Buddha taught that freedom from suffering means liberation from the illusion of separation that society feeds us.
You are the Universe, walking upon this planet in human form. We are each a part of the great symphony of universal creation, sister or brother to the animals, the mountains, rivers, trees and stars.
Civilisation’s institutions tell us we are our names, race, nationality, politics, religion and gender preference. They con us (program us from childhood) into believing we are separate from the world. And it’s these illusions which give rise to all our desires and fears.
This is the Big Lie, that keeps us hypnotized. Thinking we are individuals competing with other individuals distracts us from our true nature. Keeps us from opening our hearts to reality, from waking up.
The Buddha understood this, as did Jesus, Walt Whitman, Gandhi, Einstein, Alan Watts, Thich Nhat Hanh and many many others.
This is the choice we face every moment of our lives, to stay asleep, plugged in to the dreams of civilization’s MATRIX, or to wake up to deeper truth about ourselves, connecting with the magnificence of this Universe that brought everything into being…
~Christopher:::
Tao & Zen
“As soon as you say that you are an individual, illusion is very happy to distract you from your real nature and to keep you inside her institutions.” ~Sri Siddharameshwar Maharj
“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe’ – a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~Albert Einstein
August 14, 2018 | Categories: Social action, Spirituality, Zen | 1 Comment
So if you really wish to benefit others, the first step is to attain realization yourself. You must first mature your own mind; otherwise you will be incapable of helping others. Giving other people water is impossible unless you have a jug with water in it. If it is empty, you might make the gesture of pouring, but no water will come out.
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book “Zurchungpa’s Testament”
ISBN: 978-1559392648 – http://amzn.to/19RFPbO
Just Dharma Quotes
January 23, 2018 | Categories: Activism, Social action, Tibetan Buddhism | Leave a comment
Source: In Engaged Buddhism, Peace Begins with You – Lion’s Roar
http://www.lionsroar.com
Thich Nhat Hanh, who originated Engaged Buddhism, in an interview with John Malkin.
I met with Thich Nhat Hanh recently at the Kim Son Monastery in Northern California. I was happy to be seated on a zafu drinking tea with him, but I was also glad when he motioned with a simple gesture towards the page of questions sitting at my side: otherwise the lunch bell might have sounded an hour later without the interview having begun.
Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967, after playing a central role in the Vietnamese peace movement. He is the author of over one hundred books, including Love in Action, Peace Is Every Step, The Miracle of Mindfulness and No Death, No Fear. He currently lives at Plum Village Monastery in France. —John Malkin
John Malkin: Will you describe the origins of Engaged Buddhism and how you became involved in compassion-based social change?
Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on-not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you.
When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war. So we were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism.
Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time.
Buddhism has to do with your daily life, with your suffering and with the suffering of the people around you. You have to learn how to help a wounded child while still practicing mindful breathing. You should not allow yourself to get lost in action. Action should be meditation at the same time.
John Malkin: Why did you come to the United States for the first time in 1966, and what happened while you were here?
Thich Nhat Hanh: I was invited by Cornell University to deliver a series of talks. I took the opportunity to speak about the suffering that was going on in Vietnam. After that I learned that the Vietnamese government didn’t want me to come home. So I had to stay on and continue the work over here. It was not my intention to come to the West and share Buddhism at all. But because I was forced into exile, I did. An opportunity for sharing just presented itself.
John Malkin: What did you learn from being in the United States during that time?
Thich Nhat Hanh: The first thing I learned was that even if you have a lot of money and power and fame, you can still suffer very deeply. If you don’t have enough peace and compassion within you, there is no way you can be happy. Many people in Asia would like to consume as much as Europeans and Americans. So when I teach in China and Thailand and in other Asian countries, I always tell them that people suffer very deeply in the West, believing that consuming a lot will bring them happiness. You have to go back to the traditional values and deepen your practice.
John Malkin: What did you learn from Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement in the United States?
Thich Nhat Hanh: The last time Martin Luther King and I met was in Geneva during the peace conference called Paix sur Terre—”Peace on Earth.” I was able to tell him that the people in Vietnam were very grateful for him because he had come out against the violence in Vietnam. They considered him to be a great bodhisattva, working for his own people and supporting us. Unfortunately, three months later he was assassinated.
John Malkin: What is your view of the current peace movement in the United States?
Thich Nhat Hanh: People were very compassionate and willing to support us in ending the war in Vietnam during the sixties. But the peace movement in America did not have enough patience. People became angry very quickly because what they were doing wasn’t bringing about what they wanted. So there was a lot of anger and violence in the peace movement.
Nonviolence and compassion are the foundations of a peace movement. If you don’t have enough peace and understanding and loving-kindness within yourself, your actions will not truly be for peace. Everyone knows that peace has to begin with oneself, but not many people know how to do it.
John Malkin: People often feel that they need to choose between being engaged in social change or working on personal and spiritual growth. What would you say to those people?
Thich Nhat Hanh: I think that view is rather dualistic. The practice should address suffering: the suffering within yourself and the suffering around you. They are linked to each other. When you go to the mountain and practice alone, you don’t have the chance to recognize the anger, jealousy and despair that’s in you. That’s why it’s good that you encounter people—so you know these emotions. So that you can recognize them and try to look into their nature. If you don’t know the roots of these afflictions, you cannot see the path leading to their cessation. That’s why suffering is very important for our practice.
If you don’t have enough peace and understanding and loving-kindness within yourself, your actions will not truly be for peace.
John Malkin: When the World Trade Center was destroyed, you were asked what you would say to those responsible. You answered that you would listen compassionately and deeply to understand their suffering. Tell me about the practice of deep listening and how you think it helps in personal situations, as well as in situations like the World Trade Center attacks.
Thich Nhat Hanh: The practice of deep listening should be directed towards oneself first. If you don’t know how to listen to your own suffering, it will be difficult to listen to the suffering of another person or another group of people.
I have recommended that America listen to herself first, because there is a lot of suffering within her borders. There are so many people who believe they are victims of discrimination and injustice, and they have never been heard and understood.
My proposal is very concrete: we have to set up a group of people—a kind of parliament—to practice listening to the suffering of America. It’s my conviction that there are people in America who are capable of listening deeply, with compassion in their hearts. We have to identify them, and ask them to come and help us. Then we will ask the people who suffer to come forward and tell us what they have in their hearts. They’ll have to tell us everything, and that won’t be easy for those listening.
If America can practice this within her own borders, she will learn a lot. The insight will be enormous, and based on that insight, we can start actions that can repair the damage done in the past.
If America succeeded in that, she could bring that practice to the international level. The fact is that people know America has the capacity to hit. To hit very hard and make people suffer. But if America does not hit, that brings her more respect and gives her more authority.
John Malkin: After the World Trade Center was attacked, even people who believe in nonviolence said, “This occasion requires some action and some violence.”
Thich Nhat Hanh: Violent action creates more violence. That’s why compassion is the only way to reduce violence. And compassion is not something soft. It takes a lot of courage.
When you express your anger, either verbally or with physical violence, you are feeding the seed of anger, and it becomes stronger in you. It’s a dangerous practice.
John Malkin: In Western psychology, we are taught that if we’re angry, we can release that anger by, say, yelling or hitting a pillow. In your book, Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, you offer a criticism of this method. Why do you feel that this doesn’t help get rid of anger?
Thich Nhat Hanh: In Buddhist psychology, we speak of consciousness in terms of seeds. We have a seed of anger in us. We have a seed of compassion in us. The practice is to help the seed of compassion to grow and the seed of anger to shrink. When you express your anger you think that you are getting anger out of your system, but that’s not true. When you express your anger, either verbally or with physical violence, you are feeding the seed of anger, and it becomes stronger in you. It’s a dangerous practice.
