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The story of Siddhartha's life is about becoming Buddha, being Buddha.

It is a story on how to live a life of wisdom, generosity, love and compassion.  It is about embodying a spiritual practice that integrates all aspects of your life and starts right where you are. 

It is about traversing the Mahayana path, a path of great wealth and wisdom.  It is a path that does not separate your day-to-day life and your spiritual practice.  Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path.

It is a path that has been traveled by men and women of all trades-
artists, scientists, physicians, educators and entrepreneurs, the rich and the poor-
it is the path of the bodhisattvas, the mahasiddhas.

Its lifeblood are the blessings that descend from an authentic, uninterrupted practice lineage.  These blessings take the form of realization and wisdom as they pass from each generation to the next through continued guidance, clarification and support.

Siddhearta's story is about living a life of value and purpose, for yourself and for others.

It is your story.

You are Siddhearta.

Your path.  Your practice.
Clarify your practice.  Let your practice clarify you.

If you are looking for practical methods, meditation instruction or simply want to learn more about these profound and practical teachings, contact me at siddhearta@gmail.com. 

Thank you for reading this blog and I look forward to our next discussion.

Gregory 

The Plague of Indifference.

We are suffering from one of the worst epidemics in recent human history.  It has the potential to spread to every corner of the land and to infect every person.  It leaves its victims lifeless, like wandering zombies.

It is the plague of indifference.

It strikes those who care.  Those that are trying to make a difference, to bring benefit to others.  It has a slow onset, germinating in those who time and time again go the extra mile.  It reproduces and gains its strength as kindness and generosity are taken advantage of, exploited and disrespected.

The infection starts to display signs and symptoms as the victim gets worn out, angry at themselves for trying so hard and for caring so much.  They may feel guilty for wanting to help others, for repeating this cycle again and again only to end up in states of loss.

The infection has reached its full measure when the victim no longer cares, when they just go through the motions and do what they are told.

One remedy for this infection is to show appreciation and respect to those who aren't infected.  To rejoice in their efforts.  This remedy can delay or offset the progression of the disease, but it is not necessarily a cure.

The only cure is to protect your own mind, and the only way to do that is to cultivate bodhicitta, the awakened mind.  It is only by cultivating bodhicitta that you can bear the burden of unpleasant and painful circumstances.  It is only by cultivating bodhicitta that you can abandon your own susceptibility to 'woe is me'.

One who cultivates bodhicitta is a bodhisattva, a courageous awakened warrior.

They don't fight others, they fight to establish them in peaceful, happy states.
They fight to bring them benefit.

They fight for those who care, and to help those who don't to regain their purpose.

It is a battle worth fighting for.

As it states in the Heart Sutra:

There is no attainment, and even no non-attainment.  Therefore, Shariputra, since bodhisattvas have no attainments, they rely on this perfection of wisdom and abide in it.  Having no obscurations in their minds, they have no fear, and by going utterly beyond error, they will reach the end of nirvana. 

Your Work is Remarkable

Time and time again, you show up.

You are open and receptive, willing to be vulnerable.  You actually listen to what others need.  You operate with integrity, honesty and genuinely care for the benefit of others.  You do the work- sharing your generosity, love and kindness when no one expects you to show up.

You push through the hard parts.  You have the courage to look fear in the eye and keep going.  When in uncharted territory, your commitment to the principles of your practice and your understanding of the essence of the path let your forge ahead with confidence.

You make mistakes and fail.  Often.  But those failures give rise to wisdom and insight.

You do remarkable work.  But don't go thinking that you are remarkable.   

Then, we have a problem on our hands.

Then you have a ground to maintain.  A position to uphold.  Then you need to use force to assert yourself against dissenting opinions.  You might just throw people under the bus. 

You will offer up blame and shift criticism.  Things will get really bad when all you do is talk.

You will fear failure.

Do you see how these two cannot co-exist?

If you work for the benefit of others, your aims are simultaneously fulfilled.

If you work for your own aims, it will eat you alive.

Last week I was taking a ferry in the San Juan Islands and we saw a deer swimming in the ocean.  Everyone got up to look.  It was remarkable.  People were reaching for their cameras, pointing out how rare it was to see a deer swimming in the ocean.

Of course, for the deer this wasn't about her or her achievements.  She just knew this is what she had to do to get to the far shore. 

She was doing remarkable work. 

The Mahasiddhas

Throughout Buddhist history people have revered the Buddha and the community of monks and nuns who uphold his teachings.  The Buddhist sangha has served as a living lineage, preserving the teachings of the Buddha in both scriptural transmission and realization.  A lesser known but equally important role in the transmission and realization of the Buddha's teachings fell on the mahasiddhas.  

A mahasiddha is a tantric practitioner who embodies the state of perfection. Mahasiddha means 'great accomplishment', a yogin who has brought his sadhana or practice to its completion and achieved realization. The mahasiddhas played a key role in the preservation and development of the Buddha's teachings in India and Tibet, as displayed in the songs of realization of the Lives of the 84 Mahasiddhas. 

