Quote By The Buddha

This quote by The Buddha is one of the things that makes me embrace Buddhism as a path of liberation:

"Do not believe anything just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Do not believe something just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true."

I learned years ago that I have the capability to make my own judgements about what is right and wrong and what is true and not true. After all, I am a buddha, just like you. So, if we are buddha's then it must be that we can judge these things for ourselves.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings

1. Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone killing in the world, in my thinking and in my way of life.

2. Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I will practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

3. Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

4. Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

5. Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I am committed to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

Shambhala Training

Last weekend, I attended the first level of The Sacred Path. This level is entitled "The Great Eastern Sun." I must say that I have been able to recognize the various changes that have taken place in me as I have journeyed through the various levels of Shambhala Training. Our teacher was Kunga Dawa, the first student that Trungpa Rinpoche taught mediation in the West. Kunga guided us gently and very wonderfully though an explanation of the Great Eastern Sun and through the practice associated with it.

One thing that I learned over the weekend was that, for me, sitting meditation is probably the best to do first. When I was called upon to Umdze we sat for twenty-five minutes and walked for five. I have found that it takes my mind twenty-five minutes sometimes to become focused and placed correctly in shamatha. This might not be the case with others, but it is for me. So, we did our usual meditation sessions with alternating walking and sitting. I was also one who set up for the speaker in one of the sessions and the one who lit the charcoal on the shrine. This was a new experience for me, but one that I loved to do as a service to the community and to the teacher.

There is a basic human wisdom that can help solve the worlds problems. I am not always sure that we want to let go of our neurosis long enough to find that wisdom. As I reflected some about my life, I realized that there were actually times in the past when I enjoyed my neurosis. I think I actually found ways to do things that supported it. It was a comfortable place to be because I was hidden from the real world and didn't have to deal with anything, because my neurotic habitual concepts already had it figured out. When I realized this, I remembered the Shambhala teaching about the cocoon.

One thing that seemed to "be driven home" to me this past weekend was how afraid I have allowed myself to become of space. Stepping out of the neurosis and into the world, living in the present moment, requires a lot of space. I remember in Level 4 how we started lifting our gaze outwardly and taking in more of what was really there. You would think that would be an easy practice. I built up a comfortable comfort zone that did not include being who I really am. Who I really am is not scary to me, but being who I am in the context of a larger space was a bit scary. I found that I loved to hid behind certain facades because that is what I thought would make me happy. However, it did not, and it has taken the Shambhala Training to make me realize that.

Viewing things as the are, instead of how I have always tried to "think" they were is refreshing. Sitting helps me break down those concepts that I love to place on everything. Just focusing on the breath and letting the thoughts go by, labeling them as thoughts and letting them go, is a wonderful practice. I think Shamatha is probably the basis to all meditation for me and it seems like I alway go back to the practice even if just for a few minutes. It helps me center and relax and focus.

Kunga said in last weekends training that "by developing luminosity there is no possibility of confusion or petty mind. Clarity and luminosity free us from conceptual overlay." The Dorje Drodul likened meditation to taming a horse. The horse kicks and kicks when you first try to tame him, but after awhile, with continued practice, he becomes tame. I have found that to be true of my meditation practice.

Activist Buddhism

I consider myself to be an activist and I have reconciled my Buddhist lifestyle with activism. I do not believe it is difficult to find plenty of activist principles within Buddhist teachings. You might ask, exactly what is activism? Activism is the active and physical (not only spiritual) activity that happens in response to injustice, war, violence, poverty or whatever cause the individual chooses. Activism is not sitting on ones ass and allowing the world to go by while we seek enlightenment on a cushion.

On it's website The Buddhist Peace Fellowship lists Seven Beginning Principles of Buddhist Activism. According to the site those principles are:

What distinguishes Buddhist activism from any other kind of activism?

1. Setting Motivation
Our political actions can be dedicated to the benefit and awakening of all beings. Holding this, the action itself moves beyond mere do-gooding or fighting so-called oppression and into the realm of dharma practice.

2. Interbeing
First, we see alive and present in our own minds the same external structures of greed, hatred, and delusion that we are fighting against. we bow to them. Then we realize there is no "other" to fight against anyway.

