Repaying our mother's kindness.

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

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

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

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

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

Time to get to work.

The Bug of Perceptions.

Your perceptions affect your reality and your experience of the world.

Go to a homeless shelter infected with bed bugs, or to a school with an outbreak of lice.

Just being there, I bet you start to feel itchy.  You might even be feeling itchy just thinking about the possibility of getting bed bugs or lice. 

What you think and what you perceive to be true (even though it probably isn't) affects how you feel and how you interact with the world around you.  It affects your every action. 

What happens when you think you are more important than others around you? 
What happens when you are angry?  When you are worried?  Stressed?
Need we even mention those who are racist, bigoted or ignorant? 

If you feel itchy because you perceive the possibility of beg bugs near you,
or if you feel that the world is always fighting you because you perceive your situation to be right,
the only way to fix the problem is to correct your perception.

You need to train your mind.

Expectations

A bee goes about his day carrying out his work, collects honey and brings it back to the hive.  If you get in his way or threaten him, you might get stung.

Ah, that stings.  I should have known better, should have been more careful. 

We all know that is what bees do.

Have you ever driven in the back country in cattle country?  I'm talking gravel road, wandering herd back country.  The cows just wander about, grazing and eating.  Sometimes they just stand right in the road, minding their own business.  You can sit there and honk, drive up really close, but mostly you just need to wait until they move.  And of course they move.

Maybe you grew a little impatient, but you never really got angry, right?  I mean its a cow, being a cow. 

Ever leave food outside, the birds will get at it.  Or the coons.  You should have known better, should have been more careful.

But why is it that when we get stung by people just going about their business, we get angry.

Why is it that when people get in our way and won't move, we get angry.

Why is it that when people come after what is ours, we get angry and defensive.

Maybe we should have known better.  Maybe we should have been more careful.

Speak nicely and guard your mind. 

Coming Soon: Weekly Guided Meditation and Instruction Course

Immerse yourself in a weekly meditation program designed for new and experienced students.  Learn the tools necessary to establish your own daily practice, receive meditation instruction and progressive techniques that allow your practice to blossom. 

Commit to a daily practice.  Practice weekly with a supportive community in a healthy environment.  Have open discussion sessions and resolve your questions.  Clarify your practice.  Let your practice clarify you.  

'The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature.'

Sogyal Rinpoche

weekly meetings starting September 26, 2013

Embrace the Moon

1716 NW Market St

Seattle, WA  98107

Thursdays 7-8p

Greg Patenaude is a pharmacist, writer and Tibetan translator. He has been leading meditation groups and retreats in Seattle since 2006 under the guidance of his spiritual teacher Younge Khachab Rinpoche.  For more details contact: siddhearta@gmail.com

Practice Essentials

Do no harm. 
Refrain from actions, words or opinions that rub others the wrong way.  All beings everywhere experience fear and states of suffering and loss, don't put salt on an open wound.

Cultivate a wealth of virtue.
Actively practice generosity, love and kindness.  Rejoice in others happiness.  Earnestly strive to develop discipline, patience and relentless perseverance.

Tame this mind of ours.
Abandon grasping and fixation, these lie at the root of all our problems.  Do not lend yourself to compulsive activity and distraction.  Pour your efforts into gaining insight into the nature of your own mind and the nature of reality- that is the path to liberation.  

The Squire and the Knight

Would you expect a squire to give a knight advice on how to vanquish his foes?

Of course not.

The squire has no experience.  He has not conquered a single enemy, hasn't swung a sword outside of playful practice.

The knight is well worn.  His discipline and honor show themselves by the calluses on his hands, the scars he proudly wears.  He has seen dark days, experienced real loss, real pain.  He has been pushed and pushed himself beyond the norms of comfort.

His patience shows in his resolve.  His diligence in his steadfastness.

The focus of his eyes is unwavering, like a lion.

When you ask a knight how to conquer your foes he can tell you many ways, depending on your position, your stature, your aptitude.  He can show you exactly what you need to know, no fluff.

So when you want to conquer your mind, overcome your shortcomings, cast aside your fear and doubt, do you ask a squire or a knight?

Of course nowadays everyone thinks they are a knight.  Put them in the middle of a battlefield though and then we can really determine the merits of their practice.  

No Excuses.

