"Alas, now as the intermediate state of living arise before me, renouncing laziness, for which there is no time in this life, I must enter the undistracted path of study, reflection, and meditation. Taking perceptual experience and the nature of the mind as the path, I must cultivate actualization of the three Buddha bodies. Having obtaine this precious human body this one time, I do not have the luxury of remaining on a distracted path."
So said Padmasabhava when he wrote what we westerners commonly refer to as the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. It's real title is The Great Liberation Upon Hearing. My point here is what Guru Rinpoche calls laziness, and why it's important to practice. It refers to my last post, as to why we might consider a life sentence for ourselves. Here again we see reference to our precious human birth, which in all of existence, is indeed rare. The laziness that Rinpoche refers to though isn't what us westerners refer to. We think of the couch potatoe that doesn't do the dishes, or laundry, or vacuum. Rinpoche is referring to the person as well that get's up early, and reads the paper before heading into the office for a 10 hour day, and then stops at the gym, gets dinner, comes home and spends a little time with spouse and or kids, throws in a Rotary meeting in the week, and then coaches on the weekends between doing house chores. That's also a lazy person because they are frittering away their human existence, and take no time for their own mind. Damned repsonsible, but still lazy when it comes to the one important thing.
Will that mom or dad take their spouse with them when they die? How about the money and things they have accumulated. The "stuff" George Carlin referred to. Trophies? Friends? Even the body so well cared for at the gym? The children or pets?
At death one is alone. And yet how do we prepare for that moment?
Tashi Deleg!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Life Sentence
Can you handle this? Tom Delay is facing one for money laundering. Ouch! Can you appoint yourself to a life sentence of watching your own mind? I hope so....
"Therefore, to continuously examine..." So says Thogme in verse31 of his 37 Verses On The Practice Of A Bodhisattva. Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it. Daunting even. So let's compare it to something else, like playing the drums.
So you sit down at the drum set, and there are 5 different drums, one played by the right foot, and a myriad of cymbals possibly, one of which is actually played by the left foot and right hand simultaneously. It's not as pretzelish as it sounds. In fact, once you practice enou.... What? Oh. Practice, yes, I said that. Of course you have to practice. A lot if you want to be good. And the drum is easy. I could give you a French Horn and it might take decades to get good, let alone very good. Continuously. All the time, constantly, and you guessed it, just like sitting meditation it takes time to get to that place where you are doing it constantly, and then it isn't so difficult at all.
Tsonkhapa gives us a similar instruction in the Short Meditation On The Graduated Path Of Enlightenment: "Pleas grant me blessings to realize that this body with freedom is found only once, and to understand it's great meaning and rarity, and to both day and night to cultivate unceasingly the mind that takes hold of it's essence."
That's fairly clear isn't it? Getting to that unceasingly place takes a little practice, no? I included the whole verse for a reason. It provides the motivation for cultivating this experience of constant examining. According to Dilgo Khyentse, human form is quite rare in the cosmos. Something along the lines of comparing a teaspoon (human form) of sand to the grains in the Ganges River, which still is less than beings in the universe. So because we have this rarity, we should make the most of it.
I also want to point out something else. This isn't the place to become a thought Nazi. Thogme states in another verse that they way to tame the mind, to combat the anger within, is with an army of loving kindness and compassion. Cool picture huh? I can't say for certain anything about this army. My hunch is it that the many buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities, and sugatas of the past and present are part of it. In our daily practice we can ask for their help in taming our mind, and come to that place of constant awareness.
It begins slowly, just like mastering different beats on the drum. The snare on the 2 and 4 beat, the foot pedal on the 1 and 3. At different tempos. Then we change the foot bass to the "and" of the 3 beat. So it's one and two and three and four and.... Just a half hold, and then we change the tempos, change the beat to other "ands" and I hope you get the picture. Every time you start a new beat, it almost requires going back to slow speed to get the feel for it. It's the same way with taming the mind, developing that constant awareness of our state of mind.
I hope these words are a benefit. This is part one of three I think. Next will be what we need to be looking at more specifically.
Tashi Deleg!
"Therefore, to continuously examine..." So says Thogme in verse31 of his 37 Verses On The Practice Of A Bodhisattva. Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it. Daunting even. So let's compare it to something else, like playing the drums.
So you sit down at the drum set, and there are 5 different drums, one played by the right foot, and a myriad of cymbals possibly, one of which is actually played by the left foot and right hand simultaneously. It's not as pretzelish as it sounds. In fact, once you practice enou.... What? Oh. Practice, yes, I said that. Of course you have to practice. A lot if you want to be good. And the drum is easy. I could give you a French Horn and it might take decades to get good, let alone very good. Continuously. All the time, constantly, and you guessed it, just like sitting meditation it takes time to get to that place where you are doing it constantly, and then it isn't so difficult at all.
Tsonkhapa gives us a similar instruction in the Short Meditation On The Graduated Path Of Enlightenment: "Pleas grant me blessings to realize that this body with freedom is found only once, and to understand it's great meaning and rarity, and to both day and night to cultivate unceasingly the mind that takes hold of it's essence."
