inability
to be satisfactory.
What
to do then? Dukkha ! Suffering! Oh no, I do not want
that, nobody wants to hear it, it attracts no one to listen
to it. We want to end Dukkha , which appears mostly in
a painful manner in this world. Can we just ignore or run away
to get rid of it? It will not work. The human habit is to ignore
it because they do not want it. With the desire to end Dukkha
, you may form a serious idea of getting away from it. The idea
itself is all right. Nevertheless, once you are caught in that
idea, then that clinging again becomes Dukkha. Without
understanding, what we tend to do is to cling to that idea.
So
what to do?
There
are two things we can do; first is to recognise that there is
Dukkha and then to try to understand the nature of Dukkha
. It means to learn about it as it is, and try to experience
it the way it is without reacting in a habitual way, without
judging its value.
The
Lord Buddha said there is Dukkha instead of saying I
am suffering or you are suffering. Notice this. Dukkha
is there, not personal, it is common to Asians and Europeans,
to Burmese, Sri Lankan, British, American and others. Dukkha
is experienced in the same way by a homeless person and by Queen
Elizabeth. Being with someone you do not really like is felt
in just the same way by anybody whether it is to Princess Diana
or a poor woman. Separation is painfully experienced by anybody
... be it the first lady of Peru or a wife of an Unknown Soldier.
Death brings painful experience to any one related to it. Mr.
Onassis, the then richest man in the world found no relief over
the death of his son. This kind of painful experience spares
no one, rich or poor. You do not want to become old; neither
do I. But this experience is just there as a fact.
The
human experience is there. And Dukkha is there. It is
the common bond that we all share.
What
we have to do in this stage is, may I repeat again, to recognise
that there is Dukkha. Dukkha is there but it needs
recognition. It requires an acknowledgment. This is a starting
point. From this, we can go on. The Lord Buddha spoke in a very
clear and precise way. Dukkha must be understood, it
must be penetrated (parinnyeya ).
To
understand it we must first be aware of the facts on which our
daily life is based. This awareness is called mindfulness or
Sati. With mindfulness, your mind will become contemplative,
receptive, and not impulsive, not rejecting. Then investigate
the real nature of that fact. This is called investigation of
nature = Dhamma vicaya. Both form factors of enlightenment
( Bojjhanga ). The remedy in Buddhism is the Noble Eightfold
Path. Each of us has to walk on the Path on our own to get to
our destination.(Paccattam veditabbo = the truth is understood
individually , one of the six characteristics of the Buddha's
teaching.)
To
summarise my talk, the Lord Buddha said, "Look at the world
as a pleasure, then as a danger and then there is liberation
from that danger."( Assada , adinava , and nissarana
).With understanding of Dukkha, compassion starts
growing in our heart. Suffering is the object of compassion.
May
you all be happy !!
3.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS ...Teachings by Ajahn Sumedho
*
http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble.htm
THE
FIRST NOBLE TRUTH
What
is the Noble Truth of Suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is
suffering, sickness is suffering, dissociation from the loved
is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering: in short
the five categories affected by clinging are suffering.
There
is this Noble Truth of Suffering: such was the vision, insight,
wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not
heard before.
This
Noble Truth must be penetrated by fully understanding suffering:
such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that
arose in me about things not heard before.
This
Noble Truth has been penetrated by fully understanding suffering:
such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that
arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta
Nikaya LVI, 11]
The
First Noble Truth with its three aspects is: "There is
suffering, dukkha. Dukkha should be understood. Dukkha has been
understood."
This
is a very skilful teaching because it is expressed in a simple
formula which is easy to remember, and it also applies to everything
that you can possibly experience or do or think concerning the
past, the present or the future.
Suffering
or dukkha is the common bond we all share. Everybody everywhere
suffers. Human beings suffered in the past, in ancient India;
they suffer in modern Britain; and in the future, human beings
will also suffer. What do we have in common with Queen Elizabeth?
- we suffer. With a tramp in Charing Cross, what do we have
in common? - suffering. It includes all levels from the most
privileged human beings to the most desperate and underprivileged
ones, and all ranges in between. Everybody everywhere suffers.
It is a bond we have with each other, something we all understand.
