Dharma practitioners don't just meditate.

The Buddha's teachings get a lot of press about meditation. A lot of people may even equate the Buddha's teachings with meditation. That's what the Buddha did, right?

The Buddha did not just teach about meditation.

Meditation is a critical step in a much larger process of developing insight and wisdom. The development of wisdom evolves through three phases- study, contemplation and meditation.

When we study, we learn key concepts and principles. We are exposed to ideas and use reason and logic to determine their validity.

Contemplation is the process of building connections, coming at the material from different angles and reflecting on our experience of the teachings we have been studying. Contemplation involves deeper aspects of our mind and heart, often within the sphere of contemplation we will experience flashes of insight or meaning that seem to come from outside our own conjecture.

Meditation is the process of moving beyond concepts and into direct experience. We can talk about what chocolate tastes like, we can compare it to other regional varieties, but at some point we need to actually taste the chocolate. Meditation is a direct experience of the teachings.

We gain a certain type of knowledge and wisdom through study. We gain a different type of knowledge and wisdom through contemplation. The wisdom of meditation is the wisdom of direct experience.

The fundamental problem that all dharma practitioners are trying to resolve is the human condition complete with all of its negative and positive aspects. We as humans experience a lot of pain and suffering. Mental illness runs rampant through our communities affecting both young and old. But we also see great examples of virtues like compassion, generosity and wisdom. As dharma practitioners work to solve this problem, they rely on the process of study, contemplation and meditation. Over and over again, they cycle through these processes, continuously trying to resolve the nature of their own human life, and sharing that wisdom with others.

Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to work with suffering and practice virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they gain wisdom about how to live with suffering and share virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they discover freedom in the midst of suffering and learn how to embody virtue.
Slowly, and tirelessly they learn how to embody virtue and discover freedom in the midst of suffering.

Forging the trail.

We can give people our respect. We can show them unconditional love and kindness. We can be patient and understanding. We can be generous and lend them a hand. We can give them a break, offer them a second chance and let them start over.

Others deserve this. It's something that we can give.

But it's often not enough. Ultimately, it's not something we can give.

You must do the work, the inner work of recognizing your own self-worth and potential. You need to do it for yourself.

You have to do the hard labor of stopping, looking within and resolving the tension in your own heart and mind. You need to look through your own self-deception and confusion.

Others can help us on this journey. They can point the way, offer support and guidance. But we must do the work ourselves.

We must forge the trail through the landscape of our lives.

The thread that holds it together.

A single thread is insignificant. It has little structural integrity and is easy to break. A single thread is unworthy of praise and often goes unnoticed.

A single thread in a weave can bring the whole thing together. It adds strength, form and creates function. If that single thread fails, the whole system can start to fall apart.

We can all find meaningful ways to contribute. Our contribution doesn't need to be the whole cloth. It can be enough to be a single thread that contributes to a larger meaningful purpose.

Becoming.

Becoming is one of the twelve links of dependent origination.  It immediately follows craving and fixation and is part of the larger cycle leading to birth, aging, sickness and death.

The source of becoming lies in suffering, pain and dissatisfaction. Our unresolved condition leads to the experience of a deep satisfaction and the desire to escape that pain and sorrow. Craving and desire gradually build and grow in our mind until we eventually become fixated and attached.

Atttachment can take many forms. We can be attached to physical forms, ideas, perceptions, and routines. We can be fixated on food, habits, mental states or feelings. Anything that we perceive to be a solution to the suffering we are trying to escape.

That attachment gives rise to becoming. Becoming forges new tendencies, new actions (karma!). It becomes the patterning that eventually gives rise to a new life.

We continually cycle through these experiences. Birth isn't just our birth into this life. We are always going through the cycles of birth and death. We enter into new relationships, new jobs, new endeavors. We manifest new aspirations, accomplish new goals.

Birth is the result of becoming. We live hundreds of lifetimes in this one life.

Birth always leads to aging, sickness and death. We eventually grow tired of the way things are. We start to notice the problems and inadequacy of situations. Things start falling apart. The truth of suffering once again becomes apparent in our lives.

The habit that we have is to then start the process of craving and desire all over again. Seeking out a new rebirth. Seeking out a better life.

In our confusion, we cycle again and again.

Primary occupation.

We live in a culture of accomplishment and becoming. We strive for success and recognition. We are told that your title is important and that moving up is a good thing. Each day we try to move more and more to done.

As Dharma practitioners, our primary work is the inner work of coming undone.

We work to loosen the tight knot of rigid beliefs and limiting concepts.
We work to let go of grasping onto our notion of self and our experience.
We work to undo the conditioning of biased perceptions and mistaken notions.
We work to untie the restricting fetters of negative emotions and mental states.
We work to undo the effects of ignorance and dualistic perception.
We work to let go of anger and attachment.
We work to escape from the confines of anxiety and feelings of helplessness.

We peel back layer after layer of our conception of self.
Layer after layer, we come undone.

The result of this work is that we become more open and honest about ourselves and who we are. Being more open and honest with ourselves, we can be more understanding and receptive to others.

