Category — dharma

New Article in the upcoming issue of the Shambhala Sun: “My Vows”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Basically, the practice of sitting meditation doesn’t really help a great deal, yet it stirs up a lot of things. A lot of chaos, problems, and confusion begin to come up–as well as some kind of gentleness and understanding. So it seems to be okay, as long as you are not in a hurry. If you are in a hurry it will be very difficult, but as long as you are not in a hurry, you can do it.

From talk, “The Three Yanas,” given at Karma Dzong, August 15, 1975

Buddhist Dog Prays for Snack.

LISTEN, ABUSHRI”

by Dza Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887)

Translated by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

You who enjoy the union of bliss and emptiness

Seated motionless on the lunar disc

Above a beautiful hundred petalled flower

Radiant with white light,

I pay homage to you the Divine Guru, Vajrasattva.

Listen, Abushri

You miserable, daydreaming fool,

You remember how delusions

Confused you in the past?

Watch out for delusions in the present,

And don’t lead a hypocritical life.

Stop unnecessary speculations.

You’ve made hundreds of plans

Which never came off

And only led to disappointment.

Unfinished acts are like

The overlapping action of the waves.

Stay alone and stop

Making your own head spin.

You’ve studied hundreds of philosophies

Without grasping any of them.

What’s the point of further study?

You’ve studied without remembering

Anything when you needed it.

What’s the point of contemplation?

Forget about your “meditation”!

It doesn’t seem to be

The Cure for conflicting emotions.

You may have recited the set number of mantras

But you still haven’t mastered the concrete visualisations.

You may have mastered the concrete visualisations

But you still haven’t loosened the grip of duality.

You may have subdued apparent evils

But you still haven’t tamed your ego.

Forget your set periods of meditation

And following an obsessive schedule.

High and clear but not letting go,

Low and steady but lacking clarity,

Penetrating insight but only stabbing

That’s your meditation!

Forget the stare of concentration

And the tethered mind.

Lectures sound interesting

But they don’t help your mind.

The logical mind seems sharp

But it’s really the seed of confusion.

Oral instruction sounds very profound

But it doesn’t help if it isn’t practised.

Forget about browsing through books

Which causes distraction and eyestrain.

You bang your antique prayer-drum,

But, just for the novelty of playing (with) it.

You offer up your body,

But in fact you’re still attached to it.

You play clear sounding cymbals

But your mind is heavy and dull.

Forget about these tricks,

Attractive though they are.

Your disciples seem to be studying

But they never follow through;

One day there’s a glimmer of understanding,

But the next day it has gone.

They learn one thing out of a hundred

But they don’t retain even that.

Forget these apparently fervent disciples!

One’s closest friend is full of love

Today and indifferent tomorrow.

He is humble one minute and proud the next.

The more one loves him the more distant he becomes.

Forget the dear friend who smiles

Because the friendship is still a novelty!

Your girlfriend puts on a smiling face

But who knows what she really feels?

For one night of pleasure it’s nine months of heartache.

You can spend a month trying to bed her and still not succeed.

It’s really not worth all the scandal and gossip,

So forget about her.

Never-ending chatter stirs up likes and dislikes.

It may be amusing, and enjoyable

But it’s merely imitating the faults of others.

The listeners seem receptive

But they may be critical at heart.

It only gives you a dry throat

So forget about idle talk!

Preaching without first-hand experience

Of the subject is like dancing on books.

The audience way seem willing to listen

But they’re not really interested at all.

If you do not practise what you preach

You’ll be ashamed of it sooner or later,

So forget about hollow rhetoric!

When you haven’t any books

You feel the need for them;

When you have them you don’t.

It’s only a few pages

But to copy them is endless.

All the books in the world

Would give you no satisfaction,

So forget about copying –

Unless you get a fee for it!

One day you’re relaxed,

The next you are tense.

You will never be happy

If you’re swayed by people’s moods.

Sometimes they are pleasant

But maybe not when you need them

And you might be disappointed.

So forget about politeness and flattery!

Political and religious activities

Are only for gentlemen.

That’s not for you, my dear boy.

Remember the example of an old cow:

She’s content to sleep in a barn.

You have to eat, sleep and shit –

That’s unavoidable – anything

Beyond that is none of your business.

Do what you have to do

And keep yourself to yourself.

You’re as low as the lowest

So you ought to be humble.

There’s a whole hierarchy above you

So stop being proud.

You shouldn’t have too many close associates

Because differences would surely arise.

Since you’re not involved

In religious and political activities

Don’t make demands on yourself.

Give up everything, that’s the point!