Adapted from Dowman and wikipedia:

The mahasiddhas represent remarkable diversity in their family backgrounds and social roles.  Indeed they could be found in every social setting: kings and priests, poets and musicians, craftsman and farmers, housewives and whores.  They were artists and businessman, respected doctors and neglected beggars, politicians and hermits. 

The Mahasiddhas were a diverse group of practitioners who were practical, committed, creative and engaged with their world. As a collective, their spirituality may be viewed as key and essential to their lives- simple, in concert and accord with all aspects of their lived experience. The basic elements of the lives of the Mahasiddas included their diet, physical posture, career, relationships; indeed "ordinary" life and lived experience were held as the principal foundation and fodder for realization. As siddhas, their main emphasis in spirituality and spiritual discipline was a direct experience of the sacred and spiritual pragmatism.

The mahasiddha tradition may be conceived and considered as a cohesive body due to their spiritual style, sahaja or naturally born- which was distinctively non-sectarian, non-elitist, non-dual, non-elaborate, non-sexist, non-institutional, unconventional, unorthodox and non-renunciate. The mahasiddha tradition arose in dialogue with the dominant religious practices and institutions of the time which often foregrounded practices and disciplines that were over-ritualized, politicized, exoticized, excluded women and whose lived meaning and application were largely inaccessible and opaque to non-monastic peoples.

The practice of the mahasiddha was often depicted as taking place in a charnel ground.  This charnel ground is not merely the physical cremation ground; it can also be discovered or revealed in completely terrifying mundane environments where practitioners find themselves desperate and depressed, where conventional worldly aspirations have become devastated by grim reality. This is demonstrated in the sacred biographies of the great siddhas of the Vajrayāna tradition. Tilopa attained realization as a grinder of sesame seeds and a procurer for a prominent prostitute. Sarvabhakṣa was an extremely obese glutton, Gorakṣa was a cowherd in remote climes, Taṅtepa was addicted to gambling, and Kumbharipa was a destitute potter. These circumstances were charnel grounds because they were despised in Indian society and the siddhas were viewed as failures, marginal and defiled.

* * * * * * * * *

We can find a lot of inspiration and blessings in the lives of these mahasiddhas.  They rejected the notion that liberation was only for a chosen few, that your circumstances restricted your practice.  They lived just the opposite, your life was your practice.  The entirety of your lived experience was the basis for your realization.

But mostly they showed that it was possible.  Whatever your situation, lifestyle or profession; liberation was in the palm of your hand.  

The Battleground

Let's cut the crap.

Engaging in your own spiritual practice is not easy.

We are led to believe that meditation and the practice of the path engender an unceasing stream of bliss and clarity.  We are coaxed to a nice Zen-like state with beautiful photos of monks and nuns in states of serenity.  We read poetic aphorisms that lull us into a state of wishy washy fascination and self-aggrandizement.  

We hide too much.  

Your spiritual practice will be a war zone.  You will fight.  You will shed tears.  You will be afraid to move forward but step anyways.  Fear will rise in waves and storms of thoughts and emotions will bring you ceaseless torment.  

But you will stop shifting the blame.  

You will stop pretending.  Stop projecting and waging bets you cannot win.  

If you don't turn your eyes from the battlefield it will reveal truths to you.  Truths that are at first hard to see, hard to bear. 

Sit strong.  Sit in openness.  Sit in fearlessness.  Sit in honesty.  

Every storm passes to give rise to a crisp, calm, pristine sky- which you never experience if you don't weather the storm. 

Travel with Purpose

We all seek to live a life of purpose.  You can be certain that we have a precious human life endowed with freedoms and opportunity, but how we use that life determines the degree to which we feel we fulfill our purpose. 

The Buddha described three types of traveler's on the path based on the scope of their practice.  Atisha in his Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment describes this threefold designation:

Know to be 'least' those persons
Who diligently strive to attain
Solely the joys of conditioned existence
By any means for their welfare alone.

* * * * *

Those persons are called 'medium' 
Who stop sinful actions, 
Turn their backs on the joys of conditioned existence
And diligently strive for their own peace.

* * * * *

Those person are called 'superior'
Who sincerely wish to extinguish
All the suffering of others
By understanding their own suffering.

Those traveler's of lesser scope work towards the benefit of this life and a higher rebirth, whether it be in the heavens or in this life in the form of promotions, power and fame.  Those traveler's of lesser scope are enshrouded in their identity and the eight worldly concerns.  We can see this all around us in the form of self-help guides, self-development programs, habits for success, fitness goals and competitions.  All of these activities are undertaken with the intention that they will bring about one's own welfare, that they will yield positive results and that your life will be happier, healthier, and more fun.

And in general it is true.

