Your Meditation Guide Blog

A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died. Hakuin answered 'How am I supposed to know?' 'How do you not know? You're a Zen master!' exclaimed the samurai. 'Yes, but not a dead one,' Hakuin answered.

James: What Master Hakuin understood was that so long as this samurai was obsessed with what happens after death, (if anything) he might as well already be dead. In clinging to worries about death, he is dead to the present moment. Therefore, the samurai is not able to experience and enjoy the vibrant life that is already unfolding around him!! Why concern yourself with an existence after this one if you're not even experiencing the current one?!! This is why Zen doesn't focus too intently on afterlife.

It advises people to live each moment as though it were their last, which leads us to live a life of greater awareness of our actions; and that causes less suffering for us and those around us. In this way, we will live a healthier spiritual life to where any concerns or fears about a possible afterlife will naturally fade away.

PHOTO: The altar where I meditate at home.

Thirty years ago, Bob Marley died. It was a life cut far too short. He was so much more than a musician and icon of the popular musical style, reggae. He was a visionary, a healer and an inspiration to the down-trodden, listless American kids drowning in the chaos of modernity and especially to those of African heritage who have been oppressed. He was a rebel but one who eschewed violence in favor of radical love. I say radical, because it's easy to respond with violence to the problems Bob described in his songs. But, his answer was to trust in a higher power--love, which unites all beings. As the Dalai Lama says, no being wants to suffer.

Marley, woke up a sleepy, middle-class America to the injustices of the black man but his lyrics spoke to anyone facing a struggle against the corrupt powers of man poisoned by greed, hatred and delusion. In other words, the three poisons that Buddha warns us about. Come to think of it, I hear a lot of spirituality in his songs that Buddhist would agree with; along with his over-all energy of peace, love and simplicity. Unfortunately he wasn't with us that long but the sheer weight of what he has inspired in countless people spanning many generations shows that it doesn't take a lifetime to positively change lives forever. So, let us take inspiration from his example and be the change we want to see the world--today.

I will leave you with this quote, from then Jamaican Prime Minister, Edward Seaga about Bob Marley, said at his funeral:

"His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. Bob Marley was never 'seen.' He was an 'experience,' which left an indelible imprint with every encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind." He certainly changed my life forever when I began my life-long love of his music at the age of 13. If you're a fan, let's take a moment to listen to his music and rededicate ourselves to his vision. May his legend live long and strong!! One people, One heart, One love. The video below is of musicians from around the world singing Bob's classic song, "One Love." For lyrics in English, click here. Enjoy!!

Thirty years ago, Bob Marley died. It was a life cut far too short. He was so much more than a musician and icon of the popular musical style, reggae. He was a visionary, a healer and an inspiration to the down-trodden, listless American kids drowning in the chaos of modernity and especially to those of African heritage who have been oppressed. He was a rebel but one who eschewed violence in favor of radical love. I say radical, because it's easy to respond with violence to the problems Bob described in his songs. But, his answer was to trust in a higher power--love, which unites all beings. As the Dalai Lama says, no being wants to suffer.

Marley, woke up a sleepy, middle-class America to the injustices of the black man but his lyrics spoke to anyone facing a struggle against the corrupt powers of man poisoned by greed, hatred and delusion. In other words, the three poisons that Buddha warns us about. Come to think of it, I hear a lot of spirituality in his songs that Buddhist would agree with; along with his over-all energy of peace, love and simplicity. Unfortunately he wasn't with us that long but the sheer weight of what he has inspired in countless people spanning many generations shows that it doesn't take a lifetime to positively change lives forever. So, let us take inspiration from his example and be the change we want to see the world--today.

I will leave you with this quote, from then Jamaican Prime Minister, Edward Seaga about Bob Marley, said at his funeral:

"His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. Bob Marley was never 'seen.' He was an 'experience,' which left an indelible imprint with every encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind." He certainly changed my life forever when I began my life-long love of his music at the age of 13. If you're a fan, let's take a moment to listen to his music and rededicate ourselves to his vision. May his legend live long and strong!! One people, One heart, One love. The video below is of musicians from around the world singing Bob's classic song, "One Love." For lyrics in English, click here. Enjoy!!

