How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation

By Sayadaw U Pandita

Step-by-Step Instructions on how to do this important practice — the foundation of all Buddhist Meditations — from the famed Vipassana master Sayadaw U Pandita.


Vipassana, or insight meditation, is the practice of continued close attention to sensation, through which one ultimately sees the true nature of existence. It is believed to be the form of meditation practice taught by the Buddha himself, and although the specific form of the practice may vary, it is the basis of all traditions of Buddhist meditation.

Vipassana is the predominant Buddhist meditation practice in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was an important revival of this early form of meditation practice led bythe Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. Following his death in 1982, Sayadaw U Pandita, who studied extensively with Mahasi Sayadaw, was chosen as his principle preceptor. U Pandita is one of the world's leading teachers of Vipassana meditation and has been an important influence on many Vipassana teachers in the West, including Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein of the Insight Meditation Society. He is the founder and abbot of Panditarama Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar.


1. Which place is best for meditation?

The Buddha suggested that either a forest place under a tree or any other very quiet place is best for meditation.

2. How should the meditator sit?

He said the meditator should sit quietly and peacefully with legs crossed.

3. How should those with back troubles sit?

If sitting with crossed legs proves to be too difficult, other sitting postures may be used. For those with back trouble, a chair is quite acceptable. In any case, sit with your back erect, at a right angle to the ground, but not too stiff.

4. Why should you sit straight?

The reason for sitting straight is not difficult to see. An arched or crooked back will soon bring pain. Furthermore, the physical effort to remain upright without additional support energizes the meditation practice.

5. Why is it important to choose a position?

To achieve peace of mind, we must make sure our body is at peace. So it’s important to choose a position that will be comfortable for a long period of time.

6. After sitting down, what should you do?

Close your eyes. Then place your attention at the belly, at the abdomen. Breathe normally—not forcing your breathing—neither slowing it down nor hastening it. Just a natural breath.

7. What will you become aware of as you breathe in and breathe out?

You will become aware of certain sensations as you breathe in and the abdomen rises, and as you breathe out and the abdomen falls.

8. How should you sharpen your aim?

Sharpen your aim by making sure that the mind is attentive to the entirety of each process. Be aware from the very beginning of all sensations involved in the rising. Maintain a steady attention through the middle and the end of the rising. Then be aware of the sensations of the falling movement of the abdomen from the beginning, through the middle, and to the very end of the falling.

Although we describe the rising and falling as having a beginning, middle and end, this is only in order to show that your awareness should be continuous and thorough. We don’t intend you to break these processes into three segments. You should try to be aware of each of these movements from beginning to end as one complete process, as a whole. Do not peer at the sensations with an over-focused mind, specifically looking to discover how the abdominal movement begins or ends.

9. Why is it important in this meditation to have both effort and precise aim?

It is very important to have both effort and precise aim so that the mind meets the sensation directly and powerfully.

10. What is one way to aid precision and accuracy?

One helpful aid to precision and accuracy is to make a soft, mental note of the object of awareness, naming the sensation by saying the word gently and silently in the mind, like "rising, rising . . .,” and “falling, falling. . ."

11. When the mind wanders off, what should you do?

Watch the mind! Be aware that you are thinking.

12. How can you clarify your awareness of thinking?

Note the thought silently with the verbal label "thinking," and come back to the rising and falling.

13. Is it possible to remain perfectly focused on the rising and falling of the abdomen all the time?

Despite making an effort to do so, no one can remain perfectly focused on the rising and falling of the abdomen forever. Other objects inevitably arise and become predominant. Thus, the sphere of meditation encompasses all of our experiences: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations in the body, and mental objects such as visions in the imagination or emotions. When any of these objects arises you should focus direct awareness on it, and silently use a gentle verbal label.

14. During sitting meditation, what is the basic principle to follow? If another object impinges on the awareness and draws it away from the rising and falling, what should you do?

During sitting meditation, if another object impinges strongly on the awareness so as to draw it away from the rising and falling of the abdomen, this object must be clearly noted. For example, if a loud sound arises during your meditation, consciously direct your attention toward that sound as soon as it arises. Be aware of the sound as a direct experience, and also identify it succinctly with the soft, internal, verbal label “hearing, hearing.” When the sound fades and is no longer predominant, come back to the rising and falling. This is the basic principle to follow in sitting meditation.

15. What is the best way to make the verbal label?

There is no need for complex language. One simple word is best. For the eye, ear and tongue doors we simply say, "Seeing, seeing...,” or, “hearing, hearing...” or, “tasting, tasting . . . .”

16. What are some ways to note sensations in the body?

For sensations in the body we may choose a slightly more descriptive term like “warmth,” “pressure,” “hardness” or “motion.”

17. How should you note mental objects?

Mental objects seem to present a bewildering diversity, but actually they fall into just a few clear categories, such as “thinking,” “imagining,” “remembering,” “planning” and “visualizing.”

18. What is the purpose of labeling?

In using the labeling technique, your goal is not to gain verbal skills. Labeling helps us to perceive clearly the actual qualities of our experience, without getting immersed in the content. It develops mental power and focus.

19. What kind of awareness do we seek in meditation, and why?

We seek a deep, clear, precise awareness of the mind and body. This direct awareness shows us the truth about our lives, the actual nature of mental and physical processes.

20. After one hour of sitting, does our meditation come to an end?

Meditation need not come to an end after an hour of sitting. It can be carried out continuously through the day.

21. How should you get up from sitting meditation?

When you get up from sitting, you must note carefully, beginning with the intention to open the eyes: "intending, intending”; opening, opening." Experience the mental event of intending, and feel the sensations of opening the eyes. Continue to note carefully and precisely, with full observing power, through the whole transition of postures until the moment you have stood up, and when you begin to walk.

http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1465

How to Do Loving Kindness Meditation

Loving Kindness meditation or Metta (as it is called in Pali language) is an excellent Buddhist meditation technique for developing compassion. Regardless of any religious affiliations, it can be practiced by anyone as it is a technique of cultivating love and compassion.

The Metta meditation was given to the world by Buddha. He said that "hatred cannot coexist with Loving Kindness. It dissipates when supplanted with thoughts based on Loving Kindness."

Loving Kindness meditation is the development of unconditional or selfless love. It does not restrict itself to family and friends, or whether someone deserves it or not, but it extends itself out towards all living beings.

The practice of Metta meditation opens deeper layers of kindness, care, tenderness, concern, friendship and warm feeling towards ourselves and others.
Guided Loving Kindness Meditation Technique

Sit in a comfortable but erect posture. Be relaxed. Take a few deep breaths. Bring a gentle smile on your face to make the meditation a joyful experience.

Start focusing on the chest area around the solar plexus. It is your "heart center". Bring your awareness towards the sensations arising at your heart center.

There are 6 stages in the practice of Loving Kindness or Metta meditation -

1) Loving Kindness Starts With You

Continue to breathe gently. You can use either these phrases or make slight variations as per your choice. You can say them or mentally repeat them a few times.

May I be free from harm -- inner and outer.

May I be safe and protected.

May I be happy and free of mental suffering and distress.

May I be strong and healthy, and free of suffering and physical pain.

May I live in this world peacefully, happily, with joy and ease.

Observe how your heart responds to your suggestions. Continue with the practice gradually and there is no need to hurry. Experience the warmth of your loving intention spread towards your whole body. Enjoy the bliss that slowly fills your heart.

2) Loved One or Benefactor

Next, you can move the practice of Loving Kindness towards the person whom you look up as a person of unconditional love -- who loves you and others without the expectation of getting anything back.

It could be your mentor, someone elder, a benefactor, a parent, teacher, grandparent or guru -- someone for whom you have reverence and respect naturally. Bring their face or picture in your mind and repeat the above phrases for this person - "may he/she be safe and protected...."

3) Your Good Friend

After having strong and unconditional love toward the benefactor, now you can repeat the phrases and feeling of Loving Kindness towards a person whom you regard as your dear friend.

4) The Neutral Person

Next, you can repeat the above phrases and generate feeling of tenderness and loving care towards a neutral person -- someone with whom you neither have a strong feeling of like nor dislike.

5) The Difficult Person

After this, you can repeat the above phrases for someone with whom you have hostile feelings and resentments; someone who provokes rather unfriendly feelings within you.

It might be difficult to have a feeling of Loving Kindness towards people whom you dislike. If feelings of ill will arise and it becomes difficult to continue the practice, you can return to the benefactor and arise the feeling of Loving Kindness again. Then you can return back to this person.