This vehicle operates under the assumption that you are busy.  That you have a lot of responsibility.  That you have others that rely on you and that you need to take care of.  

You already carry a heavy burden.

Your life is not perfect.  It's messy.  You have real wounds, they might even still be bleeding. 

So that is our basic requirement.   That is our ground zero.

Other vehicles might ask you to give it all up.  To walk away, leave it behind.  Escape it all together.  They might ask you to start over, start fresh.

Here, take a reprieve.  A 'Get Out of Jail-Free' card.

That might work, maybe.  My bet is that it won't though.

Better to deal with what we have.  This situation that we are in, it might not look so good.  It is heavy, it gets pretty tiring.  But it is not fixed, it is not permanent.  There is room here.  You can work with this. 

That is why we call this the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. 

It is called great because it is greater in scope- fulfilling both your own aims and the aims of others.
It is called great because it is greater in aptitude- asking more from you.

We are asking more from you. 

Perfecting Patience

It is not always clear why we should train our minds or how we should actually train in something like patience. 

What does an impatient mind look like? 

It is easily angered.  It is irritated, annoyed. 

It is averse- to the situation at hand and the people that we are dealing with. 

It is in a hurry, uncomfortable and anxious. 

If you enjoy the company of an impatient mind then there is no reason to train your mind.  If you want to remove these fetters that bind your mind, then meditation is the simplest and most effective means to perfect the practice of patience. 

In meditation, you learn to be patient with your body. 
Our bodies are uncomfortable.  We have a lot of aches and pains, a lot of tightness.  So we learn to be patient with our bodies, to not react to what our body is presenting to us, and the discomfort falls away. 

In meditation, you learn to be patient with your feelings.
We experience wave after wave of powerful and subtle feelings and emotions.  We feel good, we feel bad, we feel happy and sad, anxious and calm, tired and on edge.  So we learn to be patient with our feelings, to not react to what we are experiencing, and the discontent falls away.

In meditation, you learn to be patient with your mind.
We all have a monkey mind that can't sit still.  There is a never-ending stream of drama and internal dialogue, a parade of memories and fears, our hopes and dreams, doubt and insecurity.  So we learn to be patient with our mind, to not react to what our mind is presenting to us, and the discursiveness falls away.

In meditation, you learn to be patient with all that appears and exists. 
We encounter all kinds of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch, all kinds of experiences beyond measure.  So we learn to be patient with whatever appears and exists, to not react to what is presenting itself to us, and the dissatisfaction falls away.

As we work with these levels of developing patience, our practice culminates in fearless patience.  A state of authentic presence where we are fully open and willing to participate with whatever is occurring- whether it be external to us or in our own heads.

Our mind becomes like a crystal clear mirror that perfectly reflects whatever is placed before it, whether it is good or bad, beautiful or ugly.  There is no judgement, no aversion.  No indifference nor avoidance. 

It is a mind that is beyond fear and doubt.  Time and time again you are able to show up, allowing us the opportunity to act with generosity, love and kindness even in the most unfortunate of circumstances.

That is the perfection of patience.  

Trim the Fat

Did you add a few extra pounds this year?  I did.

Are you going to get to work, train to get rid of them?

We all have our go-to programs- running, biking, lifting weights, cutting out the white carbs.  We know from our own experience what works and what doesn't.  If things aren't working, we will try something else and dig a little deeper.  You'll fight to make it happen.

You also know from experience that if you concede those ten pounds, those ten recruit their friends and it is a slippery slope from there.

Of course we are all carrying around some extra baggage in our heads- our stress, anxiety, fear, doubt and impatience.  Our neurosis.  You know it is there.  Don't be embarrassed, we have all it.

Do you do the work, do you train to get rid of it?

Not many people do.

If we concede it, that baggage will recruit its friends.  These are the kind of friends that party well into the night.  You'll wake up tired and crabby, meanwhile the baggage is off to a great start and is already recruiting more friends for the next party.

Your mind is extremely precious.  It is your most valuable asset.  Don't concede it just because you haven't learned how to train your mind and no one around you cares to try.  

So the next time someone asks if you work out, give them an emphatic 'YES, every day.' 

Escape the Castle

There is a story going around town. 

It's in our schools, our workplace and in our retirement planning.  Even our healthcare, really. 

