I looked at an earlier post, and noticed I had referenced my political blog, which is of late rather dormant. Having changed consciousness, I can no longer indulge myself in the ramblings of my ego, and the expense of others, no matter how easy they make it to do so.
To the Being: I noticed this morning that the being of meditation, as I refer to it, has four distinct aspects. The head, the foot, the body, and the essence. For the first time I realized that the essence is what makes the being alive. And that what separates the foot and head is awareness. What I mean by that is that metaphorically, we can get stuck in doing, which is what the feet represent, or thinking, what the head represents. We can also go overboard on what they are in the verse themselves, the renunciations and/or devotion, which as an expression of ego becomes false humility. Aestheticism has been used as an escape device by many for centuries, if not millenia.
It's the body, awareness, that brings it all together for the foot and head. That daily awareness, that nowness of every moment in all it's mundaneness, it's ordinariness. Nothing seemingly sacred, or WOW! about it. It's just the moment by moment of living with the dish washing, folding laundry, buying groceries, going to work, and doing that work. For example, last night I was in class at Officer Academy. A former district volunteer has re-joined, and he was a former Lieutenant, which is what I am testing for. Technically, he's been in the district much longer, has the officer experience, and so for the most part stands a much better chance of being the next Lieutenant at our station than I do. So I caught myself thinking about the future I cannot predict as if it were a done deal already. The other guy might be trying for captain. He might move. He might a lot of things, and so might I. What I want you to see though, is that this mental predicting and calculating I was doing was brining me down, bumming me out. My emotional state was responding to my mental structures. I felt like this class was a colossal waste of time. All based on speculations of my mind. I wasn't being now, and I knew that it would affect my ability to learn the night's mundane lesson. Being now is my inner purpose, and will reveal my outer purpose, which may not involve the fire district at all. Honestly, it's a bit hard to wrap my head around that thought. My ego doesn't like that notion.
A paradox: this form world we refer to as reality, is quite empty. Not just if we hang our identity on it in what ever shape: a political identification, a religious identification, an identification around an illness, or a hobby, or a vocation. Take me for example. I could say I am a carpenter, a father, a husband, a firefighter/EMT, an event organizer, a writer, a Buddhist, a liberal, and drummer. All of that is nonsense if that is what we think makes us what we are. Another aspect that nature teaches us about reality reinforces this. Look into space tonight. What do you see? Lots and lots of stars. So many we say they outnumber the grains of sand, too many to count, whatever. And then visit the Hubble telescope web site and find out how many more thousands of galaxies have been discovered in the tiniest spots of space by focusing on one little area for 10 days. More stars! More galaxies! But wait a moment. What are those stars existing in, which is so much more vast than the number of stars? That's right: empty space. And what do all the little sub-atomic parts exist in that make up the atoms that make up the molecules that make up the cells that make up the organs that make up the you and me of this world? That's right.
Empty space.
If you removed the empty space from the uncountable atoms that make up our physical reality, we would be incredibly small. Most of this form reality, this physical world we live in, is empty space. And we focus a lot of attention on this physical world, which is the only reality that succumbs to degradation.
So we have a meditation body, complete, and the essence of it all, that life giving force is, well, something I really have yet to figure out. I do know, that it resides in the mind. The consciousness, that luminous reality beyond form. I like the phrase, "...the inseparability of samsara and nirvana."
Say wha? That's right. They are inseparable because they both occur in the same place: our consciousness, or mind. If we remove the obscurations from our mind, we have nirvana. We move from the state of obscuration, samsara, to nirvana. A journey of a thousand lifetimes and we may never take a step out of the home town! Realizing this in itself will be the first step in that journey. And one result of that journey will be significant changes in the physical reality of our lives. Some of this truth is explained in the movies The Secret and What The Bleep Do We Know?
To conclude, being all monkish, and aesthetic, or "humble," are not what we are after. Those become religious, or spiritual identifications, and egoic expressions. Without that ordinary dayness, that body of awareness in the mundane, brings the head and foot together, and adding that essence which sees the emptiness, metaphorically and literally, in the form reality, will bring your meditation being into a higher state.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Five Poisons Self-Liberated
Part of my daily practice involves certain supplications, which I tend to say out loud. Then when my session for the day draws to a close, I speed read through several pages of stuff that are not incorporated in my practice as of yet. However, they provide a wealth of instruction that over time and constant repetition, are making clear their wisdom. Such it is with the Five Poisons Self- Liberated by Dza Paltrul Rinpoche.
Let me first explain what they are, these five poisons, and then some aspects about them I have observed.
The five poisons are anger, pride, desire, jealousy, and stupidity. All of these poisons are self arisen, which makes me personally responsible for their existence, and being self-liberated, responsible for their non-existence as well. Which is my first observation. The ball is in my court with these five poisons.
Each of these five poisons, these five nouns, have a modifier that goes with it. The modifier accompanying anger is chase. "Do not chase after the object of your anger," the verse states. Note that it doesn't say chasing after anger, but the object of your anger. Be very clear on that.
The modifier accompanying pride is cling. "Do not cling to the object of your pride." Again, note the presence of the object.
The modifier accompanying desire is attach. Not being a student of the Tibetan language, the difference between the two in English is that attach means to join together, to fasten. Cling means to adhere closely to.
The modifier obsess attends to the noun jealousy. Again with the object. Again, we don't look at the object.
