| Points of Practice |
1) Before you begin practicing Buddhism ask yourself what Buddhism is and
why you want to practice it. Later, if you become a practicing Buddhist, you will
find that right motivation is essential to all elements of the Buddhist life. In fact
there is no Buddhist life without right motivation.
2) Discipline yourself. Work with a plan. Have time allotted for meditation
and study and stick to it without clinging unreasonably. If a time conflict arises
because of a necessary appointment, adjust your schedule to accommodate it, and
make up the time missed for practice later.
3) Be kind to others because you are a kind person; and know that being kind
to others does not mean you are a kind person. This will require a lot of work.
4) Seemingly “new” obstacles appear as soon as a serious practice is begun.
Know that these obstacles are not new at all, but only your awareness of them is
new. As the saying goes: “The Buddha grows a foot, and the demon is already ten
feet tall.”
5) First understand the consequences of wrong ways and then abandon them.
6) Practice a completely balanced path. Meditation, study, yoga, kindness,
compassion, sympathetic joy, generosity, patience, energy, moral and ethical
discipline, etc., all equally illumine the Path. Because this is so, our active world
is a potent source of spiritual insight.
7) Sincerity will draw out the Buddha’s compassion even if your practice is
incorrect. Do not be afraid to begin because you are not sure how. Be sincere and
apply great effort; your practice may not seem right and indeed may not be right;
but will become right if your heart is right. Believe in yourself.
8) The full lotus posture is the most symmetrical posture for meditation; but
it is not essential. If full lotus is difficult for you, try to overcome the difficulty by
practice. If after some months of stretching and enduring pain the posture is not
yet natural; adopt a posture that is comfortable with the spine straight.
9) Eat right. Food can be very entertaining; but shouldn't'’t be. We should eat
food that is nourishing and eat it with mindfulness and thanksgiving. Always stop
before being quiet full as this promotes digestions and prevents sluggishness.
Avoid those foods which lead to heaviness and torpor.
10) Sleep is an “unfixed dharma” and as such there is no amount that is right
for everyone. Discover your needs and avoid unnecessary sleep. Remember that
false thinking makes you tired.
11) Meditation often seems to bring out the worst in us; often causing novices
to think they were better off before they started. But, the fact is that meditation
just brings the worst to the surface where we can see it. It is this seeing that is so
vital to overcoming disturbing emotions and other faults.
12) Desires of all kinds, particularly sexual desire, must be disciplined. This is
how they are brought into the Path. Harnessing our desires, rather than following
after them, is very empowering.
13) Buddhist and Hindu scriptures taught Tantra as a means to enhance
Samadhi, the trance of great yogis often accompanied by long periods of
breathlessness. For most great yogis a physical partner is unnecessary; but is
occasionally prescribed for great yogis who had already cut off common sexual
desire.
14) Tantra as taught in the New Age community is a simple fraud. Within
each individual are male and female energies. It is these energies that genuine
Tantra aims at uniting. In stillness, examine the active, thinking, aggressive side,
and the passive feeling, receptive side of your own mind. Uniting these is Tantra.
15) Do not try to get off cheap. Practicing the dharma requires tremendous
sacrifice.
16) Make vows you can keep. Negative action that violates a vow bear heavier
consequences than if the vow had never been made. Typical vows discipline
sexual activity, eating, sleep, entertainment and other sources of energy outflows.
Make vows for short periods of time and gradually lengthen the time.
17) Beware of the person who is trying to help you. Good teachers are tight
lipped. Those offering unsolicited advice generally are more interested in
displaying their knowledge than benefiting anyone. Great knowledge whispers.
18) Do not place too much importance on uncommon mental states and
mistake them as signs of genuine achievement. Some individuals have many
experiences while meditating, while others have none. The absence or abundance
of visions, etc is not indicative of achievement.
19) Objects seem to bring happiness, but it is really the mind that empowers
them. That is why some objects bring happiness to some, but not others. This
being the case, stop empowering objects with your mind.
20) The mind naturally turning inward is an early sign of progress.
21) Achievement is relative. Don’t worry about how little achievement you
have (compared to others), but only your failure to recognize opportunity.
22)
23) The Buddha is an “equal opportunity employer.” There is no high or low
in Buddhism. Anyone can practice Buddhism.
