What if your ordinary life were to become extraordinary?
What if it were possible to live your everyday life, just as it is, such that it displays great purpose and meaning. It is possible? Could you do it?
The great practitioners of the past found that the key was to work with light and darkness. Light- in the form of our values, aspirations and ideals. Darkness- in the form of our pain, sorrow, challenges and obstacles.
The essence of a good practitioner and a doorway to discovering purpose and meaning is to get the shadows right. This is why it is so important to spend time and attention studying and contemplating dukkha and the human condition. Dukkha is extremely important because it gives our life perspective, without which our life would be ill defined and lifeless. Dukkha is the way in which life takes its form. To contemplate dukkha is to fully understand who we are, our place in the world, and to recognize the troubles that we all face as we learn to make our way forward.
Life cannot be understood in its details without understanding dukkha.
We often look to the light to find purpose and meaning. We look to the heavens as if hope is the way. Yet time and again, it is those who have wrestled with their own being who give rise to true freedom of expression. We must look into our own flesh, our own open sores and wounds to find what is true.
As our awareness of our own condition deepens, we naturally begin to empathize with others. As we are able to develop more equanimity towards our own condition, we start to recognize the equality of all beings in this world.
Perhaps the proof is that we can mimic the practice of others and yet still remain unchanged. Their practice doesn't reflect our lived experience. The infinite varieties of which life can take shape do not allow for a one-size-fits-all solution. You must look within. The key lies in you.
Praise the light. Rejoice in its presence and proclaim its virtue. But tend to the darkness, sit with it, acknowledge it. As you learn to be more accommodating with the pain and discontentment of your own condition, you will be able to carry that openness and ease into the world and bring benefit to others.
Working with the light reveals the possibility before you. Working with darkness enables you to step into and occupy that space. When you can do that, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Clarify your practice. Let your practice clarify you.
Showing posts with label darkness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label darkness. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2018
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Time to heal.
We are sick. Divided.
This infection runs deep. Much deeper than we expected, certainly more than we would like to acknowledge.
It doesn't look good. We don't feel good. Our future is uncertain.
We sit, alone in the darkness, wondering how this could happen. To us.
Alone, grasping for any words than may grant a moment of solace.
Alone. In the darkness.
People rarely talk about their experience conversing with death. They don't like to acknowledge the possibility themselves, so it is often too awkward to talk about it with others. Yet, one who is conversant with death knows one thing to be true.
Make being alone and in the darkness your friend.
This space, this 3am empty world, with its shadows and resonant hum is often your only home. It may often manifest as torment in all its variety, but it is yours and you make of it what you will.
Make friends with it. Make friends with your own mind.
It is in this space that you will discover what you need to continue to push forward. It is here, that you discover how to be healthy when you know a cure is not possible.
We are sick, but we are not going to turn our lives over to this sickness. Our future is uncertain, but for now, we sit in darkness.
This infection runs deep. Much deeper than we expected, certainly more than we would like to acknowledge.
It doesn't look good. We don't feel good. Our future is uncertain.
We sit, alone in the darkness, wondering how this could happen. To us.
Alone, grasping for any words than may grant a moment of solace.
Alone. In the darkness.
People rarely talk about their experience conversing with death. They don't like to acknowledge the possibility themselves, so it is often too awkward to talk about it with others. Yet, one who is conversant with death knows one thing to be true.
Make being alone and in the darkness your friend.
This space, this 3am empty world, with its shadows and resonant hum is often your only home. It may often manifest as torment in all its variety, but it is yours and you make of it what you will.
Make friends with it. Make friends with your own mind.
It is in this space that you will discover what you need to continue to push forward. It is here, that you discover how to be healthy when you know a cure is not possible.
We are sick, but we are not going to turn our lives over to this sickness. Our future is uncertain, but for now, we sit in darkness.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Innate wisdom.
We all have innate wisdom.
It is the wisdom that knows something is not right. That something is out of place or unjust. We feel it, see it directly. It might give rise to clear thoughts or intentions, it may not.
Innate wisdom knows that pain is not our natural condition. It knows that these feelings, this anger and aversion, is not our natural state.
We are not the storm. This tumult is not who we are. This disease is not intrinsic to us.
Amidst confusion, there is innate wisdom illuminating the darkness.
We need to trust this.
If we trust the pain, the confusion, and the anguish, then we will be crushed.
If we trust our innate wisdom, then pain, confusion and anguish become workable.
If we trust violence and hatred they will tear our life, family and communities apart.
If we trust our innate wisdom, then our communities can heal.
We have an opportunity available to us, we see it, we know it directly. We need to trust what are hearts are already telling us it true.