And the modifier mistaken escorts the noun stupidity. Once again....
I will comment on three of these poisons for now. Mainly because I have experienced the poisons profoundly throughout my life.
The first one is the anger. I need to look at the angry mind. So when my anger pops up, this is my flag. I can stop, and look at my angry mind. I can identify the object, and realize chasing it is futile. The object is not the problem. Anger is actually clarity-emptiness by nature, or, mirror-like wisdom. In other words, anger is really a polluted version of mirror-like wisdom. And what does a mirror do? See, now you're getting it. It reflects you, doesn't it? And specifically in this case, a part of you you need to see, not just for what we chase, but the wisdom we actually contain, the clarity that is there in us. It takes a bit of practice with this, and the willingness to be humble. Once my mind begins to unravel these delusions that are polluted forms of virtues, or I get glimpses of them, I recite the six syllable mantra, which is OM MA/NI PAD/ME HUM. This will be the antidotal mantra for all the poisons.
The second one is jealousy. The verse calls jealousy the "examining mind." I don't quite get that, I admit. Jealousy as I understand it is a resentment against someone because of their advantage, possessions, and so forth. The thing that makes me understand this is that the examining mind is nothing other than all accomplishing wisdom. All accomplishing? In other words, the nature to accomplish what someone else has accomplished resides in me. The question then is, is that what I really want to accomplish? The capability to accomplish is already within me. The road block is the polluted virtue of jealousy.
The third one is stupidity. Many people might feel this one, especially if they never went on to educational levels beyond high school. "Don't be mistaken about the object of your stupidity." Higher education won't necessarily make you smarter. I have in fact met doctorates that were alcoholics. Their education was doing nothing for them. So, stupidity. Look at the thoughts! Thoughts are awareness-emptiness by nature. Ah, the beginning of intelligence: awareness. If you ever end up in a circle of those who pride themselves on their intelligence and levels of education, you'll notice that they use a vocabulary you don't. But how tough is it to learn words? Not tough at all. Do you want to learn that vocabulary is the question. And, awareness often shows up how people utilize words as something to hide behind, and awareness can cut through that rather easily. So when it comes to discussing issues and the like, it isn't always necessary to know the Ph.D level vocabulary to discuss it. It is far better to be aware of the real nature of the issue, and being able to present it. Thoughts are self-arisen, and self-liberated. Go educate yourself.
That's three of them, and my ruminations about them. As I read over these verses, I finish with an OM MANI PADME HUM, and the constant re-reading of them usually uncovers something new. If you can't find them in Google search, let me know and I'll post them here.
Let me first explain what they are, these five poisons, and then some aspects about them I have observed.
The five poisons are anger, pride, desire, jealousy, and stupidity. All of these poisons are self arisen, which makes me personally responsible for their existence, and being self-liberated, responsible for their non-existence as well. Which is my first observation. The ball is in my court with these five poisons.
Each of these five poisons, these five nouns, have a modifier that goes with it. The modifier accompanying anger is chase. "Do not chase after the object of your anger," the verse states. Note that it doesn't say chasing after anger, but the object of your anger. Be very clear on that.
The modifier accompanying pride is cling. "Do not cling to the object of your pride." Again, note the presence of the object.
The modifier accompanying desire is attach. Not being a student of the Tibetan language, the difference between the two in English is that attach means to join together, to fasten. Cling means to adhere closely to.
The modifier obsess attends to the noun jealousy. Again with the object. Again, we don't look at the object.
And the modifier mistaken escorts the noun stupidity. Once again....
I will comment on three of these poisons for now. Mainly because I have experienced the poisons profoundly throughout my life.
The first one is the anger. I need to look at the angry mind. So when my anger pops up, this is my flag. I can stop, and look at my angry mind. I can identify the object, and realize chasing it is futile. The object is not the problem. Anger is actually clarity-emptiness by nature, or, mirror-like wisdom. In other words, anger is really a polluted version of mirror-like wisdom. And what does a mirror do? See, now you're getting it. It reflects you, doesn't it? And specifically in this case, a part of you you need to see, not just for what we chase, but the wisdom we actually contain, the clarity that is there in us. It takes a bit of practice with this, and the willingness to be humble. Once my mind begins to unravel these delusions that are polluted forms of virtues, or I get glimpses of them, I recite the six syllable mantra, which is OM MA/NI PAD/ME HUM. This will be the antidotal mantra for all the poisons.
The second one is jealousy. The verse calls jealousy the "examining mind." I don't quite get that, I admit. Jealousy as I understand it is a resentment against someone because of their advantage, possessions, and so forth. The thing that makes me understand this is that the examining mind is nothing other than all accomplishing wisdom. All accomplishing? In other words, the nature to accomplish what someone else has accomplished resides in me. The question then is, is that what I really want to accomplish? The capability to accomplish is already within me. The road block is the polluted virtue of jealousy.
The third one is stupidity. Many people might feel this one, especially if they never went on to educational levels beyond high school. "Don't be mistaken about the object of your stupidity." Higher education won't necessarily make you smarter. I have in fact met doctorates that were alcoholics. Their education was doing nothing for them. So, stupidity. Look at the thoughts! Thoughts are awareness-emptiness by nature. Ah, the beginning of intelligence: awareness. If you ever end up in a circle of those who pride themselves on their intelligence and levels of education, you'll notice that they use a vocabulary you don't. But how tough is it to learn words? Not tough at all. Do you want to learn that vocabulary is the question. And, awareness often shows up how people utilize words as something to hide behind, and awareness can cut through that rather easily. So when it comes to discussing issues and the like, it isn't always necessary to know the Ph.D level vocabulary to discuss it. It is far better to be aware of the real nature of the issue, and being able to present it. Thoughts are self-arisen, and self-liberated. Go educate yourself.