That's fairly clear isn't it? Getting to that unceasingly place takes a little practice, no? I included the whole verse for a reason. It provides the motivation for cultivating this experience of constant examining. According to Dilgo Khyentse, human form is quite rare in the cosmos. Something along the lines of comparing a teaspoon (human form) of sand to the grains in the Ganges River, which still is less than beings in the universe. So because we have this rarity, we should make the most of it.
I also want to point out something else. This isn't the place to become a thought Nazi. Thogme states in another verse that they way to tame the mind, to combat the anger within, is with an army of loving kindness and compassion. Cool picture huh? I can't say for certain anything about this army. My hunch is it that the many buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities, and sugatas of the past and present are part of it. In our daily practice we can ask for their help in taming our mind, and come to that place of constant awareness.
It begins slowly, just like mastering different beats on the drum. The snare on the 2 and 4 beat, the foot pedal on the 1 and 3. At different tempos. Then we change the foot bass to the "and" of the 3 beat. So it's one and two and three and four and.... Just a half hold, and then we change the tempos, change the beat to other "ands" and I hope you get the picture. Every time you start a new beat, it almost requires going back to slow speed to get the feel for it. It's the same way with taming the mind, developing that constant awareness of our state of mind.
I hope these words are a benefit. This is part one of three I think. Next will be what we need to be looking at more specifically.
Tashi Deleg!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I have returned!
Took some time off there didn't I? Sort how life goes I suspect. Anyway, I'm back to writing, and I'm working on a piece from the 37 Practices Of A Bodhisattva. My Facebook had a post that the Dalai Lama was going to teach about this, from the teaching by Thogme. That happens to be the one I will use, but from a far more "beginners" approach, I'm sure. I've had these 37 verses in my daily practice for quite some time, never knowing who this Thogme cat was. After I took refuge with Kilung Rinpoche, I started reading the authors of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage, one of whom is Dilgon Khyentse Rinpoche, who wrote The Heart Of Compassion, which by golly is about the 37 Practices by, guess who, Thogme! So I got to learn who Thogme was, and a bit of commentary from a lineage teacher. So, you can also read that book. For those of you who want to part with $200, Shambhala has a slip covered edition of the collected works of Dilgo Khyentse. I know, thats shamelss advertising for which I get nothing, but his teachings are easy to understand, at least the one's I've read. So I'm just passing along the word.
More later, and be well!
More later, and be well!
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Perfection of Discipline
Ugh. Discipline? Really? I wonder how many unpleasant notions that word brings up. However, yes, it is a necessary ingredient of our path to enlightenment. So let's look at this perfection, and see if along the way we might dispel some of those unpleasant notions.
A monk named Thogme composed the words I shall be using, which are from the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, which verses are also the ones used by Dilgo Khyentse in his book, Heart Of Compassion. The verse in particular that I will be looking at is as follows:
If lack of discipline prevents you from benefiting yourself,
than 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. (v. 26)
Ah yes, the lack of discipline. Have we ever heard or stated ourselves that we lack the discipline to read more, write more, eat better, exercise more, play an instrument more? I know I have. Around that we might feel a bit of shame. There's the rub. Then we jump in with both feet and for a brief while feel good, until the things we are ignoring to attend to the emotional squeaky wheel are now screaming, and we drop them. Methinks that really the problem isn't discipline, it's priorities at this level. Which will become apparent as we breathe through the feelings of shame.
So let's make that step one. I myself can get too busy. Lately I was involved with a play, and it collided with the times of a retreat that I would rather have been involved in. So I have made the decision to end my volunteer acting career, such as it was, with a Shakespeare. Then I will have pared down my hobby priorities to writing and playing my drums. My living priorities are my family and my practice. Attending to those relationships and my meditation practice require as much discipline as anything else. Plans even.
Now, let's get selfish. Hehehe. You'll see how it's so not selfish soon enough. But the point of the first phrase is this: if you aren't walking it, you will be sounding like a cracked bell when you talk it. Everyone knows the voice of an expert when they hear one. Not schooled expertise, but hands on expertise. People who have experience because they "do it." They practiced. So to be a benefit to others, you need to be a benefit to yourself. And that means you will get to be an expert on what Pema Chodron calls the "klesha" of yourself. The messy stuff. The shit. Which means that you need to spend the time, the discipline, to get to know your own mind. Otherwise,
"your wish to benefit others is just a joke."
And not a very funny one at that. In fact, the joke will be on you, and at the worst possible time. And who of us really want to be in that position?
So the instruction says we need to guard discipline with no longing for worldly existence. Whoa. Sometimes I feel like I haven't got any to guard. Ther4e's issues of what goes in the mouth as well as what comes out, what we do or don't with our bodies, and then the mind. So how do we get there? The first step we already covered; it's by determining our priorities. The second step is in re-directing already existing discipline into those priorities. Yes, you read that correctly. We already have the discipline to do things, we are simply expending that energy into other activities than what we know we really need to be attending to.
So when I engage in a play, I know that it will impact other areas of life. Notably, the time I spend working out. That is an example of re-directed discipline. I rehearse, and memorize lines and go to rehearsals, rather than work out. It's all about priorities. It also affects time that I might be home with my beloved. That in itself takes discipline, in making time to be with one another, when my weekend isn't hers. And for short whiles, maybe that's okay. Yet, maybe not.