Allow the phrases to spread throughout your body, heart and mind. Observe the feeling of bliss that arises by letting go of animosity and ill-will towards others.

6) All Living Beings

Next, you can generate the feeling of Loving Kindness towards all living beings. You can use these phrases or a variation of these --

May all beings be happy, safe, healthy and lead a joyful life.

May all living beings be happy, safe, healthy and lead a joyful life.

May all breathing beings be happy, safe, healthy and lead a joyful life.

May all individuals be happy, safe, healthy and lead a joyful life.

May all beings and creatures in existence be happy, safe, healthy and lead a joyful life.

Make use of your imagination and stay with this feeling of Loving Kindness towards all beings - till you have a feeling of profound interconnectedness with all living creatures and life.

Next, you can take the Loving Kindness meditation practice towards specific living beings:

- All awakened ones and all seekers

- All the celestial beings

- All humans

- All animals

- All other beings that are in difficult places

- All beings in different planes of existence -- known or unknown

Gently come back to the rhythm of your breath. Be a bit more aware of your surroundings. Open your eyes slowly and enjoy the state of well-being for a few moments.

Laura's add on-dedication if you wish

Source

The Fuel of the Enemy

One who recognizes hatred as the enemy, knowing that it creates sufferings such as these, and persistently overcomes it, becomes happy in this world and in the other. Finding its fuel in discontent originating from an undesired event and from an impediment to desired events, anger becomes inflamed and destroys me. Therefore, I shall remove the fuel of the enemy, for that foe has no function other than to harm me."

— from A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life by Santideva, translated by Vesna and Alan Wallace.

The Bodhisattva

The story is told that when Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of compassion, was looking at the lives of human beings upon this planet, he saw how much pain and suffering we inflict upon each other, and for a moment his compassion faltered. He almost abandoned his vow to liberate us from suffering. At that instant, his body exploded into a thousand pieces, represented in the image of the thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara. If this can happen to the figure who, in Buddhism, most exemplifies compassion, then perhaps we can be forgiven for not always finding it easy to sustain a compassionate heart in the face of so much suffering in the world.

We may live in times when material, economic, and scientific progress is moving at a rate never before seen, yet our capacity to live peacefully alongside each other seems to remain elusive. When confronted with the constant evidence of so much brutality and corruption present in the world, whether this is seen on the news or experienced closer to home, it is common to feel a sense of anger and outrage, and to feel powerless to do anything to change the ignorance, greed, and hatred that motivate most of the atrocities our fellow humans inflict upon each other. Are we, individually or collectively, able to go beyond the dominance of our instinctual selfishness that reaps so much harm?

...Whatever spiritual tradition we may be part of, if we wish to live our lives with greater openness to others, and with the courage and heart to cope with adverse conditions, we have much to learn from the path of the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva, sometimes translated as "the awakening warrior," dedicates his or her life to the welfare of others and is willing to face the challenges of life to do so. The bodhisattva's way of life does not lead to a spiritual escape from the reality of the world. Rather, the bodhisattva cultivates the capacity to live within the raw reality of suffering on the ground and transform life's adverse circumstances into a path of awakening. A bodhisattva makes a clear decision to remain embodied and in relationship to life even while reaching states of awareness that go far beyond our normal reality. Such a person is said to renounce the peace of nirvana and overcome the fear of samsara. What gives this attitude to life a particular significance is that it recognizes that only through fully awakening our innate wholeness can we achieve the greatest benefit to others.

Central to this approach to life is a quality of intention called bodhichitta, often translated as "the awakening mind." The awakening mind is most often described as the clear, compassionate intention to attain the state of buddhahood for the welfare of all sentient beings. While "the awakening mind" may seem like a relatively simple phrase, its actual psychological, emotional, and social implications are huge. It is a reorientation of the whole of an individual's direction and meaning in life, rooted in a deep sense of compassion and responsibility towards the welfare of the world.

--from The Courage to Feel: Buddhist Practices for Opening to Others by Rob Preece

Atisha says...

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. The greatest precept is continual awareness. The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything. The greatest action is not conforming with the world's ways. The greatest magic is transmuting the passions. The greatest generosity is non-attachment. The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest patience is humility. The greatest effort is not concerned with results. The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go. The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Buddha Potential

In the Uttaratantra by Maitreya, it is said that our recognizing our buddha potential is like a man living in poverty discovering that buried beneath his home is a priceless treasure. It is like discovering a jewel buried in the mud. If our buddha potential is like a golden statue wrapped in filthy rags, the golden image can never be tarnished by the rags--it is merely obscured by them. When I was younger and my understanding of Buddhism was relatively poor, the images that came from this text had a profound effect on me.

They gave me an intuitive sense of my intrinsic value in a way that I had never felt previously. The influence of religion in my early years had left me with the belief that I was essentially a sinner and that at the root of my being was an innate badness that I had to overcome. It left me fundamentally unable to trust myself because to let go would be to open up my innate badness. When I met my Tibetan teachers and they spoke of my buddha nature, I felt a huge sense of relief. Perhaps I was not so bad after all, and perhaps when I allowed myself to relax a little and open up, I would find my true nature as something whole and wonderful rather than something to be feared and suppressed.

--from The Courage to Feel: Buddhist Practices for Opening to Others by Rob Preece

Meditation on Green Tara

MEDITATION ON GREEN TARA

Taking Refuge

I go for refuge to the Buddha,
I go for refuge to the Dharma,
I go for refuge to the Sangha. (3x)

Setting the Mind to Enlightenment

By virtue of giving and so forth,
may I become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings. (3x)

4 Immeasurables

May all sentient beings have equanimity, free from attachment, aggression and prejudice.
May they be happy, and have the causes for happiness.
May they be free from suffering and causes for suffering.
May they never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering. (3x)

7-Limbed Prayer

Respectfully I prostrate with body, speech and mind;
I present clouds of every type of offerings, actual and imagined;
I declare all the negative actions I have done since beginningless time,
and rejoice in the merit of all Aryas and ordinary beings.
Please teacher, remain until cyclic existence ends
and turn the wheel of Dharma for all sentient beings.
I dedicate the virtues of myself and others to the great Enlightenment.

Visualisation and Mantra Recitation

In the space before you, on a lotus and moondisc appears green Tara.
Her body is made of green light, transparent like a rainbow.
Her left leg is drawn up in lotus posture to symbolise control over desire.
Her right leg is extended, symbolising that she is ready to rise to the aid of all beings.
Her left hand is at her heart in the gesture of giving refuge: the palm facing outward, thumb & ring finger touching, the other fingers raised.
Her right hand is on her right knee, in the gesture of giving high realisations: the palm faces outwards, thumb & index finger touching, the other fingers pointing down.
Both hands hold a blue utpala flower.
She is very beautiful, dressed in celestial silks and smiles at you.

- Think of your problems, needs and aims and request Tara's help from your heart.
- Then she shines white light from her forehead into your forehead, eliminating problems and negativities of your body, do some mantras: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA
- Next she shines red light from her throat into your throat, eliminating obstacles and negativities of your speech, do some mantras: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA
- Next she shines blue light from her heart into your heart, eliminating all obstacles and negativities of your mind, do some mantras: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA
- Try to feel you are now free from al hindrances and problems, and that you have received the inspiration and energy to accomplish your aims.
- Then Tara comes to the crown of your head, facing the same way as you.
- She dissolves into green light, which descends into your heart center.
- Your mind merges with Tara's' mind.
- Keep this feeling as long as possible.

Dedication

By this virtue may I soon
reach a Guru-Buddha-state,
and lead each and every being
to that state of Buddhahood.
May the precious Bodhicitta
not yet born, arise and grow
may that born have no decline
but increase forever more.

Source

Basic Meditation

Here you can find basic meditation techniques:

Click here.

The Point of Meditation

"The point of Buddhist meditation is not to stop thinking, for cultivation of insight clearly requires intelligent use of thought and discrimination. What needs to be stopped is conceptualisation that is compulsive, mechanical and unintelligent, that is, activity that is always fatiguing, usually pointless, and at times seriously harmful"
-Allan Wallace

Adopt a Tibetan Book Today

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Cause and Effect

[At the time of Buddha, a farmer asked to be ordained as a monk. Shariputra did not see his merit. But, with a great, compassionate mind, the Buddha took his hand and said, "I will give you ordination. You do have a seed to attain arhatship...."]

