Your Meditation Guide Blog

I was recently sent an advanced copy of an upcoming documentary on PBS titled, "Unmistaken Child." It follows the journey of a young monk in Nepal looking for the reincarnation of a great lama who also happens to be beloved friend. This documentary was as much about finding the courage to believe in yourself as much as it was about finding the reincarnated Rinpoche.

As a Zen Buddhist, I try not to follow my mind down the rabbit hole into the realm of what happens after death too much because it is keeps me from staying in the "now," which is really the only moment available to us. It is where our practice takes place. So I have been taught that if I concentrate too much upon what might happen I miss what is happening. However, for the sake of conservation I have no problem with the idea of death and dying. I also have no problem with the idea of rebirth and suspect that it happens. Likewise I have no problem with the possibility that nothing happens after you die.

However, reincarnation of a specific person or "soul" seems counter to what the Buddha taught but I'm no expert. As a skeptic of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of reincarnating lamas I must admit though that this documentary really makes me reconsider the possibility again. I truly marveled at how accurate the process was. Look for a cameo from the Dalai Lama.

It truly was remarkable to follow the journey of the young monk seeking his reincarnated teacher and watching his struggles, his triumphs, courage and undying patience and respect for his mentor. The documentary did a wonderful job in showing us the intimate process of testing children to reveal the new body of this master. The dialogue was minimal, which seemed fitting for such a sacred and serious mission. I didn't realize how intricate the process was for finding a reincarnated lama. I had some idea from the movie "Kundun" as to how the Dalai Lama was found but I didn't know that the process involved divination of the ashes of the cremated teacher, astrological charts and dream interpretation.

It was fascinating to discover just how deep Tibetan Buddhism is intertwined with the metaphysical. After watching this movie and getting even more insight into the heavily ritualized nature of Tibetan Buddhism, it really does seem like its own branch of Buddhism. So instead of the traditional recognition of only two main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, it makes sense that some say there is a third--Vajrayana, because Tibetan Buddhism is so unique. While there is some overlap with Mahayana schools, Tibetan Buddhism has such a distinct nature, which is probably due to its development in such an isolated region of Asia.

Anyway, the documentary was enthralling, inspiring, educational and revealing. The scenery of the Nepalese highlands is stunning and worth viewing this film for that alone. The high mystical peaks seem so very fitting for such a otherworldly exploration. I highly recommend you watch it when it airs on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) here in America on April 7th at 10p.m. (check your local listings).

For the last 5-10 years I have watched in marvel at the mass conversions in India from Hinduism to Buddhism. It was explained to me that many of the converts are Dalits, (the "untouchables") or members of the lowest caste. I can see why someone who is treated as less-than simply for being born into a certain caste would seek the freedom from caste through Buddhism. Buddhism tells us that we are all equal and interconnected, thus, how can we treat any other being as less than us when they are apart of us? That would be like treating ourselves in the same manner and who wants to see themselves as inferior to others? Another conversion recently took place, which saw 11,000 Hindus and Christians convert to Buddhism:

Express News Service, Jan 25, 2010

Ahmedabad, India -- Cose to 11,000 people, including those from the Koli and Kshatriya communities as well as Christian families, embraced Buddhism at a function in Saijpur Bogha here on Sunday. Buddhist monks from Bhante Pragnyasheel administered the pledges to the new converts. The Ahmedabad district collector, however, said no conversion could be effective unless an official permission was granted.

James: I have read from other conversions that the Hindu dominated government often refuses to acknowledge these conversions away from Hinduism. One Dalit spoke of the demeaning caste system and said, "I have hidden my roots. But often on trains people ask about my background, what my father did, where I am from. When I tell them my caste they stop asking questions. In fact they stop talking to me. Buddhism means I can simply say I am not a Hindu. I do not have a caste." It is a sad irony that the country, which gave birth to Buddhism so often now resists the practice of it today by some of its citizens. However, the trend toward an Indian neo-Buddhism doesn't seem to be slowing down. Seeing how both religions believe in karma, you'd think that the Hindus who behave this way would think twice before speaking ill of those converting to Buddhism and treating them as inferior.

