Living in Seclusion (37 Practices of a Bodhisattva Number 3)

"Withdrawing completely from things that excite us,
Our mental disturbances slowly decline.
And ridding our mind of directionless wandering,
Attention in virtue will surely increase.
As wisdom shines clearer, the world comes in focus,
Our confidence grows in Dharma we’ve learned.
Live all alone far away in seclusion
The Sons of the Buddhas all practice this way."

Hmm! So what is this all about? In the second stanza we were told to leave our homes, here in the third, we are advised to live in seclusion. So what gives?

I will recall teachings on this stanza. The essence of this stanza, like the previous stanza, is rather harsh. Togmay Songpo tells us that it is best if we live in seclusion – away from society and other people. First, I want to mention why this would be advised.

The initial stages of the practice of a bodhisattva are mixed with many opportunities to break our vows. As Khenpo Sonam taught it is the vow of the Bodhisattva to refrain from negative thinking. As stated in the first line of this stanza, when we withdraw completely from those things that “excite us” our negative thoughts naturally decline. It is through avoidance of the triggers that we can attain some stability in our thinking swiftly. Otherwise, we are faced with a much more challenging task.

Browsing through fashion magazines, for many, will give rise to many unproductive emotions. For some, it may give rise to desire. For others, it may be jealousy. Still others, it may be anger.

My teachers have taught me that there are 84,000 afflictive emotions. However, they can all be bundled into 5 primary negative emotions:

(1) Desire/Attachment
(2) Hatred/Anger
(3) Jealousy
(4) Pride
(5) Ignorance/Wrong Thinking

As a Bodhisattva, we vow to never allow these negative emotions to rise in our minds.

Initially, we must exert much effort to even lessen the arising of these emotions. We must catch them arising and apply methods to rid them from our mind. The most basic method is to change our focus. Change the channel.

When we see the disgusting on TV, we change the station. Turn on a nice comedy sitcom. It is at this level that Gyalse Togme tells us to live in seclusion.

For many of us, it is not realistic for us to abandon our homes, leave our friends and family, and live in seclusion. At least not without, causing much hardship and difficulties for others.

Lama Osel, told me that it is not so very important that you physically go into seclusion if you can put your mind into seclusion. Physically going into seclusion is support for our minds and thinking. However, it is not mandatory or necessary.

In the second section, we are advised to not have our mind (and thinking) wandering directionless. The result is attention on virtue will increase. To focus on the practices and teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha keeps my thinking from wandering without direction.

As we avoid harmful thoughts and increase our meritous thinking, wisdom shines within us and the truth of the world comes in focus. We begin to see the world as it truly is…with wisdom.

While is not possible for me to go into physical seclusion, it is possible for me to place my mind into seclusion. To go on retreat from the those things which give rise to negative emotions/ negative thinking.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

So What is Behind Your Fits?

Khenpo Sonam is here giving teachings on Patrul Rinpoche’s Chod Jug Gom Rim, a step by step manual on practice for the Way of the Bodhisattva.

Tuesday evening Khenpo Sonam told us the story of a Tibetan logger and his son. It seems that every morning, Tashi use to go up in the local mountain and cut down some trees and bring them back home. Unfortunately, one day he carelessly got in the way of a falling tree. The tree hit him and he died up in the forest.

Tsering, his son, depended on his father and was very concerned when he failed to return that afternoon. He went up in the mountain to look for his father only to find him dead under a tree. Tsering was very sad, but he was also very angry. He became very very angry at the tree.

The anger grew to becoming angry at all the trees. So from then on, whenever and wherever, he saw a tree he would become very angry. You can imagine that he spend a large portion of his life being angry.

Like Tsering, we all have things that give rise to anger and negative thinking. Whether these things are people, situations, or trees; they are all just as ridiculous.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

The Object of My Attention

Wow!

So I finally got it today. I was listening to Diane Rhems program on the recap of the news for the last week. As I was listening to the recap and comments by the news correspondences, I think I finally asked the right question:

Why are we so focused on what is going on in Iraq?