24) If you think that you have had a spiritual experience, seek out a genuine
master to certify it before accepting it as such.
25) In the beginning the contrast between spiritual practice and worldly
activity is very clear; but as years move along they become the same.
26) Beware of "The Self-proclaimed Enlightened Ones." These are "teachers"
who have no lineage, profess great insight, and yet their insight is only verified by
themselves.
27) Popularity is no indication whatsoever the worth of a "teacher." Truly
great music has relatively few fans.
28) There are two kinds of monk: those who earn their rice and those who
don't. Don't be fooled by the robe.
29) The Buddhist "Three year retreat" does not come with a guarantee. The
county jail has many in retreat, too.
30) The so called power of "Now" is a naive attempt to leapfrog karma and
be in a blissful present. Karma gets a big laugh out of this. This New Age idea is
not to be confused with Zen, Chan, Dzogchen, or other Buddhist schools of
"Sudden Enlightenment."
31)
32) You will know you are making progress when you realize that you are a
beginner------ after years of practice.
33) Never assume you are a Buddhist just because you study Buddhism and
practice Buddhist meditation etc. Attaching to the form of a practice can become a
bigger obstruction than not practicing at all.
34) Make offerings to great teachers---even if they are far away. You will feel
the benefit of your sacrifice in meditation.
35) If you wear the robe of a monk or nun, earn it or return it.
36) If you think you do not have time for a daily practice, think again.
37) If you cannot find complete happiness inside, where will you find it?
38) .
39) The Buddha is an Equal Opportunity Employer; all beings can practice
Buddhism. Make a sincere application of effort and the Buddha will take care of
the rest.
40) Some people say Karma doesn't matter; Karma says some people don't
matter.
41) If you find yourself stagnating in a practice; don't blame the practice.
Renew your energy and focus and try scrutinize your attitude toward your practice.
Make sure that subtle attachment to the form of your practice is not undermining
your effort.
42) Results come when they are earned. Be happy in the practice itself. It
takes time for your practice to mirror the mind's nature.
43) Don't sell the Dharma.
44) Don't buy the Dharma.
45) Keep your practice to yourself unless asked specifically about it. Do not
talk about the Dharma casually or at inappropriate times.
46) Learn to practice during the many idle moments of the day. Keep a thread
of self awareness alive as much as possible throughout the day. This way when
you do sit down to meditate you will focus immediately with few scattered
thoughts to push aside.
47) Happiness is not lots of sparkling white teeth bursting between lips.
48) Never say you don't care what others think, because you do care; it is
demonstrated by your denial.
49) If you care what others think; ask yourself if you should care. Assess the
value of other opinions. Cultivate friendships that will help you develop inner
understanding and avoid those that don't.
50) Vegetarianism is an aid to practice but it does not necessarily make you a
better Buddhist than one who isn't. The important thing is deep compassion.
51) Buddha is as Buddha does; you are as you do.
52) The Buddhist scholar who does not seek experience, confines himself to
a mere intellectual appreciation. Experiential realization is the culmination of a
practice that balances study and meditation.
53) Beware of too much intelligence. You can't cheat the Buddha.
54) Skill in logic and debate must be balanced with the cultivation of virtue
and merit. Debating skills that are not founded on a moral, virtuous, and ethical
foundation cannot resolve the afflictions.
55) Cultivate the path you understand; even if it is not regarded as the
"Supreme." If you are building a house and are unskilled in the use of power
tools, you will do a better job using tools you know how to use---even though a
more skilled craftsman may do better with the more advanced tools.
56) Life is fatal; there is no cure. Therefore strive to know yourself
57) Meaningful words are seldom many.
58) A penny on the track is not going to stop the freight train of karma.
59) If you want to become enlightened you must first make yourself available.
60) If you wish to be smart with words; use fewer of them.
61) The study of Buddhism is to learn to ask the right questions rather than
find answers.
62) The 'now" is not a refuge that we can step into leaving our baggage at the
door. However, the baggage itself when rightly viewed may itself become a door.
63) An enthusiasm to answer all your questions is the mark of an unqualified
teacher.
64) The reason we all see our world differently is because we all judge it
differently and not because we are all perceiving a different world.
65) Never judge thoughts as good or bad; thinking some are OK to have
while others are not. They are all OK; your awareness of them makes them so.
66) Belief is a lazy man’s substitute for understanding.
