JOYFUL WANDERING -- 47

+ I have some catching up to do since it has been 2 months since I last posted here.

+ I really enjoyed an e-course on InterSpiritual Meditation which ended about a month ago.  I wrote a 17 page paper for the course and sent it to the teacher, Ed Bastian, on April 29.  Ed is the founder and president of the Spiritual Paths Institute based in Santa Barbara CA.

Here is an excerpt from the web page on the curriculum: "The Spiritual Paths Institute curriculum on InterSpiritual Wisdom is a course of study with respected teachers of contemplative wisdom and applied spirituality that combines intellect, heart, and spiritual practice. It was developed by an InterSpiritual team of exceptional teachers, each authenticated within their respective traditions. The program is based on an intellectual inquiry and contemplative experience of the teachings of the worlds sacred traditions combined with personally mentored spiritual practice."

On another page, there is this information about Ed's books and current courses: "Ed Bastian, who has led our group programs over the past ten years, is presenting a series of retreats, classes, and online courses that summarize the underlying shared wisdom offered by our teachers and courses. These courses are based on the following books and workbooks that he has authored, co-authored, or published:  Living Fully Dying Well, InterSpiritual Meditation, Meditations for InterSpiritual Wisdom and Creating Your Spiritual Path"

+ Spirituality and Practice offers its latest 12s gallery.  It's on Forgiveness. Inspirational and challenging.  Humanity needs this desperately. And don't forget to forgive yourself.

+ The current emphasis at Inner Frontier is Wisdom.  There is plenty of illuminating and inspiring and challenging wisdom in these weekly Inner Work practices.  This week the focus is on Spiritual Efficacy. Here is an excerpt: "Teachers can help by instructing us in spiritual practices. They can also help by being examples that ordinary people, no different than us, can enter true spiritual transformation. Teachers can help by easing our way into deeper experiences through the quality of their energy, when we practice in person with them. And teachers can inspire us. All of that is important, useful, perhaps even pivotal in setting our feet on the path. But it masks a fundamental truth: the spiritual path is within us, it cannot be shown, it can only be discovered."

+ (posted yesterday on Coffee Break 371 on my John A Wilde blog):
“Religion Beyond the Right" by Frank Bruni is an outstanding NY Times Op Ed column pointing out that there really are a lot of biblical values associated with the Left and the Center.  Bruni focuses on the controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts ban on gays. Excerpt: "'I find it perplexing the way the "moral values" phrase is used,' said the Rev. Mark Greiner... (a Presbyterian pastor)... 'Concern for the environment, concern for workers’ rights: those are moral values,' he told me. 'But the phrase ends up being limited to matters of human sexuality, as if Jesus was primarily concerned with what people did with their reproductive parts. It’s crazy-making.' Greiner wants the ban on gay scouts and leaders lifted." | Read the article 

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 46

+ updated at 2:54pm EST on Tuesday, March 5, 2013

+ Gratefulness.org offers a mini-course in grateful living by Patricia Campbell Carlson. Excerpt: "For most of us, awakenings come as glimpses.  A moment of supreme aliveness on a mountaintop can inform our experience for months or years, even though we wish we could recapture its initial vividness.  To hold on to that vividness requires practice." | Go to mini-course

+ "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Rejoicing today, I celebrate my participation in 2 current internet courses I am taking, both challenging, informative, inspiring: "InterSpiritual Meditation" taught by Ed Bastian of Spiritual Paths and "Becoming a Wise Elder" taught by Angeles Arrien along with Mary Ann and Fred Brussat of Spirituality and Practice.
  
+ Another one of my favorite lists which did not get included in my recent post is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People of Stephen Covey. Here is a summary I just found in Wikipedia:

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):

 

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life. Create a mission statement.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Prioritize, plan, and execute your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.

The next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e., working with others):

 

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Use empathic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.

Habit 6: Synergize

Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone.

Change of attitude  When one works on attitude, nothing can be a hindrance to one's effectiveness in life.

 

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 45

+ February ended yesterday but Spirituality and Practice had 29 heart quotes even though this is not a leap year.  Introducing the topic, Mary Ann and Fred wrote: "We chose to salute heart knowledge because of the heartlessness of these violent times and because of the growing number of people who feel disheartened. It is possible to tenderize this faculty and to become gentler people." | Visit the Heart Map

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE LISTS as of February 10, 2013

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE LISTS

By John A Wilde (as of 2/10/13)

Most of these lists are linked to a web page where you can see the list. 

