Spiritual Leanings ... From all faiths.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Yes, today is Maundy Thursday. Feet Washing - I am on the list to have it done to me tonight at Mass. It is something very special to me to have done. For me it is a sign or ritual of compassion and love that our Creator has for us, even today.

I was watching the OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) on TV. There were two episodes about spirituality. The first was on Maureen Sweeney-Kyle of Holy Love Shrine (ministry) in Ohio. She claims to be receiving messages from Mary to give out to the world. Her husband taperecords her talk with our Holy Mother. Crowds of people show up because they claim to see aberitions of Mary & Jesus, and have taken pictures of both.

The second episode was about Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg where miracles are performed by the minister every day. The minister speaks in tongues that is said to be the voice of God. Not Christ or Mary or the Holy Spirit. One of the women interviewed was in her 40's who had multi-tumors in her spinal cord, and after receiving a session with the minister, the tumors are smaller or gone.

What does everyone here think of this?

Peace be with you all.

[citybutch]

6.Right Effort

Right Effort, sometimes called Right Diligence, is the sixth part of the Eightfold Path of Buddhism. The Buddha tuaght that the Eightfold Path is the means to realize enlightenment. Right Effort (in Pali, samma vayamo), along with Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, make up the mental discipline section of the Path.

The most basic, traditional definition of Right Effort is to exert oneself to develop wholesome qualities and release unwholesome qualities. As recorded in the Pali Canon, the Buddha taught there are four aspects to Right Effort. Very simply --

1. The effort to prevent unwholesome qualities -- especially greed, anger and ignorance -- from arising.
2. The effort to extinguish unwholesome qualities that already have arisen.
3. The effort to cultivate skillful, or wholesome, qualities -- especially generosity, loving kindness, and wisdom (the opposites of greed, anger and ignorance) -- that have not yet arisen.
4. The effort to strengthen the wholesome qualities that have already arisen.

Supporting the Eightfold Path

If you look at the entire Eightfold Path, you can see how Right Effort supports the other seven parts. The Eightfold Path is:

1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

It's important to understand that the Eightfold Path is not a series of progressive steps you master one at a time. Each aspect of the path supports every other aspect, and to practice any one aspect properly requires the practice of the other seven aspects. For example, if we look at what the Buddha said about Right Effort, we can see that it includes cultivating wisdom, which supports Right View. Developing wholesome qualities while purifying oneself of unwholesome qualities supports the ethical practice section of the Path, which is Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood.
Practice "Right," Not Hard

You might think Right Effort means practicing hard, but that's not necessarily so. Do not forget the Middle Way, between extremes. Don't force yourself to endure aesthetic practices or push yourself to exhaustion. If your practice becomes a "chore," that's a problem. Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says, "The Fourfold Right Diligence is nourished by joy and interest. If your practice does not bring you joy, you are not practicing correctly."

The Buddha taught that practice should be like a well-tuned string instrument. If the strings are too loose, they won't play a sound. If they are too tight, they will break. Practice should be nourishing, not draining.
The Five Hindrances

When I think of Right Effort I also think of the Five Hindrances, from the Nivarana Sutta of the Pali Canon. These are:

1. Sensual desire (kamacchanda)
2. Ill will (vyapada)
3. Sloth, torpor, or drowsiness (thina-middha)
4. Restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca)
5. Uncertainty or skepticism (vicikiccha)

These are five qualities that interfere with Right Effort. The Buddha taught that mindfulness -- of body, sensations, feelings and thoughts -- will overcome the hindrances.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/theeigh...ght-Effort.htm

[Andrew, Jr.]

Citybutch,

Can you please tell us more about Mary? Her personality? What she was like in real time? And so on.

Thanks.

Peace,
Andrew

[citybutch]

Earth Blessings

I am rich in the wonders of the Earth.

In nature, I am reminded of God's wonder. I feel a commitment and desire to do all I can to sustain the health of Mother Earth. From a place of stewardship and love, I know I can effect change.

Each day, I am grateful for the ways my life is enriched by the earth. Through my actions, I honor and respect her. Every time I nurture and love myself and others, I extend the same love and support to Mother Earth.

Her ability to survive and thrive is apparent as I lovingly work the soil or sink my feet into the sand. The pulsating energy of Spirit is alive in her. I am comforted by that knowledge. In awareness of her splendor, I silently express joy and thanks to God.

Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind...." And it was so.–Genesis 1:11

http://www.dailyword.com/dailyword/51911

[Andrew, Jr.]

Happy Easter to All!

I wish you all a wonderful, fun-filled, peacefull day. God bless each and everyone here.

Namaste,
Andrew

[Glenn]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Happy Easter to All!

I wish you all a wonderful, fun-filled, peacefull day. God bless each and everyone here.

Namaste,
Andrew

Peace, Grace, and Love in the name of Jesus Christ also to you, my brother. Happy Passover and Resurrection Day to all.

