How To Become A Buddha In 5 Weeks

Today, I spoke to Prof. Giulio Cesare Giacobbe, who is author of How to Become a Buddha in 5 Weeks: The Simple Way to Self-Realization.  In this interview, Prof. Giacobbe talks about the Buddha, how the Buddha’s teachings have been hidden in mysticism, that the Buddha was a shrewd psychologist and more…


There’s tons of Buddhist books out there. What’s different about How To Become A Buddha In 5 Weeks?
All the Buddhist books out there are about the Buddhist tradition created by other people after the Buddha’s death. My book is about Buddha’s teachings.

What is a Buddha?
A person which has conquered the 5 Powers:

1. Control of the Mind
2. Presence In Reality
3. Consciousness of Impermanence
4. Non-Attachment
5. Universal Love

The title of your book is “How To Become A Buddha In 5 Weeks” so are you saying that most people think that enlightenment is a complicated process and really it’s not?
Yes. The Buddha’s teaching is a psychological process which is not that difficult to do. Buddhist traditions have mystified it. Removing it’s true power from normal people.



You mention that you believe Buddha was a shrewd psychologist. What do mean by that?
He invented a psychological method to solve pathological suffering. (Neurosis)

In your book you talk about impermanence and being aware of it. Can you explain a simple way we can do that?
Become conscious that all things continuously change.

You seem to be a fan of affirmations for the awakening process. Can you explain the benefits of using them daily?
Serenity, free from suffering, happiness, universal love.

You say that it isn’t other people that create our suffering but our reactions to their actions that creates it. So how can we become better reactors?
By controlling our mind and not following it’s negative reactions.

What is the most important thing a person can do to become enlightened?
Become conscious that all things continuously change.

Prof. Giulio Cesare Giacobbe, is the author of How to Become a Buddha in 5 Weeks: The Simple Way to Self-Realization, works as a psychotherapist and teaches the principles of oriental psychology at the University of Genoa.

“If we imagine that our mind is like the blue sky,
and that across it pass thoughts as clouds,
we can get a feel for that part of it which is other than our thoughts.

The sky is always present;
it contains the clouds and yet is not contained by them.

So with our awareness.
It is present and encompasses all our thoughts, feelings, and sensations;
yet it is not the same as them.

To recognize and acknowledge this awareness,
with its spacious, peaceful quality,
is to find a very useful resource within.

We see that we need not identify with each thought just because it happens to occur.
We can remain quiet and choose which thought we wish to attend to.
And we can remain aware behind all these thoughts,
in a state that offers an entirely new level of openness and insight.

From: ‘How Can I Help; Stories and Reflections on Service’ Ram Dass and Paul Gorman

Thoughts, feelings, sensations. All these arise and fall within the free play of mind.

What remains is awareness.

Unbounded. Free. Limitless.

Meditation lets us remember that aspect of ourselves. Taste it. Feel it. Experience it.

That’s why you see the Buddha almost always pictured in meditation.

For that is his greatest teaching.

Meditate.

Go within.

Taste the freedom there.

And once found it will radiate from every pore of your body. In truth your body will be reborn to it’s true self.

Limitless, aware, and free.

Be Inspirational!

Ian

To Renounce or Not Renounce

That was the question posed to the great Ramana Maharshi…

Ramana Maharshi – The life of action need not be Renounced

Question : The yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into secluded jungles if one wishes to find the truth.
Ramana Maharshi: The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work. It is as though there were two ways of expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in meditation will be expressed in your activities

Question: What will be the result of doing that?
Ramana Maharshi: As you go on you will find that your attitude towards people, events and objects gradually changes. Your actions will tend to follow your meditations of their own accord.

Question: Then you do not agree with the yogis?
Ramana Maharshi: A man should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.

Question: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly activity?
Ramana Maharshi: There is no conflict between work and wisdom.

Question: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one’s profession, for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment ?
Ramana Maharshi: Why not ? But in that case one will not think that it is the old personality which is doing the work, because one’s consciousness will gradually become transferred until it is centered in that which is beyond the little self.

Question: If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to meditate.
Ramana Maharshi: Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices. A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude.

Question: Then you do not teach the way of yoga?
Ramana Maharshi: The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass.

