The future

In a small town in ancient China there was a very famous temple. One of the monks was very old, but the story went that he had "psychic" powers and could "tell fortunes".

Since he was also frail, he usually stayed in his room, from where he watched the world through a small window. His days of interpreting the future had long since passed, and he only wanted to spend his old age in the monastery.

One fine day, a businessman from the capital came and very generously filled the donation box. He asked about the "fortune teller", but got the answer that he no longer took part in the temple business. The visitor therefore asked for the abbot.

When the abbot came the man said: "I come from far away to ask this monk about my future, gladly I donate a large sum, only let me to the old master". Just like all undertakings, a temple needs the means to bear the expenses incurred, so the abbot replied that he would try to make an exception possible. The abbot went to the old monk, who also agreed to help.

The businessman was led to the old monk's hermitage, where he asked the visitor to put his hands forward.

The monk looked at the palms, making the strangest noises. "Hmmmm", "Ohhhhh", he grunted to himself as he looked at the lines of the hands, the man became quite agitated.

"Master, what do you see", he finally asked, "will my future be good"?

"The future," the old man spoke, "is still unclear, but it is in your hands! You have great possibilities, however, I see that you will have to decide several times. Depending on your decisions your future will be. But note: if you have to make a decision and you do not make it, that is also a decision".

"But the great future of your life lies in the fact that you can change your life by changing your attitude"!

Then the old monk turned back to his window, and the visitor went out.

There are no signposts at the crossroads of life

- Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin - British actor - 1889 to 1977

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This world is a brutal places

The world is a master of horror, but also of goodness!

The world takes its own course. A glorious day is awakening in the East.

Will we see each other again tomorrow? We do not know. You do not like it?

Never will the son be the new king, who will rule?

Open the gates, the gateless gate is invisible.

Once he is king!

What have we promised?

We are tired, what do we want to achieve?

An heir to the throne?

The queen was a servant of Satan!

What do we know?

What does it matter?

Did we sign this like this?

Are you coming with me?

Everything here is in the name of the teacher of all teachers.

Look at me, you are suffering!

Enough!

Move aside.

Do not interfere, for this world is a brutal place!

Give it the death blow, do it!

The foolish think that shame is a crown!

Please forgive, the end is near!

You are a traitor, let's go.

Who will help?

Persuasion, where is the crown? We should leave!

Who helped?

What can I do?

Have you sworn allegiance to me?

I'll go as I please!

The king is dead, long live the king!

Do not force them to use violence.

Ignite their desire.

That is not true.

Do not destroy him!

The color of flowers is not always the same!

The flowers are so common.

Burn it, it's bad!

These are troubled times.

Lift up peace, born a king, in a peaceful land, in the end a nothing.

Do we deserve this?

NO

Sorrow in the heart!

Is the child blessed?

Only through suffering we know joy!

Participation in happiness.

Your example shines.

What have you achieved? Sickness, old age and death?

Do you have an heir?

Can we do worse? Are we safe? What is security?

Questions upon questions.

Come on, we gotta go! Wherever!

What do you want?

Deny the divine commandment!

The kingdom is becoming a disgrace.

Are you affected by the guilt? Did you determine the events?

Who has taken up arms? I beg you, think it over! But it is no longer so!

Have we done enough?

Everything is possible!

Shall we do nothing at all?

I speak for myself! Only for me.

The dead greet you!

From the tomb it smells of revolution, the sisters are enemies now.

Come to me, the dead greet you, O King!

I went ahead, the others are waiting here.

Your Majesty!

This world is a brutal place!

What did you expect?

I deny!

ALL

How could it come to this?

When I see, I see. My eyes are so tired.

Fall on your knees, recognize the evil place!

As I decree it!

We are of his blood! We have nothing to fear!

Or are we?

Will God hear us?

The day would come, and it has come! Regardless of all doubts.

Condemned to death!

This world is a brutal place. But in the end there is also a beginning.

Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

"Incidentally, I am of the opinion that Carthage must be destroyed," is a saying attributed to the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234-149 B.C.)

