In the past few months I have done a lot of reflection. Recent events in my personal life have caused this to happen. Since May, I have know 5 people who have passed on from this life, one extremely young and very close to me.

What is it about death that causes us so much pain? The Buddha taught the answer to this, the answer is that our suffering comes because death makes us realize that nothing is forever. We never really mourn the death of a person, we more the loss of them in our lives. And this attitude causes us to suffer and be unhappy. In some cultures this goes on for YEARS!

Should we really mourn the dead? Do we honour them by doing so? I don’t think so, in fact I know in my heart that we are doing them an injustice.  Death is merely leaving this plain of existence for another. There really is no death!

So why do we feel so bad, and for so long? Because we have been taught to fear the phenomenon of death since we were small children.  We were told that if we did not lead a good life, God who loves us, would damn us to hell. The thing that amazes me is we still believe this crap. Crap that was taught by man, in a effort to control man.

There is no tragedy in death for the departed, only for those left behind who will miss them.  The tragedy is never in death itself, only because of the beliefs we have about life, that cause us to never really live!

Remember the only meaning in life is what YOU give it, and the only purpose is to be happy. Don’t believe it if someone tells you something different. They are trying to sell you something.

Hi Art;
Just spoke with Cristina on the phone. She is on her way back from Bucharest with Nelu and Oti. They had a chance to visit with Miky and a team of physicians that are keeping her alive.
It appears that the culprit is a very severe case of bacterial infection (sepsis infection) of the blood. They are administering her a drug (xigris). I’ve googled it and pretty much falls in line with her status as described by the physicians, in other words, it is administered to patients with severe case ofsepsis, in life or death situations. Miky’s condition apparently outweighs the severe side affects of the drug as I understand.
She is in an induced coma, six of her organs have been desumated by the bacteria and she is on life support. The doctors give her a 2% chance for survival, and she could pass away today, tomorrow or maybe weeks. Right now this drug is holding it’s ground I think, and life support took over all her vital functions. The doctors are testing her blood for improvement. Apparently the doctors do not have an answer as to what caused the sepsis infection. Unfortunately, I have been unable to travel with them to see Miky.

It is a very sad situation Art, but at this point I am not sure how we can help. Apparently this hospital is top ranked in this department and have the resources for intervening in the worst cases such as Miky’s.

Lets all pray for her subconscious fighting it while the sepsis infection goes away, blood and organ treatment refined and recovery begins.

Tib

Anyone who wished to help this family please follow this LINK. Again thank you all for your kindness and support

Hello Everyone,

If you look to the right of this article you will find a donation button to help a good friend of mine in Romania with medical expenses. I met this lady about 6 months ago and she helped me to travel to her country to introduce the art of Kyusho Jitsu to martial artists there.

Approximately one week ago from the date of this article she took ill with a serious liver condition. Her life is currently in danger, however the situation is improving. I arranged on Wednesday of this week for a helicopter airlift to Bucharest to save her life. Without this she had no chance for survival. However the problems still exist. The medical system in Romania is very poor and very expense. The economy in the country is in ruins.

Currently I am fund raising and taking donation to help the family with these expenses. Any and all donations are welcome and ALL the money is sent directly to the family. If you would like to help please use the donation button to the right of this article. All donors will have their name added to a card for Miky which Master Art will personally deliver to her when he returns by request of her family as soon as she regains consciousness.

Thank you for your generosity in this matter! Please see UPDATES below.

Sunday July 18th 2010 As of this writing Miky is in stable, but serious condition in Bucharest. She is currently on a machine which is cleaning her blood since her liver is all but shut down. This is LIVER DIALYSIS which will help to regenerate the liver. The cost of this procedure is 3500 euro which is NOT covered by insurances. Please follow the link provided for more information.

To donate to this cause please follow this LINK.

Also note 100% of all Kyusho DVD and eBook sales will go to this cause.

Master Art Mason

Recently I heard someone say “I don’t think my problems can be solved.” Now, this is never true, but at times the problems we face in our reality can seem to be insurmountable. What is the truth? Any problem you have cannot be solved with the same mind that created it.

What does this mean? All problems are created in our world by thinking in a certain way.  When we discover that we have a problem will try to solve the problem with the same ideas and thinking processes that caused the problem to begin with. This simply will not work.

Albert Einstein once said that “insanity was doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” What I am referring to above really is insanity. So what is it you need to do? Step back and take a honest look at the problem or issues at hand. How did it come about. Take responsibility that your thinking influences what happens in your reality. Once this is done, calm the mind and solutions will begin to present themselves. The worst thing you can do is run around trying to put out fires. Panic never solves anything. But a calm mind can solve any problem.

Sit down close your eyes and take 10 deep breaths. Ask yourself what this issue will mean in 5 days, 5 weeks and/or 5 years. Get a new prospective.

No problem can ever be solved with the mind that created it.

That is right, the entire world we see before us is the past. It is a creation of our past thoughts, never our present ones. Our mind loves to exist here, so it tosses this world up at us, like it somehow actually matters on the grand scheme of things.

So am I saying we should ignore this creation? Certainly not, just understand the value of it. See it for what is really is. The manifestation of previous thinking. With that in mind you have  a different view of things.

