Chapter One

    On a whim, I drifted into a thrift shop on Fairfax Avenue with no particular object in mind.

    Within minutes, I uncovered an interesting book, "Miracles, Mysteries, and Prayers"  by Rabbi Berg.

     Sipping some scalding java and munching on a raised chocolate doughnut a short time later at Farmer's Market, I was engrossed by Berg's writing - in particular - his discussion on atomic objects.

     "Unobserved, the atomic object appears as a wave spread over space; however, the instant it is observed, the wave collapses to a point and behaves like a particle."

     I picked up the newspaper and scanned the want ads.

     My mind mulled over the concept of  "right livelihood", a Buddhist teaching.

     In "Ethics and Society", the Dalai Lama noted,

     "The work of a person laboring in a humble occupation is no less relevant to the well-being of society than that of, for example, a doctor, a teacher, or a nun.  All human endeavor is potentially great and noble so long as we carry out our work with good motivation, thinking, "my work is for others, it will be of benefit to the wider community."

***

     Whoever seeks a Master seeks a spiritual guide in whom the meaning of life shines through as the Divine Truth.

                                                                                Wolfgang Knopp

Chapter Two

     The self is pure consciousness; it is the source of all kinds of illumination.

***

       Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, said that self embraces the center of totality just as the ego is the center of the conscious state.  He postulated that the great spiritual leaders of humanity - the ones we call prophets - must be understood as our role models to show us how to reach the ultimate goal of our life - self-discovery.

***

      According to Soren Kierkegaard, a defender of religious faith, the self is only that which it is in the process of becoming...

Chapter Three

     The evening paper reports that Pope Paul II was greeted enthusiastically by throngs of young adults in an open mass in Europe over the weekend.

     "Freedom granted by God,"  the religious leader cautioned, "is not simply about enjoying life in total autonomy, but rather, about living by a measure of truth and goodness so that we ourselves may become true and good."

     I am reminded of the Chinese Proverb,

     "Lie down on a mountain of gold and some of it will rub off."

***

     There's nothing on the boob tube, so I turn on the night light by my bed and thumb through a handsome little book I purchased at the Bodhi Tree earlier in the day.

     I find an uplifting quote by Sri Aurobindo,

     "To walk through life armored against all fear, peril, and disaster, only two things are needed, two things that go together - the Grace of the Divine Mother and on your side an inner state made up of faith, sincerity, and surrender."

***

     What is Grace?

     Easton Waller noted,

     "The world's spiritual traditions have often spoke of Grace as a gift from above - a blessing conferred by a force or entity that is beneficient, superior, and external.  In ancient Greece, the three Graces were muses who bestowed beauty and skill upon mortals who would otherwise be unable to cultivate such virtues on their own."

Chapter Four

     I posted a few cards to friends - adorned with picturesque coastal scenes on their faces - with the standard odd-ball quips scribbled on the back. 

     At Abercrombie and Fitch, I purchased a snug, hooded sweatshirt perfect for nightime jaunts around town.  The material was so soft and supple against my bare skin that it was doubtful I'd ever remove it.

     Without warning, the sun slid down behind a skyscraper; suddenly, there was a noticeable nip in the air.  As the night descended on the city, and the rush-hour hurtled the faceless throngs homeward bound, I slipped into a booth at an all-night diner for a light snack.

     I noticed an elderly waitress dash outside; with pen in hand, she jotted down the license plate of late-model sedan which roared out of the parking lot.  Two men were fleeing without paying their check.

     The adept middle-aged man waiting on my section handed over a menu, aplogizing for the commotion.  He had a kind, good-natured face, and spoke with a slight accent.  His eyes fell on an article I was reading in a weekly throw-away.

     I reacted by summarizing the report.

     "It says here that although the United States has increased its foreign aid to poorer countries, it ranks twelfth of twenty-one of the world's richest Nations in overall performance in helping the planet's poor," I state with a tinge of sadness in my voice.

        ***

     In an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, a reporter notes that President Bush promises an investigation into what went wrong in the response (in New Orleans) and dispatches the Vice President to the area to cut through bureaucratic obstacles slowing any recovery efforts.

     A journalist in the opinion section of the daily harshly criticizes,

     "What the World witnessed in one week after the (Katrina) disaster was an image of poverty and social disarray that tears away the affluent mask of the United States."

***

     According to Sri Aurobindo, when a Nation in a particular cycle of its soul manifestation has fulfilled its role and mission, the body of the Nation gradually falls into decadence.

 Chapter Five

     Patience is a quality praised by the Buddha.  It can be developed if hatred and restlessness have been subdued in the mind.  Impermanence, according to Buddhists, results in the inability to sit still and let things sort themselves out, which sometimes they may do without one's meddling. 

     With this foremost in mind, I obediently wait my turn.

***

     At the Hotel I snatch up a copy of  "The Lotus in the Stream"  from the night-table on loan from the local library and scan its crisp, clean pages.

     I stumble upon a ritual I have not encountered in other Buddhist literature.

     The author,  Hsing Yun, notes that a serious disciple must take "refuge" in the "Triple Gem".

     The Three Gems - or  "Three Treasures" - are Buddha, the awakened teacher; Dharma, the truth of "things-as-it-is"; and Sangha, the community of practioners.

***

     In this week's confirmation hearings, Supreme Court Justice nominee, John Roberts, is quizzed on his stance on various key legal issues.

     Senator Feinstein remarks, "John F. Kennedy said, "I believe in an America where separation of Church and State is absolute";  her question to Roberts was, "Do you?"

