Ten Seconds to Peace Review

 "I don’t have time for anything, or so I often convince myself- perhaps out of a ridiculous drive to procrastinate or otherwise simply avoid doing anything that may present opportunity to up-end the apple cart. I’m not original in this- many (most?) of us are quite good at putting off doing what’s good or best for us. Why change? Who has time? Besides, isn’t it just easier to keep trudging along with the old patterns of our own status quo?

When I first saw the title, Ten Seconds to Peace: An Everyday Approach to Mindful Living, I didn’t give much thought to the idea of mindful living (what was that, anyway?) –but: ten seconds and peace? I was all for it. I certainly had ten seconds, and any suggestion it might bring me ten seconds of peace was intriguing enough. Clearly, I wasn’t quite prepared for the treasures that I would discover within this unassuming volume.

Each page unfolds a clear and steady path with each line and verse, all carefully chosen and meticulously placed with the skillful precision that only a well-seasoned teacher could master- and Beach is just that: with 40 years of Buddhist experience under his belt, this initiate of Qigong (he became the first Western initiate in 1986) presents each of the meditations found within Ten Seconds with a (seeming) simplicity and utter clarity that only someone so well learned could accomplish. In so doing, he reaches through to both Buddhists and non-Buddhists (such as me, at the time I had initially read the book) alike, and throws wide open the gate to true and deep comprehension and (most) importantly, peace.

Beach’s meditations are succinct and many are easy enough to memorize- others, are a bit more challenging in that regard (but short enough to commit them to a quick note). Ten seconds is all it takes to read any of the pieces, perhaps, but their effect is far more lasting…especially, if we are mindful to revisit those words throughout our day. Mindful- and that’s the secret of it all. These verses aren’t something gleaned from some New Age utopia…they are practical guides drawn from ageless wisdoms that point us toward a mindful awareness, and mindful living. We take a necessary moment to read the words, contemplate and internalize- a bit of a re-set in the “normal” course of our over-regimented lives, and move forward with a honed awareness that allows us to live each moment more fully, without so much mental clutter and distraction (this is especially true through re-visiting the meditations and continued application).

We can have peace in our daily, hectic lives. It takes just a bit of effort on our part- there’s no need to pore over extraneous texts or complicated studies. In Ten Seconds to Peace, Jeffery Beach points the way to what is unexpectedly quite easy to attain."

Prayer to my Guru

Prayer to my Guru

Oh Gyalwang Drigungpa heed me!

Oh Gyalwang Drigungpa heed me!

Oh Gyalwang Drigungpa heed me! 

I prostrate at your lotus feet

With a devotion concerned with liberation.

I confess to you all my sins and downfalls

And rejoice in my realizations from your instructions.

May your life be long and steadfast!

May you not go into parinirvana,

But remain here

And grant me all the teachings

With nothing held back.

So I may attain enlightenment

In this very lifetime

for the sake of all sentient beings.

May all sentient beings have peace and happiness.

May they have the abundance of food, clothing, and shelter.

May they have the freedom

From fear, anger, ignorance, self-grasping.

Arrogance, pride, and jealousy.

Om Ah Ratna Shri Ratna Karma Hum!

