Occupy.

We need you to occupy the world that you are in.

We need you to figure out how to be present in that world. We need you to do the inner work necessary so that you can participate in that world with kindness, compassion and generosity. We need you to learn how to use resistance, hesitation and fear as a call to be deeply present in a world of chaos.

That world doesn't need to be big. It doesn't need to be the whole world. Matter of fact, it shouldn't be the whole world and it can't be the whole world. It is best to start small, the smaller the better.

Occupy your home with presence and contribute generously to the well-being and happiness of your family or friends. If your home is too big of a space and there is too much going on, choose one relationship to occupy with full presence and kindness, maybe with a teacher or partner. If that is too big of a space, choose to occupy yourself with presence and kindness. Learn to sit on your own meditation seat with honesty, kindness and openness. Learn to be understanding and receptive to your own suffering and discontentment.

When you learn to occupy your smallest world with compassion, kindness and generosity, gradually that world will start to expand and widen. You'll step into a larger world having already established a ground of presence. Gradually, walls will fall, doors will open and your vision will expand.

This applies to your relationships and your work. When you learn to be open and honest with yourself, you can be understanding and receptive to others. When we can be fully present and engaged with our friends and family, we can carry that presence into our communities when dealing with strangers. Gradually, we can learn to work with difficult situations and people who are creating problems for us along the way.

If you cannot handle your present environment, assuming a larger space will not make things easier or better. When you can learn to fully occupy your present space, your world will naturally widen and you will see where you can contribute to that larger world.

It all starts with presence. Learn to occupy the smallest space with presence and generosity. That probably means starting with your meditation cushion. As your practice deepens and you gain confidence, you will naturally be more present and be able to participate fully in the world at large.

Right Livelihood.

Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, 

right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, 

right concentration; this, bhikkhus, is the middle way 

awakened to by the Tathagata.

What is right livelihood? 

We can start to understand by knowing what it is not: it does not harm others, does not deceive others and is not dishonest. 

That is the ground, do no harm. Having the intention to do no harm unto others through your work, the question then becomes, how can you contribute to others and your community? What talents and gifts do you have to share? What problems can you solve that bring benefit to others or the world around you? 

These questions address a critical component of right livelihood: you can contribute meaningfully to the world around you.

We are all looking for meaning in our work and in our lives. Often, in our jobs we search out results, status roles, accomplishment and money as signs that we are doing good work. We focus on the result of our efforts rather than our actions themselves. 

Right livelihood focuses on being engaged with others. The intention and posture that follow naturally lend themselves to presence, abundance and care. When you recognize that you have something to contribute, you will contribute. You will be generous and insightful, you will put in the time and effort, you will show up and be present. 

Right livelihood is pretty simple and straightforward. How can you contribute? How can you help?

Don't do it for the promotion, or the bonus, or the status among your peers. Do it because it is the right thing to do.

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.

Becoming more human.

I'm nothing special, just an ordinary human being.

That's why I always describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk.

His Holiness Dalai Lama

I have heard the Dalai Lama speak on several occasions, and often times he will remind us of this point. It is really a teaching unto itself, a reminder for ourselves in our own practice.

In our own practice, we often find ourselves trying to escape the human condition. We try to get away from all of the pain and suffering, to relieve ourselves of the burden of our anxiety and stress. We can work with our condition in healthy ways, or in way that continue to feed our own neurosis and confusion, that is the challenge of the practice.

I think part of the reason that the Dalai Lama reminds us that he is an ordinary human being is because a lot of people project onto him the notion that he is a Buddha or some kind of god, above it all. They imagine that he is somehow removed from the human condition, that he is different from us.

There is a tendency, that I have often witnessed in so called advanced practitioners, to be above it all. Our practice can lend itself to being the knower of truth, the provider of every solution and the one with an answer to every question. This is a real danger, the work of ego and arrogance. It is something that we should watch out for in our own practice.

