Day 5, Thich Naht Hanh

See 3/28/06 post for introduction to this topic.

This is day 5 at plum village, 7/15/05:

We need to communicate with our ancestors or else we suffer. Because our ancestors are in every cell of our body. With good communication we never get sick, good health, moral health. To have access to the past. In the present moment we can touch the past and the future. It's the past and the future in the present moment.

The seed of the young corn plant can no longer be seen but its is not dead. We can see the corn seed in the corn plant. A could in the sky never dies - that means to become nothing. So when the cloud becomes rain we no longer see the cloud. When I'm drinking my tea, I see a cloud. We are a cloud.

Let's look at the verb phrase, to be. Nothing can be by itself. The flower is made of non-flower elements; the Sun, water, cloud, earth, cosmos. Same is true with the Sun and the Buddha. With this there is no more war. We have to free ourselves of illusion. The father is not identical to the Sun. (sorry, my notes are rough throughout that paragraph).

Impermanence - we are not identical to ourself. But thanks to continuation we are not different.

Things manifest when conditions are met. For example, a box of matches, etc. Something cannot be born from nothing. Birth and death are notions we have in our head. Nirvana - total absence of all notions. Being and non-being are notions that do not apply to reality. With nirvana acceptance you will not suffer or be scared of the notion of death.

Ask flame - Flame, where did you come from?
Flame: I did not come from anything; when conditions are sufficient, I manifest into a flame.
Ask, Where have you gone, Flame?
Flame: I have not gone anywhere. When conditions are insufficient, I stop manifesting.

There's no coming or going. This applies to our ancestors, ourselves, our Sun, etc. And our true nature is of no birth, no death. I do not believe in defining an actual birth and death date to ourselves. Just like the nature of a cloud. So a cloud is just a continuation. You were not born, you are only a manifestation; happy continuation. So we use the word nirvana.

Space is made of time. And time is made of space. If you remove space from time, then space is no longer space and visa versa.

Nirvana means extinction, absence. It's the extinction of notions. Especially notions that form opposities such as birth/death, same/difference, etc. If you remove those notions, you are free of fear, despair. When you look at a flower and it's nature it is the nature of no coming and no going. Touch nirvana - look into things to be able to touch the nature of impermanence. Non-self - the son being a continuation of the father. There's no separation between father and son. Paper, flame, wave, cloud, flower, etc.

If your son has just left you (for example, miscarriage), he has returned to manifest. You must smile at your son. He has not left you. He will manifest when conditions are met.

Correct what is wrong if you're not happy when you sit. Happiness is NOT a notion. Health of body and mind. You must see the preciousness of life - eat in a way to nourish our mind even just a piece of carrot is precious - the sun, the earth, the rain in that carrot is so delicious!

You taste the deep taste of a piece of bread with the universe. You are then in touch with the teachings of the Buddha; the Dharma. Food is the best medicine. Loving each other; caring for each other is so precious.

In 1993 in Viet Nam people were poor. Now, 2005, they are much better off, more money but now they aren't happy because they have no time - families eat at different times - they're not as happy as in 1993.

Flower is the sprouting of the planet. When you see the flower, you see the planet. I am living for you. I am looking at the sky but I see it with my mother's, father's eyes - I see it for you, mom. I will continue for you.

In this life there is both job and sadness. We are afraid of unhappiness. We are our family. If you understand the deep happiness, you will be able to understand deep suffering. Suffering is a reality. Loving ourselves - we must practice in order to love, you must be compassionate. We love ourself - means we love others. If you love yourself, you'll be happy right away.

One day you must release everything. Go back to the foundation. The table where you eat is your paradise and what's on it. You eat mindfully and take care of your body, your environment. Building paradise.

Day 4, Q&A with Thich Nhat Hanh

See first post from 3/28/06 for intro. . .

Day 4 with Thich Nhat Hanh. Q&A session - 7/14/05:

Mindful breathing and mindful walking keep you in the here and now. Thai's inspiration to become a Buddha - he saw a drawing of the Buddha and the Buddha was calm and smiling and no one around him was doing this so he wanted to be just like the Buddha - that was his first inspiration while in Viet Nam.