That's three of them, and my ruminations about them. As I read over these verses, I finish with an OM MANI PADME HUM, and the constant re-reading of them usually uncovers something new. If you can't find them in Google search, let me know and I'll post them here.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Bliss Of Liberation
The other day I was talking with a new co-worker about drugs. I got around to telling some of the story of my old days, when a lid went for $15, and a couple guys could roll a joint and get high. It wasn't the one-toke wonder hybrid stuff of these days where an ounce cost $300.
I told him the story of my attendance at a J. Geils band concert where I had consumed a Quaalude. I recall it was a big monster of a pill, and it took me and three other guys with jackhammers to make it ingestible. Basically, it made me rubber. I could hear just fine, but my muscles didn't want to work. So I flopped over in my seat and literally listened to the show, since I couldn't hold my head up and hence had nothing of a view except the floor. I never bothered with Quaalude again, nor downers in general.
But it got me to thinking about how many guys just around where I live get stoned during lunch. I have to think that they need this disconnect, because supposedly pot is non-addictive. Are they that unable or unhappy in their current states of their lives that they need an artificial state of mind by noon?
And that took me to what an alternative is: the bliss of liberation. So let's look at just what that is.
Obviously, bliss is the outcome of liberation. But liberation from what? Liberation in this case is the liberation from the obscurations of the mind, those ignorance's which keep us from understanding our true nature and the nature of true reality, those ingrained habituation's that keep us suffering. That's what we are liberated from.
In the Short Meditation On The Graduated Path To Enlightenment, found in Kathleen MacDonald's book titled How To Meditate, there is a stanza that makes this same opposition:
"Please grant me blessings to understand
that there is no satisfaction in
enjoying samsaric (the state of non-liberation) pleasures
and that their shortcoming is that they cannot be trusted.
May I (instead) strive intently for the bliss of liberation.
Please bless me to cultivate this wish."
I added the parenthetical statements to clarify.
Moving On! So instead of seeking that buzz, that escape from my own pain and/or feelings, I can strive intently for the bliss of liberation. So how is this accomplished, and just what is this bliss?
If one finishes the above mentioned piece in MacDonald's rather good book, you will find that liberation is accomplished, or at least begun, in the act of sitting meditation, and more formally the beginning of tranquility and insight meditation. Other activities like reading sutras and texts, and then ruminating on their meanings are helpful as well. But without the actual practice of sitting meditation, no liberation or bliss will occur. That's my take on it anyway, for the time being.
And this sitting practice brings results in steps, as one actually responds to what is discovered in meditation. So the bliss that results is relative to the liberation that happens. However, it does happen. But what is it? How do you know if you have it?
First, let's dispel the illusion that it's instant ecstasy, or euphoria. It's rarely instant at all, and hardly ever until it reaches the completion stage is it ecstasy. Rather, to begin with, it's a growing sense of happiness with who you are, and with your life in general. Also it's a sense of contentment. That's an important realization. Being content doesn't mean you don't dream anymore, or have ambition. It's more, at least in my experience, of a letting go of ego satisfaction, of detachment from needing material things and their possible meaning to the value of my life. In other words, I've discovered that all my answers about me are already in me. I don't need anything outside of me to find that, to define me. In fact, my dreams are inside me, my detached ambitions are inside me, and all the answers to what and who I am are inside me. The more I look in, the more I respond to the uncovering of ingrained habituations that trap me, also known as "kleshas," or as Pema Chodron might say, the garbage or shit in my mind, the more I will be liberated, and content, happy, and peaceful.
Interestingly, the etymology of bliss has to do with an old term(P.Gmc) that means "gentle, kind." I consider this a valuable insight. As I uncover klesha in my mind, I have two ways to react. Shame is one, and disgust, and then hiding the klesha under the rug. Pema Chodron's advice has been to make friends with it. Be gentle and kind to it, and that transforms the klesha into virtue. Maybe we could use the analogy of compost, turning garbage into something useful. By that act of being kind to an ugly part of myself, I begin to live in a state of gentleness, of kindness, and perhaps that really is what bliss is all about.
Bliss, this state of contented, happy, gentle, peacefulness is the outcome of an active and responsible practice of sitting meditation. As the text states, it is the adverse of the trusting of the enjoyment of sense pleasures as the source of happiness, which has been compared to drinking salt water.Our option is to exert ourselves with vigor with the intention of achieving this bliss. Then we'll really know what it means to be high.
I told him the story of my attendance at a J. Geils band concert where I had consumed a Quaalude. I recall it was a big monster of a pill, and it took me and three other guys with jackhammers to make it ingestible. Basically, it made me rubber. I could hear just fine, but my muscles didn't want to work. So I flopped over in my seat and literally listened to the show, since I couldn't hold my head up and hence had nothing of a view except the floor. I never bothered with Quaalude again, nor downers in general.