The Dalai Lama reminds us that through our practice we should become more human. The goal isn't to become better than human, or some kind of superhuman, but to truly be human. An ordinary human being. Our practice is about embodying human values, connecting with what it really means to be human and using that as the basis for our practice.

Orienting ourselves with human values, our practice should be simple. Simply be present, practice mindfulness and compassion, be grateful and enjoy this life. Don't make things too complicated. Don't be too complicated on the inside, don't have too many wants and needs. Don't stir the pot.

Be simple. Easy going.

And he is a Buddhist monk. This is his job. He takes it seriously. We should take our practice seriously. As practitioners, this work that we are doing is important. Don't be lazy. Don't give way to your bad habits and doubts. This is important work that needs to be done.

Living this way, as a simple human practitioner, we can make a profound impact on the world. We can be makers of change, forgiveness and healing. We can alleviate pain and right injustice. We can enjoy life, appreciate its beauty and tenderness. We can have a peaceful heart and a happy mind.

Don't believe it is possible?

The Dalai Lama is showing us, it is so.

Different emanations.

Most people probably haven't heard of the tulku system in Tibet. A tulku is a recognized reincarnate lama or teacher, the Dalai Lama being the most famous and prominent of this generation. Often times at a very young age, children are recognized as being an emanation of a previous teacher. There are various ways that this recognition occurs, some legitimate, others not. Overall, the tulku tradition is broken and much can be said about just how broken it is. 

But that is not really my concern, nor is it beneficial for our practice.

What is beneficial to our practice and our life is one particularly unique aspect of the tulku tradition. A single teacher can have five different emanations in their next life. They may take a single rebirth, but they could emanate in up to five ways. Those five emanations are called: body, speech, mind, activity and qualities.

Not many tulkus have done five. Actually, I can only think of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo as an example of all five. 

How is this important for us? Why is it meaningful?

How many different emanations do you embody in this life?

Surely you take certain forms in order to carry out certain activities, but also take on different roles to meet different circumstances. You might take a certain stance at your work, and in your personal life prefer another posture.

The important point is that we are full of contradictions and tension and apparent inconsistencies.  We don't need to embody a singular self, such a self isn't even truly real.  We can take many forms in our life, each carrying out benefit in their own way and on their own time. 

Regardless of the form you are taking, carry it onto the path. Let the path clarify confusion and give rise to wisdom. Dedicate the merit.

Perhaps most importantly, don't get stuck on the notion of you being just one thing. That is not who you are, it is a side of you and maybe a prominent part, but there is much more below the surface.

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. 

Nothing left to do.

What if you had nothing else on your to-do list? What if your projects were finished, loose ends all tied off? 

Would you be satisfied? Content?

Working, being busy, accomplishing things, all of those make us feel pretty good. We may complain about having so much to do, may wish we had less to do, but activity makes us feel like we are doing something. We are making progress.

But what if you were done?

Would you make up something else to do? Buy a book, dream up a new project? Would you entertain yourself, try out some new recipes?

Our mind quickly moves away from nothing left to do, right? So much fills the gap in time and space. Just as things are starting to settle, starting to be resolved, just as we are getting to done, something else comes up.  It is like a quantum vacuum state, it is never truly empty, something is always coming up.

The same can be said for the nature of mind. As we sink into the nature of our own mind, we realize its profound peace and clarity, but it is never truly empty. The clarity aspect always gives rise to appearances, whether they are sights, sounds, thoughts, sensations. We never reach completely empty space.

So can we ever have nothing left to do?

The answer is how we relate to appearances, to what is coming up in our experience. If we fixate and grasp after appearances, then no, we will forever spin the wheel of conditioned existence. If we can see through appearances, recognize their true nature, then we can experience freedom upon arising. Things are free in their own place, nothing left to do. You can start to enjoy doing and not doing.  When doing, things are free in their own place.  When not doing, they are also free as they arise.

Nothing left to do becomes the path of doing and not doing.  Doing or not doing, you find you don't need to struggle.

Dancing on the beat.