Awakening to Reality The Song of Mahamudra Tilopa’s Song to Naropa

Mahamudra, the royal way, is free
from every word and sacred symbol.
For you alone, beloved Naropa,
this wonderful song springs forth from Tilopa
as spontaneous friendship that never ends.
The completely open nature
of all dimensions and events
is a rainbow always occurring
yet never grasped.
The way of Mahamudra
creates no closure.
No strenuous mental effort
can encounter this wide open way.
The effortless freedom of awareness
moves naturally along it.
As space is always freshly appearing
and never filled,
so the mind is without limits
and ever aware.
Gazing with sheer awareness
into sheer awareness,
habitual, abstract structures melt
into the fruitful springtime of Buddhahood.
White clouds that drift through blue sky,
changing shape constantly,
have no root, no foundation, no dwelling;
nor do changing patterns of thought
that float through the sky of mind.
When the formless expanse of awareness
comes clearly into view,
obsession with thought forms
ceases easily and naturally.
As within the openness of universal space
shapes and colors are spontaneously forming,
although space has no color or form,
so within the expanse of awareness
realms, relations and values are arising,
although awareness possesses
no positive or negative characteristics.
As the darkness of night,
even were it to last a thousand years,
could not conceal the rising sun,
so countless ages of conflict and suffering
cannot conceal the innate radiance of Mind.
Although philosophers explain
the transparent openness of appearances
as empty of permanent characteristics
and completely indeterminable,
this universal indeterminacy
can itself never be determined.
Although sages report
the nature of awareness to be luminosity,
this limitless radiance cannot be contained
within any language or sacramental system.
Although the very essence of Mind
is to be void of either subjects or objects,
it tenderly embraces all life within its womb.
To realize this inexpressible truth,
do not manipulate mind or body
but simply open into transparency
with relaxed, natural grace
intellect at ease in silence,
limbs at rest in stillness
like hollow bamboos.
Neither breathing in nor breathing out
with the breath of habitual thinking,
allow the mind to be at peace
in brilliant wakefulness.
This is the royal wealth of Mahamudra,
no common coin of any realm.
Beloved Naropa, this treasure of Buddhahood
belongs to you and to all beings.
Obsessive use of meditative disciplines
or perennial study of scripture and philosophy
will never bring forth this wonderful realization,
this truth which is natural to awareness,
because the mind that desperately desires
to reach another realm or level of experience
inadvertently ignores the basic light
that constitutes all experience.
The one who fabricates
any division in consciousness
betrays the friendship of Mahamudra.
Cease all activity that separates,
abandon even the desire to be free from desires
and allow the thinking process to rise and fall
smoothly as waves on a shoreless ocean.
The one who never dwells in abstraction
and whose only principle
is never to divide or separate
upholds the trust of Mahamudra.
The one who abandons craving
for authority and definition,
and never becomes one-sided
in argument or understanding,
alone perceives the authentic meaning
hidden in the ancient scriptures.
In the blissful embrace of Mahamudra,
negative viewpoints and their instincts
are burned without remainder, like camphor.
Through the open door of Mahamudra,
the deluded state of self-imprisonment
is easily left behind forever.
Mahamudra is the torch of supreme liberty
shining forth through all conscious beings.
Those beings constituted by awareness
who try to ignore, reject or grasp awareness
inflict sorrow and confusion upon themselves
like those who are insane.
To be awakened from this madness,
cultivate the gracious friendship
of a sublime sage of Mahamudra,
who may appear to the world as mad.
When the limited mind
enters blessed companionship
with limitless Mind,
indescribable freedom dawns.
Selfish or limited motivations
create the illusory sense of imprisonment
and scatter seeds of further delusion.
Even genuine religious teaching
can generate narrowness of vision.
Trust only the approach
that is utterly vast and profound.
The noble way of Mahamudra
never engages in the drama of
imprisonment and release.
The sage of Mahamudra
has absolutely no distractions,
because no war against distractions has ever been declared.
This nobility and gentleness alone,
this nonviolence of thought and action ,
is the traceless path of all Buddhas.
To walk this all-embracing way
is the bliss of Buddhahood.
Phenomena on every plane of being
are constantly arising and disappearing.
Thus they are forever fresh,
always new and inexhaustible.
Like dreams without solid substance,
they can never become rigid or binding.
The universe exists in a deep, elusive way
that can never be grasped or frozen.
Why feel obsessive desire or hatred for it,
thereby creating illusory bonds?
Renounce arbitrary, habitual views.
Go forth courageously to meditate
in the real mountain wilderness,
the wide open Mahamudra.
Transcend boundaries of kinship
by embracing all living beings
as one family of consciousness.
Remain without any compulsion
in the landscape of natural freedom:
spontaneous, generous, joyful.
When you receive the crown of Mahamudra,
all sense of rank or attainment
will quietly disappear.
Cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree,
and its clinging tendrils wither away entirely.
Sever the conventionally grasping mind,
and all bondage and desperation dissolve.

