Wisdom and compassion

As we train in openness, we learn to dance with fear.

We learn to work with fixation, with where we are stuck.
We learn to shed light on our doubt and uncertainty.
We see where we are holding onto a ground, protecting ourselves.
We become more tolerant, more willing to hang with discomfort.
We are raw, exposed, vulnerable.

As we break through fixation, grasping and vulnerability,
we open up to the wisdom of selflessness.

Abiding in the wisdom of selflessness,
one knows peace of mind, an inner calm and wealth.

There is a bit of a danger that one could become attached to that state of peaceful quiescence,
which is why it is important to practice compassion.

Compassion gives the wisdom of selflessness form.
It gives you direction, a strong posture.

Compassion is not pity, it is not "Oh, that poor thing."
Compassion is responsive.  It is dynamic.
It can be peaceful or fierce, but it is always for the sake of benefiting others.

As we act, we are prone to fear.
We are stepping out of the peace and calm, moving forward into uncertainty and fear.

It is definitely easier not to act, to stay with what you know and let others do the work.
Which is why we continue to practice openness, the union of wisdom and compassion.

"I don't know what to do".

Which is why you practice.

To sit with uncertainty, fear and frustration.
To not get overwhelmed by waves of anger and fatigue.
To maintain openness, even a possibility of openness.
To practice patience when it no longer seems possible.
To push on when you feel like giving up.

You might not know what to do, and that is okay. 

You don't need to know the right answer for what you are up against.  Persevering in your practice might be the only answer available. 

Inconceivable virtue.

Practice patience in such a way that you never give up the practice of helping others.

This is not easy.

You will be tired.  You will hit a wall.  You will be frustrated and drawn out.  You will be skinned and quartered.  You will give your eyes and ears, your blood and tears.  You will give your heart.  

And you will persist.  Your practice will carry you forward free from harm.  Such a practice is inconceivable.

And it is possible. 

A world of difference.

The person seeking there own freedom and happiness is constantly at odds with the world around them.  Karma and dependent origination serve as a burden, a constant reminder of entrapment in this unceasing wheel of life.  Fear exists at every corner, constant threats are always presenting themselves and our own well being is always in a precarious position.

For the person seeking the freedom and happiness of others, everything in the world around them is an opportunity.  Karma and dependent origination reveal a deep connection with the world and all beings.  This connection allows for responsiveness- impact and growth.  There is a natural freedom and ease, because this thing that is happening, this struggle, this problem, this seeming end- it's not permanent nor lasting. 

Yes, karma and dependent origination reveal a wheel that just keeps going. 

But so do we. 

The way of the bodhisattva.

Alert.
Attentive.
Calm and composed.
Generous.
Insightful.
Responsive.
Patient.
Undaunted, persisting amidst fatigue.
Empathetic and compassionate, they think about the needs of others and strive diligently to bring them happiness and joy.  

Free from the attachment of holding some close and others distant, they wholeheartedly wish to establish all beings in health, happiness and well being.

They are like a father and mother for the world. 

The white-glove test.

You probably all remember cleaning as a child.  I do.  Do you remember dusting, thinking that everything was clean and tidy, only to have your mother or father come along and point out dust you hadn't noticed?

How about your house now?  I am willing to bet it looks pretty good, but would it stand up to the white-glove test?

Our minds are quite the same way.  We keep our standard routines in place to feel like we have our act together.  We eat healthy, exercise, get enough rest.  We enjoy expressing gratitude and sharing our gifts with the world.  We look and feel pretty good about ourselves.  We are actually really down to earth, good natured people.  

And then you sit down to meditate for ten minutes maintaining the discipline not to move.  The white-glove test.  What is really going on in our heads?

Most likely they are busy and restless.  Thoughts, projects, conversations and memories race across our minds like a proverbial dust storm.  We notice our minds chasing and grasping at all sorts of things- feelings, perceptions, sensations, appearances. 

Intense.

Of course it is up to you to decide what to do with this information.  You could let the dust be and see what happens, pretend its not there and hope no one notices.  You could wait around, hoping that maybe someone else will do the dirty work for you.  You could also get to work and start cleaning your own house. 

Up to you. 

Out wandering.

Our minds drift all day and all night.  We scroll down through status updates looking for something interesting.  Click from video to video looking for the next laugh.  We like to be entertained and there is no limit to the entertainment available.

Until we get bored with being entertained.

Then we might go for a run, read a book, go shopping, bake some cookies.  Our mind will lead us off in all kinds of directions.  It is so easy to stay busy these days, some of us even use it as a catch-all for our day, "It was busy."

We might look for a new job, a different career, a new house.  What if we renovated instead?  We could move stuff around, do it another way.

So restless.

Why are we so restless?  What is this wandering mind really looking for?  Is it just another tasty treat or fun experience?  What is it?

It is hard to say what exactly you are looking for, I surely can't speak for you, but I think what all of our minds are looking for are to be in tune with our heart.  If our hearts don't know what we want or what we are looking for, our minds wander aimlessly looking for something to connect with.

If our hearts know what is true, what is meaningful and worthwhile, then our minds can focus on what needs to be done.  We can focus on our practice, whatever form that takes.

Homage to the nature of mind.

དཔལ་ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།

གདོད་མའི་མགོན་པོ་ཡོན་ཏན་གང་ཆེན་མཚོ།

མཁྱེན་བརྩེའི་རང་བཞིན་གཏིང་མཐའ་དཔག་ཡས་ཤིང།

རྒྱལ་བ་རྒྱལ་སྲས་ཡིད་བཞིན་འབྱུང་བའི་གནས།

ཕན་བདེའི་སྤྲིན་ཕུང་འཕྲོ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།

འོད་གསལ་ཆོས་སྐུ་དྲི་མེད་རྒྱལ་བའི་ཁམས།

མ་རིག་འཛིན་པས་སྲིད་པ་འདིར་འཁྱམས་ཏེ།

ལས་དང་ཉོན་མོངས་མྱང་མ་ཐང་དཀྱིལ་དུ།

དུབ་པའི་སེམས་ཉིད་དེ་རིང་ངལ་གསོ་བྱ།

NAMO SHRI SAMANTABHADRA!

I pay homage to the primordial Lord, an immense ocean of precious qualities,

Whose depths of natural wisdom and compassion are beyond measure.

This wish-fulfilling jewel of the Victorious One’s and their spiritual heirs,

Gives rise to cumulus clouds of happiness and benefit for all.

The luminous clarity of the stainless dharmakaya is our own buddhanature.

Through fixation and not recognizing our own awareness, we wander in states of becoming.

Exhausted and wearied by karma and negative emotions,

Today, may we find rest in the nature of mind.

~Longchen Rabjam

From the Semnyi Ngalso

What does fearlessness look like?

It looks like loving-kindness.
Like patience and an open presence.

It is someone who continues to show up.
Someone doing the work, pushing themselves.

It sounds like someone who isn't quitting,
who isn't complaining or shifting the blame.

Being fearless isn't easy.  It is incredibly hard.  There are battles everywhere, on a daily basis.

But those battles aren't with the world, they are battles that are fought on the inside.  Battles with hope and fear, pain and discontentment.  Battles with your feelings and your perceptions.  Battles with your mind.

But the fearless warrior keeps fighting, because they know the battle is worth it.  Their practice shows them that it is possible, it provides them with a ground which they can trust. 

Stick with your practice, we need your inspiration. 

Setting sun mentality.

As the sun sets we have a tendency to get our things in order, to settle in and make ourselves comfortable.  We might grab a drink, start a fire (or a movie), reach for our book or tuck in our loved ones.

Establishing a state of comfort and rest is important.  And necessary.

As the sun rises we might get up, meditate, get ready for the day, grab breakfast and our coffee and move with deliberate intention.  The day ahead is ours to make, we have much to do and today is the only day I have to do it.

Establishing a state of responsibility and enthusiasm is important.  And necessary.

When we approach our days in this way, we are balanced and in harmony with the world around us.  We run into conflict when we try to alter this balance.

How does your day go, when from the moment the sun rises you are looking for a state of comfort and rest?  What happens when conflict or problems arise in your morning and disturb your pleasure?

Too often we set out at the beginning of our day with the intention, "I hope today is an easy day".  This is a setting sun mentality and we will only encounter obstacles and problems on our path.  What we do not realize is that we are actually the creator of our problems, because our intention at the beginning of the day is to already start preparing for sunset. 

Start your day with the right intention.  That intention is to take responsibility, maintain your discipline and to benefit others. 

Very simple.  Hard to do, but I trust you. 

How to tame a horse.

Our minds are much like a wild horse.  It is unpredictable, hard to manage, often uncooperative and at times even dangerous.  It is also beautiful and needs to be respected.

Our minds are often left to wander and run wild, to do whatever they please.  Very few of us have really spent any significant time or energy to tame our minds, to render them serviceable and attentive.  In order to train the mind, there are a couple simple rules we can follow:

1. The initial approach.
You will find that when you first sit down to attempt to train and tame the mind it is quite agitated and restless.  This is normal.  Be patient and have compassion.  It has been habituated to running freely, is probably a little skittish and doesn't fully know how to rest with the confidence and ease of a well trained mind.  Your experience and confidence will grow as you become accustomed to this type of work.

2. Be a strong leader.
Your mind probably won't do what you want it to do right away, so you need to direct it again and again back to its focal point.  This is called mindfulness.  It is normal for the mind to act up, to stray and get excited, your job is to remain alert and maintain the discipline that the training requires, this is called vigilance.

