To my darling daughter Faith, I hope you find these words meaningful and challenging as well as insightful.

Sometimes we sit back and wonder how we became who we are today. There are many factors on how this happens, our environment; both socially and culturally, our family upbringing, and more scientifically our DNA or our genes. Where I stand now in my life I have realized there is one factor that trumps them all and that is our soul or spirit.

This journal (Will give to her when she's older) that I present to you now I hope has potential to help you grow spiritually and to become who you want to be. But before you go on to what my intensions are let me tell you a bit about me and how I became who I am today. To do that I must start from the beginning, yes with my birth, but I promise this will not be long and drawn out.

In 1975 I was born into this world with 3 different heart defects, ironically each needing the other defect to function. There is no real name for the defect and very few have been recorded but I was given this curse or blessing and it would take years for me to determine which.

It was very difficult living life with this disease, especially as a young child. I was limited in what I could do, no hockey, boxing, soccer, football or any of the passions that all my friends played, only the side lines for me. My parents tried to smother me with toys, toys, and more toys, and for the most part this worked. It kept my mind elsewhere so to speak.

I was born into the Baptist tradition with my mother's side being more dedicated then on my father's side. As I child I rarely attended Church and I'm not sure why your grandmother did not make us go. I guess she never really cared about church or religion all that much, she never felt a need for it and for that I thank her, because I don't think I would be where I'm am today if I had attended church on a regular basis back then. It would appear the dedication stopped with my Grandparents.

I remember sometimes my best friend then (and now) would say to me "You know, you are going to hell because you don't go to church". I would smile and shrug it off. My friend was a smart long winded fellow that attended a catholic church on a regular basis and knew many of the stories from the Bible. His saying this to me did not affect my play, but I have to say a seed was planted with in me.

I had my first open heart surgery when I was in grade 7; this was a very frightful and embarrassing time for me. I didn`t even tell my friends I was going away for few months or for what reason (I was that embarrassed). I was out of school for 2 months and in the hospital for 1.  I did manage to get through the school year with the help of some great teachers. 

From there my life socially was alright but mentally it went downhill. I became more and more inundated with my condition that I based everything on it, but not publicly only personally did I direct this. Building relationships with female friends was very difficult and this added to my frustrations.

It wasn`t until my high school years that I started asking God and Jesus for answers to my question of ``Why me?", why did I have to go through this. I was also told at this time that by age 30 I would need a heart transplant (didn't happen). This added to the already fuel burning within my heart. I need answers from one source and only one source, God. How is God going to speak with me? Why would God speak with me? And most of all how will I know it's from God.  Night after night I would go to sleep asking God for answers knowing that God was listening but not really responding, or so I thought.  I would ask God "I never even had a chance to prove myself, I was born with this disease, no sins to commit, why? Why am I going to hell for not attending Church? Why having sexual thoughts am I going to hell if I do not ask for forgiveness? What about the child born outside of Christianity who dies without knowing Jesus?" I finally yelled out "why am I walking on age shells with you?" Life would be better off without me!

I waited... days went by?

Nothing...

Ok, I'm not getting anything here, no response. So I went out to found God in Books and anywhere else I can find her/he/it. I started reading about the history of religion and not just my familiar zone of Christianity but I was open to all religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, and more. I started reading books on science thinking science was going to provide me with answers. Quantum Physics was so exciting to read, my mind was open to a universe so big and yet at the same time a universe so small built on energy, the building blocks of Life and all things.  After taking a step back I started to find links between science and religion, it was fascinating.

NOTE: I would ask when you have an opportunity go outside the city, perhaps at Grammies Cottage or Bon Bon's house and look up on a clear night and witness Gods creation in the millions of stars. Just sit there and gaze at all the possibilities; think about how many other worlds with great civilizations are out there.

