“Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or conceived and ending the moment we die. We believe that we are born from nothing and when we die we become nothing. And so we are filled with fear of annihilation.
“The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions. They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes our suffering. The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is. When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.”
All the things taking place around our world, all the irritations and all the problems, are crucial. Without others we cannot attain enlightenment — in fact, we cannot even tread on the path. If there is no noise outside during our sitting meditation, we cannot develop mindfulness. If we do not have aches and pains in the body, we cannot attain mindfulness; we cannot actually meditate. If everything were lovey-dovey and jellyfishlike, there would be nothing to work with.
Just as it is impossible to buy anything without money or make anything without materials and tools, there is no way to attain enlightenment without practicing. Unless you practice properly, purifying your past negative actions and avoiding further downfalls, it is no good imagining that the Buddha will catch you with his hands and prevent your falling into the lower realms. It is true that no one in this world has greater compassion, wisdom, and ability than the Three Jewels, whose blessings are omnipresent. But if you do not have devotion and do not practice, you will not be open to the Buddha’s blessings, and even if he holds you in his hands, he will not be able to help you.
Avalokitesvara Dharma (Sanskrit), or dhamma (Pali) is a fundamental concept in ancient Indian spiritual traditions. The term Buddha-dharma is sometimes used to mean Buddhism in general or, more specifically, the Buddha’s teachings. Beyond that, however, dharma has a vast range of meanings in Buddhism, depending on the context.
Broadly, dharma can refer to the eternal—cosmic, natural law—or to mundane “reality.” In the plural, dharmas refer to phenomena: the impermanent events of ordinary samsaric life and our habits of mind. Dharma can be specific—scripture, a sacred text, a teaching, a doctrine. But the dharma is above all experiential. In the Buddha’s day there were no written texts; the teachings were oral, perceived directly by those who heard and practiced them.
Now, as then, buddhadharma is living truth. Scholar Rupert Gethin defines dharma as “the basis of things, the underlying nature of things, the way things are; in short it is the truth about things, the truth about the world.” Dharma also refers to insight into the truth of how things are.
Further, dharma is not merely descriptive but prescriptive—how we should act, the ethical conduct set out in the eightfold path that leads to an awakened life.
In sum, “there is no term in Buddhist terminology wider than dhamma,” the Theravada monk and scholar Walpola Rahula states in his classic work, What the Buddha Taught. “There is nothing in the universe or outside, good or bad, conditioned or non-conditioned, relative or absolute, which is not included in this term.”
As a word to live by, the Japanese Soto Zen master Kodo Sawaki Roshi said, “What’s the Buddha-dharma about? It’s about having every aspect of your daily life pulled by the Buddha.”
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
The wind blows through the sky and flies across continents without ever settling anywhere. It sweeps through space, leaving no trace whatsoever. Let thoughts pass through your mind in the same way, leaving no karmic residue and never altering your realization of innate simplicity.
~Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The Hundred Verses of Advice. Shambhala Publications.
The direction of bowing is very important. I want to put down my small “I”, see my true nature and help all beings. So, any kind of exercise can help your body and mind become one, but with just exercise, the direction is often not clear. Sometimes it’s for my health, sometimes it’s for my good looks, and sometimes it’s to win a competition, but in Buddhism, everything’s direction is the same point – how to perceive my true nature and save all beings from suffering.
Our bowing takes away our karma mind, our thinking mind, and returns us to this moment very clearly, this want to find our true nature and save all beings from suffering. This is why bowing practice is so important. If somebody has much anger, or much desire, or lazy mind, then every day, 300 bows, or 500 bows, even 1,000 bows, every day. Then their center will become very strong, they can control their karma, take away their karma, and become clear. This helps the practitioner and this world.