The discipline is there for the most part. We need to direct it to beneficial activities, like reflection, studying, and meditation. And then guard it, because the distractions will come. If you build it, they will come. Oh yes, they will. We need to guard it with no longing for worldly existence. Wha?
Consider what you cannot avoid: death. Can you take your possessions with you? So why spend the energy? Can you take relatives? Spouses, partners, businesses, children, pets, anything?
No.
The only thing that follows you into the bardo after your body dies is your karma. It isn't that we necessarily cut off our relatives and relationships. There is plenty of opportunity there to develop good karma, and relationships are wonderful teachers. But they will never do the work for us, and can distract us from benefiting ourselves so that we can in turn be actually beneficial for those in whom we are in relationships with. Knowing that the next breath may be your last will help you re-direct your priorities and energies, I assure you. So think about it until you know it. It might not take that long is my guess.
So discipline really isn't that unpleasant is it? It's actually something we likely already have, just maybe not spent in the most beneficial way. It will allow us to master things that make us beneficial to ourselves and others. Which means we won't be burning out. It is indeed the practice of something that we really are, if we indeed want to see all sentient beings liberated from samsara:
a Bodhisattva.
A monk named Thogme composed the words I shall be using, which are from the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, which verses are also the ones used by Dilgo Khyentse in his book, Heart Of Compassion. The verse in particular that I will be looking at is as follows:
If lack of discipline prevents you from benefiting yourself,
than 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. (v. 26)
Ah yes, the lack of discipline. Have we ever heard or stated ourselves that we lack the discipline to read more, write more, eat better, exercise more, play an instrument more? I know I have. Around that we might feel a bit of shame. There's the rub. Then we jump in with both feet and for a brief while feel good, until the things we are ignoring to attend to the emotional squeaky wheel are now screaming, and we drop them. Methinks that really the problem isn't discipline, it's priorities at this level. Which will become apparent as we breathe through the feelings of shame.
So let's make that step one. I myself can get too busy. Lately I was involved with a play, and it collided with the times of a retreat that I would rather have been involved in. So I have made the decision to end my volunteer acting career, such as it was, with a Shakespeare. Then I will have pared down my hobby priorities to writing and playing my drums. My living priorities are my family and my practice. Attending to those relationships and my meditation practice require as much discipline as anything else. Plans even.
Now, let's get selfish. Hehehe. You'll see how it's so not selfish soon enough. But the point of the first phrase is this: if you aren't walking it, you will be sounding like a cracked bell when you talk it. Everyone knows the voice of an expert when they hear one. Not schooled expertise, but hands on expertise. People who have experience because they "do it." They practiced. So to be a benefit to others, you need to be a benefit to yourself. And that means you will get to be an expert on what Pema Chodron calls the "klesha" of yourself. The messy stuff. The shit. Which means that you need to spend the time, the discipline, to get to know your own mind. Otherwise,
"your wish to benefit others is just a joke."
And not a very funny one at that. In fact, the joke will be on you, and at the worst possible time. And who of us really want to be in that position?
So the instruction says we need to guard discipline with no longing for worldly existence. Whoa. Sometimes I feel like I haven't got any to guard. Ther4e's issues of what goes in the mouth as well as what comes out, what we do or don't with our bodies, and then the mind. So how do we get there? The first step we already covered; it's by determining our priorities. The second step is in re-directing already existing discipline into those priorities. Yes, you read that correctly. We already have the discipline to do things, we are simply expending that energy into other activities than what we know we really need to be attending to.
So when I engage in a play, I know that it will impact other areas of life. Notably, the time I spend working out. That is an example of re-directed discipline. I rehearse, and memorize lines and go to rehearsals, rather than work out. It's all about priorities. It also affects time that I might be home with my beloved. That in itself takes discipline, in making time to be with one another, when my weekend isn't hers. And for short whiles, maybe that's okay. Yet, maybe not.
The discipline is there for the most part. We need to direct it to beneficial activities, like reflection, studying, and meditation. And then guard it, because the distractions will come. If you build it, they will come. Oh yes, they will. We need to guard it with no longing for worldly existence. Wha?
Consider what you cannot avoid: death. Can you take your possessions with you? So why spend the energy? Can you take relatives? Spouses, partners, businesses, children, pets, anything?
No.
The only thing that follows you into the bardo after your body dies is your karma. It isn't that we necessarily cut off our relatives and relationships. There is plenty of opportunity there to develop good karma, and relationships are wonderful teachers. But they will never do the work for us, and can distract us from benefiting ourselves so that we can in turn be actually beneficial for those in whom we are in relationships with. Knowing that the next breath may be your last will help you re-direct your priorities and energies, I assure you. So think about it until you know it. It might not take that long is my guess.
So discipline really isn't that unpleasant is it? It's actually something we likely already have, just maybe not spent in the most beneficial way. It will allow us to master things that make us beneficial to ourselves and others. Which means we won't be burning out. It is indeed the practice of something that we really are, if we indeed want to see all sentient beings liberated from samsara:
a Bodhisattva.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tonglen
As I have entered into a new relationship with a teacher, I felt I should come up to speed on things. He was too apparently, as I got a packet in the mail that details what he likes to see his students practicing, and when. Of course, that is all adjustable based on the students personal interviews with Rinpoche.