3. Making the transition.
Initially the corrections that are required during training will require a lot of effort.  As the training progresses these corrections become much more subtle.  At some point wandering triggers an automatic reflex that auto-corrects itself such that there is no straying, this is when you enter the phase of effortless training.  While mindfulness may have entered into the effortless mode, it is still crucially important that you maintain vigilance, lest the entire training unravel and the horse makes a run for it.   There is nothing quite so embarrassing as thinking that you have a well trained horse, only to find them in the neighbors pasture the next morning.

4.  Setting out to work, with an attentive, trained horse.
A well trained mind never wavers from its discipline.  It is attentive, confident and relaxed.  It is patient and willing to bear considerable burden.  With such a vehicle, you can definitely accomplish your own aims, and you can passionately work to benefit others.

A change in posture.

What we tell ourselves influences our posture.

'I am tired'- our shoulders slouch, we need to sit down.
'I am not tired'- we stand tall, push ahead despite the fatigue.
'I can't do this'- looking for any reason, no matter how small, to duck out.
'I am a frog'- well, we can hop around all day but let's face it, that's simply just not true.

So what if we tell ourselves we love to be generous, to make connections that matter and to bring value to the communities in which we live and work?  What does that posture look like? 

It might look like an open, outstretched hand. 

Is it true?

Well, that is up to you. 

Repaying our mother's kindness.

Our own mother,
fed us, clothed us, nurtured us.
She treated our ailments, soothed our wounds.
She gave to us consummate with our needs,
and gave even more consummate with our wants.
She tirelessly worked for our benefit,
even when she was not around,
she was still working for our benefit.
Our mothers have shown us incredible kindness,
a kindness that often never received a 'thank you'.
As children this may have been acceptable,
but as adults we must recognize our own mother's suffering.
We must witness her struggles, her pain and her worries.
She is often tired and alone, age slowly wearing down her strength.
Our love for our mother should fill our heart,
giving birth to a strong intention to relieve her suffering
and to bring happiness and joy to her life.
We should assist her in her health, help her with her wounds.
With a wholehearted resolve, we should generate the intention to repay her kindness.
And we should act on that intention.

Our own Mother Earth,
fed us, clothed us, nurtured us.
She has been the source of all,
giving to us consummate with our needs,
and giving even more consummate with our wants.
She has tirelessly given for our own benefit,
even when we do not recognize her influence,
still she has been there, blessing us with her bounty.
Mother Earth has shown us incredible kindness,
a kindness that often never received a 'thank you'.
As children, this may have been acceptable,
but as adults we must recognize Mother Earth's own suffering.
We must witness her breaking down, her exhaustion.
She is often neglected and abused, worn thin by our greed.
Our love for Mother Earth should fill our hearts,
giving birth to a strong intention to relieve her suffering
and to bring her a state of peace and well being.
We should assist her in her health, help heal her wounds.
With a wholehearted resolve, we should generate the intention to repay her kindness.
And we should act on that intention.

Our own herds of cattle and oceans of fish,
fed us, clothed us, nurtured us.
They have been the source of so much for our benefit,
giving to us consummate with our needs,
and giving even more consummate with our wants.
They have tirelessly given for our benefit,
even when we do not recognize their influence,
still they are there working for our benefit.
All these cattle and fish have shown us incredible kindness,
a kindness that often never received a 'thank you'.
As children, this may have been acceptable,
but as adults we must recognize animals own suffering.
We must witness them breaking down in exhaustion.
They are often neglected and abused, overly fed by our greed.
Love for these animals should fill our hearts,
giving birth to a strong intention to relieve their suffering
and bring them to a state of peace and well being.
We should assist them in achieving a state of health,
help to heal the wounds of the system.
With a wholehearted resolve, we should generate the intention to repay their kindness.
And we should act on that intention.

Our own communities,
fed us, clothed us, nurtured us.
They have been the source of all our benefit,
giving to us consummate with our needs,
and giving even more consummate with our wants.
They have tireless given for our benefit,
even when we do not recognize their influence,
still they are there working for our benefit.
These communities have shown us incredible kindness,
a kindness that often never received a 'thank you'.
As children, this may have been acceptable,
but as adults we must recognize the communities own suffering.
We must witness it breaking down and being abused.
It is often neglected and spread thin by our selfish greed.
Love for our communities should fill our hearts,
giving birth to a strong intention to relieve its suffering
and bringing it to a state of peace and well being.
We should assist in bringing it to a state of health,
helping to heal its wounds and increasing its bounty.
With a wholehearted resolve, we should generate the intention to repay its kindness.
And we should act on that intention.

We, as a society, have acted like children for far too long.  We have taken all that we have wanted and never felt compelled to give back.  Now is the time to recognize the gifts that we have been given, to respect those who have been the source of these gifts, and to start repaying their kindness with our own gifts.  Now is the time to act. 

Time to get to work.