| This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point. And, you also see the sun below the moon. |
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| Basic Principles of Meditation |
| Meditation: Host and Guest Positions Meditation is simply resting the mind on a topic of meditation. When the mind wanders from the topic of meditation, it is brought back again and made to rest there. When skill in mediation is developed the mind no longer wanders from its meditation topic and rests naturally and effortlessly on the meditation topic. A topic of meditation can be anything one wishes it to be. Generally however, meditation topics are neutral, for example, a mantra, candle light, deity image such as Christ or a Buddha image, mandala (various ritualistic geometric designs) or even a stone, colored disc, etc. Concepts, such as infinite space, boundless compassion, etc are also used as meditation topics. Once a meditation topic is selected it is important to stick with it and not switch around unnecessarily, faulting the meditation topic for ones own lack of progress.The meditation topic is, after all, merely an expedient device to aid our inward journey. Success or failure depends little on the device itself, but more upon how it is used. Once the topic of meditation is selected, it is important to recognize quickly when the mind wanders from its meditation topic. Amongst Chinese Chan Masters the illustration of the "host" and "guest" positions were often used. A summary of these two positions the meditator is likely to find himself is briefly illustrated below. Although this explanation is simple; a deep understanding and awareness of these positions can take a meditator far. High in the mountains there is an inn, beside a trail, frequented by villagers. As they move through the mountains, these villagers sometimes come for a meal or perhaps stay for a night or two before continuing on with their journey. These travellers are the "guests" as they come and go; the inn keeper, who cares for the inn and tends to the guests, is the "host." The inn keeper watches his guests come and go; he serves them, and talks and laughs with them. But, he never gets so caught up with his guests that he forgets that it is his inn and he is the host, the owner of the inn. If by some extraordinarily interesting exchange he was to foolishly wander off with one of the guests, perhaps lost in conversation, forgetting all about his inn, he would have fallen into the "guest" position. After catching himself in his foolishness, he would have to excuse himself to the "guest" and return to his inn and once again assume the "host" position. When we practice meditation, sometimes we lose focus of the topic of meditation and get caught up in thought. This is like the inn keeper who forgot about his inn and wandered off with a guest. In our case, we forgot our meditation topic and followed a wandering thought. Then something inside taps us on the shoulder and reminds us we are wandering. We have fallen into the guest position, and must once again become focused on our meditation topic and reclaim the host position. In the beginning it is common to fluctuate between the host and guest positions. In fact many beginning meditators do not recognize the difference. But as meditation progresses the two positions become very distinct. Increasingly we will solidify our position as "host. |
| Happiness and Meditation |
| Happiness is something we all want. Is happiness a good thing? Like everything else we all want; happiness is not necessarily a good thing. Happiness arises when a desired projection of the mind is fulfilled. Far example, we may wish to get a particular kind of car, get a new job, pass an exam, visit a loved one, or escape a bank robbery with a bundle of cash. Depending on who you are, all these are sources of happiness. It is the common kind of happiness that arises from having a projection of the mind fulfilled Upon what does happiness rest? Happiness rests upon fulfilling an idea we create about ourselves. This could be almost anything from a successful businessman or woman, to a great bullfighter, to a clever crook, There is happiness in fulfilling ambitions. There is also momentary happiness in pleasing sense experience. There are as many sources of happiness as there are people and ideas; and what makes one person happy may not make the next. Moreover, what makes one person happy does not make him happy always. Happiness is quick to fade. The thief’s happiness disappears soon after his cash hoard runs out, or he simply grows tired of the lifestyle. In like manner, the occupation we strove so hard for as a youth may soon lose its appeal as the years move on, along with the happiness it brought. Another reason happiness fades is because conditions change. The job with the attractive salary was a source of happiness only as long as it supplied enough cash to meet our lifestyle. But, unfortunately, often our desires grow faster than our income and we are no loner satisfied with our job. Even the crook is seeking out bigger and bolder targets. The world operates on the thesis that we are all inherently unhappy and must act to become happy. Not only do commercial advertisers sell on the basis of "this will make you happy," but so called New Age spiritualist market their scams to sell you happiness. The