A playful dance,
meeting and parting,
coming and going.
Intense and fluid,
precision and presence.

Resist and you get pushed around.
Force and your foot will get stepped on.
Shut down for an instant, and you can't catch up.

Relax. Enjoy this opportunity to dance.

Concealed.

You are a baker.
An accountant.
A nurse or a barista.
You're a neighbor.  A friend.
You're the girl down the street. The guy with the hat.

The ordinariness of your appearance conceals your practice.

But inside, you train your mind.
You practice compassion.
You cut through bias and judgement.
You are patient, generous, and kind.
You care for others.

Your lived practice is extraordinary.

No one will ever know the impact of your practice on the lives of others.  Maybe not even you.
Yet you forge ahead for their benefit.

Our world needs more people like you.  

Disconnected.

There is a disconnect between spiritual practice and modern forms of earning a living. 

Our culture is driven by ego.  Spiritual practice cuts through ego.
Our culture is driven by profit and gain.  Spiritual practice is rooted in generosity and letting go.
Our culture chases after name and position, fame and renown.  None of those hold weight in our spiritual practice. 

So how do we earn a living as a professional and carry out our spiritual practice?

Do we divide them?  Day trader and night giver?
Do we forsake the workplace and retreat to remote abodes, saying "this is not possible."

It is a problem that you must resolve on your own. 

What does your practice look like in the context of your whole day?  Can you resolve the tension and conflict of carrying your practice into your work?  Does your work cause you to suffer and generate self-contempt?  Can you be patient with your work as you progress on your path?  Do you need to switch, change or find something better before you can integrate your work and practice?

All of these have to be answered by the serious practitioner of virtue.  They are not easy questions, and you are the one that needs to bring forth the answers.  You are the solution, and it must be lived. 

Jerry-rigged.

When was the last time you found yourself struggling with a problem?

Did you search out the right tool for the fix? Develop a new tool?

Have you have tried to solve a problem with a tool that wasn't designed for the job?

There is a certain art to jerry-rigging.  A proficient craftsman can make use of a wrong tool and produce beautiful results.  With proficiency comes agility and innovation.

But what if you are not proficient?

An emerging craftsman attempting to jerry-rig a solution often ends up with a mess.  Or at best a solution that quickly unravels.

We often go through our days and weeks jerry-rigging solutions to problems when there are perfectly qualified tools for the job.  Tools we can acquire, learn, and master. 

As an emerging craftsman in your practice, when we are trying to jerry-rig a solution we should recognize our frustration as a sign that we need to search out and acquire better tools.  If we are frustrated, struggling and irritated, then we need to step back and reassess.

Reassess here means to ask for help, open a book, or search out the right tool for the job. 

What does jerry-rigging feel like when it is done correctly?

Curiosity, examination and joyous perseverance. 

Technicians, Artists and Alchemists

Chances are your work falls into one of three categories:

The Technician.
The technician is precise, focused and determined.  They are masters of their trade, know the details and the connections.  Their depth of understanding is profound and inspiring.  Ask a technician a question and he will give you an answer backed with experience and reasoning.  Technicians are very straight forward and matter of fact.

The Artist.
Artists are masters of their craft who are generous by nature.  They use their trade to make an impact in people's lives.  They are visionaries, leaders, ruckus makers.  The artist isn't in it for the status or power, they are in it because they see an opportunity to impact change and they are willing to step into the void.  

The Alchemist.
Alchemists are enigmatic artists.  You find them in strange circles, unfit places, unseemly professions.  Alchemists are masters of change and transformation.  Their art doesn't make sense to us, often times we don't see it or even believe it to be true.  Their art is lived, worked over.  They do the same thing day in and day out, perfectly content to keep plodding along, yet timelessly free and relaxed.  The enigma of the alchemist doesn't lie within them, it lies within us.

Technicians are too focused on the mechanics of their own practice.
Artists are too focused on the result and ensuing benefit.
Alchemists are free of attachment and the eight worldly concerns.  For them, the result is the path. 

