Meaningful activities to do today.

Copying texts, making offerings, charity,

Study, reading, memorizing,

Explaining, reciting aloud,

Contemplating and meditating—

These ten activities

Bring merit beyond measure.

~Maitreya

Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes

What does a dharma practitioner do with their time? What type of activities are worthwhile and meaningful? Other than taking care of our daily responsibilities and work, what should we do in our free time? 

Our culture of accomplishment encourages us to be doing all the time. The habit of having to accomplish something, ship something, create something can create a lot of unrest and dissatisfaction when we are not engaging in those activities. Learning how to spend your downtime is a useful skill to have, since most of us can agree that surfing the internet or social media produces little benefit and often sucks us into a wormhole of mental wandering. 

Here are ten activities that Maitreya recommended all bodhisattvas on the path of awakening engage in:

Copying texts. A thousand years ago, copying texts was the only way to preserve them. Today we could say sharing texts, sending someone a book that impacted you, or sharing a cliff notes version of books that you are reading.

Making offerings. Be generous and kind. Share a smile. Talk to a stranger. Random acts of kindness are easy to share and make a positive impact in our community and in our own life. 

Charity. Donate, contribute and work for projects or organizations that are making things better in the world. Helping others in whatever form it takes is meaningful work worth doing. 

Reading. Read widely and deeply. There are no subjects or interests that are out of bounds here. Reading is a virtue. 

Study. Take notes. Systematize, draw out the implications and summarize the essence. Whatever you are reading is a good area to deepen your study. 

Memorization. In a time when books were not widely available, memorization was the only way to commit something to memory in order to keep it with you. In modern times, this can mean having a system or process by which you can easily retrieve and access needed resources. Google takes this category for most information, but how do you retrieve patience when you need it? How do you access compassion and responsiveness when you are tired and hungry? Build a habit for accessing your emotional intelligence. 

Explaining. Write a blog post on a book. Share your insights on what you have learned. Join a discussion group with a shared interest. 

Reciting aloud. Reciting a text was part of a regular practice to preserve and share the blessings of the tradition. This could be done alone or with a group for special ceremonies. Their is an unspoken blessing that one encounters when you have done something again and again by yourself, and then you encounter a group with a shared interest and everyone engages in the same activity without missing a beat. It is hard for a modern westerner to comprehend this, but we can all relate to cheering for a football team at home and then the shared experience in the stadium. There is a shared sense of belonging or affiliation that we experience that is beyond words. 

Contemplating. Think about what you are reading and studying. We need space and time to contemplate. You need some boredom in your life to enjoy contemplation. Build some time into your day for not doing anything, but being present and observe the world around you. You might also want to have a notebook or sheet of paper with you;)

Meditating. Rest naturally. Sit with intention. Experience your authentic condition. Build some time into your day for being, not doing.

These ten activities will make your day worthwhile. What other activities can you think of that are meaningful and worth committing to on a regular basis?

+2 important additions: exercise and mindful eating.

Choose a regular exercise, could be taking a walk, doing yoga or qiqong, or going for a run. Dr. Jivaka recommended the Buddha instruct all his disciples to do walking meditation everyday to strengthen their bodies and improve their mental focus.

Mindful eating. Enjoy your meals. Eat simple, nutritious food. Our meals can support our practice and encourage us to appreciate our connections to the world around us. 

What is wisdom?

It is often stated that all of the Buddha's teachings were taught for the sake of wisdom. But what is wisdom?

Wisdom isn't nebulous. It isn't the wise old man sitting up on top of a mountain waiting to answer people's questions.

Wisdom is insight into the human condition. Understanding it's impermanence, the pervasiveness of suffering and dissatisfaction, how thoughts and actions shape our life and the precious opportunity to make this life meaningful.

Wisdom is insight into who we are. Understanding how we are all connected, the nature of our minds and the way in which that understanding deepens our presence and gentleness in the world.

Wisdom is insight into the nature of reality. Understanding how all things are interconnected and transient in nature, how the outer world exists and how to best care for the world.

Wisdom is insight into our place in the world. Understanding how we can be authentically present and share our gifts with the world, how we can contribute, and how a culture of awakening develops from people showing up and acting in alignment with wisdom.

Wisdom is insight into the human condition, who we are, the nature of the world around us, and our place in it. It is not far out or far flung, it is the very ground of our being.

A first glimpse at the ground of being.

When we are introduced to rigpa, or pure awareness, we discover authentic presence, which is actually a rediscovery of our natural state of being. In that moment of union, everything is interconnected and we develop an inner coherence in which all that appears and exists is resolved just as it is. The elusive secret of how to live our life is plainly revealed before our own eyes with nothing more to be done. The world around us becomes a dance in the pavilion of space as we step out from a way of becoming and enter into a way of being in the world.

