Ah! Dharma reflections based on the words of Anyen Rinpoche

Exploring the Innermost Essence of the Vast Compassionate Heart

Posts Tagged Benefit others

Lying

Jul 28

Posted by SarahJ in Global Community, Karma, Mindful speech, Mindfulness, Personal Transformation | 14 Comments

In “ The Words of My Perfect Teacher” , Patrul Rinpoche describes three types of lying, a verbal action to be avoided. Ordinary lies are those that are made with the intention of deceiving others with false speech. Major lies are those that have “the most devastatingly misleading consequences” – lies about the Dharma. An example would be telling someone that karma doesn’t matter, because it’s all empty anyways. Phoney lama’s lies are those concerning having made attainments or abilities and qualities which one does not have. This speaks to the importance of thorough and proper examination of a spiritual friend.

Ordinary lies may be one of the most common negative actions. The usual motivation behind false speech is to deceive others in order to protect our own interests. Perhaps we exaggerate the facts when talking to someone, hoping to be impressive. Or we might not say what we really think about a subject, to avoid disagreement, criticism, or our own discomfort. We may be avoiding the consequences of telling the truth.

But what about when the motivation behind a lie is to benefit others? The intention behind this sort of a lie is still deception, but the motivation could be considered virtuous. In the Lotus Sutra, there is a story of a man who lies to his children to get them to come out of a burning house. He chooses this course of action because the children are playing intently and have disregarded his warning. Surely this is an example of justified false speech?

Skillful means comes to mind when considering the story of the burning house. The one who lied was in a position of greater knowledge, who purposefully took this action for the benefit of others. Additionally, the truth was told once the danger had passed. One might consider this a selfless act, accumulating the negative karma oneself, in order to benefit other beings. On the other hand, this rationalization could be used to justify quite a bit of untruths! Careful self examination, examination of the circumstances, and setting a proper intention are undoubtedly essential. What do you think about lies told to benefit others?

By practicing being truthful to others, being false with yourself becomes difficult. Honesty allows us to become more genuine, more open, more peaceful, which benefits everyone!

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Sexual Misconduct

Jul 21

Posted by SarahJ in Global Community, Karma, Mindfulness, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 17 Comments

Each of the ten actions to be avoided correspondingly are the cause for suffering. These actions are interrelated in both their motivation (the three poisons of anger, attachment, and ignorance) and their result (suffering, accumulation of negative karma). Moreover, these negative actions are compounding; avoiding one facilitates the avoiding of another, and engaging in one concedes the next. For example, if one has stolen something with trickery, lying was likely involved – both lying and stealing are both actions to be avoided. It’s easy to see how one can lead to another, and keeping one makes it easier to keep another.

The third physical action to be avoided as described by Patrul Rinpoche in “Words of My Perfect Teacher” is sexual misconduct. Of course, monks and nuns with full vows are expected to refrain from sex altogether. Householders are expected to follow an appropriate ethic for restricted behavior.

We could think of sexual misconduct in the same three ways as we did previously about taking what is not given: by violence, manipulation, or deceit.  Compelling others to break their own vows is the most serious type of sexual misconduct. The intention behind our action is of primary importance – proper sexual conduct includes mutual consent by those not already committed to other individuals, with the expression of love, devotion and respect.

How we conduct ourselves sexually is a reflection of how we conduct ourselves in all areas of our life – our sexual energy is primal. Sexual misconduct is significant enough to require its specific identification in the actions to be avoided!

In our culture sexual messages run rampant –media saturation with sexuality (sex sells!), objectification of sexual partners (arm candy! tool! meat market!) and so on. What examples of subtle sexual misconduct can you think of? Are there examples of things that appear to be sexual misconduct on the surface, but upon further scrutiny, could be considered proper?

In the Dharma,

Sarah

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Taking what is not given

Jul 5

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Bodhichitta, Global Community, Karma, Mindfulness, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 9 Comments

From Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher, the section on the ordinary or outer preliminaries, in the second section of the chapter called “Actions, Cause & Effect,” Patrul Rinpoche describes the second physical action to be avoided: taking what is not given.