The Buddha explained, "Thousands and thousands of kalpas ago, this man was born as a fly. He was sitting on a pile of cow dung when a sudden rush of water caught the cow dung, along with the fly, and sent them into the river. Downstream, someone had placed a prayer wheel in the water, and that cow dung and fly swirled around and around it. Because of that circumambulation, this man now has a seed to attain arhatship in this lifetime."

Cause and result are so subtle that only omniscient wisdom can perceive every detail. That is why we must be very careful that our actions are truly beneficial.

Reciting just one mantra, protecting the life of even one small bug, giving a small thing--we should not ignore such actions by saying, "This is nothing; it makes no difference if I do it or not." Many small actions will gather and swell like the ocean. These are not merely Buddhist beliefs; these are the causes that create our world no matter who we are. Our study and practice give us the opportunity to understand this and to be sincere with ourselves even in small things.

--from A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron

Taking the Reins is the Key to Happiness

The state of mind of a Buddhist practitioner should be stable, and should not be subject to too many conflicting events. Such a person will feel both joy and pain, but neither will be too weak or too intense. Stability is developed through discipline. The heart and mind become more full of energy, more resolute, and therefore less susceptible to being blown about by outside events.

Deep within the human being abides the wisdom that can support him or her in the face of negative situations. In this way, events no longer throw him because he is holding the reins. Similarly, when something good happens it is also possible to rein it in. Taking the reins is the key to happiness. In Tibet we have a saying: "If you are beside yourself with joy, tears are not far behind." This shows how relative what we call joy and pain are.

--from The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings

Green Tara

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Wrathful Deities in Buddhism

The Eight Wrathful Deities

The most important category of wrathful deities is the group of eight dharampalas. The dharampalas, or defenders of Buddhism, are divinities with the rank of Bodhisattva who wage war without any mercy against the demons and enemies of Buddhism. These eight wrathful deities, which can be worshipped as a group of "Eight Terrible Ones" or individually, are:

Lha-mo (Tibetan: “Goddess”; Sanskrit: Sri-devi, or Kala-devi) - fierce goddess of the city of Lhasa and the only feminine wrathful deity
Tshangs-pa Dkar-po (Tibetan: “White Brahma”; Sanskrit: Sita-Brahma)
Beg-tse (Tibetan: “Hidden Sheet of Mail”)
Yama (Sanskrit; Tibetan: Gshin-rje) - the god of death, often shown gripping the Tibetan wheel of life
Kubera, or Vaisravana (Sanskrit; Tibetan: Rnam-thos-sras) - the god of wealth and the only wrathful deity who is never represented in a fierce form
Mahakala (Sanskrit: “Great Black One”; Tibetan: Mgon-po)
Hayagriva (Sanskrit: “Horse Neck”; Tibetan: Rta-mgrin)
Yamantaka (Sanskrit: “Conqueror of Yama, or Death”; Tibetan: Gshin-rje-gshed)

History of the Wrathful Deities

Worship of the wrathful deities was initiated in the 8th century by the magician-saint Padmasambhava, who is said to have conquered the malevolent deities in Tibet and forced them to vow to protect Buddhists and the Buddhist faith. Many of the wrathful deities can be linked to Hinduism, Bon (the indigenous religion of Tibet), or folk deities. {2}

Wrathful Deities in Buddhist Worship and Devotion

Images of the wrathful deities are kept in the homes and temples of Tibetan Buddhists to protect them against evil influences and remind them to destroy passion and evil in themselves. In general Buddhist practice, sculptures and thangkas are intended as temporary dwellings for the spiritual beings into which Buddhism projects its analysis of the nature of the world. They are thus not just aesthetic objects but actual dwellings for the energies projected into them with the aid of mantras. The power of those energies can then be directed towards the Buddhist goal. The wrathful deities, though benevolent, are represented in visual arts as hideous and ferocious in order to instill terror in evil spirits which threaten the dharma.

The wrathful deities can also be a focus of Buddhist devotion and worship. "The dharmapalas are worshiped in the mgon khang, a subterranean room, the entrance to which is often guarded by stuffed wild yaks or leopards. Priests wear special vestments and use ritual instruments often made of human bone or skin. Worship includes the performance of masked dances ('cham)." {2}

"External offerings" made to the wrathful deities differ from those provided to tranquil deities and are traditionally six in number: a cemetary flower, incense of singed flesh, lamp burning human fat (or a substitute), scent of bile, blood (usually symbolized by red water) and human flesh (usually symbolized by parched barley flour and butter realistically colored and modeled). {3} Similarly, the "internal offering" or Offering of the Five Senses given to wrathful deities is a skull cup containing a heart, tongue, nose, pair of eyes, and pair of ears. In Tibetan texts, these are human organs, but in actual ceremonies barley-flour-and-butter replicas are used instead. {4}

Iconography of Wrathful Deities

The wrathful protective deities are depicted in sculptures, paintings and masks as figures with stout bodies, short but thick limbs, several heads and a great number of hands and feet. They have scowling faces, a third eye and disheveled hair, and they wear crowns of skulls or severed heads. They are often depicted treading on animals and in the company of a female consort.

The color of their faces and bodies is frequently compared with the characteristic hue of clouds, precious stones, or other natural objects. Thus we often read in the Sadhanas (canonical texts) that one or the other wrathful deity is black "like the cloud which appears at the end of a kalpa (aeon)", blue "like an emerald" or white "like a mountain of crystal". The yellow color is compared to that of pure gold, and the red color of some of them is supposed to be "like the hue produced when the sun rises and its rays strike a huge mountain of coral."

Their faces possess a typical wrathful expression: the mouth is contorted to an angry smile, from its corners protrude long fangs - often said to be of copper or iron - or the upper teeth gnaw the lower lip. A "mist of illnesses" comes forth from the mouth and a terrific storm is supposed to be blowing from the nostrils of the flat nose. The protruding, bloodshot eyes have an angry and staring expression and usually a third eye is visible in the middle of the forehead.

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/deities/wrathful_deities.htm

Loving Kindness

In his closing discussion on loving-kindness, Buddhaghosa asks: "What is the proximate cause of loving-kindness?" The answer is the observation of lovableness in the person to whom you are attending.

Bring to mind right now someone whom you find lovable. It could be a person you have a romance with, or a child, or a dear friend, or a great teachersomeone to whom your heart would leap like a deer in the forest if this person were to walk through the door, someone whose presence is so lovable that a gladness arises on seeing him or her. If you can sense that in a dear friend, then try to seek out the lovableness of a neutral person. Then, finally, when you break down all the barriers, see it in a person who has done you injury.

It's a great key if you can seek out something to love, even in the enemy. Bear clearly in mind that this does not endorse or embrace evil. The crucial point here is to be able to slice through like a very skilled surgeon, recognizing vicious behavior that we would love to see annihilated as separate from the person who is participating in it. The doctor can be optimistic. A cure is possible: the person is not equivalent to the action or the disposition. Moreover there is something there that we can hold in affection, with warmth. That really seems to be a master key that can break down the final barrier and complete the practice.

One way of approaching this is to look at the person you hold in contempt, and try to find any quality he might share with someone you deeply admire and respect. Is there anything at all noble to be seen, any thing that would be akin to what a truly great spiritual being would display? Focus on that: There is something there that you can love. The rest is chaff, that hopefully will be blown away quickly, to everyone's benefit. It is as if you could see a little ray of light from within, knowing that its source is much deeper than the despicable qualities on the outside. That light is what you attend to. (p. 112)

--from The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Zara Houshmand

Mahabodhi.net

This website is called the Yahoo! of Buddhism. Not only are there many marvelous resources there, but you can also get a free email account. I recommend taking a peek.

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Never Give Up On A Living Being

The fourth precept is never to give up living beings, not even a single one. If we do so, we at once lose the altruistic intention to attain enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. How can we learn never to abandon them? If we know how to transform all adverse circumstances into conditions which help us towards enlightenment, we will never be tempted to abandon anyone.

...Special care is required in our relationships with those who are close to us, those towards whom we feel an instant dislike and those to whom we have been kind and who respond ungratefully. We honor, respect and make offerings to the enlightened ones but neglect and abandon living beings although our attainment of Buddhahood depends as much on them as it does on Buddhas. In the sixth chapter of "Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds" Shantideva says:
The qualities of Buddhahood are gained
Through living beings and Victorious Ones alike,
Why then do we respect the Victorious Ones
And not living beings in the same way?

--from Atisha's Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment commentary by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam

You Can't Please Everyone

The activities of this degenerate age are like a madman's performance of dance. No matter what we do, there is no way to please others.

