Ah! Dharma reflections based on the words of Anyen Rinpoche

Exploring the Innermost Essence of the Vast Compassionate Heart

Posts Tagged Mindfulness

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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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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Dedication

Apr 5

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Mindfulness, Momentary Buddhahood, Personal Transformation, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Dedication has its own meaning in the context of the Dharma, but it is nicely complimented by a second more colloquial meaning of dedication in the English language.  For practitioners, dedication refers to dedication of merit…in other words, dedicating any good we accomplish or any virtuous activity or motivation, to the benefit of others.  In the English language, dedication has a religious meaning (that of setting something aside for a sacred purpose), but it also has a second meaning of “committing onself to a particular thought or action.”   This is a lovely addition to our normal use of the word, it reminds us of the commitment it takes to develop spiritually and, especially, to walk the bodhisattva path.

I’m reminded of the act of dedicating because we finished another year of shedra teachings yesterday.  Our marvelous sangha has nearly completed a fairly detailed study of Ju Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty.  For those not familiar with this text, Anyen Rinpoche describes it as “the bridge between the sutra and tantra, which makes the view of Atiyoga Dzogchen accessible and meaningful.”  At the end of yesterday’s talk, Rinpoche reminded us to dedicate any merit we had attained through our practice and study this year to for the benefit of all beings.  Although most of us normally do this after each session of practice, how wonderful it is to do this together as a group and focus our energy outward on others, when we are normally focusing so hard on inner development.

Wisdom Publications has published one commentary on Beacon of Certainty that you may like to review.  The extremely lucid commentary we have been studying (favored by most Tibetan scholars) was written by the great master Khenpo Kunpal and has not yet been published widely in English.

http://www.wisdompubs.org/pages/display.lasso?-KeyValue=103&-Token.Action=&image=1

How do we remember to practice dedication in our daily lives?  Rinpoche and all the great masters tell us that this is something we should do when we complete each session of practice (it is generally said that we follow three principles: starting with the generation of Bodhichitta, reflecting on impermanence, emptiness or the perfectly pure view in the middle, and dedicating the merit to seal the practice at the end).   But shouldn’t dedication also be an engaged action as well?  Of course it should be, but isn’t it one of the aspects of Dharma that is easily neglected?  I’d love to hear your thoughts about dedication…

In Momentary Buddhahood, Anyen Rinpoche spent over a hundred pages discussing how we can use mindfulness to bring any virtuous action to the level of engaged manifestation, and how this same mindfulness would lead us to direct experience of and realization of the Dharmakaya through moments of the experience of Buddhahood (hence the title Momentary Buddhahood).   So I guess the real question is, how do we train in mindfulness so that we remember to dedicate all that we do for the benefit of sentient beings?

(here’s a link to Momentary Buddhahood…)

http://www.wisdompubs.org/pages/display.lasso?-KeyValue=33086&-Token.Action=&image=1

When we do remember to dedicate the merit, it causes us to experience joy and meaning in our conventional lives, such that we almost forget we were aspiring to give away what we “have” to others…

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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The measure of happiness

Mar 24

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Global Community, Mindful speech, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 18 Comments

Today’s blog post is courtesy of Eileen C., who suggested that we reflect on the following (very interesting) article:”What makes the healthiest and happiest societies?”

http://www.alternet.org/story/145955/what_makes_the_healthiest_and_happiest_societies_hint%3A_it_not_rich_people_?page=1

Go ahead and browse the article–I’d love to hear your thoughts about it! In sum, the article presents the idea that it is not increased wealth that creates a happier and healthier society, but rather social and material equality.   The source of this research, epidemiologist (one who studies health and illness in different socities) Richard Wilkinson, explains that human beings feel more stress and a stronger psychological impact based on materialism in a highly stratified society.  He also asserts that in a consumerist society, we relate to ourselves as we are seen by others, which is why we compete for designer labels and expensive clothes.

As a Buddhist, I struggle with assertions like these.  On one hand, I find some Wilkinson’s ideas have the ring of truth.  And he appears to have some research to back it up.  For example, he says there are higher prison rates, teen pregnancy rates, mental illness rate, and homicide rates in countries with more social inequality (which, of course, includes the US).   Still, I wonder, even if true– how much of my time should I spend engaging in these ideas?   What benefit does it bring me to reflect on this deeply?