+ 112 techniques of meditation from the Ancient Indian text, Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

+ 37 Spiritual Practices offered by Spirituality and Practice | Chart | Self-Test

Attention | Beauty | Being Present | Compassion | Connections | Devotion | Enthusiasm | Faith | Forgiveness | Grace | Gratitude | Hope | Hospitality | Imagination | Joy | Justice | Kindness | Listening | Love | Meaning | Nurturing | Openness | Peace | Play | Questing | Reverence | Shadow | Silence | Teachers | Transformation | Unity | Vision | Wonder | X-The Mystery | Yearning | You | Zeal

+ 25 Reasons Why Twitter is Spiritual by Frederic Brussat

+ The 14 Precepts of Thich Nhat Hanh

+ Twelve Practices leading to our Realization that We are a Heavenly Being by John A Wilde

+ The Twelve Pathways to Higher Consciousness by Kenneth Keyes

+ Spirituality and Practice offers The 12s which are loaded with wise quotes and images on a variety of spiritual themes.

+ The Ten Commandments

+ Ten Sufi Thoughts from The Way of Illumination by Hazrat Inayat Khan

+ “Ten Reasons Gandhi is my Hero” by Frederic Brussat

+ The 9 Attributes of Heaven by John A. Wilde

+ The Beatitudes

+ The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity

+ The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism

+ Another Version of the Noble Eightfold Path offered at The Big View

+ Seven Centers of Consciousness by Kenneth Keyes

+ Seven Chakras of Hinduism

+ Seven Step Processs of InterSpiritual Meditation

+ Seven Social Sins of Mohandas K Gandhi

+ The Four Noble Truths ofBuddhism

+ The Trinity or the Triune God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

+ The 3 objectives of the Sufi path by Hazrat Inayat Khan:

+ What Ray heard The Voice say in Field of Dreams:
· If you build it, he will come.
· Ease his pain.
· Go the distance.

+ Two Natures of Christ: Divine & Human

+ The Great Commandment:
· Love God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.
· Love your neighbor as you love yourself

+ The Great Polarity of Taoism:
Yin and Yang

+ One God

+ One Universe

+ One Earth

+ One Sun

+ One Common Humanity

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 44

+ updated at 10:11am EST on Wednesday, February 13, 2013

+ This is a great video. Take an hour and enjoy Peter Russell lecturing on The Primacy of Consciousness.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers A Quote on the Heart from Awake Mind, Open Heart by Cynthia Kneen:

The Strong Heart

"When we say a person has HEART, it doesn't mean they are weak and sentimental. We mean they are willing to be exposed, willing to be touched nakedly by the world. They are strong enough not to wear a suit of armor. They are not afraid of their own experience. In this sense heart is the one hundred percentness of experience. It is a strength and fullness in you that come from putting your awareness in the actual experience you are experiencing. This is true even of negative experiences. With a strong heart you are able to be gentle and sympathetic to all your experiences, not only the pleasant ones." | See the S&P map of The Heart

 + At Inner Frontier, a new Inner Work series has begun: WHO AM I? Here are 2 excerpts from the Introduction: “The question “Who am I?” in its various forms, has beset human beings from time immemorial. You would think it would be so easy and obvious, that it would not really arise as a question. But it has and keeps doing so, for good reason. Indeed, some spiritual paths and practices have this question at their center, because it is the key question of our life.” | "There is an answer to this question who am I. But it is not an answer that can be readily formulated in words. It is, however, an answer that we can become. We can be who we truly are. It is at the same time obvious, accessible, and hidden."

Last week, the series on LEARNING TO BE came to an end with Joseph Naft offering some profound thoughts on Love. Excerpts: "Love is union of the will, a union much deeper than the physical union of sex or the emotional union of attachment. Love asks for nothing in return, not even reciprocity, whereas attachment does ask. If it is union, if it is love, how could we ask something in return from our Self? Attachment competes with love for space in our heart and mind. For that reason, the inner work of love, of becoming able to love, consists of allowing oneself to be imposed upon." | "We look for and create opportunities to show our love. We act on them. What does this person want? What does this person need? What would delight this person? How can I provide something toward that?"

I know I have a lot to learn, a lot of detaching to do and humility to achieve as I continue on this amazing journey.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 43

+ Updated at 1:03pm EST on Wednesday, February 6, 2013

+ On February 6 I found 2 wonderful recent posts on The Living Stones Community Blog.  Sarah wrote "Waiting: A Liturgy" and David wrote "David Norling (Spiritual Story)".  Here is an excerpt from David's profound post: "I'm currently seeking to find out what it means to feel called to a ministry that doesn't exist, that is, Pastor of Listening. I made up the title and wrote my own job description, at the encouragement of God's spirit, as far as I can tell. I've sought counsel from several pastors. And while most could see the legitimacy of my vision and even my capacity to fulfill it, there seems to be a consensus that the programmatic nature of modern American Christianity can't conceive of the role that I seek to fill."

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "10 Reasons Why I Love Reading and Reviewing Spiritual Books" by Frederic A Brussat.

+ February is Heart Month. Spirituality and Practice offers a heart quote each day.  Here is an excerpt from the Intro page: "We chose to salute heart knowledge because of the heartlessness of these violent times and because of the growing number of people who feel disheartened."

And on February 1, the following quote was offered: 

"Many native cultures believe that the heart is the bridge between Father Sky and Mother Earth. For these traditions, the 'four-chambered heart,' the source for sustaining emotional and spiritual health, is described as being full, open, clear, and strong. These traditions feel that it is important to check the condition of the four-chambered heart daily, asking: 'Am I full-hearted, open-hearted, clear-hearted, and strong-hearted?'"

 

A Quote on the Heart from The Four-Fold Way by Angeles Arrien

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 42

+ updated at 2:24pm EST on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "Ten Reasons Why Gandhi is My Hero" by Frederic Brussat. I particularly like Reason Number 5:

5. He practiced compassion in creative ways.
"One day Gandhi stepped aboard a train as it started to move, and one of his shoes slipped off and dropped on the tracks. Unable to retrieve it, he calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. When an amazed passenger asked why he had done that, Gandhi smiled and said, 'The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track will now have a pair he can use.' With the eyes of his imagination, Gandhi saw a man with bare feet, saw him coming across a lone shoe and desperately searching for the other, and saw the disappointment on his face when he didn't find it; seeing these things, Gandhi did what he could to help."
— Donald McCullough in Say Please, Say Thank You | Read all of the reasons

+ A wonderful eCourse, Choosing to Love, is coming to an end.  Today, after listening to Brother David Steindl-Rast, I posted the following in the practice circle in response to the suggestion of using a photo to see your true Self.  The aim is to see your Self in all others with the same curiosity as seeing your self.  Hard to explain.  Oh well. Here is my post:

A Photo
At http://www.pbase.com/abundancetrek/image/147079702 you will see "Rose" & me & "Wendy" & Mary at the Great Wall last October.

After a couple of days we began calling "Rose" and "Wendy" by their real names. They chose "Rose" and "Wendy" as their names in English. We were treated to amazing hospitality by these 2 young women for almost 4 days. We became one as we visited The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace.

"Rose" and "Wendy" go to the Beijing University of Medicine School of Nursing. They were chosen to be our guides because their English is pretty good. They enjoyed having the time with us to practice.

Mary was invited by the Dean to give a lecture. The Dean was a guest professor at The University of Rochester a couple of years ago. We reached out to her and she reciprocated.

Some of Mary's favorite colleagues and students are from China. We have been blessed by this new and wonderful connection in our life.

Something wonderful happened during our time with the 2 students. We went through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and into the Forbidden City in more ways than one. We connected. We became one. It's impossible to explain. They would do anything for us with a smile, with simplicity and grace. They helped us figure out what to eat, something which had eluded us for the most part in the previous few days in Beijing. They helped us use chopsticks with skill. But far more than that was this sense of harmony and unity which I have learned is a Chinese trait from years of reading the ancient wisdom of The Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tse and a great book, The Tao of Abundance by Laurence G. Boldt. Also I do Chi Lel Chi Gong, a type of Tai Chi for physical and spiritual healing.

But, now, The Tao and the Tai Chi mean more than great books and great quotes and great body stretches. It means hospitality and communion which Mary and I will remember forever. We were blessed. We were surprised by grace. It was an amazing 4 days.