If you have healthier habits, you will be healthier.  You can definitely 'work your way up' through the levels of conditioned existence.  Surely we can say that we are able to use our freedoms and opportunities more in America than in many third world countries that are under authoritarian rule and wherever you happen to be born in the social hierarchy determines your fate.  Many Americans may not say they believe in karma, but they do live their lives with a full understanding of how cause and effect can bring about better states of existence.    

But we also never escape the cycle of distress and suffering that follow such an existence.  There is no escape from discontentment.  There is no refuge in samsara.  The higher levels of this world do not yield the desired result of inner wealth- peace, contentment, joy and love. 

We have the tendency to think that if we can improve our environment, body or external conditions then we will experience our desired result.  But all of these occur within the confines of our mind, a mind that is wrapped in identity, grasping, karma and negative mental states.  We cannot buy, bargain or work our way out of our mind.  It is only the wisdom that understands the true nature that can break through the confines of dualistic mind.

There are a couple of landmarks to be mindful of when you are traveling with lesser scope. 

The first is that all of these pleasures and joys that we experience are ephemeral and fleeting.  They are all impermanent. 
The second is the all-pervasive nature of suffering within conditioned existence.  When you begin to notice these two landmarks, you are on the verge of giving rise to the middle scope of practice. 

Those of medium scope seek liberation from the cycle of conditioned existence.  To put an end to suffering once and for all.  They rely on the Four Noble Truths and the teachings on Dependent Origination to come to an understanding of their own suffering and the most expedient means to eliminate it.  The goal is the complete cessation of suffering and distress.  It is the personal salvation of an Arhat.  This cessation of suffering is not to be confused with Buddhahood, but it is the state of nirvana or everlasting peace. 

There are also landmarks to be mindful of when you are traveling with medium scope. 

The first is a sense of hollowness.  Even though you can attain a great degree of inner peace and tranquility, there is an element of grace and fullness that is missing. 
The second is naturally arising love, compassion and kindness for others.  When you begin to notice these two landmarks, you are definitely on the verge of giving rise to the practice of great scope. 

The practice of great scope is that which seeks to liberate all beings from the discontentment and suffering of samsara.  It is a path that enacts the Four Immeasurables and Six Perfections, seeking to perfectly accumulate merit and wisdom that fulfills the aims of oneself and others.  This is the path traveled by all Buddhas and bodhisattvas.  A bodhisattva is a practitioner of great scope that chooses to intentionally take birth within the round of samsara until all worlds are emptied, from the darkest of hells to the highest of heavens.  Bodhisattvas rest with ease despite the adventitious suffering of conditioned existence.  They constantly rest in openness and honesty, not needing to project their identity or justify themselves.  They are the artisans of generosity, love and kindness.  You probably will not recognize them as they spread their art but you can witness how the shape of their life brings countless benefit to everyone around them.  

It is often said that those who give rise to the path of great scope are as rare as stars seen during the daytime.  This is true and indeed they are a precious jewel for the world.  But I think we can all see aspects of ourselves in each of these paths. 

Which path are you traveling on?

Confession

Confession is a very important practice while you are traveling the path.  It forms one of the branches within the Seven Branch Prayer that is part of the accumulation of merit or positive potential that keeps us moving forward on the path. 

Confession within the context of the Buddha's teachings is not the same as asking for forgiveness.  From a Buddhist perspective the act of confession is an acknowledgement and a claiming of responsibility for our own wrong doing.  Their is no concept of sin within the Buddhist tradition, only the inevitable principle of cause and effect, or karma. 

Confession itself is a kind of awakening.  Before, amidst all of our confusion and ignorance we were completely unaware of the harm we were bringing to ourselves and others.  Through the act of confession we can see our own errors and how we brought our self to this state of despair.  It brings us back in control of our mind and reality.  

The Buddha taught that we are not victims of reality or conspiracy, but rather that we are victims of our own confusion.  The act of confession separates us from our confused mind, isolating for the first time our true tormentor. 

It is the guise of thinking that we are perfect and without mistake that binds us to ceaseless torment and strife.  When we remove the mask and reveal our true face, then we have something.  We have a place to start.  If we are willing to press on, move forward, then all of our guilt and self-hatred falls away because it is not who we are but what we were holding onto.  

Now we can forge the path anew.  Sure we will have many missteps along the way but we are climbing out of the abyss.  By relying on this method of confession we can ensure that our confusion will not persist, that the light of wisdom will always shine through the darkness of our confusion.  

There are four powers to rely on in the act of confession:
1. Regretting our negative actions, obscurations and habitual tendencies
2. Relying on the positive support of authentic Dharma
3. Engaging in positive actions and behaviors that act as an antidote
4. The resolve to not commit those actions in the future

By relying on these four powers you really can let go of that burden you have been carrying around.  When you combine these techniques with the other branches of the Seven Branch Prayer then you have a very powerful method of training.   

