Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[steve]

Steve - I am studying with great interest your link to the Tapihrista poem.  I am studying the writing, taking notes, really trying to take it all in.  It will take a little time.

 

I followed your teacher's instructions as to meditating on the figure to Tapihrista, and at the same time I would meditate on the Tibetan white 'A' while lying in bed, in addition to his instructions on the tigles in the chakras.  It was at this point that the white dragonfly showed up in my dreams.  Needless to say, I am currently seeing dragonflies everywhere - on the side of moving vans, in jewelry I obtained from my mother, even in a paperweight she gave me.  My dreams have great clarity now, and interpretation of them seems to come very easily.

 

 I look forward to reading the entire article, word for word.  I look forward to the actual poem (although short, it looks like the commentary on each line will be wonderful).

I was lucky enough to attend a teaching on this prayer by a lama from Dolpo whose family goes back many centuries in connection with these teachings. It is well worth your time to study it although some of it may require side study in some fundamental Buddhist concepts. You are there in our experience, it's just the language and conceptual part that may be a bit foreign. 

 

 

I have a question for you, pertaining to the article.  I note that the Bon practice, which I know is yours, pertains to the medical sciences, whereas the Nyingma school does not.  Do you find that your approach to your patients has changed due to this Bon practice?  Are you more intuitive in your diagnoses?  Is there any way that you are even able to incorporate the two, or are the current Western restrictions just too, well, restricted?  Just curious.

My approach to my job has changed dramatically. My study and practice of Bön has changed me profoundly. I had reached a place where I was quite angry and bitter. I know better than to blame it on my job but no question that was a contributing factor. The system I work in is deeply dysfunctional. It is very challenging to navigate without compromising your values, your morals, your humanity, your personal life, at least it was for me. I was very conflicted and didn't know how to address it.

 

Cultivating the proper view and committing to the practices changed me fundamentally and that, in turn, has had a ripple effect through my relationships, both personal and professional. I've been able to rekindle what brought me to this job in the first place - my joy in helping people, in putting a smile on their face, in easing their pain, and in getting to know them. Similarly, that applies to everyone in my life as much as I'm able. It doesn't always work as you can see right here on this very forum( ) but I'm in a much better place than I've been in the past. 

 

I've had no training in traditional Tibetan medicine so it's not a matter of merging that with what I do. It's more a matter of being more open to people, more genuinely interested in their well being. It's a matter of being more comfortable in my own skin and having tools to deal with the sometimes considerable negativity that we face (anger, disappointment, accusation, fear, pain, failure, death, and so on...).

 

In seeing myself more clearly - my ignorance, my confusion, my dysfunction - I'm able to see all of that more clearly in others. In being able to let go of my ego and just be space, be there, be supportive, be open, I can neutralize so much of the emotional charge that can lead to conflict. In being a better listener and more caring, people already feel more confidence in their ability to recover.

 

I can feel more clearly from others as well. I can feel the psycho-emotional energy that distorts and disrupts and magnifies things. I can see more readily where I can help with my Western methods or where they need help in other ways. I can even sometimes tell when they are open to hearing about how their suffering is not simply related to a physical disease and get a bit into alternative ways to help themselves through seeing more clearly into the nature of their problem. This last part is a work in progress, I tread carefully here because most people are not ready to go there and if they are not ready, I'm not the one to push them in that direction. 

 

In more Bön/Buddhist terms, I feel that I am attempting to bring the twofold wisdom of emptiness (absence of ego) and skillful means (compassion) to the job in order to benefit others [you'll recognize this as a line from the prayer], and the results have been astounding. I've spoken to my teacher about perhaps putting together some sort of workshop or program for others like me that may be interested in this sort of thing but nothing concrete yet...

[manitou]

in my little understanding and personal journey over a very short time, i have come to see Vajrayana tantra as the process by which we take whatever is here and now, usually arising as dualistic notions and habits that we cling to fervently, all the dichotomies that traps us in a vicious circle, chuck all of it into the adamantine furnace of the Dharmadatu. Once softened and malleable, the practitioner uses the necessary Dharma tools (the sadhanas and the rituals etc), much like an alchemist or a goldsmith with her tools, we bring these together and begin to hammer away at an impersonal yet inclusive beingness, bending it, shaping it, burn it again if needs be, all the while tempering it to make it the best we can into a precious, bright ornament worthy of cherishing and displaying without shame or ego.