3. Not Knowing
Our job as activists is to learn to hold the multiple questions that arise in our work. We don't have to have the answer; we want to be present with whatever is coming up. Maybe we are wrong.

4. Opening to suffering
Through our meditation practice, we learn to be present in the face of suffering. We take this skill out into the world and don't turn away as we face all levels of injustice.

5. Knowing Equanimity
Can we bring equanimity to all of our actions? Can we act without being attached to the result of our actions? Can we recognize the impossible nature of our tasks and act anyway?

6. Being Peace
Beyond ideological differences, there is a place we can, as Buddhist activists, stand together: our commitment to be in ourselves that which we are trying to bring about in the world.

7. Mindfulness in Action
The nondistracted state of mindful awareness must accompany and underlie Buddhist activists in our work to change the world. It is the fundamental nature of our being. There is no separation

-- Excerpted and reworked from "Intersection Point: Buddhist Activism at the WTO" by Diana Winston, Turning Wheel, Spring 2000

I cannot imagine being a Buddhist and not marching in anti-war demonstrations, or taking part in protests and demonstrations against the WTO, or the injustices of genocide. As a Buddhist who believes that every individual is connected to every other person, it is my duty to let the world know that there is another way in which we can solve our disagreements besiders arguing and fighting. I believe that the world awaits those who are committed enough to face suffering with courage and to stand, even in the face of government, community or friends who may disagree with our actions.

It is easy in the context of Buddhism to turn a blind eye to the various protests and causes that are before us and to simply sit on our cushions and meditate. However, the fact is that we live in a material world were pain and suffer are real and where our main concern should be for others more than for ourselves. Anytime we see suffering we should respond the best way we can in order to help the person who is suffering. Sometimes telling the suffering person to sit on a cushion and solve all of their problems will only cause them to think we are dealing with all of our marbles. But, actively supporting causes of justice, nonviolence and peace can be effective.

We can each learn something about what is going on in the world. When we find out about injustice we can write letters to our government officials or to whomever might be willing to listen to us. We can engage in mass actions, including sit-ins, boycotts, demonstrations and workshops.

As Buddhists we are all natural environmentalists. In Thich Nhat Hanh's new book entitled, "The World That We Have" Brother Thay reminds us that we sometimes attach ourselves to the idea of impermanence and use it as a excuse to not become engaged in solving the problems of the world. Thay says that engaging the world is the key to survival for both individuals and the entire world. Stephen Batchelor has written that:

"The ecological crisis we witness today is, from a Buddhist perspective a rather predictable outcome of the kinds of deluded behaviour the Buddha described 2500 years ago. Greed, hatred and stupidity, the three poisons the Buddha spoke of, have now spilled beyond the confines of the human mind and village politics, to poison quite literally the seas, the air and the earth itself. And the fire the Buddha spoke of as metaphorically engulfing the world and its inhabitants in flames is now horribly visible in nuclear explosions and smouldering rainforests, and psychologically apparent in the rampant consumerism of our times." Stephen Batchelor

Buddhists could hold protests near sites that promote rampant consumerism rather than just fading it the larger society and becoming a part of the problem by failing to engage our communities, our sangha's, our families, or others to stand against such injustice. Ron Epstein in his article entitled, "A Buddhist Perspective on Animal Rights" says that:

'Unlike the Judeo-Christian tradition, Buddhism affirms the unity of all living beings, all equally posses the Buddha-nature, and all have the potential to become Buddhas, that is, to become fully and perfectly enlightened. Among the sentient, there are no second-class citizens. According to Buddhist teaching, human beings do not have a privileged, special place above and beyond that of the rest of life. The world is not a creation specifically for the benefit and pleasure of human beings. Furthermore, in some circumstances according with their karma, humans can be reborn as humans and animals can be reborn as humans. In Buddhism the most fundamental guideline for conduct is ahimsa-the prohibition against the bringing of harm and/or death to any living being. Why should one refrain from killing? It is because all beings have lives; they love their lives and do not wish to die. Even one of the smallest creatures, the mosquito, when it approaches to bite you, will fly away if you make the slightest motion. Why does it fly away? Because it fears death. It figures that if it drinks your blood, you will take its life. . . . We should nurture compassionate thought. Since we wish to live, we should not kill any other living being. Furthermore, the karma of killing is understood as the root of all suffering and the fundamental cause of sickness and war, and the forces of killing are explicitly identified with the demonic. The highest and most universal ideal of Buddhism is to work unceasingly for permanent end to the suffering of all living beings, not just humans."

