The result of the work.

If our work is to be more present and of service in the world, then we need to change the way we think about the results of our work. We need to change the way we think about accomplishment and achievement for the type of work we are doing- the work of showing up, being present and attentive, striving for human dignity and kindness. The usual measures of success, recognition, promotion, and profits aren't the goals for this type of work, and what our culture sets as the targets of work well done is only going to leave us disappointed and frustrated. 

During the course of a lifelong commitment to this practice, you will realize that there are no shortcuts and that this work that we are doing is hard work. It is difficult to be of service without being destroyed in the act of service. It is challenging to deal with difficult people and maintain our patience and willingness to care. Learning to show up consistently, despite failure, fatigue and conflicting emotions is hard work. 

As we learn the necessary skills and attitudes needed on the path, we start to achieve a sense of being in the world and out of the world, involved in the messiness of life and yet not caught up in the unnecessary struggle. 

We start to learn that we can survive our intense emotional ups and downs, that the day to day is much like the weather, some days are good and some are bad and yet each day we show up and dedicate ourselves to our practice. 

We start to recognize that some things are simply out of our control, that we can strive to be present, compassionate and kind, and that sometimes that is not going to land quite the way we thought it would. 

We start to understand that though we struggle with the meaning and significance of our life, we find there is purpose and benefit to holding something- holding space, holding intention, holding to a daily practice. 

As you endeavor in your practice, over time, you will likely find that the tangible benefits of your practice are hard to identify or remain elusive. However, you will also likely find that the intangible benefits of your practice have led to a profound transformation of your being and identity, bringing a felt sense of joy, ease, and connection. This accomplishment as a result of your practice and hard work transform the world from a battlefield in which you are always struggling into a world in which you always feel at home. 

At home in the world, dedicated to presence, openness and availability, kindness and compassion, committed to showing up for ourselves and for others with a felt sense of joy, ease, and connection, those are some of the ways in which the results of our hard work show up in our life. The accomplishment of the practice is largely a life well lived, the result is the practice itself with nothing more to achieve. 

Lighting up the world.

The other day I was reflecting on one candle lighting another candle. A single candle can light dozens of other candles and nothing is lost in the process. The candle doesn't become weary and doesn't concern itself with the results of lighting other candles. It just lights up the world that it interacts with. That reminded me of this verse by Shantideva:

May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, 

A guide for those who journey on the road.

For those who wish to cross the water, 

May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for land, 

A lamp for those who long for light;

For all who need a resting place, a bed;

For those who need a servant, may I be their slave.

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of wealth,

A word of power and supreme healing,

May I be the tree of miracles,

For every being the abundant cow.

Just like the earth and space itself,

And all the mighty elements,

For boundless multitudes of beings

May I always be the ground of life, the source of varied sustenance.

Thus for everything that lives,

As far as the limits of the sky,

May I be constantly their source of livelihood

Until they pass beyond all sorrow.

A bodhisattva is someone who has made a commitment to waking up in the world in order to better serve and benefit others. The bodhisattva relies on a set of principles that are focused on elevating our individual and collective dignity. Part of the bodhisattvas commitment is making a daily choice to be of benefit to others, not simply ourselves. That daily commitment can take many forms, both in intention and action. A simple way to set your intention for the day is to recite this verse of Shantideva's aspiration prayer for the bodhisattva vow.

The result of your practice is the consummation of your character, your willingness to be the reservoir of presence and dignity in a world that desperately needs more thoughtful, compassionate and caring people. Be the candle, the bridge, the guide. Dedicate the time and energy to learning how to do that so you don't wear yourself thin, but that you can commit to making it a daily practice for the rest of your life. 

Consider giving.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. This holiday season I hope you consider giving to charities as one of the gifts you share. It doesn't need to be much, but every gift matters and opens doors of possibility and hope for others. Here are a few of the charities worth considering:

Feeding America

With the pervasive presence of COVID-19, many families are facing difficulty putting food on the table. There are numerous organizations that have met this challenge, and Feeding America is one of the highest rated and most efficient programs working to connect people with the food they need. You can also enter your zip code to determine local food banks if you want to focus on your community (Food Lifeline for Seattle). Every $1 donation provides ten meals to families in need. 

GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly gives cash to people in need, no strings attached. Studies have shown this to be the most effective way to help the poor and make an impact in their lives. They currently have campaigns in America and Africa to help those in need. Your dollar goes a long way to helping families in Africa, and we also have a pressing need to support those in our own communities across America. 

buildOn

buildOn empowers the youth to serve our country and the world in order to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations. They are a highly rated charity with various programs to help both in America and abroad. A $66 donation supports the education for three children in developing countries.

