Buddhist Demolition, Inc.

"From appearances, cut away the clinging of mind. From mind, demolish the false lair of appearances. Appearance and mind are non-dual in the all-pervading freedom from extremes. In the realization of one-taste, recite the six syllable mantra." - Patrul Rinpoche, from Four Yogas of Mahamudra.


As I was meditating this morning, I lightly went over the four verses that make up these yogas. I often don't, today though I was struck by how fresh these verses seemed. I know that they belong to deeper levels of practice and understanding, yet today a new level of realization dawned, and a little bit more of them I was able to grasp. A micro sized seed, but I'll take even that!

Let me start by sharing that the door ro realization is found in several texts. Let me quote from the Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States, from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I grant that isn't it's real title, but it's the best known one. Root #1 says: "Alas, now as the intermediate state of living arises before me, renouncing laziness, for which there is no tinme in this life, I must enter the undistracted path of study, reflection, and meditation...." The laziness here of course is spiritual laziness. Elightenment takes a bit of work at first, just like a freshman attempting to begin grabbing a hold of particle physics and quantum engineering. It takes time to wrap your head around it. And so the Buddhist path of study, reflection, and meditation.

First, I need to ingest the words. Reading the way I know a lot of Americans do, isn't enough. It needs to be thought about, reflected on. Ruminated. When I Kindle, I make notes. Lately I've been reading James Fennimore Cooper's The Spy, and making all sorts of notes. I'm amazed at what Cooper was aware of. It's no different with other texts. I have to read them. Memorize them. Reflect on them, and then sit with them. Sit in meditation and allow the liberation to unfold. There is no hurry here. Last, I add the mantra around my lack of understanding.

For me, what is unfolding is the understanding of one-taste. At first, I though it meant a bland "universal oneness" that eliminates all individual distinctions. I am coming to see that isn't the case. The new agey "we are all one" might be right in reality, but it presupposes a lot that isn't correct either. I've heard it as a white wash for dysfunction many times. The one-taste is that place you will experience when you have begun to do as the text says: cut away and demolish.

Gadzooks! Rather rough sounding for a Buddhist! But that is the vigor and level to which I need to approach my "klesha," my samsaric way of being. In other words, the false constructs my ego puts up that blind me to reality. I need to cut away the clinging of my mind, the attaching it does to beliefs that creates an interpretation of reality. I need to demolish the false lair of appearances. False lair. Potent words, those. It is an apt description of the ego. Let me use this story for this kind of work.

When I was younger a group of us used to go camping across the Minnesota border in Canada every year. We became known to the guides and other Park people who worked there most of the year. One year, when we were filing our plan with the authorities (that way they knew who was going to be where and approximately when and when they would return to "check out," meaning they were safe and sound), they noticed we were going by a certain island. They told us of a certain camp site that had been too "civilized." The rules were that you left it the way you found it, the way nature presented it too you. So when we got there, and located ourselves on another "site," we went over to the "remodel" site and were greeted by assembled benches, built up fire pits, and objects attached to trees. So we demolished all the assembled benches, fire pits, and when we left, from the water, it looked a spot that could be a great camp site, instead of one that was indeed, well used. Such is the work of cutting away and demolishing. Return it to the natural state.

That will be the state of the "all pervading freedom from extremes." Be fearless. This isn't easy work. It is however, necessary, if I want to be free. Like any demolition though, you just have to start. First, empty the house. That's basic meditation practice. Once it's empty, there is more work to do. The real work in fact. I start with removing all trim and interior doors. Then I can strip out flooring, then sheet rock, then electrical and plumbing. Sometimes this is where remodeling is considered. Don't do it. You can make it look all cool and Zen-ish, but it won't be the natural state. Non bearing walls go next. Windows and doors, and now the house is open to the temperature of the natural state.Then you are left with the roof and the walls. I want this location to look the way it was before the foundation went in. So I take off the roof in pieces, and then the walls, working down floor by floor until I get to the foundation. The cinder block or concrete foundation, basement, or pad. Then I remove that.