Okay so the US wiped out their government. The US wiped out their infrastructure. The US opened up the country to civil conflict. This is a problem. But why are we here in the United States so focused on this ongoing conflict.

The world population is at about 6.58 billion. Iraq represents some 0.395% (about 26 million) of the world population. It’s a significant population but not worth some 80% of the news media and US government’s attention. What’s going on with the balance of the 99.605% of the world population. Are they doing okay?

So here it where it comes down. We focus on the “issue of the week.” Sometimes it is issue of the day. In this case, maybe it should be called issue of the year or maybe issue of this presidency. It the long run this is just a blip in the world history as well as the history of the US.

I realize that there are US troops in Iraq. I realize that it is going to be very difficult to figure out how our government is going to get out of there….especially because I am sure that the planners cannot figure out what we are doing there now. Afterall, the US government took out their government. Now the country is going through the process to work through internal issues between various groups who want to protect there own interests.

I do not think that the United States can solve their problems. Maybe we can keep the hostility down. Maybe not.

So I think that I will stop listening to reports of this matter. It is a waste of my time to think any further on this matter. There are far greater issues for me to be focus. That will include all 6.58 billion human beings and countless numbers of animals and other beings in this Universe.

Bottom line for me is choose what I pay attention to and not permit the story of the day to control my thinking and focus.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Taking the Lower Seat

I just came across one of my favorite stories about Paltrul Rinpoche (1808-1887).

At one point n his life, he took on the role of attending to an elderly widow nomad. During such times, he would go by his given name and not his Dharma name of Paltrul. Paltrul Rinpoche would clean for her, cook for her, pack her things, and help her get around.

One day, upon arriving in a new city, Paltrul Rinpoche had told her that he needed to be excused for a few hours because he had some things to attend to. She agreed and let him go take care of whatever it was that he had to do.

Not long after this she heard that a great yogi had just arrived in town and would be giving teachings that afternoon at the Monastery. Quickly she got herself ready and headed to the Monastery to receive the teachings. She was excited but disappointed that Paltrul Rinpoche would not be around to go with her.

To her surprise, when she arrived at the Monastery, it was none other than her attendant that was in fact the great teacher…Paltrul Rinpoche.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Integrating the Teachings of Dzogchen into our Society

There is a constant challenge out there for Dzogchen. That is how do you integrate Dzogchen into the West.

There are some that have abandoned the basic methods of Vajrayana Buddhism. There are others that have held steadfast to the traditions of Tibet. I am far from an expert on this matter.

But I can promise you that if we think that everyone needs to dress up like Tibetan monks and repeat practices in Tibetan, it will never take hold in the United States. I am certain that the day will never come when a large percentage of the US population will ever be doing this. I do pray that the day will come when the essence of the Buddha-Dharma is embraced by a large majority of westerners. That, in my opinion, is possible.

So I am supportive of blending the essence of Vajrayana teachings into our society. We need to embrace the culture of our homeland and work within the system as it exists.

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu in “Dzogchen – The Self-Perfected State” States:

“…the truth is that for a Western to practice a teaching that comes from Tibet there is NO NEED for that person to become like a Tibetan. On the contrary, it is of fundamental importance for him to know how to integrate that teaching with his own culture in order to be able to communicate it, in its essential form, to other Westerners.”

The trick is to have some Western teachers who can do just that. Until that time, we are probably stuck with importing some of culture with the Dharma.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Giving up the Comforts of Home

37 Practices of a Bodhisattva Number 2

“Remaining too long in one place, our attraction to loved ones upsets us,
We are tossed in its wake.
The flames of our anger towards those who annoy us consume what good merit we have gained in the past.
The darkness of closed-minded thinking dims our outlook,
We lose vivid sight of what’s right and what’s wrong.
We must give up our home and set forth from our country-
The sons of the Buddhas all practice this way.”

It is important for us to remember that the stages of practice go from that which is focused on entering the path, which always begins with renunciation. Eventually we move on to more subtle obstacles including thoughts as they arise. But first one needs to work the big issues.

So where in the first stanza, we told to study, contemplate, and meditate on the Dharma, here we are advised to leave our homes and the environments, which can most easily cause negative emotions to arise.

