Archive | June, 2026

Interesting and Surprising Facts about the Buddha and his Teachings That Are Often Ignored

22 Jun

The Buddha was the first thinker in known history to teach the doctrine of human equality and social freedom amongst all humans. Society should be open to all, regardless of caste, color, or class. No caste, class, or race privileges existed among his lay followers or in the Order of the Sangha that he founded. Instead, social classes and castes are nothing but functional divisions of society, man-made, subject to change and resulting from social and historical factors. Any social doctrine based on the alleged superiority of a caste, class, or race, and advocating to keep it dominant using force, will lead to the perpetuation of social tensions and conflict, and never bring about harmony and equality. The Buddha’s doctrine of equality means each person should be treated equally with dignity and given an equal chance to develop their inherent potentials of economic, moral and spiritual progress, and of human perfection. Also, the Buddha was the first who attempted to abolish slavery, which included the traffic in, and the sale of, females for commercial purposes. In fact, this is a prohibited trade for his followers.

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‘If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration’. A few examples of engineer and mathematician Nicola Tesla’s Reflections on the Mind.

16 Jun

Here are some examples of Tesla’s viewpoint. In a speech, Nicola Tesla said, ‘The sources of energy capable of transforming humanity have long been near us in nature itself, in human emotions, in the sound of music, in the breath of the earth.’ He said that mankind had searched for power outside itself for too long forgetting that it is found within. ‘I believe that the energy that feeds the universe is not just a physical resource. It is something greater. We call it ether. Some call it the divine spark or the essence, they are all the same. All living things are nourished by this force. It is hidden in the depths of the planet, in the structures of light, in the harmony of sounds and in thoughts.’ He claimed that one day this energy would become the foundation of new technologies capable of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and eliminating the need for destructive sources of energy.

 Tesla noted with sorrow that in his time, society was not ready to accept such ideas. There were too much politics, greed and fear of the unknown in the world.In his view no religion can claim to be the absolute truth. He asserted that all of them are reflections of the same human desire to understand the source of life and one’s purpose. Religions and philosophies are attempts to explain the infinite with finite words. They may be useful, but they have no significance on the scale of the universe. ‘God, as I understand him, is an infinite force. It is the energy from which everything originated. But it does not judge. It does not punish. It simply exists.’ said Tesla.

During an interview that Tesla granted to a journalist in the year 1930, he said:’We are just waves in time and space, changing continuously, and the illusion of individuality is produced through the concatenation of the rapidly succeeding phases of existence’; ‘My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated in the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists’; ‘We are all one. Only egos, beliefs, and fears separate us’; He added ’None of those who ever lived have truly died because energy is eternal and life is a form of energy. The body departs but the essence itself, the vibration itself does not disappear.’

These ideas, of course, resonate with spiritual teachings, but Tesla emphasized he arrived at them not through faith but through science. And at the same time, he did not deny the divine. God is light, it is the primary energy from which everything began. This light has no form. It requires no worship. It simply exists. It is in everything, in us, in the air, in the stars. People assign human traits to God to make it easier to understand. But the true power of God lies in his impersonality and infinity.

Then the interview returned to the topic of death. Tesla said he was not afraid of it because death is not the end but a return. He compared it to how a wave returns to the ocean. You will not die because you were never born. You have always existed in one form or another. We are only temporarily in these bodies, in this world. When everything ends we will simply move to another state. Everything is energy and it never disappears.

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FIVE BUDDHIST DAILY AFFIRMATIONS

9 Jun

One. I am grateful for this new day. Every morning is a gift. But we often forget that caught up in our routines and worries. The Buddha once said, “Let us rise up and be thankful. For if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little.” When you wake up, before you check your phone or think about your to-do list, simply say to yourself, “I am grateful for this new day.” Feel that gratitude in your heart for your breath, for your body, for the chance to begin again. Gratitude is the foundation. It opens your mind and softens your heart. Try this. Before getting out of bed, take three slow,deep breaths and silently repeat this affirmation. Start your day grounded in appreciation.

Two, I let go of yesterday. What happened yesterday is over. The arguments, the mistakes, the stress. They belong to the past. But many of us wake up still carrying yesterday’s weight. And that burden drains our energy. In Buddhist wisdom, attachment to the past is one of the roots of suffering. So each morning, remind yourself, I let go of yesterday. Let go of the regrets, the anger, the sadness.Imagine them dissolving with each exhale. Give yourself the freedom to begin fresh today. Because every morningis a small rebirth, a chance to choose peace over pain.