Buddhism played a huge roll in my life that it deserves to be mentioned with more than a few words. Buddhism with its Four Noble Truths and Eight Folds path has taught me much particularly Zen Buddhism. Zen which I still hold dear to my heart (perhaps if I was a true Zen follower I would not hold is so close to my heart) has showed me how to find my center and to stay focused on my path. I remember once my Friend (yes the same one that told me I was going to hell) and I one night where at the University Library studying for something and he came along a book call The recorded sayings of Zen Master Joshu. Within the book we found a writing that stated the following:

At Nan-ch'uan's temple one day, the monks of both the east and west halls were arguing about a cat. Nan-Ch'uan came into the room, held up the cat, and said, "If you can say something, I won't kill it. If you can't say anything, I'll kill it." No one in the assembly could understand Nan-ch'uan's mind, so he killed the cat (he did not really kill the cat, he made a cut across the neck motion). The next evening, the master returned from somewhere and, while they were exchanging greetings, Nan-ch'uan told him what happened and said, "What would you have done to save the cat?" The master took off one of his sandals, put it on his head, and left. Nan-ch'uan said, "If you had been there, the cat would have been saved."

Of course at the time my friend and I laughed at this saying. We didn't have a clue what the meaning behind such powerful but humorous sayings. This passage left a seed for my later years as a committed Zen Buddhist. As I grew older I became attracted to Zen and Zen to me. Year after reading the statement above I found that book and purchased it. That book will always be a reminder of where my path started and how I came to be where I am now. I believe what Zen masters say about everybody having Buddha nature, everybody is born with Enlightenment but not everybody knows that we are. Even now where I stand spiritually I believe this although most in my current path believe we are born with original sin. Original Sin to me stands for the lost of remembrance that we are one with God. When we were kicked out of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and gaining that knowledge we lost our connected remembrance with God. The rest of the Bible explains our journey back to God (anyway we will get to that later). This next quote sums up Enlightenment according to Zen:

One day during a tea break a student standing next to Suzuki Roshi asked, "So what do you think about all of us crazy Zen Students?" Roshi said, "I think you're all enlightened until you open your mouth."

Also Zen has given me the obedience of mediation; it is this that has helped focus my life's path and goals. Today because I Zen I am dedicated to my path, thank you Buddha and thank you Zen Masters.

Mixed in with my Buddhist path I came upon three books called "Conversations with God book 1, 2 and 3" By Neale Donald Walsch. I bought them.  My life was eternally changed. I would never be the same again. A weight was lifted from me.

In one moment I realized something so profound and so clear. It was night time and I was on my way to my then girlfriends (wife now). The moon was shining so bright that night I cannot explain, it was unusual.  I came to a stop sign and looked up at the moon. And there it was, what I have been looking for my whole life, all my questions to God where melted away in a flicker of light. And then I sat back and I listened...and I listened...I realized that...God was always speaking to me. God was speaking to me at birth through my defects, God was speaking to me through my friend who advised me of my terrible ways, God was speaking to me through my frightening and embarrassing experience of my surgery, and most of all I realized that God answered me through all that was presented to me in life. Science, religion, spiritual books; churches, rituals, laws of physics they are the details; they are the little reminders about life and God. This truth was larger than any religious scripture.  The answer was found within me. The truth my heart was bursting out with was from something bigger than I but was also from me. It was a communion with God.

I realized with all my heart that God can be found in all things. God does not necessarily have to be found in a sacred text such as the Bible or Bhagavad-Gita. God can be found in all things, good and bad, hot and cold, big and small, up and down, here and there, then and now in all ways, always. God lives through all possibilities; for without bad how can we know Gods Goodness. God is living out all possibilities through us to experience LIFE; to experience Gods magnificence, because how can god know its magnificence if all there is, is God? There is only one way to do this... Forget, unless we remember.

Then you were born...

It was a warm July day. I had recently returned home from the hospital to take a shower and grab a bit to eat. Your mother was in the hospital with minor complication trying to keep you in her belly. You see your mother was only 25 weeks into her pregnancy and because of a complication you wanted to come out. We needed to hold off the birth until at least 32 weeks in. But you had other plans. I had just got done taking my shower and prepared my meal (KD) when I got the call from a friend (Pam) who was with your mother saying that she was going into labor and delivery.

Your mother was on her fifth day in the hospital and things were going good. I remember thinking on the way over...I'm feeling a little scared and shocked. I didn't know what was going to happen but I kept an open mind that things were going to be ok. I arrived and shortly after the Doctor came in and looked over your mother and stated, "You are going to have a baby within the next 24 hours".

My life at this point was forever changed. After hearing those words your mother and I created a bond of feelings that will forever be unbreakable. The feeling of fear quickly filled our hearts and mind. For me it was not a fear of losing my child it was a fear of a loss of control. This was not the birth of a nine month baby this was the birth of a 25 week baby and it was out of even the doctor's hands.

30 min later your mother was in full labor. I grabbed on to the only control I had "hope". I did not pray to God that everything will be alright. No, I thanked God for my healthy child and wife. Calmness came over me and at that moment I know everything was going to be alright.

You were born and shortly after taken away to the Neonatal Unit but not before one of the nurses held you high for all to see. You were so tiny.

That night I read these words:

Longer than the tails
of wandering mountain pheasants
on foot-tiring hills,
the long night lies before me,
though it too leads into dawn.

By Dogen Kigen (1200 - 1253)

That night your mother and I had a restless sleep in the hospital but by mid-night after visiting our child, all 1.7lbs of her in the NICU a name was given, "Faith".

As a Buddhist/Christian (at the time) I contemplated, prayed and meditated on your life every day. Meditation played a big role in my life at this time. It gave me the strength and peace in every breath I took. Meditation let me experience every moment with you, a mind clear and full of peace and love.

You are a miracle.

But a new question has arisen, where does Jesus fit in all of this? How can I make the one that I started it all with, the one that I spoke with while lying in bed at night, exist as a part of my life? I have attempted to read the bible on many occasions and have failed in all ways. There were too many unanswerable questions for me. 

This past year I have met a couple of people from work that are very Christian and very passionate about their relationship with Jesus. I attended a few of study groups with them and have met with them a couple of times just to talk about religion and spirituality. So more and more Jesus was on my mind and the passion that they had for him was robbing off on me and I'm not sure why. I'm not sure if it was just a wanting to be a part of a group, because at the time I did not consider myself being a member of any one religion. And I have felt very comfortable with this up until recently. It has been a while since I have attempted to read the Bible especially with new eyes.

So I made a decision and commitment to read the bible end to end. As a result it has been both exciting and eye opening.

I started finding answers to questions I had in the past and new ones that arise. After reading some of Marcus Borg's books, speaking with my minister and listening and reading Bishop John Shelby Spong's works many of those questions were answered. Of course not all but it is a working progress.

I can finally say I have opened the door and let Jesus in and this happened on July 17^th, 2009. It felt right, it felt calming, and most of all I could feel the presence of Jesus within me. This was very refreshing and joyful.

In this Journal(s) I am attempting to write my thoughts, feelings, and interpretations as I read through the Bible for the first time with a new understanding and a fresh start. I am very excited about this and cannot wait for you Dear Child to read these words.  After I have completed this journal I will end with more thoughts.

My suggestions when reading the Bible, read it metaphorically, historically and culturally. Upon reading my journal I hope it helps you understand what is metaphorical, historical and cultural.

At the back of these journals I have provided a number of books that would be wonderful if you could read. I'm not an author and they can explain the wonders of life much better then I. So please feel free to explore these books at anytime.

And one more thing...

You are the reason the sun came up today, believe it! N from U

With Love,
 

You're Dad

That I actually really did live to see another day.

What is Heaven?

I believe, which is more of a knowing for me, that when one dies, whether they are considered good or bad in our standards, all will return to the sum total of all things (as opposed to the sum). Time will melt away and all possibilities will become one, all happening in harmony in one moment. This is the true reality, the reality where experiences disappear and gives way to total bliss and knowing. Heaven is a place where the observer, observes all times, past present and future in a single moment for eternity. At any time (which does not exist) the spirit or soul can return to what we consider our reality now and live a life that has already happened or is happening or will happen (remember time do not exist so all is happening now) only to experience some of the infinite possibilities as individuals.

While in this total bliss one cannot experience each possibility individually and only in the total sum of all possibilities, so the spirit will choose to live in our reality to experience these possibilities separately. To do this the spirit must live the life through the ego but leaving hints of it existence for the ego to ponder.

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

Heaven and Hell!

Does heaven and hell exist? Some religions paint the picture that if you are not good or you sin you will go to hell when you die. Hell to these religions is a place where you experience your worst nightmares forever. Heaven on the other hand is a place were you sit with god, where you live in constant peace and joy. So now as long as you do right and not wrong you have nothing to worry about.

The question now arises what is right and what is wrong. Depending on who you talk to they will give you different answers. Some of the die hard religious leaders and members will tell you that repenting is the only way and Christ is the only one you can repent to. Hmm, I'm a Buddhist eh oh, I'm screwed. Can one repent to Chirst and still be a Buddhist, I believe so.