The following is an answer to a question that I asked Thai:
If I can't find happiness now, I will never find happiness in the future. I must look at life from a different angle - change my orientation. Break the habits. Challenge myself. Every step that I make should make me happy. If it doesn't, ask myself why. I must enjoy the here and now in order to find happiness. Every breath I should breathe deeply. Change old habits. It will come to me. Change my patterns, my environment, my home. When I'm not happy ask myself why. Challenge myself. Find out why.

"Continuation of your Ancestors - Day 3

See first post from 3-28-06 for introduction to this subject. The following is day 3 from Thich Naht Hanh, July 12, 2005:

Topic: Continuation of your ancestors
Look deep into your hand and you will see and find your mother. Your hand is the continuation of your mother and your father. And you touch your hand to your forehead and it is your mother touching your forehead. Sometimes your mother is too far away or has passed away so it is impossible. Remember when you were 3-4 years old and you had a fever and your mother or father would touch your forehead to help you cool down and you would then feel better. With every cell we have, it came from our mother. We are a continuation of your mother and father. A plant of corn comes from the seed of corn. If you hate your parents then you hate yourself. If the plant of corn hate the seed, he hates himself. You must look deep - very deeply. If you are angry at your father, you are angry at yourself. You are the continuation of me and the Buddha by obtaining love, widom, and understanding.

If you have are mindful and practice the teachings, you can look deep in your hand and find mother, father, but also the Buddha.

Day 2 - Thich Naht Hanh

See first post on this subject for introduction. This is from day 2, July 11, 2005:

The Buddha and who he is - he's not a God, he is a human being just like us. He became a wonderful teacher and cultivates great love and understanding. At age of 80 he died. He has many disciples. They also practices like him. They are like a cultivation of him. Transforming suffering and cultivating love and understanding. I and you have accepted the Buddha as your teacher. 2,600 years since the Buddha existed. Buddha means cultivating an awakening.

How to cultivate the Buddha in a beautiful way? When the Buddha's physical body was about to die, he was worried his disciples might cry. There are at least 2 bodies of the Buddha: the physical and the dharma. You must take care of your dharma body.

When you express understanding and compassion and forgiveness, you are generating the living dharma. The living dharma always makes you and other people happy.

We have at least 2 bodies - people see my physical body. When I speak, act, the dharma body may manifest. The Buddha is in us. The Buddha can be recognized in the dharma.

When the Buddha's physical body was about to die, he was afraid his disciples would cry. There is an island inside you - you can take refuge. Don't take refuge in anyone else. It's an island that you feel safe, protected, calm. There are days when you feel it's not your day. You fail in everything. You suffer, get very angry. You get frustrated. It is time to take refuge. You must close your windows - eyes, ears, mouth, nose, body, etc. Stop everything. Don't try anymore. You want to get the feeling of warmth. You have to collect everything and tidy up.

atta dipasarana (self island refuge)
Ways to take refuge. . . Mindfulness, meditation, walking meditation where every step bring you home. Remember the teaching of the Buddha when we are tired.

Sugata - the happy one.
The freer you are, the happier you are. Happiness is born from suffering like the Lotus plant needs mud. You can not recognize suffering unless you suffer. It will be easier to recognize peace if there was war. Mindfulness is happiness because you recognize you are without suffering. Suffering can help us become more understanding and compassionate. Because you can recognize the path to happiness. Like the role of the mud for the Lotus.

A few words from Thich Nhat Hanh - Day 1

I was reading through my travel notebooks that I still carry with me throughout my trip and I remember my time in France at Plum Village (www.plumvillage.org). It was a revolutionary time for me and one that I hope I can bring back with me to the states. My notes are fairly verbatim since he speaks so slowly so I thought I would share them but keep in mind these are translated. Most are complete sentences but there are a few sentences somewhat incomplete but I think you'll get the jist in its own context. It's a serious of ?? - maybe 4 or 5 days. This is day one, July 10th, 2005.