The Tao is an orientation to life based on balance and harmony, unity of all things, following the path of least resistance, letting chi (energy) circulate freely, being over doing, "trusting and embracing the organic pattern of your life" (Boldt).

You can see more photos from those glorious days at http://www.pbase.com/abundancetrek/chinaoctober2012

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + “Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.” — Hildegard of Bingen quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 41

+ updated at 10:15am EST on Wednesday, January 30, 2012

+ A Poverty Awareness Month Quote: Spirituality and Practice offers a quote by  Gustavo Gutierrez on Compassion, Poverty, Hunger, Understanding and Abuse from his book We Drink from Our Own Wells.

+ A Poverty Awareness Month story: Spirituality and Practice offers a story about a woman who stole a loaf of bread and how a Judge dealt with the matter.

+ January is Poverty Awareness Month and Spirituality and Practice offers abundant resources which show how we really can end poverty if we put our mind to it.

+ Fred Brussat of Spirituality and Practice always offers great tweets on his Twitter page.  I often retweet them on my twitter page. Daily he offers wonderful spiritual quotes and usually offers links to great movie and book reviews and book excerpts.  Today, January 29, his tweets led to a book review and a book excerpt I found particularly important.

The review is on Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Shannon Daley-Harris, Jeffrey Keenan and Karen Speerstra. | Read the review

The excerpt is from Spiritual Genius: The Mastery of Life's Meaning by Winifred Gallagher. Here is an excerpt from the excerpt:

"All of us use spiritual genius some of the time, but some of us use it all of the time. This book explores our human gift through the lives of such spiritual geniuses, because in them we see our own potential writ large. No matter how extraordinary they seem, these men and women differ from us only quantitatively, not qualitatively. Religion has many names for them — saints, tzaddiks, bodhisattvas are just a few — and describes them as 'holy,' or intensely aware of the sacred grand design; as 'good,' which means not just moral but compassionate; and as 'charismatic,' or able to inspire others. Using different language, psychology describes the same individuals as visionary leaders who share the respected statesman's altruism and social skills and the artist's capacity for transcendent experience." | Read the whole excerpt |Read the S&P review

+ Today, January 29, 2013, I begin a new focus.  I will dwell for a while on stage 1 of my spiritual practice model. 

Stage 1 is STILLNESS which leads to DETACHMENT which leads to HUMILITY.  And, for the first time in a long time, you should begin to see additions, revisions, improvements of the web pages devoted to these practices.  There are four stages altogether leading to our full embrace of our true identity as a heavenly being, far more important, infinitely more important than our identity as a human being. When you practice stillness you begin to realize this.  Maybe only an inkling.  Sooner or later a mystical experience which radically transforms our awareness of who we really are.

Looking ahead, sooner or later I will get to the 3 next stages which are:
STAGE 2: SILENCE which leads to DISCERNMENT which leads to HEALING
STAGE 3: SOLITUDE which leads to DEVOTION which leads to HOLINESS
STAGE 4: SIMPLICITY which leads to DELIGHT which leads to HEAVENLINESS.
Attributes or characteristics of the state of HEAVENLINESS are: ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, FREEDOM. I have a web page devoted to each of those 9. Click on the word.

The Bing search engine lists 65,500 results for STILLNESS DETACHMENT HUMILITY.  The first 2 bring you to 2 of my pages.  How about that?  Connecting these 3 practices as a first stage of spiritual practice seems to be my invention.  I think there is a logic to the progression I am advocating but maybe it only works for me or just a few of us.  That's OK.  If it works for you, please let me know.

I found a lot of wisdom on detachment at 2 of the early results in the Bing search. Here are excerpts:

In Buddha & Eckhart: On Detachment, the blogger G writes: "The teachings of Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1327) have much in common with those of the Buddha. One subject upon which they have the greatest of convergence is that of detachment." | Read the whole post

In Detachment vs Apathy, a forum contributor writes: "Detachment is a word that conjures up different meanings to different people and seldom is associated with being virtuous. In psychology it is referred to as dissociation or apathy. But to some people detachment is the noblest of all virtues. Meister Eckhart said of it, as “He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment.” He also described it as the most noble of all virtues, higher even than humility or Love." | Read the whole post