From a Buddhist stand point and my belief, hell is just a way that one may live. Anybody and everybody has at one time in their life experienced hell, some more than others. So the question now is what is hell on earth? Well anything and everything you experience that does not feel right to you. Hell is not being who you really want to be. Hell is the way we experience the results of our actions from moment to moment. If something bad happens it is normal to react negatively to it but that negativity can cause a chain reaction or one can dwell in this experience for far too long. When one looses someone close to them this is not a negative reaction it is part of the healing process, the problem begins when one dwells in this feeling and the feeling becomes the person.

I believe that when we die we do not go to hell and we do not go to heaven (or at least not the one that most may be familiar with).  

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

A Monks story:

A huge, rough samurai once want to see a little monk, hoping to acquire the secrets of the universe. "Monk," he said, in a voice accustomed to instant obedience. "teach me about heaven and hall." The little monk looked up at the mighty warrior in silence. Then, after a moment, he said to the samurai with utter disdain, "Teach ‘YOU' about heaven and hell? I couldn't teach you about anything. You're dirty. You smell. Your blade is rusty, you're a disgrace, an embarrassment to the samurai class. Get out of my sight at once. I can't stand you!" The samurai was furious. He began to shake all over from the anger that raced though him. A red flush spread over his face; he was speechless with rage. Quickly, menacingly, he pulled out his sword and raised it about his head, preparing to slay the monk. "That's hell." Said the little monk quietly. The samurai was overwhelmed. Stunned. The compassion and surrender of this little man who had offered his life to give this teaching about hell! He slowly lowered his sword, filled with gratitude, and for reasons he could not explain his heart became suddenly peaceful. "And that's heaven," said the monk softly.

I lot of people say that this reality is an illusion; I myself have said so in the past, but I believe that this life was truly created for only one reason and that is to experience what its like to not be god and to finally realize we are god. Many will talk of heaven and hell as being something real but that is the illusion, the myth we have created to try and keep people in check. Heaven and hell only exist as like the two examples given here.

Life will continue to grow towards a higher understanding of itself, our conscience will continue to evolve to a greater awareness and nothing is going to stop it, not Armageddon, or end times because life is not limited to Earth (Not saying its going to happen here but the possibility exist). The story of the samurai shows us that FEAR and LOVE are only choices and not some outside presence waiting to attack. What is real to me is the experience of life and knowing that God is experiencing life through me at my egos present understanding. It quite wonderful looking into the eyes of another and seeing the eyes of God.

God does not care who wins the World Series God only wants to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, nothing more nothing less.

Good Day,

The Buddhist

 

Tibetan Book of the Dead - Root verses of the Six Intermediate States:

‘Alas, now as the intermediate state of meditative concentration arises before me, renouncing the mass of distractions and confusion, I must undistractedly enter a state, which is devoid of subjective apprehension, and free from the (two) extremes...'

There are many forms of meditations, to name a few, Dynamic, the Mystic Rose, No-Mind, Running (jogging and swimming) and much more. Prayer is a form of meditation also and in my past when I was a Christian this is something I did often.

Now a days for me meditation is a way to contemplate thoughts or experiences that I had that day or day before. There was a time when I did meditation just for the reason to empty my mind and become the witness, which I have succeed in but now when I find that witness or observer the only difference is, I witness my thoughts or experiences instead of emptiness.

I find meditation to be a good way to relieve any stress and hold back any future stress. So I would recommend it to everyone even if it is a form of prayer. I'm not going to tell you how to pray but personally I believe that when one is in prayer they should not ask for anything only thank God for what you do have and for some this may be very little but if you can breathe than you can be thankful. I believe that God is not in the business of answering prayer, do you not think God is not capable of reading minds. The world gives us all we need and this may be very difficult for some to hear especially if they think they are living in hell as I type they words. Perhaps they are not even being provided the basics like food and we all know to well this is a reality (read my past blog posting for my perspective on this and why I believe that everything is perfect including the hunger of the world).

For those of you how are living the hell they didn't choose to live or are just having a bad day, meditate on this:

This is from the Bhagavad-Gita translated by Stephen Mitchell. Here Krishna (incarnation of a God) is saying to Arjuna a warrior who as just decided not to go into battle,

Although you mean well, Arjuna, you sorrow is sheer delusion. Wise men do not grieve for the dead or for the living.