Embassador of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam along with his first and third secretary. Now Thai's (Thich Nhat Hanh) books can be published in Viet Nam. Trying to work to bring Thai back to Viet Nam (he was exiled). 'They have done sitting eating and walking meditation and are still here today', he said with a smile and much laughter!

Happiness - slight difference between joy and happiness. If you are someone undertaken to travel through a desert, it may happen that you run out of water and you are suffereing from that thirst. That may last 1-2 days. Suddenly you see an oasis and believe to have water. So there's joy. The happiness is when you actually drink the water. There's more excitement with joy. For happiness, you have to drink the water.

In teaching of the Buddha we have to know the difference. What is happiness?

It's hard to realize happiness when you have it but when you loose it you then know you had happiness. It's strange.

We have needs like food, job, salary, housing, friends. Are you sure you are happy when you have these things? Good health also. But even with good health they are not happy. They think there's something wrong so they go to the doctor and the doctor says nothing's wrong. But the person still suffers. Health can not only be measured with instruments. So where is the happiness?

In the practice of Buddhism happiness is always there. We may think we aren't happy but we have everything we need.

Mindfulness is the source of happiness. Mindfulness is an energy that we can generate ourselves. If you are drinking tea and aware of it then there is mindfulness in that act. I am aware of walking and I am mindful. The energy of being mindful of what we are doing and what's around us. I am aware of touching the surface of this planet with my feet. I am deeply in touch with Planet Earth.

If you are caught in pressure, stress, fear then walking will not be mindful and not feel free.

Happiness is always there in the present moment. Looking at the blue sky. Practioners have to know how to generate the energy of mindfulness. Present in the here and the now. When you breathe n you recognize I am breathing in and you bring yourself back to the here and now. That way the mind is with the body and you know you are there. This is the basic conditions of touching life and it's wonders in us and around us. To be able to see, taste, recognize happiness you must be mindful. When we hear the bell, we breathe in with mindfulness - I'm breathing; I'm alive. It is the greatest miracle that I'm still alive.

Look at the body of someone and realize that this person can not get up and take one more step. But you can - you can get up. You have happiness, don't seek it in the future. In the present moment the Sun is beautiful!

Babanah - cultivation, culture - mental. Mind is at the base of all pain/suffereing and happiness! The seeds of joy, happiness are there but we have to cultivate them - bring into existence. Don't just brush your teeth quickly so you can go do something else. Enjoy it - be mindful of here and now, not thinking of the future. You can't buy happiness in the grocery store.

When you breathe in, take 2 steps - "I have arrived." And when you breathe out think, "I'm home". I'm not running because happiness is here. I'm home; I feel at ease. I am home. And every step liek that you feel at home. To feel like you have already arrived. That way you are free. There's no happiness without freedom. I am solid and I am free.

Do I ever get Lonely?

Travelling by yourself has great rewards but I can't help being alone at times. Is this ok? If you are an American and reading this you might wonder to yourself, "I wouldn't be able to do this - I need someone with me or I would feel alone".

Let's first examine what does it mean to feel alone/lonely. Here's what Merriam Webster has to say:

1 a : being without company : LONE
b : cut off from others : SOLITARY
2 : not frequented by human beings : DESOLATE
3 : sad from being alone : LONESOME

In my mind being alone and without people around you does not necessarily constitute loneliness. Its what you do with that situation or how it affects you which can equate into loneliness. Let's take a look at my experience.

I don't know where to start on this topic but I'll do my best with the skill I have. I reflect upon my time away now and think to myself, overall, what is/was my feelings and did I feel lonely. My answer is, "No". I hope I am saying this with honesty to myself and not in denial but I truly never really felt lonely.