 

The essence of this is much the same as how in the ordinary world we tend to like showing off the ordinary things that we proudly label as 'ours', things that fascinate us and others on the mundane level. Only difference in Buddhist Tantra is that the angst usually associated with ordinariness, with the dreariness and drudgery of realising our frail nature, the limits and shortcomings of our day to day existence, the little time we have in this body - Tantra teaches that we have the ability to transform such views and turn them into sacred displays and transcended energies in the great mandala of perfected insight.

 

The gradual and intricate assembly of the great mandala (each tantric practitioner has their own), resplendent with palaces for the buddhas and other enlightened deities, filled with precious ornaments and so on, is basically what tantra means to me. 

 

This is one of the most profound things I've ever read.  it put me back into the Sutras, into the Buddha-lands, where every ending is a beginning; a cacophony of beings and times and never-ending existences.  The urge to perfection, the jewel of existence.  How can we possibly put it into words?  You have come so close.  Thank you, CT.  Thank you.

 

A bright ornament worthy of cherishing and displaying without shame or ego.  This was the hallmark of our tantric experience together that I mentioned - there was absolutely no shame, no ego, nothing but a momentary jewel of existence, a mutual journey that defies words.  That's why I was wondering if there was a connection or a relatedness to what we've been talking about here.  Although I don't follow the path, in a sense I do.  And something strange happened which defied belief or description.

 

I choose to grasp that memory for just a while longer...

Edited May 10, 2016 by manitou

[manitou]

Steve, I feel the essence of what you are feeling, experiencing, and I am thrilled for you that your path has taken you through the mundaneness back to the reasons that you went into the medical field in the first place.  I had wondered about that, seeing the state of western medicine today.  It makes my heart so happy to know that you are again happy and have a purpose beyond just showing up from 8 to 5.  And when you said "people already feel more confidence in their ability to recover", doesn't this seem to be the essence of it?  i think it is!  Are we not our own healers, whether knowing it or not?  We place our faith in others, but isn't it really us that is doing our own healing?  Our bodies being redirected by another to manifest health?

 

Yes, our dysfunction.  In being willing to subjugate ego and allow ourselves to be seen as vulnerable, such as what I'm doing at the present time in my PPF thread - to be willing to expose our dysfunction and shortcomings - what an incredible payoff we receive.  And yet, it takes a leap of courage to do that.  It can be a bit humiliating at first.  To 'surrender to win', as they say in recovery programs.  And the depth of the surrender, the depth of the peeling of the layers, just never seems to end.  it seems that when we get to the very core issues is when we start really feeling some degree of liberation.

 

i had no idea that Tibetan Buddhism - or any Buddhism, for that matter, was of this nature.  I wasn't listening, even here, for so many years.  Too busy talking, telling you what I thought I knew.  And yet I knew nothing.  I know nothing now.  I am so ready to follow instruction.  I am teachable.  And this is new.  A new gratitude and peace envelops me now, and I see it glowing from between your words as well.  I'm so glad that I know nothing.  Phew.  What a relief....

Edited May 10, 2016 by manitou

[C T]

Mipham Rinpoche's Profound Instruction on the View of the Middle Way

 

 

Namo Mañjuśrīye!

 

Once you have gone through the training in analysis and developed confidence in the crucial point of how the individual is devoid of self, then consider how just as the so-called “I” is an unexamined conceptual imputation, all phenomena included within the five skandhas and the unconditioned are just the same, labeled conceptually as this or that.

 

Although we cling to all these various phenomena, when we investigate and search for them they cannot be found. And when we reach the ultimate two indivisibles, even the most subtle and infinitesimal cannot be established. It is the same for all that appears through dependent origination. Entities themselves arise dependently, Whereas ‘non-entities’ are dependently imputed.