Yes, a lot of work indeed. It will seem like a shame to throw away all those "resources." But I must. What I'm talking about here is a house built on illusions, and I want no part of that. I want the natural state. Once we learn the practices and start doing them, we'll learn how to do this activity moment by moment. We can return this "civilized" campsite to it's natural state. Pick up a hatchet, and let's get started. 

There is no attainment

This runs so contrary to everything I have done spiritually for so long. Let me hearken back over the years, uh, no decades. All the way back to the late 70s.

The 70s is when I had my born again phase I'll call it. There are other more accurate terms, but for now this word will do. Despite the fact that there are scriptures that point out there is nothing you can do to attain salvation other than believe, that is hardly what is practiced, or was, where I was churchified.T hose were the days when the health, wealth and prosperity doctrine really took off in the church of Pentecostalism. If you stepped back, the signs of God's favor on your life were excellent health, money pouring in, signs, wonders, miracles, answered prayers and people being saved all around you. That's a lot to attain. Which meant that there was a whole lot of Bible to memorize, because their path of faith indicates that. Lot's of praying and lots of memorizing. And giving away of money to the church. Particularly if you had less. That was my mind set for 13 years roughly. Variations on the theme, but still the bottom line theme. I did however, have the largest house group of our church. Not much else though.

So the spiritual heights of Christianity that come by attainment I never realized. And I brought that same mentality into my further adventures, one of which was getting ordained as a Druid priest. Yes, I am legally ordained by the state of Minnesota in the Reformed Druids of North America. And despite some wonderful people who actually have a heart to do good, and all the books about magic that were available, and the historic stories of Druids, I never attained to those lofty spiritual heights either. It wasn't for lack of trying.

So here I am now, sitting. Just sitting. That's my practice these days. Let me back up a tad. Recently I have added the Heart of Transcendent Knowledge sutra to my daily practice. Have you ever seen such a bunch of "nos" before? Talk about a negative! I do recall I counted 40 distinct nos. Talk about existential nihilism! What a downer! So I pretty much lightly touch on the text and repeat the mantra. I have liked for a long time, "where there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear." (Two more!) No fear! That stopped me once. I like that notion! I want o be fearless! Just get rid of obscurations? (This is the part where I know if it were a movie, we'd be in a desert, me all alone, armed to the teeth however, the camera at my face, and behind me would be a horde of gnarly assed looking enemies. Also armed to the teeth. My face would be one of semi- comic trepidation,  a bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face, and in it the camera can be seen the reflection of that horde as it zooms in on the bead of sweat....) piece of cake....

The other day I was perusing this text when I re-read for the umpteenth time, "since there is no attainment..." (insert sound of tires screeching to a halt here) they [the bodhisattvas] abide...." There it is! There is no attaining. It isn't about getting anything. No adding to. I just need to make like the dude Lebowski and abide. I moved on to practicing refuge, and it occurred to me: there is nothing to do here. I just need to trust. Consider the posture. Total submission and vulnerability. Trust. Finding that safe harbor, you drop anchor in the mandala of reality: pure essence, nature and compassion. What really is. Time to quit striving. One thing my teacher likes to say is, "relax." What he means is that there is no striving to attain. One relaxes into the natural state of things. Yes, we work the posture to release body energies, yet even that is to get it to relax into a state where they flow freely. We do the same with the mind. The tools we use in meditation aren't designed to add anything to us, they are designed to get us to relax into what already exists within us, the Buddha nature. This is more about realization of what is, of letting out, of letting go. That's the difficulty, and that's the beauty.

It's been in some regards, a long journey. But relaxing into what is has allowed me to relax into what is really there, which is love, compassion, joy, and a tough one in today's political climate, equanimity. I don't have to put those on. I just have to be vulnerable and let them come out. It is my true nature. No need to go out and get; just sit, be quiet and abide. I can finally let go of the feeling of needing to attain. The nos aren't such a downer anymore, they're just reminders of stuff I don't have to worry about attaining. I already have it all.

Subjective Apprehension

Subjective apprehension. How's that for abstract? Not the sort of image when I mention steak and potatoes is it? Hardly. Right there though, in the Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States these two words appear, not one, but twice. Even though I say "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" and your mind is filled with pictures, I'm sure that "subjective apprehension" still draws a blank. So let's create some pictures.