But it got me to thinking about how many guys just around where I live get stoned during lunch. I have to think that they need this disconnect, because supposedly pot is non-addictive. Are they that unable or unhappy in their current states of their lives that they need an artificial state of mind by noon?
And that took me to what an alternative is: the bliss of liberation. So let's look at just what that is.
Obviously, bliss is the outcome of liberation. But liberation from what? Liberation in this case is the liberation from the obscurations of the mind, those ignorance's which keep us from understanding our true nature and the nature of true reality, those ingrained habituation's that keep us suffering. That's what we are liberated from.
In the Short Meditation On The Graduated Path To Enlightenment, found in Kathleen MacDonald's book titled How To Meditate, there is a stanza that makes this same opposition:
"Please grant me blessings to understand
that there is no satisfaction in
enjoying samsaric (the state of non-liberation) pleasures
and that their shortcoming is that they cannot be trusted.
May I (instead) strive intently for the bliss of liberation.
Please bless me to cultivate this wish."
I added the parenthetical statements to clarify.
Moving On! So instead of seeking that buzz, that escape from my own pain and/or feelings, I can strive intently for the bliss of liberation. So how is this accomplished, and just what is this bliss?
If one finishes the above mentioned piece in MacDonald's rather good book, you will find that liberation is accomplished, or at least begun, in the act of sitting meditation, and more formally the beginning of tranquility and insight meditation. Other activities like reading sutras and texts, and then ruminating on their meanings are helpful as well. But without the actual practice of sitting meditation, no liberation or bliss will occur. That's my take on it anyway, for the time being.
And this sitting practice brings results in steps, as one actually responds to what is discovered in meditation. So the bliss that results is relative to the liberation that happens. However, it does happen. But what is it? How do you know if you have it?
First, let's dispel the illusion that it's instant ecstasy, or euphoria. It's rarely instant at all, and hardly ever until it reaches the completion stage is it ecstasy. Rather, to begin with, it's a growing sense of happiness with who you are, and with your life in general. Also it's a sense of contentment. That's an important realization. Being content doesn't mean you don't dream anymore, or have ambition. It's more, at least in my experience, of a letting go of ego satisfaction, of detachment from needing material things and their possible meaning to the value of my life. In other words, I've discovered that all my answers about me are already in me. I don't need anything outside of me to find that, to define me. In fact, my dreams are inside me, my detached ambitions are inside me, and all the answers to what and who I am are inside me. The more I look in, the more I respond to the uncovering of ingrained habituations that trap me, also known as "kleshas," or as Pema Chodron might say, the garbage or shit in my mind, the more I will be liberated, and content, happy, and peaceful.
Interestingly, the etymology of bliss has to do with an old term(P.Gmc) that means "gentle, kind." I consider this a valuable insight. As I uncover klesha in my mind, I have two ways to react. Shame is one, and disgust, and then hiding the klesha under the rug. Pema Chodron's advice has been to make friends with it. Be gentle and kind to it, and that transforms the klesha into virtue. Maybe we could use the analogy of compost, turning garbage into something useful. By that act of being kind to an ugly part of myself, I begin to live in a state of gentleness, of kindness, and perhaps that really is what bliss is all about.
Bliss, this state of contented, happy, gentle, peacefulness is the outcome of an active and responsible practice of sitting meditation. As the text states, it is the adverse of the trusting of the enjoyment of sense pleasures as the source of happiness, which has been compared to drinking salt water.Our option is to exert ourselves with vigor with the intention of achieving this bliss. Then we'll really know what it means to be high.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wishing
I wonder if Buddhists, at least American Buddhists who likely come into Buddhism having emerged from a religion previously experienced, carry into it a form of asceticism. That form of fake humility that thinks sacrifice is noble. Not that sacrifice isn't, but not all of it is.
I was ruminating this morning, as I am wont to do, on some verses in the Heart Sutra. I ran across this line:
"Wishing: in gladness and safety, may all beings be at ease."
That one word "wishing" say a lot. It means to long for, to desire. Which I think is something that people might tend to think we shouldn't be doing. I'll get to the text in a minute, but i want to focus on this word, because we need to be free in regards to it. We need to allow our desire and longing to be free.
I have been taking in the content of The Secret lately. I have also been reading Wayne Dyer's materials on intention. Both of them require that one desires. Particularly in The Secret, they emphasize worldly possessions as something to be desired. Meaning, we are free to do so. I think that most Buddhists of the American stripe might say that these types of desires would lead one into materialism, and they might, regardless of the religious system or beliefs one holds.
I also make it a habit to read my schools supplication to it's masters. One of those verses says the following:
"Revulsion is the foot of meditation, as is taught.
To this meditator who is not attached to food and wealth,
who cuts the ties to this life,
grant your blessings so I have no desire for honor and gain.
It seems like I have already contradicted myself, but I don't think I have, and I'll tell you why. Note the overall context that the last line appears in. The two important words are "attached," and "ties." That is the crux of the problem when it comes to functioning in the material world, the apparent reality. So the term desire has to be seen in that context of attachment and ties. So does that mean that if there is no attachment or tie, that there is no desire? I don't believe so. How else would one explain the works of various monks like Thich Nhat Hanh, Sogyal Rinpoche, and Trungpa Rinpoche who open retreat centers and other kinds of facilities the world over? What drives their vision? A lack of desire? I don't think so. I think it's an unattached desire.
Think about it, and we'll move on to the rest of our text.