Let me be clear, however, that I am not condemning the religion of Hinduism. I find it to be a very vibrant, peaceful, enlightening and beneficial religion. I incorporate some Hindu mystical teachings into my Buddhist practice. However, I can not condone the caste system that is still adhered to by many despite it being technically illegal. Nor can I condone the government not recognizing people having the right to convert to Buddhism. In one region of India, Gujarat, the BJP government there amended a law to state that Buddhism and Jainism are simply extensions of Hinduism. Yes, there are many similarities, but also important differences and I find it unsettling that such a huge democracy as India would take such a rigid stance on religious freedom. As well as that so many Hindus resisting such conversions when Hinduism is said to be a religion of religious tolerance and openness.

I have done a fair bit of research into this subject and it seems that in many cases the resistance to Dalits and others converting to Buddhism is because of political views rather than true religious objections. It is my hope that the majority of the Hindus in India are much more tolerant and secular than those who object to Buddhist conversions. Especially when there are so many different expressions within Hinduism. Why tolerate all those variations but not a fellow, Indian born religion of Buddhism? You'd think it would be a more tolerated religion because of its Indian roots, if nothing else.

~Peace to all beings~

UPDATE: It's been brought to my attention that The Red Cross might not be trusted by some in communities of color. A website run by Haitian born rapper, Wyclef Jean is a great place to donate as he has strong and long-time links to the Haitian people. I tried donating to his website instead of Red Cross but it was down at the time. Here is his website: Click here. There are some Buddhist organizations too that are mentioned in the comment section. Feel free to add information as you know it. Or any other organizations that you know are reputable. Thanks. Let's do what we can for these brothers and sisters of ours.

As many of you know, Haiti (which is the 4th poorest country in the world) suffered a major, deadly earthquake yesterday (Tuesday). It was a 7.0 eartquake on a scale of 10 being the worst. It is the worst earthquake in Haiti in more than 200 years. Thousands upon thousands have already died. They need our help fellow Buddhists. We are known for our compassion and so now is the time to practice that first-hand. I would like to be there to work on the ground but they said it is chaos on the ground and that the on-ground help should be left up to the established organizations who have experience doing this kind of thing.

So, the best thing we can do who live outside Haiti is to donate to a reputable organization such as The Red Cross. If you donate to Red Cross, select the button on this page that is for, "International Relief Fund" which will go directly to Haiti. Another good place to donate is UNICEF, which is a United Nationals organization. Haiti has been especially hit hard because they don't have the money to build buildings that can withstand earthquakes. So, buildings like police stations and hospitals have been hard-hit if not flattened. Even the National Palace collapsed, which is the where the president lives!! That's like the White House, here in America being flattened!!According to the latest, a prison was leveled and prisoners have escaped. Schools have collapsed and people are out in the streets.

Also, given the poor living conditions there is a real risk of disease killing even more Haitians in the aftermath of this horrible disaster. Please, if you do metta practice send it toward these wonderful people who are facing unimaginable tragedy. May relief (both material and spiritual) come quickly to the good people of Haiti. I'm going to light a candle to burn all day in solidarity with the Haitians and hope that international aid arrives as quickly as possible. These are the moments where our development of compassion is put to the test. Please, give what you can. I could only afford $10 but every little bit helps. If we are sincere Buddhists, we can't let this people suffer alone. We, those how have been give much must help -- it is our karma to do so for to those who have been given much, much is required.

P.S. - Does anyone know of a Buddhist organization that helps people during international disasters such as many Christian churches do?

James: Imagine if he was speaking about Christianity instead of Buddhism??? There would be marches in the streets and rallies denouncing Hume and FOX News for not firing him. I'm not saying that such angry demonstrations should take place by Buddhists in response to these ludicrous statements. Quite the contrary. I think the ironic and appropriate thing to do in response is to forgive yet educate him and America as to what Buddhism is about because it is clear that Brit Hume knew nothing of the religion he denounced. And my guess is that the majority of the audience of FOX News doesn't either.