This is not who we are. This is not our natural condition.
Wisdom opens a path to healing.
It is the wisdom that knows something is not right. That something is out of place or unjust. We feel it, see it directly. It might give rise to clear thoughts or intentions, it may not.
Innate wisdom knows that pain is not our natural condition. It knows that these feelings, this anger and aversion, is not our natural state.
We are not the storm. This tumult is not who we are. This disease is not intrinsic to us.
Amidst confusion, there is innate wisdom illuminating the darkness.
We need to trust this.
If we trust the pain, the confusion, and the anguish, then we will be crushed.
If we trust our innate wisdom, then pain, confusion and anguish become workable.
If we trust violence and hatred they will tear our life, family and communities apart.
If we trust our innate wisdom, then our communities can heal.
We have an opportunity available to us, we see it, we know it directly. We need to trust what are hearts are already telling us it true.
This is not who we are. This is not our natural condition.
Wisdom opens a path to healing.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Fear and the Ladder.
Fear is a pretty primal instinct. We all have it. It is almost always there in its various shades of darkness. We fear our loss of friends, loved ones, status or wealth. We fear loss of face. We definitely fear our own death.
Our natural instinct is to try to insulate ourselves from fear. To build up our comfort zone and a nice cushion. That is our conquest, whether it is the fear of our present discomfort and discontentment or the fear of death itself. In vain that conquest often takes the form of an attempt to conquer nature and the outer world.
That is where the ladder comes in (and the habit of selfishness).
We think if we climb higher we can actually insulate ourselves from fear. If we can work our way up, get promoted, find a better job, make more money or achieve a certain status, then we won't be so vulnerable to fear and states of loss. We won't be so vulnerable to death.
It is our core belief that attaining higher states of existence will free us.
That is a pretty powerful implication. Think about that. Think about it in the context of your own life, our culture. Is it true? Can we climb our way out?
Where is the true fire escape?
Our natural instinct is to try to insulate ourselves from fear. To build up our comfort zone and a nice cushion. That is our conquest, whether it is the fear of our present discomfort and discontentment or the fear of death itself. In vain that conquest often takes the form of an attempt to conquer nature and the outer world.
That is where the ladder comes in (and the habit of selfishness).
We think if we climb higher we can actually insulate ourselves from fear. If we can work our way up, get promoted, find a better job, make more money or achieve a certain status, then we won't be so vulnerable to fear and states of loss. We won't be so vulnerable to death.
It is our core belief that attaining higher states of existence will free us.
That is a pretty powerful implication. Think about that. Think about it in the context of your own life, our culture. Is it true? Can we climb our way out?
Where is the true fire escape?
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Joyous Perseverance
If a knight drops his swords, he retrieves it without hesitation in order to protect himself.
If a snake falls in your lap, you instantly jump up in order to avoid getting bit.
If there is a chance you might lose the game, you push harder than ever, rally caps on.
If we cut ourselves, we use extra caution to clean and dress the wound, applying ointment day and night to prevent infection.
And yet, when we drop our mindfulness we are not in a hurry to retrieve it.
And yet, when negative emotions befall our mind we continue to indulge them.
And yet, when we actually lose our patience we let anger rule the show, and keep winning.
And yet, when we cut off generosity we don't care about the ensuing infection. Who cares?
Diligence is important. This is known amongst ordinary men and even the Buddha's praise it. The Exhortation to Wholehearted Resolve Sutra says:
Always rely upon noble joyous perseverance,
Which clears away all suffering and darkness,
Which is the basis of freedom from miserable realms,
And which is praised by all the buddhas.
One who joyously perseveres,
Has no difficulty accomplishing any project
Whether mundane or supramundane,
Who among the learned is disheartened by joyous perseverence?
If we do not persevere in overcoming our own shortcomings, how can we achieve our own aims, much less the aims of others?
If a snake falls in your lap, you instantly jump up in order to avoid getting bit.
If there is a chance you might lose the game, you push harder than ever, rally caps on.
If we cut ourselves, we use extra caution to clean and dress the wound, applying ointment day and night to prevent infection.
And yet, when we drop our mindfulness we are not in a hurry to retrieve it.
And yet, when negative emotions befall our mind we continue to indulge them.
And yet, when we actually lose our patience we let anger rule the show, and keep winning.
And yet, when we cut off generosity we don't care about the ensuing infection. Who cares?
Diligence is important. This is known amongst ordinary men and even the Buddha's praise it. The Exhortation to Wholehearted Resolve Sutra says:
Always rely upon noble joyous perseverance,
Which clears away all suffering and darkness,
Which is the basis of freedom from miserable realms,
And which is praised by all the buddhas.