So I bought a few books, checked some out of the library, and was boning up on the basics. One of those basics was regarding tonglen, which is a part of my Chenrezig accumulation given to my by my Kagyu teacher. However, I was never taught anything about tonglen, I've just read a few things, and that was years ago. So I was encouraged to read Sogyal Rinpoche's instructions in The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying.
Indeed, it was very helpful. One of the aspects I liked about it was that it starts with the environment you are in. The other aspect that was helpful, and that I ran across in Surya Das's book, Awakening The Buddha Within, is that you don't start off with the population of the world. You start smaller. So here's how I translated that.
Since for me it is a part of a practice of compassion, I decided to narrow it down a little and give it some focus, as the practice instructions are rather broad and vague. Nothing beat's a statement like "all sentient beings!" And to help with my counting, I decided I'd go once around the mala, and then do some tonglen, dedicating the merit. First time around, I dedicate to the sangha and my teacher. Second time around, I dedicate to my bride and sons. Third time around, our extended family, particularly ones in our "news" if you will. Fourth time around is for the community I serve as a firefighter, which is roughly 66 square miles. That subdivides into my wife's work community and mine, as well as members of the fire district. The fifth time around is for me, dedicating the merit each time around.
I've modified this somewhat. I am concerned with myself first because that's where the practice is for now. So in my mindfulness of the sufferings of the people I am breathing in and out for, I ask myself what I can do in my relationships with these people, how I can end their sufferings. That's the first modification. The second modification is that every day I do my Chenrezig mantras. I have conveniently broken it down into 5 times around tha mala which gets me focused on myself and then concentric circles that ripple out from me as it were in ever enlarging circles. There happens to be 5 days in the week. So on Monday, I focus my thoughts on the members of the sangha, and our teacher. On Tuesday, I focus on my family. Wednesday is the extended family, Thursday is the community, and Friday is for me, my relationship to myself and wanting to see changes in my own life. Saturday and Sunday are fair game. Lately, I have given time to praying for those in Haiti.
Then in one of those texts I was reading, Dilgo Khentse's Heart Of Compassion, I read a little more about tonglen. I would encourage you to read it. It's in the section of the book that covers verses 10-14 of Thogme's 37 Practices. There Khyentse lays out steps to tonglen similar to Sogyal's steps. He then adds some differences, to be done "sometimes," in offering yourself in giving and taking for beings in the six realms, and other beings in other situations. Those I have added to my weekend "fair game."
This practice will defintely alter any one who does it. It challenges the dualistic conception of friend/enemy. That isn't very comfortable, but limited compassion is just religiosity, and not compassion at all. According to Buddha, we all share the same nature. And, all beings have at one point in time, been our mother. So regardless of their current postion in our friend/enemy paradigm, we need to see them as they really are, not as our mental conceptions have them.
Another experience I've had with this practice is a much broader understanding of reality. The experiences of karma that people endure, the being s of the six realms, how precious our human existence is, and how all these things are affected by the simple practice of meditation. To have heard the dharma, and practice it is, given the odds in this universe, is rather quite rare. Doing so, meaning practicing honestly, has a huge affect on the life of sentient beings. However...
in another of Dilgo Khyentse's books, Enlightened Courage, he encourages practitioners to not reach too far too fast in tonglen. That's why he says "sometimes" in Heart Of Compassion. It's very important to make sure your meditation practice is stable before moving on into higher experiences. I've been in the place where I wasn't quite stable. Man, it is a trip, and mine was uncomfortable and confusing. Of course, once I learned what was going on, I thought, well, I can handle that. Sort of like taking hallucinogenic drugs. I expected hallucinations. So when they happened, I could say, "oh, a hallucination. Cool." However, not all experiences are so cool. So stick with the stability thing. It'll make your practice all that more effective and beneficial. Start your tonglen with those closest to you. Stay there for a while. Then move out into a bigger ring. Include co-workers and friends. Stay there for a while. The add another ring, and so on. Buddhism isn't a sprint. It's similar to many other things: practice, patient practice, makes perfect.
And, it will make your tonglen practice stable as well. In the end, it is what we want. A stable meditation practice that opens our hearts like a lotus, so we can help others end their cycle of vicious suffering. And if you have a teacher, by all means consult with them. Your spiritual friend will be a huge benfit to your practice. Living words are definitely so much better than the ink or digital kind!
I respectfully submit these words for your consideration. May they benefit all.
So I bought a few books, checked some out of the library, and was boning up on the basics. One of those basics was regarding tonglen, which is a part of my Chenrezig accumulation given to my by my Kagyu teacher. However, I was never taught anything about tonglen, I've just read a few things, and that was years ago. So I was encouraged to read Sogyal Rinpoche's instructions in The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying.
Indeed, it was very helpful. One of the aspects I liked about it was that it starts with the environment you are in. The other aspect that was helpful, and that I ran across in Surya Das's book, Awakening The Buddha Within, is that you don't start off with the population of the world. You start smaller. So here's how I translated that.