These two words appear in the Root Verses relative to two different states: meditative concentration, and death.Now we have pictures, and interestingly enough, though the English doesn't change much, the two most common understanding of these words fit these images perfectly.

Image of meditation: how does subjective apprehension relate to that state of meditation? The verse itself says in part, "Alas, now as the state of meditative concentration arises before me, renouncing the mass of distractions and confusions, I must undistractedly enter a state, which is devoid of subjective apprehension...." Don't let the "devoid" scare you. I'm not there yet either, and if I don't know what subjective apprehension is, then the devoid is hardly an issue. When we think of subjectivity, we often refer to an image of what I perceive, do we not? A subjective judgment would be based on my feelings, perceptions, thoughts and so on. So basically, we begin with me, and I'm sure you already see half the problem! The other word, apprehension, might mean in this case, "understanding, or grasping of..." It boils down to this: in meditation, we endeavor to release this grasp on our understanding of what we think we are. As we learn to sit, do not unspeakable thoughts course through our minds? So is that what we are? We like to think not. But that's just thinking. We have, over the last century or so tried very hard to define what we are as humans. Spirit, soul, and body? Or no soul? No spirit? Mind and body? What is mind? There are more questions than answers, and because we like answers, we make them up and then grasp onto them. Hence the opening picture. Grasping onto those images or constructs of our own making we end up calling ego, ID, Super Ego, Mind, Spirit, Me, and when the going gets tough economically we now say that we are re-inventing ourselves. How do we do that if experientially we have no answer to what we really are? This is like grasping water. In sitting meditation, we learn to relax into our true nature by letting go of what proves to be false.

That brings us to our next image: the moment of our death. The verse says, "Alas, now as the intermediate state of the time of death arises before me, Renouncing all attachment, yearning,
and subjective apprehension...." So imagine this scene if you will, and put yourself in it. You spent a life time creating an image of yourself which maybe even flew in the face of science. It was never confirmed by it, and lo and behold, science cannot alter what each of us must face. We spent a lifetime doing the first picture: grasping onto things. Our name. Our reputation, or lack thereof. Our lands, businesses, holdings, wealth, and whatever meaning they gave our lives. We grasped onto political and religious belief systems (acronymed as BS) and philosophies, be they kitchen variety or classical. At death we are alone, and what if everything we believed was wrong? No one goes with us, and nothing goes with us. Our life, our subjective life dependent on our mind or perspective for existence is threatened. We get apprehensive, afraid of losing not just our stuff, but of our very definition of existence. The regrets we might feel! The pain! The sorrow! The elemental breakdown begins to occur in our bodies, ending with the air leaving the body. We now have no choice in going where we have never gone before. Wow.

There is a great flow here though. If we spend time in sitting meditation learning to release all of this stuff in our minds that we think is so real and so concrete, dealing with me, me, and only me, then when we get to that time of death, it will be much easier to renounce all attachment, yearning and that fear of loss of me. If we live our lives with open palms and an open heart, receiving the gifts we get, and willingly allowing them to be shared, and not grasping onto them, then when they leave our hands we have no concerns about loss or grief because it was a gift. The love that gave it hasn't changed. Now maybe someone else can enjoy that gift.

I've spent a lifetime trying to be the macho man I'm not, all the while not knowing exactly what it meant to be a man. I get to define that for myself. In sitting meditation, and studying dharma texts I learn to release the false contructs of mind. Reflecting on love and compassion allows me to open my heart. It took a traumatic event to bring me to that apex,  which won't be the case for everyone. Moving into that vulnerability means I can give up trying to control what happens in my life. It allows me to receive gifts of love. It allows me to ask for help. It allows me the freedom to not have to define, have answers, or understand everything. It does however, allow me to live with joy, and face that moment of death with a lot less apprehension.

As I said before, I'm not there.

Yet.

I had my annual check-up recently with my teacher, Kilung Rinpoche. He was his usual gracious self, and listened as I laid out my few questions and explained where and how my practice was coming along. Part of what I walked away with was him re-iterating one thing to me, and another was a new addition to my practice. Technically, "Do more."

