The "Venerable Amandala" Two Questions on Enlightenment

Good Morning,

As you may know by now, i have a curious mind. While i might come across as timid or shy in person, i am FEARLESS when it comes to getting answers to my heartfelt questions.

Recently, there have been two main questions i've been struggling with:

1. Can a person become "Enlightened" on a respirator?

AND

2. What are the other ways to "Enlightenment" besides meditation... (I'm not sure but i think this is like asking the Catholic how to get to Heaven without praying).

The heart of Buddhist practice is focusing on the rising and falling of the natural breath...

Elightenment is what i see as the ultimate promise of the Buddhist faith.

For those interested, below is a piece that hopefully realisticlly and humorously captures the correspondence i've had with regards to these questions within the Buddhist Community.

I hope you find it truly entercational (entertaining and educational).

Happy Monday,

Amanda "The Venerable Amandala"

AUDIO
http://homepage.mac.com/amv12/.Public/audiodharma.mp4


Good Morning,

When I was a child in my grade school we had a pencil machine. It was an army green aluminum monster that sucked down dimes and quarters and dispensed its coveted prize with a POP! I could barely hold my excitement as my precious wooden wonderments would roll out into the tray…and if it was NFL WEEK! I walked around for days with unsharpened Kenny Anderson or Dan Marino in my pocket.


Today, with perhaps this same excitement and zeal I download and listen to A LOT of Audio Dharma on my iPod. Each week I’m hopin for an Anushka Fernandopulle or Lama Cathy!

The Audio Dharma is free, downloadable talks given by scholarly sorts about the Buddha’s teachings.

www.audiodharma.org

For me these Dharma talks bring peace of mind but also lead to questions. Recently, I have been trying to get practical or useful answers from a Dharma council designated to answer the Audio Dharma listener’s questions.

My goal is:

to get past the council to the "head honcho" Gil Fronsdal. so far, no success.

So far my main two questions:

Can someone achieve Enlightenment on a respirator?

And

What are the other ways to Enlightenment besides meditation…

I like these people. They respond very quickly…probably something to do with bad karma.

Anyway,

What follows is the correspondence I’m having within the Buddhist community…again, i hope you find it truly entercational...


***please forward to Gil Fronsdal***

Dear Gil,

I am a regular listener to the Audio Dharma via the
web. I feel I am learning a great deal from your
talks and in this light, I’d like to ask an important
question about the breath (this week’s episode
9/2/07). Is it possible to become Enlightened if you
breathe on a respirator?

I am asking this question with all sincerity. I have
done considerable work with spinal cord injury
patients at a rehabilitation hospital. I myself have
a SCI and as part of my practice I have developed strong
aspirations to help others find some sort of comforting
spiritual practice amidst the traumatic conditions of
a spinal cord injury.

Again, I would appreciate any of your consideration
and thoughts to the question: Can a person become
Enlightened if breathing is artificial as if on a
respirator?

Thank you for your time. I love your podcast.

Amanda (in Columbus, OH)

(reply I received)


Dear Amanda,

Gil is currently unavailable until October and due to the many e-mails he receives, he is unable to personally reply to them. He has created a "Chaplaincy Council", a group of experienced practitioners, who also periodically teach at our center, to respond to dharma questions from our community and extended listening community. I am going to forward your message to the Council as I am sure one of them can answer your question satisfactorily.

Kind regards,
Lori Wong
IMC E-mail Communications

(POOOOOOP!!! I can’t find the Reply!!! I must have deleted it in my excitement!)

Okay, so this is my response… to the reply I received from someone in the Chaplaincy Council named Richard…


Dear Richard,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my question
and your prompt reply.

I mean this as a reflection on myself and not as an
evaluation of you...but I am still a bit frustrated in
reading your reply. In certain situations, I feel
there is still a large distance between Buddhist
philosophy and practice. In my immediate goal of
helping vent dependent or recently injured spinal cord
injury patients, I can only imagine resistance to the
idea that it is how we relate to the experience, not
the experience itself that matters. Physical pain and
fear are such powerful forces in the untrained mind.

In this respect, I was wondering if there might be
some readings or resources where I might turn to
further investigate the use of Buddhist techniques
with traumatically injured hospital patients.

Thank you again for your time.

Amanda

(reply from Richard. received same day...)

Hi Amanda,

You are absolutely right. There are lots of experiences that are too much for us to be present with. It is important to recognize that there is not only one approach or answer to how we handle a situation.