Think about what is essential.
This is my heart's advice.
--Bhande Dharmaradza

In any group of people, there is always some misunderstanding. You cannot satisfy everyone, no matter what you do. The Bodhicaryavatara says that every individual has a different way of thinking. Thus, it is very difficult to please everyone. Even the Buddha could not do it, so how can we? Instead of trying to please others, please yourself by applying yourself fully to bodhicitta.

Investigate your situation carefully, according to the Dharma. For us, it is more important to know what is best than to know how to please everyone. Know what is right, and on the basis of your own wisdom and skill, just do it. Don't expect that other people will be pleased with you or that they will be happy about what you do. Rather, do what's best, what's helpful for yourself and for others. If they are happy about it, that's fine. If they are not happy, what can you do?

--from A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron

Illustrated Sayings of the Buddha

Illustrated sayings of the Buddha can be found here:

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Abhidharmakosa

I think this is really a great on Abhidharmakosa if you're interested. It's the best I've seen online.

Abhidharmakosa

Idiot Compassion

This is from Pema Chodron, one of my favorite Venerables. I find her explanation very good. I hope you enjoy!

Student: I'm interested in the idea of idiot compassion that was in Ken McLeod's book [Wake Up To Your Life]", and wishing compassion for someone who's doing harm to you or that you need to remove yourself from. How do you differentiate the feeling of compassion and the need to remove yourself from a damaging situation?

Pema: Idiot compassion is a great expression, which was actually coined by Trungpa Rinpoche. It refers to something we all do a lot of and call it compassion. In some ways, it's whats called enabling. It's the general tendency to give people what they want because you can't bear to see them suffering. Basically, you're not giving them what they need. You're trying to get away from your feeling of I can't bear to see them suffering. In other words, you're doing it for yourself. You're not really doing it for them.

When you get clear on this kind of thing, setting good boundaries and so forth, you know that if someone is violent, for instance, and is being violent towards you —to use that as the example— it's not the compassionate thing to keep allowing that to happen, allowing someone to keep being able to feed their violence and their aggression. So of course, they're going to freak out and be extremely upset. And it will be quite difficult for you to go through the process of actually leaving the situation. But that's the compassionate thing to do.

It's the compassionate thing to do for yourself, because you're part of that dynamic, and before you always stayed. So now you're going to do something frightening, groundless, and quite different. But it's the compassionate thing to do for yourself, rather than stay in a demeaning, destructive, abusive relationship.

And it's the most compassionate thing you can do for them too. They will certainly not thank you for it, and they will certainly not be glad. They'll go through a lot. But if there's any chance for them to wake up or start to work on their side of the problem, their abusive behavior or whatever it might be, that's the only chance, is for you to actually draw the line and get out of there.

We all know a lot of stories of people who had to hit that kind of bottom, where the people that they loved stopped giving them the wrong kind of compassion and just walked out. Then sometimes that wakes a person up and they start to do what they need to do.

http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/qa5.php

One of my favorite Shambala articles! ENJOY!

THE SHENPA SYNDROME

Learning to Stay
Berkeley Shambhala Center


I'm going to introduce you to a Tibetan word, and if you went and looked for teachings on this, you wouldn't find any —unless you have listened to the taped teachings of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, whom I'm studying with. Or, if you had heard my talks from yarne last year— the Gampo Abbey winter retreat, I taught on this subject. But, other than that, I don't think it exists anywhere. It does exist, but in the way that I'm going to teach it I give full complete credit to Dzigar Kongtrul because he's the one who has given lots of teachings on this, continues to do so, and it's had a very strong influence on my life and on my teachings. But, most importantly, on my own life.


This is a teaching on a Tibetan word: shenpa. The usual translation of the word shenpa is attachment. If you were to look it up in a Tibetan dictionary, you would find that the definition was attachment. But the word "attachment" absolutely doesn't get at what it is. Dzigar Kongtrul said not to use that translation because it's incomplete, and it doesn't touch the magnitude of shenpa and the effect that it has on us.


If I were translating shenpa it would be very hard to find a word, but I'm going to give you a few. One word might be hooked. How we get hooked.


Another synonym for shenpa might be that sticky feeling. In terms of last night's analogy about having scabies, that itch that goes along with that and scratching it, shenpa is the itch and it's the urge to scratch. So, urge is another word. The urge to smoke that cigarette, the urge to overeat, the urge to have one more drink, or whatever it is where your addiction is.


Here is an everyday example of shenpa. Somebody says a mean word to you and then something in you tightens— that's the shenpa. Then it starts to spiral into low self-esteem, or blaming them, or anger at them, denigrating yourself. And maybe if you have strong addictions, you just go right for your addiction to cover over the bad feeling that arose when that person said that mean word to you. This is a mean word that gets you, hooks you. Another mean word may not affect you but we're talking about where it touches that sore place— that's a shenpa. Someone criticizes you—they criticize your work, they criticize your appearance, they criticize your child— and, shenpa: almost co-arising.


At Gampo Abbey it's a small community. We're thirty monks and nuns there. You have a pretty intimate relationship there, living in community. People were finding that in the dining room, someone would come and sit down next to them and they could feel the shenpa just because this person sat down next to them, because they had some kind of thing going about this person. Then they feel this closing down and they're hooked.


If you catch it at that level, it's very workable. And you have the possibility, you have this enormous curiosity about sitting still right there at the table with this urge to do the habitual thing, to strengthen the habituation, you can feel it, and it's never new. It always has a familiar taste in the mouth. It has a familiar smell. When you begin to get the hang of it, you feel like this has been happening forever.


Generally speaking, however, we don't catch it at that level of just open space closing down. You're open-hearted, open-minded, and then... erkk. Right along with the hooked quality, or the tension, or the shutting down, whatever... I experience it, at the most subtle level, as a sort of tensing. Then you can feel yourself sort of withdrawing and actually not wanting to be in that place.


It causes you to feel a fundamental, underlying insecurity of the human experience that is inherent in a changing, shifting, impermanent, illusory world, as long as we are habituated to want to have ground under our feet.


So someone says this thing, which obviously triggers our conditioning and so forth. We don't really have to go into the history of why it happens so this is not self-analysis of why, or what the trauma was, or anything. It's just, "Oh." And you feel yourself tightening. Generally speaking, it's more common that you are already well into the scratching by the time you notice it.


In terms of shenpa itself, there's the tightening that happens involuntarily, then there's the urge to move away from it in some habitual way, which is usually initially in the mind, and it's something you say to yourself about them. Usually it's accompanied by this bad feeling. In the West, it is very, very common at that point to turn it against yourself: something is wrong with me. Maybe it's still non-verbal at this point, but it's already pregnant with a kind of little gestalt, little drama.


Mostly we don't catch this. First of all, we don't catch shenpa at all until you start hearing teachings on it and start to work with it although you may have been working with it from different disciplines. But, mostly, you're already scratching.


Maybe you've already said the mean word. Or you've already said, "No, you can't have that last piece of bread," which are just words, but they're charged with a whole. . . panic, really. The urge to move away from that place. That's all I can say. Move away from that insecure... let's just call it that bad feeling.


The scratching itself is part of the shenpa, too, although we're beginning to move out further. It's all part of a chain reaction that starts with a tense tightening when they say that word, or they say that thing.


What's very interesting is you begin to notice it really quickly in other people. You're having a conversation at work with somebody. Their face is sort of open and they're listening, and you say something—you're not quite sure what it is you just said, or maybe you know what it is you just said, it doesn't necessarily have to be mean, or anything— but you see their eyes cloud over. Or you see their jaw tense. Or you can feel them... you know, you touched something. You're seeing their shenpa, and they may not be aware of it at all. From your side, you can, at that point, just keep going and get into it with them, but with a kind of prajna, this clear seeing of what's really happening, not involved with your story line and trying to get ground under your feet. You see that happening to them.


There's some kind of basic intelligence that we all have. If you're really smart and you're not too caught in your shenpa, you somehow give the situation some space because you know that they've just been triggered, they've just been hooked. You can just see it in their eyes or their body language, maybe nothing even verbal yet. And you know that if you're trying to make a point about something that needs to happen in the office, or trying to make a point with one of your children or your partner, you know that nothing is going to get through at this point because they're shutting down. They're closing off because of shenpa: they've been hooked.


Your part of it could be completely innocent. You didn't really do anything wrong, but you just recognize what's happening there. This is a situation in Buddhist meditation where you can actually learn how to open up the space. One method is to be quiet and start to meditate right on the spot, just go to your breath and be there openly with some kind of curiosity about them and openness to them. You might have to change your way of talking at that point and say, "How do you feel about that?" And they may curtly say, "It's fine... No problem." But you just know enough to try to shut up and maybe say, "Let's talk about it this afternoon or tomorrow, or something, because now is not the time."


