Guest guest Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Hello, my name is Jeff Brooks. I live in the USA and I have been a lay follower of the Buddha for 30 years. In the duration of these three decades I have practiced meditation (Satipatthana) at least twice a day, as well as studied dhamma and reflected upon it almost daily, and I have endeavored to keep the 5 lifetime precepts. I have observed the 8 precepts for 4 years now, and I now sit three times a day for at least an hour each time. I dedicate every waking moment to the benefit of all beings through teaching meditation (samadhi), wisdom (panna) and ethics (sila). As a consequence of the decades of my practice regimen I have given rise to a pleasant abiding in the here and now (jhana/dhyana). My meditations are exceedingly pleasant, and I do not lose awareness when the body sleeps. Through my practice the hindrances have been subdued, so I am not compelled to pursue obsessive and compulsive behaviors that are driven by greed, ignorance, delusion, doubt, grasping and aversion that are the manifestation of narcissism, thus I lead an ethical life, and am thus a good role model. I am now 50 years old. My last child is now grown and about to leave home, as he is fully independent. I am no longer married. My parents and my children have given their permission for me to seek ordination, therefore I would like to ordain and spend the remainder of this lifetime as a monastic follower of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, teaching and counseling students in what I have come to embody, which is meditation (samadhi), wisdom (panna) and ethics (sila). Please tell me if you are able to offer such a one as myself an ordination program, or you know of one. Kindest regards, Jeff Brooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Dear Jeff: It is good to hear from someone who leads such an ethical life, wishes good for all living beings, and meditates on a regular basis. This sangha here ()is based on Sri Ramana's teachings. Sri Ramana emphasizes, "Recognition of the Self or Self-Knowledge." There is a lot of literature available on Sri Ramana's teaching which you can have easy access to on the Internet. As far as monastic ordination goes, there are many Buddhist (as well as Hindu, Jain, and Catholic) organizations with monks as spiritual heads that offer it. Many such monastic organizations have historically faced various types of ethical challenges so it is good to investigate carefully and reflect before one becomes part of such a group. Good luck Jeff. Love to all Harsha , macdocaz1@a... wrote: > Hello, my name is Jeff Brooks. I live in the USA and I have been a lay > follower of the Buddha for 30 years. In the duration of these three decades I have > practiced meditation (Satipatthana) at least twice a day, as well as studied > dhamma and reflected upon it almost daily, and I have endeavored to keep the 5 > lifetime precepts. > > I have observed the 8 precepts for 4 years now, and I now sit three times a > day for at least an hour each time. I dedicate every waking moment to the > benefit of all beings through teaching meditation (samadhi), wisdom (panna) and > ethics (sila). > > As a consequence of the decades of my practice regimen I have given rise to a > pleasant abiding in the here and now (jhana/dhyana). My meditations are > exceedingly pleasant, and I do not lose awareness when the body sleeps. Through > my practice the hindrances have been subdued, so I am not compelled to pursue > obsessive and compulsive behaviors that are driven by greed, ignorance, > delusion, doubt, grasping and aversion that are the manifestation of narcissism, thus > I lead an ethical life, and am thus a good role model. > > I am now 50 years old. My last child is now grown and about to leave home, > as he is fully independent. I am no longer married. My parents and my > children have given their permission for me to seek ordination, therefore I would > like to ordain and spend the remainder of this lifetime as a monastic follower of > the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, teaching and counseling students in what I > have come to embody, which is meditation (samadhi), wisdom (panna) and ethics > (sila). > > Please tell me if you are able to offer such a one as myself an ordination > program, or you know of one. > > Kindest regards, > > Jeff Brooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Hello Harsha, yes I am very familiar with Ramana Maharshi's writing, as well as other Advaitists, like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. The Advaitan principles are dear to me. By the way, I find your name rather interesting because the only other place I have heard of your name is a ghost town in Southern Arizona. Have you been there? Kindest regards, Jeff Brooks , "harshaimtm" <harshaimtm> wrote: > Dear Jeff: > > It is good to hear from someone who leads such an ethical life, > wishes good for all living beings, and meditates on a regular basis. > > This sangha here ()is based on Sri Ramana's teachings. > > Sri Ramana emphasizes, "Recognition of the Self or Self-Knowledge." > > There is a lot of literature available on Sri Ramana's teaching > which you can have easy access to on the Internet. > > As far as monastic ordination goes, there are many Buddhist (as well > as Hindu, Jain, and Catholic) organizations with monks as spiritual > heads that offer it. Many such monastic organizations have > historically faced various types of ethical challenges so it is good > to investigate carefully and reflect before one becomes part of such > a group. > > Good luck Jeff. > > Love to all > Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 , "Jeffrey S. Brooks" <macdocaz1@a...> wrote: > Hello Harsha, yes I am very familiar with Ramana Maharshi's writing, > as well as other Advaitists, like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. The > Advaitan principles are dear to me. > > By the way, I find your name rather interesting because the only other > place I have heard of your name is a ghost town in Southern Arizona. > Have you been there? > > Kindest regards, > > Jeff Brooks Jeff, I have not been to Southern Arizona. The name Harsh or Harsha (meaning joy) is not uncommon in India, although it is used less often being an older name. It comes in different variations such as Harshad, Harshdev, etc. Love to all Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 Hello Jeff, "Harsha Vardhana" was a famous emperor in 6th century India. regards ramasamy , "harshaimtm" wrote: > (meaning joy) is not uncommon in India, although it is used less > often being an older name. It comes in different variations such as > Harshad, Harshdev, etc. > > Love to all > Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 Do forget the famous Harashanandagyanaswarupacharya > (meaning joy) is not uncommon in India, although it is used less > often being an older name. It comes in different variations such as > Harshad, Harshdev, etc.> > Love to all> Harsha Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 , Dirk Haueter <dirkhaueter> wrote: > > Do forget the famous Harashanandagyanaswarupacharya > ************************* For those who may not know, Parampujya Sri Dirkji is one of the oldest and most respected members of the sangha. His Guru's Guru was Swami Brahmananda Sarswati, one of India's greatest Shankracharya. Thanks Dirk for staying with us. Now who is the famous Harashanandagyanaswarupacharya. That is an awfully big name! :-). Love, Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Hello harsha and thanks to everyone for giving me such an excellent history on the name "Harsha." I find it an unusual name for a 100 year old ghost town in Southern AZ. I figured it was a family name, I had no idea it had Hindu origins. Very interesting Best regards, Jeff Brooks , "harshaimtm" wrote: > , "Jeffrey S. Brooks" > > Jeff, I have not been to Southern Arizona. The name Harsh or Harsha > (meaning joy) is not uncommon in India, although it is used less > often being an older name. It comes in different variations such as > Harshad, Harshdev, etc. > > Love to all > Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.