We are starting to see the age of the “YouTube Monk.”  Various people are beginning to realize that for Buddhism to survive in this modern age, they must make use of new technology.  One such use of this, is throwing talks by monks and nuns on you tube, a great example is the Dhamma Tube, where there are over 630 short videos by monks and nuns from all traditions of Buddhism talking about various aspects of the Dhamma (teachings).  More and more, temples and centers are also getting into recording audio and/or video of their talks to create a podcast.  Just one search in the podcast directory in iTunes for Buddhism reveals many talks available to subscribe to for listening to on your computer or iPod.  Who would of thought that some day we could listen to dhamma talks on our iPods.  Many monks/nuns and teachers also have their own blog where they can talk about Buddhism. I think it is important for us to make use of these mediums, as it helps bring the dhamma to a much younger, technology-centric youth.

Need to talk to a monk?  Why don’t I IM him or send him an e-mail, or post a comment on his blog.   Welcome to what I call Buddhism 2.0.

Once upon a time I was more of a worry wort and always wanted to maintain full control of everything.  It wasn’t something that can be overcome in one night, but is a gradual process of realizing that no matter how much we would like to have control of this world we are in, we alas, cannot control anything outside ourselves and for most of us, even one’s self.

See that person who just cut you off in traffic?  Did it make you angry?  You have no control over how bad or clueless that driver is and who knows, he or she may be having a one of those days that we all have at times.  Have a job interview tomorrow or some other event you really want to go well?  Work hard in preparing and planning it, but leave it at that.   We can worry and try to anticipate every possible thing that happens in the event and your every possible response to it.  The reality is that no matter how much you think this or that will happen, often times for me, I realized everything I thought up in my head, only happened in my head.  We almost have to do what is kind of an over done phrase “Live in the present.”  Easier said than done, I know.  As with everything, it takes practice.

When one meditates on a regular schedule, that is getting to somewhat of a calm state of mind and then moving into a mode where we label things that we think about.  I am not talking about continuing the narrative in your head, but more of a simple mental note like “I have a control freak mind” or “I have a controlling mind” or “I have a worrying mind.”  It is strange to be doing something like this, because we would think that we already know our mind is in this state, but you are merely training yourself and your mind.  When you are in a calm state of mind, also make a mental note “I have a calm mind.”  With enough practice, even outside of meditation, you do a mental note when you notice what is going on, and you will snap out of it, but also, when you are stressed or feeling this worrying come about, you can say “I want a calm mind,” and eventually you will be able to recall that mind state.  This can work wonders when trying to go to sleep at night, as it seems many minds worry about the day’s events or tomorrow’s events and often take forever to fall asleep.

I will leave with you one last thing, a story that is often told about our tendency to want to control things.  Once there was a man in a small boat fishing, when all of a sudden he sees a much larger boat coming towards him rather fast.  He starts screaming and yelling at that boat, but it keeps progressing towards his boat.  The boat eventually runs into his boat and destroys it.  The man then realized the boat was unoccupied.  Many of us are like this man, rather than us moving our boat into safety, we would rather get angry and scream at others to move their boat.

Blessings,

Sucāra

From the kammaṭṭhāna, a sutta from the Theravada Buddhist Canon, it explains about 40 different things one can concentrate during samadhi (concentration) meditation. A highly miss understood set of them are the ten are objects of repulsion, according to wikipedia, they are: (1) swollen corpse, (2) discolored, bluish, corpse, (3) festering corpse, (4) fissured corpse, (5) gnawed corpse, (6,7) dismembered, or hacked and scattered, corpse, (8) bleeding corpse, (9) worm-eaten corpse, (10) skeleton.

To most folks, thinking about such things is rather disgusting, morbid, and just plain weird/strange. Why do monks and some lay people meditate on such a strange subject matter? Well, it helps to remove our attachment to things like youth, our bodies, fashion, good health, etc. It is just one thing we can do to help prevent unneeded suffering when people pass away, we somehow get a deformity, we grow old, get a terminal disease, etc. We should have feelings when such things happen, but once we experience the feeling, we should, like most things, let them pass without getting too caught up. Sometimes we have problems with living in the past about when we were young, had good health, etc. We are unable to experience the present by this unhealthy focus on what was and not on what is.

One visualization that I sometimes do when walking around and seeing people that beautiful and young, is a rapid decomposition process. If you have seen the last Indiana Jones movie, then you know what I am talking about. There is a scene where one of the characters in a matter of seconds goes from a living, breathing person, into a old, dead skeleton. If we see people like this, it will help us see everyone equally, as we all are born, so we are all subject to death. After all, being born is the leading cause of death. It is kind of a harsh reality that we look at, some folks see this as being pessimistic, but because as Buddhists, we look at how things are without pulling any punches about the reality of our bodies and the world we live in. It may not be something we want to think about or realize, but deep down we know that we are impermanent.

We can’t just do intellectual masturbation on this subject, but we really need to understand and know it beyond just thinking about it. We have to feel it deep down and through meditation. By achieving this, it means you will have a greater wisdom of the world and hopefully live a life with a lot less suffering. It is very humbling to realize this truth and to live your life with it informing your actions and thoughts. This perspective on things has changed a lot of how I operate my life, especially a personal philosophy that is less intellict-driven and more of one dealing with a more practical, effective view on the Dhamma (teachings) and how to rid myself and others of suffering. One of the best quotes on this subject I have found and held onto, was by I think Stephen Bachelor “Since death alone is certain, what should I do now?”

Blessings,

Sucāra