It wants you to believe that if you stay here, trust in the process, then everything will be provided for you.  It is safe and secure, providing protection against long-term risks.  You will be given lots of opportunity to enjoy yourself, make your mark.  If your good- which you are- then you will come to know money, power and status.  You will be provided with every comfort and need.  You will live a good, healthy life. 

The moral of the story is that if you put in the time and the effort then you can escape all the pain and discontentment that you are currently facing.  That someday you too can sail off into the sunset.

Of course the castle story is a fairy tale. 

Money, power, fame and position all bring their own attendants of suffering and discontentment.  Even if we can achieve a relatively comfortable lifestyle, their is still something missing, a hollowness that all of the excess and non-stop distraction cannot fill. 

It is time to escape the castle. 

But what does that mean?  How do we actually do it?

The first thing we need to do is shift our perspective.  Our current perspective is that our happiness, satisfaction and contentment come from things outside of us.  Our achievements, success, position; even our families.  What happens when our spouse or kids leave?  What then? 

So the shift in perspective is a shift from cultivating outer wealth and enjoyments to the cultivation of inner wealth and enjoyments. 

But let's be clear here- this shift in perspective is not about guilt.  If you feel guilty about your achievements, your success, your position, your outer wealth, then that is a reflection of your own poverty mentality.  Poverty mentality might have to take on a new meaning here as well, poverty mentality refers to the lack of your own inner qualities.  Your lack of inner wealth. 

So this actually requires a great deal of responsibility.  Actually, this burden is extremely heavy.  We are responsible for our own happiness and contentment.  We need to actually cultivate this inner wealth, we need to train our minds and push through all of our own insecurities, doubt and self-pity. 

No one can do this for us. 

But this is not the path of guilt, nor the path of poverty.  You have great potential and you have all of these resources available to you.  You have the opportunity to use your leisure and enjoyments for good use. 

Outwardly, you don't need to change a thing. 

You only need to conquer your mind. 

Join the Movement

Our communities have changed.

We are no longer surrounded by like-minded individuals who share our worldview.

We are no longer surrounded day and night by people who can help us get up when we fall, guiding us in the right direction. 

Our communities don't revolve around anything sacred.  They revolve around 'me', which is often caught up in a lot of mundane activity, meaningless work and a lifetime of distraction.

You are out in the battlefield all by yourself. 

You have your practice.  Keep it.  I am not asking you to buy in.  

I am asking you to own it.  And it ain't a show man.

I am asking you to take your stand, to cut away the frills and the fraud.

Once you can stand, take a step forward with your heart.  Be an artist who uses reality, people and interactions as their canvas.  If your a bodhisattva, your art is generosity, love and kindness. 

As you learn to walk with confidence, you will find that the world no longer fights you.  Every interaction is a support for your practice, an opportunity to dig deeper and to practice your art. 

You'll find you are not alone anymore. 

You are surrounded by community.  Join the movement. 

Your Practice

All teachings are instructions for practice.

Atisha

In our pursuit of happiness we are all practicing something.  

Central to all of the Buddha's teachings is the notion that all teachings are instructions for our own spiritual practice.   Every day we engage in actions of our body, speech and mind that seek to bring about our own welfare, our own happiness and peace of mind. 

If you understand the principles of cause and effect, or karma, then you also understand that we continually shape our experience and reality each and every moment.  But are we really sowing the seeds of our happiness or are we sowing seeds for our own suffering and discontent?  Are we planting seeds that bear their fruit one time or are we planting seeds that bring a bountiful crop year after year? 

Are you practicing generosity, patience and integrity? 


What about the practice of love, compassion, joy and equanimity?  

Do you find yourself unexpectedly practicing anger, attachment, jealousy or arrogance?

Would you like to be practicing for peace, contentment, mindfulness but instead find yourself practicing anxiety, stress and delusion?

If your life is your practice then what are you practicing?  Are you experiencing the desired result?  

Sorry if this seems rather heavy, but it is.  

What is your practice? 

Confession

Confession is a very important practice while you are traveling the path.  It forms one of the branches within the Seven Branch Prayer that is part of the accumulation of merit or positive potential that keeps us moving forward on the path. 

Confession within the context of the Buddha's teachings is not the same as asking for forgiveness.  From a Buddhist perspective the act of confession is an acknowledgement and a claiming of responsibility for our own wrong doing.  Their is no concept of sin within the Buddhist tradition, only the inevitable principle of cause and effect, or karma. 