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a death penalty ban into law on Wednesday, making Illinois the 16th state to end capital punishment. Quinn also commuted the sentences of the 15 inmates on death row in the state. Instead, they will serve life in prison without parole. The ban on executions will take effect July 1. -by Jennifer Epstein for Politico.

James: State sponsored killed is the wrong way to show people that killing is wrong. Seriously, why do we kill people to show other people that killing is wrong? I believe that life in prison without the possibility of parole is a just, yet humane punishment as it avoids that taking of a life while ensuring that they will never kill again. It also gives them plenty of time to think about the horror and pain that they have caused.

They say that time heals all wounds, and I think there is some truth to that phrase. I've seen plenty of documentaries about men on death row who are older now and speak of how much they regret their previous actions. I've seen hardened criminals cry like a baby as an old man at the suffering they causes for their victims, themselves and the criminal's family.

Ending the death penalty is also a cheaper policy than maintaining a death row. As it turns out, it's ten times cheaper despite most people thinking the opposite says Donald McCartin, a former California jurist know as, "The Hanging Judge of Orange County." This from an article by the Associated Press.

And, what of the moral cost to the individuals that we task with the actual killing of the prisoner? I saw a documentary on the death penalty that interviewed several former executioners for prisons who are now emotionally scarred and experiencing nightmares from their former, grisly jobs. If we couldn't kill a person ourselves then how can we ask someone to do it for us and act like that blood isn't on our hands? And, what of the innocent blood that has surely been spilled from executing an innocent person? It seems we can't go a month without hearing someone being exonerated from prison after 20-30 years thanks to DNA evidence.

We can not hope to heal our society of violence when we are sanctioning it's practice in our name via capital punishment. It is my hope that all states in the U.S. move in this enlightened direction.

~Peace to all beings~

It seems that karma is one of the least understood principles of Buddhism. Yet, at its core it is not too dissimilar to Newtons third law of motion, which says that for every action there is a reaction. Thus, in essence karma is nothing different than cause and effect, which isn't as mystical and confusing as some might think. It stands to reason that if I hit my friend in the head with a hammer that there will be a reaction--and rightly so!!

At times though we can become obsessed with our karma wondering what previous action led to any number of things we're currently obsessed about: A disease we might be living with, a state of poverty or a perceived lack of talents. Believe me I've spent way too many nights wondering what I did "wrong" in a past life to develop a severe psychiatric condition but that's just not a good use of my time.

The problem is that karma is such an all-encompassing, timeless, constant process that it's nearly impossible to isolate what previous action led to a present condition that causes us particular suffering. There is karma at work that happened thousands of years ago. Plus, not everything is caused by karma. We know that the human form is the most suitable form to understand the Dharma in but it's not without its downsides. Some things, like sickness are just apart of the human condition regardless of who we were or are now as Buddha found out early: We get sick, we age and then die. So, it quickly becomes pointless to try and figure out what came from where. It will merely cause additional stress and suffering, which will do nothing to improve our current condition that we were suffering from originally before we started a forensic investigation into our past karma.

Physical disease is particularly hard to pin down because we are all destined for disease from our first breath as an infant. The minute we take our first breath, the countdown to death begins. That might be shockingly morbid to some of you but if you contemplate upon it you might find it frees you up to enjoy the present moment rather than obsessing about death and disease. We always seem to ask "why" when we have a major disease but not when we just have a simple sickness like a cold or the flu. Why, not? Because we simply understand that the human condition is frail and sickness is inevitable.

Yet somehow when we get a severe disease we think the severity means it must be punishment for something we did. The question becomes, "What did I do to deserve this?" The ego-mind wants some serious infraction to cling to because that would make sense to its limited and deluded nature but the real answer to that question of, "What did I do to deserve this?" is simply that you were born a human. That's it. I know, it's not a particularly exciting answer but that's the point. The ego-mind is looking for some exciting, unique reason for it. So, that even though the body is sick, at least it will get to feel important because some guru said the sickness was from some mysterious past life. It's silly isn't it when you think of it that way? It's not that we are trying to sound important--we just want to know why we're sick so we can feel better but the ego is so subtle that it can control us like a puppet and we're often none the wiser. That's why paying attention to our thoughts through meditation is so important. So that we can practice on being aware of our ego more and more.

