| Thought for the day: January 1, 2008 May all have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year; and may your aspirations towards maintaining precepts, and developing concentration and wisdom be realized. Meditation is the art of holding the mind onto the topic of meditation and absorbing it there. The dangers of meditation is that the topic is either not a worthwhile one, or it begins worthwhile and descends into an un-beneficial one. Let us forget about people with low ambitions and study meditation for harmful purposes and take a look at those with good ambitions that are thwarted by incorrect practice. Meditation must be constantly scrutinized to keep it aligned by checking one's viewpoint during post meditation experience. Post meditation is like a mirror that reflects the quality and direction of the actual practice. It is not uncommon to experience increased anger, impatience, sexual desire, and other negative emotions and desires as a result of meditation, when the disturbing emotions become intertwined with the topic of meditation and concentrated upon. This can be very subtle and difficult to detect while meditating, therefore one uses post-mediation experience to judge whether or not this is happening. Change is a gradual process that takes months and years. While we cannot expect to see immediate change as a result of mediation; a periodic check-up should reveal diminishing obstructions, fewer desires, and a less conflict within. Gradually the line between meditation and post meditation should fade and become almost indistinguishable. Analytical contemplation of post-mediation experience should be incorporated into every meditation practice. Many of the pitfalls of the path can be revealed and corrected if we do this. Often it will be revealed that lifestyle change is the only way to bring the meditation in alignment with true principle. This often happens to those who begin meditation without sufficient instruction regarding the goal. Typically, these practitioners believe that mediation is some sort of magic bullet that will erase their problems, while not yielding to the disciplinary injunctions that typically accompany a serious meditation practice. Recognizing this, one strives to bring one's life into accord with the dharma and thus keep meditation on target. |
| Thought for the day: January 2, 2008 Disciplining desires must be done carefully or frustration will arise which is almost as bad as the desires themselves. Desires must be sublimated and never blocked. This requires one to realize how an energy is manifesting itself once the obvious expression is blocked. In my monastery, for example, although monks and nuns took vows of celibacy, my teacher lectured us daily on the importance of cutting off sexual desire. Outsiders often wondered at this , as his left-home disciples were already firm in the precept prohibiting sexual activity. However, to those of us maintaining this discipline it was obvious he was encouraging us to discover the more subtle ways this powerful energy is being dissipated, gather it in, and direct it. In other words, being celibate is the easy part, delighting in it is far more difficult. However, my teacher worked tirelessly to instruct his disciples how to accomplish this and most, though not all, worked past the almost unavoidable frustration this discipline causes. As with the above, so it goes with all discipline. Whether one is taking a vow of silence, fasting, ascetic practices, or any number of disciplines, it is important to realize the outward appearance is the easy part. The difficult part is finding more subtle ways of expressing these energies. This is after all the aim of discipline. |
| Thought for the day: January 3, 2008 Never put your Buddhism on display; conceal it well in all your actions. |
| Thought for the day: January 4, 2008 Living in the "Now" is a modern phenomena attractive to those who would rather forget their past. While they imagine their past forgotten, their past remembers them all too well. So busy burying the past in an idealized view of the present, they have no time to create positive causes today that will lessen their load down the road. Self-help, New Age, and "Now" philosophies while good for learning how to get on in the world, should not be confused with Buddhist or Hindu philosophies, which is often the case because they are presented that way. |
| Thought for the day: January 5, 2008 Assumptions, like beliefs, are often blind. If we examine our beliefs and assumptions we can determine if they are founded on understanding and rest on true principle. If we think that such and such is the case, but don't know why, it does us little good even if we are correct, much the less if we are not |
| Thought for the day: January 6, 2008 Breath work and yoga should complement all meditation practices. Thought and breath are closely linked, when one subsides so does the other. Prana is not air; when working with breath keep this in mind. Yoga will keep the meridians and channels open and aid in removing obstructing and disturbing emotions from the practice of seated meditation. |
| Thought for the day: January 7, 2008 Keep ambitions realistic and humble; avoid frustration. Doing this you will last throughout the long haul. |
| Thought for the day: January 8, 2008 Cultivate proactive dharmas and strive to remain in the first position. Once negativity arsises and you are in the second position, analyze how you got there, before negating it, and only then, when the mind is clear about the cause, move back to the first position. The non-arisal of dharmas is taught on many levels throughout Buddhist scriptures and applies to both novices and saints. Course negativity expresses itself in negative action and speech. By checking our thought we can prevent this, but still we have the thought that was checked. As long as these unprofitable thought patterns arise, they will consume our energy; so we must get beneath them and discover why they arise to begin with. Old habits of negative thought are difficult to change, but the momentum can be redirected and gradually transformed into positive forms of thought |
| Thought for the day: January 8, 2008 I once asked HH Trinley Norbu; "How long should I sit in meditation." He replied, "Until you find yourself meditating." Often we set a time for meditation and loose sight of its purpose; which is what Rinpoche was pointing out to me. Meditation must not be put in a box and become something that we "do." It is a dynamic experience to be engaged and absorbed into. |