I share this with you because I have heard in whispered threads these same lessons, and something struck me this morning as I have been reflecting on it. What Rinpoche shared with me was to focus on the Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind to Dharma. I am at a place in my practice where I am doing the inner preliminaries of ngondro. And every day I speak these four thoughts out loud. Each of the thoughts has a page in our ngondro manual, which I repeat. Now it seems to me then that for Rinpoche to nudge me this way again means I am missing something, in my line of thinking anyway. In essence, I think he wants me to go deeper on these Four Thoughts. So this morning I cracked open Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher again to re-visit what had been said. Turns out it's a bit more than just a page or two on each thought. More like a chapter. It also nudges me to start reflecting on the very likely idea that maybe I am not allowing these Four Thoughts to really settle in my ground being, my true nature heart/mind. It's easy to let stuff rattle around intellectually. I know however, that isn't what Rinpoche wants. For me it's easy to get my dander up politically. I find though that when I do, I find all sorts of attachments. And those need to be challenged, especially if in the process I denigrate others. My speech needs the reality of bodhichitta, as well as my thoughts. Because even though I may disagree with a lot of what is happening, but I still need to respond from the Awakened Mind, not what I am attached to. Let me share these words from Patul Rinpoche:

"Whenever you do something positive, whether of major or minor importance, it is indispensable to enhance it with the three supreme methods. Before beginning, arouse the bodhichitta as a skillful means to make sure that the action becomes a source of good for the future. While carrying out the action, avoid getting involved in any conceptualization, so that merit cannot be destroyed by circumstances. At the end, seal the action properly by dedicating the merit, which will ensure that it continually grows ever greater."

Words of My Perfect Teacher, Part 1, chapter 1, pg. 8

So I encourage you to re-visit these Four Thoughts.

The other aspect I was encouraged to increase, ("Do more.") was the Vajrasattva practice. I have been doing 21 mantras a day as I am focused on doing prostrations and the Refuge/Bodhichitta generation. (Still a most wondrous visualization). I have been discovering through the Vajrasattva visualization practice that it is indeed quite powerful. And at the end, it becomes a benefit to others. In Words of My Perfect Teacher, Patrul Rinpoche mentions the Confession of Downfalls in the Vajrasattva practice. So I found a link that provided the Confession as well as Indian and Tibetan commentary. I have been thoroughly amazed at adding this addendum practice to my Vajrasattva practice. The Tibetan commentary lists the names of the 35 Buddhas and their cleansing attribute. Thirty five? Oh my partitioning mind! That means I can address 5 a day, and in a week bow to them all. I find that this sort of break down allows me to focus a bit more on individuals, and their aspect to me. "To the Bestower of Courage," who eliminates latent traces of anger. A good one when I think of today's polarized political environment. "To the One Who Understands Clearly, Enjoying the Radiant Light of Purity" eliminates the latent traces of the non-virtue of our speech. Need I say more? There are only 33 left....

The impact it has had on me is subtle and powerful. "Do more" I realize, meant more than just increasing the number of mantras. Learning more about practices is always thrilling to some extent, and humbling in others. Massive vistas of potentiality open up, but it's also apparent that a lot of obscurations are still needing attention. I also have  a new found appreciation for the vows I have made, the commitments,  and the depth to which my heart and mind can be opened. As I have focused more on the Vajrasattva visualization, I can actually do it anywhere. Seeing the couple in bliss, and the nectar flowing through them into me and driving out the impurities, and then from the seed in my heart/mind, the lights emanating out as offerings and prayers for all sentient beings can be generated in a second, and so I can do it as I drive or walk around downtown. And what I really like is that in all this focus on my downfalls, committed for endless aeons, and the purification process has no judgment in it. There are the Four Powers, like the Four Thoughts, and it is all summed up by, "Vajrasattva is pleased, and smiling says, 'O Child of Noble Family, your wrong doings, obscurations, and transgressions are all purified.'"

"They melt into radiant clarity."