A complete practice.

As a practitioner, we all struggle to integrate our practice with our daily life.  We struggle to carry our daily practice off the cushion and into the world.  We struggle with trying to figure out how to act in the world after we no longer buy into the rat race of money, status and power.

These are problems that we try to solve as practitioners.

In order to relieve the tension we often feel between our practice and our daily life, we need to develop a complete practice.  A complete practice isn't just what you do on the cushion.  It starts with how you see the world, includes your meditation, your activity in the world and the result of your practice.

View.  Meditation. Conduct. Result.

View.  How do you see the world?  Is it possible to transform your vision?  What is your outlook and your intention?  Is your view informed by wisdom or by biased perception?  Your view can be like standing on the top of a mountain in which you can see everything below very clearly.  It can be like a vast expanse of space without border or limit.

Meditation.  Your view leads to meditation.  If you see how all things are dependently arisen, you will see subtle connections in meditation.  If you appreciate the impermanence of all phenomena you won't fixate on meditation experiences.  Meditation deepens your appreciation of the view and cuts through conceptual constraints.  Meditation is a vehicle.  It elicits your buddhanature in all its fullness- originally pure and naturally present.  As we gain confidence with this unique state, we awaken to timeless freedom and great compassion.

Conduct.  How do you carry your view and meditation into your daily life?  What does that look like?  What do you do with the freedom that you have gained?  We engage in the conduct of the bodhisattvas- we share generously, know how to work with our emotions, have patience to work through resistance and problems, and joyously persevere with a focused mind.  We carry wisdom into our homes, communities, work, life. 

Result.  Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path.  Every step you take.  

Never finished, yet never bound; such is the complete practice of the bodhisattvas. 

Right livelihood.

In his noble eightfold path, the Buddha spoke about Right Livelihood and how to live a honest and ethical life.  As we try to integrate our practice with our life, our work often challenges us. 

The Buddha spoke of five lifestyles to avoid in our work in order to pursue right livelihood:

1. Ingratiation, or speaking kindly to others to win their favor.
2. Flattery, or praising others in order because one seeks to obtain something.
3. Self-promotion, or speaking of one's own qualities to advance your own interests.
4. Calculated generosity, or giving a little to receive a lot.
5. Hypocrisy, or putting on airs in order to receive gain or honors.

Those five lifestyles really come down to us being honest with ourselves about our intention.

Are we acting with our own self-interest or because we are wrapped up in the eight worldly concerns?

Or are we genuinely acting for the benefit of ourselves and others?

You can't be expected to lay down your own well-being and happiness in your work, but how often do we find ourselves scheming and throwing others under the bus?

Right livelihood is possible when we inspire others by our actions.  When we don't perpetuate greed, anger, desire and arrogance, we are acting with right livelihood.

The easiest way for our work to be a support for our spiritual practice is if we act with honesty and respect.  Be honest with yourself and with others.  Inspire them by your actions and they will support you in continuing your work and your practice.  

Changing the story.

I am continually inspired by my brothers and sisters on the path who are dedicated to their practice and generous with their time and energy.

One of the people who has inspired me is Seth Godin who introduced me to a new definition of an artist.  An artist is someone who makes an impact, benefits someone and effects change.  In this sense we all have the opportunity to be artists, regardless of our profession.  We all have the opportunity to take a moment, lend a hand, to truly listen and share generously.

We all have an opportunity to care. 

The thing about being an artist is that you don't create art all the time.  Not everything you do in your day is about making an impact.  Most of your day will be spent doing your job, working on the tactics, getting things done.

The artist can be busy and still make great art.

For me, this relieved a great burden, something I actually struggled with for a long time.  I was carrying a lot of frustration and aversion to being busy and working hard because I wasn't able to devote myself fully to making an impact.  I felt that too much of my days, weeks and months were wasted because I could be doing something better.  I could be doing better work but my work itself was preventing me from actually doing that.  That resistance to the nuts and bolts, ground level experience of my job (and life) prevented me from seeing and seizing those moments when I could act, when I could be generous.    