I always make a distinction between how we work with experiences that are not too much for us to handle, and those that are. For those within our ability, then the practice is learning to work with how we relate to the experience. For those experiences that are too strong, whether physical pain, fear, confusion, etc., we still want to work with them the best we can, but since they are past our limit, we mostly have to find some relief. They're simply too much and we need to have the tools for changing the experience - bringing down the intensity, getting relief somehow. Otherwise we're just going to suffer and struggle since it is beyond our current ability to handle.

With practice we open to an ever-widening range of experiences that we can be present with, but we will always have our limits.

You had previously asked a general question if one could become enlightened if on a respirator, and I would answer that general question the same way.


Richard,

Thank you so much for your furthered reply. Your
response is helping me to relax my perhaps furrowed
brow. (please do NOT read this as furry...i've been
worried/concerned NOT growing big eyebrows : )

(and that’s a baaad attempt at Buddhist humor…within the Zen tradition instead of one’s nose growing it is said one’s eyebrows grow with every lie told…that’s why some of the monks have those big eyebrows…anyway)

Finding relief amidst the experiences that are too
strong for us sounds like a good place to start. I
am excited to also know the door is still open to my
higher goals and aspirations. It feels more realistic
and possible now to widen my practice.

Thank you again for helping me take my beginning steps
in this life long process.

--Amanda

okay, beeeeep. times up! I will save Question 2, for another Monday...

Click link for cool "Outro" song (Angelique Kidjo and Dave Matthews "Iwoya")

http://homepage.mac.com/amv12/iMovieTheater16.htm

mid-week open forum...

Before Ms. Mitten's left the studio she was kind enough to leave me with this...

Mitten S. Kitten's (iTunes) Celebrity Playlist

1. Axel F. (Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack)-- First song I ever learned to play on my keyboard.

2. Lion's Share (Natalie Merchant)-- A great voice with a powerful message. Speaks of truth, justice, and eating lamb.

3. What’s new pussy cat? (Tom Jones)-- I put this one on and my wobbly person cringes.

4. Black Cat (Janet Jackson)-- Sexy hip-hop diva who can rock!

5. Opposites Attract (Paula Abdul & MC Scat Cat)-- My song of the 80's. Reminds me of an old boyfriend arrg from the wrong side of the tracks.

6. Jack & Diane (John Cougar Mellencamp)-- ditto. Still a fun song that takes me back to my crazier days when I was poor, livin in the streets and drinkin.

7. Buttons (Pussy Cat Dolls)-- This is when I call my friends to the floor…Boots, Kitty, Fluffy Marie and we shake it!

8. Three Little Birds (Bob Marley)-- Always gets my mouth watering…three little birds on my doorstep?

9. Cheese Please (Chris Stapleton)-- Finally, they’re catching on and starting to play real good music about important things.

10. Memories (from Cats)— So beautiful. Can’t go a day without it…

Mitty's Fall Haiku

Good Morning,

Yesterday (Sept. 23) at 5am was the official beginning of Fall. Today I’ve invited a special guest to join me in the studio Mitten S. Kittens…Ms. Mittens has appeared previously on this site and this morning has been kind enough to share with us some poems from her Fall haiku collection:

A Tribute to Fall

Sunbeams bath my perch
Birds still poop in the feeder
Snowy silence soon

Oh wrinkly raisin
Nestled deep in the carpet
Hidden gems of barf

Yellow leaves they fall
On grass still green yet crunchy
I like tuna treats!

Lily’s arms droop low
Off to sleep I fight it now
Offer her my cheese

Licking my toes clean
I smell cheese, cheese, cheese cheese cheese!
No worries about my butt


yeaaa, Mitty! (clap, clap, clap)

Happy Monday,

Amanda

common mistakes in dancing

Good Morning,

After reviewing the tape...I've noted someone's pretty jazzed about her dancin' (word up! : ). So, I've decided to let this energy run its course. It is very rare that I find recreational opportunities that I enjoy this much. Today i thought I'd offer my thoughts on what makes for good dancing.

To be a good dancer I think you/we first need to be able to recognize some of the common mistakes in dancing.

1. Overdoing it.

Think Aunt "whoever" doin the "frug" (i.e. froog) or your 10 yr. old cousin doin the "Running Man."

...that's having too much energy.

2. Underdoing it.

Simply put. The white man's overbite... (insert demonstration)

3. No originality.

It’s okay to know you have one solid move. Even advised to go to it when you’ve lost the beat. But it is the mark of the inexperienced dancer if it shows up over and over...You’ll know when you’re doin it because you’re givin it that sexy look you do into the mirror…

4. Too much originality.

Your sexy move. You’re thinkin’ "I’m gonna save this baby with my raw sex appeal!"…STOP. It is THE move that gives us that raw sex appeal OR it is the one that will earn you merciless teasing from friends and family.