 

So whether an entity or a non-entity, whatever is conceived of uncritically, once it is analyzed and investigated, it is found to be without basis or origin, appearing yet unreal, like an illusion, a dream, the moon’s reflection, an echo, or city in the clouds, a hallucination, a mirage and the like. Appearing yet empty, empty yet appearing— Meditate on the way empty appearances resemble illusions.

 

This is the ultimate that is categorized conceptually. It has the confidence of a mind of understanding, and it is indeed the stainless wisdom of seeing the illusory nature of post-meditative experience. Yet it has not gone beyond focus on apprehended objects, nor have the features of a subjective mind been overcome, and so since it has not gone beyond conceptuality the true reality of natural simplicity is not seen.

 

When this kind of certainty has arisen, then even the clinging to mere illusion can be understood as conceptual imputation. There is apprehension, but no essential nature to the perceived, and even the perceiving mind can not be found, so without clinging, one is brought to rest in natural ease. When you remain like this, all experiences, both external and internal, are not interrupted.

 

Within this fundamental nature free from grasping, all the projections imposed upon phenomena have never arisen and never ceased to be, and, free from the duality of perceiver and perceived, one rests in the all-pervading space of equality. This is beyond any assertions such as ‘is’ or ‘is not’. Within this inexpressible state of true and natural rest an experience dawns that is free from the slightest trace of doubt.

 

This is the actual nature of all things, the ultimate that can not be conceptualized, and which can only be known individually, the non-conceptual wisdom of meditative equipoise. When you become familiar with this state, In which emptiness and dependent arising are an inseparable unity, the ultimate condition in which the two truths can not be separated, then that is the yoga of the great Middle Way.

 

Those who wish to realize this swiftly and make evident non-dual primordial wisdom beyond the domain of the ordinary mind, should meditate on the pith instructions of secret mantra. This is the ultimate profound and crucial point of the progressive meditations on the Middle Way.

 

So begin by thoroughly refining your conduct, and then arrive at certainty, experientially and in stages. With confidence in the illusory nature of empty appearance, there is nothing to be eliminated or enhanced upon the path, and within the equality of the all-pervading space of perfect wisdom, you will come to find complete liberation.

 

In a place where people suffer drought and dehydration, hearing about water will not be enough to quench their thirst. It is only by drinking that they will find relief. The sūtras say this is how it is for learning and experience. Someone with only dry and theoretical understanding, who is worn out by all kinds of reasoning and ideas, does not need sporadic practice, but meditation in proper stages. This is how to swiftly gain acceptance of the profound.

 

 

 

Jampal Gyepe Dorje wrote down whatever came to mind, On the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month of the Water Dragon year (1892). May all beings realize the meaning of the profound Middle Way! Mangalam! [Translated by Adam Pearcey]

[blue eyed snake]

I'm finding an interesting bit of growth in the area of peace with the onset of guru yoga, as spoken of in Steve's teacher's book on Dream Yoga.  (Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - 'The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep').  i had never had exposure to Guru Yoga until reading that book.

 

But not too long ago, I did read the Flower Adornment Sutra, and found a boddhisatva by the name of Flower Glow, whom I greatly identified with for some reason.  I just noted that I had some of his/her qualities on a good day, I felt the connection - which may explain why I spent so long struggling to get through that Sutra.  Flower Glow didn't come along until close to the end.  Comes now Flower Glow.  But not until the end.

 

But I have internalized that entity, and I am allowing him to live within me.  When I am in Awareness during the day and not caught up in the maya of a situation, I feel his presence, I know what he looks like.  He has a man-bun, he wears no shirt, he has drawstring pants and no shoes.  He is so very clear to me.  And he shows up in dreams as a white dragonfly, leading me through a garden or some place.  I wasn't much of a dreamer at all until I cut back on the chemicals, and now they're coming fast and furious.

 

I bring this up because I can see what a useful tool Guru Yoga can be.  Very powerful.  And during this process of chemical elimination from my body, it is making all the difference in the world.  I highly recommend it, BES - a real shortcut, it seems - if there are days when the anxiety gets a little overbearing.