If there's someone who's a practitioner and they're working on themselves, such as at the monastery, we have a wonderful situation, because everybody is working with this. You don't have to say, "I see your shenpa !" In which case, they'd probably sock it to you. No one particularly likes to have it pointed out.


Although some people would start, they'd say, "When you see it in me, just pull your earlobe, or something"— and often partners will do that with each other— "and if I see in you I'll do the same. Or, if you see it in yourself, and I'm not picking it up, have some little sign so that we know that maybe this isn't the time to continue this discussion." You don't always have this luxury to not continue the discussion, but at least you have some prajna, some clear seeing that's not ego involved, about what will heal the relationship and open up the space.


Habituation, which is ego-based, is just the opposite. It makes matters worse. This is one of the definitions of ego: it makes matters worse. Because you feel a compulsion in your own particular style to fill up the space, and either push your point through, or my style is that I would try to smooth the waters, and everything makes it worse at that point, usually.


Somehow, learning how to open up the space without putting particular form of scratching into the equation is important.


That's why I think this shenpa is really such a helpful teaching. It's the tightening, it's the urge... it's this drive, too. This drive. It really shows you that you have lots of addictions, that we all have addictions. There's this background static of slight unease, or maybe fidgetiness, or restlessness, or boredom. And so, we begin to use things to try to get some kind of relief from that unease.


Something like food, or alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or working, or shopping, or whatever we do, which, perhaps in moderation would be very delightful—like eating, enjoying your food. In fact, in moderation there's this deep appreciation of the taste, of the good fortune to have this in your life. But these things become imbued with an addictive quality because we empower them with the idea that they will bring us comfort. They will remove this unease.


We never get at the root, which last night I was calling the scabies. The root in this case is that we have to really experience unease. We have to experience the itch. We have to experience the shenpa and then not act it out.


This business of not acting out I will call refraining . It's also called "renunciation" in the spiritual teachings. It's interesting because the Tibetan word for renunciation is shenluk and it means turning shenpa upside-down. Renunciation isn't about renouncing food, or sex, or work, or relationship, or whatever it is. There's this term: not attached to this life, not attached to worldly things. It's not really talking about the things themselves, it's talking about the shenpa . What we renounce or what we refrain from is the shenpa .


Renunciation, shenluk, means turning shenpa upside-down, or shaking it up. The interesting thing is that there is no way to really renounce shenpa. Someone looks at you in a certain way or, let's just face it, you hear a certain song, you have a certain smell, you walk into a certain room and boom. Especially trauma-based. And you know it has nothing to do with the present. Nevertheless, there it is: it's involuntary.


In the Buddhist teachings, it's really not about trying to cast something out but about seeing clearly and fully experiencing the shenpa.


If there's the willingness to see clearly and experience, then the prajna begins to click in. It is just innate in us. Wisdom mind is our birthright. It's in every single living being down to the smallest ant. But human beings have the greatest chance of accessing it.


There's this prajna so then you don't have to get rid of the shenpa. It begins to see the whole chain reaction. To use modern language, there's some wisdom that is based on a fundamental desire for wholeness or healing- which has nothing to do with ego-grasping. It has to do with wanting to connect and live from your basic goodness, your basic openness, your basic lack of prejudice, your basic lack of bias, your basic warmth. Wanting to live from that. It begins to become a stronger force than the shenpa and itself stops the chain reaction.


Those of you who have had, or still have, strong addictions and are working all the time with that urge, with that craving, with that drive to do something self-destructive yet again, you know that there has to be the willingness to fully acknowledge what's happening. Then there is the willingness to refrain from having just one more drink, or refrain from binge eating or whatever it is.


It has to be done in some way that you equate it with loving kindness towards yourself, friendliness and warmth towards yourself, rather than equating it with some kind of straight jacket that you're putting on yourself, because then you get into the struggle.


You do know that if you're alcoholic, or have been alcoholic or are a recovering alcoholic, you do know that you have to stop drinking. In your case, one little sip doesn't quite do it in terms of ending the cycle. There are different degrees to how much you have to refrain. There has to be something, some pattern of habituation of strengthening the ignorance around shenpa and the ignorance that the chain reaction is even happening, the ignorance that you're even scratching, the ignorance that it's spreading all over your body, the ignorance that you're bleeding to death.


You know when addiction gets really strong. My daughter-in-law... at the age of thirty-five, they gave her two months to live from alcohol poisoning, cirrhosis of the liver. She was here last night. She lived. She's sober. It's five years later. But, she had to really hit bottom. And, I'll tell you, she was blown up like a blimp. She was this horrible yellow-green color, and her eyes were bright orange, and she would not stop drinking. I would get her to the hospital and they would drain her fluid —bottles and bottles and bottles of fluid— and soon as they would allow her to go, she'd go home and drink again.


Sometimes people never pull out of it. Why do we do those things? We all do those things to that degree or lesser. Why? It's stupid. But the reason we do it is because we imbue that drink or that scratching in whatever form with comfort. In order to move away from the basic uneasiness, we find comfort in certain things, which in moderation could enhance our life, but they become imbued with addictive quality. Then what could have enhanced our life, or brought delight to our life —like a taste, or a smell, or an activity, or anything—begins to make our life into a nightmare. All we're getting is this short-term symptom relief.


We are willing to sometimes die to keep getting short-term symptom relief. That's what it came down to [with my daughter-in-law], short-term symptom relief even when she took those sips, even though her life was more out of control every day and she was dying. But when she got paralyzed so she couldn't move and they took her child away, then she changed. And she had some friends who were there for her through the whole thing and that was helpful too. For her AA has been a savior. It doesn't work for everyone, but for her it's been a savior.


That's the story of how you are so habituated and the habitual pattern of imbuing poison with comfort. This is the same thing. It doesn't have to be substance abuse. It can be saying mean things. Maybe you never say mean things, but you think them all the time.


Let's just talk about critical mind, it's a major shenpa. It all starts because you walk into a room, or someone does something, and you feel this tightening. It's triggering some kind of old habituated pattern. You're not even thinking about it at all, but basically what's happening is you don't want to feel that. It's some kind of really deep uneasiness. Your habituation is to start dissing them, basically, criticizing them... how they don't do it right, and you get a kind of puffed up satisfaction out of this. It makes you feel in control. It's this short-term symptom relief. On the other hand, the more you do it you also begin to feel, simultaneously, like you're poisoning yourself.

There's a fairy tale about whenever this princess would start to say mean words, toads would come out of her mouth. You begin to feel like that's what's happening. Or you're poisoning yourself with your own mean mindedness. And yet, do you stop? No, you don't stop, because why? Because you associate it with relief from this feeling. You associate it, basically, with comfort. This is the shenpa syndrome.

I'll talk about shenpa to positive experience and shenpa to negative experience in meditatation. If you've meditated at all before this weekend, you will recognize yourself here. This is why the word attachment doesn't quite translate shenpa. It's just like when someone says, "That's attachment, that teaching was very superficial to me." Shenpa is not superficial. It just goes to the heart of the matter, the guts of the matter. We're less inclined to turn it against ourselves. We see our shenpa, and there's some sort of gladness to see it. Whereas with almost any other words I've ever tried using in meditation, people use it as ammunition against themselves. For some reason with shenpa, I don't know, there's something about, "Oh, there it is." Maybe it's because we've never heard this word before. But it seems to be helpful. A way of acknowledging, with clear seeing, without it turning against yourself.

There's shenpa to positive experience, shenpa to negative experience —shenpa to everything, really. Say, for instance, you meditated and you felt a sort of settling and a sort of calmness, a sense of well-being. And maybe thoughts came and went, but they didn't hook you, and you were able to come back, and there wasn't a sense of struggle. Afterwards, to that actually very pleasant experience: shenpa. "I did it right, I got it right, that's how it should always be, that's the model." It either builds arrogance or conversely it builds poverty mind because next session is nothing like that.

Next session, the bad one, which is even worse now that you had the good one —and you had the shenpa to the "good" one. Do you see what I'm saying about the shenpa? In other words, is there something wrong with that meditation experience? Nothing wrong with it, but the shenpa. This is what, as practitioners, we have to get at.