That’s why recognizing the seed of anger and trying to neutralize it with understanding and compassion is the only way to reduce the anger in us. If you don’t understand the cause of your anger, you can never transform it.
John Malkin: Many people have the view that happiness and enlightenment are things that happen only in the future, and that maybe only a few people are capable of experiencing them. Enlightenment can seem like a very unattainable thing.
Thich Nhat Hanh: Happiness and enlightenment are living things and they can grow. It is possible to feed them every day. If you don’t feed your enlightenment, your enlightenment will die. If you don’t feed your happiness, your happiness will die. If you don’t feed your love, your love will die. If you continue to feed your anger, your hatred, your fear, they will grow. The Buddha said that nothing can survive without food. That applies to enlightenment, to happiness, to sorrow, to suffering.
First of all, enlightenment is enlightenment about something. Suppose you are drinking some tea and you are aware that you are drinking some tea. That kind of mindfulness of drinking is a form of enlightenment. There have been many times that you’ve been drinking but you didn’t know it, because you are absorbed in worries. So mindfulness of drinking is already one kind of enlightenment.
If you can focus your mind on the act of drinking, then happiness can come while you have some tea. You are capable of enjoying that tea in the here and now. But if you don’t know how to drink your tea in mindfulness and concentration, you are not really drinking tea. You are drinking your sorrow, your fear, your anger—and happiness is not possible.
To be aware that you are still alive, that you are walking on this beautiful planet—that is a form of enlightenment.
Insight is also enlightenment. To be aware that you are still alive, that you are walking on this beautiful planet—that is a form of enlightenment. That does not come just by itself. You have to be mindful in order to enjoy every step. And again, you have to preserve that enlightenment in order for happiness to continue. If you walk like someone who is running, happiness will stop.
Small enlightenments have to succeed each other. And they have to be fed all the time, in order for a great enlightenment to be possible. So a moment of living in mindfulness is already a moment of enlightenment. If you train yourself to live in such a way, happiness and enlightenment will continue to grow.
If you know how to maintain enlightenment and happiness, then your sorrow, your fear, your suffering don’t have a lot of chance to manifest. If they don’t manifest for a long time, then they become weaker and weaker. Then, when someone touches the seed of sorrow or fear or anger in you and those things manifest, you will know to bring back your mindful breathing and your mindful smiling. And then you can embrace your suffering.
John Malkin: In meditation practice, it is very common for us to feel that our minds are very busy and that we’re not meditating very well. What do you have to say about this?
Thich Nhat Hanh: Meditation is a matter of enjoyment. When you are offered a cup of tea, you have an opportunity to be happy. Drink your tea in such a way that you are truly present. Otherwise, how can you enjoy your tea? Or you are offered an orange—there must be a way to eat your orange that can bring you freedom and happiness. You can train yourself to eat an orange properly, so that happiness and freedom are possible. If you come to a mindfulness retreat, you will be offered that kind of practice so that you can be free and happy while eating your orange or drinking your tea or out walking.
It is possible for you to enjoy every step that you make. These steps will be healing and refreshing, bringing you more freedom. If you have a friend who is well-trained in the practice of walking, you will be supported by his or her practice. The practice can be done every moment. And not for the future, but for the present moment. If the present moment is good, then the future will be good because it’s made only of the present. Suppose you are capable of making every step free and joyful. Then wherever you walk, it is the pure land of the Buddha. The pure land of the Buddha is not a matter of the future.
John Malkin: You have wondered whether the next Buddha will come in the form of a single person or in the form of a community. . .
Thich Nhat Hanh: I think that the Buddha is already here. If you are mindful enough you can see the Buddha in anything, especially in the sangha. The twentieth century was the century of individualism, but we don’t want that anymore. Now we try to live as a community. We want to flow like a river, not a drop of water. The river will surely arrive at the ocean, but a drop of water may evaporate halfway. That’s why it is possible for us to recognize that the presence of the Buddha is the here and now. I think that every step, every breath, every word that is spoken or done in mindfulness—that is the manifestation of the Buddha. Don’t look for the Buddha elsewhere. It is in the art of living mindfully every moment of your life.
John Malkin hosts a weekly radio program on Free Radio Santa Cruz, focusing on social change and spiritual growth.
September 18, 2017 | Categories: Activism, Buddhism, Compassion, Social action, Suffering, Zen | 2 Comments
“Every noble work is bound to face problems and obstacles. It is important to check your goal and motivation thoroughly. One should be very truthful, honest, and reasonable. One’s actions should be good for others, and for oneself as well. Once a positive goal is chosen, you should decide to pursue it all the way to the end. Even if it is not realized, at least there will be no regret.”
~His Holiness the Dalai Lama
June 9, 2017 | Categories: Buddhism, Social action | Leave a comment
Source: ECOBUDDHISM :: Dudjom Rinpoche 2012
http://www.ecobuddhism.org
Posted Dec 4, 2016
Ecobuddhism:
Since the last time we spoke about this subject, five years ago Rinpoche, the gravity of the climate crisis is even better understood. The leading climate scientist, Dr James Hansen of NASA is publishing a large multiple-author study which makes it clear that there must be a great change in current policies if we are going to avert the danger of crossing a “tipping point” in the climate system–whereby the whole process will become self-generating and pass beyond human influence. In essence, he says, we have ten more years to make fundamental changes in the way our society uses energy and treats the natural world.
The well-known Buddhist teacher, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who is now 86, is making a tour of the world to emphasize what he calls “falling in love with the Earth again.” He considers that by the end of this century, there may be no human beings on the Earth. He asks for a deep change of values. Therefore there seems to be the need for people to dedicate their practice, whatever that may be, for the protection of the Earth.
Dudjom Rinpoche:
There are excellent prayers focusing on protecting the Earth and environment written by Chatral, Dzongsar Khyenste Chokyi Lodro and Jigdral Yeshe Dorje Rinpoches. They are quite extensive, beneficial to recite and will have positive effects.
From a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, we could say that Guru Rinpoche is the source of all our dharma traditions. Not only the lineage of the Nyingmapa, but even the Sarma schools like the Geluk, have a special relationship with Guru Rinpoche. The lineage of the Great Perfection is unique to the Nyingmapa, but all Tibetan traditions of Buddhism are based upon a Nyingma template.
We consider Guru Rinpoche, Tara and Chenrezig to be the three primary protectors throughout the three times. They are united within a single wisdom intent, gazing upon all beings with compassion, continuously raining blessings on the outer universe and its inner contents—the world and all the living beings it contains. We make Dharma prayers to invoke these blessings.
Now from a worldly perspective, I agree completely with the scientific findings on climate change. When we consider the direction in which the global economy is moving and the kind of activities humans are engaging in, it is certain the outcome will be great harm for the world system. The general situation is most precarious: there will be no stability for the entire world and the beings in it.
From a religious perspective – and I’m not talking here about exalted teachings like the Great Perfection – even ordinary religious followers cannot feel happy in view of what is going on. We Buddhists believe the twelve links of interdependence are undeceiving. From that perspective too, the situation is very serious. I am just one religious teacher, without anything special to say. Yet I would ask that all people in this world think in terms of the common good, rather than focusing solely on their own benefit.
We share this one world. In order to uplift and preserve our environment, it definitely matters how we conduct ourselves in the collective sphere. We have to consider what will really benefit sentient beings, both short and long-term, with respect to environmental change. It is important to give careful consideration to the long term continuity of the human race and future generations.