Since for me it is a part of a practice of compassion, I decided to narrow it down a little and give it some focus, as the practice instructions are rather broad and vague. Nothing beat's a statement like "all sentient beings!" And to help with my counting, I decided I'd go once around the mala, and then do some tonglen, dedicating the merit. First time around, I dedicate to the sangha and my teacher. Second time around, I dedicate to my bride and sons. Third time around, our extended family, particularly ones in our "news" if you will. Fourth time around is for the community I serve as a firefighter, which is roughly 66 square miles. That subdivides into my wife's work community and mine, as well as members of the fire district. The fifth time around is for me, dedicating the merit each time around.
I've modified this somewhat. I am concerned with myself first because that's where the practice is for now. So in my mindfulness of the sufferings of the people I am breathing in and out for, I ask myself what I can do in my relationships with these people, how I can end their sufferings. That's the first modification. The second modification is that every day I do my Chenrezig mantras. I have conveniently broken it down into 5 times around tha mala which gets me focused on myself and then concentric circles that ripple out from me as it were in ever enlarging circles. There happens to be 5 days in the week. So on Monday, I focus my thoughts on the members of the sangha, and our teacher. On Tuesday, I focus on my family. Wednesday is the extended family, Thursday is the community, and Friday is for me, my relationship to myself and wanting to see changes in my own life. Saturday and Sunday are fair game. Lately, I have given time to praying for those in Haiti.
Then in one of those texts I was reading, Dilgo Khentse's Heart Of Compassion, I read a little more about tonglen. I would encourage you to read it. It's in the section of the book that covers verses 10-14 of Thogme's 37 Practices. There Khyentse lays out steps to tonglen similar to Sogyal's steps. He then adds some differences, to be done "sometimes," in offering yourself in giving and taking for beings in the six realms, and other beings in other situations. Those I have added to my weekend "fair game."
This practice will defintely alter any one who does it. It challenges the dualistic conception of friend/enemy. That isn't very comfortable, but limited compassion is just religiosity, and not compassion at all. According to Buddha, we all share the same nature. And, all beings have at one point in time, been our mother. So regardless of their current postion in our friend/enemy paradigm, we need to see them as they really are, not as our mental conceptions have them.
Another experience I've had with this practice is a much broader understanding of reality. The experiences of karma that people endure, the being s of the six realms, how precious our human existence is, and how all these things are affected by the simple practice of meditation. To have heard the dharma, and practice it is, given the odds in this universe, is rather quite rare. Doing so, meaning practicing honestly, has a huge affect on the life of sentient beings. However...
in another of Dilgo Khyentse's books, Enlightened Courage, he encourages practitioners to not reach too far too fast in tonglen. That's why he says "sometimes" in Heart Of Compassion. It's very important to make sure your meditation practice is stable before moving on into higher experiences. I've been in the place where I wasn't quite stable. Man, it is a trip, and mine was uncomfortable and confusing. Of course, once I learned what was going on, I thought, well, I can handle that. Sort of like taking hallucinogenic drugs. I expected hallucinations. So when they happened, I could say, "oh, a hallucination. Cool." However, not all experiences are so cool. So stick with the stability thing. It'll make your practice all that more effective and beneficial. Start your tonglen with those closest to you. Stay there for a while. Then move out into a bigger ring. Include co-workers and friends. Stay there for a while. The add another ring, and so on. Buddhism isn't a sprint. It's similar to many other things: practice, patient practice, makes perfect.
And, it will make your tonglen practice stable as well. In the end, it is what we want. A stable meditation practice that opens our hearts like a lotus, so we can help others end their cycle of vicious suffering. And if you have a teacher, by all means consult with them. Your spiritual friend will be a huge benfit to your practice. Living words are definitely so much better than the ink or digital kind!
I respectfully submit these words for your consideration. May they benefit all.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Some Thoughts On Virtue
In the Morning Service, a part of my Kagyu pre-ngondro practices, there is a section with the following lines:
"Action done is never without result.
But action not done is never met.
Development is part of all action.
The results of virtue and evil
are happiness and suffering,
inevitably ripening for the doer...
So, if I am not to achieve my own destruction,
I should as a matter of principle believe in
action and result."
I have in the past spent much time developing ways in which I can become more virtuous. During one period of my life, my little scheme was based on being more godly. I had a plan you see. The cult of christianity teaches that you have God in only after you invite him. Buddhism teaches that you are born with Buddha nature. For both of them, the idea is to realize that nature. A lot of where virtue comes from, that character we want, is based on choices.
For the moment I will tell you that some times making a choice is difficult. Habituations that lead to addictions can make choosing difficult. Inevitably we all run up against that choice though. Do I or do I not proceed with this action? This is what is called the development mentioned above, which we can return to later.