When
we talk about our human suffering, it brings out our compassionate
tendencies. But when we talk about our opinions, about what
I think and what you think about politics and religion, then
we can get into wars. I remember seeing a film in London about
ten years ago. It tried to portray Russian people as human beings
by showing Russian women with babies and Russian men taking
their children out for picnics. At the time, this presentation
of the Russian people was unusual because most of the propaganda
of the West made them out to be titanic monsters or cold-hearted,
reptilian people - and so you never thought of them as human
beings. If you want to kill people, you have to make them out
to be that way; you cannot very well kill somebody if you realise
they suffer the way you do. You have to think that they are
cold-hearted, immoral, worthless and bad, and that it is better
to get rid of them. You have to think that they are evil and
that it is good to get rid of evil. With this attitude, you
might feel justified in bombing and machine-gunning them. If
you keep in mind our common bond of suffering, that makes you
quite incapable of doing those things.
The
First Noble Truth is not a dismal metaphysical statement saying
that everything is suffering. Notice that there is a difference
between a metaphysical doctrine in which you are making a statement
about The Absolute and a Noble Truth which is a reflection.
A Noble Truth is a truth to reflect upon; it is not an absolute;
it is not The Absolute. This is where Western people get very
confused because they interpret this Noble Truth as a kind of
metaphysical truth of Buddhism - but it was never meant to be
that.
You
can see that the First Noble Truth is not an absolute statement
because of the Fourth Noble Truth, which is the way of non-suffering.
You cannot have absolute suffering and then have a way out of
it, can you? That doesn’t make sense. Yet some people
will pick up on the First Noble Truth and say that the Buddha
taught that everything is suffering.
The
Pali word, dukkha, means "incapable of satisfying"
or "not able to bear or withstand anything": always
changing, incapable of truly fulfilling us or making us happy.
The sensual world is like that, a vibration in nature. It would,
in fact, be terrible if we did find satisfaction in the sensory
world because then we wouldn’t search beyond it; we’d
just be bound to it. However, as we awaken to this dukkha, we
begin to find the way out so that we are no longer constantly
trapped in sensory consciousness.
THE
SECOND NOBLE TRUTH
What
is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering?
It
is craving which renews being and is accompanied by relish and
lust, relishing this and that: in other words, craving for sensual
desires, craving for being, craving for non-being. But whereon
does this craving arise and flourish? Wherever there is what
seems lovable and gratifying, thereon it arises and flourishes.
There
is this Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering:such was the
vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me
about things not heard before.
This
Noble Truth must be penetrated to by abandoning the origin of
suffering....
This
Noble Truth has been penetrated to by abandoning the origin
of suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing
and light that arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta
Nikaya LVI, 11]
The
Second Noble Truth with its three aspects is: ‘There is
the origin of suffering, which is attachment to desire. Desire
should be let go of. Desire has been let go of.’
The
Second Noble Truth states that there is an origin of suffering
and that the origin of suffering is attachment to the three
kinds of desire: desire for sense pleasure (kama tanha), desire
to become (bhava tanha) and desire to get rid of (vibhava tanha).
This is the statement of the Second Noble Truth, the thesis,
the pariyatti. This is what you contemplate: the origin of suffering
is attachment to desire.
THE
THIRD NOBLE TRUTH
What
is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering? It is the
remainderless fading and cessation of that same craving; the
rejecting, relinquishing, leaving and renouncing of it. But
whereon is this craving abandoned and made to cease? Wherever
there is what seems lovable and gratifying, thereon it is abandoned
and made to cease.
There
is this Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: such was
the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in
me about things not heard before.
This
Noble Truth must be penetrated to by realising the Cessation
of Suffering....
This
Noble Truth has been penetrated to by realising the Cessation
of Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing
and light that arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta
Nikaya LVI, 11]
The
Third Noble Truth with its three aspects is: ‘There is
the cessation of suffering, of dukkha. The cessation of dukkha
should be realised. The cessation of dukkha has been realised.’
The
whole aim of the Buddhist teaching is to develop the reflective
mind in order to let go of delusions. The Four Noble Truths
is a teaching about letting go by investigating or looking into
- contemplating: ‘Why is it like this? Why is it this
way?’ It is good to ponder over things like why monks
shave their heads or why Buddha-rupas look the way they do.
We contemplate...the mind is not forming an opinion about whether
these are good, bad, useful or useless. The mind is actually
opening and considering. ‘What does this mean? What do
the monks represent? Why do they carry alms bowls? Why can’t
they have money? Why can’t they grow their own food? We
contemplate how this way of living has sustained the tradition
and allowed it to be handed down from its original founder,
Gotama the Buddha, to the present time.
We
reflect as we see suffering; as we see the nature of desire;
as we recognise that attachment to desire is suffering. These
insights can only come through reflection; they cannot come
through belief. You cannot make yourself believe or realise
an insight as a wilful act; through really contemplating and
pondering these truths, the insights come to you. They come
only through the mind being open and receptive to the teaching
- blind belief is certainly not advised or expected of anyone.