There are three ways that we can take what isn’t given: by force, by stealth, or by trickery.   The examples given in the text are common sensical.  Taking by force is to confiscate property or overpower in order to take someone’s wealth (a land grab after a coup, for example); taking by stealth is to take secretly (burglary); taking by trickery is to lie or deceive someone into giving their property (in a business deal, for example).

I actually think there are other ways that we take from others, that go beyond these examples.  For example, we sometimes take what isn’t give through trickery when we manipulate another person emotionally, so that we can get what we want.  Maybe there are other ways you can think of that we take what isn’t given (although we may go slightly outside the realm of pure physical actions).

Patrul Rinpoche’s chapter is pertinent to modern practitioners in that it points out how obsessed we are with “money and calculations.”  We are so obsessed that we will still die deluded, he says.  We also lie and cheat others for our own financial benefit, whether doing business or otherwise.

Patrul Rinpoche says, “Nothing could be more effective than trade and commerce for piling up endless harmful actions and thorougly corrupting you.”   Any thoughts about this?

Anyen Rinpoche tells each and every one of us that we must find a way to bring the Dharma into our work life, as in every other part of our life.  How do we reconcile this instruction with the reality of 21st century life, where each and every one of us must play a part in commerce?

Bodhichitta anyone?

Looking forward to the retreat this week!  Allison

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Taking Life

Jun 28

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in Benefitting Others, Karma, Mindfulness, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 31 Comments

From the Words of My Perfect Teacher, in the Chapter called “The Ordinary or Outer Preliminaries,” the section entitled “The Ten Negative Actions to be Avoided,” the first action to be avoided is taking life.  This is one of three physical acts that is included in this section.

Patrul Rinpoche says that we human beings spend our lives taking the lives of others “like ogres.”  Whether it be through eating the flesh of other beings killed to feed us; walking through a grassy meadow and crushing insects as we walk (a more modern example would be driving and killing insects as they hit the windshield of the car); or indirectly through eating the flesh of beings who have killed innumerable beings as their own sustenance, none of us is free from accumulating the karma of taking life.

The action of taking life is complete when it includes four elements: identifying the being to be killed is the basis of the action; wishing to kill is the intention; the actual killing is the execution of the action; the death of the animal is the completion of the act.

However, we can also describe it using the three elements that generally accrue karma: the intention, the act, and the rejoicing.  Even though we may not participate in the intention or the act of directly killing another being, we may still rejoice in its death if it benefits us in some way.  Also, Anyen Rinpoche had this comment to make about the idea of a neutral intention or action:  We may not have the wisdom to know whether our action is actually neutral or not; we may simply be overpowered by ignorance.  This could be another way that we delude ourselves.

Let us all contemplate or reflect on how we can lessen the accumulation of this karma; through regret and purification, a change in action, or any other way you can suggest.  When we sit nyungne, for example, we will all eat vegetarian food for a week.  Are there other small or large changes we can make in our lives to better abide by this precept?
Thanks for your comments!  Allison

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The View of Meditation

Jun 9

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in 4 Mind Turnings, Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, medicine buddha, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 6 Comments

Greetings all!  The Medicine Buddha Monlam was a wonderful success, thanks to all who joined us.  I hope some people will post photos on Twitter and our Facebook wall!

Recently, I have been seriously reflecting on how important the study of Madhyamika is to clarifying what the view of meditation, specifically the view of Dzogchen, is.   Over the last two years, our Denver sangha and those who fly in to join us have been studying Mipham Rinpoche’s Beacon of Certainty intensively.  This entire text, when taught by a live master (not simply trying to figure it out from the root and commentary, which are incredibly dense and require live commentary), elucidates what the view of meditation is.

Sure, we can say “naked primordial awareness,” but what does that mean?  And how do we know that is different from any other experience we have ever had in meditation?  How do we become certain about the qualities of the view?  How do we know we are not just fooling ourselves by assuming that we understand the meaning of these words?

These are the kinds of questions we have been exploring.  And it has been an amazing exploration.  One very important thing we have learned is that Madhyamika philosophy itself teaches a view based on cutting through four types of extremes that are styles of mental grasping.  Yet, although Madhyamika is the basis of our initial understanding of the view, it is not synonomous with the view either.   Mipham Rinpoche says that the majority of us grasp at an empty void when we practice; that we haven’t taken enough time to truly understand what the view actually is, and have not engaged in the proper style of practice to experience it regularly.