Re-visit the Four Thoughts that turn the mind to dharma: Precious human birth, the suffering of samsara, impermanence, and karma. And let's heart connect with the Refuge and Vajrasattva visualizations. Kilung would emphasize that more than just repeating mantras. I would say that ngondro is less about achieving the numbers and more about the connection and opening of the heart and mind to the depths of not only my downfalls, committed over aeons, and also to the real nature of us all, the immeasurable love, compassion, joy and equanimity of the Awakened Mind.

Born From Intention

"All suffering comes from yearning for your own happiness. The perfect Buddhas are born from the intention to benefit others." - Thogme's 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, verse 11.


Let me share with you this idea, particularly because there is some relevant political chatter these days that might confuse this issue. I want to share with you the idea of self preservation as a Buddhist practice and how it fits into today's underlying political talk.

The foundation of this practice is the first phrase of our quote: you yearn, you suffer. I remember once back in my charismatic fundamentalist Christian days, a visiting Pastor told our congregation that everyone in jail is there because they tried to be happy. It took me a bit of reflecting on that one, but I saw that he was correct. In our own twisted way, we often times do something stupid because our motivation is to be happy, but the twisting that fear and ignorance create makes us resort to a rather convoluted solution to achieve that happiness. We rob, we denigrate, we kill. There is a yearning, but the problem comes because we react. We don't take the time to explore the yearning to see what it really is all about.

It is just that reflecting on the fact that much suffering arise from yearning for happiness that we become motivated to alleviate the suffering of others. And it is precisely that which creates many burnt out do gooders. So what is the solution? Putting the horse in front of the cart of course! And in this case the horse is self interest.

I can hear the brakes already. I assure you though, self interest is definitely something that is Buddhist, and it differs from selfishness as well as self loathing and is a necessary step before you actually discover the delusion of what the self is.

Self interest can be found in these same 37 practices that Thogme wrote. Just look at verse 1. "...listen, reflect, and meditate with diligence day and night." Is that not a lone activity that will benefit you primarily? Verse 3 says we should rely on solitude, not volunteering even for the sangha, the food shelf, animal shelter and soup kitchen. Then verse 26 says, "If lack of diligence prevents you from benefiting yourself, then your wish to benefit others is just a joke." I think that pretty much sums it up. There is a certain level of self interest that needs to occur. And then the bug bites....

Along that way surely you will see through your own experience what relieves suffering, and how that could benefit someone close to you. And the mahayana bug will bite you, and a buddha will be born. I say that because I have learned that when one takes meditation seriously, and begins looking deeply at one's life, you usually don't see a bed of roses. Oh no. You see all the shit that makes for suffering. The shit that makes you do the stupid stuff you do with your body, your mouth, and mind. The hurtful words we spew out, the hatred we harbor, hell, even for strangers who simply hold politically different views than us. Anger, jealousy, attachment, pride, all that stuff. We'll see it. Sounds like fun huh? Pema Chodron said, "On the journey of the warrior-bodhisattva, the path goes down, not up, as if the mountain pointed toward the earth instead of the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward turbulence and doubt however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes, we let it be as it is. At our own pace, without speed or aggression, we move down and down and down. With us move millions of others, companions in awakening from fear." 


So what does any of this have to do with political rhetoric? Well, there is a lot being said about Ayn Rand these days, and her worship of selfishness as it's called. What Ayn Rand was in some ways referring to was exactly this self interest. That she had no place for altruism is true apparently, and that is where many will  diverge from her. But in the discussions of the day it will be important to make the distinction between self interest, which looks to make sure I get paid a decent wage to take care of family needs, that sort of thing, and selfishness. Selfishness on the other hand regards little the suffering that actions may cause others. And if Chodron is right, that there are millions in fear, then a voice that brings calm will help present the solutions we need in this world, and will help the political rhetoric be more humane and understanding.

Keep those differences between self interest and selfishness in mind. The analogy of a battery at this point is a fair one. A battery needs to be kept charged to be of continual use. Charging is self interest, so that I am a useful tool as long as possible. Let's see to it that we stay charged as a dharma battery. Remember solitude, reflection, and meditation. Be the tool that is useful to others. Maintain your self interest, your diligence to benefit yourself, so that you can benefit others.