Making a choice requires a bit of ability in looking inward. Many choices, lets say those of addictive nature, are based on senses. Making pain go away, or the rush of the hunt, or the actual buzz of the action itself. All followed by the cycle of addiction. The beginning is being aware that you have a choice. Let's use a popular example, and that is sex. Now, in our American standards, and judeo-christian mythology, we have adhered to a centuries old model of marriage that has a failure rate of 50%. One might think it's time to reconsider the model. But that is where we are. So we consider infidelity from that viewpoint of marriage. Do I or do I not choose to flirt, the real beginning, with this person. You're sitting there having coffee, and you know that it's a conversation based on what is going on, nothing on the personal level. To broach the personal level is where flirting begins. "Gee, you look pretty good for your age." That introduces the male/female difference, the gender/attraction dimension into the conversation. You make the choice to make the comment. Why? Ah, the big question.
What do you stand to gain from this course of action. See it? Action. Action brings result. You make the comment, the other party deflects it, you're either embarrassed or hurt, and the potential of friendship or functional community relationship is thwarted because you were trying to fulfill a need for yourself that in reality, that other person can't fill anyway. And a whole new set of perspectives is set in motion, and that's part of the complexity of karma.
On the other hand, you choose to not make the comment. That sets into motion a lot of other karmic results. You've realized that the consequences of making the comment are not favorable, so you keep thoughts and words to yourself, enjoy the coffee break, and go about your life. What you've just done is transformed a little samsara into nirvana. And a lot of little transformations in time add up to big changes. It's the result of constant practice, just like playing an instrument. A lot of mistakes at first, but learning what you are doing wrong, being gentle on yourself, and in time it begins to fall into place. What it boils down to is, is my behavior a response to attention, or reaction?
If it's a reaction, what is being served? Probing that will provide interesting materials, and as the lojong teachings encourage us, "Work with the greatest defilements first." This is a great place to do tonglen for oneself, and Sogyal Rinpoche has a great section about it in his book, The Tibetan Book of Living And Dying. Not only will this help us in outward manifestations, it cuts to even the subtler forms of our habituations, right to where we can catch the thoughts as they occur, and then allow the mind to relax. All said though, the living in reaction mode is living in samsara mode. It's a lack of attention. And the prescription for that is a sitting meditation practice, where we learn the art of paying attention.
Paying attention gives us the choice of honest virtuous action, and the resultant karmic train. The Merit 109, rolling down the Karma Line. Action born of attention is joyous upon meeting, and once we gain stability in that, then just like the samsaric reaction mode was our nature, then the nirvana attention mode will be our nature, and ultimately we will discover, our true nature. One we can rest and relax in. A nature that has a lot of happy meetings of results along the way, one of happiness, and one of virtue.
Nirvana is just a choice away.
"Action done is never without result.
But action not done is never met.
Development is part of all action.
The results of virtue and evil
are happiness and suffering,
inevitably ripening for the doer...
So, if I am not to achieve my own destruction,
I should as a matter of principle believe in
action and result."
I have in the past spent much time developing ways in which I can become more virtuous. During one period of my life, my little scheme was based on being more godly. I had a plan you see. The cult of christianity teaches that you have God in only after you invite him. Buddhism teaches that you are born with Buddha nature. For both of them, the idea is to realize that nature. A lot of where virtue comes from, that character we want, is based on choices.
For the moment I will tell you that some times making a choice is difficult. Habituations that lead to addictions can make choosing difficult. Inevitably we all run up against that choice though. Do I or do I not proceed with this action? This is what is called the development mentioned above, which we can return to later.
Making a choice requires a bit of ability in looking inward. Many choices, lets say those of addictive nature, are based on senses. Making pain go away, or the rush of the hunt, or the actual buzz of the action itself. All followed by the cycle of addiction. The beginning is being aware that you have a choice. Let's use a popular example, and that is sex. Now, in our American standards, and judeo-christian mythology, we have adhered to a centuries old model of marriage that has a failure rate of 50%. One might think it's time to reconsider the model. But that is where we are. So we consider infidelity from that viewpoint of marriage. Do I or do I not choose to flirt, the real beginning, with this person. You're sitting there having coffee, and you know that it's a conversation based on what is going on, nothing on the personal level. To broach the personal level is where flirting begins. "Gee, you look pretty good for your age." That introduces the male/female difference, the gender/attraction dimension into the conversation. You make the choice to make the comment. Why? Ah, the big question.
What do you stand to gain from this course of action. See it? Action. Action brings result. You make the comment, the other party deflects it, you're either embarrassed or hurt, and the potential of friendship or functional community relationship is thwarted because you were trying to fulfill a need for yourself that in reality, that other person can't fill anyway. And a whole new set of perspectives is set in motion, and that's part of the complexity of karma.
On the other hand, you choose to not make the comment. That sets into motion a lot of other karmic results. You've realized that the consequences of making the comment are not favorable, so you keep thoughts and words to yourself, enjoy the coffee break, and go about your life. What you've just done is transformed a little samsara into nirvana. And a lot of little transformations in time add up to big changes. It's the result of constant practice, just like playing an instrument. A lot of mistakes at first, but learning what you are doing wrong, being gentle on yourself, and in time it begins to fall into place. What it boils down to is, is my behavior a response to attention, or reaction?