Never was there a time when I did not exist, or you, or these kings; nor will there come a time when we cease to be.

Just as, in this body, the Self passes through Childhood, youth, and old age, so after death it passes to another body.

Physical sensations - cold and heat, pleasure and pain - are transient: they come and go, so bear them patiently, Arjuna.

I now from personal experience that life can get tough and some more so them I but they are only physical sensations and they will go, this of course is easier said than done.

If you wish to comment on this, please do so even if you do not agree with it, I would hope more so you will comment.

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Prayer to the Spiritual Teacher:

‘How needing of compassion are suffering sentient beings, right here, Who are driven on through cyclic existence by delusion and confusion - because they do not understand that their own mind is the Buddha-Body of Reality, free from extremes! May they all actualize the Buddha-Body of Reality!'

The ego begins its journey from day one and over time it becomes burned into our mind. Our brains become victim to past thoughts and with time develop a comfort zone. We get caught up in our ego's desires. There is nothing wrong with this as I stated in my past blogs, but in order to evolve into something bigger we must see past the ego and although I don't believe in a cyclic existence (as to say that Karma effects future lives) but I do believe in a cyclic existence in this current life.

One may say ‘why would we on a higher level decide to choose to enter a life being glued to the ego what would be the reasoning in this'. My answer to this would be because God is experiencing all possibilities but also because time does not exist. We are so use to time because it is convenient and it's a brilliant way to organize life. But when we die does time exist; I believe it does not and in this reality we perceive this moment, we are living now, as being the only moment. But really all of time is happening now, all possibilities are happening now. Past, present and future all happening now and not only that but every possible choice that has ever been given to any human in the past, present and future is happening now, even choices we did not make have been made in an alternate universe by and alternate you, its an infinite amount of possibilities. Some scientists are beginning to understand and prove this.

This I believe to be the ‘Buddha-Body of Reality'. Our minds can be free from these extremes including time if we only learn to melt away our egos. Maybe not totally melt away because our egos are needed to experience life and to have a little fun.

Again from the same text:

‘How needing of compassion are mistakenly prejudiced sentient beings, right here, who are driven on through cyclic existence by attachment and craving - because they do not understand that their own awareness is the Buddha-Body of Perfect Resource, imbued with supreme bliss!'

This is so true, we believe that there is not enough and because of that we live a life of greed and envy, whose lawn is greener. The industrial countries has a fear of running out of oil so we look else where for oil and will seek it at any cost instead of looking for alternative forms of power.

We need to get in touch with our Buddha-Body of Perfect Resource and understand that there is enough to provide for everyone in the world but unfortunately this will not happen until the majority believer this, we have a long way to go.

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Preliminary Practice (The Generation of an Altruistic Intention):

‘Even though all phenomena are empty and selfless, sentient beings fail to realize this. Alas! How needing of compassion are they! So that all those who are the focus of our compassion may attain enlightenment, I must rouse my body, speech and mind to (the practice of) virtue!'

How I interpret the above saying is that humans fail to understand that this reality was created as an illusion and for good reason, so that God (Godfield, Godhead or what have you) can experience its magnificence. This belief has become common in my thinking so sometimes I tend to forget that it was a long journey and not everybody holds this view.

With that being said I'll forget and ask the question ‘why else would God create this reality?' For me it certainly is not to find a correct path and if I don't be damned to an eternal life in hell or a constant state of reincarnation. If that were the case there would have to be a good and a bad, but I believe that there is not a God out there that requires something, if that were so this God would be limited. This would mean that God requires something that God is not; and that is just not possible for a God that is Omni Potent, Omni Present, and Omni powerful.

One will ask if there is no right and wrong, than why doesn't every body just go out and kill, rape, and destroy everything. Because that is not who we are and we, deep down know this. We are apart of the Sum Total of God, it's in our DNA, life is in a constant state of evolution and we will someday live in a peaceful time.

For now even though life is perfect in Gods eyes its time to evolve into that next level and we must tell the world not by preaching but by living, that we can and will live in a world free of war, fear, hate and greed. This can only be done through living and sites like Zaadz where we can let our thoughts run wild in hopes there are others out there that share common beliefs or goals. So I say to you now ‘ye are gods' and only you can experience your life. Show the world who you really are and experience life's limitless possibilities. The universe is your playground so pluck out the goodness from space and time and hold it close to our hearts and leave the badness where they are and use them only as reminders, untouched but always in our sight.

