Buddha on Right Action

 

Picture of Buddha from Wikipedia.com 

 

 

 

Right Action is actually one of the eight paths on the Buddhist Eightfold Path. It comes under the section of ethics. Most commonly, to Monks, it is the law of Right Conduct. Simply put – abstaining from taking the life of any living thing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from un-chastity (refraining from improper sexual conduct), abstaining from lying (truth and integrity in all things), and abstain from intoxicants. 

Generally, all belief systems mirror the intention of right action. Therefore in spiritual practice we hear the phrase “right action” and take it as shorthand for all of the “RIGHTS” in the Eightfold Path. From pagan tradition, the phrase, “and harm to none (no one), is also about Right Action. 

Books have been written on how the Rights should be learned, implemented and incorporated into one’s personal creed. This includes judgment of others and offering unsolicited advice. More on that in another article. For now, we leave it to everyone to make up their mind about Right Action.

Blessings,

Judy

Betrayal

The poster says:  In every life….. for every love….. with every trust….. there is a risk of BETRAYAL.  -Part of the poster for the movie called “Betrayal” based on a Harold Pinter play.

So often in life, we feel betrayed or wronged because we expected someone to behave in a certain way, and then they do something that hurts us. The many meanings of the word include -disloyalty, sell-out (informal), deception, treason, treachery, trickery, duplicity, double-cross (informal), double-dealing, breach of trust, perfidy, unfaithfulness, falseness, and inconstancy (from www.thefreedictionary.com).  

The word means “be + traitor”. Generally, the traitor is someone close to you.  The BIG question is always, “Why did the other person betray me?”  The answer is, “It is all about power, and making themselves look good at the expense of others.”  Some psychologists say that betrayal is about jealousy. I believe that it is about causing pain for the other person.  Of course, the karma returns to hit the betrayer immediately.  When others see that the betrayer has betrayed once, then other people are very careful not to get to close to the betrayer because they expect him/her to betray again.

For the one that is betrayed, the question becomes, “How do I learn to love/trust again?  You do not need to learn – you already know how.  What is required is to get past the fear, and realize that the issue of feeling betrayed is real? One must honour the feeling, and then, let it go! One does not need to hang on to the feeling.

Blessings,

Judy

Teachings From A Holstein Steer

One of my memories of my childhood is a black and white Holstein steer. He was one of Dad’s feeder steers in the corral.  For some reason, Harry, which is what we called him, liked kids.  He would come over and stand beside us, bringing with him a mouthful of hay.  Or, after he’d finished at the water trough, he would come over to have his shoulders rubbed or the spot above his eyes and below his horns rubbed.  

 

Picture of a Holstein bull to approximate the size of the steer.

Dad was worried that he might hurt us because he was so big.  However, he was extremely gentle with us.  My brother and I got to the point where we would get up on his back and talk to him, and get him to walk around the corral.  The other steers just seemed to think he was the oddest thing.  They would stare at him when he was with us kids.  If we were riding Harry near them, they would snort or bellow, and move away.  At one point, my brother and three of his friends were all sitting on Harry’s back. All the boys were ten years old.  

One day, someone left the back gate unchained and when the steers rubbed against it, the gate opened.  The thirty or so steers stampeded to freedom.  They ran out into another big field, and when they saw how green the grass was, they stopped running and began to graze.  After realizing that the steers were out, Dad organized my brother and I in a chute arrangement and Dad and our dog, Flash, headed out to the field to round the steers up.  They came running in as fast as they ran out, and were prepared to run past the gate, over top of my brother and I, and head east.  Harry was running with the rest of them.  When he got to us, he slowed down and stopped with both of us kids in front of him and out of the way of the other cattle.  When the herd passed us, Harry went around us and trotted off after them.  Yes, we eventually got the steers back in several hours.  After all, they would not want to miss their evening feeding.  

What I learned from our time with Harry, through the playing with him, and his affection, are the following ideas:

• It is okay to have interests outside of your friends and family.  New interest broaden your horizons.
• Always protect your friends.
• When people gang up on you, you don’t need to get angry or be afraid; simply stand firm.
• Kindness and affection know no boundaries. Love is permanent in your heart.
• Sometimes you need to break the patterns in order to see how good routine and life, in general, are for you.
• Just because it seems you have a lot in life, it doesn’t mean that you can’t aspire to something else.
• Four legged friends are sometimes truer than two legged friends.
• Friends may pass through your life, however, the memories last a lifetime.

Blessings,

Judy