Inner work, outer benefit. By doing the work, you benefit yourself. By doing the work, you empower yourself to benefit others. Bringing benefit to others, as a matter of fact, is part of your job description.

Setting the angel free.

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo, perhaps the greatest sculptor of all time, saw the result at the very beginning. The final form may not have been readily apparent and certainly was not fully evident, but there was no doubt that the angel was present in the marble. Michelangelo's practice was simple to remove layer after layer of obscuration, to remove the rough edges and distortion until the angel was set free. 

We might think that this quote is simply referring to a hard chunk of marble, but it is quite profound as it applies to our own practice and awakening. The angel represents our own inner genius, our inherent buddha heart. Maitreya uses a similar analogy from the Uttaratantra:

Suppose an image filled with molten gold inside

but consisting of clay on the outside,

were seen by someone who knows about this gold,

who would then remove the outer covering to purify the inner gold?

After we are introduced to our own buddha heart, introduced to its presence and nature, what choice do we have to remain idle? Who would waste such a precious opportunity and resource?

Having recognized our naturally abiding buddha heart (Skt. tathagatagarbha), the practice is simply to remove layer after layer of negative emotions, perceptual bias and confusion. We refine the rough edges of our intentions and actions. We chisel and carve out habitual tendencies and neurosis. 

The result of our work is that our naturally present buddha heart is made fully evident. Just as when the clouds dissipate in the sky to reveal the qualities of the sun, so too, once we eliminate the obscuring factors of our own inner genius then we can enjoy the qualities and activity of the naturally present result. 

The artist's practice is the set the angel free, to reveal our naturally abiding buddha heart to the world.

But then what? 

That is not the end of the road. The story doesn't simply end there. 

The artist must share her art. 

Art interacts with the world. It is experienced, impacts others, shapes the time and place. Art shifts postures, influences what people value and affects what they choose to engage in. 

Art shapes culture. 

The artist who does their work and brings it out into the world shapes the community of values. It is possible to step out into the world and share generosity, kindness and compassion. Equanimity, insight and selflessness can gain a foothold in our communities. There can be recognized value in chipping away the rough edges. Our communities can recognize the potential of everyone, identifying their inner genius and capacity to refine and reveal their own inner angel. Most of all we can start respecting and appreciating the work and the process. 

We can value the practice of the artist. 

The artist is committed to the practice of revealing the naturally abiding inner genius within. Art not shared is not art at all, so the artist moves into the world where their art interacts with people and the environment. As that art interacts with the world, it shapes values and what we believe to be possible and true. 

Art shapes culture, and it is possible to shape a culture of awakening. A culture that is eager to do the work, eager to show up, ready to be present, and that knows this is what we do here.

The artist always knows, this is what we are here to do.

Pure perception.

དག་སྣང་
Tibetan: dak-nang
English: pure perception

Pure perception is the awakened principle that everything is regarded as the path. All circumstances arise as opportunities for practice. The dharma isn't just something we hear or read, it is our lived experience.

Ordinary perception is our habitual subject-object interpretation of the world. I have control over certain things in my life and other things happen that are simply out of my control. I struggle to reconcile my inner experience with the world at large, and purpose and meaning are driven by ambitions of conquest and control over the outer world. Ordinary perception is characterized by continual struggle and the ever urgent desire to gain a sense of security over our 'place' in the world.

With pure perception, everything is connected as a single mandala. Problems and obstacles are opportunities to practice. Challenging people present as teachers showing you the way to enact the practice.

Fundamentally, the principle of pure perception is gaining control over your experience. The world doesn't happen to you and you are not a victim. You get to choose how to respond. You get to choose whether you apply the teachings into practice, or whether you fall into habitual modes of being.

You get to choose. Awake, or asleep.

How are you going to follow through on your decision?

Culture of awakening.

I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The culture of Green Bay revolves around the Packers. The front page of the Green Bay Press Gazette (which I diligently delivered as a teenager) always talks about the Packers. The community wears Packers gear, talks about the Packers, and responds to how the Packers are doing.

If you don't value the Packer culture, you also don't quite fit in. That doesn't make you bad. The community doesn't reject you, but at some point or another you just move along.

Culture has values. It shapes beliefs and actions. Culture can shift our posture, the way we sit and the way we greet each other. Without having to be spoken, culture says, "This is what we do around here."

Stephen Batchelor coined the phrase culture of awakening. I haven't read any of Stephen's work, but this notion that we do impacts and shapes others is powerful.

The Buddha taught that our intentions and actions shape the world. Our individual thoughts and actions impact our life. When we form communities with others who share our values, we create a culture. Others interact with that culture. They see what people value, how they interact, and what they do.

The culture becomes a contact point for change.

The change that a culture brings isn't always about making a quick impact. It is often more like a resonance or a vibration, something that can be felt minutely at first, but later can shape entire landscapes and tear down walls. 

A culture of awakening isn't about forcing you awake. It is like whispering in your ear, "It's time to get up."