Lose the Map

Our spirituality is often a story that we tell ourselves about how we and the world exist.  It calms our fears when we are challenged and disheartened, it gives us hope in times of pain and sorrow.  If our spirituality is a map then we think we have found a good one.  In fact, it is quite comforting that we have this trustworthy map. 

Buddhism has a very well documented map.  The Buddhist map to enlightenment has layer upon layer of detail.  The cartography of this path is unparalleled, giving both the general overlay of the land as well as 3D views.  It is the Google Earth of spiritual maps. 

In its vastness and profound detail we can be lulled into a content torpor, our ego intoxicated by the intricacies of such a supreme vehicle.  We can feel secure going about our habitual mode of existence because we carry this map around, at any moment justifying our location with astute logic and reasoning.  Not only that, but we can describe in quite detail places in which we have never been, never seen with our own eyes. 

The real challenge with actually traveling the path to enlightenment is that at some point you need to throw out the map.  The only common trait among the numerous Buddhas and enlightened masters that have gone before us is that they made their own map based on integrating the teachings with their own mind.  Every situation was different.  There was different terrain, different obstacles and different cultural conditions. 

You can't follow someone else's map to gain awakening.  You need to make your life the map, each and every step. 

So toss out that map you have been hanging onto.  Look around, what is the lay of the land?  Where are you at this very moment? 

Keep your senses open, your mind calm.  Always walk with mindfulness and discipline.  Arm yourself with patience and all the grit you can muster.

Enjoy your hike!

ps. If you need help packing your bags we can help you with that one, the rest is up to you.

New Year's Encouragement

The following is an excerpt from the Precious Treasury of Pith Instructions, composed as the heart advice of the great Longchen Rabjam.

Encouragement

Six considerations will provide encouragement:
The yogic practice of holy masters is their legacy to you;
please do not be indolent or dilatory in your spiritual practice.
Meditation on the arising of thoughts provides fuel for your sublime knowing;
please do not consider concentration on some fixed point to be the best way.
Suffering and other negative conditions are inducements to undertake positive action;
please neither indulge in whining and moaning, nor try to rid yourself of negative circumstances.
The manifestation of the five emotional poisons is the secret path to timeless awareness;
please do not thing of them as wrong, as you would a horde of enemies.
Obstacles in all their variety are intimations of spiritual attainment;
please do not react to them with apprehension, superstition or aversion.
What you perceive as samsara is the pure realm of the victorious one's;
please do not place your trust in the seeming truth of your confused dualistic perceptions.

Thank You.

I wanted to thank everyone who supported me over the past year in my effort to write this blog. 

This has been my first experience writing in a public circle and it has taught me a lot.  The main thing I have learned is that if you want to share your art- whether it be in words, creations or deeds- you need to just open your heart and let it go.  Don’t be an artist expecting acknowledgement, approval or applause.  Do it as an act of generosity with the intention of benefitting others, giving them strength  or brightening their day.  In generosity there is no failure, no inadequacy, no mistake.  It is when we hold back, when we turn away or avert our eyes that ourselves and others experience states of loss.  So in 2013 I can only encourage you to be fully present, find your ground, keep your eyes wide open, open your heart and share your gifts with the world. 

Thank you for your encouragement, inspiration and support. 

Need a Vacation?

 
How does a spa weekend sound?
Soaking in the hot pools of samsara
Will improve the circulation of thoughts and emotions. 
Afterwards relax into the natural state,
Lay out naked and unadorned on the groundless massage table,
Expose all of your tension and knots.
Let the essence of the teachings work out the kinks,
The pith instructions apply deep pressure to those stubborn knots.
You may need the discipline of a manicure and pedicure to refine away rough edges.
Finally, conclude with a exfoliating facial to remove the extremes of
Permanence and impermanence regarding the single true face of reality. 
This is how to seek release from samsara. 

How does a trip to wine country sound?
It is important to understand the different varietals of spiritual teachings,
To fully appreciate their lineage, view, path and result.
Taste is paramount in determining the quality,
Fame, wealth and reputation mean nothing if it leaves a bad taste.
Spend some time appreciating how the different varietals come together,
Their distinctive features and qualities.
Blending can at times enhance the experience, at other times create distortion.
Certain vineyards have distinct qualities that cannot be replicated,
No amount of blending or aging can draw out a similar taste,
If you find this extraordinary lot you should seek its full measure.
This is how to understand the vehicle to awakening.

How about traveling to a foreign land?
You have heard of these places and always wanted to go,
Read the history and are fascinated by the culture,
How these people live their lives, the food they eat,
Oh, to sit in their plazas and behold their art.
We must ourselves cross to the other side,
It is not enough to read or study,
We must gain our own experience firsthand.
No longer will I be a parrot of other's experience,
No longer will I share their insights, 
From this day forth I seek the authentic experience of direct knowing.
This is how to gain your own experience in setting forth to the other side.  