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Beginning

It was a long way to this bench, which was placed under the trees in front of the buildings for the visitors of Shaolin Monastery. Just opposite the monumental entrance area, with a direct view to the temple door, an impressive view. This is where I wanted to go, now I was sitting right in front of it, the world famous martial arts monastery, the center of so many kung fu movies with flying monks, incredible technique and almost superhuman performance, free from pain, the Buddhist martial artists thus within reach.

Now, at the destination of my journey, the courage left me, the doubts returned, unmistakably my annoying ego announced itself, criticized my entire decision. Rainer, what are you doing here, how stupid are you, how did you get this completely stupid idea, you in the Shaolin temple, martial arts from the monks you want to learn, they tear me apart in the air, against such fighting machines you have no chance. So, or so similarly, my ego turned its capers, searched further for reasons, why I should better leave again. I pulled my head in further and further.

Around me, an infinite number of tourists, most of them Chinese, gathered under colored flags, huge groups of travelers, always following a guide, each blaring into a megaphone, incomprehensible sounds, unfamiliar smells, I suddenly wanted to cry, I was suddenly really scared. Probably also of my own courage. How did I get here, what was I doing there?

But if I am already once there, then I could look at least the monastery once, before I would drive in any case with pulled in tail then again home. The laborious journey would not have been worthwhile otherwise in the remotest, and a few pictures could make yes also, as said, if I am already once there, the moment of the disgrace then at least savor, so that I can always remember the disgrace.

With leaden limbs I got up and dragged myself to the entrance, where the crowds were, cultural tourists armed with tickets and umbrellas, the Shaolin Temple was and is an attraction even among the Chinese themselves, attracting millions of onlookers every year. I stood in line to purchase a ticket. As I stood there so quietly, this immense awe gripped me again, the Shaolin Temple China, located in the sacred mountain Song Shan, the cradle of Kung Fu.

This is where I wanted to go, now I was standing at the door, my pants full, my courage chilled, Rainer, how did you come up with this idea?

Today I know: This way was my karma!

To travel well is better than to arrive

- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480

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The inner critic

Many people call the voice in their head a critic who makes their life difficult. For Buddhists, however, it is clear that this critic is the ego, which constantly nags at us.

All day long the ego nags away, it stirs up worries and fears, it criticizes us. In the Buddhist view, the ego is not a critic, but a cause of our sufferings.

It is important (not only for Buddhists, by the way) to silence the ego. Are you always comparing yourself with other people? Do you nag, do you find fault with everything?

Do you end up even suffering from the nag that causes a slaughter or two in your mind palace? Really every person loses an incredible amount of energy to this "critic", did I do this right, am I pretty enough, will I still have my livelihood tomorrow, can I do this, do I know this?

We are sometimes very hard on ourselves, the "inner critic" can be unfair. Do the challenges of life seem huge to you, is every day a struggle?

What if you made peace with yourself? Would anything change? Would it be noticed (except by those closest to you)?

I claim: NO

If you gain power over yourself, you can live in a much more relaxed way, you are no longer in the tension of emotions. For my part, I no longer care about this "inner critic", have turned off the perpetual dialogue with the ego, no longer let myself be thrown off track by self-doubt.

The voice in my head, what is that exactly? Is it an "inner critic", or my ego?

According to the teacher of all teachers, it is the ego that can create a lot of suffering in us. Evolution has given us thinking to evaluate the necessities of existence, to make plans.

However, without limitations, this thinking easily overshoots itself, starts to see dangers that do not exist. Then questions arise that are completely useless, simply because thinking is set up that way, always wanting to be busy.

This is where the teaching of Buddha comes in, who considered this kind of thinking to be unhelpful, since such emotions are based on impermanence, are not directed towards lasting things, and cannot be.

Those who constantly criticize themselves feel bad, inadequate, insufficient. Whoever starts to take the inner critic not so seriously anymore, can finally let go. The endless stories that the mind palace invents will for the most part never come true.

The way is the goal!

