Merry Christmas!

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
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retrofuturist
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Merry Christmas!

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Best wishes to you and your family...

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Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Lombardi4
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Lombardi4 »

Merry Christmas!

Loved Christmas as a kid.
Stephen aged 4, 1992, resized.jpg
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retrofuturist
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Stiphan,

You're very recognizable there!

Moreso than the person to your right, who I hope is supposed to be Santa!

Merry Christmas.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Lucas Oliveira
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Lucas Oliveira »

The Buddhamas Carol

Dear Dhamma friends,

I wish you all a Merry but Mindful Holiday season with Compassion and Metta for all those suffering at the hands and minds of Greed, Hate, and Delusion.
I repost this link to the, Song of Meditation, for your reminder and reflection:


Here are the Lyrics:

Ode of a Vipassana Yogi
(Composed by Bhante Yogavacara Rahula)


Silent Night, Peaceful Night,
All is calm, Stars are bright,
Round the hall Yogis sitting still,
Keeping their backs straight, exerting will,
Enduring pain without any ill-will,
Pervading Metta all throughout space,
Wishing good-will to the whole human race.

Silent Mind, Peaceful Mind,
Thoughts are few, pain is slight,
Focusing mind at the tip of the nose,
Knowing each breath as it comes and it goes,
Perceiving the light that steadily glows,
Feeling the rapture from head to the toes.

Silent Mind, Tranquil Mind,
Thoughts are stilled, Body is light,
All the Five Hindrances have died down,
The Ego no longer is spinning around,
Mind is one-pointed not moving a bit,
Enjoying at long last the Jhanic Bliss.
Sitting in Rapturous Joy,
Sitting in Rapturous Joy.

Silent Mind, focused Mind,
All is calm, Mind is bright
The Spiritual Faculties are prepared,
Vipassana-Insight has Mara scared,
Scanning the body from head to the toes,

Anicca, Anicca, each moment goes,
Anicca, Anicca, Impermanence shows.

The Five Aggregates appear empty as foam,
The Truth of No-Self is easily known.

Silent Mind, Wisdom Mind,
Awareness is strong, Wisdom is fine,
The six sense-impingements arise and pass,
No desire, no clinging, no ego to grasp,
No holding to present, future or past,
Mara has vanished he’s took his last gasp,
This body-mind house is empty at last,
Sitting and walking the whole night through,
Greeting the dawn completely anew.

Silent Mind, Holy Mind,
Now is the time, Conditions are prime.
The Enlightenment Factors are developed well.
The Four Noble Truths become clear as a bell,
The Eye of Dhamma is opened wide,
The three lower fetters are broken in stride.

Tonight the Yogi enters the Stream,
Tomorrow Nibbana no longer a Dream.


Source: http://bhanterahula.blogspot.com.br/201 ... ssana.html


:anjali: :namaste:
I participate in this forum using Google Translator. http://translate.google.com.br

http://www.acessoaoinsight.net/
Lombardi4
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Lombardi4 »

retrofuturist wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:41 am Greetings Stiphan,

You're very recognizable there!

Moreso than the person to your right, who I hope is supposed to be Santa!

Merry Christmas.

Metta,
Paul. :)
Merry Christmas, Paul!

Do you mean I look the same?

Yes, that's Santa. It's actually my Kindergarten female teacher whose name escapes me... I think she was called Mrs Dimitrova. :smile: We were a good bunch of kids at the Kindergarten, as you can see Snow White is very beautiful too!
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by DNS »

¡Feliz Navidad!
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Stiphan,
Stiphan wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:46 am Do you mean I look the same?
Very much so!

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by retrofuturist »

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Sam Vara
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Sam Vara »

I think this part of a poem by Louis MacNeice ("Autumn Journal") has a nice take on Christmas which some Dhamma practitioners might appreciate:
A week to Christmas, cards of snow and holly,
Gimcracks in the shops,
Wishes and memories wrapped in tissue paper,
Trinkets, gadgets and lollipops
And as if through coloured glasses
We remember the childhood thrill
Waking in the morning to the rustling of paper,
The eiderdown heaped in a hill
Of wogs and dogs and bears and bricks and apples
And the feeling that Christmas Day
Was a coral island in time where we land and eat our lotus
But where we can never stay.

There was a star in the East, the magi in their turbans
Brought their luxury toys
In homage to a child born to capsize their values
And wreck their equipoise.
A smell of hay like peace in the dark stable —
Not peace however but a sword
To cut the Gordian knot of logical self-interest,
The fool-proof golden cord;
For Christ walked in where philosophers tread
But armed with more than folly,
Making the smooth place rough and knocking the heads
Of Church and State together.
In honour of whom we have taken over the pagan
Saturnalia for our annual treat
Letting the belly have its say, ignoring
The spirit while we eat.
And Conscience still goes crying through the desert
With sackcloth round his loins:
A week to Christmas — hark the herald angels
Beg for copper coins.
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by binocular »

Sam Vara wrote: Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:02 pmI think this part of a poem by Louis MacNeice ("Autumn Journal") has a nice take on Christmas which some Dhamma practitioners might appreciate:
Not a take on Christmas, but on letting go, which seems fitting at this time of year --
One Art

by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

heretic holiday!
Lucas Oliveira wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:46 am The Buddhamas Carol

Dear Dhamma friends,

I wish you all a Merry but Mindful Holiday season with Compassion and Metta for all those suffering at the hands and minds of Greed, Hate, and Delusion.
I repost this link to the, Song of Meditation, for your reminder and reflection:
gītassara sutta:
Pañc·ime, bhikkhave, ādīnavā āyatakena gīta·s·sarena dhammaṃ bhaṇantassa. Katame pañca?

There are, bhikkhus, these five drawbacks of reciting the Dhamma with a sustained melodic intonation. Which five?

Attanā·pi tasmiṃ sare sārajjati, pare·pi tasmiṃ sare sārajjanti, gahapati·kā·pi ujjhāyanti: ‘yath·eva mayaṃ gāyāma, evam·evaṃ kho samaṇā sakyaputtiyā gāyantī’ti, sarakuttim·pi nikāmayamānassa samādhissa bhaṅgo hoti, pacchimā janatā diṭṭhānugatiṃ āpajjati.

Oneself gets attached to that intonation, others get attached to that intonation, householders get angry: 'Those ascetics who are followers of the Sakyans' son sing in the same way that we do!',{1} there is a break in concentration for those striving [to produce] musicality, and the upcoming generations imitate what they see.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca ādīnavā āyatakena gīta·s·sarena dhammaṃ bhaṇantassā·ti.

These, bhikkhus, are the five drawbacks of reciting the Dhamma with a sustained melodic intonation.
http://www.buddha-vacana.org/sutta/angu ... 5-209.html
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

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https://sites.google.com/site/santipada ... allytaught
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Sam Vara
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Sam Vara »

Sovatthika wrote: Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:22 pm There are, bhikkhus, these five drawbacks of reciting the Dhamma with a sustained melodic intonation. Which five?
I'm really glad that the song posted isn't the Dhamma, that it wasn't recited, that it wasn't recited with a sustained melodic intonation, and that it wasn't recited by Bhikkhus. But it was certainly a "near miss"!
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by alan »

Only one more week until the Christmas nonsense is over! I so totally hate it.
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by alan »

The only Christmas song that has ever rocked, thanks to Bruce and the Big Man.
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Dhammarakkhito
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Re: Merry Christmas!

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

you're right sam as focusing on the nose isn't really dhammic
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

https://www.facebook.com/noblebuddhadha ... 34/?type=3

http://seeingthroughthenet.net/
https://sites.google.com/site/santipada ... allytaught
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