 

well, you're post inspired me to start with " guru yoga, from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche"

bought two years ago in the secondhandshop that always takes care of all my needs,

 

I thought at the time it was the 'wrong book', it did not ring any bell inside me, so its good that it was now waiting for me, for now it does ring a bell :-)

 

But I wonder about shortcuts,

It seems to me the last years have been one aweful shortcut, the bodymind needs rest.

[blue eyed snake]

thank you Steve,

 

It's interesting to read this. One thing my teacher emphasizes at nearly every retreat is that our primary purpose for being together is simply to "be"    "together"

 

our teacher does not talk about it, but he does create sort of ' the space' wherein this being together happens. i remeber a moment during a workshop that this ' mood of togetherness' was really palpable (at least to me) and i became aware that he creates the circumstances needed for this ' mood' to flower and ultimately wants us to create same ' mood' 

It's good that you remind me of it.

And it's one of the things that i miss, not just my teacher as i mentioned earlier, but this 'being together' once he said: your souls have wanted to be together here, you just do not realize that and there-fore  think the composition of this group is ' accidental' 

 

We get so wrapped up in thinking there is more to learn, more to practice, more to do, that we do not spend enough time simply be-ing when we are together, supporting each other, sharing our humanity and warmth, sharing the very joy of simply being.

 

Little by little, I've come to shift my expectations and focus to align more with this mode of be-ing, especially when on retreat, but also in all other areas of life. The richness of interaction with each other when we focus on this subtle point is dramatically enhanced. 

 

yes, but for now I need to deal with being essentially alone, I rarely see people. Most friends and family seem to have given up on me ( or something) and I'm not able yet to go out into life again. So I need to find that essential wellbeing right here, in this small world, made up of my house, one friend who comes weekly and some phone calls with another friend and my eldest sister.

with a body that is not able to do much.

 

therefore I'm very happy with this forum, it sorts of connects me, right now, with people that i'm not able to visit in the flesh.

 

So I can yearn for the things I'm not able to do, the people I miss, but seems to me just now I need to find peace and contentment in this situation, that's the task at hand.

To realize that this too, is all good.

 

So I will offer that perhaps that is something (companionship) that our teachers can give, provided that we have ears to listen for that subtle instruction. Certainly we can't be together very frequently and we can only expect so much, but it is the quality and meaning of that being together that matters. And for those who practice guru yoga, that can even transcend life and death.

 

yes, i see what you mean and agree, but i still wonder about companionship with teacher, on a certain level i can feel that, but then all of a sudden something happens that makes him teacher, and me pupil ....

 

is a link to a nice talk he gave on the student-teacher relationship. It's long but some may find it useful.

 

I may give it a try, though reading English is far easier for me than listening, 

love BES

 

[manitou]

 

Mipham Rinpoche's Profound Instruction on the View of the Middle Way

 

 

 

 And when we reach the ultimate two indivisibles, even the most subtle and infinitesimal cannot be established.

 

Rumi says 'Like the shadow, I Am and I Am Not.'  Would these be the ultimate two indivisibles?

 

 

 

 

 

It is the same for all that appears through dependent origination. Entities themselves arise dependently, Whereas ‘non-entities’ are dependently imputed.

 

I am assuming that non-entities would be ideas, judgments, distinctions?

 

 

 

So whether an entity or a non-entity, whatever is conceived of uncritically, once it is analyzed and investigated, it is found to be without basis or origin, appearing yet unreal, like an illusion, a dream, the moon’s reflection, an echo, or city in the clouds, a hallucination, a mirage and the like. Appearing yet empty, empty yet appearing— Meditate on the way empty appearances resemble illusions.

 

In the Dream Yoga book, the Rinpoche speaks of meditating upon the similarity and Oneness of the sleeping dream and the waking dream.  The dream-like quality of everyday life.  It seems that both everyday life and dreams speak to us in the same riddles and puns.  they are the same.

 

 

 

This is the ultimate that is categorized conceptually. It has the confidence of a mind of understanding, and it is indeed the stainless wisdom of seeing the illusory nature of post-meditative experience. Yet it has not gone beyond focus on apprehended objects, nor have the features of a subjective mind been overcome, and so since it has not gone beyond conceptuality the true reality of natural simplicity is not seen.

