Diamond Heart

Diamond Heart

by | Apr 8, 2009 | Uncategorized, Zen


Recently I read a book that was a real eye-opener to me.  It was Diamond Heart, Book One by A. H. Almaas.  Many of you will have already read it.  For those who do not know the author and the book, A. H. Almaas is the founder of the Ridhwan school that is dedicated to inner work and the development of our essence or being.  His teaching is–as far as I understand–mainly based on Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, Sufism, and modern psychology.
In his book Almaas explains different facets of essence as, for example, truth, compassion, confidence, worthiness, and how we can realize these facets.  He illustrates which psychological barriers in our personalities and which behaviour patterns hold us back from getting in contact with our true being and how to work on them.
What we do is always try to move away from suffering and to move towards happiness, and this tendency keeps us away from where we really are.  Almaas emphasizes that we have to do this inner work in our daily lives.  Our relationships, our work, and our little and big everyday problems give us the material that we need for self-study.
In every chapter I found many things that spoke to me directly and made me think about what requirements may hide behind my habitual acts and feelings.  The chapter “Becoming an Adult,” for example, illustrates that many of our difficulties in life result from the fact that we are acting like children and refuse to become adults. 
As an exercise I noticed my emotions and thoughts from this aspect.  Of course I already knew that I do not like to take on responsibility and prefer others to do the things I feel uncomfortable with, but I actually did not know that this attitude is ruling my life to such an extent.  I also did not fully realize that many of my not-so-nice attitudes like getting angry, blaming others, or lamenting are based on this mentality.  This is a little frightening to see, but also gives me a push towards change.
The above is only a short example.  I think that this book can really enrich our practice.  So if you’re interested and decide to read the book or have already read it, I am curious to hear what you think about it.

Photo by Kivanc
Desert Rat and Salt Water

Desert Rat and Salt Water

by | Mar 5, 2009 | Uncategorized, Zen

baghdad
This week I was reminded of a story that Doen Sensei told me a few years ago.  He has repeated it a number of times since then.  There was a traveler in Iraq who was traveling through the desert.  He found himself stranded one night, about a mile from Baghdad.  This was at a time when Baghdad was a great center of civilization; there were wonderful libraries, works of art, and pleasures of many kinds.
As was the custom, any traveler on their way to Baghdad who had not reached it by nightfall and was stranded in the desert would be taken in by the desert people and offered food and drink, and so the visitor was invited into a family’s tent.  They talked, and at one point the man asked them what they thought of Baghdad.  “Why, we’ve never gone to Baghdad!  Why would we?” they responded.  “We have everything we need right here.  We have the most delicious food, and the finest drink.”
Later, they served food to the traveler.  It was desert rat, and it was rancid and salty.  The traveler asked for the “wonderful” drink, hoping their “finest” would wash away the taste of the rat.  But it was salt water.
The moral of the story is:  always see in your life if you are just one mile from Baghdad and living on rats and saltwater.
photo by jamesdale10