You mention you are still on “chapter one” of your path to enlightenment. That’s good. Most people don’t even want to hear about something other than what is in front of them. So, you are one of the lucky ones. Remember that when you feel down.

You ask: will reading and meditation ease my grief. Of course, if you read properly.

I like to call this phase, the “acquisition phase”. Here you gather all the relevant information you need to make sense of yourself and your world. Like Obama said today: We can provide you with the class rooms, the teachers and so forth but, “In the end you are responsible for your own education”.

So, be it academic or spiritual education, it is up to us to make our life meaningful. It ain’t gonna just land in our lap. It is up to us to understand ourselves and the world around us. Wisdom is not given it is earned through hard work and taking life on head-first!

Meditation is the second part is this process. It is the integration phase. Meditation is the tool used to integrate all the stuff you learned from reading, hearing people like the Dalai Lama speak, and fusing this with your mind. You can take inspiration from anywhere. You don’t need to go somewhere is find peace and wisdom. It is already within you!

But, remember consistency is key to success. Acquire and integrate everyday. Not just when life gets in the way of a good time.

warm regards,

I have sought wisdom since I was 14. Asking about it from older and wiser ones, reading different religious thoughts yet here I am wondering today how to even say a prayer. Will reading prayers and meditating get me on that path to that “enlightment” and will it ease my grief. I am always seeking “Buddahood” but find myself still on chapter one. Where do I find prayer? Thank you for your insight.
Sandy

The Buddhist teachings are rich when it comes to cosmology, so much so, that it makes it a little difficult to go into details here. Suffice it to say that there will always be a place for beings to be reborn.

Buddhism asserts that there are many places other than our planet where beings can and do take rebirth. Of course this doesn’t negate making effort to living in harmony with our plant. If we don’t our planet will become more and more sick…making us more and more unhealthy.

I hope that helped?

btw how is Chicago this time of year?

I don’t know about Buddhism other than a few articles and books I’ve read so please forgive any ignorance on my part…my question is about rebirth…what happens if there is not a planet (earth) to be reborn to?

Did the Budda ever address this as a possibility?

Sincerely,
Christian Jean

At the time of death it is very important to have a virtuous mind. If one cannot do that then at least natural, and so regret is something that can be an obstacle but, small compared to say attachment or anger.

There is definitely a continuity. Is it said in the texts on how to achieve Calm Abiding, that if you achieve the 4th mental stage of Calm Abiding and then pass away before attaining Calm Abiding. In the next life all you have to do is see a picture of your meditational object and a concentration will naturally arise. It is if you pick up from where you left off…good news hey.

Actually this is the same for all dharma realizations. My lama Geshe Loden is quite fond of saying you come into the world naked and you leave with just your wisdom and compassion.

This article has been quite useful for me. Thanks for the post.

In our lives we have good things we have done and we have regrets for things that we could not do.

For example one may regret that he/she could not practice the Dharma as sincerely as one hoped for.
When someone is dying and regrets such things, will that be a problem?
I think this will not liberate the person from the cycle of birth and death.
But will this also enable favorable conditions in the next birth to achieve the unfulfilled tasks?
Can there be a continuity in the Dharma practice in the next life, or does one have to start from scratch again?

Please help me with my questions.

Thanks
Anwesh