"A New Beginning" film about Theravada Nuns

A New Beginning from Emmanuelle Antolin on Vimeo.

When the Pigeons Come Home

Earlier, this week I had what most people would call a “glimpse of the divine.” I hesitate writing about this solely on the basis that I could never do justice with my description. I pretty much figure I can do the exact things I did that day and will not be able to produce the same results, based on non-clinging to good or bad. It occurred after a workout, and then a short meditation in the open park at dusk. And in meditation I heard footsteps that turned out to be a komodo dragon walking by my stone seat and up a coconut tree. Yes, I peeked and smiled at him. The awareness of “this state” continued even while on public transportation at rush hour, which kind of tickled me. I felt as if people could see through me on the underground. It was lovely to be divorced from the body-mind connection, and the free floating freedom from the conditioned mind that throws us into where are we going, doing next, worries or even body pain. I have had it happen as long(about 1 hour), back in 2000 when blessed by a monk in a Khmer temple on the Thai/Cambodian border that instigated my whole path in meditation and Buddhism. Speech is the easiest thing to quickly break this welcome change in awareness. The minute I arrived home to describe to my partner it just gradually fell away. It was strange that it was not an abrupt ending and signalled to me that this indescribable, and is best explained by relaxing all ideas of self to others in their presence.

Do Waves of Emotion Define your Existence?

I am in a strange place, mostly internally, and can exist all day without anyone speaking to me. You might think it my fault, but you don't have a speech disability which makes it hard to even speak my own tongue. Most of the time it is fine, but every so often some emotion burps out me in the form of goosebumps, and desire for recognition, I guess.  For instance, I could feel the prayers and wishes when I took these photos. I am not disconnected. Not sure if I create it out of existential validation or just habit of conditioned learned responses from childhood. 


Certainly, where I am now, only makes it more pronounced. Going “home” will not make it right, so that is not an option, as long as this where love is. If I at anytime do meditation I can easily relax out of with the real physical awareness that there is no “I” to please. In fact those waves subside quickly, amazingly so, even not being quenched and it all feels like a natural process. If I, in fact, can bring this into daily existence, knowing that I can never really arrange life to suit my emotions…I will arrive totally into my being(or be present). Talking to myself, “Let’s Evolve,” by not needing to bend my day around my emotions….eating, exercising, doing, not doing, ignoring, avoiding, etc. Dive in and examine each emotion as it appears and I think I will be surprised that there is nothing to them, besides natural bodily occurrences.

“Pleasure depends on things, happiness does not. As long as we believe that we need things to make us happy, we shall also believe that in their absence we must be miserable. Mind always shapes itself according to its beliefs. Hence the importance of convincing oneself that one need not be prodded into happiness; that, on the contrary, pleasure is a distraction and a nuisance, for it merely increases the false conviction that one needs to have and do things to be happy, when in reality it is just the opposite. But why talk of happiness at all? You do not think of happiness except when you are unhappy. A man who says "Now I am happy" is between two sorrows, past and future. This happiness is mere excitement caused by relief from pain. Real happiness is utterly unselfconscious. It is best expressed negatively as: "there is nothing wrong with me, I have nothing to worry about".” 

— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Naive Blog Motivations?

When I started this blog, it was based on the idea that I had something to share. One, to give my partner an idea of what my motivations are. Two, was to help others find their way, and that it can be done even if one encounters the unthinkable with their health, and the deck of cards they are dealt. Like... just look at me, if this sad sack can take the ball and roll with it, you can too. It just takes a lot of self reflection in meditation and try what you never tried before...along the lines that if all else fails, get up and keep walking...towards wisdom, of course.

Well, my partner loves me and really has no reason to read this now or later, when I am gone, he lives by pure intention and the right now. He has no doubts. And others, my guess, either say “good for you” or “that's interesting” and go about their lives. No one will attempt any change until they have exhausted every option. At one's own time and direction.
At the same time I have slowed down on taking photos with a reminder I saw last year. I went to a house estate sale of a man who died alone, he was a tour agent and took many upper income ladies on exotic trips. His nice photos lay in boxes to be disposed of, and some young “queen” was picking through a few to find the outrageous 60's looks to hang at home in a campy display of past chic. In other words our past has no value, really except to motivate positive change.

"Meditate, meditate, let go of all those things

you have been doing for so long,

stop doing them and meditate!"

He(Bhuddha) wants to encourage and teach others, also.

But if you go and do that,

you destroy your meditation.

Don't stop to go and teach. Just continue your practice.

Don't encourage other people. You can do that later.

But it is very hard not to that;

it is very hard to resist.

— Fourth Insight, A Map of the Journey,

talks by Sayadaw U Jotika

Can You Know Enough to Stop Dying?

“You can only rise as high as your self-esteem” 

— Sayadaw U Jotika

Apparently, aspiring for comfort takes all your energy. It slowly became obvious that I desired wisdom out of some kind of payback for suffering and my upcoming death. But who is dying? We all are, there was never an I to be worried about. It was all part of the package. 
This Burmese Super Man agreed to let me photograph him, only because he was wise enough not to care ...a non-issue. Make your suffering as elegant as his appears, and you'll inspire many without even knowing it.  I bow to him and all those wiser than I. 
Any thoughts about your death?

Where Love Shines Through

I had just returned from a quick trip to Myanmar when I became ill from food poisoning. I had given a new Dhamma friend I met there my drugs that I had bought for this, knowing he had further travels, and will probably need them. Luckily it hit me when I got back, when my partner and I were on the way to get him his favorite pie. We had to grab a fast taxi back home to avoid puking on the subway, where I then collapsed for 36 hours to sleep. He would wake me to eat Jok(fish and rice porridge) that he made and take pills. He dropped everything to make sure I get better, even holding me. It was only another confirmation of why we are still together after all these years. 
Earlier in the day, my first trip out was to complete the mission to bring him home the pie he likes. On the way out, I went to buy cookies to give away randomly, and the store owner said, “Oh, here is 20 B you lost last week when you here,” handing it to me. I guess it was pay back from the small purse that I found here in Bangkok at a fruit vendor and gave back to the woman who I correctly guessed had dropped it. The look on her face was similar to mine, today.
Tonight, when my partner and I did a Pali prayer before bed, we burst out laughing, tears coming down our faces from a joke we shared. Love can be that simple.

Misery 101

In the past two months, I have been tying to let my partner do his own thing in his own time. At times, it may seem like it is an incredible sacrifice on my part, only when I feel bad or uneven within myself. In other words, my ego doesn't like it, when I am fragile. He is much more demonstrative with his love spontaneously the more I let go, so it is not like there is no payback. In fact ten-fold, lately. I just have to keep reminding myself of the self created misery that can spiral out with one bad thought. One night I had a sinking dream, because I guess my ego did not like the changes I have been making and  I guess carried it over. I was moaning saying, "No, No, No," while falling....then I could see/hear him at the end of a long tunnel and the falling stopped with his words. Touching me and bringing me forth to the waking world, with his hands on my shoulders, waking me, he said, "It's OK, I love you."