We might feel a year is a long time, but the fact is that a whole decade goes by quickly. So it is essential to change our way of thinking and go beyond the obsession with private gain. Taking the state of the whole world into account is our universal responsibility now. It makes oneself happy and it accomplishes the welfare of others. It is our duty to care for the global environment. Let us reflect carefully on this.
To Buddhist followers, I would ask you to please examine the evidence, and determine the causative factors concerned. On the basis of what you find, please act accordingly and ethically. Non-Buddhists who see validity in this approach can also choose to act appropriately, in light of their own enquiry and values.
When we reflect on the unfolding of recent history, it is clear how great the scale is of what has already occurred. We used to have all these beautiful and pristine snow mountains. Now their glaciers are undeniably melting. Many places in the world are experiencing tremendous heat. Other places are experiencing great floods. New diseases are coming up and are reducing life expectancy for some. Things have certainly changed, and they are continuing to do so.
Although we must disseminate this information, there is the difficulty that it has the potential to bring about fear. Nonetheless, it is beneficial for the scientific community to spread the evidence they have gathered as extensively as possible. A religious leader who talks about these issues can influence only those persons with devotion—the advice is unlikely to spread far. Out of 100 people, perhaps one will listen. Yet those who consider these topics deeply can make significant changes by taking their inner meaning to heart.
Ecobuddhism:
Another problem has arisen in that climate science is being actively undermined by the proponents of the industrial economy, and even certain governments and the media. Scientists are feeling increasingly anxious that their advice is not being communicated to the general public. Some senior scientists now acknowledge this is primarily a moral issue and a question of values. It is beyond the scope of science. That implies that the global ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis. Finally, there has historically been contention between religion and science. A meeting of minds between them is not easy to accomplish.
Dudjom Rinpoche:
Yes, a partial conflict between science and religion exists. As does a conflict between climate science and modern industrial society.
If we examine the opposition between science and religion from a Buddhist perspective, the law of cause and result (karma) is what underlies the Buddhist belief in past and future lives. Scientists generally address themselves only to this one life, in an individualistic manner.
The scientific focus on this single life could be associated with materialism and used to justify neglect of the common good. What appears to our senses or instruments comes to define truth. What is not perceived in that way becomes insignificant and has no value. Only phenomena said to be “objective” are believed to truly exist.
The Buddhist view holds that virtuous causes bring happiness, and prepare the ground for full awakening. A conventional scientific perspective would dismiss the phenomena of lower realms and of deity as non-existent. Nonetheless, I think it would be excellent to find common ground between the scientific and religious worldviews. It might be difficult for them to become very close. But it is also not desirable for there to be a great divide.
I am not just speaking about the Buddhist religion. When we consider the religious traditions of the world, such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and so forth, the followers of Buddhism are relatively small in number. Most people follow one of the first three traditions. All possess teachings on compassion, and in some way focus on a process of mental transformation. This is really what religion is about: developing the mind.
People unaligned with any spiritual tradition may find it easier simply to proceed on the basis of scientific evidence. If this leads them to a clear sense of how to address collective and environmental issues, that will be excellent for themselves and others.
Some materialists assert this is the only life we have. This view could limit their understanding of the global environmental crisis. Buddhists believe that in future lifetimes we experience the karmic consequences of our present life’s actions. There is an added significance to the choices we make now. We ourselves are the ones who will experience the world we leave to future generations.
Dudjom Rinpoche, Sangye Pema Shepa, born in Tibet in 1990, is the head of the DudjomTersar lineage of Nyingma Buddhism. This interview took place in Pharping, Nepal in March 2012. Thanks to Christina Monson for her capable translation.
December 4, 2016 | Categories: Earth, Environment, Prayer, Religion, Science, Social action, Tibetan Buddhism | Leave a comment
Source: Drop by Drop | Great Middle Way
greatmiddleway.wordpress.com
May 9, 2016
When drops of water fill a vase, it is not the first drop that fills it, nor the last drop, nor each drop individually; through the gathering of dependent factors the vase is filled.
Likewise, when someone experiences joy and suffering –the effects– this is not due to the first instant of their cause, nor is it due to the last instant of the cause.
Joy and pain are felt through coming together of dependent factors. So within this mere appearance I will observe ethical norms. —Acharya Dharmarakshita
May 9, 2016 | Categories: Karma, Social action, Zen | 2 Comments
Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self.
Source: Zen, Tao, Chan
April 14, 2016 | Categories: Social action, Zen | 4 Comments
Source: Engage! | Great Middle Way
GreatMiddleWay.Com
Feb 5, 2016
In Dharma traditions, and especially those associated with the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, ‘Engaged Buddhism’ is not a new trend, whether in its social or environmental manifestations, but has been always present.
The ideal of the Bodhisattva, the Noble Being, is to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all, human and non-human, and thus service is the supreme expression of bodhichitta, or the mind of enlightenment.
Service is the practical expression of the wish to benefit others and increase their happiness. The Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva make this intention explicit:
- Beings are numberless. I vow to save them all.
- Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them all.
- Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to open them all.
- The Great Middle Way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it for the benefit of all.
February 6, 2016 | Categories: Bodhisattva, Social action | Leave a comment
“In the hands of woman lies the salvation of Humanity and our planet. Woman must realize her significance, the great mission of the Mother of the World. She should be prepared to take responsibilities for the destiny of Humanity.”
~ Helena Roerich
Bodhisattva Maitreya
January 26, 2016 | Categories: Inspiration, Social action | Leave a comment
Never look at the world in comparison. Do not compare yourself to the average and think something is wrong when you do not fit in. Considering society as it is currently you are on the right track if you don’t fit in. I am not saying to deliberately be anti establishment. That too is ignorant.
Pro establishment or anti establishment you are controlled by the establishment. You are not yourself. You may not be doing what the establishment wants, but your actions are based on what society doesn’t want for you. Your actions are not authentic they are determined from something outside yourself. Don’t be pro or anti establishment. Transcend both states. Be who you are. Be an authentic expression of life.
To be authentic simply listen to your heart and become aware of your self and your being. Then do whatever is done. Do not choose action, let your intuition and your awareness choose. Let your awareness and intuition act. Take yourself out of the decision.
Have faith, don’t be afraid to be authentic, don’t be afraid to surrender the self. Don’t interfere with your inner flow, your inner energies. Allow, all your inner nature to unfold. Allow others to be pro or anti establishment. Pay them no mind. You should have the right to be anyway you want to be. Others should be given the same right….
Source: Bradley Ross Coutts
January 7, 2016 | Categories: Social action, Zen | Leave a comment
September 12, 2015 | Categories: Social action, Zen | Leave a comment
The Hour’s Getting Late: Time for Humanity to Wake Up | Creative by Nature.
creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com
Creative by Nature
With permission of
by Christopher Chase
April 6, 2015
“Let us not talk falsely now, the hour’s getting late.” ~Bob Dylan
Looking out at the ecological crisis we humans have created, the analogy of mass murder or collective suicide could be applied. For centuries we’ve been steadily and methodically killing off other life forms in the Natural world. Now our greed and selfishness seems to be destroying us as well.
Is there a way out? Hopefully, yes, but it will require more creativity, collaboration, love, and wisdom then modern “technologically advanced” humans have exhibited (as a whole) in a very long time. It requires large numbers of us “waking up” and caring deeply, becoming less “techno-logical” and much more “eco-logical” in our behavior and thinking.
Do most people realize what we’ve been doing and the “inevitable” outcome of our actions- if we do not change? I think large numbers of us do, though its like someone struggling with a drinking problem, sugar craving, drug or food addiction.
You may realize that what you crave is hurting others (and slowly killing you) but you cannot stop. As the Buddha pointed out, “craving” is at the “root” of most of our problems. Craving paired with dualistic thinking, the idea that each of us exists somehow separate from other people and the rest of the Universe.
