Complexity, simplified.

There are three aspects to a simple spiritual practice:

A spiritual friend.
A mind of faith, diligence and wisdom.
Art.

Your spiritual friend doesn't need to be a guru.  They should be someone who inspires you, someone you trust.  They are compassionate and kind, with a gentle heart and an open mind.  They don't need to have a fancy title, but they should be someone you admire and hold in esteem. 

A mind of faith is one that has an admiration for, longing towards, and trust in what is authentic and true.  With this as our compass, we diligently, day after day, month after month, devote ourselves to our practice.  The result of this pursuit what what is authentic and true is wisdom.  Seeing things as they are, we make connections, see implications.  We gain certainty and eliminate doubts. 

Our practice must be shared, so art completes the practice.  Generosity as art, sharing kind words and deeds.  We extend our love and respect to others.  We listen, hear their pain, understand their problems.  Dignity is a gift worth sharing for those who long for it. 

These three aspects form the bedrock for a strong spiritual practice.  They simplify the complexity of the path.  

Thank you, dear reader.

It can be a strange experience to share your thoughts and feelings across the blogosphere.  The connections you make, the conversations you have, the hearts touched and the faces you never see.  It can be both entirely personal and yet entirely connected at the same time.  It is hard to put into words the impact that others make in your life, usually the only thing that gives due justice is thank you.  The Tibetan for thank you is thujeche, which literally means great compassion or kindness.  Here is to celebrating your kindness and your support.  Thank you.

I sit, stand and walk,
catching fleeting reminders
of where we have been
and where we want to go.
Moments of clarity and insight,
of fear and anger and exaltation, 
strewn across a lifetime of moments,
captured in bottles left to drift at sea.

May you stumble upon what you need,
a worn wood inscription,
a chance encounter,
a guidepost on your journey,
a cairn on a forgotten path,
a note in a book you've always had.

Wherever you are,
this battle is not your own.
Those paths you walk,
those lonely and precarious paths,
you are not alone. 
We are out there,
we are all over,
and we walk with you. 

The difficult part.

The difficult part of having a spiritual practice is not the practice itself; that is a joy and a blessing.  The hard part is figuring out how to included everything else, how to integrate the practice with the rest of your life.

The hard part is not trying to exclude resistance, problems, pain and defeat from your practice.

In order to overcome the hard part, you need an example; fortunately or unfortunately, you need to be that example.  To be the example, you'll need a strong practice; one that allows you to bring all negative situations and problems onto your path.

To be the example, you will need to master your practice.

The Charnel Ground

Photo courtesy of Himalayan Arts

The charnel ground is a very evocative image used by Buddhist practitioners.  

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.

A Spiritual Friend

Editor's note: This is a guest post by Karen Johnstone.

 I've been invited to be a guest writer here today, and the subject:  something that inspires me.  Immediately, Guru Yoga, Devotion to the Spiritual Teacher, the Spiritual Friend came to mind.   

I crossed a benchmark in the past several months, having taken refuge a little over 5 years ago, studying exclusively with my root teacher, Younge Khachab Rinpoche.  He has often exhorted me to direct my attention to Guru Yoga.  Early on, I found myself somewhat befuddled by the terminology - what does this truly mean?  Am I practicing a kind of blind faith, an "idiot" devotion (parallel to another popularized term, "idiot compassion")? Perhaps this has occurred to some degree. 

However, as I've passed the 5 year benchmark, I have discovered an inner confidence that provides a very firm foundation for my practice and anchors my commitments.  I reflect on all that I have learned from my root teacher, and I deeply appreciate the insight and stability that supports me daily.  I recognize a joy and sense of ease that is uncontrived- a radiance that simply occurs.  I've come to recognize this after taking the time to listen, absorb, and contemplate the teachings he has so generously and abundantly shared. 

My meditation practice allows me to examine and relate to the teachings from my own personal experience.  I am deeply and sincerely moved by the profound generosity of my root teacher, and of course his discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration that is so deeply instructive, and wisdom.  Guru Yoga for me has evolved into something very natural, empowering and nurturing.  I understand just how illuminating this relationship has become and its far reaching benefits. 

Alexander Berzin defines a Spiritual Friend:
A Spiritual Friend is a friend to help us be more constructive.  It doesn’t mean somebody that we go drinking with and go to the movies with, but someone who we really have a heart to heart close connection with. The whole purpose of the relationship is to help us to be more and more constructive, more and more positive, to gain more and more good qualities.

That is unquestionably my experience.  My practice and my path are rooted in the very practical and grounded advice of my root teacher, the very genuine and reciprocal respect we share, and the deep self respect he has inculcated in me.  From that deep respect, I move with a greater sense of responsibility, devotion and attention to my practice, which is so very constructive and grounded.

I had the pleasure of spending this past week on the island of Hawaii, at Wood Valley Temple, for an empowerment, teachings, fire puja and celebration of Losar, presented and led by a visiting teacher from Seattle, Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche.  I have been acquainted with him since 2008 (a few months after establishing my relationship with my root teacher). Recently I read his autobiography, a remarkable story, and I welcomed the opportunity to deepen my acquaintance with him.  I also had the pleasure of socializing with the Hawaii sangha.   Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche also spoke about Guru Yoga, explaining that it is not merely the physical actions done as part of preliminary practices.  I already had a deep appreciation for Younge Khachab Rinpoche and in the weekend's activities I recognized how much I have learned, and the ease and confidence I now enjoy with what I have learned and experienced so far. 

I came to recognize that Guru Yoga is not something merely done.  It is a way of being; of receptivity, of inspiration and integrity. 

Time spent listening to Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche and interacting with the Hawaii sangha- being open, receptive, sharing, and responsive gave me quite an exuberant feeling.  I found myself quite conscious of devotion to the Spiritual Teacher in conversations as each of us came from unique backgrounds. We quickly came together with a sense of warmth, generosity and kindness that was reflective of the devotion each of us have to our respective root teachers and subsequent teachers.  While I felt very exuberant in my devotion to my teachers, I also felt more firmly rooted in my dharma practice; even more deeply at home.  I was inspired and focused on the transformative power of the teachings from my own root teacher and Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche, as shown in my ease and comfort with people I did not know previously; I departed with many new friends.  I was inspired by the firm confidence, devotion and responsibility to the teachings I have been so fortunate to receive, to live them as fully as I can, and in the profound kindness and generosity of the teachers with whom I share very dear connections.

This sense of connection to my teachers and their lineage was punctuated later in the week when I went to Paleaku Garden, a botanical garden that includes a Stupa dedicated by Bokar Rinpoche, one of the great teachers for Younge Khachab Rinpoche, and a Green Tara shrine inspired by Her Eminence, Jamyang Dagmola Rinpoche, who has been like a second mother for Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche.  Being mindful of very real and dear lineages was deeply inspiring to me, deepening my sense of inspiring presence, devotion, and the beautiful guidance and power of Guru Yoga.

It is from this inspiring presence, devotion and joyful confidence that I can be available for others.  Realizing that is profoundly empowering.

Karen Johnstone is an estate planning paralegal, energy clearing consultant, bad ass mother; and long time student of Younge Khachab Rinpoche.  She is a leader and coordinator for the YDL- Washington Sangha.  She can be contacted at bodhismile@gmail.com.