Then you have the "bad" one, which is not bad. It's just that you sat there and you were very discursive and you were obsessing about someone at home, at work, something you have to do— you worried and you fretted, or you got into a fear or anger. Anyway, you were wildly discursive, and you were trying to rope in this wild horse who refused to be tamed, and you just felt like it was a horrible meditation session. At the end of it you feel discouraged, and it was bad and you're bad for the bad meditation. And you could feel hopeless.

That's why I told the story about my meditation last night, because really, someone like me, I'd say, would have taken my own life long ago based on if I had been trained in good and bad —that it's supposed to be like this and not this. But from the beginning, even though it took ten years to even start to penetrate, I was always told not to judge yourself. Don't get caught in good or bad, it's just what it is.

So you have this meditation that, by your standards, is bad, and it isn't bad, it's just what it was. But then the shenpa... That's what where we get caught, that's where we get hooked, that's where it gets sticky. To use Buddhist language, as long as there's shenpa it's strengthening ego-clinging. In other words, good experience, ego get's stronger; bad experience, ego gets stronger.

Ego is sort of an abstract word to us but with shenpa, maybe we can resonate: good experience, shenpa gets stronger about good; bad experience, shenpa gets stronger about bad.

Do you see what I'm saying? Somehow addressing things are just what they are. You may have heard that expression before, and you will hear it again in the future.

It doesn't have anything to do with this world. It has to do with shenpa. Hooked: imbuing things with a meaning that they don't inherently have. They give us comfort and then they develop an addictive quality.

All we're trying to do is something actually innocent and fine, which is not always feeling that uneasiness. But now someone is saying, "Well, then the way to do it is to experience the uneasiness completely and fully— without the shenpa. Go into the present moment and learn to stay. Learn to stay with the uneasiness. Learn to stay with the tightening. Learn to stay with the itch of shenpa. Learn to stay with the scratching —wherever you catch it— so that this chain reaction of habituation just doesn't rule our lives, and the patterns that we consider unhelpful aren't getting stronger, stronger, stronger."

This is really a subtle point because when I said last night, "Whatever arises in the confused mind, or whatever arises is fresh, the essence of realization," that is the basic view. So how do you hold that view, that whatever arises is the essence of realization, with the fact that we have work to do? Shenpa is our magic teaching, our magic practice.

The work we have to do is only about coming to know, coming to acknowledge that we're tensing or that we're hooked. At the Abbey they called it all kinds of things, they'd say, "Well, at one level it's a tightening, at another level it's hooked, at another... Usually, when I catch it," a lot of people would say, "is when I'm all worked up." They were calling "all worked up" shenpa —and it is. So that's where we usually catch it, we're all worked up.

The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to work with it but if you catch it when you're already all worked up, that's good enough. Hard to interrupt that momentum, because the urge is pretty strong when you're already all worked up.

Sometimes you go through the whole cycle. Maybe you even catch yourself all worked up, and you still do it. The urge is so strong, the craving is so strong, the hook is so great, the sticky quality is so habituated, that basically —most of us have this experience— we feel that we can't do anything about it.

But what you can do then is, after the fact, you go and you sit down in meditation and you re-run the story, and you get in touch with the original... Maybe you start with remembering the all worked up feeling and then you get in touch with that. So you can go into the shenpa in retrospect and this is very helpful. Also, catching it in little things, where the hook is actually not so great.

Somewhere where I was staying... I stay in a lot of different places, so I'm not sure where it was, but I just saw this cartoon of three fish swimming around a hook. And one fish says to the other fish, "The secret is non-attachment." So that's a shenpa cartoon: the secret is don't bite that hook.

The thing is if you can catch it at that place where the urge to bite it is so strong. You know fish, they don't learn. I always wonder if the ones that you throw back, who just cut their mouth but they don't die because you throw them back, if they learn. I always wondered. Well, in our case, let's hope we do learn when they throw us back.

These teachings help us to at least get a perspective on what's happening, a bigger perspective on what's happening. In this case, there could be two billion kinds of itch and seven quadrillion types of scratching, but we just call the whole thing shenpa.

This is what Buddhists mean when they say, "Don't get caught in the content, go to the underlying hooked quality, the sticky quality, the urge, the attachment." I think "attachment" just doesn't get at it.

In meditation you can expect, you will see, that you have shenpa to good experience, shenpa to bad experience. But, maybe, this teaching will help you to see that and have a sense of humor. This is the first step: acknowledging or seeing. Because you can't actually, you don't have the basis to stay if you don't first see.

We also just train in staying all the time. Like in situations where you're out in nature and you just train in staying. And today, are we on silence here? Yeah. So, it's a good day to work with this. In your lunch break, when you're not talking to each other... then you have an opportunity to notice, probably, at least one shenpa —maybe more than you could fill a notebook with. Something about the food, or another person who you know or don't know, or my talk —anything. Maybe you'll feel that hook.

Rather than get caught in the story line or the content, take it as an opportunity to be present with the hooked quality. Just use it as an opportunity to practice staying, which is to say, let that be your base, whatever your style is. Maybe you like nature and birds and things, so you go some place quiet and sit. Just practice coming back to the present moment, coming back.

If we train in staying, where it's kind of easy and pleasant to do so, then we're preparing ourselves for when the "bad" things happen, like all worked up.

Maybe your thing is to want to sit right in the middle of people and people watch, but stay present people watching. Maybe just do one person at a time or vignettes, and stay present. Just practice coming back and staying. And then with that as your basis, then you might be intrigued to see yourself... [makes grimacing sound], close down or shut down, involuntary, and then just you see that.

What to do about it? Really, at this point, let's just say, just see it. Then if you feel you have the tools or ability to not follow the chain reaction, it comes down to "label it thinking." Not going off on that tangent, which is usually —especially when you're silent —mental dialogue, right? Talking to yourself about badness or goodness, or me-bad, they-bad, something. This right, that wrong. Something.

So, free from the labels of right and wrong, and good and bad. It has to be that you just keep letting those labels go, and just come back to the immediacy of being there.

So far I've introduced the idea that you recognize it. And I also have introduced this refraining from strengthening the shenpa, which is usually doing the habitual thing, your style of scratching. That's when the practice really gets interesting. What do you do when you don't do the habitual thing? You're kind of left with that urge much more in your face, and that craving and the wanting to move away, you're much more in touch with it then.

If you want to think of it in terms of four R's, it's recognizing, refraining —which simply means not going down that road —relaxing into the underlying feeling, and then something called resolve, which means you do this again and again and again. It's not a one shot deal. You resolve that in the future you'll just keep working this way.

If you just had to do it once and that was it, that would be really wonderful. It would be so wonderful because we all can do this a little bit. If we just had to do this a little bit, and that was it, oh, wow... But it comes back. Because we've been habituating ourselves to move away and really strengthening the urge and strengthening the whole habituated situation for a long, long, long time. And it's not an overnight miracle that you just undo that habituation. It takes a lot of loving kindness, a lot of recognition with warmth. It takes a lot of learning how to not go down that path, learning how to refrain, and it takes a lot of willingness to stay present.

And you do it over and over and over.

In the process you learn so much humility... it softens you up just enormously. As someone said, "Once you begin to see your shenpa, there's no way to be arrogant." It's completely true.

The trick is that the seeing, instead of turning into softening and humility, doesn't become self-denigration. That's the real trick.

But once you see what you do —how you get hooked and how you follow it and all of this —there's no way to be arrogant.

The whole thing sort of softens you up. It humbles you in the best sense and also begins to give you a lot of confidence in that you have this wisdom guide, Sogyal Rinpoche calls it. Your wisdom guide is your own mind, the fundamental aspect of your being —this prajna, or buddha nature, basic goodness— that begins to be more and more activated. That you, from your own wisdom, begin to go more towards spaciousness and openness and unhabituatedness, but it doesn't happen quickly.

The four R's are helpful to remember —of recognition, refraining, relaxing into the basic feeling, and then resolving to continue this way throughout your life, to just keep working this way with your mind and your emotions.

There is only one shenpa but you've already seen that it has these degrees of intensity. The fundamental, root shenpa is what in Buddhism is called ego, ego-clinging. We experience it as this tightening and self-absorption gets very strong at that point. Then the branch shenpas are all the different styles of scratching. 

Unbroken Practice

Unbroken practice is like a watchful guard.
It is simply unscattered and is free from acceptance or rejection.
There is no duality of things to be abandoned and their antidotes.
This is my heart's advice.

This verse and the following instructions concern how to continue with Mahamudra practice. Once we have received instructions, we have to accomplish them and perfect the practice. Continuity of practice is essential for the perfection of enlightenment.