root cause of most unhappiness and all the ills of the world is the thought that happiness is obtained, that it comes from outside. The true happiness that we seek is not supported by what comes into contact with the skin, impinges upon the eye, is heard by the ear, is tasted by the tongue, or smelled by the nose; it is not dependent upon contact with the five senses. Moreover, it is not a mental construct of any kind. Seeking happiness in external objects, people or conditions, is seeking a kind of happiness that is dependant or supported by something other than ourselves. While this is necessary to get on in the world and something that we all must do to function; we can go deeper As human beings we have the capacity to know a kind of happiness that is not supported by sense stimuli or thought constructs. In the beginning, most people are not willing to discipline their desires even though this may be the easiest way attain happiness. Meditation is a solution for many who cannot make broad ranging personal sacrifice; but nevertheless have an interest in deepening their level of happiness. Meditation is really a kind of segmented renunciation of the world of sense so that we may take a look at the nature of mind. A fixed period of time is set aside where wealth and sex is not chased after, fine food is not indulged in, and other enjoyments are not sought. Not only are such activities renounced momentarily; but even thinking about them is abandoned. In the beginning a pretty dull world emerges; and if you stick with it long enough it gets even worse. Most quit and think the meditation failed them or they failed meditation. But; if you keep at it long enough, you will notice that you are starting to become very happy in meditation, that something very interesting is happening, that you are in fact interested in something, but cannot isolate it. You are discovering a happiness that is not supported by anything you can identify; and yet you are happy. There are exceptions to this rule. Some find happiness in meditation too quickly. Some people find that they get pretty good at sitting quietly and watching their thoughts. If their thoughts interest them, fantasizing about this and that, they become quiet happy meditators. Know that quietly watching the rise and fall of thoughts in your mind is not meditation; at best it is a kind of contemplation. A closer description of what a meditator might experience were meditation successful is having the exact same image or thought arise again and again with nothing but emptiness in between. In other words; let us say you begin your mediation with a deity picture in mind. Normally you would have your mind wander from the deity picture again and again, continuously having to apply effort to return the mind to the topic of meditation. But, after some years of practice a kind a vacuous space replaces the wandering thoughts. Whereas before you would wander from the meditation topic to various thoughts and back to the mediation topic; now there is only an empty space that you move in and out of as you once again become conscious of the meditation topic. This is being absorbed in the topic of meditation. It is one of the lower levels of meditation and is a source of happiness. |
| Are You a Buddhist? A few years ago I was asked a very interesting question. The question was interesting because its answer was so seemingly obvious that it seemed unnecessary to ask. And yet the one asking was very serious and one of the great Tibetan masters of our time, H.H. Kusum Lingpa. I was asked, “Are you a Buddhist?” I felt like someone held an orange in front of me and asked: “What is this?” The Master knew I had been practicing Buddhism all my life and had been a monk for ten years. Of course, I answered, “Yes,” not because I am a good Buddhist, for a good Buddhist would have been wise enough to turn the question around somehow and throw it back at the Master, but rather because my ordinary understanding could not come up with anything better. There are many reasons one may think oneself a Buddhist. One may attend Buddhist meditation classes and practice daily Buddhist meditation, for example. I do not remember clearly when I first regarded myself as a Buddhist; perhaps it was during the year I lived in the Himalayas of Nepal in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Although at that time I had no books to study, I was meditating most of the day (although using a Christian Psalm for a mantra) and was surrounded by Buddhist monks. Every evening I would spend two or three hours “discussing” Buddhist philosophy with the abbot of the monastery, Sengye Tenzin Lama. Although neither one of us understood the other’s language, I think we had more laughs and extracted more meaning from our nightly visits than had we been wholly conversant. Sangye Tenzin enjoyed pointing out to me that my meditation lacked wisdom, and I was more like a bear in hibernation than a Buddhist meditating. This period was almost thirty-five years before HH Kusum Lingpa asked me his question. Shortly after this period I met my teacher, Master Hsuan Hua, The lineage holder of the Chan or Zen tradition. I worked very hard under his guidance and was assigned head of the Chan hall (meditation hall.) Most of my ten years as a monk were spent in silent meditation and teaching occasionally, and