 

I sometimes wonder if this is why dervishes whirl.  To go beyond focus on apprehended objects; to go beyond conceptuality in a very physical way.  A means to an end?

 

 

 

 

When this kind of certainty has arisen, then even the clinging to mere illusion can be understood as conceptual imputation. There is apprehension, but no essential nature to the perceived, and even the perceiving mind can not be found, so without clinging, one is brought to rest in natural ease. When you remain like this, all experiences, both external and internal, are not interrupted.

 

 

There is a certainty that arises whose keystone is cemented in Love.  When phenomena and events are viewed through the eyes of Love, is this too conceptual imputation?  Or is Love the reason for the season?  The essence of all of it?  Or is this a grasp as well?  Doesn't feel like a grasp, maybe it is.

 

 

 

 

 

So begin by thoroughly refining your conduct, and then arrive at certainty, experientially and in stages. With confidence in the illusory nature of empty appearance, there is nothing to be eliminated or enhanced upon the path, and within the equality of the all-pervading space of perfect wisdom, you will come to find complete liberation.

 

And doesn't complete liberation seems to go hand in hand with service?  Service such as Steve's description of how he now relates to his patients?  As a servant to their being, a loving presence and witness to their expression.  Would not Steve be doing mankind a service by starting a ripple here, as he alluded to, with other practitioners?  Even a very small ripple extends out greatly.  Certainly there are others who feel the hollowness of their occupation, who have a great desire to return to the Self that went into medicine in the first place - to be of service to mankind.

Edited May 10, 2016 by manitou

[manitou]

But I wonder about shortcuts,

 

 

I do too, lol.  I wondered about that when I wrote it.

[manitou]

bought two years ago in the secondhandshop that always takes care of all my needs,

 

Isn't it amazing how that works?

 

I too am reading the "wrong book" written by a Rinpoche that I hadn't intended to order.  It is exactly what I need right now.  Couldn't be a closer fit to my current state of being and understanding.

[blue eyed snake]

the last post from CT was a little to much for my befuddled head, all those complicated words.. but Manitou does a job of making simple language of it 

 

I sometimes wonder if this is why dervishes whirl.  To go beyond focus on apprehended objects; to go beyond conceptuality in a very physical way.  A means to an end?

 

when I went to the dojo on a regular base I did often whirl as a dervish, (spontaneous movement is a standard part of our practice) teacher told me once that this movement helps to clear some internal energetic channels which need to be open to  eh..see clearly/ have clarity

 

 

And doesn't complete liberation seems to go hand in hand with service?  Service such as Steve's description of how he now relates to his patients?  As a servant to their being, a loving presence and witness to their expression.  Would not Steve be doing mankind a service by starting a ripple here, as he alluded to, with other practitioners?  Even a very small ripple extends out greatly.  Certainly there are others who feel the hollowness of their occupation, who have a great desire to return to the Self that went into medicine in the first place - to be of service to mankind.

 

nice, sometimes I wonder how and what kind of practice i will pick up after my body has regained vitality, i need to work again, money will run out ( but hopefully i'll be healed before it runs out, I trust the punning universe on that)

 

But I do know that i cannot work as i did before, interesting, to see what time will bring, but the way Steve describes it gives a good feeling.

[manitou]

I was doing some research on 'pith instructions of secret mantra', to find out what Jampal Gyepe Dorje was referring to.  Among other references to Illumination on the way, I came across the King of Prayers, which just makes my heart bleed.  Unable to copy and paste it for some reason, but I will retype it here:

 

 

The Seven-part Practice

 

1

 

I pay homage with body, speech, and mind

To all Buddhas, past, present and future,

To all those lions amongst humans, as many

As there are in the worlds of the ten directions.

 

2

 

Through the power of this prayer of noble conduct,

In my mind's eye I see all those Victorious Ones.

With as many bodies as there are atoms in the worlds,

I bow to them all, the Victorious Ones.

 

3

 

On every atom, amidst bodhisattvas,

Are as many Buddhas as there are atoms,

And similarly I imagine the whole

Sphere of phenomena filled with Buddhas.

 

4

 

With an inexhaustible ocean of praise,

Through oceans of sound made with the organs of speech,

I speak of the qualities of the Victorious

And praise all those who have gone to bliss.