67) When we die many of us will regret not spending more time with those
close to us; and it is a pity that few will regret not spending more time with
themselves.
68) Pay attention to what you are saying to yourself; it may be the best advice
you ever get.
69) Robes often confuse those who wear them as much as those who don't.
70) Every single day, in the midst of our ordinary lives, there are many
opportunities to go into retreat by not seeking what is unnecessary, and paying
greater attention to what is
71) Stand in the shadow of your good works and never in front of them.
72) Just as a good actor studies the entire play, and not merely his part, a
Buddhist assures his meditation is on target by familiarizing himself with the
philosophical basis for the Buddhist world view.
73) Whenever the aspiration to teach overshadows the aspiration to learn we
need to shut up.
74) If you are a shoe maker, your concern should be to make good shoes.
Where people walk with them is their business.
75) The real challenge in life is not getting things done, but getting away with
leaving things undone.
76) If you practice generosity, you will always have the resources for that
practice. If you are stingy, you will not enjoy the resources that you have.
77) Although it has been suggested by some that the practice of Buddhism is
best accomplished by learning Tibetan, this is entirely unnecessary. One needn't
study a guide to France in French.
78) People who like to talk allot, have the least to say. The root of this talking
disease is not being truly engaged with oneself. Meaningful words are seldom
many.
79) Mistakes, easy to make, difficult to correct..
80) If you believe that you are unhappy because you have few possessions,
then having many possessions would multiply that unhappiness.
81) Fully appreciating what is, and leaving to rest thoughts of what is not, is
living in abundance.
82) When the mind is calm and free of disturbance, and has been so for some
time, we should peer into it and maintain the question, "Who is experiencing this
stillness." Done properly, this stillness will not be disturbed, any more than the
calmness of a lake is disturbed by our gazing into it.
83) Meditation is like shadow boxing; post-meditation, the real thing
84) Negative feelings are the burden of those who bear them.
85) It is more important to learn from an argument than win it.
86) Faith should never stifle self reliance, and belief should not lead to
intellectual laziness.
87) Be prepared for the unexpected; but don't prepare for the
unexpected.
88) If you want to be sensitive to the needs of others; be less needy yourself.
why you want to practice it. Later, if you become a practicing Buddhist, you will
find that right motivation is essential to all elements of the Buddhist life. In fact
there is no Buddhist life without right motivation.
2) Discipline yourself. Work with a plan. Have time allotted for meditation
and study and stick to it without clinging unreasonably. If a time conflict arises
because of a necessary appointment, adjust your schedule to accommodate it, and
make up the time missed for practice later.
3) Be kind to others because you are a kind person; and know that being kind
to others does not mean you are a kind person. This will require a lot of work.
4) Seemingly “new” obstacles appear as soon as a serious practice is begun.
Know that these obstacles are not new at all, but only your awareness of them is
new. As the saying goes: “The Buddha grows a foot, and the demon is already ten
feet tall.”
5) First understand the consequences of wrong ways and then abandon them.
6) Practice a completely balanced path. Meditation, study, yoga, kindness,
compassion, sympathetic joy, generosity, patience, energy, moral and ethical
discipline, etc., all equally illumine the Path. Because this is so, our active world
is a potent source of spiritual insight.
7) Sincerity will draw out the Buddha’s compassion even if your practice is
incorrect. Do not be afraid to begin because you are not sure how. Be sincere and
apply great effort; your practice may not seem right and indeed may not be right;
but will become right if your heart is right. Believe in yourself.
8) The full lotus posture is the most symmetrical posture for meditation; but
it is not essential. If full lotus is difficult for you, try to overcome the difficulty by
practice. If after some months of stretching and enduring pain the posture is not
yet natural; adopt a posture that is comfortable with the spine straight.
9) Eat right. Food can be very entertaining; but shouldn't'’t be. We should eat
food that is nourishing and eat it with mindfulness and thanksgiving. Always stop
before being quiet full as this promotes digestions and prevents sluggishness.
Avoid those foods which lead to heaviness and torpor.
10) Sleep is an “unfixed dharma” and as such there is no amount that is right
for everyone. Discover your needs and avoid unnecessary sleep. Remember that
false thinking makes you tired.