Three, I am calm and in control of my mind. The world will test you today with stress, with challenges, with distractions. But remember this, I am calm and in control of my mind. The Buddha taught, “Rule your mind or it will rule you.” Your mind can be your greatest friend or your greatest enemy, and the choice is yours. So before the chaos begins, anchor yourself in this affirmation. Feel the calmness within you. Know that no matter what happens outside, you have the power to choose peace inside. Try sitting in stillness for even one minute after waking up. Just breathing and reminding yourself of your inner strength.

Four, I will respond withkindness. Today, kindness is not just what you do. It’s how you carry yourself, how you speak, even how you think. When you start your day with the intention of kindness, you transform your world and the world around you. Say to yourself, “I will respond with kindness today.” Whether it’s with family, co-workers, strangers, or even yourself. The Buddha said, “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love.” This is the eternal rule. By choosing kindness, you break the cycle of negativity and plant seeds of peace.Before you leave home, visualize at least one kind act you will do today, no matter how small. This simple intention can change the energy of your entire day.

Five. Everything is temporary. So I will enjoy this moment. Life is always changing. The good times, the hard times, nothing stays forever. In Buddhism, this is called ana or impermanence. So each morning remind yourself everything is temporary so I will enjoy this moment. If today is busy it will pass. If today is peaceful that too will pass. But right now this breath this sunrise this chance to be alive it is yours. Cherish it. As the old saying goes nothing is forever except change. So instead of resisting embrace this flow of life. Be present. Be grateful.

Bhikkhu K. Nanananda

“May all beings be safe from inner and outer dangers.”
“May all beings be healthy and strong.”
“May all beings be happy and peaceful.”
“May all beings live with ease.”

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Sense Perception and Reality

7 Jun

Rochelle Forrester Copyright © 2015 Rochelle Forrester
All Rights Reserved

A more formally logical way of presenting the above argument,with”a world”being defined
as that which can be perceived by a conscious being through its senses, is as follows:

1)There is no way in which we can know the world,other thant hrough our senses.Theonly
reality we can know is phenomena.
2) Our senses give us only some information about the world.
3)The things we can perceive can beconsidered to be in our world, the things we cannot
perceive can be considered to be in other or different worlds.
Therefore
4) As there are many things we cannot perceive there are many worlds other than our own.
5)There is no reason to consider that any world is more real,more true or more valid than any
other world.
6)If there is no reason to believe anyone world is truer or more real than any other,theyc an
only be treated as equally true or real.
Therefore
7) Any one world is as valid and real and true as any other.
8) There is a wide variety of senses and each sense has thresholds which limit perception.
Therefore
9) There must be a wide variety of worlds.
10) As the senses of different people and species overlap some of the worlds overlap.
11)As any being may hav esenses which are quite unlike those of anyother being manyof
these worlds will not over lap.Such beings will live in totally separate worlds from those o fother
beings.
12)There seems to be no reason to believe there is a finite limit on the range of potential
sense organs.
Therefore
13) There is no finite limit on the number of potential worlds that may exist.

Reality appears to consist of a vast number,possibly an infinite number,of sensory worlds.
Each person has their own individual world.This is the world they perceive which is always different
from the world perceived by others.Variations exist from person to person due to each person
occupying different points in time and space and due to the qualityof the individual person’s sense
organs.Each species has its own world due to the tendency fo rmembers of each species to have the
same sense organs which will tend to function in a similar way within each member of the species.
There seems to be no good reason for favoring any one of these sensory worlds over any other of
them. It seems impossible to claim that the human view of the world has any special claim to validity
when an alteration of our senses will give us different sense perceptions.How can you say what you
perceive is,when the samething can be perceived with different sense organs and it can be something
quite different? If the human view was to b epreferred it would be no more than a case of a human
centric view of the world that is not capable of any real justification.

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The Garden of Eden- In This Life

3 Jun

In The Garden of Eden in This Life, (2025) Dr. Rodger R. Ricketts—a clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher, and lifelong student of the Buddha’s teachings—unveils a profound perspective linking ancient wisdom, modern psychology, and the apophatic (negative) spiritual tradition. Drawing from over forty years of study and practice, he explores how non-dualistic teachings from Buddhism, science, and multiple faith traditions reveal the limits of language, the illusions of separation, and the path back to an integrated state of being.You will journey through concepts like Sunyata (emptiness), the via negativa, and the psychology of transcendence—discovering how humanity’s separation from nature and spirit can be healed through direct experience, compassionate living, and expanded awareness. Open these pages and begin your journey back to the Garden… in this life.

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