I am reminded of when I first met Anyen Rinpoche.   At that time, I was terribly unhappy and often confused about many things in my life.  I grasped  at (desired) others’ happiness and did not know how to find my own peace of mind.  Rinpoche’s advice to me was to reflect on the nature of samsara in every possible situation–to develop unfailing mindfulness and certainty in the fact that the outer world could never bring me happiness or satisfaction.  As a result of this serious reflection, I do carry with me confidence that the society I live in will never bring me happiness.   (This also reminds me of the discussion that developed out the last post on taking personal responsibility for ourselves and our own state of mind, rather than putting the blame on other things.   For more on this discussion, especially on the lojung slogan ‘drive all blames into one’ see the comments to the post on Imperfection).

http://mojofiti.com/anyenrinpoche/2010/03/22/imperfection/

I think my deep interest in Buddhist philosophy has caused me to have a bit of a falling out with a lot of the other types philosophy I used to subscribe to (and love to read and discuss, I should add).   Getting down to it…I think this is really what it is…I think I have lost faith in the idea of fixing society.  I have the suspicion that whatever I try to fix will still be unsatisfactory, or that patching up one part will just lead to degradation in another.   But rather than feeling disturbed by this, I think it just frees up my energy to work hard on my own spiritual practice, and do my very best to have positive and helpful interactions with others.  Perhaps this is just one aspect of “the mind’s ease.”

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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Imperfection

Mar 22

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Mindfulness, Momentary Buddhahood, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 13 Comments

Have you noticed your imperfections yet today?

Perfectly imperfect!

Perfectly imperfect!

Anyen Rinpoche often tells his students that if we are not noticing our imperfections, then we lack mindfulness, introspection, and insight into our all-so-human personalities and behavior.  Noticing our imperfections is not easy though–it takes patience to see our flaws and learn from our mistakes.   This is obviously, like everything else in our samsaric wilderness, a painful experience.

Some students first experience with meditation is the sense that their minds have become even wilder as a result of practicing meditation.  This perception, Rinpoche tells us, is the result of increased mindfulness and introspection, which cause us to see ourselves more objectively–or less like we are used to seeing ourselves.  The same phenomena occurs with respect to seeing our imperfections.  The more mindful we become, the more we notice our flaws, our habits, those same things we do over and over again without noticing.

Spirituality is truly a humbling experience.  The more we practice, the more we realize how far we have to go.  In fact, Anyen Rinpoche and other great masters tell us that too much confidence can actually be arrogance in disguise, and be a sign that we’ve taken a turn downhill.  This is always a difficult thing to discern.  Looking outward through the very small window of afflicted, conceptual mind, how do we know when we have crossed the line from self-assurance to arrogance?  How do we know when we are falling in love with our imperfections rather than working with them?

Obviously, I lack the answers to these questions.  My way is all about trial and error, and (of course) feedback from the Lama.  Those of you who are close to a Lama know that Lamas are quite skilled at discerning authenticity from arrogance–usually much sooner than we do.  There must be some infrared beam (unseen by us) that we emit…

What to do with imperfection?  Some would suggest that we celebrate it, as an aspect of humanity.  I’m not really a fan of this school of thought–why celebrate something that harms ourselves and others?  Some of us deny it.  That definitely won’t work–that’s what got us enmired in all this suffering in the first place.

Notice it?  Mindfulness is usually a surefire tool to rely upon it.  Get tired of it?  Getting tired of a harmful behavior is a crucial step towards moving past it.  Regret it?  Regret is a pure form of guilt.  Whereas with guilt we just feel bad, with regret we aspire to transform oursevlves and make a strong determination to change.   Do something new?  Yes, that usually helps, though it feels a bit crazy at first.  Do anything new?  Probably not–we might be wise to actually reflect on a better course of behavior and try it out than just to do something random.

Compassion anyone?

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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Simplicity

Mar 15

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in Anyen Rinpoche Biography, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Global Community, Personal Transformation, Teachings | 14 Comments

Simplicity is something that many of us want to achieve.  In fact, I heard Anyen Rinpoche speaking about it with a student just this afternoon.   Today, when I heard Rinpoche’s advice, I was reminded how simplicity often evades us.  We may misunderstand it completely–and how to achieve it–while we trying to force the appearance of simplicity on life.

Here are some interesting words about simplicity that I found…

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

Specifically, one of the things this passage says is that “simplicity denotes freedom from hardship, effort or confusion.”   Ahhh…!

At times I have heard Rinpoche give advice to Westerners who are trying to achieve simplicity through (what I call) the normal American way–having a low-paying job and a life free of responsibility.  It seems that by having less, we will naturally be attached to less.  To the (samsaric) mind, this seems logical because we don’t have as many beautiful things to be attached to.  But  Rinpoche’s advice always goes something like this: do not be fooled that the appearance of simplicity on the outside (by having less expensive possessions or a smaller house) means that your mind is resting in simplicity (defined above as freedom from hardship, effort or confusion).  Your state of mind is not dependent on how many possessions you have.  You can be just as attached to a penny as to a gold coin.