Charity:water

Charity:water funds clean water projects in developing countries, providing access to clean and safe drinking water. It's easy to overlook to impact clean water makes to our life until we don't have it. Millions of people around the world struggle to procure clean water every day, time that could be used for work or education. 100% of every donation goes to fund clean water projects.

Equal Justice Initiative

The EJI works to end mass incarceration, seeking racial justice and public education to protect basic human rights. EJI has a perfect score of 100 on Charity Navigator, meaning every dollar you donate has maximal impact. 

84,000

84,000 translates all of the Buddha's words into modern language, providing free and open access to all via its online reading room. $250 supports the translation of one page of the Buddha's teachings. Give a little, and then spend some time enjoying their reading room knowing that you are helping to make it happen. 

Buddhist Digital Resource Center

TBRC is dedicating to seeking out, preserving and sharing Buddhist texts through technology. For over twenty years they have been seeking out the hardcopies of texts and then scanning them into a digital format. I have been using their online library for over ten years to translate various texts, all of which are made freely available to translators and academic institutions. Projects like 84,000 and other Buddhist publications rely heavily on their work. 

There are a hundreds of other important charities to support. GiveWell provides a list of charities that make the most impact per dollar. Charity Navigator is a useful resource for evaluating charities and assessing the impact that they provide. 

Money is not the only gift you can share this holiday season. Our communities are in desperate need of kindness, patience, and giving each other a break. A smile goes a long way, but in a world where we often cannot see others smile, looking someone in the eye and being present for them can be a gift we can all aspire to share. 

Hallmark of the Buddha's teachings.

There are many benefits to meditation- increased attention and self-awareness, decreased reactivity to negative thoughts and emotions, the ability to manage and self-regulate strong emotions, and the ability to work with difficult situations in our life. Each of these benefits is significant and important for developing a healthy mind and for being self-reliant in a challenging world.

The Buddha's teachings rely heavily on meditation, but it is insight into the true nature of your mind that is really the hallmark of the wisdom of the Buddha. The Buddha saw that the key to changing our minds and living a life of great purpose was tied to realizing emptiness or selflessness, or the interconnectedness of all things. This insight into selflessness fundamentally changes our perspective of who we are and the nature of the world around us.

The experience of emptiness or selflessness is not one of loss. It is not a blank void. It is not an experience of aloneness or meaninglessness. The realization of emptiness is also the realization of interconnectedness, which is the experience of fullness. There are many signs that we may experience upon realizing this wisdom of emptiness, such as awe, connection, love, openness, oneness, ineffability. There wisdom itself is utterly beyond description because it is beyond the confines of 'this' or 'that', and 'it is' or 'it is not'.

Even a glimpse of selflessness gives rise to more openness and empathy. Openness encompasses appreciation and receptivity, creativity and imagination, as well as tolerance of others opinions and values. That openness gives rise to more empathy and compassion for others. It engenders kindness, generosity and love for others as we move about our day.

The benefit of realizing the wisdom of selflessness is that it awakens our heart and mind and gives our life a sense of direction and purpose. We can navigate the world with a broader perspective and find space for reconciliation and resolution. All of the problems in the world, all of the conflict, opposition, contradictions; they all arise from taking rigid and confined positions based on our own perspective. Selflessness opens the door to a more inclusive and integrated understanding of the world around us and our place in it. 

There are many benefits to meditation, but the benefits of insight and wisdom into our true nature are even more significant and impactful. They bring benefit not only to our own life, but to the communities and neighborhoods in which we live.

Give yourself the gift of your practice.

"What am I going to get out of this?"

My Qiqong teacher Kim Ivy was posed this question recently. The beginner wants to have a glimpse of the promised result. They want to know that what they are doing is going to be of benefit. Most likely, they want to get rid of the fear of being a beginner and feeling awkward about what they are doing. Most of us feel enough insecurity and uncertainty as it is, why put ourselves in situations that expose our insecurities?

You might practice yoga, qiqong, meditation or any other form of the internal arts. Each of these benefits our body and mind, improves our health and prolongs our longevity. Each of these encourages a sense of well being, and that might be all that you need to get out of them.