If it's a reaction, what is being served? Probing that will provide interesting materials, and as the lojong teachings encourage us, "Work with the greatest defilements first." This is a great place to do tonglen for oneself, and Sogyal Rinpoche has a great section about it in his book, The Tibetan Book of Living And Dying. Not only will this help us in outward manifestations, it cuts to even the subtler forms of our habituations, right to where we can catch the thoughts as they occur, and then allow the mind to relax. All said though, the living in reaction mode is living in samsara mode. It's a lack of attention. And the prescription for that is a sitting meditation practice, where we learn the art of paying attention.
Paying attention gives us the choice of honest virtuous action, and the resultant karmic train. The Merit 109, rolling down the Karma Line. Action born of attention is joyous upon meeting, and once we gain stability in that, then just like the samsaric reaction mode was our nature, then the nirvana attention mode will be our nature, and ultimately we will discover, our true nature. One we can rest and relax in. A nature that has a lot of happy meetings of results along the way, one of happiness, and one of virtue.
Nirvana is just a choice away.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Knower, not Believer.
I am struck by a couple of things this morning. One is an article by Sheila Samples about the religious right. Nothing really new in it that I didn't already know. In fact, it's a subject I watch closely, because it may well have an impact on whether or not I can practice Buddhism. In an all Christian America, it wouldn't be guaranteed, like the Constitution guarantees I can. And in our last election cycle, one presidential candidate suggested less Constitution, and more Bible. However, I have discovered that in paying attention to this subject, I have changed somewhat negatively.
Another thing that has struck me is, well, me. I am changing. Partly that is due to having become connected to a teacher that has active involvement in his students, and has definite teaching plans and goals. Friday I got in the mail my copy of the Pema Kilaya Teaching Program. So I jumped into it, and I found several portions of the practice I was missing, and some I was already doing in my rather custom made practice. And like the lit head I am, I gravitated to the back, to see the "suggested reading" list, if there was one.
He he he, there was.
Books not only suggested, but carefully looked over and recommended by our teacher. And to my surprise, we already own several of them. Further, a couple of them I was interested in are at the library! The upshot of all this is that I am immersing myself in, not what I believe, but what I practice. Let me explain the difference, and in so doing hopefully tie things together.
Lately at work, I have trying not to use the word "believe," especially relative to spiritual matters. I prefer to use the word "know." My reason for that is that I practice, and what does practicing give you? It gives you direct, first hand knowledge. I practice poetry, and in so doing learn what it means to write. I sit down at the drums, and I practice, usually on weekends when no one is home. I learn rhythms, as well as hearing the music of the different drums. When I sat down at my bosses drum set the other night, I got to learn the music his drums made, because he had different skins, maybe tighter than mine, different cymbals; you get the picture. Because I practice though, I can at least sit down and know how to approach the kit I am sitting at without changing too much of it's set-up. Highly personal stuff you see.
The same goes for Buddhism. We don't call what we do a belief system. We call it a practice. Why? Because that is what we are supposed to do for one, and secondly, the Buddha said to check it out. Don't believe, do it. See if it's real. Prove the words, don't just believe them. But wait you say. How about reincarnation? How can you know that? I can surely believe it because my teacher says it's a reality. I can believe his experience. And one day I will get to know it, as death will happen to us all. And there are practices such as phowa and shitro for that as well. But any teacher knows that you don't give an aspiring drummer lessons on advanced jazz rhythms when he barely can knock out some of the basic rhythms, or run a set of flams around the set alternating which stick is up. There is a beginning to everything. So I don't necessarily need to practice for reincarnation yet. It may well be that in learning these other practices, I will indeed come to know reincarnation rather intimately.
So I have taken my Teaching Program and started at the beginning. I've already mentioned that Rinpoche has started a meditation class that will run for 11 months. And he started at the very beginning, the Seven Point Posture of Vairochana. The Teaching Program goes into other practices, things to study, retreat suggestions, and otheractivities that seemed to favor developing compassion. The text suggestion contains at least one on Love and Compassion. Which means that I will be opening my heart, as the lotus opens in the great muddy of the Mekong Delta, or the Ganges. And not just to family, and friends, and snagha members. Practicng compassion and love goes way beyond that. The Bodhisattva vow is relative to all sentient beings. Including those of the religious right who see fit to make sure I can't practice that love and compassion. If I only love those that love me, I am a cracked cymbal, and out of tune drum. One form of the Bodhisattva vow states, "So may I become sustenance in every way for sentient beings to the limit of space until all have attained nirvana." To me that sums up quite well the notion that all are free to discover sustenance from me.
It does sound a bit insane, doesn't it? But it isn't really new. Buddha taught it, allegedly Jesus did. "Love your enemies." It isn't a sentiment we simply nod to though. As Buddhists, we practice the practices we do which will prepare us for those moments in real life when we will have opportunity to allow our heart to be open, potentially wounded and/or a source of sustenance. It will happen. The whole point of practice is to get to know something, and just knowing it on the cushion isn't enough, as any version of the Bodhisattva vow will reveal. That becomes a belief then. Being able to respond to suffering with compassion and wisdom is a goal of our sitting, and those needs are out among those who are suffering, rarely are they there with us on the cushion.