Buddha was wise to illuminate the dangers of ego-centric thinking and how it leads to desires for sense pleasure, as well as fearful thoughts, anger and hatred. He taught how dualistic thinking and craving is what creates all the suffering in our lives, spins the wheel of samsara.
As humans have grown more powerful technologically, the levels of destructiveness and suffering have been magnified. Forests all over the earth have been destroyed, “precious” metals and other resources being dug up, polluting water supplies. Radioactivity leaking into the air and oceans, crime and violence overcoming ghettos and slums, then spilling out into larger populations.
We’ve reached a point of crisis, where a greater collective awakening is required. We’ve been like a cancer that’s grown out of control, or a virus that spreads without consideration for its host. There really is no other choice, either a majority of us wake up and change, soon- or the Web of Life implodes upon itself and we all go the way of the dinosaurs…
What’s needed right now isn’t a blissful “rapture” type of awakening, where we all fly off into the heavens. Neither is it about running off into the mountains to meditate and do yoga all day. We need spiritual paths to help us stay optimistic, mindful and compassionate, but our destination is not somewhere far off in the distance.
We need to wake up here, on this planet, right where we are. To wake up in our apartments and cities, wake up on our farms, in our schools, governments and work places.
Wake up to the beauty and miracle of this Universe we live in, wake up to the value and sacredness of all life. Change our priorities, live more mindfully, with greater wisdom and love.
We have to think of people and other living beings as being sacred and “precious” – rather than valuing only money, possessions and certain metals. We have to care about the forests, oceans and animals. Care about our bodies, our families, neighbors, children and ourselves.
We need to become wiser when we try to fix things that don’t work in our world. Take the time to patiently investigate relationships and interconnections when difficulties arise, to gain a deeper understanding of the causes of problems. We have to think less mechanistically and more ecologically.
We need to open our hearts, and seek guidance there. Recognize love, joy, compassion and gratitude as natural sources of wisdom. Let go of this idea that “knowing” is something that happens only in our heads.
Realize also- as Buddha, Jesus and others have taught- that happiness is not something we need to continuously “persue” – but that it arises naturally when we truly love and support one another.
Our Planet is a Garden of Life, a Global Eden that can be saved and restored to a state of balance. But time is running out.
For decades now we’ve been at a turning point, a fork in the road. The problems we see in the world around us exist because we’re still moving in the wrong direction, we haven’t changed course yet.
The decisions we make over the next decade will decide how Life unfolds on this planet for hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of years into the future.
How shall we be remembered by our children’s children’s children- as People of the Great Change, or the Great Catastrophe?
There’s still time to turn around but our window of opportunity is narrowing. And what happens next is up to ALL of us.
~Christopher Chase
Creative Systems Thinking
April 22, 2015 | Categories: Earth, Social action, Systems theory, Zen | 2 Comments
Feb 7, 2015
All forms of oppression are linked, because all have the same origin: the wrong views of separation and supremacy. When we view our ‘selves’ as separate from others, and believe our interests to be more important or privileged, we are capable of any and all atrocities, be they directed at other humans or non-humans.
That is why –with all due respect for their dedicated activists– discrete movements for the emancipation of this or that group, human or non-human, while they may alleviate some suffering, can never address the fundamental root of oppression.
As long as we do not eradicate the wrong view of a separate self, and its corollary of supremacy, we will invent and recreate ever new and more atrocious modalities of domination and subjugation. Nothing less than a spiritual revolution can stop this vicious cycle.
With humility, but also with courage, we must reclaim the revolutionary quality of the Buddha Dharma. Only the Right Views of No Self and Interdependence can eradicate the tendency to dominate and oppress.
About Tashi Nyima
I am a Dharma student, and aspire to be a companion on the path. I trust that these texts can offer a general approach and basic tools for practicing the Buddha’s way to enlightenment. ||| Soy un estudiante del Dharma, y aspiro a ser un compañero en el sendero. Espero que estos textos ofrezcan a algunos un mapa general y herramientas básicas para la práctica del sendero a la iluminación que nos ofrece el Buda.
February 8, 2015 | Categories: Human behavior, Social action, Zen | Tags: Buddha Dharma | Leave a comment
(A small community learns the wisdom of sharing, even amid scarcity) Many years ago three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat.The soldiers spoke quietly among themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders. “Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones.”
Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town’s greatest kettle as the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. “Now this will be a fine soup”, said the second soldier; “but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!” Up jumped a villager, crying “What luck! I’ve just remembered where some’s been left!” And off she ran, returning with an apronful of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast.
They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village’s best breads and cheese. “You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones”, said an elder, “and we shall never forget.” The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: “There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast”. And off the soldiers wandered, down the road.
January 1, 2015 | Categories: Human behavior, Social action | 2 Comments
I shall give financial and material aid to those in need,
without falling into debt, going hungry,
or adversely affecting dependents and my practice.
I shall protect all those who fear from predators, robbers, attackers,
weapons, poisons, illness, fire, water, precipices, and treacherous roads,
up to and including the fear of the lower realms,
without ever impairing moral discipline.
I shall satisfy all sentient beings by sharing the pure Dharma.
I shall ripen those who have not ripened, free those who have not been freed,
and establish in Buddhahood those who have not been established,
without any regard for wealth and fame.
—Jetsun Taranatha
With thanks to Tashi at http://greatmiddleway.wordpress.com
November 15, 2014 | Categories: Compassion, Dharma, Social action, Suffering, Zen | 2 Comments
Creating True Peace | Parallax Press. 
“To some, peace and nonviolence are synonymous with passivity and weakness. In truth, practicing peace and nonviolence is far from passive. To practice peace, to make peace alive in us, is to actively cultivate understanding, love, and compassion, even in the face of misperception and conflict. Practicing peace, especially in times of war, requires courage.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh –
See more at: http://parallax.org/creating-true-peace-ending-violence-in-yourself-your-familyyour-community-and-the-world/#sthash.gA1Y3uV8.s4igEyi9.dpuf
August 7, 2014 | Categories: Compassion, Meditation, Peace, Social action | Tags: nonviolence, Thich Nhat Hanh | 2 Comments
With many thanks to Tashi at
No More War! | Great Middle Way.
Verily, due to sensuous craving,
kings fight with kings, princes with princes,
priests with priests, citizens with citizens,
the mother quarrels with the son,
the son quarrels with the father,
brother with brother, brother with sister,
sister with brother, friend with friend.
—Buddha Shakyamuni, Majjhima Nikaya
If everyone were to follow the advice of the Buddha, there would be no reason for war to take place in this world. It is the duty of every cultured man to find all possible ways and means to settle disputes in a peaceful manner, without declaring war to kill his fellow men.
—Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
July 20, 2014 | Categories: Compassion, Human behavior, Social action, Zen | Leave a comment
ECOBUDDHISM :: Only love can save us from climate change.
With kind permission from
Ecobuddhism.org
Interviewed by Jo Confino
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s leading spiritual teachers, is a man at great peace even as he predicts the possible collapse of civilisation within 100 years as a result of runaway climate change.
The 86-year-old Vietnamese monk, who has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, believes the reason most people are not responding to the threat of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is that they are unable to save themselves from their own personal suffering, never mind worry about the plight of Mother Earth. He says it is possible to be at peace if you pierce through our false reality, which is based on the idea of life and death, to touch the ultimate dimension in Buddhist thinking, in which energy cannot be created or destroyed.
By recognising the inter-connectedness of all life, we can move beyond the idea that we are separate selves and expand our compassion and love in such a way that we take action to protect the Earth.