 

5

 

With the finest flowers and finest garlands,

With the sweetest music, best unguents and best parasols,

With the best butter lamps and the finest incense,

I make offerings to all those victorious Ones.

 

6

 

With fine clothes and the best fragrances,

Aromatic powders heaped high as the kind of mountains,

All arranged in the most excellent fashion,

I make offerings to those Victorious Ones.

 

7

 

I imagine giving all the Victorious Ones

The most extensive and unsurpassable offerings.

Through the power of faith in noble conduct

I blow and make offerings to all Victorious Ones.

 

8

 

Whatever wrong actions I have created

With my body, my speech and my mind,

Driven by desire, anger and confusion,

Each of these I openly acknowledge.

 

9

 

I rejoice in the merit of the Victorious Ones

And of Bodhisattvas in the ten directions,

Of solitary Realizers, trainees and the perfected

And in that of all living beings.

 

10

 

I urge those protectors who have just gained

Buddhahood -- enlightenment without obstruction,

Who are lamps for the worlds in the ten directions,

To turn the unsurpassable wheel of the teachings.

 

11

 

With folded hands I request those who wish

To display the passing into parinirvana,

To remain for the benefit and joy of living beings

For as many aeons as the worlds have atoms.

 

12

 

I dedicate the slight merit I have created

Through reverence, offerings and confession,

Through rejoicing, exhorting and through requesting,

To the attainment of highest enlightenment.

[steve]

Since we're on the topic of service, I'll mention that my teacher is currently hosting a 6 month free workshop called "Transforming Your World Through Service." it started in February but all the talks are recorded and it would be easy to catch up. This weekend is the 4th installment. There is a very useful forum and international "cyber-sangha" that is very supportive.

Here's a link to more info: http://www.ligminchalearning.com/service

[Old River]

And doesn't complete liberation seems to go hand in hand with service?  Service such as Steve's description of how he now relates to his patients?  As a servant to their being, a loving presence and witness to their expression.  Would not Steve be doing mankind a service by starting a ripple here, as he alluded to, with other practitioners?  Even a very small ripple extends out greatly.  Certainly there are others who feel the hollowness of their occupation, who have a great desire to return to the Self that went into medicine in the first place - to be of service to mankind.

 

When I used to frequent one of Thich Nhat Hanh's monasteries in Mississippi on the weekends, the whole sangha would do repeated full body prostrations toward the large Buddha statue, knees and forehead on the floor, arms stretched forward on the floor with palms facing upward.  

 

I don't recall being taught the significance of this particular "pose," (though it obviously suggest humility) -- but, thinking in context of my Bodhisattva vows, I imagined my palms as stepping stones -- I thought of myself as a bridge for others.  It became one of my favorite practices during that time in my life-- cultivating a mind of service for others.  What is a Bodhisattva but someone who says, "After you"? 

[Old River]

Also, to add (if I may) from my version of chapter 11 of the Dao De Jing:

 

thirty spokes share one axis

the empty center renders a wheel’s role

 

...

 

where presence confers gain
absence [of fixed self] bestows its service

[manitou]

After you, indeed.

 

A beautiful mantra for mindfulness.

 

Presence and absence, yin and yang, gain and service.

 

The bellows of the Dao.

 

Thank you, Old River.

[C T]

DZONGSAR JAMYANG KHYENTSE RINPOCHE

 

 

If you’re practising Buddhadharma, you practise it for enlightenment. Not for rights, not for freedom, not for justice, not for healing, not for getting anything better in a worldly way.

Edited May 11, 2016 by C T

[C T]

"Many people have taken action, but if their state of being is not peaceful or happy, the actions they undertake only sow more troubles and anger and make the situation worse. So instead of saying, 'Don't just sit there; do something," we should say the opposite, 'Don't just do something; sit there.' We sit there and we get more lucid, more peaceful, and more compassionate. With that state of being our actions can become meaningful to the world."