My experience has been that our bodies and mind as largely a mystery to us. You notice this most when you are sick or endure an injury, the question of "How do I get better?" becomes paramount. Even in otherwise healthy states we still experience weird sensations in our bodies, our minds run scripts we can't seem to shake, and we feel a sense of dissatisfaction and unease. Sit still for a moment in meditation and you might notice just how uncomfortable you are in your own body- shifting your leg, scratching an itch, straightening your neck.

We often feel at odds against ourselves.

The curious thing about practices like yoga, qiqong and meditation is that they train you to look at your experience. They teach you, slowly, to not react to what is coming up in your experience. They expose imbalances and resistance, teaching you how to correct and find balance. Interestingly enough, you learn not to fight your body and mind, but how to work with your body and mind.

Over time, we learn to be friends with ourselves. We learn to be comfortable in our own skin. Being more accepting of ourselves, we can be more present and available for others. Instead of protecting ourselves and hiding our insecurities, we learn to stand with dignity in openness and vulnerability. Like a child learning to walk and falling often, we can learn to walk through the world with this type of posture. Of course we too will fall, and that is why we always come back to our practice.

Learning to check in with yourself, to look into the great mystery of our body and mind, and to gain some understanding of the complexity of this human life- this is one of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves.

It is also one of the greatest gifts that we can share with the world.

Get comfortable with not knowing what you are going to get out of this. Give yourself the gift of showing up and simply devoting yourself to the practice of self-discovery.

You might be surprised at what you find.

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.

Who is we?

The great practitioner of virtue dedicates their practice to the benefit of others, but who are the others?

Who is we?

Is it your family, your tribe, your community?
Is it your supporters and sponsors?
Is the circle of we really the circle of you?

We is everyone. All beings, everywhere. Those with you and those against you. Those you agree with and those you don't.

That is the basis of dedication.

You don't need to agree with everyone or align with their position. You don't need to condone wrong views or tolerate injustice.

You should wish all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness, that they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. All beings, everyone.

That is the basis. That is the common ground. That is a starting point for change.

Say yes.

What do a barista, a stranger on the bus, a teacher, a lawyer and a designer all have in common?

They can all be practicing virtue.

They can be patient, generous, compassionate and kind. They can act fairly, justly, without bias or discrimination. They can share insight and experience, share tidbits of wisdom and joy.

When we interact with those whose path is one of all-embracing virtue, we encounter a certain honesty and truthfulness. It feels right, genuine.

They often have a freedom and joy about them. They exhibit a natural grace and ease, a sense of lightheartedness.

As they move through the world, every encounter is one of mutual sharing and exchange. There is a directness free from the baggage of strong emotions, projections or bias. They interact with others in a way that the chains of confusion are broken and the cycle of anger is interrupted, even if only for a moment.

So how do we carry that virtue into our lives?

Say yes to whatever is coming up.

You could be faced with a problem that you would rather not deal with. Opportunities could present themselves, do you take them or not? A stranger might ask you something, or maybe a friend. You will have to interact with someone you really don't like that much.

Don't push it away. Don't get overly excited and enraptured by it. Say yes, acknowledge it, and see where it leads.

Be willing to interact with things as they are.

Some things play themselves out, unravel and wither away. Some evolve and open up into something else altogether.

The play of interdependence is beyond the mind. We can't say for certain what will happen. Our own decisions, connections and propensities create a world that is uniquely our own. It can be challenging to carry that experience into the world around us to effect change, make a difference or to benefit others.

Simply engaging in the formless practice of all-embracing virtue,
we can meet with the world and our experience as it is,
and bring about benefit in ways that we could have never imagined.

That is how all-embracing virtue creates inconceivable benefit. 

Knowing is not enough.

A treasure buried under the earth.
Honey encassed in a beehive.
A healing medicine.

If you don't know these exist, they are of no benefit to you. If you know they exist, but sit back and do nothing, they are also of no value to you.

You must dig out the treasure. You must carefully extract the honey. You must take the medicine.

Knowing is not enough. It's a start, but you need to act and you need to put in the effort. 

Effort is what makes the treasure useful. Effort is what allows you to enjoy the honey. Effort is what eliminates your pain and sorrow. 

An open door.

The greatest gift that we can often give others is to simply be present and to listen.  We don't need to fix, provide solutions, or rush in with all of our own energy. Simply witness, understand, and remain open to whatever is coming up.  

When we can truly listen, without judgement or bias, without shutting down or turning away, then we can truly be of benefit. We can hear what they need, and they might feel comfortable enough tell you.