It is amazing that all of us have the chance to develop and clarify our understanding of what meditation is, and to take it to a level that is beyond assumption.   It is truly wonderful that Mipham Rinpoche gave us a text like Beacon of Certainty to help us discover something that is truly beyond ordinary mind!  This, combined with serious and continuous study with an authentic master who knows us well and can guide us along the path, are truly a wish-fulfilling gem.

Thank you Rinpoche, for being our wish-fulfilling gem!

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Medicine Buddha Monlam

Jun 2

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Global Community, medicine buddha, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 2 Comments

We are so thrilled to be hosting the second annual Medicine Buddha Monlam this weekend in Denver!  For all of you who aren’t able to join us, we’ll be practicing from 7:30 am to 6 pm during the day, and then again in the evenings.  We’ll be meeting Saturday, Sunday and Monday.   Feel free to join in from where ever you are!   And we hope many more of you will be able to join us in person next year!

Here’s an offering for each of you…Medicine Buddha wallpaper for your computer!

http://www.fpmt-osel.org/gallery/medicine.htm

May all beings benefit!

Allison

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For the Benefit of Others

May 26

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in 4 Mind Turnings, Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 4 Comments

One of the quintessential truths of the Vajrayana path is whatever we do for the benefit of others also indirectly benefits ourselves.  This teaching is called “accomplishing the two benefits.”  Thus, it is through reaching out to others and doing our best to help them through pain, suffering and difficulty–or even on occasions of happiness–that we also find happiness.  Despite the focus on individualism we have in Western culture, I think it is still most people’s experience emotionally that this is true.

Practices such as Medicine Buddha (which we are planning to practice intensively at the Medicine Buddha Monlam starting June 4 in Drnver) have us focus on and pray to alleviate all of the myriad sufferings in the world.  Additionally practices such as Tonglen instruct us to aspire to take on those experiences of suffering ourselves.  It is amazing how mentally and emotionally content we feel when we spend time focusing on the troubles of others and praying for their dissolution.

Western culture has a wonderful focus on actual service to benefit others, through the offering of our own time, money and effort.  Buddhist culture has an additional focus on cultivating bodhichitta and compassion, that we might one day be able to directly take on the sufferings of others so that they may not have to experience pain and hardship.  As practitioners, we are most benefitted by taking up both these kinds of activity–actual work as well as aspiration that is other-focused.

How are you working to train in both of these types of activity in your own life? We’d love to hear from you!

We will be excited to have Anyen Rinpoche back in Colorado for the Medicine Buddha Monlam the weekend after next.  Hope to see you all there!

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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Bodhichitta in Action

May 17

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Global Community, Teachings | 8 Comments

Sometimes we don’t feel like reaching out to other people…sometimes all we want to do is stay at home with the door shut!  There are so many aspects of our modern lives that make it difficult to reach out to others.  Or maybe I should say, that make it easier for us not to reach out to others.   I’m sure you can add to my list–but text messaging and internet shopping are huge ones.  Add video games onto that.  And how about  telecommuniting…?  Which I also love, by the way.  There are just so many ways to stay inside of ourselves and not venture out into the realm of humanity.

We are actually constructing a world where, one day, we may not ever have to interact with another human being.  What would that be like?   Or perhaps you think my view is too extreme.  We are simply making choices to limit who we interact with.

Is modern technology enhancing our lives?  Yes, obviously.  No one could say that technology is a negative thing in and of itself.  But what are we losing as a result of constructing a world that enables us all to be introverts?

One thing is for sure.   In our modern world, we lose many chances to practice bodhichitta in action.  We have fewer chances to brighten someone’s day by giving them a smile, a kind word, or a hand.  We also lose the chance to practice patience, to deal with difficulties face to face, and to become better at human relationships.  We lose chances to become more skillful at intimacy and friendship.

