It is easy to focus on all the poison in our lives and the world around us. To see all of the anger and injustice in the world. To witness unfairness and outright manipulation by those in power. It is easy to get caught up in the busyness of our days, the pointlessness of what we are doing. At times we all feel helpless and lost, that we have no control over all of the problems in our life.
The practitioner doesn't get caught up in the highs and lows of their day. The don't get caught up in what is right or wrong, what to accept and what to reject. Everything is applied to their practice. Everything is an opportunity to practice.
Anger is poison, use it to practice patience.
Attachment is poison, use it to practice impermanence.
Fear is poison, use it to look deeper and examine your fixation.
Anxiety is poison, use it as a catalyst to train your mind.
Resistance is poison, use it to persevere.
Jealousy is poison, use it to rejoice in the happiness and success of others.
Looking outside yourself is poison, recognize and look within and to your own practice.
Death is the ultimate poison, use it to express gratitude and a profound appreciation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We get to do this.
We get to transform suffering into the path of realization.
We get to transform our problems and obstacles into growth and accomplishment.
We get to dig deeper and experience everything as the path of liberation.
Knowledge isn't enough. It is not enough to simply know this.
Practice is important. The lived experience is what counts.
Clarify your practice. Let your practice clarify you.
Showing posts with label poison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poison. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Amitabha
OM AMIDEWA HRIH
Amitabha is one of the Five Family Buddhas.
His pure land is Sukhavati, the Land of Great Bliss, representing the great joy experienced when all conditions are met as opportunities for practice and realization in the quest for complete awakening. His color is red, representing the activity of magnetizing or attracting. His hands are in the mudra of meditative equipoise symbolizing stability, the right 'skillful method' hand supported by the left 'wisdom' hand. In his hands he holds a lotus flower, a symbol of purity and renunciation. The lotus is a powerful symbol associated with all Buddhas, symbolizing their appearance in the world and yet that they are unstained by defilements, hindrances and cognitive obscurations. A blossoming lotus represents the natural unfolding of activity free from the faults of the eight worldly concerns.
Amitabha is the Buddha that represents completely purified attachment or passion. All of us have strong desires and passions and our fixation on these leads to a very narrow view and limited understanding. We become fixated on our version of the truth, what we think is the right way, what we want. Attachment is not flexible, it is rigid and stiff and produces poor decision making and cloud upon cloud of negative thoughts and emotions. Amitabha represents the transformation of that attachment into the wisdom of discernment. Discernment is free from bias and distortion. You see and understand. You get the big picture. A discerning mind is open, flexible and precise. It is able to perceive its own condition and the condition of the surrounding world.
Amitabha rides a peacock possessed with all the major and minor marks. The peacock is able to transmute poison into healing nectar. Its call announces dawn or awakening. The eyes of its feathers represent wisdom, the quill feathers represent the myriad skillful methods that are employed to bring about fruition. Like the lotus, the peacock is able to transform the mundane and poisonous aspects of our daily life and world in order to bring forth great benefit.
In regard to our own mind and self, Amitabha represents the aggregate of perception. Perception is like a lens through which we see the world. That lens is obscured by negative emotions, bias, ignorance and fear. As it becomes distorted, our thoughts and actions become distorted. Attachment and aversion are constantly effecting the opaqueness of our lens, closing off access to insight and wisdom.
When we deeply contemplate and integrate the wisdom and symbolism of Amitabha, we can learn to transmute attachment and distorted vision into the wisdom of discernment. We become skilled at transforming problems and the negative aspects of our life and world into the path. Our practice becomes one of transformation. We don't need to escape, turn away or reject. We can work with what is coming up. Because we are not fixated on our own position, we can see the opportunity available to us. We can see the opportunity available to others.
Everything becomes the practice. Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path. Sukhavati is not some destination in which we arrive, it is the path on which we walk.
Start walking. And bring a peacock.
Amitabha is one of the Five Family Buddhas.
His pure land is Sukhavati, the Land of Great Bliss, representing the great joy experienced when all conditions are met as opportunities for practice and realization in the quest for complete awakening. His color is red, representing the activity of magnetizing or attracting. His hands are in the mudra of meditative equipoise symbolizing stability, the right 'skillful method' hand supported by the left 'wisdom' hand. In his hands he holds a lotus flower, a symbol of purity and renunciation. The lotus is a powerful symbol associated with all Buddhas, symbolizing their appearance in the world and yet that they are unstained by defilements, hindrances and cognitive obscurations. A blossoming lotus represents the natural unfolding of activity free from the faults of the eight worldly concerns.
Amitabha is the Buddha that represents completely purified attachment or passion. All of us have strong desires and passions and our fixation on these leads to a very narrow view and limited understanding. We become fixated on our version of the truth, what we think is the right way, what we want. Attachment is not flexible, it is rigid and stiff and produces poor decision making and cloud upon cloud of negative thoughts and emotions. Amitabha represents the transformation of that attachment into the wisdom of discernment. Discernment is free from bias and distortion. You see and understand. You get the big picture. A discerning mind is open, flexible and precise. It is able to perceive its own condition and the condition of the surrounding world.
Amitabha rides a peacock possessed with all the major and minor marks. The peacock is able to transmute poison into healing nectar. Its call announces dawn or awakening. The eyes of its feathers represent wisdom, the quill feathers represent the myriad skillful methods that are employed to bring about fruition. Like the lotus, the peacock is able to transform the mundane and poisonous aspects of our daily life and world in order to bring forth great benefit.
In regard to our own mind and self, Amitabha represents the aggregate of perception. Perception is like a lens through which we see the world. That lens is obscured by negative emotions, bias, ignorance and fear. As it becomes distorted, our thoughts and actions become distorted. Attachment and aversion are constantly effecting the opaqueness of our lens, closing off access to insight and wisdom.
When we deeply contemplate and integrate the wisdom and symbolism of Amitabha, we can learn to transmute attachment and distorted vision into the wisdom of discernment. We become skilled at transforming problems and the negative aspects of our life and world into the path. Our practice becomes one of transformation. We don't need to escape, turn away or reject. We can work with what is coming up. Because we are not fixated on our own position, we can see the opportunity available to us. We can see the opportunity available to others.
Everything becomes the practice. Your life is your spiritual practice, the result is the path. Sukhavati is not some destination in which we arrive, it is the path on which we walk.
Start walking. And bring a peacock.
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