How about going to a cabin?
Enter into a serene, peaceful environment.
Slow down.  Touch the earth.  Feel the breeze.
Wrap yourself up in the warm blanket of the teachings,
Feel the warmth of the fire of your own experience.
Cuddle up with a good dharma book to open new worlds of experience.
Enjoying this comfort and peace you might sleep in,
Perhaps your meditation is drowsy because of this clinging.
In the evenings you may reach for a bottle of wine,
Feel free to enjoy it but don't grasp at the experience.
This is how to enter into experience.

Do you want to go home?
Go back to the natural state,
Rest in that original condition,
It is always timeless, unchanging.
All the experiences you have in life,
The high and lows, good and bad,
You can always come back to this.
This place of full acceptance, contentment and peace.  
This is discovering your own ground.

Maybe you want a respite from work?
Get away from the never ending goals and deadlines,
The need to accomplish and assert oneself.
What need is their for competition, coercion.  
You have already discovered your fulfillment,
What more are you trying to do?
Just rest as you are, there is nothing more to become.
Recognize as it is, there is fulfillment in that.
Go from not having enough time to the present being unceasing. 
This is how to gain conviction.

How about a beautiful beach vacation?
Relax into the vast ocean of meditative equipoise,
Waves of thoughts rising and falling,
Appearing clearly within the ocean but never parting.
The morning fog naturally evaporates,
Revealing the sun of true seeing in the spacious sky free of reference.
A gentle cool breeze of compassion stirs,
Whisking away the sweat of others turmoil.
How joyful, yourself and others are completely refreshed!
This is how to develop experience.

How about a holy pilgrimage?
Pay reverence to the site of awakening, your own meditation seat,
Make prostrations to Vajra Seat (Bodh Gaya),
Where the Lord Buddha himself gained awakening.
Make offerings of your body, speech and mind to the Three Jewels through all your deeds.
Circumambulate the great stupa of bodhicitta
By having all your activities revolve around this intent.
Step through the heart into an immaculate, vast temple,
All sights and sounds the infinite play of deity and mantra.
Hang prayer flags throughout the world by dedicating your merit,
Your smile is like a thousand offering lamps that illuminate the darkness.
This is how you bring all experiences onto the path.  

How about a big city shopping spree?
A completely dazzling endless variety of sights, sounds and appearances,
Everything you could want is here.
The subtlety and refinement of experience is beyond comparison.
It is fascinating how something so simple could be
Presented and appreciated in this way.
To use ordinary and simple things in this new design,
This excellence in simplicity, this mastery of the trade, is amazing.
We used to think complex and ostentatious were the trend,  
But to use the familiar in such a unique way is mind blowing. 
This is how mahasiddhas refine away experience. 

How about sailing?
Effortlessly ride the winds of karma,
Skillfully manipulate gusts of emotions,
Complete your journey regardless of high or low tides.
When the winds scream, you move along faster.
When the winds die, you abide in the pristine expanse, the ocean of awakened mind.
Your vessel moves unhindered through this spacious expanse,
Sending out a ripple in the vast ocean,
Yet vanishing without a trace.   
This is how everything accelerates the path. 

How about a mountain trek?
Start off your journey through dense forests,
You will enjoy many vistas along the way,
Pass by alpine lakes so clear you can see the bottom,
All phenomena will play like animals in mountain meadows.
Scampering through the world of appearances and possibility,
You suddenly breakthrough to the summit,
An astounding, vast panorama.
Down below you can see all the places
Yourself and others have gotten caught up,
The simple solutions to their current situation.  
Resting in unmoving meditative equipoise,
The mind completely stark and barren of all distortion,
You have nothing more to gain.

Maybe you should help that guy trying to cross the river, 
Or that girl fighting herself in that thicket of stinging nettles.

Maybe you should get back to work.

Give a Dog a Bone

I want to share a story of a dog named Pema.

Pema is a wonderful dog.  She is incredibly loving.  Gentle.  She loves to run and go for walks.  She loves people, young or old.  If given the choice to go play or to stay close to you, she would choose you every time.

But give Pema a bone and she can't control herself.  She protects that bone 24/7.  She thinks people are scheming in order to get to her bone.  Even when asleep if she notices movement she is instantly on the defensive.

Despite all of this pomp and circumstance, when you take the bone away from her she instantly returns to her good-natured self.  I think she is honestly relieved to let her guard down and get back to cuddling.

How many dog bones do you have buried?  Why do you hold on to them so dearly?

What if you just let them go?

Next time you find yourself caught up on the defensive, speculating about how others are scheming against you, give a name to that bone you are defending.  Write it down.  What is it exactly and why is it so important to you?

You might just be relieved if you let it go. 

