Shunyata’s Apprentice

CONTEMPLATE THE GREAT KINDNESS OF EVERYONE

Without this world, without others, there is no path, thus no enlightenment. All the irritations and problems are necessary - Chogyam says, “The details that are seemingly obstacles to us become an essential part of the path. Without them we cannot attain anything at all.” There is no chance to develop beyond self. Feel grateful that others are presenting us with tremendous obstacles, threats, challenges.

The other level of this is the realization that our own suffering is always teaching us how to be compassionate because once we realize that what we suffer all others are suffering too, and that it’s actually all just one suffering, we are truly compassionate, not just compassionate because someone said we should be, or we’ll get something out of it in the long run, like heaven or good karma or future blessing.

Analogs to this include: “Praise God in all things!” (St. Paul) “Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.”

All the blame starts with ourselves… our uptightness, our ego-fixation. Accepting the blame for what goes wrong in your life is the only way to enter the bodhisattva path. This can also defuse a tense situation, can open it up so that others are not defensive, thus communication is possible… then others may be able to accept and acknowledge their own errors.

This is Poison as Medicine again - by absorbing the poison in a situation, we make the rest of the situation medicine. This works at the personal level, and is also key to solving the great social ills, moving toward realizing an enlightened society.

J. Kongtrul says, no one else is to blame; this self-cherishing attitude is to blame. I shall do whatever I can to subdue it.

POINT 3, TRANSFORMATION OF BAD CIRCUMSTANCES INTO THE PATH - BUILDING THE PARAMITAS OF PATIENCE & GENEROSITY….

Whatever occurs in your life can be transformed into a part of your wakefulness. The way to do this is to incorporate the obstacles, the distractions, the difficulties… make them the substance of your practice. Whatever is hardest for you is the thing from which you can benefit most…

“Whenever anything happens, the first thing to do is take the pain on yourself.” (Trungpa) — Give up the good feelings so someone else can benefit. This is connected with developing the Paramita of Discipline. Open your territory completely, let go of everything. Kongtrul says: Take on all the suffering that will come to you in the future, then you’ll be able to take on others’ suffering. Radical stuff. Like the Tibetan mountain paths, it’s not for the faint-hearted.

In daily life, use the lojong slogans to help you put words to “the first thought” (as in arising anger, etc.). When the feeling of I-ness hits, think: “May I receive all evils and my virtues go to others; profit and victory to others, loss and defeat to myself.”

Sort of a corrective for the usual tendencies, such as putting self first. A little additional help may come from using something like this with your morning vows: “I vow to pursue Bodhichitta and develop a sense of gentleness toward self and others; I promise not to blame others but to take their pain on myself; I vow to put others before self.”

Three objects: friends, enemies, neutrals.

Three poisons: craving, aggression, ignorance (passion/anger/delusion or attachment/aversion/indifference)

Three seeds of virtue: non-craving, non-aggression, wisdom.

The three seeds are just the wisdom side, the flip side, of the poisons. This is the post-meditation version of tonglen, and can be practiced only when tonglen is understood. But the simple version, the accessible version of this is to realize that whatever bad experiences you are in at this moment can teach you what suffering is for others and thus help you develop understanding, insight, and wisdom (panna) and thus compassion for others.

A simple personal example: I was driving to work a few days ago in a very stressed state due to a combination of circumstances too complicated and mundane to go into, but suffice it to say I was so stressed that I began to wonder if I was safe to drive. As I was driving along, I realized that many of the people around me on the road must be experiencing the same kinds of stress, and that indeed that stress could be the source of many of the frightening and annoying things that other drivers often do  - things that typically get an angry or at least contemptuous response from me. Seeing how this stress could be affecting others, I realized I was able to tap into a source of compassion for them which is helping me be less annoyed and much more equanimous in my daily drive.

POINT 2B: RELATIVE BODHICHITTA TRAINING:

This is a simple description of the very advanced practice of Tonglen, which is the main practice in developing relative Bodhichitta, awakened heart. Extensive practice in basic meditation, beginning with awareness of breath (anapana in Pali, shamatha in Tibetan), is essential before attempting this practice. A solid background in Metta practice, the practice of sending loving-kindness and compassion out to all the world, is also very helpful, as Tonglen can be very dark and overwhelming otherwise. The practice involves taking into oneself with each inhalation all the bad in one’s surroundings (eventually the world) and sending out with each exhalation all the good one has, actually transforming the bad in the environment into good and giving it away.

This turns the natural tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain on its head, and generally seems absurd to the conventional consciousness. Many years of meditation and observation of the practice will bring one to an understanding of its wisdom and transformational power.

THIS IS MEDITATION IN ACTION, DISCIPLINE. CONTINUE WHAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED IN SITTING MEDITATION PRACTICE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE, RECOGNIZING THAT EVERYTHING THAT SEEMS TO BE GOING ON IS ILLUSION CREATED BY THE MIND. REMEMBER TO KEEP EVERYTHING SOFT, WORKABLE, PLIABLE, WITH LOTS OF SPACE. RECOGNIZE THE SIMPLICITY OF THE PHENOMENAL PLAY.

Alaya means ‘abode’ (as in Himalaya, abode of snow), and refers here to the 8th consciousness, clear, non-discriminating mind, basic goodness. Resting in this state is the Ultimate Bodhichitta practice, the practice leading to realization of awakened heart, understanding that phenomena are non-solid, self-luminous. The idea of ‘resting in’ means we are seeing this as a beginning point for deeper awakening, not as some end in itself.

Realization of emptiness/impermanence — the antidote — is helpful in not taking ourselves or anything else too seriously, but it may tempt one to slide into “the poison of shunyatta” attitude: ‘nothing is important, so why bother’. Trungpa says we must get beyond this naivetè, stay grounded in practice, and remember: “We are not particularly seeking enlightenment or the simple experience of tranquility - we are trying to get over our deception.”