Personally, I love to shop on the internet.  I love those websites where I can compare every gadget that is similar to the one I want, literally hundreds of choices at my finger tips.  But in light of this, I’m also glad I have Dharma.   Dharma is the perfect compliment to modern technology.  It keeps us grounded, human and in relationship to others.  It reminds us that the difficult situations are worth engaging in, and that it enriches us to give our time and energy to others.  This weekend at our sangha garage sale, we all enjoyed the hard work–and doing that hard work together.  I heard people comment on it more than once.  That made the event successful!  Thanks to everyone who pitched in, and especially Ananda, who pitched in the most.

One more plug for the Monlam–register now!

http://www.anyenrinpoche.com/menla.html

How have you put Bodhichitta into action today?

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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Honoring Our Mothers, All Sentient Beings

May 8

Posted by Anyen Rinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Teachings | 1 Comment

Courtesy of Yontan…!

Mother’s Day

The mahayana teachings enjoin us to treat all beings with the same kindness accorded our own mother – she who laboured so greatly to brings us into this precious human birth and who sustained our fragile body through years of self-sacrifice – in order to undermine the self-grasping that fetters us to samsara and to cultivate the treasure of bodhicitta that leads to enlightenment. How beautiful that the very selfless service that brings us into this world of suffering and nurtures us to life, is the very model with which we can ourselves give birth to and nourish that which will free us from being born!

Bodhisattvas beget buddhas; suffering begets bodhisattvas; appearance begets suffering, confusion begets appearance. Praise be to confusion, the timeless seed of awakening, ceaselessly spawning the bodhi tribe of enemies, trampling the Victor into non-birth. May the guru – the true and solitary mother of my own babymind – enjoy the aroma of ranting flowers blown on defiled wind this auspicious spring day.

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Longchen Rabjam

May 3

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Mindfulness, Personal Transformation | 8 Comments

First of all, Happy Birthday, Rinpoche!  May your life be long and free of obstacles, and your dharma activity continually increase!

This weekend, many of us were lucky to hear Anyen Rinpoche’s commentary on a text by Longchen Rabjam called “30 Piece of Heart Advice” in Santa Fe.  This short text, Rinpoche told us, contains Longchenpa’s vision for the path of the Secret Mantrayana.  Indeed, we had the opportunity to discuss almost every aspect of the path as we heard commentary on the thirty verses.  There are some nice translations of these verses here:

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Teachings_on_Longchenpa%27s_Advice_from_the_Heart

Longchenpa is one of the greatest yogis in the history of Tantric Buddhism.  The incredible hardship he undertook to attain realization in one lifetime, and the vast realization that he expressed in his texts and vajra songs stand out as marvelous gems for us to admire and aspire to.  Longchenpa’s relationship to his spiritual teacher, Lama Kumarantza, is also an example of giving oneself wholly to the teacher.  How marvelous to hear commentary on his teachings!   Here’s some more about Longchenpa’s life and vast Dharma activity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longchenpa

One particularly interesting conversation that came up during the talks was around a piece of advice in which Longchenpa told us to avoid intimacy and hostility, and to relate to all beings impartially through our speech and actions.  One student in attendance, Louise, asked Rinpoche how we are to make sense of such advice, when our culture places such importance on intimacy.

Rinpoche’s answer wss that intimacy in Western Culture (as opposed to the Buddhist idea) is often ego-driven; it is us wanting something from another person because we do not know how to deal with our own minds or our own emotions.   In other words, intimacy can be a utilitarian expression.  Rinpoche said that whenever we attempt to use a relationship for our own purpose or to get something for ourselves, we complicate the relationship, and this results in conflicts between ourselves and our loved ones.

From the Buddhist point of view ( here, embodied by Longchenpa’s words), impartiality (in other words, seeing all beings as equal)  enables us to achieve authentic intimacy.  When we engage in the relationship without trying to get something for ourselves, relationships are more simple and easy.  With the ego out of the way, we have more insight into what to say or not say to a particular person.  We know when to move closer and when to back away.  Anyen Rinpoche also said to develop intimacy in a Buddhist way, we should discern who is a proper person to attempt intimacy with, and examine our words before we speak to another.   We should share our hearts and minds in situations in situations where our words won’t harm or cause pain to another.  We should speak directly to those whom we trust and have built a deep relationship, who will understand and respect our words.    Following these ideas, Rinpoche said, we will achieve harmony in our closer as well as our distant relationships.

Monlam plans are going well…hope to see some of you there!

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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