There was one day, my first day in fact, in Mumbai, India where I completely felt isolated and a bit depressed. I flew in from sunny Cairo and landed in a raining, pissing, muddy, moldy, mosquito infested hotel - the only place I had the energy to search out. Every time I went out of the hotel I found myself invaded by handicapped beggars and dog-like hustlers while getting poured on. It was unpleasant to say the least. I left the very social, sunny environment of the rooftop Dahab Hotel only to find hotels with no social environment - just rooms. I felt a bit of shock; who wouldn't? I knew I needed to get my bearings - surely there's a better place to stay, I thought. I got myself out and about, became a bit more clever on avoiding the hustle, met a few travellers, found a better hotel and later got the heck out of Dodge.

I look back on that experience and can't really say that I felt lonely as much as it felt just plane environmentally stuck. It wasn't about people as it was just my own dilemma. And this is a feature of travelling - getting yourself into something and growing from it. Fortunately for me, it wasn't mold.

I think for us westerners we have a habit nowadays of demanding comfort. If we feel any sort of unpleasantness, we go insane or at the very least, get very nervous/anxiety. Our flexibility is narrow. But we don't realize that in order to recognize happiness, we must know what suffering feels like - that uncomfortability that we spend our whole lives avoiding. You know how it feels when you're with your loved one and without time away or time of your own you start to take things for granted. Then when you are away you see the whole picture; you realize just how special someone is despite their shortcomings. We cacoon and shelter ourselves from these crazy situations for what? For fear that what? I mean, what is the worse thing that might happen? We die? Do we really fear that we might die? Shouldn't we trust ourselves enough to know we are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves? Or is it just fear of the unknown?

For me, it was a bit scary to leave everything behind and venture out of my shell. I've asked myself several times (although not anymore) "what am I doing?". But I knew to gain a new perspective on life, I needed to get away from it all. Its clear to me now what value I've obtained from my trip and it just makes me feel more that there's so much out in the world that we can all learn from. If I do become lonely, its a small price to pay for all that I've gained. And with having a travel partner around I would have never met all the lovely people that I stumbled upon. Without a crutch, you can walk. Without a car, you can go anywhere. And its amazing what you can do with little money. Let go of the side of the pool and swim - your body knows how - you just have to believe.

A Wealthy Resource

From my travels I have met some highly interesting people from all over the world. From these crazy encounters, I've ocassionally been given recommendations for books, movies, websites, etc. I'd like to share this list with you from my journals and notes.

BOOKS:
The Miracle of Mindfulness
Old Path, White Clouds, Thich Nhat Hahn
I Am Who I Am, Jean Klein
The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
Krankheit Als Weg, Thorwald Detletson/Rudiger Dahlke - book about the psychology of injuries
Holy Cow
Wherever You Go, There You Are
The Altman Project
A Course in Miracles
The Disappearance of the Universe
The Tibetan Book of Yoga, Geshe Michael Roach
The Way of the Boddhisatva
Reflections on a Mountain Lake, Ani Tenzin Palmo
Luminous Mind, The Way of the Buddha, Kalu Rinpoche
Indestructable Truth, Reginald Ray
Wisdom Energy, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa
How to Meditate, Kathleen McDonald
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - A translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, translated from the Pali Cannon. (isbn: 0-86171-072-x)
Secrets of the Vajra World, Regi Ray
Open Heart, Clear Mind, Thubten Chodron
Music in the Sky
Cave in the Snow
Women of Wisdom
The Great Disciples of Buddha
The Heart of the Buddha, Chogyam Trungpa
Mahamudra - Eminating the Darkness of Ignorance
The Great Sea of Voidness
Making the Gods Work for You, Caroline Casey
Sex Signs - women's astrology book
Eat Right For Your Type, Joseph D'Adams
The Healing Power of the Mind
Boundless Healing, Tulku Thondup
The Essence of Jung's Psychology to Tibetan Buddhism, by Moacanin
No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam, by G. Abdo
Wisdom of Sufism
The 13th Tribe - history of Jews
A Gradual Awakening
Creative Visualization, Shakti Gawain
The Laws of the Sun
The Confessions of an Economic hitman
Children of the Matrix
The 12th Planet
Silent Weapons for Silent Wars
God's Almighty Grand Universal Theory
Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ
Celestine Prophecy
Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, Cope
Yocoubian Building
Cairo Trilogy, Mahfouz
History of Modern Egypt
The Haj