The door is always open.   

What do you need to do?

What do you need to do to be of benefit to others?

Learn more?
Master a craft?
A better position?

Those are all things you can do.  Get started.

What about being less busy, less distracted?
Dealing with your own hesitation or fear?
Being more available or attentive?
Being present?
More understanding?

All things you can work on.  Get started.

What if you are feeling inadequate?
What if you are not good enough?

Then you need to learn to sit with yourself.  Be patient and listen.

Once you can do that for yourself, you can do it for others.  

The power of bodhicitta.

Being clear, it gives us direction.
Being stable, it manifests in various ways.
Being expansive, it is present.
Being formless, it gives shape to our life.
Benefiting many, it fulfills our aims.
Benefiting oneself, it accomplishes the aims of others.

Stop!

Stop looking for approval.  Stop waiting for affirmation.  Stop listening for consent.  Stop looking for signs of success.  Stop waiting for others to grant you accomplishment.

Your selfish concerns benefit no one, not even you.

Don't wait for permission.

Rely on initiative and generosity to secure the benefit of others.

Rely on your practice to secure your own benefit.

You know what you need to do.

INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCE

I watched an interesting TED talk the other day by David Eagleman about how we experience the world.  David and his team are doing breakthrough research for deaf people using technology to allow deaf people to actually hear.  It's pretty amazing stuff what they are doing.   

In his talk he mentions the German word umvelt, which means the surrounding world.  David argues that our experience is constrained by our sense perception and that the reality that we experience is defined by the limits of our sense organs.  He also talks about what would happen if we use technology to increase our sensory experience, such as being able to directly perceive UV light or infrared light.

Would that increase in sensory experience expand our umvelt?  Would it lead to a more expansive experience of the world?

Surely.  Without a doubt.

But how does that actually benefit us?

When I was in college, me and my roommate got in a heated discussion with one of his friends about the use of LSD or other psychoactive drugs.  The basis of his argument was that our brain is wired to only experience reality a certain way and by taking drugs you could expand that experience and presumably gain something in the experience.

Is it our experience of reality that limits us?

It is without a doubt in my mind that we could experience more, indefinitely so.  We could experience an expanded visual consciousness, a wider auditory consciousness, a more subtle olfactory and taste consciousness, and a much more discerning perception of touch.  We could do all of those things.

All of this is based on the assumption that we have insufficient data or information, and that insufficiency limits us.  It limits our experience and our experience equals...what does more experience equal?

More experience could equal more humility, more awe and insight.  I think that is really the hope.  But truly, more experience usually equals more ego.  What if we could become like the gods and know all?  How marvelous would we be?  Our amazing experience would mean that we are amazing.  The significance of everything that we experience would translate to our lives being significantly significant.  We would find our lives meaningful.  Having experienced EVERYTHING, our lives would be fulfilled.  Maybe we would even finally feel satiated.

What really limits our experience is that we crave experience for our own sake.  Then we fixate on that experience of reality as true, having experienced it ourselves.

Craving and ignorance, those are our real inadequacies.

Craving keeps us in a cycle of consumption.  Ignorance fixates on me and mine.  Neither are fulfilling.  Both constrict our experience.   


 



 

In search of meaning.

Tibetan: དོན་ 'don'
English: meaning, purpose, function, benefit, significance, substance, truth

Many of us struggle to find meaning in what we do.  We spend our days in busyness and distraction, propelled by to-do lists and deadlines.  We have this sense that we need to find meaning by doing something, accomplishing something. 

We ascribe a lot of meaning to little things that come and go, but that meaning doesn't really stick around too long.  We push to the finish and enjoy a moment of achievement, but that achievement lacks the substance to fulfill a greater purpose or meaning. 

We all have a relative experience of meaning in our lives, the meaning that we ascribe to our work, to our family and friends, to the places we live and the places we love to visit.  But what is truly meaningful? 

I would like to think that it is impacting another life.  Leaving an imprint, bringing about transformation, causing a shift in that person's continuum.  If that were the case, the meaning of our life and work is truly established in others.  They are the carriers, the holders, the substance.  They have names and faces and stories.  Some you have known for moments, some for ages. 

The hard part of finding what is truly meaningful is that you never really know.  You never really know how you have impacted others, how your generosity and kindness has shaped them.  You can never be sure, but you do it anyway. 

Hoping that what you are doing is meaningful is selfish, fear that it is insignificant is also selfish.  Free from hope and fear, genuinely pursue connecting with and benefiting others and the work you do will have substance. 