Now the text I have has a colon after the word "wishing." I'm not certain that is in any original text, though i wouldn't bet against that. I have great respect for the accuracy that Buddhists maintain in transmitting their teaching, and translating them from their original languages into English. Even so, what I am trying to point out is this: look at he the first phrase as if the colon wasn't there. "Wishing in gladness and safety...."
That means to me that the wisher needs to be in a state of gladness and safety. Or maybe I should say, that is an option to strongly consider. Why? Because it is obvious if you spend any time pursuing the teaching of the Buddha, that it is apparent that you cannot give something to someone you don't have yourself. Which means that if I want others to be glad and safe, I must see to it that I am that way first, so I can show them how it is done. It brings us back to the old proverb, "Give a man a fish, and he eats a meal. Teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime." What is necessary is that I know how to fish to teach another person how to do it. Which returns us to wishing. I need to wish for that gladness and safety, and learn to live in that state.
"...may all beings be at ease." Ah, the fruit of our wishing. This also lets us know if that gladness and safety we think we have is genuine or not. If we aren't at ease, it isn't. The opposite of ease, is of course, dis-ease. No pun intended either. Most Buddhists would affirm that dis-ease in the body came from dis-ease in the mind first. Which is the crux of The Secret. "As a man thinks, so he is." I like the scope of this verse: "all beings."
The rest of the sutra pretty much describes what that means, so i won't elaborate that here. I'll just say that if we want a real exercise in where we are at in our path, just start with your family members and co-workers. Do you want, really long for,and desire, that all your family and colleagues be at ease? or are there some you don't care about either way? Maybe even some you think should pay some form of penalty or suffering for their weird dysfunctions which you and I of course don't share? Well, then obviously we aren't totally in a place of gladness are we? Or safety, because we are harboring to some degree, dis-ease in our mind. Don't be down though, because we all go through this. Realizing this is evidence that the wheel of the dharma is turning inside you. And that is very good.
So let's recap. It's okay to wish. We want to wish free from attachment, which also means detaching from family and co-workers. We should investigate our own gladness and safety, and as we gradually establish ourselves in it, we can then extend that wish to others, with the result that we all are at ease.
I was ruminating this morning, as I am wont to do, on some verses in the Heart Sutra. I ran across this line:
"Wishing: in gladness and safety, may all beings be at ease."
That one word "wishing" say a lot. It means to long for, to desire. Which I think is something that people might tend to think we shouldn't be doing. I'll get to the text in a minute, but i want to focus on this word, because we need to be free in regards to it. We need to allow our desire and longing to be free.
I have been taking in the content of The Secret lately. I have also been reading Wayne Dyer's materials on intention. Both of them require that one desires. Particularly in The Secret, they emphasize worldly possessions as something to be desired. Meaning, we are free to do so. I think that most Buddhists of the American stripe might say that these types of desires would lead one into materialism, and they might, regardless of the religious system or beliefs one holds.
I also make it a habit to read my schools supplication to it's masters. One of those verses says the following:
"Revulsion is the foot of meditation, as is taught.
To this meditator who is not attached to food and wealth,
who cuts the ties to this life,
grant your blessings so I have no desire for honor and gain.
It seems like I have already contradicted myself, but I don't think I have, and I'll tell you why. Note the overall context that the last line appears in. The two important words are "attached," and "ties." That is the crux of the problem when it comes to functioning in the material world, the apparent reality. So the term desire has to be seen in that context of attachment and ties. So does that mean that if there is no attachment or tie, that there is no desire? I don't believe so. How else would one explain the works of various monks like Thich Nhat Hanh, Sogyal Rinpoche, and Trungpa Rinpoche who open retreat centers and other kinds of facilities the world over? What drives their vision? A lack of desire? I don't think so. I think it's an unattached desire.
Think about it, and we'll move on to the rest of our text.
Now the text I have has a colon after the word "wishing." I'm not certain that is in any original text, though i wouldn't bet against that. I have great respect for the accuracy that Buddhists maintain in transmitting their teaching, and translating them from their original languages into English. Even so, what I am trying to point out is this: look at he the first phrase as if the colon wasn't there. "Wishing in gladness and safety...."
That means to me that the wisher needs to be in a state of gladness and safety. Or maybe I should say, that is an option to strongly consider. Why? Because it is obvious if you spend any time pursuing the teaching of the Buddha, that it is apparent that you cannot give something to someone you don't have yourself. Which means that if I want others to be glad and safe, I must see to it that I am that way first, so I can show them how it is done. It brings us back to the old proverb, "Give a man a fish, and he eats a meal. Teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime." What is necessary is that I know how to fish to teach another person how to do it. Which returns us to wishing. I need to wish for that gladness and safety, and learn to live in that state.
"...may all beings be at ease." Ah, the fruit of our wishing. This also lets us know if that gladness and safety we think we have is genuine or not. If we aren't at ease, it isn't. The opposite of ease, is of course, dis-ease. No pun intended either. Most Buddhists would affirm that dis-ease in the body came from dis-ease in the mind first. Which is the crux of The Secret. "As a man thinks, so he is." I like the scope of this verse: "all beings."