Chapter Six

     I turn slightly and observe a heavy-set man pacing the restaurant like a caged tiger.

     One has to wonder if he is perhaps coming down off a late-night bender - or if he is perhaps suffering from the residual side-effects of drugs.

     A teenager sits nearby and grins.

     "Life in the city," he offers up with a shrug.

     He dives back into his breakfast burrito with great gusto.

     If ever there was a time for compassion, it would appear to be now.

     "We're living in difficult times", I respond with as much sincerity as I can muster up.

     A malaise seems to hang thick in the air lately, permeating the very heart of the downtown core.

     People appear to be oppressed, struggling for their sanity.

     Perhaps my own quest for enlightenment is timely, after all.

     I wonder, can a handful of concerned citizens make a difference in the overrall scheme of things?

***

     To awaken, the individual must clearly observe each moment and base all actions thereafter on that which is seen - not on the thoughts crowding the mind.

     Hung Po said,

              "The Foolish reject what they see, not what they think. 

               The wise reject what they think, not what they see"

 ***

                                   To see your drama

                                                  clearly

                                    is to be liberated from it.

                                                                  Ken Keyes, Jr.

Chapter Seven

     The Tibetan word for Meditation is GOM, from the same root as "habituate" or "to familiarize". 

     Meditation, in one sense, means habituating ourselves to constructive, realistic, beneficial emotions and attitudes.

     Spiritual leader Pantanjali defined meditation as,  "stilling the thought waves of the mind".

     ***

     In Zen Buddhism, the process of awakening is helped by the technique of Zazen, in which the initiate sits cross-legged in the Lotus position, engaging in slow, rhythmic breathing.

     The aim of Zazen is to first still the mind, then through practice, reach a pure state of thought-free wakefulness so the mind of the individual may realize his own Buddha-nature.

     But, Meditation goes beyond "stilling thoughts".

     Paramahamsa Yogananda noted,

     "The true practice of meditation is to sit still in meditation and talk with God."

     ***

     Some scholars argue that mystical experiences are always initiated by God, in his Grace, and never induced by believers using special techniques such as meditative asceticism.

     For this reason, it is important to preface meditation with prayer.

     ***

     One of the surest signs one has opened themselves up to the spirit is when there is an occurence of symbolic dreams, notes Charles Fillmore, in the "Mysteries of Genesis".

     "Divine ideas are reflected into your placid soul like shadows on a great pool".

     In essence, dreams are an attempt to facilitate understanding in the waking moment of the soul's experience.

     Reverend John Sanford regarded dreams as one way God offered healing and guidance to mankind.

     Shamans recognized this and developed techniques for "lucid dreaming" - where the real, alternative world of dreaming was given intention and focus so that the time asleep could be used in an effective manner for problem solving, healing work, and exploration of other worlds.

Chapter 8

     The soul has been described as the unseen but seeing, unheard but hearing, unperceived but perceiving, unknown but knowing, the ruler within, and the immortal.

     It is a creation of God and not an emanation or projection of God - created in the likeness of the Creator.

                                                                                                     Genesis 1:27

     ***

     The word Karma is a Sanskrit word from the root kri, meaning "to do" or make.

     Loftus Harus wrote,

     "A man becomes what he does. Can this doctrine be refuted?  If it be true, it is the most important and the most neglected truth in the world."

***

     Humans have a tendency to surround death with superstition and mystery, but death is simply a part of life.

     In my mind's eye, God gave each of us a sufficient number of breaths for this life - not one more, not one less.

     Buddha took his last breaths under two stately Sal trees.  Their falling blossoms are said to have framed an intensely beautiful sunset.

     His last words were,

     "Listen, all conditioned things are subject to decay.  Strive with diligence."

***

     In the ancient Mediterranean religions, Greek Platonism, for instance, it was believed that the soul pre-existed in a celestial world but fell into a human body due to sin.  In order to be liberated from its bondage and return to a state of pure being, the soul needed to be purified through the rite of incarnation.

     New age thinkers, on the other hand, considered reincarnation an eternal progression of the soul towards the higher levels of spiritual existence.

     This is collaborated by a quote from the Quran which says,

     "God generates beings and sends them back over and over again until they return to him."

Chapter Nine

     The Holy Rosary refers to a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet given to the Blessed Mother to distinguish it from other rosary-like prayers.

     The Holy Rosary is one of the most popular lay devotions among Roman Catholics worldwide.  Its formal name is the "Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary".

     The Holy Rosary is associated with Saint Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221 A.D.), the Spaniard who founded the Order of Preachers, better known as the Domnicans.

     The Rosary prayer, in its outward form, is really the repetition of a Christian Mantra.

     The Mantra prayer is often called "the prayer of the heart".

***

     The establishment of the Eucharist took place during the Last Supper which is decribed by three evangelists.

     In the Gospel of St. Mathew it is said,

     "As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'take, eat; this is My body'.  Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, 'drink from it all of you.  For this is My blood of the new  covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

                                                                                                                      Mathew 26: 26-28

***

     Soren Kierkegaard, the great Christian thinker noted,

     "A person today may be brought up in a Christian culture or may hear the Christian message - but this in itself will not be enough to engender faith; faith is something that involves each individual. A person ought not to love because another says it is a good idea, and nor should a person have faith on these grounds."

***

     They say, he is fortunate who has found a true Master and is accepted by him into his fold. To many scholars, this is the greatest boon that comes to any man or woman, for when one finds a perfect teacher, he finds true happiness and the truth of truths, and thus, final liberation of his soul from the dark  "worlds"  is assured.