[Glenn]

The Queen of Heaven is misunderstood. It's a shame too because she is the mother to us all. She brings peace, healing, and love to all who come near her.Imagine the perfect mother....now multiply that times one-thousand. In order to birth Love, one has to be Love itself. One day we will all understand her role. Hopefully, that day will be very soon. Without deep love and honor for the female aspect of Divinity, the world can never be complete. The Mother's love is truly a gift.

[Lynn]

...just to clarify more about Judaism. Chasidism is not a mainstream "level" of Judaism. It's really outside of the practice of mainstream Judaism. One online definition states (thefreedictionary.com):

n. pl. Ha·si·dim or Has·si·dim also Chas·si·dim (ä-sdm, ô-, hä-)
A member of a Jewish mystic movement founded in the 18th century in eastern Europe by Baal Shem Tov that reacted against Talmudic learning and maintained that God's presence was in all of one's surroundings and that one should serve God in one's every deed and word.

It is not a single movement, but varies in many ways from one Eastern European community to another. If you live in NYC, you will see different styles of dress and traditions which are very much associated with different regions.

Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism are distinguished by differences in ideology and interpretation. One who practices any of these types of Judaism is no less religious than another, though. If you practice faithfully what you believe, then you are religious. But, an Orthodox Jew is much more traditional than a Reform Jew. If you're Orthodox, you might dismiss the other practices of Judaism as invalid. But, not necessarily. There is much room in Judaism for questioning.

Thank you for letting me fill in the blanks a little, so that understanding can be a little clearer.

Lynn

[citybutch]

8. Right Concentration:

In modern terms, we might call the Buddha's Eightfold Path an eight-part program toward realizing enlightenment and liberating ourselves from dukkha (suffering; stress). Right Concentration (in Pali, Samma Samadhi) is the eighth part of the path.

It's important to understand that the Eightfold Path is not an eight-step program. In other words, the eight parts of the path are not steps to be mastered one at a time. They are to be practiced all together, and each part of the path supports every other part of the path. The entire Eightfold Path is:

1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration are all associated with mental discipline. These three aspects of the path might sound somewhat alike, especially mindfulness and concentration. Very basically,

* Right Effort involves cultivating what is wholesome and purifying oneself of what is unwholesome.
* Right Mindfulness is being fully present and aware of one's body, senses, thoughts, and surroundings. It is the opposite of being lost in daydreams.
* Right Concentration is focusing all of one's mental faculties onto one physical or mental object and practicing the Four Absorptions, also called the Four Dhyanas (Sanskrit) or Four Jhanas (Pali).

The Role of Meditation

Right Concentration is most often associated with meditation. In Sanskrit and Pali, the word for meditation is bhavana, which means "mental culture." Buddhist bhavana is not a relaxation practice, nor is it about having visions or out-of-body experiences. As explained by the Theravadin scholar Walpola Rahula,

The Buddhist bhavana, properly speaking, is mental culture in the full sense of the term. It aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will, indolence, worries and restlessness, sceptical doubts, and cultivating such qualities as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will, energy, the analytical faculty, confidence, joy, tranquility, leading finally to the attainment of highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are, and realizes the Ultimate Truth, Nirvana." [Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught (Grove Press, 1974), p. 68]

Bhavana really involves all parts of the Eightfold Path, but the particular role of Right Concentration has to do with the dhyanas.
The Four Dhyanas (or Jhanas)

The Four Dhyanas, Jhanas, or Absorptions are the means to experience directly the wisdom of the Buddha's teachings. In particular, through Right Concentration we can be freed from the delusion of a separate self.

In the first dhyana, passions, desires and unwholesome thoughts (see akusala) are released. A person dwelling in the first dhyana feels rapture and a deep sense of well-being.

In the second dhyana, intellectual activity fades and is replaced by tranquility and one-pointedness of mind. The rapture and sense of well-being of the first dhyana are still present.

In the third dhyana, the rapture fades and is replaced by equanimity (upekkha) and great clarity.

In the fourth dhyana, all sensation ceases and only mindful equanimity remains.

In some schools of Buddhism, the fourth dhyana is described as pure experience with no "experiencer." Through this direct experience, one perceives the individual, separate self to be an illusion.
The Four Immaterial States

In Theravada and probably some other schools of Buddhism, after the Four Dhyanas come the Four Immaterial States. This practice is understood as going beyond mental discipline and actually refining the objects of concentration themselves. The purpose of this practice is to eliminate all visualizations and other sensations that may remain after the dhyanas.

In the four Immaterial States, one first refines infinite space, then infinite consciousness, then non-materiality, then neither perception-nor-not-perception. The work at this level is enormously subtle.

So is this enlightenment? Not quite yet, some teachers say. In other schools, it is understood that enlightenment is already present, and Right Concentration is a means for realizing this.

http://buddhism.about.com/od/theeigh...centration.htm