One who joyously perseveres,
Has no difficulty accomplishing any project
Whether mundane or supramundane,
Who among the learned is disheartened by joyous perseverence?
If we do not persevere in overcoming our own shortcomings, how can we achieve our own aims, much less the aims of others?
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Self-Help vs. Self-Liberation
Hold on a moment, what are you asking me to do?
You are asking me to be open and vulnerable? You want me to expose my open wounds, to re-open those scars?
You want me to face my fears? To acknowledge the things I would rather forget? To dredge the depths of my pain and sorrow?
I don't want to remember those that have had to leave me too early. Nor do I care to relive those memories that haunt me to this very day.
It is too scary. Way to painful. I am too tired, too busy to do this right now.
But it is still there, right?
Even when we try to hide from it, it sneaks up on us. If we fight to push it away, it keeps fighting back. There doesn't seem to be any escape.
Everything that we have done to move on has failed. Better to ignore it and hope it doesn't haunt our sleep. But year after year, that date comes or we visit that place and we feel it looming over us.
How can we escape it?
The practice of self-help does not work, it only nourishes the ground. You need to rely on the path of self-liberation.
It rests on three principle aspects of the practice:
1. Calm the coarse levels of your mind.
2. Engender in that calm a sense of warmth, love and compassion.
3. Rest in openness, your natural state of being.
It will be painful. Raw. You will feel sensitive, embarrassed and inadequate. You will feel hopeless.
And these are good signs. This means that you are giving up your fixation. Letting go of the ground you have been holding onto.
These are signs that you are becoming more open, more aware, that you are making progress.
As you move through the storm, through all the sheer winds and rain, you'll discover in its wake a calm, crisp freshness. A natural openness and ease will ensue and your mind will be freed from its constraints.
This is actually the most helpful thing you can do for yourself.
You are asking me to be open and vulnerable? You want me to expose my open wounds, to re-open those scars?
You want me to face my fears? To acknowledge the things I would rather forget? To dredge the depths of my pain and sorrow?
I don't want to remember those that have had to leave me too early. Nor do I care to relive those memories that haunt me to this very day.
It is too scary. Way to painful. I am too tired, too busy to do this right now.
But it is still there, right?
Even when we try to hide from it, it sneaks up on us. If we fight to push it away, it keeps fighting back. There doesn't seem to be any escape.
Everything that we have done to move on has failed. Better to ignore it and hope it doesn't haunt our sleep. But year after year, that date comes or we visit that place and we feel it looming over us.
How can we escape it?
The practice of self-help does not work, it only nourishes the ground. You need to rely on the path of self-liberation.
It rests on three principle aspects of the practice:
1. Calm the coarse levels of your mind.
2. Engender in that calm a sense of warmth, love and compassion.
3. Rest in openness, your natural state of being.
It will be painful. Raw. You will feel sensitive, embarrassed and inadequate. You will feel hopeless.
And these are good signs. This means that you are giving up your fixation. Letting go of the ground you have been holding onto.
These are signs that you are becoming more open, more aware, that you are making progress.
As you move through the storm, through all the sheer winds and rain, you'll discover in its wake a calm, crisp freshness. A natural openness and ease will ensue and your mind will be freed from its constraints.
This is actually the most helpful thing you can do for yourself.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Charnel Ground
Photo courtesy of Himalayan Arts
It is disgusting, filled with disease and pestilence. It is strewn with carnage and lifeless, wandering souls.
Your emotions and senses run rampant in a charnel ground. The only way to survive is to stay on high alert. The charnel ground would love to claim you as its next victim, to bend your will and seize your heart. Your head might be the next one hanging at the gates as a symbol of its conquest, left to rot and grow old as a reminder for those that might come near.
Some practitioners actually choose to practice their sadhana in this environment. Of course they could retreat to peaceful forest groves, alpine meadows or glacial peaks, but they choose the charnel ground. For these yogins, the very fabric of their day to day life is the path of liberation. They look to first hand experience to transform their own obstacles and poisons, constantly battling the gods and demons of their own hopes and fears. It is a direct encounter with wisdom, through insight transmuting poison into a healing nectar that pacifies their own and others ails.
We all live in a charnel ground of our own thoughts and emotions, hopes and fears. Our habit since beginningless time is to turn and run, to seek out better conditions and a supportive environment. And this works, for a little while. Then we start to meet more resistance and the charnel ground gates start to creak open, beckoning you.