The forest is a special being, of unlimited goodness and affection, which makes no demands and generously passes on the products of its life's work; it offers protection to all creatures and provides shade even to the woodcutter who destroys it.

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One" - honorific name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 B.c.

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The universe and us

Our spiritual expectations are great, we like to talk about the universe, we occasionally see ourselves as part of it, but we are immensely afraid of the infinite vastness, of the areas that no human being has ever entered, at least that's what we think.

The pure being is already a mystery, we, our ego, the personality that represents us, the ego, nothing of it we understand even in the beginning, the universe not even in fragments.

But with the Buddhist teaching we can leave behind the human dimension, become one with the great emptiness, whoever recognizes his true Buddha nature can have a deep experience with being, live through all the dimensions of life in all its diversity, leave behind the relative life, turn towards the light that seems dark.

If we want to be unified beings, then we should find our way to the Buddha's path, explore the depth of existences, experience true meaning. But those who prefer to run after material things will probably miss the fork in the road, will not give the necessary meaning to the little things.

Because nothing really makes sense, who adheres to the philosophy of Buddha knows about the singularity, who has escaped the chaos, has left suffering behind. We humans do not have to suffer, if we want to, we simply stop doing so.

But the one who shies away from deep experience will not come to the right place, will not make the appropriate perception, because he/she only wants to satisfy the senses, goes after the transient cravings, is too busy to even begin to comprehend the truth of his/her own existence.

Too much the underlying clarity then makes fear, the fears are omnipresent, then nevertheless still fast with alcohol or drugs "the distance" look for, anesthetize themselves, only not think about everything.

But when life feels right, then the dominoes fall as if by themselves, the incarnation and the cosmos become one, the enlightened state can hardly be described now. In harmony with the environment, with being, with the personality, a tremendous feeling of happiness, which leaves everything material far behind, cannot be compared with the short intoxication.

The meaning of life, which everyone talks about, was clearly named by the teacher of all teachers many centuries ago in his philosophy, over the times many people listened to his explanations, followed him on the way to personal "enlightenment", no longer wanted to suffer, to leave human destiny behind.

Life receives meaning through knowledge, the way there is the goal!

Rarely only a great one appears and does not appear all the time

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One" - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480

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Self-sabotage

Who doesn't know it, the stupid feeling when you stand in your own way. Sometimes this even happens intentionally, self-sabotage happens more often than we think, just when thoughts make your life harder.

For example, when we say YES but think NO, we do everything possible to sabotage the YES, even at the risk of harming ourselves.

Such behavior is harmful, and not really appropriate for the Buddha's followers, since the great teacher taught us to look behind the scenes.

But whoever thinks about such behavior comes to the conclusion that he should better say NO right away, that is, he should not tell a lie, because the result is already clear, the thinking individual must be aware of it as a consequence.

To stand in our own way is normal, not all our decisions can be right, but the conscious self-sabotage, that is a completely different kind of quality in our emotional actions. Emotions pull us in different directions, it is not always easy to recognize the right way.

And the truth also requires a good portion of courage, which is why we often say YES, but mean NO. When was the last time you dared to tell an annoying person what you think, not to let them get away with their nonsense? We don't want to say unpleasant things!

But if you have the courage to talk about annoying problems, you will probably belong to the group of more successful people, because in order to assert yourself, you have to get to the point.

What do I want, what do I need? These are the kind of questions that awakened people no longer ask themselves, but on the way to "enlightenment" you will find the normal stumbling blocks of interpersonal relationships.

Especially the "feel-good Buddhists" don't want to hurt their environment, just make things worse (in the long run) with technology. For my part, I always address the things that bother me right away, I don't leave anything in the room simply out of convenience, not because I want to assert myself, but because I want to be such a role model for my environment, honest but uncomfortable, not ducking away, but also professing the philosophy of the great teacher.

Many people suffer unnecessarily because they do not have the strength to do the right thing at the right moment. Here I would like to refer to the noble eightfold path of the Buddha, which begins with: Right cognition, right mind, then right speech and right action.

The way is also here the goal!

