Fourteen Precepts & Ten Commandments

Fourteen Precepts of the Order of Interbeing:

1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.
2. Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.
3. Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.
4. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, images, and sound. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.
5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.
6. Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your anger and hatred and the nature of the persons who have caused your anger and hatred.
7. Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing both inside and around you. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and understanding in yourself in order to facilitate the work of transformation in the depths of your consciousness.
8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.
9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of Personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.
10. Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community, however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.
11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realize your ideal of compassion.
12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.
13. Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.
14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect, preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings

The Ten Commandments.  Exodus 20:2-17:

1. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
6. “You shall not murder.
7. “You shall not commit adultery.
8. “You shall not steal.
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

3 reminders: what is it to be human?

1) Mistakes

2) Greeting

3) Educacion

#prayfortheworld

   This comes in a bit late, but here goes.  According to what a few of my Salvadoran facebook friends were posting around the time of the Paris attacks: There's nothing wrong with praying for Paris, we are all brothers & sisters. But I agree, let's pray for El Salvador as well. My home country, El Salvador, has the highest homicide rate in the world; on average, one HUMAN BEING is murdered per hour. We CANNOT get used to this. Let's pray for the world for that matter. We are all connected; and the ones who need our love & prayers, above all others, are the troubled hearts of the human beings who commit these horrific acts. Make no mistake there. YOU DO NOT STOP A FIRE WITH MORE FIRE!!!!

   I live in New York, many of the problems we see in the world originate from the selfishness & greed that exists in the hearts of a handful of individuals/organizations right here. Cheap/slave labor around the globe, deforestation, illegal drug purchasing that leaves a mass blood trail through the entire American continent (just to get to your nose/wherever you stick it in), weapons sales, mass food production industry, oil, etc. EVERY ONE of us supports this destructive anti-unity anti-equality anti-collaboration cycle from the moment we choose to look down on another human being living on the street instead of pulling him/her up; to the moment we make a purchase without trying to find out at what expense this product reached our hands. I'm guilty. What's happening out there is all our faults. LET'S STOP PRETENDING WE DON'T CARE, IT IS OUR HUMAN NATURE TO CARE. ACT ON IT.

"Nothing that happens to others should be considered foreign to us." -Juan XXIII

"If you only love those who love you, what reward is there for that?" -Matthew 5:46

"The only devils in this world are those running around in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought." -Mahatma Gandhi

#prayforParis #prayforElSalvador #prayforWallStreet #prayfortheworld

Give

   Will there be a deal on Ukraine? When will anyone in Israel or Palestine try something different? Will Europe ever get its act together economically? Where will the borders be drawn in the greater Middle East? Will a stable equilibrium emerge in East Asia? Will there be a deal over Iran's nuclear program? Where is Afghanistan headed? Will Obama's climate change gambit work? Will the United States, its allies, and other concerned countries come up with a better approach to "violent extremism" of the sort represented by al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and others? Can Western democracies roll back the "surveillance state"? Will North & South America's gang & drug cartel violence ever seize to exist? When will the kidnapped Nigerian girls be returned to their families? Can democratic oppositions' peaceful nonviolent tactics prevail over dictatorships? When will we act upon the knowledge that our planet is abundant enough for all its species to prosper? 

   These are some of the issues troubling governments globally today, and they can all be traced down to love. We are doing too much for ourselves, and too little for others; yet happiness truly comes from what we give, not what we get. Success isn't getting power & money; success is giving in to love, peace, happiness by working on humility, forgiveness, gratefulness, faith, service to others & God. We will keep falling to temptation where we are weak, but that's ok, because we will self-examine & work on ourselves one day at a time. Every day we will fall less, and every day it will be easier to persevere. And we must not judge those who fall again, because that only makes it harder to get back up. We must encourage, because like us they are trying, and eventually will succeed. "If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?" Make the world better every opportunity you get to speak. There are no small acts of kindness, because kindness is contagious

#God #love #world #peace #happiness #humility #forgiveness #gratefulness #service #success #power #money #equality #freedom #charity #kindness #hate #fear #anger #sadness #loneliness #mind #body #spirit #emotion #soul

Happy Memorial Day✌️🌻❤️☀️

   I'd like to express my solidarity to those families who have lost their loved ones in service to their country, and to those families who live in fear of losing those who still serve today. Not only in this country, but all countries in the world; because we are all brothers & sisters in Reality. Whether the fight was for a good reason, or whether there's ever a good reason to fight, who am I to judge? But I do believe that the right way to honor their memory this Memorial Day, is by finding peace in sharing our differences with our brothers & sisters. To learn from them, and to learn that differences can be good. Happy Memorial Day✌️🌻❤️☀️ 

Regarding those we lost, I believe they will always be with us...and we will meet again.

Cupcake

   I was just riding the crosstown bus on 79th street, and there was this cute little girl eating a cupcake next to her mom, sitting directly across from me. I smiled at the little girl and gave her a thumbs up for her cupcake. without thinking about it, the little girl came up to me and handed me a piece. who am I to deny her the human satisfaction of sharing? that little piece of cupcake made my day, and sharing it made her's. let's not forget what truly makes us happy.

Whole Again

   After 7 years of not coinciding to be all together under the same roof, last week we were whole again. Thank you God for this, and for the journey that brought us back here. We've been lonely, we've cried, we've fallen, but gotten back up and learned. We can now laugh about it all together once again, yet we know the obstacles will keep coming our way. So we'll keep falling, learning, and getting back up again with the faith that it's all part of Your perfect plan. Thank you for the lessons learned from outlandish experiences, and all that's next. Ahh the stories we can now tell...we've received such wonderful gifts. Los amo tanto mis lindos.