11) Meditation often seems to bring out the worst in us; often causing novices
to think they were better off before they started. But, the fact is that meditation
just brings the worst to the surface where we can see it. It is this seeing that is so
vital to overcoming disturbing emotions and other faults.
12) Desires of all kinds, particularly sexual desire, must be disciplined. This is
how they are brought into the Path. Harnessing our desires, rather than following
after them, is very empowering.
13) Buddhist and Hindu scriptures taught Tantra as a means to enhance
Samadhi, the trance of great yogis often accompanied by long periods of
breathlessness. For most great yogis a physical partner is unnecessary; but is
occasionally prescribed for great yogis who had already cut off common sexual
desire.
14) Tantra as taught in the New Age community is a simple fraud. Within
each individual are male and female energies. It is these energies that genuine
Tantra aims at uniting. In stillness, examine the active, thinking, aggressive side,
and the passive feeling, receptive side of your own mind. Uniting these is Tantra.
15) Do not try to get off cheap. Practicing the dharma requires tremendous
sacrifice.
16) Make vows you can keep. Negative action that violates a vow bear heavier
consequences than if the vow had never been made. Typical vows discipline
sexual activity, eating, sleep, entertainment and other sources of energy outflows.
Make vows for short periods of time and gradually lengthen the time.
17) Beware of the person who is trying to help you. Good teachers are tight
lipped. Those offering unsolicited advice generally are more interested in
displaying their knowledge than benefiting anyone. Great knowledge whispers.
18) Do not place too much importance on uncommon mental states and
mistake them as signs of genuine achievement. Some individuals have many
experiences while meditating, while others have none. The absence or abundance
of visions, etc is not indicative of achievement.
19) Objects seem to bring happiness, but it is really the mind that empowers
them. That is why some objects bring happiness to some, but not others. This
being the case, stop empowering objects with your mind.
20) The mind naturally turning inward is an early sign of progress.
21) Achievement is relative. Don’t worry about how little achievement you
have (compared to others), but only your failure to recognize opportunity.
22)
23) The Buddha is an “equal opportunity employer.” There is no high or low
in Buddhism. Anyone can practice Buddhism.
24) If you think that you have had a spiritual experience, seek out a genuine
master to certify it before accepting it as such.
25) In the beginning the contrast between spiritual practice and worldly
activity is very clear; but as years move along they become the same.
26) Beware of "The Self-proclaimed Enlightened Ones." These are "teachers"
who have no lineage, profess great insight, and yet their insight is only verified by
themselves.
27) Popularity is no indication whatsoever the worth of a "teacher." Truly
great music has relatively few fans.
28) There are two kinds of monk: those who earn their rice and those who
don't. Don't be fooled by the robe.
29) The Buddhist "Three year retreat" does not come with a guarantee. The
county jail has many in retreat, too.
30) The so called power of "Now" is a naive attempt to leapfrog karma and
be in a blissful present. Karma gets a big laugh out of this. This New Age idea is
not to be confused with Zen, Chan, Dzogchen, or other Buddhist schools of
"Sudden Enlightenment."
31)
32) You will know you are making progress when you realize that you are a
beginner------ after years of practice.
33) Never assume you are a Buddhist just because you study Buddhism and
practice Buddhist meditation etc. Attaching to the form of a practice can become a
bigger obstruction than not practicing at all.
34) Make offerings to great teachers---even if they are far away. You will feel
the benefit of your sacrifice in meditation.
35) If you wear the robe of a monk or nun, earn it or return it.
36) If you think you do not have time for a daily practice, think again.
37) If you cannot find complete happiness inside, where will you find it?
38) .
39) The Buddha is an Equal Opportunity Employer; all beings can practice
Buddhism. Make a sincere application of effort and the Buddha will take care of
the rest.
40) Some people say Karma doesn't matter; Karma says some people don't
matter.
41) If you find yourself stagnating in a practice; don't blame the practice.
Renew your energy and focus and try scrutinize your attitude toward your practice.
Make sure that subtle attachment to the form of your practice is not undermining
your effort.
42) Results come when they are earned. Be happy in the practice itself. It
takes time for your practice to mirror the mind's nature.
43) Don't sell the Dharma.
44) Don't buy the Dharma.
45) Keep your practice to yourself unless asked specifically about it. Do not
talk about the Dharma casually or at inappropriate times.