A Love Song

Resting in the space of the Single Mother,
Without wavering from the presence of basic space,
One directly beholds the face of rigpa,
Completely naked and unadorned. 
With the meeting of these two, basic space and rigpa,
There is naturally arising great bliss,
A bliss so pristine you might just burst out laughing.
This indestructible awareness penetrates 

The world of appearances and possibilities in all her variety.
Soaring unhindered through the expanse of space,
Effortlessly benefitting beings in the all-pervasive sky

Through the compassion of the dynamic fierce mother. 
This is the sublime union of the dharmakaya

 Free from coming or going,
Without coming together or parting,
Abiding forever and always,
In the unchanging body of light. 

Buddha's Unchained Melody

Uni-verse:
Ah
The nature of the universe is unborn and unceasing, with a real nature like the sky. 

If that is not recognized as unborn, the natural display arises as the diversity of all sound in the form of the ali-kali mantra (Sanskrit consonants and vowels):
OM A AH I II U UU RI RII LI LII AY AYY O AU AM AH
KA KHA GA GHA NGA CA CHA JA JHA NYA TA THA DA DHA NA
ṬA ṬHA ḌA ḌHA ṆA PA PHA BA BHA MA YA RA LA WA SHA SHA SA HAKSA HUNG HUNG PHAT

If that is not recognized you have the endless proliferation of letters and words that compose the song of samsara.  The only refuge from this song keeping you up at night is:
OM YE DHARMA HETU PRABHAVA HETUN TESHAN TATHAGATO HYAVADAT TESHAN CHA YO NIRODHA EVAM VADI MAHA SHRAMANA SOHA

Whatever phenomena arise from a cause, those causes have been taught by the Tathagata,

and their cessation too, has been proclaimed by the great practitioner of virtue.

And so we sing:
Buddham saranam gacchami
Dharmam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami

I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha. 

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6 Speed Manual Transmission of the Six Perfections, though you can always put it in Wisdom drive for effortless cruising
Nine Spoked Wheel of the Nine Yanas effortlessly carry you to your destination wherever you are on your path
Anti-Fixated Brakes keep you protected all the time even in slick situations where things could get out of control quickly
Immaculate mirrors perfectly reflect the true nature of reality, no size distortions like in ordinary vehicles
Two Headlights of the Two Truths illuminate reality without confusion
Five Colored Illusory Body eliminates the need for damage repair
Energy Efficient Exhaust System eliminates all defilements
Sun roof for phowa practitioners
Compassionate Climate Control System keeps you cool all the time
GPS (Guru's Pith inStruction) keeps you on course and gets you to the destination quickly
Universal Sound System plays unending stream of Dharma
Extra Thick Steering Wheel of the Lineage allows for full confidence in tough situations
Amazing Interior- you won't believe it until you see it yourself
All-encompassing, blissful seats.  The fine details are utterly inexpressible. 
Six seats for comfortable accommodating the six realm beings
Seats of inner heat keep you warm all winter. 
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The Artist

 

Namo Buddhaya!
I prostrate and praise the sublime artist,
Who chisels away the afflictions and obscurations of beings,
Refining their body, speech and mind,
Into the indestructible three kayas.

He who reveals this timeless work of art,
Innate buddhanature,
Is simultaneously the art and artist,
Benefitting beings through their creative display.

The Dakini

 

The world of appearance and possibility is the dakini.
Try to control her and she will torment you,
O the scorn she will bring to your heart.
The wise let her fly unhindered through the expanse of space.
So be wise, O child,
And she will bring you endless great bliss.

Tonglen- The Rising Tide of Bodhicitta

The next stage of Mind Training focuses on the development of relative bodhicitta. 

7. Sending and taking should be practiced alternatively, riding on the breath.

The practice of relative bodhicitta is centered on the practice of Tonglen, or exchanging self and other.  Tonglen is an extremely important and useful meditation technique.  There are many different instructions on how to practice tonglen, but the following is based on the heart advice of my gracious guru, Younge Khachab Rinpoche.  This is an uncommon instruction for the practice of tonglen because it is based on the unique Dzogchen method of resting in the natural state.  If you have not received the instructions for Resting in the Natural State, you should seek them out from a qualified teacher. 

Sitting in a comfortable meditative posture,
Our body is left open, relaxed.
The shoulders, neck and face are relaxed,
The eyes are left open, gently gazing into the space before oneself.
The breath is natural- gentle and uncontrived.
The senses are open, free from fixation,
Let whatever appears be as it is.
Don’t fixate- on feelings, thoughts, sights or sounds.
Just relax and settle, like waves on water.
Slowly, like mud settling out,
The mind will become calm and clear.
Rest in the natural state.

In a state of natural rest, one will discover a vast ocean of equanimity, 

unchanging openness without center or limit, 

perfectly pristine, clearly reflecting all that appears and exists.

Having resolved all grasping and fixation, acceptance and rejection fall away,

there are no waves to disturb oneself from this uncontrived and effortless state of rest.

The mind is calm, clear and expansive. 

Within the spacious sky rises a full moon, the wisdom of bodhicitta, 

simultaneously accomplishing the benefit of oneself and others.  