Source: from David Godman Excellent Book “Be As You Are”

The Heart Sutra

Prajnaparamita The Heart Sutra

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty*, and so released himself from suffering.  Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.

The other four aspects of human existence –
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness –
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:

Gaté,
gaté,
paragaté,
parasamgaté.
Bodhi!
Svaha!

Which means…

Gone,
gone,
gone over,
gone fully over.
Awakened!
So be it!

* Emptiness is the usual translation for the Buddhist term Sunyata (or Shunyata).  It refers to the fact that no thing — including human existence — has ultimate substantiality, which in turn means that no thing is permanent and no thing is totally independent of everything else.

In other words, everything in this world is interconnected and in constant flux.  A deep appreciation of this idea of emptiness thus saves us from the suffering caused by our egos, our attachments, and our resistance to change and loss.

Note:  Perfection of Wisdom is a translation of Prajnaparamita.  The full title of this sutra is The Heart of Prajnaparamita Sutra.

Being Pissed Off With The Buddha

One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”

Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”

The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.”

“If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy.”

Karmapa Chenno.

Ian

The Two Words A Zen Story

There once was a monastery that was very strict. Following a vow of silence, no one was allowed to speak at all. But there was one exception to this rule. Every ten years, the monks were permitted to speak just two words.

After spending his first ten years at the monastery, one monk went to the head monk. “It has been ten years,” said the head monk. “What are the two words you would like to speak?”

“Bed… hard…” said the monk.

“I see,” replied the head monk.

Ten years later, the monk returned to the head monk’s office. “It has been ten more years,” said the head monk. “What are the two words you would like to speak?”

“Food… stinks…” said the monk.

“I see,” replied the head monk.

Yet another ten years passed and the monk once again met with the head monk who asked, “What are your two words now, after these ten years?”

“I… quit!” said the monk.

“Well, I can see why,” replied the head monk. “All you ever do is complain.”

Unlocking the Magnificence of the Present Moment

“Life can be found
only in the present moment.
The past is gone,
the future is not yet here,
and if we do not go back
to ourselves
in the present moment,
we cannot
be in touch
with life.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Do you want to know a secret? One that can turn your life into something magical? Something that helps you to find the extraordinary in the ordinary?

That secret key is to be fully engaged in your life. Pouring yourself fully into the moment. Surrendering your mind to the miracles that are all around you.

Engage yourself in the present moment.

Meditate upon that famous saying,

” Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”

Be present to the presence. Dive deep into the miracle of your life.

Be well and prosperous.

Ian

The Discourse on Loving Kindness by Buddha

This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness and who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.

Wishing: in gladness and in safety may all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to be born, omitting none,
May all beings be at ease.

Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state.
Let none, through anger of ill-will wish harm upon another.

Like a mother protects her child, her only child with her life,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded, free from hatred and ill-will.

Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.

By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

~ Buddha

Diving Deep Into Wisdom & Philosophy

“Philosophy, the very word, means love for wisdom, and they have nothing to do with wisdom at all.Wisdom happens only through meditation; it never happens by collecting information. It happens by going through a transformation.

Wisdom is the flowering of your consciousness, the opening of the one-thousand-petaled lotus of your being. It is the release of your fragrance, the release of the imprisoned splendor.

Real philosophy has nothing to do with thinking; on the contrary it has everything to do with transcending thinking, going beyond and beyond thinking, going beyond mind, reaching to the pure space of no-mind. Out of that space something flowers in you.

You can call it Christ-consciousness, Buddhahood, or whatsoever you like. That is true philosophy.“~ OSHO

My friend Theodore who owns Snow Lion which supports the Buddhist practice is always telling me to go deeper. Deeper into meditation. Deeper into awareness. Deeper into the radiant beauty of this moment.

So let us go deeper and deeper and deeper into our radiant and timeless perfection.

Be well and prosperous!

Ian

Copyright © – Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this article on the condition that the content remains complete, full credit is given to the author(s), the links are active with no sneaky “no follow” in the code and that it is distributed freely. Source: Ian Paul Marshall & http://earthsgreatawakening.com

Zen Stories

Concentration

After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull’s eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot. “There,” he said to the old man, “see if you can match that!”

Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow’s intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. “

Now it is your turn,” he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground.

Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target. “You have much skill with your bow,” the master said, sensing his challenger’s predicament, “but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot.”