Buddhists can do many things that will at least make others aware of the suffering of animals.

More later. Stay enlightened....

Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing

In the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing, the Buddha proposed sixteen exercises to help us breathe consciously. This sutra is for beginners and experiences practioners alike, many people who have been practicing for thirty or forty years continue to practice in this way because it is vital.
The following is an excerpt of the sutra, for the complete sutra and commentary read Thich Nhat Hanh's Breathe! You are Alive: the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing
Breathing in a long breath, I know I am breathing in a long breath. Breathing out a long breath, I know I am breathing out a long breath.
Breathing in a short breath, I know I am breathing in a short breath. Breathing out a short breath, I know I am breathing out a short breath.
Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body. Breathing out I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing in, I calm my whole body. Breathing out, I calm my whole body.
Breathing in, I feel joyful. Breathing out, I feel joyful.
Breathing in, I feel happy. Breathing out, I feel happy.
Breathing in, I am aware of my mental formations. Breathing out, I am aware of my mental formations.
Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my mental formations.
Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.
Breathing in, I make my mind happy. Breathing out, I make my mind happy.
Breathing in, I concentrate my mind. Breathing out, I concentrate my mind.
Breathing in, I liberate my mind. Breathing out, I liberate my mind.
Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas. Breathing out, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas
Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire. Breathing out, I observe the disappearance of desire.
Breathing in, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena. Breathing out, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena
Breathing in, I observe letting go. Breathing out, I observe letting go

The Joy Of Living by Yongey Mingur

I have just read the best book on Buddhism and the mind that I have ever read. I highly recommend the book or the audio. Working with neuroscientists at the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, Yongey Mingyur provides clear insights into modern research indicating that systematic training in meditation can enhance activity in areas of the brain associated with happiness and compassion. He has also worked with physicists across the country to develop a fresh, scientifically based interpretation of the Buddhist understanding of the nature of reality.

I think I came away from this book with a basic understand of the human mind like I did not have before I read it. That doesn't mean I have arrived or anything of the sort. Actually, I hope I never arrive because then I arrive there will be no place else to go. There are some teachings of Yongey Mipgur out on the web, some video teachings. You have to dig deeply into google to find them but they are there. Rinpoche does not speak English, but he has a very able interpreter. And, Yongey himeself is very funny. I enjoy his speaking and hope to see him in person sometime during 2009.

Here are some of the things various people have said about Rinpoche's book:

"Here we have that most marvelous spiritual flower: an authentic Tibetan meditation master telling us how it is inside his mind and heart during meditation, backed up by cutting-edge scientific evaluation of those same phenomena. Mingyur Rinoche's unique contribution to this emerging field is an early flowering of the interface of neuroscience and Buddhism, which I believe will keep producing invaluable fruit in the decades to come, helping us to better understand ourselves and reality, and particularly our innate capacity for developing happiness, inner peace and deep wisdom. I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in the healing arts, consciousness studies, and genuine contemplative practice today."

--Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, founder of the Dzogchen Center in America.

"There is real wisdom here. Fresh and clear. Rinpoche has offered us what may well be an essential link between the Buddha and contemporary neuroscience and physics. He effortlessly makes connections between seemingly disparate and complex disciplines, and makes the journey sparkle. His voice is generous, intimate and refreshingly personal. As he repeatedly reminds us, our experience of ourselves and our world is none other than an interactive projection of our mind. And most importantly, that our minds can change. Our neurons can change structure and function, merely by observing the flow of our mental activity. Through repeated familiarity with positive mind states, such as love and compassion, and by transforming our limiting mental conceptualizing into vast freedom, we can achieve the already present basic mind of clarity and knowing - true happiness. Read this book."

--Richard Gere

Here is a link to some of Rinpoche's teachings:
http://mingyur.org/teachings/index.html

Rinpoche will be touring North America from April 3 - September 8 2009. Here is the link to his teaching schedule:
http://mingyur.org/schedule.html

You can download an MP3 teaching of Rinpoche at the following site:
http://www.newdimensions.org/program.php?id=3201

I have also posted some of Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche's photos on the site.