Confession itself is a kind of awakening.  Before, amidst all of our confusion and ignorance we were completely unaware of the harm we were bringing to ourselves and others.  Through the act of confession we can see our own errors and how we brought our self to this state of despair.  It brings us back in control of our mind and reality.  

The Buddha taught that we are not victims of reality or conspiracy, but rather that we are victims of our own confusion.  The act of confession separates us from our confused mind, isolating for the first time our true tormentor. 

It is the guise of thinking that we are perfect and without mistake that binds us to ceaseless torment and strife.  When we remove the mask and reveal our true face, then we have something.  We have a place to start.  If we are willing to press on, move forward, then all of our guilt and self-hatred falls away because it is not who we are but what we were holding onto.  

Now we can forge the path anew.  Sure we will have many missteps along the way but we are climbing out of the abyss.  By relying on this method of confession we can ensure that our confusion will not persist, that the light of wisdom will always shine through the darkness of our confusion.  

There are four powers to rely on in the act of confession:
1. Regretting our negative actions, obscurations and habitual tendencies
2. Relying on the positive support of authentic Dharma
3. Engaging in positive actions and behaviors that act as an antidote
4. The resolve to not commit those actions in the future

By relying on these four powers you really can let go of that burden you have been carrying around.  When you combine these techniques with the other branches of the Seven Branch Prayer then you have a very powerful method of training.   

Tonglen- The Rising Tide of Bodhicitta

The next stage of Mind Training focuses on the development of relative bodhicitta. 

7. Sending and taking should be practiced alternatively, riding on the breath.

The practice of relative bodhicitta is centered on the practice of Tonglen, or exchanging self and other.  Tonglen is an extremely important and useful meditation technique.  There are many different instructions on how to practice tonglen, but the following is based on the heart advice of my gracious guru, Younge Khachab Rinpoche.  This is an uncommon instruction for the practice of tonglen because it is based on the unique Dzogchen method of resting in the natural state.  If you have not received the instructions for Resting in the Natural State, you should seek them out from a qualified teacher. 

Sitting in a comfortable meditative posture,
Our body is left open, relaxed.
The shoulders, neck and face are relaxed,
The eyes are left open, gently gazing into the space before oneself.
The breath is natural- gentle and uncontrived.
The senses are open, free from fixation,
Let whatever appears be as it is.
Don’t fixate- on feelings, thoughts, sights or sounds.
Just relax and settle, like waves on water.
Slowly, like mud settling out,
The mind will become calm and clear.
Rest in the natural state.

In a state of natural rest, one will discover a vast ocean of equanimity, 

unchanging openness without center or limit, 

perfectly pristine, clearly reflecting all that appears and exists.

Having resolved all grasping and fixation, acceptance and rejection fall away,

there are no waves to disturb oneself from this uncontrived and effortless state of rest.

The mind is calm, clear and expansive. 

Within the spacious sky rises a full moon, the wisdom of bodhicitta, 

simultaneously accomplishing the benefit of oneself and others.  

An infinite display of stars reflects in the ocean, 

all of samsara, the beings of the six realms, are perfectly reflected as ornaments,

self and other are equal, there is no higher or lower, better or worse. 

Due to the presence of these two factors,

non-referential equanimity and the prior intention to attain awakening for the benefit of others,

there is the rising tide of bodhicitta, the vast ocean of the noble heart swells.

Due to this self-arising grace (Tib. rang byung thugs rje),

there is a natural outpouring of love, compassion and joy,

effortlessly accomplishing the wishes of beings and carrying them to the far shore.  

As you breathe out, sharing all your love, happiness, peace and contentment with other beings, spontaneously fulfilling all that is wished for.  

As you breathe in, through great compassion take in all their suffering, pain, anxiety, doubts and insecurity.

With each breath, establishing beings in happiness, freeing them from suffering.

Breathe.  Like a cool ocean breeze, with each breath you sooth the minds of beings, bringing them a moment of comfort and joy.  

Rejoice in their happiness.  

With a mind that never wavers from the state of single pointed rest,

all the waves again dissolve back into the great ocean of equanimity.

Again and again, day and night, this cycle continues.

Without ever wavering from the single intent of bodhicitta, 

you simultaneously accomplish your own and others welfare.  

