Pema Chödrön on Building a Stable Foundation February 9, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Pema Chodron , 1 comment so farWhen we build a house, we start by creating a stable foundation. Just so, when we wish to benefit others, we start by developing warmth or friendship for ourselves. It’s common, however, for people to have a distorted view of this friendliness and warmth. We’ll say, for instance, that we need to take care of ourselves, but how many of us really know how to do this? When clinging to security and comfort, and warding off pain, become the focus of our lives, we don’t end up feeling cared for and we certainly don’t feel motivated to extend ourselves to others. We end up feeling more threatened or irritable, more unable to relax.
- Pema Chödrön from “Unlimited Friendliness” (Winter 2009)
(Almost) Daily Words of Wisdom from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche February 4, 2010
Posted by James Shaheen in : Buddha, Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa , 2 commentsOne of my favorite newsletters is Carolyn Gimian’s “Ocean of Dharma.” You can sign up for it here and join nearly 10,000 others who receive jewels of wisdom from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche two or three times a week. Here’s today’s, one I particularly liked:
Keep the Moth Out of the Flame
When you are trying to help someone, you have to have humor, self-existing humor, and you have to hold the moth in your hand, but not let it go into the flame. That’s what helping others means. Ladies and gentlemen, we have so much responsibility. A long time ago, people helped one another in this way. Now people just talk, talk talk. They read books, they listen to music, but they never actually help anyone. They never use their bare hands to save a person from going crazy. We have that responsibility. Somebody has to do it. It turns out to be us. We’ve got to do it, and we can do it with a smile, not with a long face.
From “Helping Others,” in Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala, page 180. Order your copy here.
Many thanks to Carolyn!
Finding Silence January 29, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Thich Nhat Hanh , 4 commentsI am busy from early in the morning until late at night. I am rarely alone. Where can I find a time and place to contemplate in silence?
Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence. There are moments when you think you’re silent and all around is silent, but talking is going on all the time inside your head. That’s not silence. The practice is how to find silence in all the activities you do.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, from “The Heart of the Matter” (Winter 2009)
The Joy of Equanimity January 21, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Meditation , 1 comment so farEquanimity is of tremendous importance both in the practice and in everyday life. Generally we get either swept away by pleasant and enticing objects, or worked up into a great state of agitation when confronted by unpleasant, undesirable objects. This wild alternation of contraries is nearly universal among human beings. When we lack the ability to stay balanced and unfaltering, we are easily swept into extremes of craving or aversion.
The scriptures say that when the mind indulges in sensual objects, it becomes agitated. This is the usual state of affairs in the world, as we can observe. In their quest for happiness, people mistake excitement of the mind for real happiness. They never have the chance to experience greater joy that comes with peace and tranquility.
- Sayadaw U Pandita, from “A Perfect Balance” (Winter, 2005)
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Tricycle Pilgrimage to Bhutan January 19, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Travel, Tricycle , 2 commentsTricycle Pilgrimage to Bhutan
Tricycle Foundation is pleased to announce its first annual pilgrimage to Bhutan, beginning in Bangkok on February 24 through March 8, 2010. A maximum of 20 pilgrims accompanied by leading Bhutanese Buddhist teachers will attend a traditional dance festival; visit temples and monasteries where Guru Rinpoche and other Buddhist saints meditated; witness the winter gathering of the endangered Black Necked Crane; and meet dynamic government and non-profit leaders. The $5,000 fee includes a $1,000 tax-deductible donation to Tricycle Foundation and covers all expenses including airfare from Bangkok to Bhutan, visas, board and room, transport, guides, and entrance fees.
For further information and a detailed itinerary, please contact Tricycle Board Member, Judith Brown Meyers, at judithbro@comcast.net
Photo: Judith Brown Meyers
Precious Silence January 15, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Meditation , 3 commentsThose who are fond of retreats—writers, ecstatics, parents with young children—often comment on the silence such time away allows. Silence becomes something present, almost palpable. The task shifts from keeping the world at a safe decible distance to letting more of the world in. Thomas Aquinas said that beauty arrests motion. He meant, I think, that in the presence of something gorgeous or sublime, we stop our nervous natterings, our foot twitchings and restless tongues. Whatever that fretful hunger is, it seems momentarily filled in the presence of beauty. To Aquinas’s wisdom I’d add that silence arrests flight, that in its refuge, the need to flee the chaos of noise diminishes. We let the world creep closer, we drop to our knees, as if to let the heart, like a small animal, get its legs on the ground.
