Answering the call.

There is something inside of each of us that is calling for us to be more deeply present in the world, to participate and contribute to the world in some way. Answering that call opens the doorway to the path.

When we feel called to step beyond our narrow conception of self and our abilities, we usually experience vulnerability, hesitation and fear. We feel called to step out into the open, but when the time comes to do so we hold back, we wait, we turn back.

That is why we need a practice, a teacher and mentor, a supportive community. We need stories and examples of those who have traveled this path. We need support and feedback and guidance from those who are currently traveling.

On this journey, we often feel alone and isolated. But there are those who walk with us, among us. There are those waiting for us just ahead and around the corner.

By showing up and listening to our own calling, we show up for others and continue to inspire them in their own path. Answering the call fulfills our own aims and brings about the aims of others.

One last demon to overcome.

 I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere in any literature, but it is something worth noting.

There are twelve deeds of a Buddha.  The first nine consist of a Buddha taking birth and then embarking on the path to awakening, culminating in a fierce battle with their own demons.  

The tenth deed is to gain complete awakening.

The eleventh is turning the Wheel of Dharma, or teaching.

The twelfth is passing away into parinirvana.

The scriptures recount that upon the Buddha gaining complete and utter enlightenment he rested in equipoise for seven days.  Afterwards, he hesitated to teach, thinking that their would be no way to communicate his realization and no one to understand the truth he had realized. 

For a moment, the Buddha was faced with uncertainty about the work he was about to do, the work that he needed to do as a Buddha. 

For a moment, the Buddha entertained the thought of holding back, of not sharing the boundless joy that he had realized first hand.

That was the last trick that Mara had left to play.  It was a subtle trick, playing into the Buddha's human nature, but it was the only move he had left.  The Buddha was already free, his mind liberated, but there was an opportunity to prevent him from being generous.

But the Buddha did not bite that hook. 

It is said that the Buddha sat for seven weeks in samadhi after his enlightenment to formulate his teachings.  The rest of his life was spent sharing generously.

The last demon to overcome on the path is the resistance that we are all faced with to hold back. 

What is the work that you came here to do?  What is holding you back?

Mara.

བདུད་
Tibetan: dud
English: Mara or demon

The story of the Buddha's quest for complete awakening and fulfillment reaches its climax under the Bodhi tree. It is here that Siddhartha Gautama formed a firm resolve not to get up from his seat until he was enlightened.

When Siddhartha took his seat and entered into meditative absorption he entered into battle with Mara, who was trying to prevent and derail his quest.  Mythologically, Mara is a powerful demonic god, but metaphorically anything that exerts a negative influence and creates obstacles and problems on our spiritual path is considered a demon, or Mara. 

As a practitioner, Mara symbolizes our own self-cherishing and our preoccupation with the eight worldly concerns.  These are what we enter into battle with on our own path.  As these powerful armies rise up against us, we must sit firmly and not waver in our practice.  We must remain unhooked by these clever and mischievous demons.

We get hooked by hoping for pleasure and fearing pain.
Our minds ensnared by hoping for fame and fearing disgrace.
We become trapped hoping for praise and fearing criticism and blame.
We are totally caught up in hoping for gain and fearing loss.

All of these are the self-cherishing habit of ego, caught up in hope and fear, attachment and aversion.  These are what keep us stuck in the cycle of samsara. 

Waking up from ignorance and delusion isn't easy.  The path isn't easy.  At some point you need to turn and face your fear.  You need to learn how to work with these demons, see how they hook us.  We need to understand how they how they shade our perception and influence our decisions and actions.

These demons are not real.  They are intense, but they are not real.  Knowing that we can start to work with them. 

The actor caught acting in the act.

Worse than not recognizing the play of the mind is the fact that we get caught up in it. 

We become ensnared in what is happening. It determines our choices and actions.  We get caught up in the story-line, wrapped up in our identity which isn't even real.

We are blind to it, continually perpetuating the charade that plays itself out again and again in endless loops. 

We long for freedom, for it to stop.  But how?

What happens if the actor drops everything?

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.  

Myth.

There is a certain myth that some people are susceptible to regarding their own practice.  It tends to draw people in, hooks them, ushers them along so they keep going. 

It is the myth that your practice will make you a better person.  The myth that you will be redeemed, made to be of value.  It is the myth of the conceivable but not the reality, the fanciful stories we tell ourselves about who we could be as we regale ourselves with stories of immortality.  Many follow that myth for years, working to be better, to fit reality with their vision, to be more happy.  Really they are working to cover up the self-judgement and contempt that pervades our life.

The myth lives on in a self-centered practice.  You are the practice, and the fruition you seek is a more complete you.  But you can't win, because from the very beginning you have created a chasm that cannot be crossed and every misstep confirms your failure.   

The practice you need is the one that makes you human.  The one that enables you to walk with pain, to sit with uncertainty and to dance with fear.  Practice so that you might be more kind to others, that you might extend your hand because you are able.

Let the fairy tale fall apart.  Let the masquerade come to an end.  The myth may have brought you here, but you don't need to keep believing it.

A true practice opens your heart and your mind, and you can experience that to be true.    

There's truth in everything.

You push.  You struggle.  You fight back.  You stand your ground, affirm your position and your story.

No one seems to understand.

I know your story seems to be the right one.  I know you know the facts.  I've heard your side of the evidence and your logic to support your position.  It's all relatively true. 

We all have our own version of the truth.  As long as we recognize that fact, that it's relative, then we can keep working and adapting.  It's when those relative truths become real truths that we start to have problems. 

 

Powerboat

Ours is a culture of achievement.  We wrap ourselves in a nice cocoon of materialism, image and identity.  These form the basis for how we interact with the world around us.

Our habit is to control.  We strive to get where we are going as quickly as possible.  In this sense we all want to travel the quick path, the powerboat that carries us to the far shore with the wind in our hair.  We trust that the boat has everything we need to get us where we want to go.  Oh, and we want to look good doing it.

Our habits form over long periods of time as a coping mechanism to deal with the world.  We have a lot of learned behaviors, some good, some bad; but we should examine our habits and determine if they actually bring our intended result.

Does control, materialism and achievement fulfill our aims?  Are you satisfied?

How does a sailboat travel to its destination?  What story does that tell?

Let's Move Beyond 'Like'

We all love to distract ourselves with stories that we believe in; stories that inspire us and give us hope.  Somehow, perhaps, if we can just get enough of the right content and knowledge then we might start to be that story.  Right? 

I do this all the time.  If I am interested in something I often find myself studying it first, mastering it intellectually before I actually go do the thing itself. 

But does 'Like' followed by no actual work equal anything?

It ain't a show people. 

It requires work.
It requires openness.
                 discipline.
                 patience.
                 mindfulness.
                 joyous effort.
                 focus.
                 and insight.

This life is short.  Our time is precious.  

I believe you can live a life of great purpose, but it's time to move beyond 'Like'.