The rest of the sutra pretty much describes what that means, so i won't elaborate that here. I'll just say that if we want a real exercise in where we are at in our path, just start with your family members and co-workers. Do you want, really long for,and desire, that all your family and colleagues be at ease? or are there some you don't care about either way? Maybe even some you think should pay some form of penalty or suffering for their weird dysfunctions which you and I of course don't share? Well, then obviously we aren't totally in a place of gladness are we? Or safety, because we are harboring to some degree, dis-ease in our mind. Don't be down though, because we all go through this. Realizing this is evidence that the wheel of the dharma is turning inside you. And that is very good.
So let's recap. It's okay to wish. We want to wish free from attachment, which also means detaching from family and co-workers. We should investigate our own gladness and safety, and as we gradually establish ourselves in it, we can then extend that wish to others, with the result that we all are at ease.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Meditation space
There is a great book by Kathleen McDonald titled How To Meditate. It definitely comes from the Buddhist perspective, but in it she makes the case for having a meditation setting where you enjoy being. Meditation is something you want to do, and environment goes a long way in promoting that.
The photo is the altar I created. I'm still in the beginning stages of my schools practices, so I have received no formal instruction, if any exists, on what an altar should have on it. So i made my own.
The elements of course reflect a few things relative to my schools particular flavor. Namely the pictures of the lineage of the teachers and the deities we honor. But if you aren't Buddhist, and don't care to be, do something else.
But let me tell you about the thrift store reality of my altar, and meditation setting. Th box there is a piece we bought at Target years ago. It used to be my whole alter, and when I need to move stuff, it all went inside and then became portable. The other wood you see, the base , top, and backing, are objects I made from plywood to look like the great Diamond Stupa in Colorado. I did that because I read somewhere that a stupa on the altar is auspicious. I didn't want to buy one, and I had this sheet of plywood, and hey! Let's go to a different dimension.
The big Buddhas was a gift, the pictures of my teachers and the lineage I downloaded or purchased for a few dollars. The offering bowls, the little brown wood incense bowl, and the green water container are all thrift store purchases. The malas were both made from items on hand, and granted, one is fresh water pearls and the other lampworked beads, but that's what we have on hand. The prayer flags I got in mailers from The Campaign for Tibet.
The black cushion on the right I purchased when a member of a Meditation Center in Minnesota. On the other side of the altar is a bench I made, which I sit on, and the little desk for the items I read before I meditate.
The overall cost is minimal, there is more elbow grease, but I like my space under construction. Mind you, I still need to paint the stupa. And in your own meditation space, you can have whatever you want.
My computer, which is directly to the left of my altar, is on a door I painted checkerboard pattern. I am still hunting down pictures of my heroes, which include Paul Wellstone, Walt Whitman, and the Dalai Lama to hang somewhere around my work area as inspirations. It's the same concept, I just expanded it to my work area. So what ever you want, or not to place, in your meditation setting, feel free.
Now let's discuss a question that will come up. Isn't all this stuff in my meditation setting distracting to what I am trying to do? That's true for a while. It also serves as a reminder of your purpose, and in my case, the several things are symbolic, and it helps focus my mind on what is important as well as fueling insight meditations.
So make your space comfortable and attractive. it will improve your meditation.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The Need for Discipline
This is a tough one for many people. It's easier almost to be like I am, and get so disciplined that the issue then is the discipline and not the goal of it, or to just struggle doing it at all.
So I think first it's necessary to have a purpose for doing it. I found an excellent one in the Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, composed by the monk Thogme. Our local lama passed this gem on to us.
In verse 35 it says, " Once you have become accustomed to mental afflictions (dramas, addictions, neurosis, pride, victimhood), they are hard to cure with antidotes (affirmations, meditation, mantras). Therefore, with the remedies of mindfulness and awareness, to eliminate mental afflictions the moment they arise is the practice of a bodhisattva."
So take heart! It can be done. It states in verse 29 that tranquility and wisdom meditation, the basic kind you learn in Buddhism, "completely conquers all afflictions."
It also says in verse 26, "If lack of discipline prevents you from benefiting yourself, then your wish to benefit others is just a joke. Therefore, to guard discipline with no longing for worldly existence is the practice of a bodhisattva." Let me add to that some words from Wayne Dyer, from his book The Power of Intention. According to Dyer, to activate your power of intention, the first of four steps is that of discipline. He says, "Learning a new task requires training your body to perform as your thoughts desire. So eliminating ego identification doesn't mean disconnecting from your body, but rather, training your body to activate those desires. You do that with practice, exercise, nontoxic habits, healthy foods, and so on."
So let's look at three elements of maintaining a balanced discipline in your life. The first is motivation. A Buddhist perspective is that of verse 26: benefiting others. It's fairly easy to be altruistic, but that can be a mental affliction we can add to the above list. The true aim of verse 26, as well as Dyers point, is benefiting yourself. The Buddhist view is the same of that of modern EMS services: watch your own safety first. I'm no good to anyone else if I'm no good. It's okay to want to benefit yourself, because both Dyer and Buddhism speak against the growth of ego. Ego will not consider the benefits of others outside of how they can benefit me. Discipline will help you achieve your goals!
The second is in-formation. Yes, I said information. You need both. When pursuing anything, such as those items in Dyers list, you need information first. Let's look at meditation for example. "How should I sit?" is usually a first question. Do I close my eyes? How do you not think? What about an altar? Incense? What do I wear? Which is why you gather information form either a text, or a practitioner, or preferably both. With that information, you can start the process of in-forming. That means making the data you have in your head a part of your life. The info begins to form your inside person. Info becomes experience, and then in-formation has happened.