He breaks down the difficulties which arise into the traditional three poison: desire/attachment; anger/hatred, and ignorance/wrong understanding. Remaining with our loved ones puts us close to objects of desire and attachment. Remaining in our town puts us close to those who might be the objects of anger and frustration. The comforts and familiarity of our home towns can result in closed-mind thinking just by its nature of being familiar and normal.

It is for this reason that Gyalse Togme states that we must leave our homes. His advice is rather harsh on those of us choosing the path of a Bodhisattva.

More often than not, writers on this stanza like to soften what has been said.
Khenpo Sonam told us in a retreat that it means exactly what is said. Leave your home needs to be done according to the author. However, Khenpo Sonam also said that he did not necessary agree with this being mandatory in order to progress along the Path.

In such a case, we can attempt to do the best that we can. Retreats away from your home are a temporary way. Letting go of our attachments is another approach. The intent is to give the objects/people, which become the conditions for negative emotions.

Buddhism is not about fundamental rules. Just because one teacher advises his students to follow a certain instruction, does not mean that everyone who is Buddhist should follow such an instruction 800 years later.

It is helpful to note that author studied under the Kadampa masters who insisted on living a strict monastic life. The Nyingma schools, in general, never accepted this. I personally admire teachers who lived part of the world including having a wife, children, and homes. This includes Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Chatral Rinpoche.

This is not meant as an apology. I can overlook the strict nature of this stanza. For me, I might agree that leaving everything behind is the best and likely the most expedient approach, but I will follow my teachers who have told me that it is not the only approach.

Mentally letting go, for me is necessary. Physically leaving is optional.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Happy Holidays To All!

Today on our local public radio program, they had an hour about the controversy about whether one should say “Happy Holidays” or say “Merry Christmas.”

Hmm! Why is this an issue, I thought? As I listened to the program, I learned that there is apparently some backlash for being politically correct in saying “Happy Holidays!” It seems that some followers of Christianity find this offensive to them because the Holiday Season for them is all about celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ.

It seems to me that that wishing well in a greetings should you be directed to the celebrations of the one we are greeting. If I am greeting someone that is Jewish around Hanukah, I will say “Happy Hanukah.”

When it is close to the Tibetan New Year (which is a time for celebration for Tibetans) I say “Happy Losar.”

If I am uncertain of someone’s religious practices, I think that “Happy Holidays” is very appropriate and courteous. I am not assuming anything except that they recognize that for all of us in the United States, we can consider the break in the normal schedule as holidays.

Tolerance is something we use a little more of.

Happy Holidays!

Geoff

Pain and Suffering

We often speak of pain and suffering in a single breath. I think this might come form our legal system where we hear about law suits for “pain and suffering” However, I then looked up the words in a few different dictionaries and found that they are often used a synonyms. There seems to be little differentiation.

I think that there is a significant difference between the two at least from a Buddhist perspective. First I want to define the “common” definitions that I came across:

Pain - An unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder.

Suffering – The condition of being in pain or the enduring of pain, trouble, or distress.

The way I see it, pain is physical experience. Suffering is our judgement of the pain. Just because we feel pain does not necessarily mean that we will suffer.

Pain can be actually followed by euphoria if the circumstances are such. An example: my daughter plays competitive soccer. Its amazing the amount of pain she can happily endure when she is in the middle of a soccer game. I would say that while she is in fact experiencing a physical Pain, there is not “Suffering.” However, if her brother runs into to her later that day, my daughter will scream “Adam! That REALLY hurt!” suffering from the injury.

Other examples more extreme can be found around the world. I watched a program of painful ceremonies around the world recently. In one Peruvian town, they break up into two separate groups and proceed to fight each other to rid “evil spirits. ” They individual fights draw blood and cause much pain. However, the participants smile during the event and hug and smile after they are done. There is definitely physical pain here but no suffering because they have a greater purpose behind the pain. Consequently, in this case, pain = happiness

We may not be able to avoid pain but we can avoid suffering. Suffering is a subjective decision of our thinking.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff