Today has been quite uneventful haha, Hey at least I got to go to lunch with Jon. We went to the mall and got nathans. It was quite awesome. I have to clean my house today, Im just being lazy. I've had this strange feeling lately that next year I shall be going off to war for my country. I hope not! Regardless of call ups etc. I think the draft is the scariest thing. So i've decided to live my life day by day, Just Incase. Have as much fun as possible, without going to far with it.. hehe. I was speaking with my father last night about stuff and I told him how nice it was to be "clean" Not having to worry about drugs, etc. Basically being a decent person again! Which got me thinking about myself and my situation, ie. religion (ohh i hate that word) Belief system, and just my state of being.
So I was sitting here today reflecting on my past few days. And regretting the way I've been acting. And I realized that its not the way I should be living my life. Basically feeling sorry for myself. If I sit back and look at the past 6 years of my life, I can see some of the hardest trials and tribulations of my life to date. And if I can make it through that I can certainly survive a little longer with no money and a relationship. In actuality these things are small almost insignificant. I call my self a buddhist and normally stick to the path I've chosen. But lately this damn Human Adiction has been taking me over. So I was reading through one of my books and came across of the basics of buddhism and I had to share this with you. This is actually taken from the Indian version of buddhism(original) Though they are typically the same there are some differences. But regardless this is the same for all buddhists!
aum mani padme hum
Literally, "the jewel in the lotus." The jewel is typically associated with compassion or truth, and the lotus the mind; although these archetypal images are obviously rich with many symbolic interpretations, which is why they were chosen in the first place.
aum - often called the 4-syllable mantra (related to the western word "amen"). The literal meaning of "peace" may be discovered through the chanting of 'aum' as a mantra, which activity brings on a tranquil state of mind.
Much can be, and has been, written on this syllable alone. In the Mandukya Upanishad, the letters are associated with particular meanings, and this interpretation is the structure followed by several other of the upanishads. (Mandukya means "frog," and was probably the nickname of the author)
a - waking ( vaishnavara )
u - dreaming ( taijasa )
m - dreamless sleep ( prajna )
(*) the absolute ( turiya )
* sometimes refers to the whole syllable AUM, and sometimes to the silence.
mani - jewel
padme - lotus
hum - I don't know what this means
And then theres this awesome quote that I just love and had to share with all of you :)
"When we try to overcome evil with evil, we are not working for peace. If you say, "Saddam Hussein is evil. We have to prevent him from continuing to be evil," and if you then use the same means he has been using, you are exactly like him. Trying to overcome evil with evil is not the way to make peace."
â??Thich Nhat Hahn, Living Buddha, Living Christ
I have his books and if anyone would like to borrow them from me let me know! I'd be more than happy to lend them to you.