Dedicate the merit of this practice for the benefit of all beings. 

Dance Standing Still

The ultimate bodhicitta slogans are instructions that are meant to allow one to recognize and cultivate ultimate bodhicitta in meditation.  

2. Regard all dharmas as dreams.

Normally, our reality and day to day affairs seem very concrete.  Our experience feels very real as we are going through it- the whirlwind of our thoughts, surging emotions, feelings of joy and our aches and pains.  We usually don't examine our experience and we just take it for granted.  Life in a nutshell.  

As we move away from our experiences, in the following hours, days and weeks we find it increasingly hard to remember what it was exactly that we were holding onto.  What did that wine and steak taste like again?  What were we arguing about?  What was it that we were so desperate to uphold, reaffirm or prove?  Was it worth all the effort?  

Regarding all dharmas- all experiences, sense objects and activities- as a dream means that we relate to them with less fixation, more openness.  Dream here doesn't mean hazy or unclear.  We can have very lucid dreams, dreams that evoke very real emotions and feelings while we are caught up in them.  The key is that when we awake from a dream we know it was just a dream and that the experience was temporary and fleeting, that it was just something that we were fixating on in our own mind. 

We can experience this sort of insight in our own meditation.  When we take our seat in meditation we become aware of an endless dance of thoughts, sights, sounds and feelings.  Our habitual tendency is to fixate on these phenomena in all their variety, but in meditation we just let them be as they are without following after them.  As we begin to relax into that illusory dance we begin to discover an underlying stillness.

Within the space of meditation, without grasping at the dynamic display that is arising in all its variety, we begin to notice and appreciate this unchanging quality.  Despite movement there is stillness.  It is here that we can look at the next slogan.

3. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.  

When we look at this awareness, we are aware of this unceasing dance of phenomena that is occurring, but since we are not getting caught up in that display we are also aware of this calm stillness.  Look at that.  Where does this come from, where does it go?

When you look at the dance you find there is nothing to hold onto, it is an endless play that can take any form at all and yet never exists as a single thing whatsoever.  When you look at the mind, there are all these things we are aware of, yet there is an underlying stillness that is lucid and alert.  When you look at that mind, you cannot find anything.  There is nothing there to hold onto, mind is unborn, yet there is this awareness that perceives very clearly.  From here we can address the next slogan.

4.  Self-liberate even the antidote.

When we look at the dynamic dance of phenomena, we find that despite the unceasing play there is this unchanging stillness which could be interpreted as nothing ever really happening.  When we look at the mind we find that while it is aware, we cannot find any particular 'thing' that is actually mind. 

The danger here is that we could come to the conclusion of 'Well, what's the point? Nothing matters, nothing ever happens.  Who cares, it doesn't matter what you do'.  This is very tricky, for we risk becoming nihilists- heartless narcissistic bastards.  Don't do that. 

Self-liberate the antidote means not to get caught up in that experience, don't solidify that experience of emptiness.  Don't fixate on that experience of not finding anything that is truly lasting.

5. Rest in the nature of the alaya, the essence.  

In meditation, we seek to move beyond our coarse level of mind and learn to rest in a more subtle level.  There are eight types of consciousnesses- five sense (sight, hearing, olfactory, taste, touch), conceptual consciousness, emotional consciousness and the alaya, or foundational consciousness.

The idea of resting in the alaya is that we are not supposed to get caught up in the dance of the other seven consciousnesses.  We don't want to follow after all the sights, sounds, smells, feelings and thoughts we are experiencing as we sit in meditation.  Learn to rest in a calm, clear, non-discursive awareness.  As we familiarize with this place of natural rest, free from coming and going, we also familiarize ourselves with ultimate bodhicitta.

It is important to understand that the alaya is not ultimate bodhicitta, but it is a much more subtle level of mind where we can begin to appreciate the qualities and characteristics of the nature of the mind.

Resting in the alaya we can see the dreamlike nature of all phenomena.   Not getting caught up in the dynamic dance of phenomena, we are able to examine the nature of unborn awareness.  Without clinging to that experience we self-liberate even the antidote, which is the empty nature of awareness.  We rest in lucid clarity, the mind open and expansive.  All of this is something that we are not creating in meditation, it becomes self-evident as we continue to sit with the proper instruction.