This is important to remember when it comes to one's health because it can be easy to feel discouraged if we assume a disease we live with now is because of some terrible action we committed in the past. The point of Buddhism is not to figure out what we did wrong in the past but to stay centered in the present moment, so that we add as little additional burden to our karmic backpack as possible. Why worry if something in your past caused you to get sick? That won't help heal your disease but it will cause stress, which makes any illness worse. This reminds me of a famous lesson from Buddha, which goes something like this: A man gets struck with a poisoned arrow and the doctor wants to get it out as soon as possible and reverse the spread of the poison. Instead, the man shot by the arrow says first he wants to know who shot it, what kind of arrow is it? How was it made? Where did the wood for the arrow come from? Where did the poison come from, and what kind is it? But by the time the man finds this out he'll be dead.

Worrying about the past won't change anything--what's done is done. If you feel you did something less than helpful in a past life (or just yesterday) then don't worry about it; just live now the best way you can. Because you can't heal your physical self now without letting go of having to know all those "poisoned arrow" questions. Buddhism is about the present because it is the only time we have. We can waste our entire lives living in the past and I know some old people who have been lost to the ravages of that kind of worry. They are empty shells of people who are so balled up with stress and regret that they hardly know what is going on presently. They spent so much time lost in their past memories that even they have almost become a memory. Live in the now, not the past because we aren't guaranteed a tomorrow.

Christopher Hitchens is a thorn to some and a champion to others, but to the cosmos he's nothing. The famous (or infamous, depending on your beliefs on religion) British Atheist is known for being up for a good fight; he now has a fight that is even daunting to his larger than life personality. That fight is against cancer but his acerbic wit is still, thankfully intact. In addition, his daunting challenge hasn't shaken his acceptance that none of us have guarantees in this life, which has prevented him from using too much of his precious days left to ask, "Why me?" His response to that question is almost koan material, which is ironic for not only a committed Atheist but a passionate advocate against religion altogether. To the dumb question “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?

It's not an easy thing to admit because it feels like we're losing control over our life. However, this life was never "ours" to begin with, which I think it partly why so many people go through the "5 stages of grief" when facing the exacting, unbending and non-discriminating bringer of death (but also other crises in our lives). It is said that the ego-driven mind goes through 5 stages of grief before finally accepting the inevitable. The stages are as follows: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally Acceptance. Interestingly these stages seem to mirror the Buddhist process of accepting the reality of suffering and the impermanence of all phenomena. It's a thought that itches my brain with wondering, "Do awakened people such as the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh go through such a process when faced with death?" The answer chimes clearly like a temple bell calling all to meditation, "No, because if one hasn't accepted the unwavering power of impermanence and the delusion of our ego; how can one be fully awakened?" It makes me wonder too if most Buddhists are better prepared for death than others?

The Buddhist teaching that always comes to mind when I meditate and contemplate about the impermance of life comes from the famous and beautiful Diamond Sutra:

The Buddha asked, “Subhuti, if a man had a body as huge as a mountain, would he be a great man?” “No, Lord. Because “a great man” is only words, and being a great man is an illusion, created by the belief in ego.”

When I was a young boy I spent some years in the Boy Scouts, which is a survivalist organization that trains young men on how to live in the wilderness. As well as teach them other life skills. When the leaders weren't around we kids would sing songs that, naturally, were deemed by our elders as, "gross." You know how kids are. The one that comes to mind today is something called, "The Hearse Song" which is about death and stems from the 19th century when it was documented among British soldiers serving in the Crimean War. Here are the full lyrics as I learned them:

The Worms Crawl In,
The Worms Crawl Out,
Into your stomach,
And out your mouth.

This is how
It is to die
You end up looking
Like apple pie!

