A Hero's Journey Book Report

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist, is the first person we get in touch this semester. We learned how to do meditation and his idea of mindfulness from his book The Miracle of Mindfulness. Later on, we read the book Siddhartha, which is written by Hermann Hesse, also talking about the Buddhism. The book Siddhartha mainly talks about the character’s journey, from a son of Brahmin who’s looking for inner peace to a Buddhist who eventually reach the enlightenment stage. This book, as well as Karen Armstrong’s article, regards Buddhism’s main idea as a releasing of ego. People are trying to divest “desire” and “hatred”, and find the true peace of themselves.

This paper is a book report on “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” written by, Thich Nhat Hanh. In this paper I will discuss the four themes; Mindfulness, Understanding, Interbeing, and Wisdom. I will define the themes, and explain how each theme listed is a part of my life and whether this theme, can be co-related along with my faith.

Good morning, today I am going to talk about the ability to learn from mistakes. I’ve based my oral presentation on the novel “Atonement” by Ian McEwan.

One of the substance abuse interventions I recently led, resulted in a very public miraculous healing. I was contacted by the McCracken family early in 2015 to lead a last chance intervention for their son Jeff. Jeff McCracken was barely alive when we got him to treatment. Once he arrived at the facility we had in place, they immediately sent Jeff to the hospital. His medical condition was dire, he was given two months to live and sent to Hospice. In Hospice, Jeff’s parents requested our team to pray over him. Within days of that event, Jeff had an incredible turn around and was released from Hospice and entered a program. I sponsored Jeff throughout the recovery process. God has utterly transformed his life. Dubbed a modern day “Lazarus,”

His rank is heavenly, he is “to hold the place of Christ in the monastery,” (pg. 21) and is even addressed as Christ by cenobites. The abbot has the enormous job of guiding all the monk’s souls to heaven, leaving their eternal salvation in his hands. Much responsibility has been entrusted in the abbot, who is expected to lead with dignity, compassion, and utmost control. The abbot controls daily life, from the serious punishment of an excommunicated monk, “Let him take his food alone in a time and amount the abbot considers is appropriate for him”, (Pg. 51) to the banal reception of gifts “[A monk] must not presume to accept gifts even by his parents without previously telling the abbot.” (Pg. 75). Of the 73 chapters of The Rule, 9 instruct the abbot and 10 refer to the care of the monastery. The monks entrust the abbot with their daily life and afterlife. There is no room in this equation for competition, individuality, and questioning

Zajonc (2009) cited several examples of contemplative practice in the Christian tradition including meditative reading, reflection, and a prayer to ‘center’ the mind. He also highlighted the contemplative silence of the Benedictine Order as part of their focused attention on sacred text (Zajonc, 2009). Christ, as reported in the Bible, exhorted his followers that ‘the kingdom of God is within’ which suggests a contemplative practice (Sharples, 2003). It is also recorded that Christ spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, possibly in contemplative thought, meditating. Many Christian traditions also practice contemplation to develop positive qualities such as compassion and forgiveness through reflection (Sharples, 2003). In summary, the literature highlighted above indicates that ‘present-moment awareness’ and contemplative practice are evident in the philosophy and practice of many religions. This contemplative practice was designed to ponder religious texts, discover new insights and experience a sense of calm for individual practitioners. Next I review definitions of mindfulness from other philosophical traditions, before considering the influence of western culture on mindfulness and contemplative

This Buddhist text, called Suttavibhanga, focuses on the rules that monks should follow regarding sexual intercourse. At the beginning, the story of a monk who cared for a female money because of his lust causes the Buddha to declare that having intercourse with an animal is unacceptable. The topics of training, disavowing and not declaring weakness is thoroughly explained. Numerous examples of male monks committing sexual intercourse with women, and bodies are all mentioned in the text. The topics of consent and seduction from regular women to nuns are other wrongdoings discussed. Ultimately, the text with the help of all the examples, relate to defeat, which is part of the “First Offence” in this particular rule book or guide.

In addition to acquiring more in-depth knowledge about the business of health, I have gained more knowledge about the various topics that were covered during the course. Most importantly am able to reflect on the benedictine’s hallmark of conversation that hinges on the way of formation and transformation of self. The aim of life is for Benedictines or Christians is to transform every part of one's life to the betterment of one's self and the betterment of others in the Society. The hallmark also emphasizes transformation in order for God's own image, in which each is created, to become transparent and palpable.

One day, as the sun was setting, a priest had come to the plain. He had a robe on which showed that he was a Buddhist pilgrim who would go to temples to pray for blessings. He had apparently lost his way and didn’t have anyone to ask for directions because of the late hours.

This little anecdote illustrates the manner and method by which Gautama Buddha sought to experience and express the truth. Buddha's entire life has been a relentless search, a revolutionary discovery, and a revealing experience of Truth.

When entering Buddha Mind Monastery, my initial thought was that the building was beautiful and impeccably clean. Never would I have thought that I was wrong on the latter. First, the Abbess talked briefly about her place in the monastery and gave us a mini tour of the building, describing Buddhist practices and mentioning the different Buddhas since the beginning. We had the opportunity to meditate a few different ways, both sitting and walking. After our meditation session, a Shifu split us up into small groups to complete the tasks around the building that needed to be done before their big event in the upcoming week, the visit of the Abbot. My group’s first task was to line the meditation room with chalk for chairs to be lined in there; this task was incredibly confusing, and we were eventually moved onto a different task. Two other tasks I performed that day were cleaning the window frames, over and over and over again, and “dusting” the books. As I felt more and more useless the longer I cleaned things, I had to constantly remind myself of what the Shifu told us, which was that we should have no like or dislike attached to the task we were performing, but to just realize that this task

As I put pen upon paper, I must forewarn any sorry soul who gazes upon this document. What might seem, is not what it seems. For thoughts can be deceiving, hurtful, painful. I am not proud of these unfortunate events that have befallen upon me. I regret the incident with such fierce emotions that I find I can not, will not, justify my actions. But, without further ado, let me set my soul free.

For this assignment, I chose to abide by the five Buddhist precepts from Thursday, November 17 to Sunday, November 19. The vow of silence was incorporated for twenty four hours on November 16. However, I will explain my interpretations and my complete experience, including my challenges and discoveries.

But to usher in a global renaissance today, we need to de-construct the mores of world militarism. We need schools for self-restraint and gentleness, boot camps for the battle of self-conquest. We need monasticism and its disciplines to become accessible to the masses, to help them in the form of secular educational curricula, disciplines of behavior, mind, and intellect, the three adishikshani. Monastic discipline involves walking through town while holding one’s body in a certain posture, with one’s eyes focused on the ground about an axle-length ahead of one’s body. One speaks in a certain way, one refrains from certain behaviors, one sits in a certain way. Monasticism involves a rich behavioral code, with, for example, eighteen

2.The mild meditator now develops a degree of mental alertness. Such people is no longer interested to accept the scriptures or teacher’s