Unbroken practice means that one is mindful all the time, like a watchful guard. Thieves and robbers may come at any time, so the guard of a mansion containing great treasure must be alert twenty-four hours a day. In the same way, it is important to watch our mind since the thieves of attachment, desire, anger, and forgetfulness can come at any time and steal the wealth of our compassion and wisdom, along with our realization of Mahamudra.

Once mindfulness is continuously established, an unscattered mind is "just there," on the spot, whether we are walking, eating, driving, or performing other activities. We can watch the mind and see how our mental state shapes our world. But when we watch it, we should just relax. Milarepa advises us in a vajra song:

Rest naturally, like a small child.
Rest like an ocean without waves.
Rest with clarity, like a candle flame.
Rest without self-concern, like a corpse.
Rest unmoving like a mountain.

--from A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, edited by Khenmo Trinlay Chodron

Foundational Practices

...ngondro, the foundational practices, are ways to bring body, speech, or energy, and all aspects of mind into increasingly effortless harmony with the oceanic expanse central to Dzogchen teachings. This expanse is another name for reality, the heart of our being, and thus for mind-nature. Its vastness challenges the cramped and reified self-images that temporarily obstruct our view of the whole. Finitudes of any kind--the sense of being small and contained, the familiar urgent rush of business, passions, or plans--are simply conceptions. These conceptions are both cause and effect of energetic holdings in the body. The foundational practices illuminate these holdings and, in the end, lead to their dissolution into the expanse. As Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche has said, "Like a fire that burns fuel, the mind consumes thought by working with it."

In the Tibetan traditions, teaching and practice sessions typically open with a reference, brief or extensive, to the foundational practices. Every lineage has its own variations, but the basic structure and principles of these practices are virtually identical. After an acknowledgment of one's guru or lineage and the intention to benefit all beings, the sequence usually begins with the four thoughts. These are reflections on (1) the preciousness of one's own life, (2) the fragility of life and the uncertainty of death's timing, (3) the inexorable nature of karma, and (4) the impossibility of avoiding suffering so long as ignorance holds one in samsara. In addition, there are two other contemplations: (5) the benefits of liberation compared to life in samsara and (6) the importance of a spiritual guide. These six are known as the outer foundational practices.

These six are combined with five inner practices, each of which is repeated one hundred thousand times. The first inner foundational practice is refuge. Refuge, writes Adzom Drukpa, is the cornerstone of all paths. Without it, he adds, quoting Candrakirti, all vows come to nothing. Most succinctly, refuge helps us cultivate a quality vital to the path and to human interaction in general: this is the quality of trust, the ability to fruitfully rely on someone or something other than oneself. Adzom Paylo Rinpoche once said that whereas relying on others in the context of samsara generally leads us astray, relying on the Dharma increases our good qualities.

--from Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission by Anne C. Klein, foreword by Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, preface by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

What is Crazy Wisdom?

Chögyam Trungpa

I would like to continue from last night's talk. We have discussed the three levels of the teacher relationship in terms of the student's development. Tonight I would like to talk about whom we're relating to in the sadhana. We have a sense of relating with somewhat ideal, ethereal beings, who are known as Dorje Trolö or Karma Pakshi, people who have already existed, who have lived and died in the past. How can we relate those people to the present situation? And how is that different from worshipping Jesus Christ, for that matter?

That is an interesting question. Dorje Trolö or Karma Pakshi represent the notion of the embodiment of the siddhas. Siddha is a Sanskrit word which refers to those who are able to overpower the phenomenal world in their own enlightened way. A siddha is a crazy wisdom person. Crazy wisdom in Tibetan is yeshe chölwa. Yeshe means "wisdom," and chölwa, literally, is "gone wild." The closest translation for chölwa that we could come up with is "crazy," which creates some further understanding. In this case "crazy" goes along with "wisdom"; the two words work together well. So it is craziness gone wise rather than wisdom gone crazy. So from that point of view, craziness is related with wisdom.

The notion of wisdom here is very touchy, and we will have to get into the technical aspect of the whole thing. Wisdom is jnana in Sanskrit and yeshe in Tibetan. Yeshe refers to perception or to enlightenment, which exists eternally. Ye means "primordial"; she means "knowing," knowing primordially, knowing already. The idea is that you haven't suddenly acquired knowledge. It isn't that somebody has just told you something. Knowledge already exists; it is here and we are beginning to tune into that situation. Such a thing actually does exist already. Wisdom isn't purely manufactured by scholars and scientists and books.

So the notion of enlightenment is the same as that of wisdom. Being a buddha is not so much being a great scholar who knows all about everything. Being a buddha, being enlightened, is actually being able to tune our mind into that state of being which already exists, which is already liberated. Our only problem is that we are covered over with all kinds of hiding places and shadows and venetian blinds—whatever we have covering us. We are always trying to cover up.

As a result, we are known as confused people, which is an insult. We are not all that confused, stupid, and bewildered. We have possibilities—more than possibilities. We actually inherit fundamental wakefulness—all the time. So that is the notion of enlightenment as well as the notion of yeshe. We are eternally awake—primordially awake, cognitively open and insightful. That's the notion of wisdom.

The notion of "crazy" is connected with individual situations. When wisdom has been completely and thoroughly achieved, then it has to relate with something. It has to relate with its own radiation, its own light. When light begins to shine, it reflects on things. That is how we know whether it is bright or dim. Therefore, when light is very brilliant, when it reflects on things properly and fully, we know that there is some kind of communication taking place. That communication is expressed by the intensity of that wisdom light shining through. That communication is traditionally known as buddha-activity or compassion.

Compassion is not so much feeling sorry for somebody, feeling that you are in a better place and somebody is in a worse place. Compassion is not having any hesitation to reflect your light on things. That reflection is an automatic and natural process, an organic process. Since light has no hesitation, no inhibition about reflecting on things, it does not discriminate whether to reflect on a pile of shit or on a pile of rock or on a pile of diamonds. It reflects on everything it faces. That nondiscriminating reflection is precisely the nature of the relationship between student and teacher. When the student is facing in the right direction, then the guru's light is reflected on him. And when he is unreceptive, when he is full of dark corners, the teacher's light is not fully reflected on him. That light does not particularly try to fight its way into dark corners.

So that nonhesitating light reflects choicelessly all the time; it shines brilliantly and constantly on things. Craziness means not discriminating and being without cowardice and paranoia. "Should I shine on this object, even though this other object is facing towards me?"—not at all. Whoever needs to be subjugated is subjugated, whoever needs to be—how does the line go? [Laughter] Does anybody remember that line? Maybe someone can read it out of the sadhana.

Continued here: http://www.shambhala.org/teachings/view.php?id=131

The Saint and the Scorpion

One day a saint was taking a bath in a river. His disciple sat on the bank guarding the Saint's clothes. The saint noticed a scorpion struggling in the current. Feeling pity, he took the bedraggled scorpion in his palm and began wading toward the shore.

No sooner had the scorpion recovered than it stung the saint on the palm. Though he felt an unbearable pain shoot up his arm, the saint did not drop the scorpion. Instead, he gently shook his hand to encourage the scorpion to move away from the wound.

Watching from the shore, the disciple grew alarmed but didn't say anything. The saint had only taken a few steps when the scorpion stung him again. The pain this time was even worse and the saint staggered, nearly pitching forward into the river.

This time, the disciple cried out, "Drop the scorpion Holy One! Leave him to his fate. He will only sting you again. Your kindness means nothing to so vile a creature. He will learn nothing from it."

The saint ignored him and continued wading toward the shore with the scorpion on his throbbing palm. He had nearly reached the riverbank when the scorpion stung him for the third time. The searing pain of the third bite exploded into his lungs and his heart. Nevertheless, his face bore a blissful smile even as his knees buckled and he collapsed into the river.

The disciple jumped into the river to rescue the saint. As he dragged the unconscious saint to the shore, the disciple saw that the smiling saint still cradled the scorpion in his palm. As soon as the reached shore the scorpion scurried away.

"Saintly one," said the disciple once the saint had recovered consciousness, "how can you smile? That wretched creature nearly killed you."

"You are right my son," said the saint, "but he was only acting according to his nature. It is the nature of the scorpion to sting and it is the nature of the saint to save lives. He is acting according to his nature and I according to mine. All is as it should be. That is why I am so happy."

Loving Kindness

In his closing discussion on loving-kindness, Buddhaghosa asks: "What is the proximate cause of loving-kindness?" The answer is the observation of lovableness in the person to whom you are attending.