James: This "gory" topic was brought to mind from a post by the no non-sense Buddhist blogger Genkaku. In this post he was speaking about his experience attending funeral homes here in America. This got me thinking about death, which is something that I came to terms with years ago. Studying Zen Buddhism and having had to struggle with suicidal thoughts from a mental illness forces you to face death whether you like it or not. So, anyway, part of Genkaku's post is about how quickly some recoil and run away from anything related to death. Or how we're not supposed to laugh about death, as if doing so shows a sign of disrespect to the dead. Or by laughing we're cursed to die next. I find all that superstitious mumbo-jumbo to be funny in and of itself!! Cursed to be the next to die? If you wanna use those words and look at it in that manner then we're all "cursed."

That's the way Buddhism sees it too--not as a curse but definitely as a fact of life to come to terms with sooner than later. That's because we're all dying from the minute after we take our first breath as a fresh and snappy-skinned baby. Buddhism teaches us that death is nothing to be feared because it is just another change in the many changes leading up to it. As another online writer says it, "It is the temporary end of a temporary problem." Now, some think that contemplating upon death is depressing, leads to despair and suicidal thinking.

Actually, in my own experience, (and from that of others who have embraced death and come to terms with its reality) it opens one up to live with less suffering. When you realize that death could come at any minute then you truly understand how precious each present moment really and truly is. This has allowed me to savor and enjoy life on a much deeper and profound level. This blunt assessment of death and suffering isn't nihilism but a pragmatic acceptance of life as it is, and not how we want it to be.

As for the specifics of death, I personally find the way we deal with death in Western culture to be a bit silly. We buy dressy, expensive clothes to wrap our dead shell in, which are quickly going to rot away. Then we buy a really expensive, fancy, box that we're only going to use once. We fill it with our finely dressed, bag of bones, which we promptly bury in our bejeweled box under six feet of dirt. And we do this in a fancy park that could be used to house homeless instead of rotting bags of flesh. As if all that isn't enough to stroke our egos we top it all off with an intricately etched headstone proudly stating our name. Or, rather the name of the body.

According to Buddhist standards our name, and that body are long expired the minute our last breath escapes. In fact, our name is pretty much meaningless while we're living as well!! Some people are so attached to their lives that even after death they even want a fancy house (mausoleum) to surround and protect their buried box!! They don't want their "special bones" sitting next to the bones of some lowly, average citizen!!

Upon my death, I just want my body cut up and pieced out to use in helping sick, yet living bodies live longer, healthier lives via organ donation. I highly support organ donation by the way. If there is anything left I simply would like the rest of it cremated and have my ashes spread around, so that perhaps other living things can benefit from it. Or possibly the sky burial they do in Tibet if I could find a way to get away with it. Or perhaps just take my stinkin' pile of bones up into the mountains I love so much and prop me up against a tree to serve as compost for flowers and mushrooms and such. If all else fails just donate my bag of bones to science. So, sing, "The Hearse Song" and enjoy this present moment.

As someone who supports a terminal patient's, "right to die "(euthanasia) I am really interested in a new movie out about the famous Dr. Jack Kavorkian. It will soon be aired in America on the HBO cable channel on April 24th. Dr. Kevorkian is a champion of the rights of people to die with dignity. He is known world wide for personally assisting many terminally ill people kill themselves:

In each of the above mentioned cases, the individuals themselves allegedly took the final action which resulted in their own deaths. Kevorkian allegedly assisted only by attaching the individual to a euthanasia device that he had made. The individual then pushed a button which released the drugs or chemicals that would end his or her own life. Two deaths were assisted by means of a device which delivered the euthanizing drugs mechanically through an IV. Kevorkian called it a "Thanatron" (death machine). Other people were assisted by a device which employed a gas mask fed by a canister of carbon monoxide which was called "Mercitron" (mercy machine). This became necessary because Kevorkian's medical license had been revoked after the first two deaths, and he could no longer have legal access to the substances required for the "Thanatron".

Handsome B. Wonderful: Here is the trailer for the movie, "You Don't Know Jack:"
Handsome B. Wonderful: Why is that we not only allow for our beloved pets to die peaceful by lethal injection but see it as merciful action, yet we won't allow humans to die the same way? That's backwards, inhumane and unnecessary. Why should terminally ill people have to slowly and painfully waste away in a hospital bed as the family helplessly watches? I don't care if people find it morally offensive and "sinful" because death is a very personal issue.