Preservation means that we guard the discipline we have. Of course, as the fruit of the practice being aimed at takes place, the discipline is easier to maintain. The opposite is true as well, as I noted in the verse about becoming accustomed to mental afflictions. This step might mean that you need to alter what you do. It might mean you go to bed a little earlier to get up earlier to have quiet time alone when you can meditate. Or not watching TV for an hour so you can write. Or not spending the time on the computer or at the library so you can go work out. If you start with little steps, and work your way forward, it is much easier than trying to alter everything at once.
I once read that it takes about 30 days to establish a new habit. Time-wise anyways. If you discipline yourself, and do it diligently for 30 straight days, then a new habit is born. So every day, take a baby step to benefit yourself. Get the info you need, and make a plan. Stick to it. And 30 days later, you will be a different person. You will have no only benefited yourself, but the world of those around you.
So I think first it's necessary to have a purpose for doing it. I found an excellent one in the Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, composed by the monk Thogme. Our local lama passed this gem on to us.
In verse 35 it says, " Once you have become accustomed to mental afflictions (dramas, addictions, neurosis, pride, victimhood), they are hard to cure with antidotes (affirmations, meditation, mantras). Therefore, with the remedies of mindfulness and awareness, to eliminate mental afflictions the moment they arise is the practice of a bodhisattva."
So take heart! It can be done. It states in verse 29 that tranquility and wisdom meditation, the basic kind you learn in Buddhism, "completely conquers all afflictions."
It also says in verse 26, "If lack of discipline prevents you from benefiting yourself, then your wish to benefit others is just a joke. Therefore, to guard discipline with no longing for worldly existence is the practice of a bodhisattva." Let me add to that some words from Wayne Dyer, from his book The Power of Intention. According to Dyer, to activate your power of intention, the first of four steps is that of discipline. He says, "Learning a new task requires training your body to perform as your thoughts desire. So eliminating ego identification doesn't mean disconnecting from your body, but rather, training your body to activate those desires. You do that with practice, exercise, nontoxic habits, healthy foods, and so on."
So let's look at three elements of maintaining a balanced discipline in your life. The first is motivation. A Buddhist perspective is that of verse 26: benefiting others. It's fairly easy to be altruistic, but that can be a mental affliction we can add to the above list. The true aim of verse 26, as well as Dyers point, is benefiting yourself. The Buddhist view is the same of that of modern EMS services: watch your own safety first. I'm no good to anyone else if I'm no good. It's okay to want to benefit yourself, because both Dyer and Buddhism speak against the growth of ego. Ego will not consider the benefits of others outside of how they can benefit me. Discipline will help you achieve your goals!
The second is in-formation. Yes, I said information. You need both. When pursuing anything, such as those items in Dyers list, you need information first. Let's look at meditation for example. "How should I sit?" is usually a first question. Do I close my eyes? How do you not think? What about an altar? Incense? What do I wear? Which is why you gather information form either a text, or a practitioner, or preferably both. With that information, you can start the process of in-forming. That means making the data you have in your head a part of your life. The info begins to form your inside person. Info becomes experience, and then in-formation has happened.
Preservation means that we guard the discipline we have. Of course, as the fruit of the practice being aimed at takes place, the discipline is easier to maintain. The opposite is true as well, as I noted in the verse about becoming accustomed to mental afflictions. This step might mean that you need to alter what you do. It might mean you go to bed a little earlier to get up earlier to have quiet time alone when you can meditate. Or not watching TV for an hour so you can write. Or not spending the time on the computer or at the library so you can go work out. If you start with little steps, and work your way forward, it is much easier than trying to alter everything at once.
I once read that it takes about 30 days to establish a new habit. Time-wise anyways. If you discipline yourself, and do it diligently for 30 straight days, then a new habit is born. So every day, take a baby step to benefit yourself. Get the info you need, and make a plan. Stick to it. And 30 days later, you will be a different person. You will have no only benefited yourself, but the world of those around you.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Taming the enemy
I want in this post to discuss an aspect of being a socially active bodhisattva. Some may argue the possibility of that, and I may be convinced at a a later time that it isn't a possibility, but until then I find that it is.
Verse 20 in Thogme's Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, states, "If you have not tamed the enemy of your own anger, combating outer opponents will only make them multiply. Therefore, with an army of loving kindness and compassion, to tame your own mind is the practice of a bodhisattva."
Being socially active, particularly in politics, makes this verse important. Because if you haven't learned to tame your own mind, then politics will only multiply opponents, one of which will be your own mind. So let's look at why we tame our mind, and how we tame our mind.
The obvious reason as stated here is that until we do, we will multiply our opponents. Notice it doesn't say that anger is to be eliminated, or that combat is not to be engaged in. It does say that anger is to be tamed. So what's wrong with opponents multiplying? Well, a lot really. My perspective on being a socially engaged Buddhist means that I work for a society that is amenable to the presentation of the Dharma. Considering that the manifestations of a Buddha are often disrupted by times of karma that eliminate the prevalence of the Dharma from the world, I find it essential for future re-births that there is an opportunity for the Dharma and practice to find open expression. So in that work to create such a society, do I want opponents to be numerous, or few? I would rather there be few. An aspect that comes into play here in the "why" of it all, is considering this: is it easier to change things through conflict, or by making my enemy my friend? Anger will create defensiveness. People don't listen well when they are being defensive. Yet if I approach my own message, values, and policies I want to see married to an approach that demonstrates patience, respect, and compassion, I think I will have more success in spreading that message. That will tend to minimize my opponents, and open the way for my message to spread.