leading the daily group meditations.. The question of whether or not I was a Buddhist never arose---any more than the thought of what my morning orange was. Sometimes we take things for granted. We assume we are such and such for so long that we don’t even know what it means anymore. Our actions lose meaning and we are trapped in mere habit. Mindlessly (mind elsewhere) some who call themselves Buddhists go about daily rituals and meditations. Can they still be regarded as “Buddhists?” or has rituals and meditation lost all meaning? In the beginning the right aspiration made the practice Buddhist; but now, though the outward form is the same, complacency has made the practice a fraud, and not at all a harmless one, for such deception is a shameful waste of time. Sometimes we assume someone is not a Buddhist who may very well be. In 1992, shortly after my father died, I met H H Trushick Rinpoche one evening after he gave a lecture in Los Angeles. I had not seen him since I was living in Nepal and he sent one of his attendants to fetch me from the crowd and bring me to his room that evening after the lecture. After prostrating myself before him and making an offering he asked me how I was and about my family. While telling of my fathers passing, I said apologetically that my father was not a Buddhist, but was a good man. To this Rinpoche replied that ‘being a good man” is being a Buddhist.. Certainly many who do not think of themselves as Buddhists and who others do not regard as such are in fact closer to the Buddha’s heart than many of us who assume our Buddhist lifestyle Buddhist. This is why Kusum Lingpa asked me the question he did. He was telling me to work harder. What is Buddhism? The Buddha was once walking through a field in the dusty plains of Bihar, India. There he was asked by a farmer, “what is the difference between you and I?” The Buddha relied: “I have realized I am the Buddha; but you have yet to realize it.” Indeed, elsewhere Buddhist texts proclaim; “All living beings have the Buddha Nature, but because of false thinking and attachments they fail to realize it.” Buddhism is the study of ones own true nature, or Buddha Nature. Buddhism is the map leading to this discovery. You can also think of it as your Christ Nature, Self Nature, or Mother Nature; whatever you feel comfortable with. The point is not how you chose to categorize it, but what it is. The underlying core of being does not belong to Buddhism or any other religion. The Buddha’s teaching aims to show us how to see beyond appearances and unite with the core. So do other religious teachings. One need not be a Buddhist to practice Buddhism. Indeed, H H the Dali Lama has stressed that individuals should not feel a need to change their religion to practice Buddhism. The principles of Buddhism can be incorporated into whatever faith one may belong. Buddhism gives us a methodology for dealing with our unprofitable and binding actions that have accumulated over many lifetimes and are the foundation for misconceptions we have today about the world, who we are, and our relationship to everything that we see, feel, hear, touch, taste, and think about. Buddhism asks us to contemplate birth and death; this is the most important Buddhist teaching. Buddhism teaches that if this is done with sincerity the right conclusion will force itself upon us. We will notice the impermanent nature of the phenomenal world and the constant change of all appearances. This will help us to understand the futility of wanting to possess someone, something, or some state of mind---or indeed our own life. Accomplishing this is freedom. Now, you might be thinking: “of course, everyone knows that!” But the aim here is to see this in a new and transforming way. One that is not merely a conceptualized understanding, but rather an understanding that we are part of and embody. Buddhism often asks us to take a better look at what is already before us and always has been. The breath for example, goes in and out, we all know that; but why do we take that for granted? Why did a Buddha have to come along and say that if you watch it carefully you may realize a subtle breath moving within you (not air, but prana)? We all take our hearing and the sounds about us as facts of life with little. How many of us have ever thought to merge the faculty of hearing with the sound, or even thought it possible, or what would emerge if one succeeded. Buddhism deals with many simple practices like these. The result is nothing distinctly Buddhist. The Buddha has no patent on such discoveries, and certainly before the Buddha there were insightful rishis and yogis who quite independently decided to look beneath the surface of things. The reason of course it took a Buddha to come along and tell us to take a better look at ourselves and the world is simple: We are being constantly distracted by the world. There is a difference between seeing the world and being distracted by it. The Buddha came along and said; look everyone; you are being dragged about here and there and not recognizing what is right beneath your nose! Things are not as they appear to be! Take a good look! The Buddha pointed out that not only is the outer world of appearances not as we habitually take it to be; but also our inner world is also confused by many false views. Foremost of these false