Action.

What is the origin of our universe?  Was it created by a god?  Was there a big bang?  How did it come to be?

The Buddha taught that worlds arise and collapse due to action, or karma.  They arise dependently, not independently.  They arise and fall continuously, without beginning and without end. 

Within each of those worlds, infinite worlds unfold.  There is no limit to space, no center and no border.  Within the macro there is micro, and within the micro you will find macro.  These infinite worlds interact in endless ways such that where one starts and the other ends is indeterminate. 

And yet we feel trapped.  We feel trapped in our situation.  Our world feels stuck and static, like a prison.  What binds us is our habitual tendencies, negative emotions and thought patterns.  We are bound by erroneous views and biased perception.

There are those on the path whose sole motivation is to break free from this cycle.  They want out, they want it to be done. 

Then there are others who see that we can create something else. 

Our actions create the world and influence innumerable worlds.  Our path becomes one in which benefiting others and unlocking their own insight fulfills our path of awakening.  Our particular situation is not seen as a prison, but as an opportunity for awakening.  It is our naturally formed world in which we can enact benefit, in which we have potential to impact others.

And yet, neither here nor there, nor anywhere, have any of these worlds ever truly existed for a moment.    

Worldly concerns.

The Tibetan for 'worldly' is འཇིག་རྟེན་ 'jigten'.

'jig means perishable, breaks down, disintegrates.
rten means to support or rely upon.

What we consider worldly concerns are concerns that rely upon that which is perishable, that which breaks down and disintegrates.  Why concern yourself with that which is perishable?  Why invest so much time and effort in that which is invariably going to fall apart?

Gain or loss.
Praise or blame.
Fame or insignificance.
Happiness or suffering.

Don't concern yourself with them.  Instead focus on acting on the causes of happiness and eliminating the causes of suffering.  Focus on generosity, kindness and compassion.  Focus on being patient and sincere.  Focus on connections and interactions that don't have a limit, focus on benefiting others.  

That transcends the world.  It is beyond this world.  It is supramundane and it can be part of your day.   

Buddha.

སངས་རྒྱས་
Tib. Sangyey
English: Buddha

The Tibetan sangs means purified, cleared away, awakened.
Purified misconduct, divisive speech, and negative mental states.
Cleared away bad habits, erroneous perception and mistaken ideas.
Awakened from the darkness of ignorance, from the dullness of sleep, to the truth.

The Tibetan rgyas means to flourish, to spread, to share.

A Buddha is someone who has done the hard work of purifying negativity, clearing away obscurations and waking themselves up.  That is the root of their practice. 

But doing that is not enough to be a Buddha.  You have to share it.  You have to give.  You need to share love, give gifts that matter, and do the hard work of connecting with and benefiting others.  That is the essence of their practice.

Buddha is just a name.  It is a title.  It is the meaning behind the name and the title that is profound.  It is not something given, it is something earned.  Something you are.

You can do it.

Part of our family.

There are those who care and those who don't.

Don't worry about those who don't care, treat them with respect and kindness and let them go there way.  Respect your own time and energy.

Those who care are like your own family.  They show up, do the work.  They push through resistance because what other choice do we have?  Pour your energy and time into strengthening the network, on impacting their lives and offering your support.  Benefit others, contribute value and the whole community benefits.  

We all want to be part of a family that cares, that takes a chance on being generous and kind.  Such a family experiences true wealth, or ratna, and they are crazy enough to want to share it with others.   

Focus on your practice.

I think we all want to live purposeful lives.  We want our lives to have meaning and be of value.  We want to share our gifts with the world and to benefit others, but how do we do that?

For most of us our gifts are not readily apparent, and if they are we often don't know how to share them.  We often don't know how to coordinate our work, relationships, our families.  We may find ourselves making either/or decisions- family or career, push ahead or give up, succeed or fail.

How do we bring all of this onto the path?

Focus on your practice.

When you focus on your practice, your relationships benefit and are included in your practice.
When you focus on your practice, your work benefits and is included in your practice.
When you focus on your practice, your family benefits and is included in your practice.
When you focus on your practice, your problems and stress are included in your practice and become catalysts of your path.

Clarify your practice, and your practice clarifies you.
Experience value in your practice, and you experience your own value.
Discover the meaning of your practice, and discover your own meaning.

So what is your practice?

Do not take this question lightly.  Find it, clarify it, and everything else falls into place.