- Barbara Hurd, “On Silence” (Summer 2001)
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Paying Our Debts January 13, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Theravada , 2 commentsThe Buddha praised the practice of meditation as a way of paying homage to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha that was better than offering material objects. The practice of training the heart to reach purity pleased the Buddha because it is the way by which a person can gain release from all suffering and stress. The Buddha taught us to meditate so that we can free our hearts from their slavery to the defilements of the world.
We’re still not released from suffering as long as our minds still have worries and concerns. Being a slave to our concerns is like being in debt to them. When we’re in debt, we have no real freedom in our hearts. The more we pay off our debts, the more lighthearted we’ll feel. In the same way, if we can let go of our various worries and cares, peace will arise in our hearts. This is why the Buddha taught us to center our hearts in concentration so as to give rise to stillness, peace, and the inner wealth with which we’ll be able to pay off all of our debts. All our burdens and sufferings will fall away from our hearts and we’ll enter full freedom.
- Ajaan Lee, “Sowing the Seeds of Freedom” (Spring 2008)
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Wisdom of the West January 11, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Insight, Mindfulness, Vipassana , 5 commentsI think Westerners lack respect for their own spiritual maturity. It’s as though Asia owns spirituality, and we’re these barbarians, beseeching, “Oh, Bhante, please come over and tell us how to live.” But I’ve been to Asia, and they’re just as screwed up as we are. And there’s some real wisdom in our culture; the West has a tradition, too, of compassion and wisdom. And some people who aren’t even religious have it. When I was in Asia I totally did whatever an Asian lay person would do—I have the deepest respect for this tradition—but Asia does not have a monopoly on kindness. In Asia, being a lay person is—from the point of view of meditational practice—considered second-class. I personally think that the monastic life does optimize your possibilities for breaking through to awakening. But it’s by no means a guarantee. Most monasteries are hardly crammed full of enlightened people.
But we need a teaching that addresses the lives we actually live. We do need to handle money. We are in relationships. We do need to eat more than once a day. The problem isn’t eating or sex or money; it’s that we don’t know how to use these energies. The monastic strategy is: Don’t touch it; it’s dangerous. So the monks don’t handle money, etc. To me that’s not in-and-of-itself particularly holy. It’s a strategy—a monastic strategy to get free. I’m all for it—if you’re going to be a monastic.
- Larry Rosenberg, “The Art of Doing Nothing” (Spring 1998)
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Beginning and End January 7, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma, Pema Chodron , 1 comment so farA lojong (mind-training) slogan, with a comment by Pema Chödrön:
Slogan: Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
Comment: In the morning when you wake up, you reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide-open heart and mind. At the end of the day, before going to sleep, you think over what you have done. If you fulfilled your aspiration, even once, rejoice in that. If you went against your aspiration, rejoice that you are able to see what you did and are no longer living in ignorance. This way you will be inspired to go forward with increasing clarity, confidence, and compassion in the days that follow.
- Pema Chödrön, “Bite-Sized Buddhism,” Tricycle Fall 2007
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Mind the Gaps January 6, 2010
Posted by Philip Ryan in : Buddhism, Daily Dharma , 1 comment so farIf you start really paying attention to your own thought process—I’m talking here about the process itself and not just the contents of the individual thoughts that make it up—you’ll notice that thoughts don’t just go on and on continuously. There are little spaces between them. Most of us tend to habitually try and fill these spaces up with more thoughts as fast as we possibly can. But even the best of us can’t fill them all, so there are always little gaps. See, you might say that there are two basic kinds of thought. There are thoughts that pop up unannounced and uninvited in our brains for no reason we’re able to discern. These are just the results of previous thoughts and experiences that have left their traces in the neural pathways of our brains. You can’t do much to stop these, nor should you try. The other kind of thought is when we grab on to one of these streams of energy and start playing with it the way your mom always told you not to do with your wee-wee in front of the neighbors. We dig deep into these thoughts and roll around in them like a pig rolling in its own doo-doo, feeling all that delicious coolness and drinking deep of their lovely stink.
To practice “thinking not thinking,” all you need to do is ignore the first kind of thoughts and learn how not to instigate the second. This is easier said than done, of course. But get into the habit, and it begins to come naturally.
- Brad Warner, “Think Not Thinking,” Tricycle Fall 2007