An infinite display of stars reflects in the ocean, 

all of samsara, the beings of the six realms, are perfectly reflected as ornaments,

self and other are equal, there is no higher or lower, better or worse. 

Due to the presence of these two factors,

non-referential equanimity and the prior intention to attain awakening for the benefit of others,

there is the rising tide of bodhicitta, the vast ocean of the noble heart swells.

Due to this self-arising grace (Tib. rang byung thugs rje),

there is a natural outpouring of love, compassion and joy,

effortlessly accomplishing the wishes of beings and carrying them to the far shore.  

As you breathe out, sharing all your love, happiness, peace and contentment with other beings, spontaneously fulfilling all that is wished for.  

As you breathe in, through great compassion take in all their suffering, pain, anxiety, doubts and insecurity.

With each breath, establishing beings in happiness, freeing them from suffering.

Breathe.  Like a cool ocean breeze, with each breath you sooth the minds of beings, bringing them a moment of comfort and joy.  

Rejoice in their happiness.  

With a mind that never wavers from the state of single pointed rest,

all the waves again dissolve back into the great ocean of equanimity.

Again and again, day and night, this cycle continues.

Without ever wavering from the single intent of bodhicitta, 

you simultaneously accomplish your own and others welfare.  

Dedicate the merit of this practice for the benefit of all beings. 

Dance Standing Still

The ultimate bodhicitta slogans are instructions that are meant to allow one to recognize and cultivate ultimate bodhicitta in meditation.  

2. Regard all dharmas as dreams.

Normally, our reality and day to day affairs seem very concrete.  Our experience feels very real as we are going through it- the whirlwind of our thoughts, surging emotions, feelings of joy and our aches and pains.  We usually don't examine our experience and we just take it for granted.  Life in a nutshell.  

As we move away from our experiences, in the following hours, days and weeks we find it increasingly hard to remember what it was exactly that we were holding onto.  What did that wine and steak taste like again?  What were we arguing about?  What was it that we were so desperate to uphold, reaffirm or prove?  Was it worth all the effort?  

Regarding all dharmas- all experiences, sense objects and activities- as a dream means that we relate to them with less fixation, more openness.  Dream here doesn't mean hazy or unclear.  We can have very lucid dreams, dreams that evoke very real emotions and feelings while we are caught up in them.  The key is that when we awake from a dream we know it was just a dream and that the experience was temporary and fleeting, that it was just something that we were fixating on in our own mind. 

We can experience this sort of insight in our own meditation.  When we take our seat in meditation we become aware of an endless dance of thoughts, sights, sounds and feelings.  Our habitual tendency is to fixate on these phenomena in all their variety, but in meditation we just let them be as they are without following after them.  As we begin to relax into that illusory dance we begin to discover an underlying stillness.

Within the space of meditation, without grasping at the dynamic display that is arising in all its variety, we begin to notice and appreciate this unchanging quality.  Despite movement there is stillness.  It is here that we can look at the next slogan.

3. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.  

When we look at this awareness, we are aware of this unceasing dance of phenomena that is occurring, but since we are not getting caught up in that display we are also aware of this calm stillness.  Look at that.  Where does this come from, where does it go?

When you look at the dance you find there is nothing to hold onto, it is an endless play that can take any form at all and yet never exists as a single thing whatsoever.  When you look at the mind, there are all these things we are aware of, yet there is an underlying stillness that is lucid and alert.  When you look at that mind, you cannot find anything.  There is nothing there to hold onto, mind is unborn, yet there is this awareness that perceives very clearly.  From here we can address the next slogan.

4.  Self-liberate even the antidote.

When we look at the dynamic dance of phenomena, we find that despite the unceasing play there is this unchanging stillness which could be interpreted as nothing ever really happening.  When we look at the mind we find that while it is aware, we cannot find any particular 'thing' that is actually mind. 

The danger here is that we could come to the conclusion of 'Well, what's the point? Nothing matters, nothing ever happens.  Who cares, it doesn't matter what you do'.  This is very tricky, for we risk becoming nihilists- heartless narcissistic bastards.  Don't do that. 

Self-liberate the antidote means not to get caught up in that experience, don't solidify that experience of emptiness.  Don't fixate on that experience of not finding anything that is truly lasting.

5. Rest in the nature of the alaya, the essence.  

In meditation, we seek to move beyond our coarse level of mind and learn to rest in a more subtle level.  There are eight types of consciousnesses- five sense (sight, hearing, olfactory, taste, touch), conceptual consciousness, emotional consciousness and the alaya, or foundational consciousness.

The idea of resting in the alaya is that we are not supposed to get caught up in the dance of the other seven consciousnesses.  We don't want to follow after all the sights, sounds, smells, feelings and thoughts we are experiencing as we sit in meditation.  Learn to rest in a calm, clear, non-discursive awareness.  As we familiarize with this place of natural rest, free from coming and going, we also familiarize ourselves with ultimate bodhicitta.