Yes, it seems that it's almost ridiculous that anyone would argue with the message of Buddhism. But some will. In fact, some folk that have quite a bit of power would have it silenced completely. That is the actuality of America in 2007. Which is what in my perspective makes being socially and politically active important.
So how do we tame our minds? That's the crux of meditation. The basics of meditation involve mastering tranquility and insight meditation, before moving on to the vajrayana forms of meditation. In fact, that is the point of tranquility meditation. Just sitting and breathing, which allows the mind to be tamed. For the mind to be trained, it needs to be tamed first. And that involves a lot of letting go of things. It seems in some ways counter productive to being involved socially, but it isn't. It makes you a better vessel. Having a tamed and trained mind brings forth clarity and insight, bot of which are needed in this world when it comes to resolving the problems that cause suffering. The aspect that comes along with this is in the third line, "with an army of loving kindness and compassion...." This phrase is loaded with meaning, and is consistent with the metaphor introduced by the word "combat." The army though is somewhat different than any other army on this planet. It has been my experience that taming my mind with an army of compassion means that I need to approach myself that way, with he full intention of having my being conquered by compassion and loving kindness. it also has meaning to me in that i am not alone in the path of enlightenment. All of the Buddhas were once human. They still exist, and are the "deities" of Buddhism. They live in the genuine reality, or some of them do. Many others are still reincarnating to rescues beings from suffering. They are the army of witnesses, whom are present when we invoke them during meditation. This is the army we are training for when we tame our minds.
Unless we tame our minds, then we are spinning our wheels. Do reduce the number of opponents we face in our path, we need to tame our mind. We need to deal with the inner opponents first. We do this by practicing sitting meditation. Not by blogging about it, or thinking about it. We need to do it. We need to allow ourselves to be occupied with compassion and loving kindness, and then go forth and conquer.
Verse 20 in Thogme's Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, states, "If you have not tamed the enemy of your own anger, combating outer opponents will only make them multiply. Therefore, with an army of loving kindness and compassion, to tame your own mind is the practice of a bodhisattva."
Being socially active, particularly in politics, makes this verse important. Because if you haven't learned to tame your own mind, then politics will only multiply opponents, one of which will be your own mind. So let's look at why we tame our mind, and how we tame our mind.
The obvious reason as stated here is that until we do, we will multiply our opponents. Notice it doesn't say that anger is to be eliminated, or that combat is not to be engaged in. It does say that anger is to be tamed. So what's wrong with opponents multiplying? Well, a lot really. My perspective on being a socially engaged Buddhist means that I work for a society that is amenable to the presentation of the Dharma. Considering that the manifestations of a Buddha are often disrupted by times of karma that eliminate the prevalence of the Dharma from the world, I find it essential for future re-births that there is an opportunity for the Dharma and practice to find open expression. So in that work to create such a society, do I want opponents to be numerous, or few? I would rather there be few. An aspect that comes into play here in the "why" of it all, is considering this: is it easier to change things through conflict, or by making my enemy my friend? Anger will create defensiveness. People don't listen well when they are being defensive. Yet if I approach my own message, values, and policies I want to see married to an approach that demonstrates patience, respect, and compassion, I think I will have more success in spreading that message. That will tend to minimize my opponents, and open the way for my message to spread.
Yes, it seems that it's almost ridiculous that anyone would argue with the message of Buddhism. But some will. In fact, some folk that have quite a bit of power would have it silenced completely. That is the actuality of America in 2007. Which is what in my perspective makes being socially and politically active important.
So how do we tame our minds? That's the crux of meditation. The basics of meditation involve mastering tranquility and insight meditation, before moving on to the vajrayana forms of meditation. In fact, that is the point of tranquility meditation. Just sitting and breathing, which allows the mind to be tamed. For the mind to be trained, it needs to be tamed first. And that involves a lot of letting go of things. It seems in some ways counter productive to being involved socially, but it isn't. It makes you a better vessel. Having a tamed and trained mind brings forth clarity and insight, bot of which are needed in this world when it comes to resolving the problems that cause suffering. The aspect that comes along with this is in the third line, "with an army of loving kindness and compassion...." This phrase is loaded with meaning, and is consistent with the metaphor introduced by the word "combat." The army though is somewhat different than any other army on this planet. It has been my experience that taming my mind with an army of compassion means that I need to approach myself that way, with he full intention of having my being conquered by compassion and loving kindness. it also has meaning to me in that i am not alone in the path of enlightenment. All of the Buddhas were once human. They still exist, and are the "deities" of Buddhism. They live in the genuine reality, or some of them do. Many others are still reincarnating to rescues beings from suffering. They are the army of witnesses, whom are present when we invoke them during meditation. This is the army we are training for when we tame our minds.
Unless we tame our minds, then we are spinning our wheels. Do reduce the number of opponents we face in our path, we need to tame our mind. We need to deal with the inner opponents first. We do this by practicing sitting meditation. Not by blogging about it, or thinking about it. We need to do it. We need to allow ourselves to be occupied with compassion and loving kindness, and then go forth and conquer.
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