The function of our work is to make an impact, but not all the time.  We struggle to find meaning in our work and in our life, but we need to create meaning.  If we could even spend 10% of our time seizing those opportunities to make an impact and to care, we would find great meaning in our life.  It would even allow us to be really good at the busy, mundane, daily responsibilities that we need to fulfill because they would further create opportunities to create art. 

I can tell you that even 10% is hard.  It is too easy to hide in the busy tactical aspect of your life, too easy to keep your head down and keep plugging away at what you are doing.  We hide in the busy and then complain when our work has no meaning.  We fight internally against the resistance, but the resistance often wins and prevents us from stepping away and actually caring.

That is the fight, the struggle.

If we can recognize and identify that resistance, then we can actually find ways to reduce it.  Once we know what it looks like and what it is trying to do, we can push through the resistance and strive to make an impact, strive to care.  Start to create art.  

Liberation.

གྲོལ་བ་
Tibetan: drolwa
English: liberation, release, let go, freedom, untied

Most days we have a pretty visceral experience that we are not liberated.  We are often tied up in knots, awkward, caught up in highs and lows.  We don't really know how to relate to ourselves, others and the world around us.  We are caught up in a subject-object, self-other duality in which everything has its own compartment and attachment and aversion are our constant companions.

We don't need to look to far into our life to realize that we are not liberated.  What is the biggest source of problems in your day?  Work, your relationships, money, internal politics, chronic disease or illness?

Liberation is an experience of release or freedom.  When we talk about liberation it is the mind that is liberated.  What is the mind liberated from?  Negative emotions, concepts, habitual tendencies, karma and ignorance. 

We all have an experience of mundane liberation.  You quit your job and walk out the door, everything is suddenly lifted off your shoulders.  You finish a hard day at work and step out into the wide open sky.  You pay off the last of your debts, nothing more to worry about.  You orgasm, an ecstatic release of blissful sexual energy.  Your illness subsides.  Your doctor tells you the scan is clear.  You are healed.

It is funny, at least to someone aspiring to awakening, because you can see directly that which binds you by identifying these moments of struggle and mundane release, these moments of struggle where we really wish we were liberated.   

Those areas should be the focus of your practice.

Can you include them?  Is it even possible?

Curiosity.

Curiosity is ravenous.  It devours anything it needs to keep digging deeper.

Curiosity is unstoppable.  Obstacles and problems only fuel the fire.

Curiosity is propelled.  Stillness can't even hold it back, it may even act as a catalyst. 

The curious student makes their way from studying to contemplating to creating and even testing their theory. 

Give someone a degree and they could have a job for life.  Make them curious, and they could have a passion.

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. 

What would a tulku do?

A tulku is the present reincarnation of a previous great master.  The Tibetan སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་ means 'emanation body', meaning that the present rebirth is an emanation of awakened mind.  They have deliberately chosen to take rebirth out of compassion, to continue to work for the benefit of others.

Once recognized, often at a very young age, tulkus are expected to undergo rigorous study and training.  They receive the best education and are expected to rank at the top of their class.  They receive instruction from the greatest masters of the day and bring those practices to their culmination.

The tulku has the responsibility of preserving the tradition in which they are said to be the lineage holder, but the way in which they carry out that responsibility depends on the tulku themselves.

They might put their efforts into strengthening the education system.
They might emphasize retreats in which the teachings become a living experience.
They might travel extensively, teaching and inspiring others in their own practice.
They might assist the poor and hungry in their communities.
They might become respected doctors who cure disease.
They might focus on preserving the textual tradition and aiding in translation.
They might disappear and live the life of a wandering nomad, renouncing their high status and reminding others of the importance of actually committing your life to your practice.

The one thing the tulku does not do is wait for permission.  They know they have taken on this life to be a living example of the practice tradition and to be of service and benefit to others.  So that is what they do.

Of course you can do all of these things.  What are you waiting for? 

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.