| Thought for the day: January 10, 2008 If there is one particular aspect of your being that you would like to change, begin by changing everything else. |
| Thought for the day: January 11, 2008 When you find an object attractive and you want it for yourself, ask yourself if that object possesses the quality of attractiveness or your mind imputes that quality upon it. If you find a person attractive, ask yourself the same question. There is a difference between being moved by an object or person, and appreciating their qualities and knowing them. Because we (unconsciously) impute values on qualities that are not coming from the object's side, we are confused by the world we live in. |
| Thought for the day: January 12, 2008 As with people and things, we impute upon events, both external events and mental events, values that are not coming from the objects side, but for our thinking it so. This habitual way of seeing can cause us to misinterpret these events. Meditation can help us to view these events as they are, before being colored by the mind. |
| Thought for the day: January 13, 2008 Mantra recitation should be accompanied with an awareness of a flow of energy supporting it. I sometimes visualize this energy flow as a fountain supporting the syllables. If mantras are recited with discursive thought in the background, our recitation is sure to be broken, and each time it is broken we start anew. |
| Thought for the day: January 14, 2008 A Chan saying goes: "Produce the thought that is nowhere supported." Our world is like a book and ourselves and others inhabiting it are like the book's characters. If we think of the people we know we cannot help but think of them in reference to the world they are part of, similar to the way a novel's characters are created contextually. Bill, in one novel may be an angry person, in another a loving one, depending on the relationships the author establishes for his character. If we examine "Bill," apart from these relationships, there is no "Bill." Similarly, it is impossible to find anyone we know apart from the concept of them we have that rests on the associations we have of them in our life and world. When I think of "Mom" for example, I know her as such because of her place in my life, but if I try to find an owner of these characteristics, I cannot find one. But, it certainly seems like there must be a "Mom" that all my ideas of Mom belong to, but there is not. And, this is the illusion of "conventional existence." All our thoughts of people, things, and events are defined by their relationship to our world, apart from which there are no people, things, and events. To "produce the thought that is nowhere supported," is to see this. |
| Thought for the day: January 15, 2008 Hope without effort goes nowhere. |
| Thought for the day: January 16, 2008 It is easy to have a fixed time for practice when living in a monastery, but for those of us living in the world it is unrealistic. But, a fixed AMOUNT of time is always a good goal. While responsibilities can demand time alloted for meditation, if we a flexible, we can usually find time later in the day, or give up that movie we were planning to see. The yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, when asked when he meditated simply answered that he meditated during free moments throughout the day (as his schedule was so demanding.) |
| Thought for the day: January 17, 2008 If you are lost in the desert long enough, not only will you mistake a mirage for water, but you will also mistake water for a mirage. Similarly, if we are not paying attention and properly mindful, opportunity disguised in everyday thought (or interaction with our Teacher) will escape our grasp. Ordinary life and interactions with others is full of potential, but asleep it won't be realized. |
| Thought for the day: January 18, 2008 If you regard yourself highly, you are probably hanging out with the wrong people. |
| Thought for the day: January 19, 2008 Fewness of wishes is a virtue born of correct meditation. |
| Thought for the day: January 20, 2008 As a monk we ate one meal per day at noon. These noon-day meals were often too well contemplated. As one of the few indulgences allowed, it often showed on our plate in the form of an over abundance of food. On such an occasion my teacher passed me and looked at the mountain on my plate, but didn't say a word. I knew his thoughts, however, and replied to them anyway, "My father always said that I have a stomach without a memory." I should have known better, because, being a Chan Master he would certainly throw this back on me, and he did. He replied with a laugh, "Well, why do you remember to eat?" |
| Thought for the day: January 21, 2008 Have deep faith in your practice and yourself; it is essential to be fearless and willing to stand alone. This is especially true for those who are practicing outside a monastic environment. Never doubt yourself. A sincere application of effort and persistence will reveal the correct path and keep you on it. Doubt is often a short term phenomena that has long term results. People often practice for a short period of time and because of limited results blame the practice rather than their karma. Feeling they are getting nowhere, they abandon practice and don't pick it up again. Be humble, realize that many life times of thinking is the momentum behind your present state of mind. Changing one's way of looking at the world takes time, even for those blessed with correct guidance and practice. Change will come like a tree growth, almost too subtle to notice; as said in the Dharmapada, "little by little, bit by bit, and from time to time." |
| Thought for the day: January 22, 2008 Things that seem least important are often most important, while things that seem most important are often least important---as dying eyes review their lives. Twenty-twenty hindsight is not any more helpful than a death-bed repentance; thus the Buddha taught to constantly contemplate birth and death. |
| Thought for the day: January 23, 2008 Enjoying the walk is contingent upon forgetting the destination. |