6.  In post-meditation, be a child of illusion.

At the end of the meditation session, don't just get up and go about your day.  Carry whatever insight or experience you have from meditation into your daily life.  Let it infuse your relationships, your work, your good times and your bad. 

Regard all situations and activities as dreams.  Don't get caught up in the dance.  We need to participate in the dance, we don't really have a choice here.  We cannot be a wallflower in the dance of life.  But as we dance we can adapt, respond; we can lead or follow; show strength or vulnerability.  We can affect the shape and the form the dance takes, a miraculous display that can appear in any way whatsoever. 

Go dancing, be a child of illusion. 

Training in Bodhicitta

The second point in Mind Training concerns the main practice, which is training in bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment.  There are two aspects to bodhicitta, ultimate and relative.  

Ultimate bodhicitta is connected with the perfection of generosity.  It has the quality of openness, not holding anything back.  This is the vision of the Mahayana, that we can be open, that we have a boundless store of love and compassion that can be shared with the world around us.  The opposite of ultimate bodhicitta is the mind that fixates on our own self-interest.  It is a mind that closes in on itself, focusing on 'I' and 'mine' with its attendants of anger, attachment, jealousy and arrogance.  

Also connected with ultimate bodhicitta is the principle of emptiness.  Emptiness refers to the true nature of phenomena and the true nature of our own mind.  When we examine the world around us and even our own minds we find that everything is interconnected, that there is no independent self to be found.  Since all phenomena arise dependently, we can say that they are empty of a truly existing, autonomous self.  Saying that phenomena are empty in their nature does not mean that they do not exist at all, but rather determines the way they exist, which is interdependently.  Once we realize the empty nature of the self, then generosity and compassion arise very naturally because we have nothing to hold onto, nothing to lose.  

We can speak of ultimate bodhicitta in terms of openness and emptiness, but on another level we can relate it to our own buddhanature, or tathatagarbha.  

The tathatagarbha, often translated as the seed of awakening, can be identified with the soft spot in our hearts.  No matter how much armor we put on to try and protect ourselves from all the hurt in the world, there is always this tenderness or vulnerability that is exposed.  Everyone, no matter how callous, jaded or cruel, wants happiness and to be free from suffering.  

In the Uttaratantra-shastra:

If buddhanature were not present, there would be no remorse over suffering;

There would be no longing for peace, nor striving and devotion towards its aim.   

 

The tathatagarbha is innate in all beings.  In our meditation, as we sift through the layers of agitation, dullness, irritation, neurosis and projections, we begin to discover our own basic goodness, this naturally present fullness of being.  It is this process of coming home, an abode of natural peace and rest within.  As we recognize this in our own heart and mind, we can see with our own eyes that awakening is possible.  

 

We can also approach the tathatagarbha on a more subtle level.  Tathata in Sanskrit means suchness, meaning the true nature of reality just as it is, the union of appearance and emptiness.  Garbha can be translated as womb.  In this sense tathatagarbha can be interpreted as the womb of suchness, the true nature of reality and the nature of our own mind that gives birth to the world of samsara and nirvana, bondage and liberation.  We never part from this true nature.  However it manifests, whether as happiness or suffering, we can recognize and abide in this innate buddhanature, the nature of mind.  It is the single sphere, which having never existed as anything whatsoever, can manifest in any way at all.  

 

The Tathagatas, those thus gone to suchness, abide always and forever in the womb of suchness, the nature of mind free from coming and going in which they endlessly carry out the benefit of beings.  

 

Of course, all these words may sound nice, but this is something that must be identified in one's own meditation and not merely left as words.  

Relative bodhicitta is how we carry that experience and insight we gain during meditation into our daily life.  It is the practical application of wisdom and compassion.  Having recognized the capacity for awakening in ourselves, how do we bring that onto the path?  How do we let it infuse our life and work?  

Relative bodhicitta is connected with discipline, how to actually carry out the practice.  Discipline refers to how to actually walk, for without discipline it is like trying to walk the path with no legs.  The way the Buddha taught us to tread the path to enlightenment is through the bodhisattva path, exemplified by the six perfections.  

The slogans on relative bodhicitta are quite simply but also very direct.  They reflect the practicality of the Mahayana path, we should make a lot of effort to recall them in our day especially when we are faced with difficult situations.