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."

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.

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

 

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

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.

Anger

I don't want to be angry or resentful towards anyone or anything again. But this emotion created by my monkey mind creeps up in a very subtle way. Then I find myself in this negative frame of mind. Then I start again to let go like Prometheus bound!

Time Cycle

I am having a wonderful time.

I am having a terrible time.

I am having a time.

I am having time.

I am having.

I am.

I.

.

I.

I am.

I am having.

I am having time.

I am having a time.

I am having a terrible time.

I am having a wonderful time.

Negatives

Negative conditions are spiritual teachers;
Spirits and demons are emanations of conquerors;
Sickness is a broom sweeping away defilements and obscurations
All sufferings are dharmata's waves.

Khenchen Könchog Gyaltshen

Being

Being is complete in itself. That is the nature of transcendental wisdom. Our being is a mystical sacrament, it is the mysterious and sacred grace of the present moment. It has been around a lot longer than churches and religions. It is not our personal being, but being itself. It is in all living beings.

Enlighten Your Life: The Six Principles

Generosity

There are three major categories of generosity. There is the giving of wealth and there is both inner and outer wealth. Outer wealth and its symbols. We all understand inner wealth refers to one’s own head, brain, eyes, and words. For those poor and disabled, we help them with money and goods for living. If people cannot survive, aren’t satisfied with their basic needs, they will not listen to what you say and follow what you do. Though the help is sometimes minimal, it is an immediate solution to relieve them from suffering, starving, coldness, and so on. With the immeasurable mind of compassion, a conscious person doesn’t hesitate to help under these circumstances.

From Enlighten Your Life: The Six Principles

Ungrateful

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Kahlil Gibran

Impossible

"Impossible is unacceptable."

Stevie Wonder

We will develop in infinite ways

Cynicism closes the possibilities and the channels of life. It shrivels the soul. Compassion manifests in infinite ways, and through manifesting it in ourselves, we will develop in infinite ways.