Zazen that leads to Self-realization is neither idle reverie nor vacant inaction but an intense inner struggle to gain control over the mind and then to use it, like a silent missile, to penetrate the barrier of the five senses and the discursive intellect (i.e., the sixth sense). It demands determination, courage, and energy. Yasutani-roshi calls it “a battle between the opposing forces of delusion and bodhi.” This state of mind has been vividly described in these words, said to have been uttered by the Buddha as he sat beneath the Bo tree making his supreme effort, and often quoted in the zendo during sesshin:
“Though only my skin, sinews, and bones remain and my blood and flesh dry up and wither away, yet never from this seat will I stir until I have attained full enlightenment.”
The drive toward enlightenment is powered on the one hand by a painfully felt inner bondage, frustration with life, a fear of death, and on the other by the conviction that through satori one can gain liberation. But it is in zazen that the body-mind’s force and vigor are enlarged and mobilized for the breakthrough into this new world of freedom. Energies which formerly were squandered in com-pulsive drives and purposeless actions are preserved and channelled into a unity through correct Zen sitting, and to the degree that the mind attains one-pointedness through zazen it no longer disperses its force in the uncontrolled proliferation of idle thoughts. The entire nervous system is relaxed and soothed, inner tensions eliminated, and the tone of all organs strengthened. In short, by realigning the physical, mental, and psychic energies through proper breathing, concentration, and sitting, zazen establishes a new body-mind equilibrium with its center of gravity in the vital Hara.
With the body and mind consolidated, focused, and energized, the emotions respond with increased sensitivity and purity, and volition exerts itself with greater strength of purpose. No longer are we dominated by intellect at the expense of feeling, nor driven by the emotions unchecked by reason or will. Eventually zazen leads to a transformation of personality and character. Dryness, rigidity, and self-centeredness give way to flowing warmth, resiliency, and compassion, while self-indulgence and fear are transmuted into self- mastery and courage.
“Do not become fixated on your past negative actions, by continuously thinking about them, over and over again, to the point that it debilitates your mind with worry, guilt, anxiety and depression. It will get you nowhere, other than pulling you off the path.
Instead, bring them to the path, by acknowledging them, regretting them, remedying them, and then doing your very best never to repeat them. This is the way that you will keep your peace of mind and progress on the path to the enlightened state of a Buddha.”
A famous Turkish poet requested his painter friend paint a painting on “Happiness”. So, he painted a family sleeping peacefully on a collapsible bed. One leg of this bed was broken and two bricks were placed. The roof of this dilapidated house was also leaking. The house dog was also sleeping peacefully on the bed. This painting of his became immortal.
Take a deep look at this immortal painting and think about what happiness really is. ‘ Actually, looking at this picture, I feel that happiness is not in the absence of problems, but in the easy acceptance of problematic situations. Try to see the good in whatever you have, no matter how bad the situation is. Stop worrying about things that are out of your control. Whenever your heart starts to sink, look at this timeless painting. Always be content and sleep peacefully.
Om The first, Om is composed of three letters. A, U, and M. These symbolize the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
Mani Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method—the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love. Just as a jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic mind of enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly, just as a jewel fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the altruistic intention to become enlightened fulfills the wishes of sentient beings.
Padme The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom, just as a lotus grows forth from mud but is not sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of non-contradiction whereas there would be contradiction if you did not have wisdom. There is wisdom realizing impermanence, wisdom realizing that persons are empty of being self-sufficient or substantially existent, wisdom that realizes the emptiness of duality—that is to say, of difference of entity between subject an object—and wisdom that realizes the emptiness of inherent existence. Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main of all these is the wisdom realizing emptiness.
Hum Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility. According to the sutra system, this indivisibility of method and wisdom refers to wisdom affected by method and method affected by wisdom. In the mantra or tantric, vehicle, it refers to one consciousness in which there is the full form of both wisdom and method as one undifferentiable entity. In terms of the seed syllables of the five Conqueror Buddhas, hum is the seed syllable of Akshobhya—the immovable, the unfluctuating, that which cannot be disturbed by anything.
Buddhism also explains that the fundamental nature of human consciousness is pure and clear; that the nuclear essence of human beings is their mind, not this body of flesh and blood. Furthermore, we believe that recognizing our lives as pleasurable or miserable depends largely on how our mind interprets them. If you think your life is miserable, it becomes miserable.
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