Look beyond fear
Thay has written about how people spend much of their lives worrying about getting ill, ageing and losing the things they treasure most, despite the obvious fact that one day they will have to let them all go. When we understand that we are more than our physical bodies, that we didn’t come from nothingness and will not disappear into nothingness, we are liberated from fear. Fearlessness is not only possible but the ultimate joy. Speaking at his modest home in Plum Village monastery near Bordeaux, he states:
“Our perception of time may help,” “For us it is very alarming and urgent, but for Mother Earth, if she suffers she knows she has the power to heal herself even if it takes 100m years. We think our time on Earth is only 100 years, which is why we are impatient. The collective karma and ignorance of our race, the collective anger and violence will lead to our destructionand we have to learn to accept that.
And maybe Mother Earth will produce a great being sometime in the next decade … We don’t know and we cannot predict. Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings. So take refuge in Mother Earth and surrender to her and ask her to heal us, to help us. And we have to accept that the worst can happen; that most of us will die as a species and many other species will die also and Mother Earth will be capable after maybe a few million years to bring us out again and this time wiser.”
Confront the truth
Thay suggests that our search for fame, wealth, power and sexual gratification provides the perfect refuge for people to hide from the truth about the many challenges facing the world. Worse still, our addiction to material goods and a hectic lifestyle provides only a temporary plaster for gaping emotional and spiritual wounds, which only drives greater loneliness and unhappiness.
Having just celebrated the 70th anniversary of his ordination, he reflects on the lack of action over the destruction of ecosystems and the rapid rate of biodiversity loss:
“When they see the truth it is too late to act … but they don’t want to wake up because it may make them suffer. They cannot confront the truth. It is not that they don’t know what is going to happen. They just don’t want to think about it.
They want to get busy in order to forget. We should not talk in terms of what they should do, what they should not do, for the sake of the future. We should talk to them in such a way that touches their hearts, that helps them to engage on the path that will bring them true happiness; the path of love and understanding, the courage to let go. When they have tasted a little bit of peace and love, they may wake up.”
Thay was a prime mover in the creation of the Engaged Buddhism movement, which promotes the individual’s active role in creating change, and his mindfulness training – an ethical roadmap – calls on practitioners to boycott products that damage the environment and to confront social injustice.
Given the difficulty of convincing those with vested interests to change their behaviour, he says a grassroots movement is necessary — citing the tactics used by Gandhi — but insists that this can be effective only if activists first deal with their own anger and fears, rather than projecting them onto those they see at fault.
Awakened consumers can influence how companies act
On companies that produce harmful products, he says: “They should not continue to produce these things. We don’t need them. We need other kinds of products that help us to be healthier. If there is awakening in the ranks of consumers, then the producer will have to change. We can force him to change by not buying.
“Gandhi was capable of urging his people to boycott a number of things. He knew how to take care of himself during non-violent operations. He knew how to preserve energy because the struggle is long, so spiritual practice is very much needed in an attempt to help change society.”
He believes that while it is difficult for those holding the strings of power to speak out against the destructive nature of the current economic system, for fear of being ostracised and ridiculed, we do need more leaders to have the courage to challenge the status quo. For business and political leaders to do that, they need to cultivate compassion in order to embrace and diminish the ego.
“You have the courage to speak out because you have compassion, because compassion is a powerful energy. With compassion you can die for other people, like the mother who can die for her child. You have the courage to say it because you are not afraid of losing anything, because you know that understanding and love is the foundation of happiness. But if you have fear of losing your status, your position, you will not have the courage to do it.”
A moment of contemplation
While many people are becoming disoriented by the complexity of their lives and by the overwhelming array of choices offered by our consumer society, Thay’s retreats offer a profoundly simple alternative.
Over Plum Village’s three-month winter retreat, Thay repeatedly instructs the hundreds of monks, nuns and lay practitioners about switching off the non-stop noise in their heads and focusing on the core of mindfulness; the joy of breathing, of walking, of contemplation in the present moment.
Rather than searching for answers to life in the study of philosophy, or seeking adrenaline charged peak experiences, Thay suggests that true happiness can be found by touching the sacred in the very ordinary experiences of life, which we largely overlook.
How often do we fully appreciate, for example, how hard our hearts work day and night to keep us alive? He suggests it is possible to discover profound truths through concentrating on something as basic as eating a carrot, as you get the insight that the vegetable cannot exist without the support of the entire universe.
“If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.”
Despite meditating every day for the past seven decades, Thay believes there is still much to learn:
“In Buddhism we speak of love as something limitless. The four elements of love which are loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, have no frontiers. Buddha is thinking like that. His followers call him the perfect onebut that is out of love, for the truth is you can never be perfect. But we don’t need to be perfect. That is a good thing to know. If you make a little bit of progress every day, a little bit more joy and peace, that is good enough. There is no limit of the practice. And I think that is true of the human race. We can continue to learn generation after generation and now is time to begin to learn how to love in a non-discriminatory way because we are intelligent enough, but we are not loving enough as a species.”
A life lived away from the public eye
Thay has avoided the trap of being surrounded by celebrities and will give interviews only to journalists who have spent time beforehand meditating with him — on the basis that mindfulness needs to be experienced, rather than described. Yet he is no wallflower and has led an extraordinary life, including a nomination for the Nobel peace prize from Martin Luther King for his work in seeking an end to the Vietnam war. He set up Plum Village 30 years ago after being exiled from his home country and has since added monasteries in Thailand, Hong Kong and the US, as well as an applied Buddhist institute in Germany. He has continued to work for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world, including holding several retreats for Israelis and Palestinians.
Despite all his achievements, including a recent stint as guest editor at the Times of India, Thay is modest when he looks back at his life:
“There is not much we have achieved except some peace, some contentment inside. It is already a lot. The happiest moments are when we sit downand we feel the presence of our brothers and sisters, lay and monastic, who are practicing walking and sitting mediation. That is the main achievement and other things like publishing books and setting up institutions are not important.
It is important we have a sangha [community] and the insight came that the Buddha of our time may not be an individualbut it might be a sangha. If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow. The Buddha is not something far away but in the here and in the now.”
No birth & no death
While he is still in good health and sharp as a pin, he is not getting any younger and may soon begin to start pulling back from the strenuous schedule that has seen him repeatedly criss-crossing the world, leading retreats and passing on his teachings. Given his belief in no birth and no death, how does he feel about his own passing?
“It is clear that Thay will not die but will continue in other people. So there is nothing lost and we are happy because we are able to help the Buddha to renew his teaching. He is deeply misunderstood by many people so we try to make the teaching available and simple enough so that all people can make good use of that teaching and practice.
I have died already many timesand you die every momentand you are reborn in every moment so that is the way we train ourselves. It is like the tea. When you pour the hot water in the tea, you drink it for the first time, and then you pour again some hot waterand you drink, and after that the tea leaves are there in the potbut the flavour has gone into the tea and if you say they die it is not correct because they continue to live on in the tea, so this body is just a residue.
It still can provide some tea flavourful one day there will be no tea flavour leftand that is not death. And even the tea leaves, you can put them in the flower potand they continue to serve so we have to look at birth and death like that. So when I see young monastics and lay people practicing, I see that is the continuation of the Buddha, my continuation.”
Prompted by a letter that informed him that someone has built a temple in Hanoi to commemorate his life, Thay recently sent a letter to the Tu Hieu temple in central Vietnam, where he trained as a novice monk, making it clear he does not want a shrine built in his honour when he dies:
“I said don’t waste the land of the temple in order to build me a stupa. Do not put me in a small pot and put me in there. I don’t want to continue like that. It is better to put the ash outside to help the trees to grow. That is a meditation. I recommended that they make the inscription outside on the front ‘I am not in here‘. And then if people do not understand, to add a second sentence, ‘I am not out there either‘. And in case they don’t understand, the last, ‘I may be found maybe in your way of breathing or walking.'”