In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus knew what his belief would do to the world when he said these words:

‘Jesus said, People think I have come to impose peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to impose conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house. There will be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone'.

Jesus told the world that ‘ye are gods' unfortunately most people did not understand this and Jesus knew this would happen after saying passages like the one below that have been long forgotten and suppressed.

‘Jesus said, I am the light over all things. I am all. From me all has come forth, and to me all has reached. Split a piece of wood. I am there. Lift up the stone and you will find me there.'

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Preliminary Practice (Secret Refuge):

‘...I take refuge in the nature of the great expanse of sameness and perfection, Atemporal emptiness, free from conceptual elaboration, Primordially pure in essence, natural expression and compassionate energy.'

I hold this saying close to me, especially, ‘I take refuge in the nature of the great expanse of sameness and perfection...', this reminds me that everybody is perfect and there is not right or wrong. In meditation I must defiantly take refuge in this expanse, I use it as a reminder when somebody wrongs me, like cuts me off in traffic or was a vocal customer while working, it helps me to understand the people of this nature that they are truly perfect.

Some people have a difficulty understanding what I write above including myself some times, but if one understands that life is never ending and that we, on a spiritual level, are just observers. Throughout life we are conditioned to view the world in a particular way and few are able to break free of this bondage. Perhaps with a site like this (Zaadz) we can change this.

By no means I'm I trying to tell people how to believe, that is one thing I know I don't stand for and I believe that is a huge problem with the world today. A lot of preaching going on and less practicing, and you can say at this site we do a lot of preaching but at least we do it with open-mindedness for the most part. This reminds me of another one of Jesus' saying from the Gospel of Thomas:

‘Jesus said, if your leaders tell you, "Look, the kingdom is in heaven," then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, "It's in the sea," then the fish will precede you. But the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty and you are poverty.'

This is such a powerful saying I read it often. ‘But the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you.' I love this and my interpretation of it is, know you're self and see the perfection in you and when you know yourself you will see that you and everything else are the same. You are part of the sum and you are also the sum of all things.

Good day,

The Buddhist

 

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Preliminary Practice:

‘Last year, this year, the waxing and waning moons, the days, nights, and indivisible time moments are all impermanent (changing).

If we reflect carefully, we too are face to face with death. Grant your blessing, so that we may become resolute in our practice!'

It is true that each moment is a birth and a death, a thought arises only to die bringing forth another thought, so too is our life in this reality. In the Buddhist tradition we are born, then we die and what we do in the middle will foreshadow our next life. Karma will build up through out ones life and will carry on into our next life and if that Karma is bad you start your next life on the wrong foot so to speak.

Personally I believe that Karma does exist in our current life but I look at is as being positive or negative thoughts and actions. The law of attraction is the only real law in the universe that is constant. Like Karma the more negative thoughts and action you have will increase your changes of negative things happening to you. What I don't agree with is when we die our Karma or past actions will dictate our future lives. I believe that when we die our spirit will eventually decide what their next life will be (any thoughts on this is welcomed).

Back to the saying above, I believe yes life is perfect but that does not mean we should sit comfortably in our lazy boy while the world and the human race goes to hell in a hand basket. In my opinion we need to show that world that we are here to experience life's magnificence and that we are one, made of the same stuff as everything else in the universe. When we understand this it does not stop there, we must then realize, yes, we are one but we are also the sum of the one. Because without the sum we could not have the sum total and life would cease to be. It's like a car without its wheels it would not function.

So when we view the reality as the sum and the sum total both are being needed and equal, we will realize that as individuals we can make a difference. The question is what are we going to do as individuals? Jesus can say it much better then I in the Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"

So the point is with death a reality perhaps it would be wise to realize that it is knocking at our door and one should ask if I die tomorrow what do I leave behind, what will people say about me when I'm dead. Of course does it really matter what they say because the ego is only concerned with such statements but wouldn't it be nice to leave warm thoughts as oppose to cold ones? Wouldn't it be nice to have made a wonderful difference in the lives of people whether it's your family, community, country or the world, wouldn't it be nice?

Good day,

The Buddhist