It is important to understand that the alaya is not ultimate bodhicitta, but it is a much more subtle level of mind where we can begin to appreciate the qualities and characteristics of the nature of the mind.

Resting in the alaya we can see the dreamlike nature of all phenomena.   Not getting caught up in the dynamic dance of phenomena, we are able to examine the nature of unborn awareness.  Without clinging to that experience we self-liberate even the antidote, which is the empty nature of awareness.  We rest in lucid clarity, the mind open and expansive.  All of this is something that we are not creating in meditation, it becomes self-evident as we continue to sit with the proper instruction.

6.  In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.

At the end of the meditation session, don't just get up and go about your day.  Carry whatever insight or experience you have from meditation into your daily life.  Let it infuse your relationships, your work, your good times and your bad. 

Regard all situations and activities as dreams.  Don't get caught up in the dance.  We need to participate in the dance, we don't really have a choice here.  We cannot be a wallflower in the dance of life.  But as we dance we can adapt, respond; we can lead or follow; show strength or vulnerability.  We can affect the shape and the form the dance takes, a miraculous display that can appear in any way whatsoever. 

Go dancing, be a child of illusion. 

Training in Bodhicitta

The second point in Mind Training concerns the main practice, which is training in bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment.  There are two aspects to bodhicitta, ultimate and relative.  

Ultimate bodhicitta is connected with the perfection of generosity.  It has the quality of openness, not holding anything back.  This is the vision of the Mahayana, that we can be open, that we have a boundless store of love and compassion that can be shared with the world around us.  The opposite of ultimate bodhicitta is the mind that fixates on our own self-interest.  It is a mind that closes in on itself, focusing on 'I' and 'mine' with its attendants of anger, attachment, jealousy and arrogance.  

Also connected with ultimate bodhicitta is the principle of emptiness.  Emptiness refers to the true nature of phenomena and the true nature of our own mind.  When we examine the world around us and even our own minds we find that everything is interconnected, that there is no independent self to be found.  Since all phenomena arise dependently, we can say that they are empty of a truly existing, autonomous self.  Saying that phenomena are empty in their nature does not mean that they do not exist at all, but rather determines the way they exist, which is interdependently.  Once we realize the empty nature of the self, then generosity and compassion arise very naturally because we have nothing to hold onto, nothing to lose.  

We can speak of ultimate bodhicitta in terms of openness and emptiness, but on another level we can relate it to our own buddhanature, or tathatagarbha.  

The tathatagarbha, often translated as the seed of awakening, can be identified with the soft spot in our hearts.  No matter how much armor we put on to try and protect ourselves from all the hurt in the world, there is always this tenderness or vulnerability that is exposed.  Everyone, no matter how callous, jaded or cruel, wants happiness and to be free from suffering.  

In the Uttaratantra-shastra:

If buddhanature were not present, there would be no remorse over suffering;

There would be no longing for peace, nor striving and devotion towards its aim.   

 

The tathatagarbha is innate in all beings.  In our meditation, as we sift through the layers of agitation, dullness, irritation, neurosis and projections, we begin to discover our own basic goodness, this naturally present fullness of being.  It is this process of coming home, an abode of natural peace and rest within.  As we recognize this in our own heart and mind, we can see with our own eyes that awakening is possible.  

 

We can also approach the tathatagarbha on a more subtle level.  Tathata in Sanskrit means suchness, meaning the true nature of reality just as it is, the union of appearance and emptiness.  Garbha can be translated as womb.  In this sense tathatagarbha can be interpreted as the womb of suchness, the true nature of reality and the nature of our own mind that gives birth to the world of samsara and nirvana, bondage and liberation.  We never part from this true nature.  However it manifests, whether as happiness or suffering, we can recognize and abide in this innate buddhanature, the nature of mind.  It is the single sphere, which having never existed as anything whatsoever, can manifest in any way at all.  

 

The Tathagatas, those thus gone to suchness, abide always and forever in the womb of suchness, the nature of mind free from coming and going in which they endlessly carry out the benefit of beings.  

 

Of course, all these words may sound nice, but this is something that must be identified in one's own meditation and not merely left as words.  

Relative bodhicitta is how we carry that experience and insight we gain during meditation into our daily life.  It is the practical application of wisdom and compassion.  Having recognized the capacity for awakening in ourselves, how do we bring that onto the path?  How do we let it infuse our life and work?  

Relative bodhicitta is connected with discipline, how to actually carry out the practice.  Discipline refers to how to actually walk, for without discipline it is like trying to walk the path with no legs.  The way the Buddha taught us to tread the path to enlightenment is through the bodhisattva path, exemplified by the six perfections.  

The slogans on relative bodhicitta are quite simply but also very direct.  They reflect the practicality of the Mahayana path, we should make a lot of effort to recall them in our day especially when we are faced with difficult situations.