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February 2, 2014 | Categories: Meditation, Social action, Zen | Tags: climate change, Mother Earth, Thich Nhat Hanh | 2 Comments
ECOBUDDHISM :: Only love can save us from climate change.
From and with kind permission of http://www.ecobuddhism.org
Only love can save us
from climate change
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thay.jpg
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s leading spiritual teachers, is a man at great peace even as he predicts the possible collapse of civilisation within 100 years as a result of runaway climate change.
The 86-year-old Vietnamese monk, who has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, believes the reason most people are not responding to the threat of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is that they are unable to save themselves from their own personal suffering, never mind worry about the plight of Mother Earth. He says it is possible to be at peace if you pierce through our false reality, which is based on the idea of life and death, to touch the ultimate dimension in Buddhist thinking, in which energy cannot be created or destroyed.
By recognising the inter-connectedness of all life, we can move beyond the idea that we are separate selves and expand our compassion and love in such a way that we take action to protect the Earth.
Look beyond fear
Thay has written about how people spend much of their lives worrying about getting ill, ageing and losing the things they treasure most, despite the obvious fact that one day they will have to let them all go. When we understand that we are more than our physical bodies, that we didn’t come from nothingness and will not disappear into nothingness, we are liberated from fear. Fearlessness is not only possible but the ultimate joy. Speaking at his modest home in Plum Village monastery near Bordeaux, he states:
“Our perception of time may help,” “For us it is very alarming and urgent, but for Mother Earth, if she suffers she knows she has the power to heal herself even if it takes 100m years. We think our time on Earth is only 100 years, which is why we are impatient. The collective karma and ignorance of our race, the collective anger and violence will lead to our destruction and we have to learn to accept that.
And maybe Mother Earth will produce a great being sometime in the next decade … We don’t know and we cannot predict. Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings. So take refuge in Mother Earth and surrender to her and ask her to heal us, to help us. And we have to accept that the worst can happen; that most of us will die as a species and many other species will die also and Mother Earth will be capable after maybe a few million years to bring us out again and this time wiser.”
Confront the truth
Thay suggests that our search for fame, wealth, power and sexual gratification provides the perfect refuge for people to hide from the truth about the many challenges facing the world. Worse still, our addiction to material goods and a hectic lifestyle provides only a temporary plaster for gaping emotional and spiritual wounds, which only drives greater loneliness and unhappiness.
Having just celebrated the 70th anniversary of his ordination, he reflects on the lack of action over the destruction of ecosystems and the rapid rate of biodiversity loss:
“When they see the truth it is too late to act … but they don’t want to wake up because it may make them suffer. They cannot confront the truth. It is not that they don’t know what is going to happen. They just don’t want to think about it.
They want to get busy in order to forget. We should not talk in terms of what they should do, what they should not do, for the sake of the future. We should talk to them in such a way that touches their hearts, that helps them to engage on the path that will bring them true happiness; the path of love and understanding, the courage to let go. When they have tasted a little bit of peace and love, they may wake up.”
Thay was a prime mover in the creation of the Engaged Buddhism movement, which promotes the individual’s active role in creating change, and his mindfulness training – an ethical roadmap – calls on practitioners to boycott products that damage the environment and to confront social injustice.
Given the difficulty of convincing those with vested interests to change their behaviour, he says a grassroots movement is necessary — citing the tactics used by Gandhi — but insists that this can be effective only if activists first deal with their own anger and fears, rather than projecting them onto those they see at fault.
Awakened consumers can influence how companies act
On companies that produce harmful products, he says: “They should not continue to produce these things. We don’t need them. We need other kinds of products that help us to be healthier. If there is awakening in the ranks of consumers, then the producer will have to change. We can force him to change by not buying.
“Gandhi was capable of urging his people to boycott a number of things. He knew how to take care of himself during non-violent operations. He knew how to preserve energy because the struggle is long, so spiritual practice is very much needed in an attempt to help change society.”
He believes that while it is difficult for those holding the strings of power to speak out against the destructive nature of the current economic system, for fear of being ostracised and ridiculed, we do need more leaders to have the courage to challenge the status quo. For business and political leaders to do that, they need to cultivate compassion in order to embrace and diminish the ego.
“You have the courage to speak out because you have compassion, because compassion is a powerful energy. With compassion you can die for other people, like the mother who can die for her child. You have the courage to say it because you are not afraid of losing anything, because you know that understanding and love is the foundation of happiness. But if you have fear of losing your status, your position, you will not have the courage to do it.”
A moment of contemplation
While many people are becoming disorientated by the complexity of their lives and by the overwhelming array of choices offered by our consumer society, Thay’s retreats offer a profoundly simple alternative.
Over Plum Village’s three-month winter retreat, Thay repeatedly instructs the hundreds of monks, nuns and lay practitioners about switching off the non-stop noise in their heads and focusing on the core of mindfulness; the joy of breathing, of walking, of contemplation in the present moment.
Rather than searching for answers to life in the study of philosophy, or seeking adrenaline charged peak experiences, Thay suggests that true happiness can be found by touching the sacred in the very ordinary experiences of life, which we largely overlook.
How often do we fully appreciate, for example, how hard our hearts work day and night to keep us alive? He suggests it is possible to discover profound truths through concentrating on something as basic as eating a carrot, as you get the insight that the vegetable cannot exist without the support of the entire universe.
“If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.”
Despite meditating every day for the past seven decades, Thay believes there is still much to learn:
“In Buddhism we speak of love as something limitless. The four elements of love which are loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, have no frontiers. Buddha is thinking like that. His followers call him the perfect onebut that is out of love, for the truth is you can never be perfect. But we don’t need to be perfect. That is a good thing to know. If you make a little bit of progress every day, a little bit more joy and peace, that is good enough. There is no limit of the practice. And I think that is true of the human race. We can continue to learn generation after generation and now is time to begin to learn how to love in a non-discriminatory way because we are intelligent enough, but we are not loving enough as a species.”
A life lived away from the public eye
Thay has avoided the trap of being surrounded by celebrities and will give interviews only to journalists who have spent time beforehand meditating with him — on the basis that mindfulness needs to be experienced, rather than described. Yet he is no wallflower and has led an extraordinary life, including a nomination for the Nobel peace prize from Martin Luther King for his work in seeking an end to the Vietnam war. He set up Plum Village 30 years ago after being exiled from his home country and has since added monasteries in Thailand, Hong Kong and the US, as well as an applied Buddhist institute in Germany. He has continued to work for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world, including holding several retreats for Israelis and Palestinians.
Despite all his achievements, including a recent stint as guest editor at the Times of India, Thay is modest when he looks back at his life:
“There is not much we have achieved except some peace, some contentment inside. It is already a lot. The happiest moments are when we sit down and we feel the presence of our brothers and sisters, lay and monastic, who are practicising walking and sitting mediation. That is the main achievement and other things like publishing books and setting up institutions are not important.
It is important we have a sangha [community] and the insight came that the Buddha of our time may not be an individualbut it might be a sangha. If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow. The Buddha is not something far away but in the here and in the now.”
No birth & no death
While he is still in good health and sharp as a pin, he is not getting any younger and may soon begin to start pulling back from the strenuous schedule that has seen him repeatedly criss-crossing the world, leading retreats and passing on his teachings. Given his belief in no birth and no death, how does he feel about his own passing?
“It is clear that Thay will not die but will continue in other people. So there is nothing lost and we are happy because we are able to help the Buddha to renew his teaching. He is deeply misunderstood by many people so we try to make the teaching available and simple enough so that all people can make good use of that teaching and practice.
