Question: Someone claims to be a student of a certain teacher. This student claims to have some great attainment. What do you think?

Answer: If you are doubtful, you can ask that student to verify with that teacher his attainment.

Question: That person refuses to do so.

Answer: If the teacher is a good one, you can inform the teacher of his claim, to ask him to keep him in check. Dangerous are those who seriously believe they have some great attainment, that even their teachers can’t understand, because they might be seriously deluded instead.

Related Articles:

How Did the Buddha Know He Was Enlightened?
http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2011/03/how-did-the-buddha-know-he-was-enlightened
Just How Enlightened Are You?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thedailyenlightenment-realisation/message/245

Your karma is [or 'will be'] truly bad only when you take it badly,
by not truly acknowledging your mistakes and the need for repentance.
Once you acknowledge your mistakes,
your karma is not [or 'won't be'] so bad after all.

One who keeps saying sorry
over the same matter is not sorry enough,
which is why one is a repeat offender!

S: Sometimes, the most agreeable teacher is the worst [or least appropriate] – because you learn nothing new from him or her, that challenges your delusions, that spurs growth in your compassion and wisdom. (If everybody thinks alike, many might not be thinking enough. Groupthink!)

C: I have no patience for teachers who mislead.

S: If we come across anyone who misleads, we can try to share the correct view. If those with right views don’t help, who will? Sometimes, poor students create poor teachers: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/09/how-poor-students-can-create-poor-teachers

The gently humourous yet very touching
official ‘Paradise’ video from Coldplay,
which speaks of animal liberation.
Worth a post in itself, without me needing to comment much.

(My review of the song: http://moonpointer.com/new/2011/10/paradise)

I’m interpreting ‘You’ve Got The Love’ by Florence + the Machine my way, with ‘Lord’ standing for Lord Buddha, and even Amitabha Buddha (Amituofo). Electric ‘spiritual’ beginning to the song at the concert in the video above! In a way, the ‘You’ sung about can refer to yourself, your own Buddha-nature, which ‘got the love’ of loving-kindness and compassion for yourself too. In Pure Land practice, our ‘saviour’ is both the self-power of oneself and the other-power of Amituofo combined. The below video is the original song by The Source (featuring Candi Staton), with ‘Lord’ perhaps featured the more culturally Western godly or angelic way. (You can see the official F+TM video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=X04JxFrIRjA)

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you
Sometimes I feel like saying “Lord I just don’t care”
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through

When food is gone you are my daily need
When friends are gone I know my savior’s love is real
You know it’s real

You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love

Time after time I think “Oh Lord what’s the use?”
Time after time I think it’s just no good
Sooner or later in life, the things you love you lose
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through

心不老实即行不老实。
老实至心即老实修行。

When the mind is not earnest [forthright; honest; frank; straightforward],
the practice [action] is not earnest.
When the mind is earnest [and sincere],
the practice is earnest.

- Stonepeace

A strange man gesticulating wildly,
almost hitting some but never really,
somewhat intimidating but not really.

Seems a little mad but not exactly,
seems like us, you and yours truly,
with our bizarre stuff done bizarrely.

We cannot be truly mad.
We cannot totally escape responsibility.
We can become truly sane.

Related Article:
We Are Unwell
http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/12/we-are-unwell

Once a strand of hair falls off,
it is totally disregarded, no longer cherished,
even deemed as disgusting and useless.

This is how fickle we are,
in our ‘love’ to the body.
Will you readily let your whole body go when dying too?

Question: There is this organisation headed by a lady who is said to be able to connect to the Jade Emperor (a Taoist god) and Maitreya ‘Buddha (or rather, Bodhisattva), and direct their light of blessings directed into mineral water bottles. What do you think?

Answer: Sigh…. such groups usually deviate from true Buddhist teachings. As a simple rule in true Buddhist practice set by the Buddha, anyone that repeatedly and openly claim to have direct access to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, especially when well and alive are not real Buddhists – because they are using the so-called ‘ability’ to get followers, fame, money and power – instead of getting followers to learn and practise the Dharma directly. Anyone can claim to be able to do this or that supernormal deed in the name of Buddhism if it was permitted by the Buddha – including con-men and women. As such, it is not permitted.

Question: I am not very clear about equanimity as the last of the Four Immeasurable Minds. Does it mean being neutral, ‘not affectionate’ and ‘not averse’,  being calm and not feeling
much?

Answer: Equanimity means a broad encompassing mind that sees all beings as equally deserving of loving-kindness, compassion and rejoice. It’s not a neutral unfeeling state; just free of particular attachments and aversions.