The illumination from an oil lamp
lights the room instantly,
even if it has been dark for aeons.
Mind is boundless radiance.
How can the slightest darkness
remain in the room of daily perception?
But one who clings to mental processes
cannot awaken to the radiance of Mind.
Strenuously seeking truth
by investigation and concentration,
one will never appreciate
the unthinkable simplicity and bliss
that abide at the core.
To uncover this fertile ground,
cut through the roots of complexity
with the sharp gaze of naked awareness,
remaining entirely at peace,
transparent and content.
You need not expend great effort
nor store up extensive spirtual power.
Remain in the flow of sheer awareness.
Mahamudra neither accepts nor rejects
any current of energy, internal or external.
Since the ground consciousness
is never born into any realm of being,
nothing can add to or subtract from it.
Nothing can obstruct or stain it.
When awareness rests here,
the appearance of division and conflict
disappears into original reality.
The twin emotions of anxiety and arrogance
vanish into the void from which they came.
Supreme knowing knows
no separate subject or object.
Supreme action acts resourcefully
without any array of instruments.
Supreme attainment attains the goal
without past, future or present.
The dedicated practitioner
experiences the spiritual way
as a turbulent mountain stream,
tumbling dangerously among boulders.
When maturity is reached,
the river flows smoothly and patiently
with the powerful sweep of the Ganges.
Emptying into the ocean of Mahamudra,
the water becomes ever-expanding light
that pours into great Clear Light
without direction, destination,
division, distinction or description. Mahamudra, the royal way, is free
from every word and sacred symbol.
For you alone, beloved Naropa,
this wonderful song springs forth from Tilopa
as spontaneous friendship that never ends.
The completely open nature
of all dimensions and events
is a rainbow always occurring
yet never grasped.
The way of Mahamudra
creates no closure.
No strenuous mental effort
can encounter this wide open way.
The effortless freedom of awareness
moves naturally along it.
As space is always freshly appearing
and never filled,
so the mind is without limits
and ever aware.
Gazing with sheer awareness
into sheer awareness,
habitual, abstract structures melt
into the fruitful springtime of Buddhahood.
White clouds that drift through blue sky,
changing shape constantly,
have no root, no foundation, no dwelling;
nor do changing patterns of thought
that float through the sky of mind.
When the formless expanse of awareness
comes clearly into view,
obsession with thought forms
ceases easily and naturally.
As within the openness of universal space
shapes and colors are spontaneously forming,
although space has no color or form,
so within the expanse of awareness
realms, relations and values are arising,
although awareness possesses
no positive or negative characteristics.
As the darkness of night,
even were it to last a thousand years,
could not conceal the rising sun,
so countless ages of conflict and suffering
cannot conceal the innate radiance of Mind.
Although philosophers explain
the transparent openness of appearances
as empty of permanent characteristics
and completely indeterminable,
this universal indeterminacy
can itself never be determined.
Although sages report
the nature of awareness to be luminosity,
this limitless radiance cannot be contained
within any language or sacramental system.
Although the very essence of Mind
is to be void of either subjects or objects,
it tenderly embraces all life within its womb.
To realize this inexpressible truth,
do not manipulate mind or body
but simply open into transparency
with relaxed, natural grace
intellect at ease in silence,
limbs at rest in stillness
like hollow bamboos.
Neither breathing in nor breathing out
with the breath of habitual thinking,
allow the mind to be at peace
in brilliant wakefulness.
This is the royal wealth of Mahamudra,
no common coin of any realm.
Beloved Naropa, this treasure of Buddhahood
belongs to you and to all beings.
Obsessive use of meditative disciplines
or perennial study of scripture and philosophy
will never bring forth this wonderful realization,
this truth which is natural to awareness,
because the mind that desperately desires
to reach another realm or level of experience
inadvertently ignores the basic light
that constitutes all experience.
The one who fabricates
any division in consciousness
betrays the friendship of Mahamudra.
Cease all activity that separates,
abandon even the desire to be free from desires
and allow the thinking process to rise and fall
smoothly as waves on a shoreless ocean.
The one who never dwells in abstraction
and whose only principle
is never to divide or separate
upholds the trust of Mahamudra.
The one who abandons craving
for authority and definition,
and never becomes one-sided
in argument or understanding,
alone perceives the authentic meaning
hidden in the ancient scriptures.
In the blissful embrace of Mahamudra,
negative viewpoints and their instincts
are burned without remainder, like camphor.
Through the open door of Mahamudra,
the deluded state of self-imprisonment
is easily left behind forever.
Mahamudra is the torch of supreme liberty
shining forth through all conscious beings.
Those beings constituted by awareness
who try to ignore, reject or grasp awareness
inflict sorrow and confusion upon themselves
like those who are insane.
To be awakened from this madness,
cultivate the gracious friendship
of a sublime sage of Mahamudra,
who may appear to the world as mad.
When the limited mind
enters blessed companionship
with limitless Mind,
indescribable freedom dawns.
Selfish or limited motivations
create the illusory sense of imprisonment
and scatter seeds of further delusion.
Even genuine religious teaching
can generate narrowness of vision.
Trust only the approach
that is utterly vast and profound.
The noble way of Mahamudra
never engages in the drama of
imprisonment and release.
The sage of Mahamudra
has absolutely no distractions,
because no war against distractions has ever been declared.
This nobility and gentleness alone,
this nonviolence of thought and action ,
is the traceless path of all Buddhas.
To walk this all-embracing way
is the bliss of Buddhahood.
Phenomena on every plane of being
are constantly arising and disappearing.
Thus they are forever fresh,
always new and inexhaustible.
Like dreams without solid substance,
they can never become rigid or binding.
The universe exists in a deep, elusive way
that can never be grasped or frozen.
Why feel obsessive desire or hatred for it,
thereby creating illusory bonds?
Renounce arbitrary, habitual views.
Go forth courageously to meditate
in the real mountain wilderness,
the wide open Mahamudra.
Transcend boundaries of kinship
by embracing all living beings
as one family of consciousness.
Remain without any compulsion
in the landscape of natural freedom:
spontaneous, generous, joyful.
When you receive the crown of Mahamudra,
all sense of rank or attainment
will quietly disappear.
Cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree,
and its clinging tendrils wither away entirely.
Sever the conventionally grasping mind,
and all bondage and desperation dissolve.