Bring to mind right now someone whom you find lovable. It could be a person you have a romance with, or a child, or a dear friend, or a great teacher--someone to whom your heart would leap like a deer in the forest if this person were to walk through the door, someone whose presence is so lovable that a gladness arises on seeing him or her. If you can sense that in a dear friend, then try to seek out the lovableness of a neutral person. Then, finally, when you break down all the barriers, see it in a person who has done you injury.

It's a great key if you can seek out something to love, even in the enemy. Bear clearly in mind that this does not endorse or embrace evil. The crucial point here is to be able to slice through like a very skilled surgeon, recognizing vicious behavior that we would love to see annihilated as separate from the person who is participating in it. The doctor can be optimistic. A cure is possible: the person is not equivalent to the action or the disposition. Moreover there is something there that we can hold in affection, with warmth. That really seems to be a master key that can break down the final barrier and complete the practice.

One way of approaching this is to look at the person you hold in contempt, and try to find any quality he might share with someone you deeply admire and respect. Is there anything at all noble to be seen, anything that would be akin to what a truly great spiritual being would display? Focus on that: There is something there that you can love. The rest is chaff, that hopefully will be blown away quickly, to everyone's benefit. It is as if you could see a little ray of light from within, knowing that its source is much deeper than the despicable qualities on the outside. That light is what you attend to. (p. 112)

--from The Four Immeasurables: Practices to Open the Heart by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications

Simile of the Raft

This is a post from Venerable Dharmakara at Buddha Forum (www.buddhaforum.org) For your reading pleasure.

I rarely sermonize in such fashion, so consider this a DK Classic, not to be confused with the BK Classic that one can purchase at their neighborhood Burger King restaurant.

Needless to say, many practitioners approach the "Simile of the Raft" in a way that's different from my own, where they understand it as meaning that it's okay to cling to what they've declared to be "good" teachings, that it's perfectly acceptable to do so with the same amount of dogmatic zeal that a god-fearing Roman Catholic might show to his or her own doctrine.

Is this appropriate, how sound is such an approach, and is it even the Buddha's intent in giving the discourse in the first place?

First, we'll examine the "Simile of the Raft" in its entirety from the Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22), translated from Pali by the Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, then I'll offer my own brief commentary using a modern simile which will hopefully hit the point of this simile home:

"I shall show you, monks, the Teaching's similitude to a raft: as having the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of being clung to. Listen, monks, and heed well what I shall say" — "Yes, Lord," replied the monks. and the Blessed One spoke thus:

"Suppose, monks, there is a man journeying on a road and he sees a vast expanse of water of which this shore is perilous and fearful, while the other shore is safe and free from danger. But there is no boat for crossing nor is there a bridge for going over from this side to the other. So the man thinks: 'This is a vast expanse of water; and this shore is perilous and fearful, but the other shore is safe and free from danger. There is, however, no boat here for crossing, nor a bridge for going over from this side to the other. Suppose I gather reeds, sticks, branches and foliage, and bind them into a raft.' Now that man collects reeds, sticks, branches and foliage, and binds them into a raft. Carried by that raft, laboring with hands and feet, he safely crosses over to the other shore. Having crossed and arrived at the other shore, he thinks: 'This raft, indeed, has been very helpful to me. Carried by it, laboring with hands and feet, I got safely across to the other shore. Should I not lift this raft on my head or put it on my shoulders, and go where I like?'

"What do you think about it, O monks? Will this man by acting thus, do what should be done with a raft?" — "No, Lord" — "How then, monks, would he be doing what ought to be done with a raft? Here, monks, having got across and arrived at the other shore, the man thinks: 'This raft, indeed, has been very helpful to me. Carried by it, and laboring with hands and feet, I got safely across to the other shore. Should I not pull it up now to the dry land or let it float in the water, and then go as I please?' By acting thus, monks, would that man do what should be done with a raft.

"In the same way, monks, have I shown to you the Teaching's similitude to a raft: as having the purpose of crossing over, not the purpose of being clung to.

"You, O monks, who understand the Teaching's similitude to a raft, you should let go even (good) teachings, how much more false ones!

As I stated at the beginning of this thread, many practitioners approach the "Simile of the Raft" in a way that is different from my own, where they understand it as meaning that it's okay to cling to what we've define as "good" teachings, that it would be foolish to dispense with any aspect of dogmatic Buddhism until one reaches the other shore, but this leaves a burning question, namely:

Would it be any more foolish than clinging to the teachings with a death grip, where in essence we have not only transformed the raft, but one's practice becomes the equivalent of booking one's passage to the other shore on the SS Titanic?

This is what clinging does, this is its the end result, whether we're talking about good teachings or false ones, where we're all on the lower deck dancing the night away while the band plays on, oblivious to the iceberg that looms before us.

News Alert: The SS Titanic did not reach its destination.

So my friends, after reading this and reflecting upon it in accord with the Kalama Sutta, where are you standing at this time? Are you on the lower deck of the Titanic, dancing the night away while the band plays on?

Pain, attitude, and spiritual practice

From His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Everyone tries to remove superficial pain, but there is another class of techniques concerned with removing suffering on a deeper level--aiming at a minimum to diminish suffering in future lives and, beyond that, even to remove all forms of suffering for oneself as well as for all beings. Spiritual practice is of this deeper type.

These techniques involve an adjustment of attitude; thus, spiritual practice basically means to adjust your thought well. In Sanskrit it is called dharma, which means "that which holds." This means that by adjusting counterproductive attitudes, you are freed from a level of suffering and thus held back from that particular suffering. Spiritual practice protects, or holds back, yourself and others from misery.

From first understanding your own situation in cyclic existence and seeking to hold yourself back from suffering, you extend your realization to other beings and develop compassion, which means to dedicate yourself to holding others back from suffering. It makes practical sense...by concentrating on the welfare of others, you yourself will be happier. (p.52)

--from Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.

The Heart Sutra

The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom
In Sanskrit: Bhagavati prajnaparamitahrdaya
In Tibetan: Bcom Idan 'das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'I snying po
In English: The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Bhagavati
From His Holiness the Dalai Lama



Thus have I once heard:

The Blessed One was staying in Rajagrha at Vulture Peak along with a great community of monks and great community of bodhisattvas, and at that time, the Blessed One fully entered the meditative concentration on the varieties of phenomena called the Appearance of the Profound. At that very time as well, holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, beheld the practice itself of the profound perfection of wisdom, and he even saw the five aggregates as empty of inherent nature. Thereupon, through the Buddha's inspiration, the venerable Sariputra spoke to holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, and said, "Any noble son who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom should train in what way?"

When this had been said, holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, spoke to venerable Sariputra and said, "Sariputra, any noble sons or daughters who wish to practice the perfection of wisdom should see this way: they should see insightfully, correctly, and repeatedly that even the five aggregates are empty of inherent nature. Form is empty, emptiness is form, Emptiness is not other than form, form is also not other than emptiness. Likewise, sensation, discrimination, conditioning, and awareness are empty. In this way, Sariputra, all things are emptiness; they are without defining characteristics; they are not born, they do not cease, they are not defiled, they are not undefiled. They have no increase, they have no decrease.

"Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no discrimination, no conditioning, and no awareness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no texture, no phenomenon. There is no eye-element and so on up to no mind-element and also up to no element of mental awareness. There is no ignorance and no elimination of ignorance and so on up to no aging and death and no elimination of aging and death. Likewise, there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; there is no wisdom, no attainment, and even no non-attainment.

"Therefore, Sariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no obtainments, they abide relying on the perfection of wisdom. Having no defilements in their minds, they have no fear, and passing completely beyond error, they reach nirvana. Likewise, all the Buddhas abiding in the three times clearly and completely awaken to unexcelled, authentic, and complete awakening in dependence upon the perfection of wisdom.

"Therefore, one should know that the mantra of the perfection of wisdom - the mantra of great knowledge, the precious mantra, the unexcelled mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled, the mantra that quells all suffering - is true because it is not deceptive. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is proclaimed:

tadyatha - gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!

Sariputra, a bodhisattva, a great being, should train in the profound perfection of wisdom in that way."

Thereupon, the Blessed One arose for that meditative concentration, and he commended holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being. "Excellent!" he said. "Excellent! Excellent! Noble child, it is just so. Noble child, it is just so. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom in the manner that you have revealed - the Tathagatas rejoice!" This is what the Blessed One said.

Thereupon, the venerable Sariputra, the holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, and that entire assembly along with the world of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, all rejoiced and highly praised what the Blessed One had said.

http://www.lamrim.com/hhdl/heartsutra.html