46) Learn to practice during the many idle moments of the day. Keep a thread
of self awareness alive as much as possible throughout the day. This way when
you do sit down to meditate you will focus immediately with few scattered
thoughts to push aside.
47) Happiness is not lots of sparkling white teeth bursting between lips.
48) Never say you don't care what others think, because you do care; it is
demonstrated by your denial.
49) If you care what others think; ask yourself if you should care. Assess the
value of other opinions. Cultivate friendships that will help you develop inner
understanding and avoid those that don't.
50) Vegetarianism is an aid to practice but it does not necessarily make you a
better Buddhist than one who isn't. The important thing is deep compassion.
51) Buddha is as Buddha does; you are as you do.
52) The Buddhist scholar who does not seek experience, confines himself to
a mere intellectual appreciation. Experiential realization is the culmination of a
practice that balances study and meditation.
53) Beware of too much intelligence. You can't cheat the Buddha.
54) Skill in logic and debate must be balanced with the cultivation of virtue
and merit. Debating skills that are not founded on a moral, virtuous, and ethical
foundation cannot resolve the afflictions.
55) Cultivate the path you understand; even if it is not regarded as the
"Supreme." If you are building a house and are unskilled in the use of power
tools, you will do a better job using tools you know how to use---even though a
more skilled craftsman may do better with the more advanced tools.
56) Life is fatal; there is no cure. Therefore strive to know yourself
57) Meaningful words are seldom many.
58) A penny on the track is not going to stop the freight train of karma.
59) If you want to become enlightened you must first make yourself available.
60) If you wish to be smart with words; use fewer of them.
61) The study of Buddhism is to learn to ask the right questions rather than
find answers.
62) The 'now" is not a refuge that we can step into leaving our baggage at the
door. However, the baggage itself when rightly viewed may itself become a door.
63) An enthusiasm to answer all your questions is the mark of an unqualified
teacher.
64) The reason we all see our world differently is because we all judge it
differently and not because we are all perceiving a different world.
65) Never judge thoughts as good or bad; thinking some are OK to have
while others are not. They are all OK; your awareness of them makes them so.
66) Belief is a lazy man’s substitute for understanding.
67) When we die many of us will regret not spending more time with those
close to us; and it is a pity that few will regret not spending more time with
themselves.
68) Pay attention to what you are saying to yourself; it may be the best advice
you ever get.
69) Robes often confuse those who wear them as much as those who don't.
70) Every single day, in the midst of our ordinary lives, there are many
opportunities to go into retreat by not seeking what is unnecessary, and paying
greater attention to what is
71) Stand in the shadow of your good works and never in front of them.
72) Just as a good actor studies the entire play, and not merely his part, a
Buddhist assures his meditation is on target by familiarizing himself with the
philosophical basis for the Buddhist world view.
73) Whenever the aspiration to teach overshadows the aspiration to learn we
need to shut up.
74) If you are a shoe maker, your concern should be to make good shoes.
Where people walk with them is their business.
75) The real challenge in life is not getting things done, but getting away with
leaving things undone.
76) If you practice generosity, you will always have the resources for that
practice. If you are stingy, you will not enjoy the resources that you have.
77) Although it has been suggested by some that the practice of Buddhism is
best accomplished by learning Tibetan, this is entirely unnecessary. One needn't
study a guide to France in French.
78) People who like to talk allot, have the least to say. The root of this talking
disease is not being truly engaged with oneself. Meaningful words are seldom
many.
79) Mistakes, easy to make, difficult to correct..
80) If you believe that you are unhappy because you have few possessions,
then having many possessions would multiply that unhappiness.
81) Fully appreciating what is, and leaving to rest thoughts of what is not, is
living in abundance.
82) When the mind is calm and free of disturbance, and has been so for some
time, we should peer into it and maintain the question, "Who is experiencing this
stillness." Done properly, this stillness will not be disturbed, any more than the
calmness of a lake is disturbed by our gazing into it.
83) Meditation is like shadow boxing; post-meditation, the real thing
84) Negative feelings are the burden of those who bear them.
85) It is more important to learn from an argument than win it.
86) Faith should never stifle self reliance, and belief should not lead to
intellectual laziness.
87) Be prepared for the unexpected; but don't prepare for the
unexpected.
88) If you want to be sensitive to the needs of others; be less needy yourself.
The following "points" are my own thoughts on practice in a nutshell.
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