A Test to Our Practice

So here is the test. If you are practicing and working to purify your stream of thinking, I am going to guess that you have hit this hurdle. If you have not hit it, watch out because it is likely coming your way soon!

When we begin to have a better understanding of Karma, cause and effect, we start to understand that IF I DO NOT WANT TO SUFFER, I CANNOT EVER BE THE BASIS FOR OTHERS TO SUFFER. So if you do not like people being upset, mad, or angry at us THEN we cannot ever get mad, upset, or angry at others.

This is nothing unique to Buddhism, mind you. It is really just the law behind “you reap what you sow.”

So the day comes. We start off thinking “Today I will be only be compassion – only doing that which helps others not to suffer. I will refrain from getting mad, upset, or angry with anyone. Afterall getting upset at others will harm me and is the basis for them to suffer.”

So you start off the day. Getting on the freeway, a driver doesn’t let you in. “Hmm! Okay I won’t get upset. I will only wish them to not suffer and be happy. I won’t get upset.” So far so good!

Then we get to the office. For some reason this day, everyone seems to have arrived early! I have to park in the back 40. On top of that it looks like it just might rain and I did not bring an umbrella. It is not going to be fun running to my car in the rain for my lunch appointment! But hey, no problem I am just going to wish everyone not to suffer right?

Stepping into the office. It seems that everyone I am coming in contact with has decided that today is the day to complain to Geoff! At some point, usually after the third or fourth enconter, I begin to lose my “faith” in this whole compassion thing.

I started off the day with only good thoughts of compassion to all beings. I did not get upset at the drivers on the freeway. I did not get upset that I had to park a mile away from the office. I did not get upset at the first few who were totally rude in the office.

However, there is a point where none of seems to be working. I accepted compassion. I accepted karma. I applied the methods during the first part of the day and all that I ‘got’ in return was the wrath from everyone I came into contact with.

Its very easy to consider that none of this works. In the current situation, it might even look like my compassion only sent me lots of grief!

This is the moment of the test! What is coming your way, is not based on the actions from just this morning. You have been building up stuff for lifetimes. One morning of being nice is not going to instantaneously result in everyone being your best friends. Trust me on this.

The test is to maintain faith in the law of Karma. (In fact the difficult situations you are now facing are really testimony to the law of Karma but this is next to impossible to consider at this moment). The test is a challenge. Can you still remain compassionate when the fourth rude person enters your space?

I have recently had a situation like this come up. The difference is that it was coming over many weeks. There have definitely been times when I have wondered “what the hell is going on here. I started feeling that it was time to stop being all this good stuff and start telling people what I really was feeling!”

Then all of a sudden, I realized that this was the whole point! I had not truly applied compassion to my thinking. I was acting with compassion. I was refraining from saying negative things. However, I was definitely thinking without compassionate. Wow! I wasn’t there yet!

The second part to remember is that there is a ‘thermal lag’ to the whole thing. Thermal lag is the term used (or at least the term I use) to explain how the sun is at its hottest right at noon but it is usually around 3pm that the day it the hottest. There is a delay. Its not instantaneous.

Recently, I was having coffee with a friend who has been likewise struggling with some issues in life. Despite trying everything he could to set things right, all that seemed to be coming up was more problems!

As I looked around, I saw planters which had recently been weeded. New small plants had been put in the planter where last week there were just weeds. Additionally, wild flower seeds had been put in the middle.

Now when I come back in a week or two, we all hope to see the small plants flourishing and see the beginning of a nice wild flower area. But it is very likely that we will see lots of new weeds coming back. Some of the small plants are likely to be withered even maybe dead. If the gardener was to take a short-term view on the whole thing, he is likely to conclude “Its hopeless. I removed all the weeds. Planted these nice plants and put in wild flowers. All I am getting is more weeds! I give up!”

However, anyone who has ever worked in a garden knows that you have not removed all future weeds just by removing the weed that were present on one weekend. The seeds of new weeds were already present in the soil. Further, there are also new seeds being blown in from the surroundings.

The immediate results of new weeds is not the result of the recent weeding. They were already there. If one wants a clean beautiful planter, one must continually attend to it. New weeds must be removed, ideally early on before they really take root and start producing more seeds.

In the mean time the results of our plantings will be begin to come forth. It just does not happen overnight overnight. (or in one morning of being kind).

I write this to remind myself. When shit happens, I sometimes just need to remind myself that I still need to do only good. Good only creates good! Bad will surely create bad! There just might be a thermal lag!

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff