| Thought for the day: February 1, 2008 "If you can't let it go, carry it along," is a Taoist saying. Often life's problems grow worse when we try to get rid of them, like a barking dog, who grows bolder the more you kick at him. Life has it's problems no doubt, but trying to push them out of one's mind is not a solution. |
| Thought for the day: February 3, 2008 If you think that since everything is empty, nothing matters, ask yourself what it is you are referring to. If it didn't matter, you would have nothing to refer to. |
| Thought for the day: February 2, 2008 If you plant a Palm tree in shallow soil with rock below, over the years it will split the obstructing rock as it seek out nutriment so that it can grow and flourish. It removes what is obstructing it at an imperceptible pace, but as years move on it can crack and break even the most tenacious rocks. In a similar manner, obstructions to self-realization are broken up very slowly, but with persistence they will gradually be broken up by the power of our inquiry. |
| Thought for the day: February 4, 2008 Atheists don't believe in God. That is OK; neither do Buddhists. But, the similarity ends there. Buddhists share with their God fearing brothers the belief that a strong moral, ethical, and virtuous mode of conduct is the foundation for self-realization; without which it is difficult, if not impossible to shake off confusion. A Christian might say that the moral precepts etc., "please God," thus paving the way to know him better. So, what a Buddhist might call "shaking off the confusion of the desire realm", a Christian might call "knowing God." It matters little if one disciplines oneself to please God or shake off confusion; you will be put to the test nonetheless, and reap similar rewards if you succeed. These disciplines, after all, only get you as far as the beginning of the Path. |
| Thought for the day: February 5, 2008 Practitioners of the dharma often tend to have either stronger mystical propensities or rational ones and, and this bent towards one or the other often determines their mode of practice. Problems arise however when one side is overshadowed by the other to the extent that either the mystical side is ignored or the rational, logical, philosophical side is. The importance of bringing together the mystical and rational elements of the Path can be seen in the exchanges between the Kagyu and Gelugpa traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, among more notable examples. While the Kagyu places greater emphasis on mysticism, they balance this out by studying the treatises of the Gelugpa sect, which is primarily rational (and headed by HH Dali Lama, by the way.) And, the Gelugpas receive many initiations into the mystical elements of the Kagyu, from the great Kagyu masters. There are many simililar examples of exchange between other sects Each individual should examine his or her own practice to see that it is a good mix between mystical and intellectual. Those with a strong mystical side often fall into the error of defining their own mental states and making assumptions about them that can carry them far off course. This danger is avoided if clear conceptuality is balanced with reasoned analyses. On the other hand, the intellectual can actually use his reasoned analyses to achieve benefits that transcend the debating courtyards if he reaches beyond intellectual understanding through the practice of meditation. |
| Thought for the day: February 6, 2008 Create space for letting ideas come to you. During quiet moments, keep them that way. Often we are afraid of not occupying our time; but this fear is a paper tiger. Treasure those empty times during a day. |
| Thought for the day: February 7, 2008 Self effacement when it leads to an effort to turn oneself around is a kind of humility and a virtuous quality. But, self-effacement that merely reflects a low valuation of oneself is harmful. |
| Thought for the day: February 8, 2008 Just as waves cannot be separated from the sea, thoughts cannot be separated from the mind. And, yet we are often tempted to eliminate thoughts in our meditation, a common mistake. Imagine yourself in a pool of water trying to calm the surface by pressing down on its waves. You will surely create even more waves by your very effort. The mind is the same way. First we must realize that thoughts are the same as mind and stop trying to push them back in every time they arise, or, throw them away. This will only stir them up. But, if you rest in the understanding that thought and mind are one and the same, this attitude alone will bring peace and gradually you will understand the mind's nature. |
| Thought for the day: February 9, 2008 Realize the difference between contentment and stagnation. While contentment is a virtue, it is not static. It is dynamic, active, and ever changing. To find a comfortable little slot for oneself and remain there is not the way to grow and thrive. As human beings we are meant to change and transform. It is possible to find comfort and contentment even though one cannot find a firm place to alight one's foot; it just requires that we realize that is the nature of the trail. |
| Thought for the day: February 11, 2008 Shamatha, or quiescence meditation, should be coupled with vipasana, insight meditation. First one establishes quiescence, and when the mind is settled firmly and not wandering, one uses a corner of this settled mind to investigate the question, "Who is meditating?" One must never lose the settled state while practicing this inquiry. |
| Thought for the day: February 12, 2008 The Shurangama Sutra tells the story of King Prasanjit, who during his advanced years and approaching death, walked beside his palace with the Buddha. The king was inquiring of the Buddha about the nature of his mind and asked the Buddha to point it out to him. They were walking across a bridge at the time, and the Buddha pointed to the water below and asked the King, "Do you see that water below?" The King replied that of course he did. The Buddha further asked, "Does that water look any different now then when you were a child?" The King replied: "No, the water looks the same now as when I was a child, a teen, a young man, a middle aged man, and now an old man past 80 years." The Buddha replied, "That unchanging "seeing nature" is your mind. While the eyes can reveal forms, the seeing nature comes from the mind, not the eyes." |
| Thought for the day: February 13, 2008 A Buddhist rule of conduct for monks and nuns prohibits them from speaking the dharma at an inappropriate time or place. This is a good rule and I myself, as a layman, follow it. However, we are also taught to teach what we know. Recognizing the appropriate time to speak the dharma is almost as difficult as having something to say. First we must have a listener that is not expressing mere idle curiosity or trying to make conversation. But, one may request it without sincerity, as happened to me today when an appraiser (who saw all my statues while appraising my home) asked me if the Buddha taught all is suffering. (I said no.) He then asked me to give a quick synopsises of the Buddhist religion and I reminded him that he is an appraiser and he should do that. Another danger comes from within and it manifest as the desire to show off every little insight we achieve --- like an eleven year old who is told a secret. Much of the insight we gain through our practice is more personal than we may realize and should be protected. In addition, the insights we gain may not be relevant to another's karma. One of the qualities of a great teacher is recognizing the needs of his disciples; and this comes with developing real compassion. So if we really want to help others we should first cultivate genuine compassion so that we may become truly sensitive to the needs of others and refrain from waging our tongue whenever the occasion arises. |
| Thought for the day: February 15, 2008 It is said that the power of emptiness, is the fact that it is empty. The diverse world we live in is an expression of this.If emptiness had characteristics, not only would it not be empty, but the world could not be as it is. Red paint can only produce things that are red. But because emptiness is empty, we have the diverse world that we have. And, keep in mind that emptiness itself is not a characteristic. If you believe that it is, then you are conflating relative emptiness with absolute emptiness, in other words you are thinking of emptiness as a thing. Technically, this kind of emptiness is referred to as "dull emptiness. If we wish to understand emptiness and one day experience it we must avoid looking for "dull emptiness," which, by the way, is almost a given, a classic mistake that is forced upon us because of the way we habitually look at things. This way of thinking can be likened to removing the furniture from a room before declaring the room "empty." True emptiness would not require removing the furnitature, for it too is empty. When we meditate we are not trying to rid our mind of anything. Since thoughts cannot be orphaned we should learn how to transform them. This will happen quite naturally as the assumption that the underlying nature of all perception, both inner and outer, is emptiness. As this attitude of mind becomes firm, a transformation will take place in the way we look at the world. |
| Thought for the day: February 16, 2008 One of the characteristics of Buddhism that distinguishes it from other religions is the fact that it attempts to demonstrate how things are rather than explain them. Some teachings answer our most perplexing questions by explaining a state of affairs and expect us to believe it so by the very authority of its authors, whom, divinely inspired, are above questioning. Buddhism, however, takes a different approach. Rather than explain anything, it demonstrates it, or more correctly asks it followers to demonstrate it for themselves. Those who wish to accomplish this demonstration (for themselves) must familiarize themselves with a system of reasoning that leads them to progressively deeper understanding. There is no "other power" here that is going to come to the rescue. The Buddha says in the Dharmapadda, "No one saves us but ourselves, no one can and no one may, the Buddha merely shows the way." |
| Thought for the day: February 17, 2008 Although it is better and more difficult to think about nothing, until you can do that properly it is better to think about something, or you won't get anything done. |
| Thought for the day: February 18, 2008 When practicing inquiry be relentless, always keeping the mind engaged. Do not be so concerned about being right or wrong, but do be concerned that the mind is engaged. A sharp and engaged mind cuts through mental clutter and is a source of great energy, both physical and mental. |