Happiness will always be found from within. You cannot find it in any person, place or thing. However you can share that happiness with someone else if they are a match to your vibrations. If they are not, you will find discomfort in the realtionship. If you really want to find happiness it is found inside, no where else.

Wow, it really is…..No matter what any one of us chose to think. Death is as certain as birth. There is absolutely no way around it, nor will their ever be.  The time we spend in these physical bodies in finite. And we have no idea how long this might be.

With this mind, my question then is, “why do we take it so seriously?”

No matter what your ‘belief’ system is. If you think we re-incarnate, or go to some form of heaven, even perhaps ‘nothing’….Why so serious? Everything we do becomes history and most of it will be forgotten. What is the big deal? Should be not enjoy the time we have here instead? YES WE SHOULD!

There is only one reason why we don’t enjoy our lives and live to the fullest. We fall into the traps of MIND.  Our reality is created by our thinking, and the constant stream of irrelevant questions and incorrect interpretations of the mind cause us to see the world in the wrong sense. We feel trapped and limited as we look at our ‘reality.’

As I have said so many times the mind exists in the past and tries to write the future from there.  The problem is that it is not disciplined. It is like letting a 2 year old child run a life.  By taming and taking control of the mind it becomes a powerful tool, one that can be used to create the reality of your choice.

The only way to quiet the mind is with mediation. The benefits are worth the effort required 1000 fold.  The results you will see in your lfe for the small amount of time invested with shock you.

Change the way you think and the things in your world will change.

This is one of the most famous of all Buddha’s quotes. But what did he really mean by it? The western mind will especially have great trouble with this concept. The statement “we are what we think” is complete. It is total. We, you, me, everyone is a product of what we think on a day to day basis. Our habitual good and bad thoughts.

Thoughts are things. They are the originating energy of any and all creation.  We at a our true nature are pure positive forward moving energy. When our thoughts do not align with this, it causes us pain and suffering.  The problem is that we create with our day to day thinking, not our higher self.

Once we become able to control and thus change our daily thought patterns we can begin to take control of our lives and our creations.  Until we do we remain trapped in a world that is the making of our undisciplined, uncontrolled thought processes.

Buddha became enlightened by quieting his mind and taking control of his day to day thinking.  We can all do the same if we choose to do so.  Remember everything in our world is there because we made a choice, but everything can be changed by thinking differently.

We truly are what we think.

The path of the martial artist is one of self discovery. It is a development of the connection between the mind and the body. As we go though life we are aware of our minds, but we forget about our bodies unless something goes wrong.  As you are reading this are you aware of your blood flow?

To be successful as a martial artist you must begin to reflect within. Some will only do this during training, however as the martial artist develops they begin to think of the arts all the time. As mastery approaches the connection of body, mind and spirit begins to reveal itself. When combined with meditation the combination is unbeatable!

Zen is a living truth in the martial arts. I will refer you to this article for more information on this aspect.  As you are searching on your path for truth consider the martial arts as a vehicle. It is an excellent vehicle also! Martial Arts was brought to China by a Zen Master Bodhidharma, so the connection is deep.

Discover the Peace of Mind available in martial arts training.

What is a Buddha? A Buddha is an ordinary person, who has simply been awakened. Understanding this can also be a challenge. First I want to say that we all all Buddha’s. However we are still asleep and therefore don’t realize or understand this. What do I mean by asleep? Like in the sleep we experience at night, we sleep during our waking hours because we are not in control. Our minds fill our heads with illusions of what reality really is, and it is NOT what we think it is. A Buddha sees the world in it totality.

Because of our vision of the world around us, a VERY limited vision, we spend a great deal of time being unhappy. We believe that the world influences our actions (look at the state of the world) when if fact it is us that does the influencing. We think our destiny is out of our control. The truth is we are in the driver seat.

Society has taught us that we are “less” and “not worthy” when in fact the opposite is the truth. It is time to put away the controlling dogma’s and think for ourselves. Our nature is pure positive energy, pure love and joy and we must experience this.  The time is now, to sit in quiet and experience the truth within ourselves.

What is a Buddha? We are ALL Buddhas………

“All beings are from the very beginning Buddhas. It is like water and ice: Apart from water, no ice, outside living beings, no Buddhas. Not knowing it is near they seek it afar, what a pity!”…………….Osho

Truth is not going to be found in ancient writings or scrolls. No religion has the market cornered on truth, when in fact they often times know and understand less than most people do.  Truth does not come from 3000 years ago, 2500 years ago 2000 years ago or 10 minutes ago. It comes from RIGHT NOW.

So am I saying that looking for truth in organized religion and it’s scrolls are a waste of time? Basically yes. There is no truth in past lives, or ancient writing. All of these writings are only vehicles to help you get there. They are NOT the truth in and of themselves.  How can I say this? Because for most people these ‘ways’ are a prison. Truth is freedom. These alleged truths have caused much suffering in the world, especially in the form of WAR.  Blood is still shed today over these supposed ‘truths‘

Real truth, your truth, once discovered will result in joy and bliss, not pain and suffering. Our nature is happiness. When something causes misery it is because it is false, taking you away from your true nature.

To find your truth all you need is to look within. Look within without judgment. Judgment and truth have no relationship. Judgment is only opinion, not truth. Opinion is dualistic, acceptance is enlightenment.

If you are lost the way home is within.