Yes, suffering is inevitable as well as death but what about unecessary suffering? At what point does allowing the continuance of physical suffering become cruel? At what point does it become the merciful and compassionate thing to help people pass into their next life peacefully if they consent to such an action? If we are to embrace death as we are taught in Buddhism then why should we Buddhists oppose a terminally ill patient's right to die? If a person is barely alive anyway and just in constant anguish then I think forcing someone to stay alive at that point is cruel. Some say that Buddha died from poisoned mushrooms and that he knew it before he ate them, so couldn't one argue that he was engaging in voluntary euthanasia?

What lessons can be learned in slowly watching yourself (or a loved one) die from cancer as you bleed from every orifice on your body or in spending months wracked in pain throughout your core? You might say that the terrible suffering teaches that suffering is inevitable but I think a person would get that lesson right quick after a few days of their body slowly and excruciatingly painfully turning on them. So, then what do they do after that point? They suffering needlessly. Or, you might answer that modern drugs allow the patient to be quite comfortable during the dying process but I would argue then, "Isn't that already a form of voluntary euthanasia?" Those pain drugs numb people out so much that they might as well be dead because they basically just put them into a chemically induced coma.

If doctors are going to decide to drug a person up so that they are basically unconscious most of the time then what is the point of that?? What can the family learn from such a situation besides the unnecessary suffering of their loved one? I would think that the loved one's and family and friends would learn more by knowing ahead of time when the person was going to die and that way everyone could spend precious time with their loved one and exchange love and sincere feelings knowing that these would be their last days/hours/minutes with them. It would also allow everyone to arrange to be present upon the passing of the terminally ill person so that no one would have to go through unnecessary suffering by knowing that they missed the last minutes of their loved one's life.

And what about in the Jataka stories (stories of the Buddha's previous lives) where, as a Bodhisattva, the Buddha slits his own throat so that starving tiger cubs may feed off his blood? (The Hungry Tigress).

There was also the case of Vietnamese Buddhist monks in the 1960s who set themselves alight in protest against anti-Buddhist policies.

In the end religious arguments shouldn't matter because we don't make laws based on religious beliefs. As long as the action is taken willingly and by consent from a psychologist that they are in a frame of mind to make that decision then I think it should be legal. We have freedom of religion in this country, so I won't tell you what to believe as long as you afford me the same respect. If you are terminally ill, I shouldn't be able to force you to be injected with a lethal drug if you don't wish but that also means that you shouldn't be able to force me not to be able to die that way. As Dr. Kevorkian says, "Dying is not a crime."

(Some of this post was put together with quotes from a previous post on this issue).

It is unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded prisoners in the United States. The state of Texas, however, appears to have found a loophole, according to a published report. In the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling on Atkins v. Virginia, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, "Because of their disabilities in areas of reasoning, judgment, and control of their impulses ... [the mentally retarded] do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct." Because of this, the justices found it "cruel and unusual" to put the metally deficient to death, leaving it to the states to establish a framework by which such individuals could be identified in capital cases. Psychologist George Denkowski, an expert witness oft-used by Texas prosecutors, has been utilizing "junk science" to elevate the intelligence evaluation scores of mentally deficient death row prisoners, according to a new report in The Texas Observer.

However, Texas Governor Rick Perry rejected a bill that would have established rules to determine who is mentally retarded. Left grasping, courts invented their own criteria, turning to psychologists for the complicated evaluations. Having played a key part in two-thirds of the state's Atkins appeals, Dr. George Denkowski has built a lucrative practice off ensuring the mentally retarded are executed, his critics say. Denkowski's reputation for declaring prisoners fit to die has earned him "almost Dr. Death status," attorney Robert Morrow told reporter Reneé Feltz.

Since complaints were lodged against Denkowski, the Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologists has found that at least three of his cases were littered with scoring errors. Now Denkowski is facing a review by the state licensing board on Feb. 16, when his career as a psychologist could end. Already, three of the Atkins appeals he testified on have been placed on hold pending the outcome of the hearing. Denkowski evaluated 29 men in total; some have already been executed.