| Thought for the day: February 20, 2008 Today a friend sent me an article about a Dharma gathering in New York whose teacher invites his followers to the bar below after meditation and "dharma" discourse. The teacher's idea is to make Buddhism accessible to Westerners by bringing it down to earth with stylized discourses that, for example, substitute "stress" for "Suffering" in the Four Noble Truths. But, the suffering the Buddha taught in the "Truths" had little to do with "stress" as we think of it today, nor was the Buddha concerned with making Buddhism attractive to the people of his day. His was not a teaching of how to get on in the world and be happy, but how to end cyclic existence on the ever turning wheel of birth and death. |
| Thought for the day: February 21, 2008 Freedom from "suffering," the first of the "Four Noble Truths," refers to suffering in the sense of the broader human condition and not the our common sense idea of it. In other words, the "suffering" that the Buddha spoke of is both the happiness and sadness of the world, and his teachings aimed at freeing the mind from a view of Self attached to both. For the Buddha, a king in his palace is no less ensnared by his wealth than a poor and miserable man by his abject poverty. Both are identifying their Self in the context of the relative world. The aim of the Buddhist teaching is to teach us how to step out of this context, while not ignoring it altogether. |
| Thought for the day: February 22, 2008 While at the Khumba Mela in India a sadhu told me a story from the life of King Janak that is both humorous and illustrative of the King's well deserved reputation for non-attachment.. The story goes like this: One day the King's palace had caught fire while he was at the river frolicking with his wife. His attendants ran frantically to the riverside to inform him of the disastrous fire. However, the King was as if deaf to their words and splashed and played in total joy. His servants kept up their yelling, however, until the King finally dismissed them saying: "I'm in the water." |
| Thought for the day: February 23, 2008 If a friend came to your home saying, "come with me, come with me," your first response would likely question, "where, where?" or, if while asleep we were somehow moved to a strange place, upon awakening we would surely wonder how we got there. And yet, how we came into the world, and where we will go when we die, seldom finds a footing in mans' mind from first breath to last. So bewitched we are by the conditions of this very brief stay on the planet that we forget to ask very simple and fundamental questions. True, during quiet moments the world's mystery may impress her majesty upon us enough that a slight curiosity may arise and maybe even an inclination towards contemplating the matter. But, these moments are destined to be squashed by a call from a girlfriend we haven't heard from since high school, "high surf warning", or mom calling us to diner, in general the necessities of life. And, another of many such "moments" is lost forever. |
| Thought for the day: February 24, 2008 Some question Buddhists saying, "If all is empty, why make an effort. Why give up desires and live a disciplined life? Buddhist respond by asking, if desires are empty, why not?---nothing is really being given up! The Buddhist position is that because we take desires as real, they have power to bind us and keep us turning under their influence. One should not confuse having sex, accumulating wealth, enjoying delicious food and living comfortably, with the desire for these things. They are not the same thing. Buddhism does demonstrate that as long as desire is behind these manifestations, not only will they obstruct but also they will fail to bring genuine satisfaction. Notwithstanding the deeper levels of realization, including Nirvana (complete Peace,) Buddhism teaches that the world cannot be fully appreciated because we are obstructed by desire. Life is consumed chasing them and satisfaction does not end in accumulation. One does not need a religious viewpoint to observe this, read a local paper and you will see plenty of evidence. Whether one is living in abundance or poverty accumulation of more is common characteristics and leads to much crime, anxiety and depression. If we pretend for a moment that our desires are not real, we will feel lost and without motivation. Creatures of desire that we are, we do not adapt easily to doubting their importance. As soon as we do however, we are forced to create a new life, from which will emerge a new appreciation of the world. This is a gradual process that will test our patience. |
| Thought for the day: February 25, 2008 There is virtue in contentment; but stagnation is hell. |
| Thought for the day: February 28, 2008 It is far wiser to be concerned by how you use a particular meditation technique than whether or not the technique is right for you. It is tempting to judge a method of meditation based on the progress one is making, and blame the technique if one is not making progress. This is why people hop from one way of practicing to the next in an endless search for the method that suits them. They will die never finding it. If one's relationship with one's practice is not going well, consider the your approach and try to correct it rather than switch to a new practice. (The above assumes that one is practicing in a traditional manner and not a New Age interpretation.) |
| Thought for the day: February 29, 2008 "New Age" is without lineage and should be avoided. These are usually "dharma's of convenience," interpretations of older systems "adapted" to our modern times. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |