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BUDDHIST MONK HORSE RIDER WINS GOLD: Japanese monk Kenki Sato wins gold medal at Asian Games in China as part of the "special life path" he is on (chakranews.com).
.Buddhist meditation has two aspects - shamatha" and "vipashyana".
We tend to stress the importance of "vipashyana" ("looking deeply") because it can bring us insight and liberate us from suffering and afflictions.
But the practice of "shamatha" ("stopping") is fundamental. IF WE CANNOT STOP, WE CANNOT HAVE INSIGHT.
There is a story in ZEN CIRCLES about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important.
Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, "Where are you going?" and the first man replies, "I don't know! Ask the horse!"
This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going, and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy, pulling us along, and we are powerless...
We have to learn the art of stopping - stopping our thinking, our habit energies, our forgetfulness, our strong emotions that rule us.
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* Plot foiled, but more bombs out there (so we better search travelers harder)
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