Actually, each and every one of us is “controlled” by our material situation, so to speak.  Although avoiding responsibility can seem like a good decision now, and in support of our spiritual life, when we have financial problems (especially as we grow older and become more fearful of not being able to work) the mind becomes filled with turmoil and has no freedom to think of anything else.  Actually, we are just frittering away the “leisure” (the Buddhist word for freedom to practice) of our future.

If simplicity doesn’t depend on your home and your job, then what does create simplicity?  Rinpoche says that simplicity is actually supported by two spiritual elements: mental satisfaction and proper motivation.  When we cultivate a feeling of satisfaction with what we have, we do not feel as wrapped up in or exhausted by our responsibilities.  We are more able to focus.  The mind is more relaxed, we enthusiastically share what we have with others.  We become happier people.

Proper motivation is (of course) bodhichitta, or at very least the wish that your actions can be of benefit to others.  Naturally, when we focus on the task at hand with the wish to benefit others, the task becomes more fulfilling–it has the ability to affect us deeply because we know that we are working for the greater good.  Again, we become happier people.

Safe to say–the mind, resting in natural simplicity–is authentic joy.

Another definition of simplicity is focusing on the things in the life that are the most important, and focusing less on those that are less important.  As practitioners, this is something we can all take to heart.  Most of us suffer from over-commitment, or spend time doing mundane things at the expense of our spiritual life.  Priorities and commitment…these are probably things all humans struggle with.

When have you achieved simplicity?  Or have you?  We’d love to hear from you!

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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Impermanence: the Key to Dharma

Feb 18

Posted by AnyenRinpoche in 4 Mind Turnings, Benefitting Others, Bodhichitta, Mindfulness, Teachings, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Hi Everyone…some pearls of wisdom from the third of five talks on the Four Mind Turnings held in Denver last night!

To begin with, here is the (most memorable?) quote of the evening, from our incredibly funny and linguistically evocative Anyen Rinpoche:

Meditating on impermanence makes you a kinder person.  It makes you feel satisfied with your life.  As a result, many Dharma practitioners begin to look younger and more beautiful after they begin to meditate on impermanence.  Plastic surgery will not make you look beautiful, and it will not bring you mental or emotional happiness either.  However, these can be attained by meditation on impermanence. (You’ll have to imagine the room filled with laughter on your own).

Here’s a link which gives some background on the teachings of impermanence in Buddhism in general–this site even translates it (in the spirit of Mojofiti) into six different Buddhist languages.

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

Find the key to dharma!

Find the key to dharma!

Meditating on impermanence is something we often overlook.  It is such a simple teaching that we tend to think we’ve already “got it.”  However, Anyen Rinpoche always emphasizes the difference between “intelletual knowing” and “emotional knowing.”  For most of us, impermanence is something that we know intellectually without much trouble.  But the real question is, do we know it emotionally?  And, as Rinpoche tells us, it is the emotional knowing that counts!

In our last post on impermanence, we focused mainly on how we reflect on impermanence as a way to help ourselves.   We got great comments from readers on how they reflect on impermanence by thinking about how their families would one day have to separate, or reflect on the impermanent nature of conflicts in order to improve their emotional happiness as well as their relationships.

Last night, Anyen Rinpoche asked us to take our reflection on impermanence deeper.   First, he instructed us to reflect on impermanence as an aspect of Bodhichitta.  Reflect on all of those beings in the world who are suffering because they have not had the good fortune to hear teachings on the impermanent nature of life.  Then, generate a compassionate wish from your heart that you may attain enlightenment for the benefit of those beings.

Then, Rinpoche asked us to reflect on the connection between impermanence and emptiness, and beyond that, the nature of mind.   Reflecting deeply on impermanence enables us to see the truly “empty” (some other common translations of this term are: lacking in inherent existence or lacking in true existence) nature of our world and beings.  It is based on a deepening conviction in emptiness that one begins to have “insight” into the nature of mind, at least on an intellectual level, and then that a great master could directly introduce one to the nature of mind as a personal experience.

Finally, Rinpoche asked us to reflect on how reflection on impermanence enables us to practice “dharma as dharma.”  Without reflecting deeply on impermanence, we are simply too invested in our world to practice dharma in a way that isn’t corrupted by our own self-interest and ego.

Try this: Try to recall impermanence as many times as day as you can, both naturally and by using reminders (such as sticky notes on your bathroom mirror, in your car, emailing yourself a reminder, etc).  How does this affect your emotional and mental state?  How does this support your ability to practice?

What is the most creative way you were able to remind yourself of impermanence?

Tell us how it goes…we would love to hear from you!

Allison

www.anyenrinpoche.com

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