5. Going for it too soon.

...trying to coin a signature move. A signature move is like the 80’s moon walk...Dad, remember before you go for the crotch grab and sideways leg kick…it took MJ many months of work with a choreographer...it's okay just to navigate the floor and keep the beat.

This last one's for the wedding folks. While doing my research this morning, I checked in on a Wedding Planning website. I discovered the Best Man/Best Person has 6 pre-wedding duties to the Maid of Honor's 14. Hmmmm...in the effort to maintain my title and help balance this out...I've appointed myself "Head of boogie down productions" once the formal dancing stops at my brother's wedding.

6. Having Bad Chi.

All dancing partnered or not is social dancing so avoid overlooking dance floor feng shui. Know you have bad dance floor energy when you find yourself dancing alone in a corner or placed next to a speaker (I’ll put ya there...i will).

Okay, I know this is probably a little too much information for one day. You have places to go...choreographers to see so I will just end with a helpful hint for YOUR diligent hip-hop practice.

Helpful hint:
If you lose the beat, don’t try to catch it. It will come back to you.

Oh yes, AND I almost forgot. drum roll please. here's the "wham bam finish" with some energy! not a ton but it's/i'm getting better. i hope.


http://homepage.mac.com/amv12/iMovieTheater14.html
(for Windows)

http://web.mac.com/amv12/iWeb/Site/jerryskids.html


Happy Monday!

Amanda/A-Lo

Wham Bam Finish!

Well, this week I had planned to be my wham-bam finish. I took my last hip hop lesson on Saturday and was quite certain I could nail that routine by Monday! Unfortunately,...there was the Friday trip to the laundr-o-mat, trash, recycling and "emergency" apartment cleaning...so my energy was a little low this weekend.

Instead of my wham bam finish (...watch out folks cause i knooow i got one in me : ) I wanted to share what i've been using as my "mantra" lately.

These are the words of

Lisa Sandin (a fellow disabled homie) taken from her NPR "This I Believe" essay:

"I am my words, my ideas and my actions

I am filled with love, humor, ambition and intelligence.

This I believe, and

Like you I am a fellow human being and like you I am so much more than a body."


Also, I had a little dificulty recording this week thanks to Mitty Mix-a-Lot. They say there's one in every crowd : ) No, no, she's a great cat. She makes me smile : ).


http://web.mac.com/amv12/iWeb/Site/mitty.html

http://homepage.mac.com/amv12 iMovieTheater13.html (for Windows users)


AND wedding folks FYI: I learned something called "The Cupid Shuffle." It is the latest "Electric Slide." (arrg) There is faaar too much stepping/moving for me to be involved but i am qualified to teach!

First Lesson:
step, step, step, step (right)
step, step, step, step (left)
step step step (forward) then...
walk yourself around (preferably not to the bar or restroom)

annnnd REPEAT!!!

Hope you have a Happy Monday.

Amanda

Indomitable Spirit

And this week I learned, simply put, there is NO CRYING in hip hop dancing! But before we get to my moves...




“I’m as busy as a one-arm pirate in a wallpaper factory!”

That’s a comment I overheard the other day after I’d hung up the “handicappable” tag and was making my way
to the doors of the public library.

I couldn’t quite catch up with the busy patron and his ladyfriend...

So, this morning...i still have my thought(s) and questions. : )

My thought:
I too enjoy some good disability repartee, but if you’d like to use disability references in your humor
please do so mindfully.

When did pirates start hanging out in wallpaper stores?

Disregard the fact that I don’t think the factory foreman would be dumb enough to let the pirate hang the product before he sold it…

there’s also the small problem of if he has one arm…would they really have him hanging wallpaper?

No.

I think you would have a strong case for assignment to other duties if your reasonable accommodation is getting another arm.

Who thinks of these things? Probably the same person who says "why that new boat cost me an arm and a leg!"

why not your liver and your spleen!

okay, the arm and the leg are something easily imaginable, something visual but…why not something more valuable like your eyes and your teeth!

people say "I would give my right eye-tooth for that…" okay point to your eye-tooth? What is that? (okay, it's your "canine" tooth. i just checked. who would want that? show me a store/dealer where i can plunk down a tooth...i might get me a Ferrari or a tractor)

Anyway... and now for my hip hop moves...

You can click on the link(s) below for the results of Hip Hop Lesson 4 (only 1 more to go).

http://web.mac.com/amv12/iWeb/Site/Lesson4%20with%20mitty-mix-a-lot.html


http://homepage.mac.com/amv12/iMovieTheater12.htm (Windows users)

it's okay to laugh. i'm laughing too...well, mostly. : )

Happy Monday,

Amanda