Peace
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
I can feel the heat of the day already. My plan this morning is to go biking with friend Vipin. He is an expert rider, I am a bit of a beginner, although I have been riding many years. You see there is more to something than its surface meaning. My riding is of the quality of a beginner; my body is able to do as beginner's do; but, I have been riding since I was a very little boy. So, what does "beginner" mean?
On my ZenLiving Yahoogroup list, we are discussing peace. Peace, some say, is the absence of violence. Others use aggression. I read someone suggest that peace was being one with the universe. Good answer, I suspect this is the most true. Peace is just a word. Beginner is just a word. Both point to something in our heads, something we construct, a mental picture. But what is peace away from the picture? What is its true nature?
To be peace means we must be in accord with its true nature, so to be peace we must know its true nature.
Just as with all things, there are two understandings within Zen Buddhism: the relative and the universal. On the relative level, we understand and become peace when we stop being violence outside and inside. On the universal or absolute level, however, things are a tad different. In this context, its all about harmony. We we live in harmony with ourselves and our environment. Harmony means even in chaos, we are undisturbed and non-disturbing. To abide in harmony is to abide in the universe as it is, not as we wish it to be.
We must recognize that even though we vow to end violence each morning, we cannot do so in the relative sense. Someone on the other side of the world, or across the street, or in another room, can and will be violent. Yet we can abide with great peace and equanimity in the universal sense. With practice, (and I myself, need enormous practice here) we can abide in peace even amid violence and aggression. We can see that violence is a manifestation of hurt, grief, fear. We can open ourselves and accept these feelings, wrap them in our love and create a compassionate response. Oh, how I wish I could do this each and every time I feel hurt!
Yet, I practice. A rock in the path or even a pebble in my shoe will not stop my practice. These are the opportunities for our practice. This is peace.
Be well
Good Morning All,
I can feel the heat of the day already. My plan this morning is to go biking with friend Vipin. He is an expert rider, I am a bit of a beginner, although I have been riding many years. You see there is more to something than its surface meaning. My riding is of the quality of a beginner; my body is able to do as beginner's do; but, I have been riding since I was a very little boy. So, what does "beginner" mean?
On my ZenLiving Yahoogroup list, we are discussing peace. Peace, some say, is the absence of violence. Others use aggression. I read someone suggest that peace was being one with the universe. Good answer, I suspect this is the most true. Peace is just a word. Beginner is just a word. Both point to something in our heads, something we construct, a mental picture. But what is peace away from the picture? What is its true nature?
To be peace means we must be in accord with its true nature, so to be peace we must know its true nature.
Just as with all things, there are two understandings within Zen Buddhism: the relative and the universal. On the relative level, we understand and become peace when we stop being violence outside and inside. On the universal or absolute level, however, things are a tad different. In this context, its all about harmony. We we live in harmony with ourselves and our environment. Harmony means even in chaos, we are undisturbed and non-disturbing. To abide in harmony is to abide in the universe as it is, not as we wish it to be.
We must recognize that even though we vow to end violence each morning, we cannot do so in the relative sense. Someone on the other side of the world, or across the street, or in another room, can and will be violent. Yet we can abide with great peace and equanimity in the universal sense. With practice, (and I myself, need enormous practice here) we can abide in peace even amid violence and aggression. We can see that violence is a manifestation of hurt, grief, fear. We can open ourselves and accept these feelings, wrap them in our love and create a compassionate response. Oh, how I wish I could do this each and every time I feel hurt!
Yet, I practice. A rock in the path or even a pebble in my shoe will not stop my practice. These are the opportunities for our practice. This is peace.
Be well