That said, is it anyone's business but Tiger's wife as to whether he is forgiven or not? Just because Tiger was unable to stay faithful to his wife doesn't mean Buddhism is incapable of helping him deal with such suffering. Besides, Christians haven't exactly had the best track record in keeping celebrities and politicians on the "straight and narrow" path. Hume also made the insinuation that you can't make a recovery in life via Buddhism, which is patently absurd. Try telling that to all the recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who have found new life in Buddhism. Try telling that to those who were able to pick up the shards of a broken life via the Dharma. I feel less anger toward Hume than compassion for the suffering he must be under in feeling like he has to personally "save" and convert everyone to Christianity must be exhausting. For more detail on the "nuts and bolts" of forgiveness in Buddhism -- Click here.

As for redemption, as a Buddhist, I believe redemption is gained through your actions more than saying certain words to ask forgiveness from a deity. It is showing that you have changed by behaving in a different way. There is no magic formula or incantations that need to be said in Buddhism -- just behave differently!! Perhaps the reason why Buddhism can't fit neatly into the Christian paradigm for Brit is that it doesn't believe in "sin" to be forgiven or redeemed from. True, there are guidelines on what will cause you less suffering but there isn't anyone to answer to except ourselves as via karma. We are our own savior and judge. Depending on our karma, the next birth will be one that will give us chances to make up for the suffering we have caused and to build upon the good we have sown. Sounds redeeming to me. In Christianity, however, you only have one shot -- this life to "get it right." Perhaps Hume needs to examine his own religion first before condemning another.

In Buddhism there's no big showdown and no guilt sundae topped with another helping of guilt. In Buddhism, guilt is seen as counterproductive because if you've changed for the better then guilt isn't helping you but holding you back. Guilt is about feeling you're a bad person but Buddhism doesn't want you to feel you're a bad person. You might have made some bad decisions but you're not a bad person. Forgiveness also means forgiving yourself for being human. If you feel guilty even after being granted forgiveness by someone then you're only making your suffering worse -- not better. And you haven't fully forgiven yourself. If you're no longer the same person as in the past then what is there to feel guilty over?

Although the initiated cells are not considered to be reversible, the cells growing through the promotion stage are usually considered to be reversible, a very exciting concept. This is the stage that especially responds to nutritional factors. For example, the nutrients from animal based foods, especially the protein, promote the development of the cancer whereas the nutrients from plant-based foods, especially the antioxidants, reverse the promotion stage. This is a very promising observation because cancer proceeds forward or backward as a function of the balance of promoting and anti-promoting factors found in the diet, thus consuming anti-promoting plant-based foods tend to keep the cancer from going forward, perhaps even reversing the promotion. consequences.

James: In Buddhism vegetarianism isn't a requirement partly because not everyone lives in an area where vegetables are abundant such as in Tibet. That said, many practitioners are indeed vegetarians especially in the west. I have found that the main reason for doing so is often out of compassion for animals. This is in part because Buddhism teaches that we are all interconnected and interdependent, which includes animals of course. This means that it is very possible that the cow we would eat might have been our mother in a past life. That realization was a big reason I finally made the switch to a vegetarian diet awhile back. I just couldn't look at a plate of meat ever again in the same way once I heard that.

The second reason I most commonly hear for a vegetarian diet is out of health concerns and this report backs that up even more. Just something to think about but no one should commit to something that they aren't ready to do or think is necessary especially out of guilt, which is a big reason I like Buddhism. There aren't many strict "rules" to live by in Buddhism and using guilt as a tactic to get people to do what you want is very much frowned upon from what I have studied. It's a very accepting religion for the most part. It accepts you where ever you are in life as it understands and teaches we are all in different places due to different karmic needs. The Dharma allows people to practice on various levels of commitment and experience, which I found refreshing when I really started looking into Buddhism.