Instead, the mind should be willing to be receptive, pondering
and considering.
This
mental state is very important - it is the way out of suffering.
It is not the mind which has fixed views and prejudices and
thinks it knows it all or which just takes what other people
say as being the truth. It is the mind that is open to these
Four Noble Truths and can reflect upon something that we can
see within our own mind.
People
rarely realise non-suffering because it takes a special kind
of willingness in order to ponder and investigate and get beyond
the gross and the obvious. It takes a willingness to actually
look at your own reactions, to be able to see the attachments
and to contemplate: ‘What does attachment feel like?’
For
example, do you feel happy or liberated by being attached to
desire? Is it uplifting or depressing? These questions are for
you to investigate. If you find out that being attached to your
desires is liberating, then do that. Attach to all your desires
and see what the result is.
In
my practice, I have seen that attachment to my desires is suffering.
There is no doubt about that. I can see how much suffering in
my life has been caused by attachments to material things, ideas,
attitudes or fears. I can see all kinds of unnecessary misery
that I have caused myself through attachment because I did not
know any better. I was brought up in America - the land of freedom.
It promises the right to be happy, but what it really offers
is the right to be attached to everything. America encourages
you to try to be as happy as you can by getting things. However,
if you are working with the Four Noble Truths, attachment is
to be understood and contemplated; then the insight into non-attachment
arises. This is not an intellectual stand or a command from
your brain saying that you should not be attached; it is just
a natural insight into non-attachment or non-suffering.
THE
FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH
What
is the Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering?
It is the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say: Right View,
Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
There
is this Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of
Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and
light that arose in me about things not heard before....
This
Noble Truth must be penetrated to by cultivating the Path....
This
Noble Truth has been penetrated to by cultivating the Path:
such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that
arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta
Nikaya LVI, 11]
The
Fourth Noble Truth, like the first three, has three aspects.
The first aspect is: ‘There is the Eightfold Path, the
atthangika magga - the way out of suffering.’ It is also
called the ariya magga, the Ariyan or Noble Path. The second
aspect is: ‘This path should be developed.’ The
final insight into arahantship is: ‘This path has been
fully developed.’
The
Eightfold Path is presented in a sequence: beginning with Right
(or perfect) Understanding, samma ditthi, it goes to Right (or
perfect) Intention or Aspiration, samma sankappa; these first
two elements of the path are grouped together as Wisdom (panna).
Moral commitment (sila) flows from panna; this covers Right
Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood - also referred to
as perfect speech, perfect action and perfect livelihood, samma
vaca, samma kammanta and samma ajiva.
Then
we have Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration,
samma vayama, samma sati and samma samadhi, which flow naturally
from sila. These last three provide emotional balance. They
are about the heart - the heart that is liberated from self-view
and from selfishness. With Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and
Right Concentration, the heart is pure, free from taints and
defilements. When the heart is pure, the mind is peaceful. Wisdom
(panna), or Right Understanding and Right Aspiration, comes
from a pure heart. This takes us back to where we started.
These,
then, are the elements of the Eightfold Path, grouped in three
sections:
1.
Wisdom (panna)
Right
Understanding (samma ditthi)
Right
Aspiration (samma sankappa)
2.
Morality (sila)
Right
Speech (samma vaca)
Right
Action (samma kammanta)
Right
Livelihood (samma ajiva)
3.
Concentration (samadhi)
Right
Effort (samma vayama)
Right
Mindfulness (samma sati)
Right
Concentration (samma samadhi)
The
fact that we list them in order does not mean that they happen
in a linear way, in sequence - they arise together. We may talk
about the Eightfold Path and say ‘First you have Right
Understanding, then you have Right Aspiration, then....’
But actually, presented in this way, it simply teaches us to
reflect upon the importance of taking responsibility for what
we say and do in our lives.
4.
Friends of Peace Pilgrim
*
http://www.peacepilgrim.org/
Friends
of Peace Pilgrim is a non-profit organization devoted to
spreading Peace Pilgrim's message. In the tradition of her pilgrimage,
all materials on this website are offered free of charge. Anyone
working for peace, spiritual development, and the growth of
human awareness has our willing permission to reprint non-copyrighted
materials in whole or part.
Between
1953 and 1981 Peace Pilgrim walked more then 25,000 miles across
the country spreading her message—This is the way of peace:
"Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred
with love." Carrying in her tunic pockets her only possessions,
she vowed, "I shall remain a wanderer until mankind has
learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and
fasting until given food." She talked with people
on dusty roads and city streets, to church, college, civic groups,
on TV and radio, discussing peace within and without.