I have died already many timesand you die every momentand you are reborn in every moment so that is the way we train ourselves. It is like the tea. When you pour the hot water in the tea, you drink it for the first time, and then you pour again some hot waterand you drink, and after that the tea leaves are there in the potbut the flavour has gone into the tea and if you say they die it is not correct because they continue to live on in the tea, so this body is just a residue.
It still can provide some tea flavourbut one day there will be no tea flavour leftand that is not death. And even the tea leaves, you can put them in the flower pot and they continue to serve so we have to look at birth and death like that. So when I see young monastics and lay people practicing, I see that is the continuation of the Buddha, my continuation.”
Prompted by a letter that informed him that someone has built a temple in Hanoi to commemorate his life, Thay recently sent a letter to the Tu Hieu temple in central Vietnam, where he trained as a novice monk, making it clear he does not want a shrine built in his honour when he dies:
“I said don’t waste the land of the temple in order to build me a stupa. Do not put me in a small pot and put me in there. I don’t want to continue like that. It is better to put the ash outside to help the trees to grow. That is a meditation. I recommended that they make the inscription outside on the front ‘I am not in here’. And then if people do not understand, to add a second sentence, ‘I am not out there either’. And in case they don’t understand, the last, ‘I may be found maybe in your way of breathing or walking.”
August 24, 2013 | Categories: Social action, Zen | Leave a comment
The Dalai Lama and Buddhist Science – Waking Times.
Gene Hart, Guest
Waking Times
Why does consciousness seem to complicatereality? – A question that arose in my mind upon hearing that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was coming to England to spread his teachings of non-violence. The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, was visiting Manchester to share his wisdom and knowledge, something which he has dedicated his life to doing around the world. Despite leading a life of peace, he has had his share of drama, being in exile since 1959, due to the Chinese government taking over Tibet. Since losing their country, Tibetans have stayed loyal to the Dalai Lama, claiming that they feel alone without him – a bond between a leader and his people we rarely see today. Both have been pleading honorably for Tibet’s independence. Furthermore, the Dalai Lama has been trying to establish a democratic system of governance, speaking with countless world leaders. Parallel to this His Holiness works for the promotion of moral values, harmony and respect for religions throughout the world; not preaching on Buddhism, but teaching how to promote inner happiness and Buddhist science, to which many people take an interest. I had the pleasure of participating in several talks by His Holiness over a period of four days.
I joined a news conference on the morning of his arrival. It’s not every day you see a Buddhist monk being exposed to apprehensive press taking 100 pictures a second. However, like a true Zen master, he seemed barely distracted. I thought how, if every person in the room was of a calmer nature, this would have given him a warmer welcome to a more enlightened country, but then this country thrives off media consumerism.
Immediately, he expressed the purpose of his visit: to spread his message of non-violence, the value of dialogue, universal responsibility and expressing his views on modern education:
“We should implement the teachings of compassion, tolerance and forgiveness by teaching scientific moral education not based on religious beliefs. This has the potential to bring harmony to the basis of human life on all levels. Furthermore, I will be talking about the nature of reality; such as what is really happening in any situation at a fundamental level.”
Everyone laughed when he used an example of the press, saying that they may all seem pleasant, but at a more fundamental reality, they could just be looking for gain and money.
“I am not here to popularize the Buddhist religion but to respect all religions. The 20th century was one of violence; the 21st century should be one of dialogue. Why do we not see the world as one entity rather than separate places of people… wouldn’t this diminish the violence?”
Afterwards, questions were asked by the press. To my curiosity, the questions all came off the topic of what he was talking about. All the questions were about economic problems and the conflict between him and China. Although these may be concerning issues in mainstream modern news, I felt that they could have found the answers they were looking for through the objective attitude that the Dalai Lama was displaying. Nevertheless, every answer was expressed in a highly detached manner:
“Despite being in a world of tough economic times each must lead a life of compassion.”
Afterwards, he came down to have a handshake with the press. As he approached me, he gave me a two-handed handshake and looking at my dreadlocks, he asked what kind of hairstyle I had. Everyone laughed. Noticing my appearance he asked where I originated from; I replied that my mum came from the Philippines. He remained silent for a moment looking into my eyes. I felt a tranquil presence come over me, and then he proceeded. The intellect and true power of this man was apparent. I was very excited for the next three days of his upcoming teachings to the masses.
The first event was free to ages 15-25. It filled over 10’000 seats in Manchester’s MEN Arena. The Dalai Lama was presented to the stage by actor and comedian Russell Brand; the Dalai Lama entered with a happy, humorous nature and received a lively loving audience. He was impressed with the amount of people who turned up. During his talk, he touched on many subjects including: the reason behind why our species is lacking from compassion and happiness, “Most unhappiness comes from the sense of self-importance and self-centeredness;” how to use dialogue rather than violence; and the relationship between thinking and emotions. Moreover, he expressed how we can perceive ourselves and everyone else on different levels of identity and significance. Using himself as an example, he said that on one level, he was a cellular human. However, on the subsequent level, he is a man, then on the next level, he is a Buddhist Monk, and finally, comically expressing – he is the Dalai Lama. In the laughter of the audience, I felt anyone who was expecting a boring preaching session was in-fact delighted to find such an amusing and honest man. He spoke about things which we could all relate to as human beings.
“For us to live harmoniously we must live and conceptualize compassionately with the ‘human level’ of experience. In this way, we cultivate an authentic realistic way of being, expanding consciousness to finer levels of experience, moving us away from a level of consciousness that emotionally attaches itself to identities, for instance, thinking of ourselves as being greater or inferior to others, which can limit deeper levels of relationship.”
He emphasized the importance of cultivating an ‘analytical mind-set’ to develop our sense of skepticism about all things and to think reasonably, scientifically and morally. He went on to say there are two types of meditation. Firstly, stabilizing meditation – which focuses on nothingness, awareness and healing. This allows you to become devoid of mind, which is known as ‘clear light’ or ‘luminosity’ in Buddhism. This purity of mind is Nirvana and gives way to expanse of mind and consciousness. The other type of meditation is analytical meditation – which he explained is the key to understanding, and we do it as part of our nature such as when we are studying or contemplating life. This certainly shed some light for me on distinguishing the types of awareness in everyday life.
“However, it is easy to misinterpret reality. The analytical mind can come to a distorted way of knowing. At the root of all distorted perception is ignorance. An example of this would be of people who perceive impermanent things to be permanent, i.e. material objects. In doing so, we can become attached to things whether it be material or thought forms.”
An interesting fact which struck me: a scientist, with whom the Dalai Lama spoke, said that there are an estimated six billion different perceptions about the world, all defying each other. So how can we know which ones are factual? He said to cultivate what he calls the ‘ultimate perception of reality’, we must question and contradict every view we have with defying ones to come to a more realistic, natural way of knowing.
Another event with the Dalai Lama was named ‘Being western – being Buddhist’ and included a panel of 5 western Buddhist practitioners. This was a Q&A event about any aspect of Buddhism. The panel was surprised to find such a large audience. They only expected a few hundred people to turn up but over 4,000 participated. It is obvious that Buddhist interest is flourishing at an accelerating rate in the western world. One of the answers which caught my attention was from a man who told a story that he once took a group of Monks through a prison where he worked. As they walked through, the prisoners hurled abuse at them, and the man said to the Monks that this must be the worst place to practice Buddhism. In fact, they replied saying it is a perfect place to practice, adding that the best place to practice is in a place of suffering, and the prison was abundant in suffering. A significant message I thought. We conceptualize spirituality as different from everything else. It seems that we are unable to learn vital information from all things. As long as humanity continues to identify all experience as separate, we ignore the fact that all experience can be our spiritual teacher, not just school, books or going to see the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama had also expressed this when he said:
“We should pay particular compassion to people that we wouldn’t usually take a liking to, i.e. criminals, people who get shunned in community. As well as this we should see close relations (who give us pain and suffering) as spiritual teachers in order to analyze experiences. For example, during an argument, check to see if there is any intelligent thinking going on rather than just defensive emotion.”