There isn't much need for leaders to "punish" followers as Buddhism doesn't believe in a "God" or a Savior. There is no such thing as "sin" as understood in the Judeo-Christian sense. That is left up to our karma so that in essence we will be our own judges of how well (or how not so well) we lived our lives. It's like an accurate, non-feeling, non-biased computer giving us a read out of how well we accomplished a task. It is void of emotional judgments and simply renders data from the information that was input from outside experiments (Karma--or how we lived our lives. The cause and effect of our past actions whether they were helpful or not to both us and others).

Usually when an issue of reform needs to be addressed in Buddhism it is due to the practitioner seeking out an experienced teacher on their own for advise and advisement on over-coming a problem or obstacle. Outside monasteries it is nearly unheard of from my understanding of monks chastising people for their actions other than to give them general advice in a Dharma discourse on how to live a happy life free of less suffering. Usually this is delivered to many people and individuals in the audience decide if what was said was applicable to them or not and if so how they go about changing is up to them.

However, even in stricter monasteries disobeying rules is done in a very compassionate and open manner by the community of monks so that there is less chance of personal vindictiveness being apart of it. Some might find rebirth a tiresome notion of having to go around and around until they realize total oneness but I find it compassionate. It allows us to make mistakes and learn from them through long experience over incalculable lifetimes rather than saying you only have one life to "get it right."

A lot of the questions that I hear most often from non-Buddhists, new Buddhists and/or skeptical westerners is about rebirth and how it happens. To begin this post I'd like to talk about my personal beliefs toward rebirth. I believe in rebirth because even from just a scientific perspective one can see that there is an order, structure and meaning behind the Universe and the patterns of life. On a more subtle level science has proved that nothing disappears but rather it simply changes form. The same applies to energy; Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another.

A radio in a car is run by the energy produced by the engine, which is run by the energy of gasoline, which came from the energy of pressure and heat converting decomposing organic matter into oil. The organic matter (mostly plants and animals including dinosaurs) was fueled by the radiation from the sun (plants) and other organic matter (plants being eaten by animals and dinosaurs). Before that the potential organic energy in plants formed as a result of carbon dioxide energy released by other plants and animals, which transformed into chlorophyll that fed the plants via photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process fueled by the transformation of the sun's energy into sunlight. The sun's energy and mass was likely the result of a dying star, which created a supernovae (stellar explosion). This expelled massive amounts of energy and matter, which was reborn as our Sun. So our Sun is nothing more than the rebirth of a star.

Ultimately the energy of all super bodies in the Universe resulted from the powerful, trans-formative energy produced by the Big Bang itself, which is my view was the result of collapsing/dying Universe that existed before the current incarnation of our Universe. This would have been achieved through something called the, "cyclic model" which is basically a model where the Universe goes through an infinite number of self-sustaining cycles or Big Bangs and Big Crunches or collapses.

It's not unlike the energy created as an accordion expands and contracts in the form of sound waves. The power, which fuels our galactic accordion is said to be that of a substance known as "dark energy" which would solve the entropy build up problem and be in keeping with the second law of thermodynamics. I could get even more in-depth with the "cyclic theory" but I'm worried I'll lose you. Thus, if you're interested in reading about it further I'd suggest reading this page and the book mentioned within. So finally, there you have the massive cycle of an infinite number of deaths and rebirths of energy and matter occurring upon our Earth and within our Universe. So seeing how we are literally made from the guts of stars exploding their matter and energy; why would we humans be exempt from that paradigm of cycles, which even the giant, celestial bodies must adhere to?

The same is true of the seasons, which was the first cycle I contemplated that led me toward believing the birth, life, death and rebirth theory. Spring (birth), Summer (mid-life), fall (old age and sickness), Winter (death) and it would seem to end there if rebirth wasn't real or possible. However, it doesn't stop there as we know Spring is reborn anew and the cycle continues until the cycle of Earth's life ends. Then when Earth is absorbed one day by our dying sun before it explodes via new supernovae to expel the seeds and energy needed to be reborn anew as another planet or star somewhere else in our vast Universe. The cycle continues. So again, why would the rebirth of our energy into a new form of being not be possible? The potential energy of the body is absorbed into the earth, air, water and fire of our planet to be reborn as a flower, a tree or a mushroom, which would be eaten by a living being.