Question: My friend’s business partner cheated her of her money. She wants to send him to jail.

Answer: If the culprit is unrepentant, this might be the only way.

Question: As an alternative, my friend could consider settling the matter privately than go to the police.

Answer: If possible, why not?

Question: If he goes to jail, his life may be ruined. If he is remorseful, he could be given a second chance and turn over a new leaf.

Answer: The question would be, is he already remorseful and thus likely to pay back. If he is unlikely, jail time might be the way for genuine remorse to surface. After jail, there is a second chance to turn over a new leaf too.

Question: My friend is very angry with him  and said she would be happy to see him behind bars.

Answer: The decision should not be based on anger but out of compassion, as anger is harmful. This is the ideal train of thought… The cheater made a terrible mistake. Out of compassion, it should be considered which is the best way for the cheater to repent and redeem himself – in jail or outside. If the cheater, not being in jail is not likely to redeem himself by paying back, it is better to go to jail.

Question: Will my friend get bad karma because she sends him to jail though he’s really at fault?

Answer: Negative karma is created when there is intention based on greed, hatred and delusion. So, even though it might be the cheater’s just deserts to go to jail, when the one that conditions him being jailed makes it happen with a sense of hatred, then she creates some negative karma too. But, as above, it is possible to seek justice, even if involving jail, without hatred, but based on compassion.

Question: My friend is a baptised Christian.

Answer: Karma, as a natural law like gravity, applies to everyone regardless of their belief system. Christianity teaches about forgiveness too, though not in the same way as Buddhism. There is sometimes vengeful rage too, though little spoken of these days - http://tinyurl.com/3eqx64q - so let’s not encourage that.

Question: How do I cultivate loving-kindness for someone I dislike?

Answer: It helps to remember that just as you suffer from disliking the person, the person might suffer from being disliked, not just by you, but by many others too. Since no one wants to dislike or be disliked, both you and the person are victims of hatred. Worse still, if the person does not know that he or she has created or is creating negative causes to be disliked, that person is creating negative karma, that will lead to more suffering. Based on this, you can nurture loving-kindness for that person, wishing that person to be well and happy. Active loving-kindness in action beyond meditation would include letting the person know his or her mistakes.

Question: I’ve been trying hard to let go of the disliking but my mind just keeps reminding me of what this person has done. Hiding from this person is not a solution as I’m still aware of what the person did.

Answer: What has happened is already gone. If you can do something to address it, why not just do it? If there is nothing you can do to address it, then it is time to let it go too. Please see this: http://moonpointer.com/new/2011/10/upset

Question: When you truly trust a person you thought is a great spiritual teacher, how do you face this person if he doesn’t practise what he preached?

Answer: You can tell the person your concerns, in person or in writing. If there is no proper response, you can consider making your concerns public in the press or online – if the person is harming or cheating many others as a result.

Question: Not only do I need to heal my own mind, but also my heart. The harder I try letting go, the harder it is as I used to admire this person whom I felt is a great spiritual teacher.

Answer: You must remember that if you are right that the person has many faults, that teacher is no longer the great teacher you once thought he was. It’s time to let go then. But as above, you might want to consider addressing the issues systematically too.

Question: I’m impatient who say ‘nonsense’ as I have a strong sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

Answer: If you know what is right, then all the more you should be patient, so as to deliver the message clearly. Often, we we deliver a message with impatience, it is less well received, as the listener might feel hurt, offended or turned off. If the person is deliberately wrong, patience is still needed to show the person why he or she shouldn’t say non-truths. Remembering that the person needs compassion and wisdom to realise his or her mistake can be helpful.

Answer: Anger arises from clinging to a view too tightly. Even if the view clung to is right, to cling to it to the extent that it causes us and/or others suffering makes it not so right in the moment. For example, the Buddha, while teaching, expresses right views, but he does not cling to them such that when someone disagrees with him he becomes angry. Abiding in loving-kindness for oneself and others helps to keep anger at bay. If the person does not refuse to talk ‘nonsense’, you can just stop listening to the person.  There’s no need to be impatient. When the person knows you are not listening, the person will usually stop. You can put on earphones to show you are not listening – even if you are not really listening to anything! But before that, it is important to let the person know why his/her arguments are faulty.

An unnerving passage by Steven Grant, in Warren Ellis’ ‘Scars’.

‘If they weren’t there and I saw them,
there’s something drastically wrong with me.
If they were there, and I saw them,
there’s something drastically wrong with the universe.’

Such is the nature of existential Dukkha, the First Noble Truth,
be it grossly physical or just subtly mental,
the moment there is anguish, it is suffering – something wrong…