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 40

+ updated at 2:42pm EST on Friday, January 25, 2013

+ TRANSFORMATION is the theme of THE TWELVES for this month. Mary Ann and Fred say: "There is an inherent human quest for transformation. We seek wholeness for ourselves so that we can then be agents of change to help heal the world. We offer 12 quotes to help ignite your personal transformation." | See the 12

+ I never thought I would hear "Namaste" at a Presidential Inauguration. What a fabulous poem Richard Blanco wrote and delivered on Monday: ONE TODAY. Excerpt: 

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

Read it all | Watch the video

+ A new lesson for a new week in the Inner Frontier Inner Work series on Learning to Be. Here is an excerpt from "Affirming the Higher:" "Having seen through our false I and continuing to look for who we are, we find that one in us who does what we do and sees what we see, the one who lives our life, the one beyond all the myriad thoughts and emotions, beyond all the noise of our personality and false I. Here I am, as myself. If we could be, just be, really be, we would be ourselves, our true I. That is a revolution in our inner world, because instead of being driven by our automatic reactions to what happens to us, the flow of our actions begins with us, with our real self."

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 39

+ It has been 6 months since the last Joyful Wandering post.  No excuses.  No explanation.

+

If you could get rid
of yourself just once,
The secret of secrets
Would open to you.
The face of the unknown,
Hidden beyond the universe
Would appear on the
Mirror of your perception.
-- Rumi

I found that quote at http://www.allspirit.co.uk/sufism.html

+ Joseph Naft continues to inspire, illuminate, guide, challenge as we seek to become truly mindful and aware.  In Inner Frontier Inner Work, he has been expanding our consciousness in the project of Learning To Be.  This week: Affirming Presence. Here is an excerpt:

So how do we get engaged, get involved? It begins with attention. The secret quality of attention is that it is driven by our will, it is our will. The practice of active attention is the road to coming into our own, our own will, our I. When you pay attention to what you are doing or seeing or touching or thinking, your I is there; it is you who are doing or seeing or touching or thinking. Not paying attention, allowing our attention to be drawn hither and thither, to be distracted easily, with no staying power, indicates that we are not here, that our I has withdrawn beyond our reach. We can learn to affirm our life, our living, our presence.

And we do that first by affirming our attention, by being our attention. It may sound abstract, but the actual practice of it is simple. We just pay attention to what we are doing and/or perceiving and we get fully behind that attention. We are there attending, wholly and completely, simply and directly. If you try this, you may see that you can do it. You may see how it is different than letting your attention just wander wherever it is drawn. We bring our power, the power of our will, our I, into our attention. We become our attention for that moment. Though it is simple, this is not so easy to maintain moment-to-moment over time. To do so, we need to continually renew our attention and our being in it.  | Read it all.

 

+ The current Spirituality and Practice Newsletter has great stuff, like usual, including:

 

• Remembering a great spiritual storyteller and interfaith pioneer. New in the Remembering Spiritual Masters Project is a tribute to Anthony de Mello, including a quotation sampler, links to reviews of his books, and video clips. More profiles in the Remembering Spiritual Masters Project.

 

• A prayer for forgiveness of our daily pollutions: We're "Praying the News" by focusing on what's behind the extreme weather happening all over the world. More prayers.

CHOOSING TO LOVE with Br. David Steindl-Rast

+ This is a fantastic course, the videos of Brother David and the study suggestions that go with them are simply divine. You can still catch up with the practice circle but that is not even necessary. Once you sign up, the course is yours forever.

Spirituality & Practice: E-Courses: Choosing to Love with Br. David Steindl-Rast

www.spiritualityandpractice.com

An Online Retreat on one of three Divine Virtues: love, which Br. David Steindl-Rast defines as the choice to say yes to what life brings us. Subscribers are able to view film footage from Br. David Steindl-Rast's talks during an Alaska cruise

ADVENT 2012 -- 1

+ Huffingpost offers "Fox News War on Advent" by Diana Butler-Bass.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 38

+ updated at 12:36pm ESDT on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

+ I am reading an amazing book about an amazing NDE connected with an amazing healing.  I highly recommend DYING TO BE ME by Anita Moorjani and, also, do check out her website.  The insights and ideas and experiences she shares resonate with me a lot.  For example, I believe:

We are
intimately,
intricately,
infinitely
connected
by a matrix of
unconditional,
unlimited,
uniting
LOVE
which is
miraculous,
mysterious and
marvelous.