| Thought for the day: January 24, 2008 Sutras teach us that we live in the "Desire Realm." As long as we have desire we will be reborn in this realm. Blinded by desire, we are unaware of other realms, but seek to fulfill our desires, thus assuring that we remain turning on the wheel of birth and death within the "Desire Realm." There is nothing "wrong" with this, it is the nature of this realm and we are just obeying its laws. However, there are other realms, at least this is what the Buddha taught. He also taught that the "Desire Realm" is suffering. Now, many may disagree with this, particularly those of us blessed with the "Good Life," and this is to be expected because we know no better. Even those not blessed with the "Good life," are only cursing their lot relative to it, and not with insight of something better. Both those well off and in the gutter are blinded in the same way. Thus, both those who curse life and say their world is misery and those who praise it and say "Life is Good" are both reporting from an equally ignorant perspective. When the Buddha taught he taught "all is suffering," meaning that ignorance of one's true nature is suffering, regardless of how "happy' one's world may be. And, for those miserable ones who agreed with him, he taught that their agreement was wrongly reasoned and therefore no benefit. He didn't leave them stranded, however, but threw them a lifeline. The lifeline was a teaching that planted a seed of doubt regarding our familiar world that if studied and meditated upon would turn it completely upside down. The Buddha taught change and transformation and never taught blocking energy or blind discipline. In other words, he did not teach blocking desire, but rather transformation of desire or utilizing them to one's advantage. As long as one has desire, it is far better to work with them than pretend they don't exist. This is like a martial artist who uses the strength of his opponent to his advantage by turning his opponents energy back on himself. Conceptually understanding this, and being able to do it, however, are worlds apart. Conceptual understanding is the seed, however, that will grow into realization with time and practice. The long term consequences of action are less frequently thought about than the short term ones. We tend to look for gratification as soon as possible, running from one fulfillment to the next, and never finding the end, like an ant frantically crawling around the outside of a watermelon, never tasting the fruit inside. As long as life is approached with a short term view, lasting results are sure to allude us. The Buddha taught us to constantly question our motives, to constantly ask where our thoughts are leading us. Doing just this much is sure to slow us down and help us to see a better way of living. While attaining complete enlightenment may seem beyond our reach, becoming less muddled need not be. |
| Thought for the day: January 25, 2008 Just as the body thrives on right diet and exercise, so with the mind. Feed the mind good philosophy and exercise it on reason and logic, and it will flourish and be a source of happiness always. |
| Thought for the day: January 26, 2008 I have often heard people say, "I can't meditate." And, equally I have heard people say, "I can meditate." Often both are making the same mistake and that is thinking that meditation is something that you "do." But, it isn't. Meditation is not a contrived state of mind, and because it isn't, it is not a "do" proposition. Think about it a moment and ask yourself how one can "do" an uncontrived state, it is impossible. So how does one meditate? Mediation is more about "allowing" than "doing;" it is about getting out of the way. A very subtle shift of attitude towards meditation can change the way one approaches it and greatly effect the results. The assumption that one can "do" meditation enforces the wrong notion that we are creating a new state of mind (or entering one.) However, the correct view would be more like assuming that we are looking right at it and not seeing it. Some of us may remember the graphic art work that was very popular a few years ago, composed of many colored dots, from which would emerge a picture if one could refrain from trying to imagine what it might be (otherwise it would remain just a bunch of colored dots.)(By the way, if any of my readers happen to know the name of this kind of art, please email it to me.) Anyway, when we meditate, it is essential to understand that we are already meditating, but failing to realize it. Only a change in attitude is required, it has nothing to do with mechanics, whether it be mantra, tantra, koans, hua tous, or whatever, matters little; what does matter is one's approach---just like the art work. |
| Thought for the day: January 27, 2008 Understanding that the root of life's problems is conflicting desires, and working to harmonize and lessen them, is the holistic approach of the Buddha, that tackles the root of conflict without dwelling in particulars. |
| Thought for the day: January 28, 2008 The breath is a steady and reliable meditation topic. Thought and breath are closely linked, when one subsides, so does the other. By resting thought on the breath the mind becomes tranquil. This is samatha. |
| Thought for the day: January 29, 2008 When the mind is calm and quiet (samatha,) introduce the thought "whose mind is calm and quiet?" Stirring the waters of the calm mind by introducing this thought and keeping the inquiry there is insight meditation (vipasana.) |
| Thought for the day: January 30, 2008 Experiencing a blissful state of mind rooted that correct meditation is wholesome unless grasped. As soon as a wholesome state is grasped, it becomes unwholesome and an object of clinging. Never try to repeat a blissful state; but rather let it fade as dew drops on grass as the day dawns. |
| Thought for the day: January 31, 2008 We live in a world with conventional and ultimate realities and the two should never be confused. Superimposing an ultimate standpoint on a conventional reality could lead to a "let it be" attitude that has nothing to do with the "let it be" of the Taoist, Hindu, or Buddhist yogis---but many in their confusion think it has! It is said that the "Tao" is not for those who pick and choose;" so, unless you are strong enough to let everything be; it is far better to deal with your "life" according to worldly conventions, rather than pretend they don't exist. Developing a correct viewpoint towards ultimate existence is contingent upon developing a correct understanding of conventional (worldly) existence. The two are intertwined and cannot be separtaed. Knowing this allow your world to flow into your meditation and your meditation to flow into your world. |
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