What we awaken to is the very presence that hides in the heart of the human condition. That pure awareness becomes the source from which we continually shape our life and the world. Living fully in the world, but no longer overwhelmed by the world, genuine purpose and understanding arise anew.

This opening of the 'Dharma eye' requires reorienting ourselves and is often disorienting. No longer propelled by confusion and reactive emotions, we need to rely on careful attention and mindfulness to explore our new place in this emerging world. Time and again we must leave behind the tendency to slip back into the self-involved narrow lens of dualistic mind, self and other, me and mine. Recognizing the tendency to shut down, hold back and get hooked as a call to presence, we slowly learn to orient ourselves towards whatever is arising and thus weaving authentic presence into the very fabric of life.

No longer needing to deny the wounds and suffering inherent to the human condition, we continually rediscover ourselves as authentic human beings capable of loving ourselves and others, and ready to share the gifts we have brought to life within our own natural condition.

"You can be anything you want to be."

I call bullshit.

This idea that you can be anything or do anything descends from our social theory of individualism and the American Dream. Basically, if you work hard enough or want it bad enough, you can have or be anything. Many parts of this social theory hold to be true in our experience. If you work hard, you can accomplish many of your hopes and dreams. And of course, life may get in the way and you may not.

The fundamental belief of this theory is that where you are is not where you ought to be, or where you want to be or need to be. At this moment in time, you recognize the value and worth of your future self and your future contributions, without seeing the value and worth of your present self and contributions. This idea is further conflated with ideas of gaining wealth, power and prestige. When we can "become the person we want to be," we will have the most to give and live our most meaningful life.

Of course, this day rarely comes.

Our idea of who we are going to be is just a projection. Undoubtedly, it creates a picture of where we want to go, and this picture shapes our actions and choices. We move closer to the projection, but the projection itself always shifts and changes. The result is that we are exhausted and after all this work, we feel unfulfilled.

The alternative is to wake up in the world in which you are currently living. You choose to embody the person that you are, in the world as it is. When we can embody this genuine presence, we discover that right now we have the resourcefulness and initiative necessary to meaningfully contribute to the world around us. We begin to engage and participate with the problems and tension of our present day.

Through our presence and contribution, we discover that we continually shape and create the world, that the world around us is not "some thing" that we simply experience as a bystander, but that it is continually unfolding and undergoing creation and destruction.

Our world doesn't need more people who are going to be the best versions of themselves in ten or twenty years. We need you now. We need you to be the beacon of light in the space in which you are living.

The work that we need is not the outer work of doing, but the inner work of being.

Compassion, redefined.

I have spent a lot of time leading meditation workshops and discussions about compassion. Most people tend to focus on the action of compassion. Compassion means helping the homeless, feeding the hungry, tending to the sick. Compassion means doing. If you take the action out, then somehow compassion seems to fall away.

This type of compassion is results focused. It needs to demonstrate an impact. No impact, no meaning.

The Buddha taught this type of compassion as 'normal' compassion. This is the type of compassion that we have for our friends and family, and even to strangers in times of crisis or shared humanity. We see this type of compassion in certain mammals, this natural instinct to take care and nurture our loved ones for our own welfare and survival.

When we are trying to cultivate compassion in meditation, we are trying to cultivate unconditional compassion. This is compassion that is objectless and unbiased. For this type of unconditional compassion, we need a new definition of compassion.

Unconditional compassion is open, available and responsive.

It is open- receptive, accommodating, vulnerable.
It is available- present, alert, attentive.
It is responsive- dynamic, engaged, attuned.

Unconditional compassion is focused on being, not doing. Being open, available and responsive, we can offer others our attention and understanding, we can acknowledge the pain and suffering they are going through, we can stay with them through struggle and strife. Embodying this unconditional compassion, we can offer others our warmth, kindness and generosity, or we can simply be present, listen, and witness.

"I see you" and "I hear you" can be more powerful than offering a solution. Compassion doesn't always need to have an answer, we don't always need to provide a fix. Sometimes offering others dignity and understanding are enough.

We can learn to rest in a state of openness, availability and responsiveness. We can learn to rest in unbiased equanimity, allowing ourselves to witness our own pain and the suffering of others. We can learn to be patient with adversity and ugliness, to witness rather than react, to embrace rather than reject.

And we can learn to carry this openness, availability and responsiveness off the cushion. We can carry it into our homes, our communities and into the world. We can walk with openness, be present and available in the world, and respond and engage with the way things are.