Wise men know: Desire does not satisfy even golden rain

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One" - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480

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Gifts to my self part 4

Have you already read the first parts of my series "Gifts to my ego" click. Read on here:

14. friendships

If you really want to give yourself a gift, you should cherish your friendships, take care of your friends, their concerns, their lives. But you should also build up a friendship with your own self, look at yourself in the mirror with goodwill, consciously pay attention to your voice, take yourself "in your arms", do everything possible to reduce all possible aversions against yourself in any case, if possible build up friendship and even self-love. Only those who are at peace with themselves can set out on the path to enlightenment, emulate the Buddha, follow. Treat yourself at least as well as you treat your best friend, give yourself the gift.

15. happiness

Probably the most important gift that you can give yourself, that is happiness, because you are on a good path, on the pathless path, towards the goalless gate, where a landless land awaits all those who have awakened in time, who have not allowed themselves to be blinded, who have renounced suffering because they have made the decision to do so. Happiness is a spiritual emotion that cannot be bought, cannot be given away, cannot be inherited, cannot be earned. Those who have learned to truly let go are already very close to awakening, they will experience all-encompassing happiness. Because happiness is due to us humans, it is a prerogative of those who do not want or desire more, who have come to terms with fate, because they can't change anything about it anyway. Take from the everyday things of life your happiest moments, enjoy the flowers by the wayside, the little hugs, the warmth of the air, the coolness of the breeze, the taste of the food, trivial things that you often just take for granted.

16. a pure mind

Your mind should be like a beautiful garden, pure and pleasing, always tended, full of flowers, trees and shrubs, in the center a small temple with an enchanting statue of the Teacher of all Teachers, mindful people meeting in the temple complex imaginatively built in your mind palace.

Thoughts here are the seeds that plan, nurture and cherish the complex, bad thoughts make the complex decay, good ones improve the ensemble, depending on the mindset, a work of art or a cellar hole is created.

Take care of the purity of your mind, of the garden, of the buildings, build a temple in your thought palace, give yourself peace.

The path is the goal!

Those who live on right food, who are not bound to any property, who find their noble home in the incomprehensible emptiness, whose way is hard to fathom like a bird's path in the air.

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One" - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480

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Gifts to my self part 3

Have you already read the first parts of my series "Gifts to my ego" click. Click here to continue:

10. meditation

A special gift to my own self is meditation, which I practice daily. Here breathing, mindfulness, health, peace, happiness and extreme well-being unite to a spiritual unity. Every day is then a good day, because with such a gift it is possible to be pleasant, the I is cared for, the body is strengthened, the soul is calmed. Buddha in his calm meditation pose has become a symbol of Buddhist teachings for many people, his figures are in almost every house, we see from his example that for a happy life we only need our resolution "to be happy", nothing more.

11. recognize yourself in your totality

Only the one who knows himself is really wise, the one who learns to recognize himself in all facets with the teachings of Buddha, gets power over the ego, which makes man a suffering being in the first place, which should urgently be put in its place. What makes you as a person, what are your most important qualities? Can you determine what makes you special as a person, sets you apart from others around you? Can you write down 5 points that best represent you as a whole?

12. diary

Your life is special and particular, which is why it is worth recording the important steps. I keep a kind of calendar where I note all the events that are important to me. And believe me, every day is different, in the today, here and now, that's where the music plays. What did you experience, what did you eat, who did you meet, what were you happy about, what were you not happy about, did you meditate, or do sports, what was going through your mind? This is not about writing an essay, or a large amount, no, keywords are enough (at the beginning), your life is worth it.

13. focus as a filter

What is your goal, what is in your focus? We need to keep asking ourselves where we are turning our head, where the focus is, on what, and also why. Getting the focus right will bring you incredible power and energy, be a wonderful gift to your own self. Those who set the focus correctly (and honestly) will no longer waste their energy senselessly, seek and find fewer distractions, focus on goals, realize dreams.

According to the great teacher, none of this really matters, but for the group of "feel-good Buddhists" it does.

The path is always the goal!

Continue reading in the next few days on the topic of "Gifts to my self".