I have to be as open to any "believer" bent by hatred and dogma as I am to any sangha or family member. It might not be as hard as it seems. I can say that because as I practice, as I study, reflect, and meditate, I begin to see that my heart being open has no limit. It is like when I sit down and play, and pretty soon half the people upstairs drift down to hear who's playing, and they all ask what band I'm in (I'm not)(yet), and where I learned to play. I learned to play because I sat down and grabbed the sticks, and put the stick to the skins. After years of doing that, I decided to get lessons so I could learn what I didn't know, which is a lot. And now I have two teachers, both of whom teach me something, and then leave me alone.
To practice, practice, practice. To go beyond my fear and gain experience. To go beyond believing to knowing. From Grasshopper to Master. To haved an open mind, and an open heart, which is the best medicine for those who aren't.
Another thing that has struck me is, well, me. I am changing. Partly that is due to having become connected to a teacher that has active involvement in his students, and has definite teaching plans and goals. Friday I got in the mail my copy of the Pema Kilaya Teaching Program. So I jumped into it, and I found several portions of the practice I was missing, and some I was already doing in my rather custom made practice. And like the lit head I am, I gravitated to the back, to see the "suggested reading" list, if there was one.
He he he, there was.
Books not only suggested, but carefully looked over and recommended by our teacher. And to my surprise, we already own several of them. Further, a couple of them I was interested in are at the library! The upshot of all this is that I am immersing myself in, not what I believe, but what I practice. Let me explain the difference, and in so doing hopefully tie things together.
Lately at work, I have trying not to use the word "believe," especially relative to spiritual matters. I prefer to use the word "know." My reason for that is that I practice, and what does practicing give you? It gives you direct, first hand knowledge. I practice poetry, and in so doing learn what it means to write. I sit down at the drums, and I practice, usually on weekends when no one is home. I learn rhythms, as well as hearing the music of the different drums. When I sat down at my bosses drum set the other night, I got to learn the music his drums made, because he had different skins, maybe tighter than mine, different cymbals; you get the picture. Because I practice though, I can at least sit down and know how to approach the kit I am sitting at without changing too much of it's set-up. Highly personal stuff you see.
The same goes for Buddhism. We don't call what we do a belief system. We call it a practice. Why? Because that is what we are supposed to do for one, and secondly, the Buddha said to check it out. Don't believe, do it. See if it's real. Prove the words, don't just believe them. But wait you say. How about reincarnation? How can you know that? I can surely believe it because my teacher says it's a reality. I can believe his experience. And one day I will get to know it, as death will happen to us all. And there are practices such as phowa and shitro for that as well. But any teacher knows that you don't give an aspiring drummer lessons on advanced jazz rhythms when he barely can knock out some of the basic rhythms, or run a set of flams around the set alternating which stick is up. There is a beginning to everything. So I don't necessarily need to practice for reincarnation yet. It may well be that in learning these other practices, I will indeed come to know reincarnation rather intimately.
So I have taken my Teaching Program and started at the beginning. I've already mentioned that Rinpoche has started a meditation class that will run for 11 months. And he started at the very beginning, the Seven Point Posture of Vairochana. The Teaching Program goes into other practices, things to study, retreat suggestions, and otheractivities that seemed to favor developing compassion. The text suggestion contains at least one on Love and Compassion. Which means that I will be opening my heart, as the lotus opens in the great muddy of the Mekong Delta, or the Ganges. And not just to family, and friends, and snagha members. Practicng compassion and love goes way beyond that. The Bodhisattva vow is relative to all sentient beings. Including those of the religious right who see fit to make sure I can't practice that love and compassion. If I only love those that love me, I am a cracked cymbal, and out of tune drum. One form of the Bodhisattva vow states, "So may I become sustenance in every way for sentient beings to the limit of space until all have attained nirvana." To me that sums up quite well the notion that all are free to discover sustenance from me.
It does sound a bit insane, doesn't it? But it isn't really new. Buddha taught it, allegedly Jesus did. "Love your enemies." It isn't a sentiment we simply nod to though. As Buddhists, we practice the practices we do which will prepare us for those moments in real life when we will have opportunity to allow our heart to be open, potentially wounded and/or a source of sustenance. It will happen. The whole point of practice is to get to know something, and just knowing it on the cushion isn't enough, as any version of the Bodhisattva vow will reveal. That becomes a belief then. Being able to respond to suffering with compassion and wisdom is a goal of our sitting, and those needs are out among those who are suffering, rarely are they there with us on the cushion.
I have to be as open to any "believer" bent by hatred and dogma as I am to any sangha or family member. It might not be as hard as it seems. I can say that because as I practice, as I study, reflect, and meditate, I begin to see that my heart being open has no limit. It is like when I sit down and play, and pretty soon half the people upstairs drift down to hear who's playing, and they all ask what band I'm in (I'm not)(yet), and where I learned to play. I learned to play because I sat down and grabbed the sticks, and put the stick to the skins. After years of doing that, I decided to get lessons so I could learn what I didn't know, which is a lot. And now I have two teachers, both of whom teach me something, and then leave me alone.
To practice, practice, practice. To go beyond my fear and gain experience. To go beyond believing to knowing. From Grasshopper to Master. To haved an open mind, and an open heart, which is the best medicine for those who aren't.
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