However, what of the energy left over in the mind upon the death of the body? In my view, that energy of our mind is nothing less than our karma but how does that karmic energy released find it's way into a new form? This often baffles many western, science based Buddhists. At this point I'd like to borrow an explanation of this from the Venerable S. Dhammika at Buddhanet:

Think of it being like radio waves. The radio waves, which are not made up of words and music but energy at different frequencies, are transmitted, travel through space, are attracted to and picked up by the receiver from where they are broadcast as words and music. It is the same with the mind. At death, mental energy travels through space, is attracted to and picked up by the fertilized egg [or receiver]. As the embryo grows, it centers itself in the brain from where it later "broadcasts" itself as the new personality.

James: The question then arises, "Why does that karmic energy get picked up by a particular egg/embryo?" To answer that I'd refer back to our example of our Solar System.

According to the nebula hypothesis, the Solar System began as a nebula, an area in the Milky Way Galaxy that was a swirling concentration of cold gas and dust. Due to some perturbation, possibly from a nearby supernova, this cloud of gas and dust began to condense, or pull together under the force of its own gravity. Condensation was slow at first, but increased in speed as more material was drawn toward the center of the nebula. This made gravity strong, making condensation faster.

As we saw earlier, supernovae are the expulsion of energy from a dying star. So imagine the supernovae as being the karmic energy of the mind being dispersed upon the death of the body. In our example the swirling spiral arms of the galaxy where all this takes place is the womb (called star nurseries). The dust particles within these nursery clouds are the tiny, unfertilized eggs while the gas is the sperm. This swirling, growing star cloud (now an embryo) is then charged with blasts of superheated energy (karma) from the supernovae (dying mind) thus infusing it with the energy (karma) of the former star (deceased body/mind). The energy released by a supernova is trapped by the gravitational pull of these star clouds (embryos) and converted into new stars (new birth). In this "new life" example the gravitational pull is similar to that from the karmic pull of the parents of our next life. They say that like energy attracts similar energy. So given that understanding it's no wonder that the Great Buddhist Masters teach us that our next rebirth will depend in part upon the karmic energy of our future parents. We will be attracted to the karmic energy that mirrors what our karmic energy demands.

Another possible explanation is electromagnetism. Electromagnetism pervades everything and everyone. It's not unlike an uncountable number of intersecting energy grids of infinite sizes, which permeates and connects all things to the power station (our sun) and to each other's homes (minds). It's possible that our karma travels from old body to whatever new birth occurs via the electromagnetic field that acts like a true Indra's net. The brain is charged with electromagnetic neurotransmitters, which act as pathways for the energy created to reach every cell in our body. Our brains are basically organic batteries and could very easily be emitting energy waves that can be received by a new life form or other type of entity when the death of the body occurs via the electromagnetic field/grid. We certainly know that our brains are good conductors of traditional electricity!!

I'll end with something to keep in mind about rebirth. There are many things like electricity and radio waves, which we can not see but we accept that they are real because we see their effects. Just because we can not see the exact details of rebirth doesn't mean that it we don't see it's effects and thus its reality. Why are some of us born with traits and characteristics that don't seem traceable to the genes or behavior of immediate family members? Why are we born with a fear of water for example and our siblings are not? These could very likely be the effects of karma fueled rebirth. My examples might not fully explain the process but I think they come close and at least show that rebirth is very, very likely.