The illumination from an oil lamp
lights the room instantly,
even if it has been dark for aeons.
Mind is boundless radiance.
How can the slightest darkness
remain in the room of daily perception?
But one who clings to mental processes
cannot awaken to the radiance of Mind.
Strenuously seeking truth
by investigation and concentration,
one will never appreciate
the unthinkable simplicity and bliss
that abide at the core.
To uncover this fertile ground,
cut through the roots of complexity
with the sharp gaze of naked awareness,
remaining entirely at peace,
transparent and content.
You need not expend great effort
nor store up extensive spirtual power.
Remain in the flow of sheer awareness.
Mahamudra neither accepts nor rejects
any current of energy, internal or external.
Since the ground consciousness
is never born into any realm of being,
nothing can add to or subtract from it.
Nothing can obstruct or stain it.
When awareness rests here,
the appearance of division and conflict
disappears into original reality.
The twin emotions of anxiety and arrogance
vanish into the void from which they came.
Supreme knowing knows
no separate subject or object.
Supreme action acts resourcefully
without any array of instruments.
Supreme attainment attains the goal
without past, future or present.
The dedicated practitioner
experiences the spiritual way
as a turbulent mountain stream,
tumbling dangerously among boulders.
When maturity is reached,
the river flows smoothly and patiently
with the powerful sweep of the Ganges.
Emptying into the ocean of Mahamudra,
the water becomes ever-expanding light
that pours into great Clear Light
without direction, destination,
division, distinction or description.

A Large Cockroach Was My Teacher Today

I was sitting in practice this morning when a 2 inch long cockroach rushed up to me and ran across my texts. I thought I was in a stable state of mind but it startled me. Then he came closer and I brusquely brushed it away throwing the helpless creature a few feet away where it scampered away, no doubt in fear. Needless to say I was not calm and my behavior did not exhibit the virtue of patience and gentility. This gave me pause to look at myself in a more objective way.

Han Shan's Maxim

In the ego's world of illusion, all things are in flux. But continuous change is constant chaos.
When the ego sees itself as the center of so much swirling activity, it cannot experience
cosmic harmony.

 For example, what the ego considers to be a devastating hurricane is, as far as the universe is
concerned, a perfectly natural event, a link in the endless chain of cause and effect. The
universe, having no ego, continues its existence without rendering judgments about
hurricanes or ocean breezes.

When we are empty of ego we, too, can carry on in calm acceptance of life's varying events.
When we cease making prejudicial distinctions - gentle or harsh, beautiful or ugly, good or
bad - a peaceful stillness will permeate our mind. If there is no ego, there is no agitation.

Impermanence

Impermanence

An old tree fell over

In the rain

Crushing a bench

In the park.

This dirty yogin

Has much to do

Before falling over.

In the moment

There is nothing to do.

Karma can be explained easily

Truly understanding karma will enable us to tolerate our present circumstances and will teach us how to abandon suffering in the future.
Karma can be explained very easily; love is the cause of happiness; self-grasping is the cause of suffering. 

H.E. Garchen Rinpoche

 

Heart Nectar of the Saints

A Prayer of Aspiration

That Condenses the Essence

Of the Oral Teachings

By

His Holiness Düdjom Rinpoche

Jigdral Yeshe Dorje

Sole unfailing and unchanging Refuge, Lord of the Mandala,

Most precious and kind Root Guru, hold me with compassion

When I squander the freedoms and endowments,

Ignoring death, providing only for this life.

This fleeting human life, like a dream,

If it’s happy that’s all right, if it’s unhappy, that’s all right.

Without concern for happiness or sorrow,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This mortal existence, like a candle in the wind,

If it’s long that’s all right, if it’s short that’s all right.

Without intensifying the tight grip of the ego,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These intellectual judgments, like the lure of a mirage,

If they’re suitable that’s all right, if they’re not that’s all right.

Discarding, like hay, whatever carries the eight worldly concerns,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This entourage, like a flock of birds in a tree,

If it’s assembled that’s all right, if it’s scattered that’s all right.

Without letting others lead me by the nose,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This illusory body, like a hundred year old house,

If it survives, that’s all right, if it collapses, that’s all right.

Without becoming obsessed by food, clothes, and medicine,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This religious position, like a child’s game,

If it’s kept up, that’s all right, if it’s dropped that’s all right.

Without deceiving myself with numerous diversions,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These gods and demons, like reflections in a mirror,

If they’re helpful that’s all right, if they’re harmful that’s all right.

Without perceiving my own hallucination as enemies,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This delusive talk, like a trackless echo,

If it’s pleasing that’s all right, it it’s unpleasant that’s all right.

Taking the Three Jewels and my own mind as witness,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

That which is useless at the time of need, like the antlers of a deer,

If it’s known that’s all right, if it’s unknown that’s all right,

Without simply relying on the various sciences,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These religious possessions, like virulent poisons,

If they come that’s all right, if they don’t that’s all right.

Without devoting my life to sinful, unwholesome means of survival,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This form of greatness, like dogshit wrapped in brocade,

If it’s obtained that’s all right, if it’s not that’s all right.

Having smelled the rot of my own head,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These relationships, like gatherings on a market day,

If they’re loving that’s all right, if they’re spiteful that’s all right,

Cutting the ties of passionate attachment from deep within the heart,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This material wealth, like what’s found in a dream,

If it’s acquired that’s all right, if it’s not that’s all right.

Without deceiving others by flattery and assent,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This rank, like a little bird perch on top of a tree,

If it’s high that’s all right, if it’s low that’s all right.

Without aspiring to that which actually brings sorrow,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This black magic, like a sharpened weapon,

If it’s successful that’s all right, if it’s not that’s all right.

Without buying the blade that will cut off my life,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These recitations, like a parrot’s six syllables,

If they’re repeated that’s all right, if they’re not that’s all right.

Without counting the number of the various practices,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

Mere religious discourse, like a mountain cascade,

If it’s eloquent that’s all right, if it’s not that’s all right.

Without thinking of this glibness as Dharma,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The mind quick to judge, like a pig’s snout,

If it’s sharp that’s all right, if it’s dull that’s all right.

Without uselessly digging up the rubble of anger and attachment,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The yogi’s experience, like a stream in summer,

If it expands that’s all right, if it recedes that’s all right.

Without chasing rainbows like a child,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These pure visions, like rain on a mountain top,

If they happen that’s all right, if they don’t that’s all right.

Without giving credence to illusory experiences,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The freedoms and endowments, like a wish-fulfilling gem,

If I do not attain them, there is no way to accomplish Dharma.

When I have them in hand, without letting them spoil,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The glorious Guru, light on the path of liberation,

If I do not meet him, there is no way to realize the true nature.

When I know the way to go, without jumping into the precipice,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The holy Dharma, like a medicine that cures sickness,

If I have not heard it, there is no way to decide what to give up and what to take up,

Distinguishing the beneficial from the harmful, without swallowing the poison,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The alternation of happiness and suffering, like the changing of summer and winter,

If I do not recognize it, there is no way to develop renunciation.

Being certain, I will suffer in turn,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This immersion in Samsara like a stone in deep water,

If I do not get out of it now, I will not be free of it later.

Holding on to the lifeline of the compassionate Three Jewels,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The qualities of liberation, like an island of jewels,

If I am unaware of them, there is no way to develop diligence.

Seeing the unending benefits to be gained,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The life stories of the great saints, like the essence of nectar,

If I am unacquainted with them, there is no way to awaken faith.

When I recognize the real gains and losses,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The aspiration towards enlightenment, like a fertile field,

If I do not cultivate it, there is no way to attain Buddhahood.

Without becoming indifferent to the accomplishment of this great goal,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These thoughts of mine, like a monkey’s antics,

If I do not tame them, there is no way to eliminate my afflictive emotions.

Without falling into all kinds of crazy mimicry,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This attachment to ego, like an inherent shadow,

If I do not give it up, there is no way to reach a peaceful place.

When I recognize the enemy, without befriending it,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The five poisons, like embers glowing in the ash,

If I do not extinguish them, I cannot abide in mind’s self-nature.

Without breeding venomous baby snakes in my bed,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This temperament of mine, like the stiff hide of a butter bag,

If I do not soften it, the Dharma and my mind will never blend.

Without indulging the child that is born from my self,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These ingrained bad habits, like the course of a river,

If I do not eliminate them, I cannot part from the profane.

Without delivering weapons into the hands of the enemy,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

These distractions, like the ceaseless rippling of water,

If I do not reject them, there is no way to become steadfast.

When I have the freedom of choice, without devoting myself to Samsara,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The Guru’s blessing, like the warming of earth and water,

If I do not receive it, there is no way to recognize my own true nature.

When I step on the short path, without turning in circles,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The solitary place, like a summer valley of medicine plants,

If I do not dwell there, there is no way for the good qualities to grow.

When I stay in the mountains, without wondering off to dark cities,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The desire for comfort, like a greedy ghost lodged in the hearth,

If I do not part from it, painful efforts will never cease.

Without making as to a god, offerings to a hungry demon,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This alert mindfulness, like the key to a fortress,

If it is not relied upon, the movements of delusion will never stop.

At the time the thief arrives, without leaving the latch unfastened,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

The true nature, like unchanging space,

If I do not realize it, the ground of the view will not be established.

Without chaining myself in iron fetters,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This awareness, like a stainless crystal,

If I do not see it, the clinging and effort of meditation cannot dissolve.

When I have this inseparable companion, without searching for another,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

This natural mind, like an old friend,

If I do not recognize it, all my activities will be deluded.

Without fumbling around with my eyes closed,

May I constantly practice the Supreme Teaching.

In short, if I do not abandon the concerns of this life,

There is no way to apply the teachings for the benefit of the next life.

Having been resolved to be kind to myself,

May whatever I do become the Supreme Teaching.

To doubt the Guru’s instructions that accord with the Dharma,

To feel bitterness toward the deity when bad karma emerges,

To discontinue the sadhana and so forth when adverse circumstance arise,

May such obstacles not occur as accomplishment approaches.

All this doing has no more meaning than walking around a desert,

All these efforts make my character rigid.

All this thinking just reinforces my delusions,

What worldly beings consider to be Dharma is the cause of binding myself.

All this exertion produces no result,

All these ideas bring not a single actualization,

All the numerous wants will never be fulfilled,

Abandoning activities, may I be able to meditate on the oral instructions.

If you think you want to do it, take the Victorious One’s words as witness,

If you think you can really do it, blend your mind with Dharma,

If you think you will practice, follow the example of the past saints.

You spoiled ones, is there any other way?

Taking a humble position, rich with the treasure of contentment,

Free from the binds of the eight worldly concerns, firm and strong-hearted in practice,

Receiving the Guru’s blessing, realization becomes equal to space.

May we inherit the Kingdom of Kuntuzangpo.

Thus having united the meaning of the diamond words of the past saints, I have written this as my own prayer.

- Jigdral Yeshe Dorje

Karma

“A mind filled with evil thoughts – fear, hate, injustice, lust, or malice – must appear outwardly as inharmony and discord; whereas a mind filled with good thoughts – charity, purity, benevolence, or cooperation – must appear outwardly as the good life. That is the karmic law as taught in scripture: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap.” The mind in its unillumined state, filled with materialistic beliefs, theories, opinions, doctrines, and creeds can only manifestits own state of chaos; but a mind freed of these beliefs becomes the instrument through which the creative principle of life can flow as harmonious and eternal form. The external appearance is always mind formed. As we sow mentally, so shall we reap materially.”

Joel Goldsmith, The Thunder of Silence

Spiritual Renunciation

Over the last few months, I have been ranting, complaining, and showing my outrage along with many friends concerning the state of affairs in the US and in the world. Of course, perceiving injustice and disparity and commenting or doing something about it is considered a good thing by many. But, how does this fit in with spiritual renunciation? This has been troubling to me. I feel pulled by worldly concern on the one hand, and the tenets of my spiritual practice.

In Buddhism, we believe that there are three poisons afflicting the world as we know it, Desire (otherwise known as greed and craving), Anger, and the most fundamental, Ignorance. If someone wishes to attain wisdom and compassion for the sake all living beings, then the renunciation and transformation of self-grasping (craving and aversion) is paramount.

The Six Perfections are Generosity, Patience, Integrity (Morality), Effort, Meditation, and Transcendent Wisdom. The practice of these principles, in my view, is the way to develop spiritually. So, how do I reconcile this practice with my ranting of the past few months? I cannot and this pains me as political expression is fundamental to the principles of this country. It is a bad habit. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." This means, to me, that finding harmonious and positive solutions and expressing them verbally and physically is more in line with my practice.

This doesn't mean that I don't see or agree with the dark forces arising at every turn. That is the nature of this world and will always be the case.

The most important thing to me is my spiritual practice and it involves developing Love, Compassion, and Wisdom to the best of my ability with my body, speech, and mind.

Please forgive me if I no longer participate actively in the political discussions taking place. I want to participate by becoming more of a light in this world and focus my attention on that. This is why I teach meditation and spiritual Qigong.

The accumulation of merit and emptiness

"In general, all the Buddhas hold all sentient beings in the core of their heart with love and compassion. Out of their great compassion, they formulate powerful aspirations. They make great vows. They work through many lifetimes, while in training as Bodhisattvas, before they become Buddhas, to affect all sentient beings in a vast variety of ways.
Just as you can create fire by rubbing two sticks together long and hard enough, so, by the accumulation of merit and primordial wisdom, anything can be accomplished.
Fire does not spring automatically from one stick. You need two sticks and you need the effort of rubbing them together in a particular way over a period of time. Eventually, a spark leaps from the conjunction of the sticks and the fire begins. In a similar way, all phenomena, all reality, all dharmas, manifest by the conjunction of emptiness and interdependent origination. Everything is totally interrelated with every other thing. That is called interdependent origination. That is one stick. The other stick is emptiness. The complete lack of inherent existence of any phenomena. The two sticks together are the actual nature of reality. This is true of everything, of all realities....
It is because of emptiness that things can manifest as appearances. Only because of emptiness, can anything exist at all.
Nothing could possibly come into relative existence without the ultimate grounding in emptiness."

His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche
The Oral Commentaries of Drikung Kagyu Teachers in San Francisco
Translated by Michael Lewis and Robert Clarke
Edited by Jeffery Beach

Self-cherishing 2

Garchen Rinpoche taught about self-cherishing here in San Francisco in 2001. To paraphrase, he said all our problems stem from self-cherishing instead of cherishing all sentient beings. It made me curious and I began an observation of the truth of this statement. After almost ten years of intermittent contemplation on the subject of self-cherishing and its negative connotation, I cannot find even an instance where this is not true. Even on a large worldly scale such an international political opinion, this is the case. When a government does an injustice, it is still an injustice in eyes and I become aroused and even angry that this government is doing something I don't want it to do. We can all relate to that. So, how do I give up self-cherishing in this instance? I have to look at the impermanent nature of all things. I have to modify my behavior to cherish all sentient beings first in everything I do. In my case, this is a full time task. I look to my teacher, how does he do it? He looks at all beings with unconditional love. He is not forming an opinion of dislike and understands that through our karma (or causes and conditions) the labels of good and bad, virtuous and non-virtuous, arise interdependently and have no inherent (independent or separate) existence. My teacher's purpose is to guide sentient beings through the torment of their ignorance to the light of wisdom and compassion. This not something I cannot do. I can. I must think of Garchen Rinpoche, be vigilant in my thoughts and behaviors, to focus on patience, generosity, integrity, and meditate on these. This will build the foundation in me to renounce self-cherishing and allow everything to be as it is without labels and judgments. This is cessation and the nature of mind as such in my opinion.

Healing

People often relate to chronic physical pain in a negative, critical, hateful way, thinking "Why me?" This negative mental relationship to pain tends to only worsen it. In order for physical pain to heal, it needs the help of positive attention and loving-kindness. Try to cultivate more openness, lightness, and kindness in relation to the pain. Doing so might not remove the pain completely, but it could help to minimize it.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Bodhicitta

If you want to help yourself, produce excellent bodhicitta.
If you want to help others, produce excellent bodhicitta.
If you want to serve the doctrine, produce bodhicitta.
If you want the path to bliss, produce bodhicitta.

 

Khunu Rinpoche Tenzin Gyaltsen (1894-1977) is the author of The Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta, a book of 356 verses. It can be found titled under Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea.

Emptiness

There is no studying or meditating on emptiness.
Being present without conceptions, without labels, without naming.
Being with no subject, no action, no object. Not even one taste.
Now can you put into words emptiness or the nature of the mind as such?
Any attempt is futile.
Loving kindness and compassion are it's expression.