music playing is We Will Rock You |
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Some folks consider me handsome and well coordinated for my age. I’m a young man of 12 , slender, and delicately featured. Having come to this empty basketball court since I was 7, I still enjoy the chance to get away from The Others in my life. People are fine and an interesting lot, but they can become tiresome.
By the age of 7, I was able to leave places on my own, and basketball seemed a safe haven. Not many Others came to this deserted school yard.
My practice improved over the years. Dribbling had a fine feel of mastery to it. It was something I could count on.....dribbling. It was pretty predictable. Bounce the ball onto the court, and it bounces back up toward my hand. Good old gravity. Not much to it, really.
And then there is The Basket. Now there is one powerful invention. You throw the ball and try to get it through the hoop. Being a bit tall supposedly helps, and I’ve always been tall for my age.
Getting the ball through the hoop. It was something one could conquer. It was something one could achieve. It was also a way to allow the mind to wander where it wills, to move the body, and yes, to even release some emotional stresses. | |||||||||||||||||
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I liked this practice.
By now, I was so good at it, I could almost make a basket with my eyes shut, which I have done on occasion.
And then, one day something new happened.
One day I realized, to my own amazement, that I could actually move the basketball anywhere I wished, directing it with my mind! I would bounce it onto the ground, and it would go straight into the basket. I practiced, and found I could do this from any position, any angle, with my eyes closed or open, backwards, off a tree or a building....it didn’t really matter.....bounce the ball, and it went straight into the basket.
It almost seemed to happen on its own. Each and every time, the ball automatically returned to my hand, after each basket, like a magnet.
Obviously at this point, the practice took on a whole new dimension for me. It seemed that I had ‘mastered’ the basketball with my mind. There was no way I could “miss”. | |||||||||||||||||
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I Was King! I was Master! I was Invincible!
As I was enjoying my new skills one day, some Others, boys my age, approached and watched me effortlessly make my baskets. They seemed pretty amazed, to say the least.
Usually, I would not like being watched while I played, but I was becoming bored with my new game skills. I realized that having an audience was adding another new dimension to the experience. So I began to Show Off, as a form of entertainment for myself.
Yup....I just couldn’t miss the basket. It was a great show. I felt like the Nijinski of Basketball.....I was dancing. I was flying. I Felt At One With The Ball, At One With The Basket, At one With Everything, even At One With The Others.
It was a Timeless Space...An Eternity. | |||||||||||||||||
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Panting a bit, I eventually slumped against a tree to take a breather. Closing my eyes, I felt dizzy from the totality of having been Taken Over By Existence. I had Become The Basketball....I had Become The Whole!
Resting against the tree, my heartbeat and breathing gradually calmed to their normal rate.
Suddenly, jarring sounds of jeering and the macho shouting of obscenities greeted my sensitive ears.
Before opening my eyes, I thought, “Jeez, some tough guys must have come.”
Sighing, I reopened my eyes.
My heart again beat fast in my chest, as I realized that the shouts, whistles and obscenities were coming from the same guys....my audience! They seemed very angry with me for some reason.
One boy even threw a stone and hit me in the left temple. Touching my temple, I realized I was bleeding!
“I don’t need this!’ I said under my breath. | |||||||||||||||||
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I stood, picked up the basketball, and bounced it a few more times straight into the basket. Each time it returned right back to my hand, as if by magnetic magic. My last shot I directed over to the crowd of jeering boys.
“Here, take it!” I yelled.
The ball did not return to me.
I was done. That game was over for me.
One of the boys caught the ball and the gang ran off, laughing.
I slowly wandered over to the place the boys had been. There on the ground was an opened six pack of beer. Had they been drinking, I wondered?
I kicked the six pack several times with my foot. Next thing I knew, I was crying.
“Great. Now I’m crying,” I thought with dejection. I plopped down into the grass for some time, feeling hurt and sad.
Later as dusk approached, I got up, brushed off my clothes, deciding to walk home. I was pondering over what had happened as I walked.
“It was your own fault,”a voice said in my ear. “You were showing off, because you were bored.”
I looked quickly over each shoulder to see if anyone was behind me. No one was there.
“Boredom is the problem of each and every genius,” continued the voice, “One can either show off or one can help. It’s always up to you. One way you win and one way you lose. No matter how great one’s genius, one needs to find some way to share and help. Otherwise, everyone loses.”
“Jealousy seems to be a Great Teacher,” I thought, “And if something is my fault, well, then I can change it and do better.”
At that moment, the ball returned to my hand.
Giving a little laugh out loud, I chuckled and half skipped, half ran, all the way home, dribbling my basketball.
“I wonder how I can help? Maybe I could teach some of my basketball moves to those guys. I could try coaching,” I thought, as I went in to wash up for dinner with The Others in my family.
“They Are Not ‘Others’,” the voice again spoke, “That’s a Good Place to Start. And then you might want to actually play the game, instead of just practicing by yourself.” | |||||||||||||||||
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copyright Anupama Deanne Kallman AHA! STORIES
Bodhichitta Developing our innate qualities of loving kindness and compassion. generating the mind of bodhichitta means to wish to attain enlightenment in order to benefit all the sentient beings in existence.
The meaning of Bodhichitta is taken from Transforming the Mind, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thorsons, London 2000:
The definition is given in Maitreya's Ornament of Realization, where he states that there are two aspects of altruism. The first is the condition that produces the altruistic outlook, and this involves the compassion that a person must develop towards all sentient beings, and the aspiration to bring about the good of all sentient beings. This leads to the second aspect, which is the wish to attain enlightenment. It is for the benefit of all sentient beings that this wish should arise. Lama Tsongkhapa explains in The Great Exposition of the Path to Enlightenment, bodhichitta is such that while one fulfills the wishes of others the fulfillment of self-interest is a by-product. The more my feeling for taking care of others the more benefit I reap for myself. The practice and generation of altruistic intention is so comprehensive that it contains the essence of all spiritual practices. This attitude requires tremendous courage and reaches to all beings limitlessly and is not confined to any particular time . "As long as space endures, As long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world." Shantideva
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THE EIGHT VERSES ON TRANSFORMING THE MIND
Geshe Langri Thangpa From Transforming the Mind, Eight Verses on Generating Compassion and Transforming your Life, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thorsons, London, 2000; p. 135.
"With a determination to achieve the highest aim For the benefit of all sentient beings, Which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem, May I hold them dear at all times.
Whenever I interact with someone, May I view myself as the lowest amongst all, And, from the very depths of my heart, Respectfully hold others as superior.
In all my deeds may I probe into my mind, And as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise- As they endanger myself and others- May I strongly confront and avert them.
When I see beings of unpleasant character Oppressed by strong negativity and suffering, May I hold them dear - for they are rare to find- As if I have discovered a jewel treasure!
When others, out of jealousy, Treat me wrongly with abuse slander and scorn, May I take upon myself the defeat And offer to others the victory.
When someone whom I have helped, Or in whom I have placed great hopes, Mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways, May I regard him as my precious teacher.
In brief, may I offer benefit and joy To all my mothers, both directly and indirectly, May I quietly take upon myself All hurts and pains of my mothers.
May all this remain undefiled By the stains of the eight mundane concerns; And may I, recognizing all things as illusion, Devoid of clinging, be released from bondage."
Blueprints of Enlightenment: The 4 Maras
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