That's no joke.

Tashi Deleg!

Jigme Senge

The Body Of Meditation Redux

Have you ever struggled in your meditation? Had troubles with motivation? I know I have. Part of what helped me were several versus, which I have blogged about before, about the Body Of Meditation. Well, I sort of revisited that idea with the idea in mind on the actual description of the seat of meditation, which is sometimes referred to as a lotus moon seat. The meditator  is sitting on a lotus, with a sun behind the body, and a moon, a smaller disc, behind the head.

So this morning I was ruminating on this, and revisited the Supplication To The Kagyu Gurus. As I have mentioned before, it presents meditation in reference to the body: the foot of meditation is, the head of meditation is, and the body of meditation is. And new thoughts began to spring forth.

It probably has more to do with seeing new levels, which tends to be the case in Buddhist experience. Anyway, the image begins at the feet. The lotus is symbolic of renunciation. Being that this is a blog, I'm not a teacher, yet, I'm going to go out on a limb here. Renunciation is vital. In fact, in Words of My Perfect Teacher, there is mention of isolation, which serves to reduce the number of distractions to practicing the dharma. And maybe in Tibet in the centuries past that was a do-able thing. However, if you are like me, it is the 21st century, I am a home maker (meaning married with children and gainfully employed), which means that dropping everything to find a suitable place to isolate would not benefit many people, least of all myself. So how can I renounce, to sit on this pure white lotus unstained from the mud from which it arose, and still exist within the cultural framework I find myself in? Hey, my karma put me here, how do I do this thing?

There are meditation exercises one can do that will enable one to detach from this world to an extent. We might like to completely, but considering all the suffering we would like to eliminate. Ken McLeod's book, Wake Up To Your Life, has some great meditation practices in it to develop detachment, renunciation, and as another translation of the world, revulsion. Partly it has to do with changing our view, which then affects what we value. As we more and more learn to value that which lessens suffering, we will obviously then not value that which creates it, be they philosophical views, or political/economical views. One of those practices is is meditating on equanimity. It's a great practice to find out where your own bias is, as well as the ego. There are many more in his book, which I, and my teacher, recommend.

However, there may be a time needed to actually quit reading the news, books, listening to talk radio, watching TV, and isolating oneself as much as possible, to spend time practicing. It's not unlike building a house. This part is not the foundation, it's getting the dirt ready to take a foundation, as well as the work involved in establishing the drainage, compaction, the stem walls and slabs needed to actually put a building on. The trick here is to not let the ego get caught up in the spiritual trip....

The Sun is behind the body, and it symbolizes emptiness. DANGER WILL ROBINSON: yes, there is some. Emptiness realization, when it starts, can develop a bit of nihilistic feelings. I got them. It was all very depressing for a brief while. And it really means that you have just broken through, or still are, the very surface of what emptiness is. The body of meditation is awareness. And when you bring awareness to the reality that all is empty (eh?), then you are getting somewhere! So what does empty mean? Good question. My answer will be the country bumpkin variety, so if you really want a great precise answer, consult a teacher. Take a table for instance. See, already you have an image in your mind. Take that "table" apart in your mind. Now that you have all the parts on the floor, please pick out for me the part that is called "table." I think you see where this is going. Do the same thing with your arm. With a mountain. With your ego. Your consciousness. Then tell me where inside you that consciousness resides. Oh my! We have conveniently labeled the material and none-such in our lives, and as we can see, there is really no "table." It's a label we give to an amalgamation of parts. And if we look atomically close at every part, what we see is that the whole thing is held together by the electro-magnetic bonds of the atoms, which are really some incredibly small particles that zip around in emptiness!  If we compressed all the empty space out of every atom, we would be small indeed.

What does all this mean?! Argh! Funny you should ask that, because maybe all which you see around you, when viewed from this "empty" perspective, isn't the reality you ascribe to it. Unless you are a material atheist, when you pass on, this "reality" will be no more, so is it really reality? And what does the sun have to do with any of this?! Argh!*#! Harrison, you drive me nuts!