views is the notion of self as the body. If the body is injured “I” am injured, if the body feels pleasure, “I” feel pleasure, if the body dies, “I” die. More subtle, but equally false is the identification of self with mental states such as anger, jealousy, hatred, love (as the antonym of hate), and numerous mental conditions, in short the sense “I” that identifies with the body and mental fabrication. The Buddha pointed out that we can disentangle ourselves from many false views by means of simple analyses. For example, if we desire a boat and work hard to get one, upon receiving it we are happy. We conceive the thought that I am happy because I got a boat---the boat made me happy. But, if the boat brought me happiness, why can't a boat bring everyone happiness? Clearly there is no happiness in the boat; and yet we frame our thought as if it did, thinking: “Oh, the boat brought me so much happiness.” This kind of happiness can be extended in an infinite number of ways, personal relationships make me happy, fame makes me happy, a good dinner makes me happy, and so on. Somehow we think of these externals as the giver of happiness; at least for a time, until the storm wrecks the boat, the relationship falls apart, and the dinner makes you sick. The example of the boat is not brought up to discourage boating, nor the good dinner to discourage eating, nor the fine relationship with the sexy opposite; but rather to show how we get ensnared in the world of things to the extent that we cannot get free. Let us continue with the boat analyses for now, you can later extend it as you please. The boat brought happiness because we constructed thought formations that it would. If those thought formations were not created, the boat would not have had this capacity. So basically we created a thought of dependency upon the boat and now our happiness is dependant upon getting it. This kind of dependency leads us to believe that external things bring happiness and the more we extend our thought like this the more attached we become to the outside world. And worse yet, the greater our sense of separation becomes. The obvious way to free oneself of this mess is to stop constructing our thoughts around acquiring things, people, positions, status, recognition and all forms of ambitions, and take a good look at our life. This sounds easy, but it is not. The reason it is not is because we have been conditioning ourselves to look outside, lifetime after lifetime, and to suddenly stop is impossible. Even to try to suddenly stop is ill advised, for thwarting desires is never as good as channeling them. So, we must begin disengaging from the world gradually. It is important to understand that by disengaging we do not mean necessarily outwardly disengaging, but rather changing our inner perception of outward facts. The outward appearance of our world is of little importance, but how we regard our world is everything. The Buddha is an equal opportunity employer, and no way of life is excluded from Buddhism. Buddhism never discouraged people from pursuing their goals in the world, as long as that pursuit does not bring harm to others. But rather the Buddha’s teachings show us how to free our minds from attachment to results. For it is not the results of actions that bring harm, not the boat, the beautiful lover, or wealth, but attachment to these things. By pointing out the nature of all forms of dependant happiness, the Buddha wants us to ask the question if there is a form of happiness that is not supported by things, or conditions, such as success or failure. Dependant is an important word here, for it arises again and again in different contexts in Buddhist thought. In the present context dependant simply means that we are under the assumption that something external is going to produce a desired state of mind or is producing one. Of course, attaining whatever it is only fosters the false notion of ourselves as separate from the world we live in. Happiness or sadness is not inherent in the object gained or lost. But it is difficult to see this. There is a saying, “In the affairs of others, even the fool is wise; but, in ones’ own affairs even saints make mistakes.” The reason we make mistakes in or own affairs is that we are blinded by them. We become so ensnared by our ambitions and they take over. How can we avoid this? Why Build a Buddhist Practice? All living beings desire happiness, but few find it. Lasting is in italics here for emphasis because I want to differentiate two kinds of happiness, one that endures and one that doesn't’t. Relative happiness does not endure because, as mentioned above, it is supported by things, events, and people that don’t endure. If the source does not endure, how can the result? Often people rebel against Buddhism because they fear that their world will be threatened by undertaking a Buddhist approach. This is a misunderstanding. Buddhism does not suggest that we abandon our world, but rather understand its relative nature. Indeed, it does little good to renounce the world, as it is the very world that bogs us down that when rightly examined can lift us up. We undertake a Buddhist practice to develop the skills necessary to examine our world. Without these skills the world would continue to ensnare and we will always be subject to it and controlled by it. However, if we examine our world we can learn to dance with it and learn a good deal thereby. If we do not have a Buddhist practice (or similar practice) it is likely that we assume that we know better how to become happy and don’t need any assistance. This is the way of the world and why most people die as ignorant as when they were born. This is the nature of samsara, the world of illusion. Some of us are born with a thirst to escape this world of samsara, but most of us are so ensnared by it that we know nothing else; we thirst after thing, events, people, discarding one and finding another, with no end in sight. Few take the time or know how to stop and really contemplate what is going on in their lives. Often, even the thought of doing so is frightening, let alone making it a daily ritual. We may feel the very foundations of our being threatened by such scrutiny. This is the ego at work trying to make you feel as if you cannot live without the world you created. But, even this is wrongly put. It is not that you cannot live without the world you created (that threatens the ego); but rather that you cannot live without regarding the world you created as the foundation of your being. We begin practicing Buddhism to discover whether of not the foundation of being is really what we think it to be. There are ultimate and mundane reasons to practice Buddhism. When I first began to seriously practice Buddhism I wanted to become a great yogi; not even understanding what this meant. I pictured myself as a respected teacher, full of self realization. It took me many years to realize that my goal was no different from someone grasping wealth in business or fame in the movies. In fact, I discovered my goal was even more dishonest because I was cloaking purely selfish aims in spiritual garb. It wasn’t until I met my teacher that I realized what an ego trip I was on and slowly took it apart. In the beginning it is best to have humble aims. Rather than aiming at perfect enlightenment, aim at being a better friend, more honest businessman, more loving spouse, contented person, moral and ethical person, happy. If the ultimate goal of Buddhism is absolute perfect enlightenment, the beginning lies here. Skill is necessary to disentangle from the tangle of samsara. Buddhism has many forms of practice suitable for individuals of varying natures. Perhaps this is one of Buddhism’s greatest assets. No other form of religious practice has developed so many techniques to suit the diverse inclinations of people as Buddhism. Let us look a moment at some of these practices. Basic Buddhist Practices Most people associate Buddhist practice with meditation, quietude, withdrawal from the world, etc. Meditation, in particular, is considered a Buddhist practice. This false view is reinforced by the many meditation centers and retreat centers, where, often for a fee, one can join in scheduled meditation practice. But, the fact is, there can be no meditation without first building a foundation for it. To simply sit cross legged staring blankly with eyes open or shut, making ones mind a blank, is not meditation, nor is watching the rise and fall of thoughts (this is contemplation.) It is unlikely that one can learn to meditate by sitting on a cushion in this manner. The Chinese say this kind of meditation is like “boiling sand grains expecting to get cooked rice.” Buddhism begins laying a foundation for practice by urging its followers do some house cleaning. Anything dishonest, unethical, immoral, mean, harmful, basically anything obviously unprofitable in the way one conducts ones affairs is gradually eliminated. This is all relative. Once on my first trip to India, as a naive trusting person, I got a lesson on honesty and ethics from a source many would think unlikely. I had went to a market place shortly after arriving in Calcutta to change some money. The amount was five hundred dollars, a huge amount of money in 1960s India. I found a black market money changer named Chico who was running a sandal shop in New Market, a tiny stall amongst hundreds of others. I gave Chico the money; but he said he could not change such a large amount and that I should return tomorrow. I decided to leave the money with him and went on my way. Upon arriving at the home of the Bengali family I was staying with I was asked about my day. Hearing of the money changer and my five-hundred dollars the general consensus was that we would never see it again. Cliiford, their son, insisted he come with me the following day to make all threats necessary to get it back, although he was convinced none would work. The next day, we arrived at New Market and found Chico attending his stall. He greeted me with a smile and handed me my rupees. Clifford counted the money in astonishment. I asked Chico why he didn't’t cheat me and he pointed to a picture of a bearded baba on the wall and said: “My guru teaches me not to steal.” (As a side note, I looked up Chico fifteen years later and he had become very wealthy, owning several department stores throughout Calcutta----honesty pays!) When beginning a Buddhist practice we should not think that radical outward change is necessary; but rather look at our everyday lives as an opportunity to guide our actions with higher principles. If our occupation, association of friends, in short, our daily routine is to change let it be a holistic change that comes about as a part of our growth. In the meantime we should use our ordinary lives as the testing grounds of Buddhist principles. Buddhism teaches mindfulness as an essential tool of inquiry. The mind continually wanders from thought to thought, fantasizing about this and that. Mindfulness brings simple awareness to the task at hand as a means to still these fluctuations. This certainly need not be confined to a seated meditation practice; but should be practiced during the course of normal activity. Seated practice can be used as an aid to familiarize oneself with the fluctuating nature of the mind, but is not essential. If one can learn to be mindful while active, seated meditation will be performed with far more skill. This being said, anyone can safely allot a small amount of time, say one hour, to seated meditation. If one’s mindfulness is practiced during activity the question arises how one does it. There are many ways of doing this, not all of them suitable for all activities. Labeling movements, for example, is one activity whereby physical movements are labeled: I am lifting my arm, I am pulling this wire, I am sitting down, I am rising up, and endlessly this seemingly monotonous ritual of labeling accompanies our activities. This is all done with the sole purpose of halting the minds fluctuations and our addiction to them. Staying focused to the task at hand and not engaging in unnecessary conversation is another way to discipline the mind. One need not be a Zen master to see this. In fact much of preliminary practice is as much common sense as Buddhist; perhaps that is one of Buddhism’s appeals. To be continued Vegetarian Fundamentalism Most Buddhist who are vegetarian got over the fact shortly after becoming vegetarian. But, there is a strange group of Buddhist individuals who try to make vegetarian eating " A Buddhist way of Life." Nothing could be further from the truth. If the practice of eating a certain way was as beneficial as these vegetarian elitists would have us believe, myself and the hippie companions of my childhood would have been enlightened long ago. The fact is that compassion is the important thing; and to think that compassion is confined to vegetarians is demonstrably untrue. Most Buddhist who are vegetarian do so for two reasons: because a vegetarian diet is more "satvic," or pure. Meat is "rajistic" inclines one towards negative emotions like anger, hatred, excessive desire, etc. than vegetarian food. Satvic and rajistic are Hindu terms that are used extensively in the philosophy of ayuervedic medicine, the philosophy of medicine and diet that is considered the world's oldest. Tamasic, is the third quality of medicine and food, the one that brings torpor or sluggishness. Of course, often foods and medicines are a combination of the three, usually with one predominant. It goes without saying that one should try to eat as pure (satvic) as possible, and this would, based on food, be a vegetarian diet. The other reason for a vegetarian diet is obvious; non-killing. But, pure eating is not necessarily confined to the food, For example, the Buddha allowed his disciple to practice various vows dealing with food. Most of these were designed to control ones greed for fine flavors, etc. One of these practices was "the any house beggars practice." Naturally, in a culture where monks begged for food, overtime monks got to know where the good handouts were, and there they went. So, a monk who undertook the "any house beggars practice" forsook the luxury of choosing where the good grub was to be had and tossed his lot to chance. No doubt because most of the homes were Hindu, the food was mostly vegetarian. But, because many of the Buddha's followers begged in fishing communities, fish was also on the menu. Now, as far as diet goes, who is closer to the Buddha's heart, the monk carefully choosing his homes for the delicious vegetarian morsel, or the monk who begs by chance? This brings us to a big problem vegetarians have to deal with, greed. If you mix a vegetarian meal with greed, the pure satvic meal becomes impure or rajistic. So what is the benefit of pure food? The old saying, "better a dried morsel where love is; than abundance with hate and greed," comes to mind here. In fact vegetarians face all the problems the non-vegetarians face while eating. They can eat with anger, hatred, stupidity just like anyone else--- Those who claim that vegetarianism is a "Buddhist Way of Life" are reading more into this beneficial practice than there is to be gotten. It is good to be vegetarian, no doubt. It is an aid to the path and does not require a lot of effort. But the real issues that being a Buddhist forces us to face requires a tremendous effort. It is unlikely that we will even recognize what these issues are, let alone address them, if we are spending our time on a platform trying to turn vegetarianism into a "Buddhist Way of life." Thank heaven Buddhism is more than that. Realizing this will require more energy than the vegetarian fundamentalist are willing to exert. They would rather spend there time hawking their vegetarian ideals than address these. Rather than talk so much on diet why not talk on compassion and put the topic of vegetarianism in the broader context to which it belongs? This is hardly worth continuing----------- |