Her
pilgrimage covered the entire peace picture: peace among nations,
groups, individuals, and the very important inner peace—because
that is where peace begins.
She
believed that world peace would come when enough people attain
inner peace. Her life and work showed that one person with
inner peace can make a significant contribution to world peace.
On
Foot and on Faith- One remarkable woman's 25,000 mile walk for
peace. ...by Maggie Spilner
She
didn't wear high-tech walking shoes, just plain canvas sneakers.
She didn't sport a trade-name jacket or hat, just a simple navy
blue tunic and pants. No organization sponsored her. No one
followed her with a van to pick her up when she grew tired or
when the weather turned foul. She traveled alone, on foot and
on faith, with a singular purpose: to share her prescription
for worldwide harmony. "Overcome evil with good, falsehood
with truth, and hatred with love. This is the way to peace,"
she told anyone who stopped to ask.
Her
name was Mildred Norman Ryder, but she become known simply as
Peace Pilgrim, the name that appeared on the front of her tunic.
And the name captured her essence: She was a woman on a 25,000-mile
walking pilgrimage for peace.
In
the 1950's, long before T-shirts became billboards for personal
politics, Peace Pilgrim knew that a few words, sewn to her tunic--"walking
coast to coast for peace"--would be an effective way to
share her message. But it wasn't her message that fascinated
me at first; it was her medium. She was a phenomenal walker--in
every sense of the word. Not only did she cover an amazing number
of miles in her lifetime (well beyond the 25,000 she set out
to do), but she was also vital, energetic and at peace with
herself. (Not to mention that she amassed most of that mileage
after her 50th birthday.) She was amazing. Inspiring. From the
moment I heard of her, I wanted to know more. Here's what I
learned.
A
brief history of Peace
Peace
Pilgrim's monumental trek across the United States began in
1953 at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. There, she
handed out leaflets and gathered signatures for a Peace Petition,
one that she delivered to the United Nations after walking coast
to coast. Before her death in 1981, Peace crisscrossed the continent
seven times on foot, stopping to talk to anyone intrigued by
the message on her tunic.
Like
some mystic Johnny Appleseed, Peace Pilgrim sowed the seeds
of peace during conversations, college lectures, church services,
radio programs, and TV interviews. She covered, as she was known
to say, "the whole peace picture: peace among nations,
peace among groups, peace among people, and, most important,
inner peace." Not a new message, she willingly, acknowledged.
But one that she felt America needed.
The
more I heard about Peace Pilgrim, the more compelled I felt
to read about her. And the more I read, the harder it was to
believe she actually existed. Yet there were thousands of newspaper
clippings that vouched for her reality, Still, the scenario
was an unlikely one: Imagine an ordinary woman, hair already
turned silver, setting off on a twentieth-century pilgrimage
on foot (in America, no less--land of the car), without a penny
in her pocket.
Day
in, day out, Peace Pilgrim wore the same outfit, regardless
of the season, washing her garments in rest rooms and letting
them air-dry on her body. (She claimed that, over the years,
her system adapted so that she easily adjusted to temperature
changes.) She ate only when food was offered and slept wherever
she found herself, which was often in an open field. And she
carried only what she could fit into the pockets of her tunic:
a comb, a folding toothbrush, her mail, a pen, a map, and, later,
copies of her booklet, "Steps Toward Inner Peace,"
which she left with folks along the way.
Peace
Talks
Once
I'd read of her journey and her lifestyle, I became curious
about her message, too--and about the enthusiasm with which
she delivered it. As I watched tapes of her college lectures,
I was struck by how much they seemed like mini-plays rather
than speeches. In them, she waved her arms and raised her eyes
to the heavens, her long slender fingers pointing and clasping
to punctuate her message. It was clear: She was talking from
her heart. There wasn't a trace of judgment or criticism in
her words or her manner. And she was having a heck of a good
time.
No
question could throw her off course. No intellectualization
dampened her enthusiasm. She had found inner peace and she wanted
to "shout it from the rooftops." And, essentially,
she did. "Only as we become peaceful will we be finding
ourselves living in a more peaceful world," she'd say.
To
small towns and large cities alike, Peace Pilgrim brought ideas
that today are the topics of endless books on self-improvement
and spiritual development. "Problems are opportunities
in disguise" and "inner peace is where peace begins"
were just two of her mantras. At the time, what she said was
radical. And yet she was so compelling--and she so obviously
lived by her beliefs--that thousands of people took her into
their hearts and even into their homes. Soon her difficulty
wasn't waiting to be offered food and shelter, but finding a
way to graciously refuse. Peace Pilgrim had come so far--literally
and figuratively--that I couldn't help but wonder where she'd
begun.
Peace's
First Steps
Walking
played an integral part in the "creation" of Peace
Pilgrim. During what she called her 15-year "preparation
period," she spent time every day walking and drawing inspiration
from nature. Neither highly educated nor an avid reader, Peace
(then known simply as Mildred) claimed to receive insights as
she walked.
She
worked to put those insights into practice in her life, and
she suggested that others do the same. "From the beauties
of nature, you get your inspiration. From the silent receptiveness,
you get your meditation. From the walking, you get not only
exercise, but deep breathing--all in one lovely experience,"
she said.
In
1952, a year before her first pilgrimage, Peace walked the entire
Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia--a distance of over
2,000 miles. It taught her the necessity of traveling light.
"I lived out-of-doors completely, supplied with only one
pair of slacks and shorts, one blouse and sweater, a lightweight
blanket, and two double plastic sheets into which I sometimes
stuffed leaves," she said. "I was not completely dry
and warm, but I enjoyed it thoroughly!" she said. It was
toward the end of that expedition, after walking all night,
that she experienced the vision for her first pilgrimage across
the country.
Talking
More, Walking Less
In
1964, when Peace had completed 25,000 miles, she decided that
was enough. It was time to stop counting. She had walked the
highways because it was easier to chart her progress, but it
wasn't the best way to meet people and share her message. Now
she was ready to walk through the towns that the highways passed
by. There, she'd find the listeners she sought.
Along
with her change in route came a change in priorities. . .from
walking to speaking. She booked engagements across the country.
She even began to accept rides so she could fit in as many speeches
as possible, although she always returned to walking when time
allowed. And as Peace's focus turned toward the spoken word,
it turned toward the written word, too. On her journeys, she
wrote to thousands of people she had met and counseled; and
to share her thoughts with her friends, she wrote a newsletter
called Peace Pilgrim's Progress.
Although
Peace claimed people should never look for results from their
efforts, she did live to see a shift in the world culture of
the 1960s--a shift away from the belief that war is the answer
to conflict. Before the `70's dawned, she saw the fear and apathy
of the McCarthy Era replaced with fervent demonstrations for
peace. She saw people who'd had little interest in spiritual
growth become hungry for the kind of message she sought to deliver.
This peace-loving trend grew stronger through the 1980's and,
thanks to folks like her, still lives on.
Of
course, every pilgrimage must come to an end. On July 7, 1981,
Peace Pilgrim was, ironically, killed in a car accident while
being driven to a speaking engagement. She left no more written
material than her newsletters and the booklet "Steps Toward
Inner Peace." When her thousands of followers heard the
news, they joined in spirit to mourn her passing. But I suspect
that Peace herself would have told them to save their tears.
In her own words: "The body is just a garment. Death is
a glorious transition to a freer life." In death, Peace
Pilgrim was free. But her message lives on in my heart. . .
and now, I hope yours, too.
Reprinted
by permission of Walking Fit Magazine, Copyright 1997 Rodale
Press, Inc. All rights reserved
5.
The Four Noble Truths: Fundamentals of the Buddhist Teachings
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama ...by Dalai Lama, Thupten
Jinpa, Dominique Side
*
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0722535503/wwwkusalaorg-20/
Ingram
Life
involves suffering. Desire is the source of our suffering. There
is a way to put an end to our desire. The way out of desire
is to live one's life according to eight basic principles. These
four noble truths were the subject of the Buddha's first sermon
and form the core of Buddhist teaching. The Dalai Lama describes
these unique teachings here as he presented them to the West
for the first time in 1997.
Amazon.com
Reviewer: A reader from Sevierville, TN United States...
In this small book His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents a completely
comprehensive, easy to understand explanation and discussion
on The Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of the Buddhist
teaching. Yet the book transcends religious beliefs and is actually
a book on living happily and peacefully no matter what one's
beliefs are. This book, therefore, is for anyone and everyone
who is interested in living a more peaceful life. His Holiness
explains the most complex issues of human existence in a form
that is so simple anyone can understand. He readily gives examples
and compassionately faces all alternative arguments to the issues.
Everything makes sense. He includes a complete glossary and
recommendations for further reading. The last chapter focuses
on compassion, complementing the teaching on The Four Noble
Truths, and beautifully illustrates how the teachings can be
applied to daily life. One completes the reading with no unanswered
questions and a profound feeling of peace. It is an inspiring,
uplifting, informative little book that will be read over and
over again.
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