The sun is what is on the other side of the surface. Stay tuned for more.

Who Likes Dis-ease?

So why go through all this? Why prostrations, mantras, visualizations? Seems like a lot of work doesn't it?

"So that they may be at ease in the luminous expanse of the true nature of their own minds...."

That they may be at ease. The obvious implication? Sentient beings are dis-eased. A state of abnormality exists that is disturbing their normal functioning. And that can extend to many levels actually. For now though, let's just say that as humans, we aren't at ease. We have road rage, political rage as is evidenced by the rhetoric that has boiled over to the shootings in Arizona recently, the Progressive Hunter, and lets not forget this story with this result, and then there is the level of physical diseases in this country. For now let's skip over the state of health care in America. Let's instead look at what we often joke about: medicines. Ads for medicines. And they are getting more popular. When I was a kid, all I ever saw were the over-the-counter medication commercials. However, what we joke about is the fact that somewhere in the ad we hear about the side effects of medications. Sounds like job security for the doctors, and so we get on an attitude about doctors. 

And do we fear terrorists? Some folk do, thought the number of Muslims in this country is roughly two per cent. Some folk fear immigrants, as they drive their foreign car fueled with foreign fossil fuels to work while drinking foreign coffee, wearing clothes made in Indonesia or China, just like the desk they sit at while they listen to their foreign made phone or iPod, at least until lunch where they enjoy a salad that is mostly ingredients picked by those very same immigrants they fear. And the solution. Build a wall! That'll stop the dis-ease....

And what about the economy? How about those that are unemployed, and those that have mortgages nearing foreclosure or underwater, coupled with the fact that precious little is being done to rectify any of these problems. Home values diminishing, retirement accounts diminishing, what savings?! Relax.... If we just continue doing what we are doing, which means making sure wages are low and jobs are outsourced, then everything will be all right. Unemployed need not apply, however. And let's not forget that several sports teams need new stadiums, so make sure that, as Roger Goodell would tell us, they get the financial help they need. The millionaire players and billionaire owners need help. Meanwhile, as the military budget remains sacred, heating assistance, medicare/aid, food stamps and other assistance programs will be cut, yet we will borrow billions to give tax breaks to the top 2%. Even though you may not know where your next meal is coming from, or heat, relax. 


And much of all that tension that exists in this world is created and remains right between our ears, as it were. Rather daunting huh? "So that they may be at ease."


What we have available to us, in all this darkness, is an unbelievable amount of light. "..in the luminous expanse...." Wow! This is a great picture. Imagine turning on a light in space, that reveals all these planets. Sort of like being able to see all these stars, and nebulee, and planets, as they appear in deep space photos. And the expanse is, well, a  lot like space. Limitless. Your mind is not limited to your brain size. And in a time and place of darkness that needs solutions, what better than the luminous expanses of humans to converge on the matters? Oh yes.


Buddhism as we all know posits, by experience, that this is our true nature as humans. None of this yibbity yabbety that we are nothing, flawed, evil, broken, blah blah blah. All that weird shit that emanates from us is really skewed goodness. Anger is spazzed out mirror-like wisdom. Greed is discriminating wisdom gone south. Pride is a back turned on the wisdom of equality. And all those wisdoms and more reside within us. We're sort of mummified in layers and layers of old decrepit dirty rags that filter these wisdoms until they come out as klesha. The weird shit. "So that they may be at ease in the true nature of their own minds."

Whose mind? Here's a trick. It's one of those characteristics that separates a true spiritual friend (lama, guru, teacher) from a fake. The true friend helps you discover your own mind, not his. As one progresses along the meditation path, the friend then begins to advise your practice, not you to copy his or hers, but to discover your own innate natural mind. Your enlightened nature. It's like a personal prescription, and won't work for anyone else. It's what is called "custom built." Really though, can it be any other way and remain true?


So what makes all this effort worth it is so that others can experience their own true mind. When we ponder the dis-ease that is so prevalent, it makes the effort easier. There is of course the extra benefit in that you will experience the true nature of your own mind as well. If your head was on fire, how much effort would you exert to put it out?


Tashi Deleg!