If a seeker has ten qualities, he is worthy of the gifts

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One" - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480

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Do not take anything „personally“

How to stop taking things so personally - and

- and live a better life that way!

Why is this happening to me? I'm just unlucky! Everything is conspiring against me! I'm such a poor sheep!

Is that so?

NO

That's exactly not how it is, no human being is just unlucky (or lucky), there are also no conspiracies against us, who or what should be conspiring, please, and why should it even be the case?

Although we as Buddhists "know" that everything is already written, it can help if we "do not take everything so personally", but calmly and calmly accept fate.

To "know" something does not necessarily mean to act correctly, there is still a lot of "room for improvement" in every human being.

To take everything "personally", for this there are all kinds of causes for some fellow men. The gods have conspired, a weak self-confidence, strong emotions, the environment, health, we are quick with excuses at hand.

However, it is important to understand that the origin of "taking it personally" is within ourselves, not coming from the outside. It is just a feeling that makes us take everything personally.

Because negative things also happen to other people in life. But not everyone relates the occurrence of negative circumstances to themselves right away.

The question is, how we deal with these incidents, process them further. Whether we take them "personally". It is exclusively our own decision whether we take something "personally" or not!

"Nobody can hurt me without my permission", said the great Mahatma Gandhi.

There is no conspiracy of the gods, only we ourselves conspire against ourselves, if we take something personally, it is our own fault.

Everything that happens to us in life, according to Buddha, only represents our destiny.

Everything comes as it must, so why take anything "personally"?

Instead of worrying about a conspiracy against yourself, you can look into the concept of "enlightenment", what is "awakening", what did Buddha mean when he said "life is only a dream"?

PERSONALLY I AM ALWAYS WILLING TO LEARN, ALTHOUGH I DON'T ALWAYS WANT TO BE TAUGHT

- WINSTON CHURCHILL - BRITISH STATESMAN - 1874 TO 1965

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Birds

A pair of blackbirds has been breeding on my balcony, yesterday the little ones hatched. Five mini birds in my flowerpot, beaks constantly open, some dried grass as a base, mom almost always sits on it, keeps her children warm, dad is looking for worms in the garden, brings almost endless supply.

At first we (my girlfriend and I) thought that birds had been looking for food in the flowerpot, perhaps scattering the soil on the balcony, making a mess. At first we almost overlooked the nest, then we did not notice anything as such, until we noticed the constant coming and going on the terrace, then we looked more closely. A bird's nest, first with one egg, the next day there were then two, always a new egg per day, until there were then five pieces. The mother is constantly brooding, not two meters away from my desk chair, the birds seemed to have no fear of us. Strangely, they trust us completely, I whistle, they respond, quickly we have become the foster parents for their offspring.

We put water, bought bird food, we give them rice and bread, we watch the pair of birds intensively.

Now the interest awoke, we researched on the Internet, little was found about a friendship between people and blackbirds, but it has become a togetherness, similar to a pet there is a kind of common understanding.

Watching how the animals touchingly care for their children, how the couple also works together and sticks together, it's magical, much like a married couple also raising their children.

The pair of birds made us think more deeply about the different living beings, and how much obviously also animals have emotions and feelings, the interaction of the pair of birds speaks for itself. And if even small birds have such emotions, then larger animals even more so.

And we humans think to have the right to rule over all other living beings, to make them usable for us, which is why we also speak of farm animals, which we can use, kill and eat, throw away or torture, just as we like.

Now if we were the poor pigs in the enclosure, had found a partner in "captivity" (another poor pig), and then another living being (a human being) comes and takes our (beloved) partner to slaughter and eat him, how would our feelings be there? And that animals have such emotions is clear (at least for us) by the example of the bird pair, only one makes even otherwise no thoughts about the animals, apart from the so much "loved" pets once.

We now eat almost exclusively vegetables.

Looking at the birds is (as I said) magical, the journey is the destination!

Who sees appearance as appearance and the being as being, penetrates up to the core of the truth, has read the right track

- Buddha - "The Enlightened One

Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

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