I found many, many thoughts which resonate with that belief. She calls the greater reality that we can access THE MAGNIFICENCE.  I like it!

+ “In God’s family, there are no outsiders.  All are insiders.  Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian, Hutu and Tutsi, Muslim and Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, Pakistani and Indian—all belong.” – Desmond Tutu quoted by Barrett Lee in his July 8 sermon which you can find on his fantastic blog, The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 37

+ Soon I will add Place 14 to LET'S GO! The Amazing Journey, the Abundancetrek.  It will include the Fourteen Precepts of Thich Nhat Hanh.  Thich Nhat Hanh gets down to the basics.  He says:

Smile,

breathe,

and go slowly.

Here are the 14 Precepts as found at http://seaox.com/thich.html:

1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2. Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout our entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3. Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

4. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means, including personal contact and visits, images, sound. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of you life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

6. Do not maintain anger or hatred. As soon as anger and hatred arise, practice the meditation on compassion in order to deeply understand the persons who have caused anger and hatred. Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion.

7. Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Learn to practice breathing in order to regain composure of body and mind, to practice mindfulness, and to develop concentration and understanding.

8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest of to impress people. Do not utter words that cause diversion and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things you are not sure of. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

10. Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice, and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to life. Select a vocation which helps realize your ideal compassion.

12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and to prevent war.

13. Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others but prevent others from enriching themselves from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.

14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only and instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. Sexual expression should not happen without love and commitment. In sexual relationships be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.

Do not believe that I feel that I follow each and every of these precepts perfectly. I know I fail in many ways. None of us can fully fulfill any of these. However, I must work toward a goal. These are my goal. No words can replace practice, only practice can make the words.

"The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon."

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 36

Here are some links to some really great rock'n'roll:

BADLANDS

GOD GAVE ROCK'N'ROLL TO YOU

LOVE IN ACTION

FULL FORCE GALE (I was there on October 6, 1979!)

and I was there for MOONDANCE too!

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

LONG LIVE ROCK

MY GENERATION

LET'S GO -- 1

+ LET'S GO! Please do join me and other companions on the Amazing Journey, The Abundancetrek, as we explore "places" of meaning and joy.  We can support and encourage each other.  We can share the Good News.  We can offer hope.  We can create more and more compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance.  LET'S GO!

LET'S GO ON AN AMAZING JOURNEY TOGETHER

+ For years I have been collecting a lot of web pages, quotations, books, movies and other resources which promote compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance.  Now, I have begun an amazing journey, the abundancetrek, in a format which I hope will make it possible for me to find companions who want to join me.  We can discover and explore "places" together.  We can collaborate in this effort to deepen our spirituality and to participate boldly in creating what the planet needs now.  I am up to seven "places" so far. Will you join me?  Will you add some important "places" I am missing? Let's Go!

LES MISERABLES -- 1

I finished reading LES MISERABLES. It was an ordeal, a struggle, at times. But the final half of volume 5 was stunning. Actually the whole masterpiece is stunning. What a glimpse into the nineteenth century. Simply a stunning acievement by a man who promoted all of the virtues I like to call heavenly attributes or characteristics: ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, FREEDOM. The one word which is possibly inclusive of these 9 attributes is COMPASSION. It feels appropriate to finish this amazing love story on Good Friday. Christ died to set us all free from misery, injustice, poverty, violence, hatred, fear, indifference, meaninglessness, despair, death. Our planet needs more and more compassion and people like Hugo and the fictional or possibly historical people he wrote about who often gave their lives to promote the will of God, making earth like heaven.

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY -- 1

+ My friends Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, the Spirituality & Practice team, are now giving special attention to Progressive Christian Spirituality.  Here is what they are offering and I am sure there is more to come:

We are at the end of Christianity as we have known it. Through reading research, our reviewing of books on the changing landscape, and personal experience, we are seeing the emergence of an exciting "Progressive Christian Spirituality." We invite you to explore it with us.
See our map of Progressive Christian Spirituality
Read our review of Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler Bass
Read an excerpt from Christianity After Religion
See reviews of 20 Books about Progressive Christian Spirituality
See our Vision of a Progressive Christianity
See an Alphabet of Progressive Christian Spirituality: 100 jottings, lineaments, signs, quotations, probes, prayers, and spiritual practices