UPDATE: I will admit whole-heartedly that my examples and ideas are by no means definitive. If rebirth is real then there has to be a missing puzzle piece to bring it all together. I welcome new science to help us fill in the blanks a bit. I have faith in the end that this process is true but it's not blind, unflinching faith. I'm not married to it. I could very well just die and that's it. I have no problem with that scenario. I don't fear annihilation of the body and mind though it's hard to square that with the central Buddhist teachings that nothing every really goes away but that (as science explains) it simiply changes for. Perhaps though the most likely change is on a more subtle level of our ashes become apart of a patch of flowers being fueled by the minerals in our ashes. I am open to many interpretations, which I think Buddhism embraces as a whole unlike many religions, which is partly what attracted me to it in the first place.

I think skepticism is very admirable, and rather unusual. The history of the world reveals that people are drawn to those who provide a strong, uncompromising teaching. We're drawn to those who say, "This is it, and everyone else is wrong." Certainly we see this pattern in contemporary politics, but we also see abuse of this sort within spiritual circles. It makes you wonder: Do we really want freedom? Can we handle the responsibility? Or would we just prefer to have an impressive teacher, someone who can give us the answers and do all the hard work for us?

–Larry Rosenberg, from "The Right to Ask Questions," Tricycle, Fall 2003

James: Buddhism is by nature a skeptical belief system. Buddha was very much a skeptical being who discovered enlightenment because of a healthy questioning of the accepted explanations of reality at the time. He dared question the great Brahman leaders of the day and was thus seen as a rebel of sorts. We are descendants of that tradition as taught by the Buddha within the Kalama Sutra where he teaches and even encourages thinking for yourself and not believing something if it doesn't ring true through your own experiences. The Kalama Sutra is the keystone of my Buddhist beliefs because without the freedom of inquiry and acceptance of differences as a foundation; Buddhism is just another intolerant, rigid, controlling belief system.

I feel that Buddhism treats me like an adult and allows me greater freedom. Whereas in the brand of religion that I was raised with (Mormon Christianity) it felt the complete opposite. I felt like it saw me as a child not to be trusted with thinking for myself and I felt like I was constantly being talked down to and seen as a threat or "evil" when I questioned the "parents" (church leaders, doctrine, etc). I didn't feel trusted and that made me frustrated, angry, confused, cynical, resentful and ultimately I left feeling completely deceived. I felt like I was being punished for thinking for myself. Of course the monotheist religions, (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) like all forms of religion have their good qualities but for me personally it was too controlling and domineering. It's only natural to feel that way when you don't feel trusted or ever good enough by any group, organization or ideology.

A teacher in Buddhism will give you pointers and advice but you won't be somehow kicked out of Buddhism if you don't follow it word for word or even at all. Unless of course you're a monk but becoming a monastic who actually seeks out such a strict code of living and practicing is a decision made individually for the most part. Even then a monk might be asked to leave the monastery but they are still allowed to practice that form of Buddhism. Whereas in my former, monotheistic religion I felt like everyone was held to such a standard and if you wanted to practice in a less rigid way you were considered weak, inadequate and all too often reprimanded and even excommunicated.

After leaving that religion I was looking for a belief system that was more tolerant for such reasoned scrutiny. As well as allowing for a lot more personal freedom in tailoring the teachings to each person's unique and particular life. I found that in Buddhism, which is anchored in how our karma varies from being to being. Karma demands greater freedom to explore and personalize one's practice. So doubt in Buddhism isn't a "sin" (there is no such thing as sin anyway in Buddhism). In fact doubt can lead to some very powerful insights into spirituality as the exploration is personal and not spoon fed to you. This is not to say that monotheistic religions don't have aspects of personal exploration but it is very limited I have found in comparison to Buddhism.

There are, however, fellow converts in Buddhism that I find from time to time who do practice with similar rigidity, exclusivity and over-bearing reverence, which I saw so much in my monotheistic past. I have found that these people are often former monotheists as well who might have adopted Buddhism but they practice it by the way they use to practice their former religion. I believe that Buddhism isn't just about adopting different beliefs but changing one's entire approach to how religion is practiced.

Addendum: Special thanks to Phillip Ryan over at Tricycle for the quote.