 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~ 

[manitou]

"Many people have taken action, but if their state of being is not peaceful or happy, the actions they undertake only sow more troubles and anger and make the situation worse. So instead of saying, 'Don't just sit there; do something," we should say the opposite, 'Don't just do something; sit there.' We sit there and we get more lucid, more peaceful, and more compassionate. With that state of being our actions can become meaningful to the world."

 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~ 

 

And doesn't this seem to be the state of affairs in the world?  Well intending people taking action and making the situation worse.  Yes, 'don't just do something; sit there' - the formula for wu wei and seeing the real.  Through the not-doing is the play seen.  Through non-interference only can the 10,000 things find their natural order of their own accord.

 

Or, more contemporarily put, 'let the chips fall where they may'.  And yet, thing get done.  A Great Mystery, if you ask me.  But living proof of the Logos in action.

[steve]

 

DZONGSAR JAMYANG KHYENTSE RINPOCHE

 

 

If you’re practising Buddhadharma, you practise it for enlightenment. Not for rights, not for freedom, not for justice, not for healing, not for getting anything better in a worldly way.

 

I think this is very valuable.

As we get more in touch with our selves and our values, we can become sensitized to the pain and suffering all around us. I often hear practitioners ask questions about how to deal with the pain and the sadness that can be overwhelming.

 

I think this pith instruction cuts right to the core of that.

We are practicing to eliminate all ignorance, to achieve the wisdom of emptiness and compassion.

If we practice in that way, one-pointedly, our conduct will naturally and spontaneously manifest what is need in the world around us. Otherwise, our responses come from our own pain and confusion and tend to compound rather than alleviate suffering.

 

PS - I should have read Thich Nhat Han's quote before replying. He said it much better than me!

Edited May 11, 2016 by steve

[silent thunder]

"Many people have taken action, but if their state of being is not peaceful or happy, the actions they undertake only sow more troubles and anger and make the situation worse. So instead of saying, 'Don't just sit there; do something," we should say the opposite, 'Don't just do something; sit there.' We sit there and we get more lucid, more peaceful, and more compassionate. With that state of being our actions can become meaningful to the world."

 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~ 

Yes!  This resonates poignantly.

 

Release, of late, is my action. 

Abiding space... simple awareness resting without effort in the fluidity of the life process.

Non impeding, abiding and empty.

 

bliss

Edited May 11, 2016 by silent thunder

[C T]

I think this is very valuable.

As we get more in touch with our selves and our values, we can become sensitized to the pain and suffering all around us. I often hear practitioners ask questions about how to deal with the pain and the sadness that can be overwhelming.

 

I think this pith instruction cuts right to the core of that.

We are practicing to eliminate all ignorance, to achieve the wisdom of emptiness and compassion.

If we practice in that way, one-pointedly, our conduct will naturally and spontaneously manifest what is need in the world around us. Otherwise, our responses come from our own pain and confusion and tend to compound rather than alleviate suffering.

this!

Edited May 11, 2016 by C T

[manitou]

I just caught that last sentence with CT's comment - I had missed it before.

 

'Otherwise, our responses come from our own pain and confusion and tend to compound rather than alleviate suffering.'

 

Boy, that rings true.

[manitou]

  What is a Bodhisattva but someone who says, "After you"? 

 

 

One of Lin Yutang's 3 treasures:

 

'never be the first'

[steve]

Honoring the Truth of Who You Are

 

Do you recognize and honor

the space of being,

the truth of who you are,

in the life in which you find yourself?

This space within yourself is not

a passive place

where nothing happens.

The whole universe arises, rests and

dissolves in that single space.

 

—Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Edited May 15, 2016 by steve

[C T]

A Noble Truth is one that ennobles the person who truly understand it. 

'There is suffering' is a Noble Truth. 'I am suffering' is not.

Enlightenment occurs only after we have seen suffering as a

conditional phenomena. Only depression, self-aversion and self-pity

result from taking it personally. 

 

The understanding that 'there is suffering' arises from observation of

experience. The assumption that there is an 'I' that is suffering arises

from a lack of observation of experience. 

 

Whenever we don't pay attention to the reality of our body and mind, 

we create the sense of 'I'. In Dhamma practice we learn how to stop

taking this 'I' so seriously, and ultimately how to let it go. 

 

~ Ajahn Jayasaro ~