I think people who participated in these events who had a general problem with religions were surprised to find the Dalai Lama talking about the negative sides of religious beliefs such as God. He also expressed his attitude towards his religion, which I found very viable for all religious people:
“I am Buddhist, but there is no attachment to Buddhism, if there is attachment you become biased; you start to become suspicious about other faiths and start to close your mind to other possibilities. It’s very helpful to have the ability to appreciate other faiths as well as your own.”
After three days of the Dalai Lama connecting, laughing, philosophizing, articulating universal energy, he went on to his next destination in the UK to spread his light.
Why must the Dalai Lama travel across the world discussing our problems? Why does consciousness complicate reality? Are we fooling ourselves for a reason, a purpose? Do we really know deep within ourselves the ultimate truth? Where does common sense originate from? An ‘all-knowing source’? If it is, then we surely have all the answers we need within ourselves. However, it seems evident that the human race currently lives through a perception far-off the ‘cellular human level’ as we tend to seek spiritual understanding from sources we regard as ‘spiritual’. You could say the Dalai Lama was not teaching, but reminding people of what we already know. How have we lost this simple universal wisdom that he was expressing? Are our habitual ego-driven minds holding us back from seeing the truth?
Did you know that there is an inherent nervous system within the heart made up of 40000 neurons similar to brain neurons? Research shows it can learn, remember, feel and sense independently. Maybe in this ‘brain in the heart’ lies the simple universal truth of compassion that the Dalai Lama was expressing.
During the first event, a video of a Mayan woman was played to the audience before the Dalai Lama was presented to the stage. She spoke about her people who predicted an era of peace and harmony around the year 2012. The possibility struck me that the Dalai Lama also sensed this shift happening. Is he going around the world to accelerate the process of the evolution in consciousness? Only time will tell.
After the four days, I was left with a great sense of admiration for the Buddhist religion. Cultivating a fully awakened mind benefits all fellow sentient beings, and as long as every sentient being endures suffering, the practice of Buddhism will remain to dispel and endure the miseries of the world. However, I think that once humanity reaches a tipping point in the awakening of the human psyche, it will flourish in a sense of connectivity, expansion, abundance and purpose.
“Whatever seems impossible now may be a reality in 100 hundred years.” – Nagarjuna
About the Author
Gene Hart is a dedicated yogi currently studying Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is most interested in the multidimensional nature of the universe. Through extensively practicing meditation and out of body exploration, he investigates the links and relationships between the non-physical and physical; dreams, thoughts, emotions, and the root, or essence, of all reality and existence in its entirety. You can reach him at genephart@gmail.com.
August 20, 2013 | Categories: Buddhism, Compassion, Human behavior, Sentient beings, Social action, Tibetan Buddhism | Leave a comment
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. If you act like you dance, or like you sing or play music, then you’re really not “going” anywhere, you’re just doing pure action… But if you act with a thought in mind that “as a result “of action you are eventually going to “arrive” at someplace where everything will be alright- then you are on a squirrel cage, hopelessly condemned to what the Buddhists call ‘samsara’, the round, or rat-race of birth and death, because you think you’re going to go somewhere.You’re already there. And it is only a person who has discovered that he is already there who is capable of action, because he doesn’t act frantically with the thought that he’s going to get somewhere.He acts like he can go into walking meditation at that point, you see, where we walk not because we are in a great, great hurry to get to a destination, but because the walking itself is great.
The walking (or dancing) itself is the meditation…
~Alan Watts~
June 13, 2013 | Categories: Sentient beings, Social action, Zen | Tags: Alan Watt, Buddhism | Leave a comment
“We have entered the uncharted territory of a global emergency, where ‘business as usual’ cannot continue. It is now urgent that we take corrective action to ensure a safe-climate future for coming generations of human beings and other species.” ~The Dalai Lama “This is the time for humankind to embark upon a new historical epoch. We ourselves have to make the critical decisions, individually and collectively, that will determine our future destiny.” ~Bikkhu Bodhi
“If we continue abusing the earth this way, there is no doubt that our civilisation will be destroyed. This will require enlightenment, awakening. The Buddha attained individual awakening. Now we need a collective enlightenment to stop this course of destruction.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
“The world itself has a role to play in our awakening. Its very brokenness and need call to us, summoning us to walk out of the prison of self-concern.” ~Joanna Macy
“This surely must rivet the urgent, critical attention of anyone who takes the bodhisattva vows.” ~Susan Murphy Roshi
Shared as part of
“Zen, Nature & Climate Change”
April 15, 2013 | Categories: Buddhism, Human behavior, Sentient beings, Social action | Tags: Bodhisattva, Joanna Macy, Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen | 1 Comment
“In Tibetan, effortless presence is wangthang, which literally means, ‘field of power’. The cause that brings about effortless presence is emptying out and letting go. You have to be without clinging.”
~ Chogyam Trungpa — with Leonard Cohen.
April 13, 2013 | Categories: Buddhism, Social action, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: Chögyam Trungpa, Leonard Cohen, Tibetan | 1 Comment
In case you are not familiar with meditation or Buddhism, it is the heart of the path of awakening. It is called Dharma… the way of awakening to one’s fullest potential, in Western terms. “Awakening from what?” you might ask. Awakening from the sleep of semiconsciousness, the dream of delusion. Awakening to enlightenment, illumination, freedom, nirvanic peace, inner peace as well as outer peace.This is a path that we travel. It is not a dogma or belief system that we need to accept. In fact, as a very wonderful wise friend of mine, an American lama, once said, “It doesn’t really matter what we believe. It only matters what we do and are.”
I found that interesting. In Buddhism we usually say it doesn’t matter what we do, it matters how aware we are. It shows that the outer and inner are totally inseparable. It is what we are that counts, but that is what we do, actually. Our inner state shows up in our behavior…
If we practice this path, we experience the fruits, the results. Each of us innately has that Buddha potential or Buddha-nature, enlightened perfect nature.
Not just in us, like a needle in a haystack, so hard to find; rather, it is us, just waiting to be realized fully, or actualized. So this path of meditative practice, of self-inquiry, of cultivation of awareness is a practice path that we travel ourselves. Not a dogma we need to believe.
This meditative practice is like a mirror to help us see ourselves, to better know ourselves, thoroughly — our true selves, not just our superficial personalities and conditioned social selves, our persona, but our true nature, our true selves. To unfold and realize that is possible. That’s what we call awakening the Buddha within.
An ancient rabbi, Hillel I think, said, “If not you, then who? And if not now, when?” If you are not the Bodhisattva, a selfless spiritual activist or hero serving the welfare of beings, who will be?
And if not now, when? This is a call to action–not just worldly, compulsive busy-body-like activity, but a call to Buddha-activity, enlightened activity, enlightened living… Not just living wisdom from the eyebrows up, totally cerebral and intellectual. Rather, embodying truth and living it.
~ Lama Surya Das ~
Excerpts from Dharma Talk
October 24, 1994; Cambridge, MA.
April 13, 2013 | Categories: Buddhism, Human behavior, Inspiration, Sentient beings, Social action, Zen | Tags: Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, Buddhism, Dharma, Surya Das, Zen | 1 Comment
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