DISCLAIMER: This post is heavily laden with sacrasm and satire about the odd ways that people use Buddhist buzz words that are apparently "en vogue" with our pop culture to sell just about anything. In the end this subject doesn't have any real impact on my own practice but it is a bit annoying and silly in the absurd so I thought I'd write about it in a humorous way. I hope you enjoy!!


Do you ever get tired of carrying your karma around all over samsara jumbled up in your mind? Do you wish that there was a better way to organize your karma as you travel along the middle lane of the Dharma Highway to Nirvanaville? Well, your worries. are. over!! The future has arrived!!

Introducing the Nirvana Organizer Bag from Zen Class Travel!!!! You say you've never heard of Zen Class but have heard of First Class and Business Class when traveling? No problem!! Zen Class is where Zen Buddhists meditate at their home on the desired day of travel. They meditate so deeply that they are magically transported through the air to their desired destination!! It's as easy as that--so why not become a Zen Buddhist today to take advantage of the Zen Class Travel!! But WAIT!!! Don't order yet--when you order now you'll also get the Nirvana Organizer Bag. You don't want to be caught in Nirvanaville without IT.

James: So there you have it--another odd yet humourous example of a product being sold using Buddhism. The Zen Class Travel isn't an actual class of travel on airlines but the name of the company who pumps out this "Nirvana Organizer Bag." I was just having fun with the name. :) Actually, I find the whole thing quite odd really but then again I've learned over and over not to be surprised by samsara. Now if I could just find one of those "Easy Buttons" advertized on t.v. Let me explain, the advertisement for my non-American t.v. viewing audience.

There is an office materials supply company here called, "Staples" and they have a new advert up that explains that shopping with them is like pushing an, "easy button" which easilly takes care of any office needs you might have. So all this has me wondering how long it will be before some scam/business man comes out with an, "easy button" to enable instant enlightenment--with one simple, easy, push of the button!! No, I clearly realize that it's not that easy--I was just playing with the concept of this cross-pollunation between Buddhism, business and advertising.

A fire reflected in a lake cannot burn the water. Neither can emotions disturb the mind when you don’t get involved in them. Don’t identify an emotion as your self. The fear or anger is not you, only an impersonal phenomenon.

Mentally pull back from the emotion and turn your awareness around to observe it. When in the grip of negative emotion we tend to believe it will never end. But emotions are no more permanent than thoughts.

With continued practice you’ll find that you only have to wait and any emotion, whether pleasant or unpleasant, is bound to change.

–Cynthia Thatcher, from Just Seeing: Insight Mediation and Sense-Perception (Buddhist Publication Society)

James: It sure is hard not to identify with emotions--especially when an emotional reaction is so ingrained within the psyche that its emergence seems totally involuntary. However, we know that at some level we have made a conscious choice to react in one way or another. We feel so helpless and at the mercy of these destructive and misery creating emotions. The suffering they engender is so great that it is like experiencing a nightmare.

A nightmare is a pseudo reality where the most ridiculous, terrifying and outlandish events stream through our mind like an all too real virtual reality, interactive video game. The nightmare seems so plausible--perhaps we find ourselves fleeing from a monster in our dream. Or maybe we get ourselves into some crazy situation such as a recurring dream of mine where I end up unjustly thrown in prison--an innocent man. The terror and suffering in those moments are so visceral that they can even cause the physical body to wake up sweating and gasping for air as if the body was in a real fight or flight situation.

There is, however, something called, "lucid dreaming" where a person is aware that they are dreaming--as they are dreaming. I have experienced this phenomenon every so often and it is often like watching things unfold from a third person point of view, which usually lessons the impact of the events. It is a way to step back from what is going on and get a bigger picture view of it all and see that in truth you are not going to die, or get thrown in prison or lose your parent, child or spouse. It is said that a person can train their mind to be able to go into this third person vantage point while dreaming to better deal with and process the events and impacts of the dreams.

In this way, I see meditation as the lucid dreaming of the waking state to be practiced and fine tuned to be a set of tools to enable us to walk through samsara and accumulate less heavy karmic debts.