The nice thing about the charnel ground is that you always know where you stand. If you are struggling to reconcile your internal conflicts, fighting against yourself and your environment, then you still have more work to do. If you are able to transform all situations into insight and can use this to bring about the welfare of beings, then I think you have found your calling.
Either way, better get to work.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Naked
'Our life is shaped by our mind, we become what we think.'
Siddhartha Gautama
Stand naked. For a moment today stand naked before the mirror, the mirror of our own mind.
It is incredibly difficult to stand in the present moment. It is too simple, too raw, too naked. We are quick to reach for a towel, flex our muscles, correct our posture, pluck our eyebrows or cover up our blemishes. It is very difficult to stand tall in our inherent goodness, the basic dignity of being who you are, right now.
It is not just the embarrassment, shame, guilt or fear of our own bodies; it is also our feelings, our actions and our past. We don't know how to work with all of that when we stand before it, it is often easier to get dressed and keep moving.
But this is the battlefield. This is the meditation. The present moment is the ground upon which all the work is done and it is simultaneously the result of fulfillment.
This ever-present moment, if we can learn to face our fears and the darkness that we hide in our hearts, opens up into the eternally youthful present- peaceful, content and free of elaboration.
It is only by abiding in this timeless state of complete nakedness that we can come to appreciate the wellsprings of the Great Perfection.
Siddhartha Gautama
Stand naked. For a moment today stand naked before the mirror, the mirror of our own mind.
It is incredibly difficult to stand in the present moment. It is too simple, too raw, too naked. We are quick to reach for a towel, flex our muscles, correct our posture, pluck our eyebrows or cover up our blemishes. It is very difficult to stand tall in our inherent goodness, the basic dignity of being who you are, right now.
It is not just the embarrassment, shame, guilt or fear of our own bodies; it is also our feelings, our actions and our past. We don't know how to work with all of that when we stand before it, it is often easier to get dressed and keep moving.
But this is the battlefield. This is the meditation. The present moment is the ground upon which all the work is done and it is simultaneously the result of fulfillment.
This ever-present moment, if we can learn to face our fears and the darkness that we hide in our hearts, opens up into the eternally youthful present- peaceful, content and free of elaboration.
It is only by abiding in this timeless state of complete nakedness that we can come to appreciate the wellsprings of the Great Perfection.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Illuminating Darkness
'May I be a lamp for those who long for light.'
Shantideva
Our world often appears to be shrouded in darkness-
the outer world of crime, social and political intolerance, warnings of apocalypse, and other malevolent forces at work; the inner world of our own fear, doubt, resentment and the proximity of our own death.
We often run from darkness for fear of being engulfed, lost without a way. When we see the ruins of darkness before us we avert our eyes, afraid that somehow we too might be its next victim.
A very strange thing happens though if we no longer need to hide from darkness. If we open ourselves up to darkness it is very hard to find, even if we seek out that space of total darkness- a darkness so black we cannot tell if our eyes are open or closed, so dark you can't even see your own hands in front of you. It is very hard to find total darkness because light always seems to find a way in. There is always a tiny crack or pinhole which your eyes pick up on, casting rays of light into the space that you can't avoid even if you try to turn away from it.
As a matter of fact, the darker it is the more sensitive we are to light.
Light is all-pervading and surprisingly persistent. It doesn't need to manipulate or prove itself to exert its influence on the world. It just needs a tiny pinhole, a tiny crack of opportunity to spread its influence, illuminating the darkness.
Be a light for the world. You don't need power, wealth or even approval. You just need to be there, wherever you are.
Shantideva
Our world often appears to be shrouded in darkness-
the outer world of crime, social and political intolerance, warnings of apocalypse, and other malevolent forces at work; the inner world of our own fear, doubt, resentment and the proximity of our own death.
We often run from darkness for fear of being engulfed, lost without a way. When we see the ruins of darkness before us we avert our eyes, afraid that somehow we too might be its next victim.
A very strange thing happens though if we no longer need to hide from darkness. If we open ourselves up to darkness it is very hard to find, even if we seek out that space of total darkness- a darkness so black we cannot tell if our eyes are open or closed, so dark you can't even see your own hands in front of you. It is very hard to find total darkness because light always seems to find a way in. There is always a tiny crack or pinhole which your eyes pick up on, casting rays of light into the space that you can't avoid even if you try to turn away from it.
As a matter of fact, the darker it is the more sensitive we are to light.
Light is all-pervading and surprisingly persistent. It doesn't need to manipulate or prove itself to exert its influence on the world. It just needs a tiny pinhole, a tiny crack of opportunity to spread its influence, illuminating the darkness.
Be a light for the world. You don't need power, wealth or even approval. You just need to be there, wherever you are.
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