James: No surprise it's in Texas. They should change their name from "The Lone Star State" to "The Death State." There is absolutely no reason why we should be executing mentally retarded people. In my view that is no different than executing a young child who accidentally killed their parents. The mentally retarded don't know what they did was wrong, so put them on medications and monitor them in a mental institution. The world isn't black and white but has many shades of gray and mentally retarded criminals fit into one of those shades of gray. So, being able to keep society safe doesn't necessarily mean we have to resort to killing these mentally retarded prisoners. We have in America, a "death cult" and it seems to be centered in Texas. We are a war-like people who also kill people (via the death penalty) to show other people that killing is wrong. Now, does that sound like a logical thing to do? I'm starting to wonder who the real mentally retarded ones are, the prisoners or the citizens?

The November issue of National Geographic magazine features a moving photograph of chimpanzees watching as one of their own is wheeled to her burial. Since it was published, the picture and story have gone viral, turning up on websites and TV shows and in newspapers around the world. For readers who’d like to know more, here’s what I learned when I interviewed the photographer, Monica Szczupider. On September 23, 2008, Dorothy, a female chimpanzee in her late 40s, died of congestive heart failure. A maternal and beloved figure, Dorothy had spent eight years at Cameroon’s Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which houses and rehabilitates chimps victimized by habitat loss and the illegal African bushmeat trade. Szczupider, who had been a volunteer at the center, told me: “Her presence, and loss, was palpable, and resonated throughout the group. The management at Sanaga-Yong opted to let Dorothy's chimpanzee family witness her burial, so that perhaps they would understand, in their own capacity, that Dorothy would not return. Some chimps displayed aggression while others barked in frustration. But perhaps the most stunning reaction was a recurring, almost tangible silence. If one knows chimpanzees, then one knows that [they] are not [usually] silent creatures."

James: It touches me deeply that this chimpanzee family lined up to view the dead body of one of their own as it passed by them. It's similar to the funeral possessions that are common amongst humans, which makes sense on one level when you consider that humans and chimpanzees have DNA that is 95-98% similar. In Buddhism we are taught that the human realm offers the best chance for realizing liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth/death. In addition to that it is said that the animal realm is a horrendous station and from what I have observed of the animal kingdom it does seem rather harsh and rough. Sometimes this unfortunately leads people to see animals as "dumb" and that delusion often leads to taking advantage of them.

We do so at our own peril because animals are embedded in our DNA if you believe the generally accepted theory of evolution. Taken a step further in Buddhism, of course we know that we are interconnected to all beings regardless of evolution or not. The molecules that make up our body blend with the molecules that make up the air, which blend into the molecules that make up other people, animals, rocks, water and on and on. It is not a connection we can see with our eyes of delusion but if we look closer with a mindful eye that web of connection shines forth in beautiful and reassuring ways.

Those chimpanzees might not know the Dharma but they do understand love and compassion. How could a mother of any species not have a bond with their offspring that is an expression of concern and care? In my mind, that is but another way of showing and experiencing compassion and love. The uncharacteristic silence of the chimps is something a being wouldn't show if it didn't experience expressions of sorrow and respect. We know chimps are capable of showing respect in how they stratify their family groups. Respect is shown to the experienced and strong male as well as the alpha female.

So they may not know how to liberate themselves from suffering but in my opinion they deserve respect, dignity and a chance at life that we expect for our own offspring. It's not my place to say that someone should be a vegetarian--that's an ego boosting exercise nor it is skillful means. Besides, Buddha didn't set a strict rule about it nor can all people follow a vegetarian diet due to climate and health considerations. I don't eat meat and abstaining from it is for me personally apart of keeping the first precept to avoid violence. However, I struggle with other precepts so I don't have any right to condemn anyone for eating meat -- nor would I do so. I may not eat meat or kill animals but I do still struggle sometimes with verbal violence so I keep working and practicing. There is no point to judging others or guilting people into doing something or not doing something. In addition, people can be very compassionate, loving and caring toward animals regardless of diet. Although for some, vegetarianism might be helpful, rewarding and beneficial to understanding compassion as a universal right.