{"id":363,"date":"2011-04-07T21:22:18","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T01:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=363"},"modified":"2011-04-07T21:22:18","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T01:22:18","slug":"happy-birthday-buddha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/04\/happy-birthday-buddha.html","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Buddha!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In Japan, the Buddha’s birthday is being celebrated today. Actually, it is the birthday of Siddhartha Gautama (or Siddhata Gotama in Pali), the man that later became the Buddha — the awakened one.<\/p>\n

This is a day of gratitude and in Japan, according to Wikipedia, “Japanese people pour\u00a0ama-cha<\/em> (a beverage prepared from a variety of\u00a0hydrangea) on small Buddha statues decorated with flowers, as if bathing a newborn baby.”<\/p>\n

So, contemplating the Buddha’s birthday, of which he had 80, what can we consider?<\/p>\n

Well, let’s first consider birthdays. Like most holidays, birthdays privilege one day over another and, thereby, run the risk of subverting mindfulness (because all days can be regarded as special). At least once a year we remember we are alive, and awaken to the precious possibility that this life represents. Maybe.<\/p>\n

In this sense, every day is our birthday. In fact, every moment is a birthday — a birth into this moment.<\/p>\n

Next, let’s consider the Buddha. Who was he? He was not the founder of a religion. Rather, he was a teacher, a guide, or as he liked to see himself, a physician treating the maladies of the human condition. He taught methods to alleviate this suffering, this anguish, the pervasive dissatisfaction that characterizes the human condition.<\/p>\n

He did not ask his followers (or his patients) to take these teachings on faith. Rather, he asked them to test these principles for themselves. 2500 years later, we can do the same each time we sit down to meditate.<\/p>\n

And the same principles still apply. The Digital Age contains different versions of anxiety than the Axial Age, yet something common connects over millennia. Something is off. If we engage life without mindfulness things are not quite right. The Buddha made this insight accessible, palpable, and most importantly doable.<\/p>\n

For this reason, we can celebrate the birthday of this being who gave humanity a dharma — a set of livable truths — that when embraced lead to an enduring and abiding engagement with life and our best look at being happy.<\/p>\n

So, Happy Birthday Buddha!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":371,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}