MOVIES/TV:
Dr. Zahi Hawas, Archeologist/Egyptologist. Chairman of Archeology in Egypt. Apparently every Friday on TV in America.
"What the Bleep do we Know"
"The Line", mountaineering film. I met the guys in Delhi, INdia who filmed it. (www.rattlecan.net)
"Call it Karma" - tibetan perspective, documentary
"Hannah and her Sisters" - Woody Allen movie
"V is for Vendetta"
"Fog of War"

MAGAZINES
The 2006 Sporting News Fantasy Baseball Owner's Manual

WEBSITES:
www.skyscanner.com
www.plumvillage.org
www.findhorn.org
www.iamhome.org
www.greekferries.gr
www.volunteer.org.nz/newzealand
conservation volunteers: 877-311-8959
www.globecorner.com
www.nomadruss.com - photographer I met in Ladakh region of India
www.travelpod.com/members/alisonandjeff
www.tibet.org
http://128.121.107.221/video/intro/introeng.htm - vipassanna meditation info. video
www.keepnepal.com
www.nagarjunainstitute.com/meditation.htm
www.rattlecan.net
www.naropa.org
www.shambala.org
www.theimagefile.com/web/lightroom-photos/
www.quantara.de - arabic news
www.islamfortoday.com/requaiyaho9.htm
www.guardian.co.uk - liberal news
www.geekeasy.com - fellow extensive traveller I met in Cairo with his own interesting website - inspiring gent and amazing pictures!
http://bdvblog.blogspot.com/

Google these:
Rudolph Steiner, Anthroposophy (knee); "search for truth"
Rolfing in Boulder; realignment - educating the body on how to move.
Stanaslov Grof, California Institute of Integral Studies - Breath Work
Food Combining - "Macrobiotic"
Silk Reeling
The Global African Presence

One more pic of Dahab

Not many places in the world like this. . .

Dahab, Egypt

Just spent 9 days in Dahab.
http://www.touregypt.net/dahabtop.htm
http://www.forces-of-nature.co.uk/dbdriven/home/dahab1.php
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/africa/egypt/egypt.htm

Here's my analysis. . .

Go if you haven't been! It IS a bit far from the U.S. but check out Red Sea Flights, www.redseaflights.com for cheap flights to/from London (fly to Sharm El Sheikh just 1.5 hours south of Dahab).

Imagine a simple town with amazing beach-front restaurants, shops and hotels nestled in an amazingly blue and green bay with Saudi Arabian views across the sea to the east. No noise like Cairo - just a fresh, vibrant sea breeze calling you closer and closer to its water's edge. Because this is the sea, not ocean waters, most restaurants and loungy spots hug the sea because the waves do not get too tall here. Everywhere you sit feels like you are sitting right on the sea while you eat your meal, cozy in the Sun or even moonlight. Gorgious place. Relaxed atmosphere. The worst worry I had during my stay was what to eat for dinner again. If you're too hot, don't worry - just walk 10 steps, take a dip in the water to cool yourself down and return to your meal - or sheesha; whatever you please.

Tourists? Alas, not while I was there!!!! Look out Cancun, this place (from what I've heard) takes the cake! Although March is apparently a quiet time, the weather was excellent and hardly no people!!!!! Very relaxed atmosphere and no hassling. I was in heaven.

And what about activities, you ask! Excellent diving and snorkling are found here! I made my very first snorkle at Blue Hole - just 30 minutes north of Dahab. Amazing colorful fields of corals and fish everywhere easily visible from the surface. The colors were incredible - I've never seen anything like it. And the blue hole is DEEP!. A blue hole surrounded by coral cliffs - just fantastic is all I can say. While you take a break enjoy kids riding their camels along the coastal road. Definitely did not feel like the Egypt I've known from my many months here so far. Also find kite surfing, kayaking, camel riding, jeep safaris, and killing time.

I will miss it there!