This Teaching is given by Yogi Trime Lodrö from his own experience to his dear friend Abushri. Do practise it, although there is nothing to practise. Give up everything – that’s the whole point. Don’t get angry with yourself even if you can’t practise the Dharma.

A friend asked me how I reconcile myself now (Buddhist, meditation teacher, writer) with who I was then (ass kicking tough girl) and I really don’t think they’re any different. It was so nice of him to ask me that. Here’s what I said to him.

Thank you for asking me how I saw myself then. When I think about it, I think I saw myself much the same as I do now. But the expression then was different than now. The older I get, the more aware I am that my whole life has been about one thing: trying to be as alive as I can, and in that sense to dive into what is painful rather than avoid it. I had nothing to do with this plan. It’s pre-programmed, I’m convinced.

I became a G. A. because I was broke and living in a shitty apt that people would break into to steal drugs from the upstairs neighbors who were crack dealers. I lived alone. I didn’t want to run and hide but I also didn’t want to be stupid. So I gathered that I had to toughen up. Go out on the street and look at what was so scary. Hey, lots of people lived like this. Was I going to let what I was afraid of dictate who I was and where I lived? Hells no. Training to become a G.A. seemed to be smart way to land right on the dot of what I wanted: seeing; not running; trying to shift circumstances in the name of good. If this was what my life was presenting to me, I didn’t want to turn away. This has always been my m.o., for better and worse. I don’t know if you gave much attention to the enneagram (and don’t feel you should, it’s an extremely dense body of knowledge) but I’m a self-preservation 4. The nickname for this type is “reckless/dauntless” which means the fixation of the 4 (sadness and longing) expresses with a kind of kamikaze energy. This fits me to a t. Just as with any personal truth, when I’m aware of it, it acts to protect me. When I am asleep to it, it presents itself as an obstacle. So in my youth there were many obstacles and lots of impassioned actions such as moving out of my parents’ house when I was 16, living out of the country for 3 years as a kid (without them), basically refusing to go to college, becoming a GA, earning my living as a bartender, etc, etc. On the surface these things may have looked like courage or liveliness, but underneath they were in large part an expression of pain, even cowardice. I’m not any less of a safety-seeker than those who attempt to create a risk-free existence. Taking risks has been my effort to create safety. If that makes any sense. Wow, long-winded about moi. Thanks for giving me the chance to say these things.

In any case, whoever you are now, whoever you were then, whoever you will be in the future are all exactly the same. I’m absolutely convinced that your completely unique and profoundly important gifts are given to you at birth and and make their appearance (at least in part) in the guise of neurosis. A great life is one spent in an effort to pierce the veil, to uncover the wisdom in the neurosis. It’s totally, absolutely there, just like a jewel suddenly discovered amidst the dust. (Which is a Buddhist metaphor for the discovery of compassion.) So my life has proceeded in a linear fashion, absolutely. But only given my life’s own internal logic. It’s enormously valuable to uncover your own internal logic.

Today is Tibetan New Year. Happy Year of the Earth Mouse!

Good morning and hello New Year! I’m very excited that you’re here.

This is a magical day. Can you feel it? No matter what else is going on, in some way most people are in a state of contemplation and hope. Yesterday and today are the two days in the year when reflection comes to the fore, and with it a desire to see more deeply into what is. Looking at what is while examining one’s inner state are the ground of magic.

From this magic, from a continual effort to look at what is while examining one’s inner state, clear seeing arises and speaks to you in its mysterious language. I suppose it is the language of art and of spontaneous insight. It can tell you who you are and what you truly seek.

Should resolutions arise from this state, you can take those resolutions to the bank.

I “received” two resolutions, one yesterday and one this morning. On the surface they sound just like ordinary resolutions (one is about where I want to commit my creative energies and the other is about deepening my spiritual practice). But they aren’t ordinary because, unlike past resolutions, they aren’t primarily sparked by guilt or fear. They are simply a recognition of what I already know about myself, but wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge.

So aside from the normal and very important resolutions to quit smoking, get healthy, and so on, there is another class of resolution and these are more about your destiny. They may also contain elements of guilt or fear, but are rooted in something far more elemental. Here is how you can recognize them:

1. They arise spontaneously; you don’t sit down and think of them, they hit you in the face from “nowhere.”

2. They are deeply personal; only you know just what your resolution means, what past joys and sorrows it is rooted in, and what it will mean to aspire to it.

3. Whatever you’re resolving to become (a better _____ or a more accomplished ______), is already true. You don’t have to become that. You are that and now you simply need to reveal this truth to yourself and others.

Most important: don’t assume that you know what your resolution really means. It may point to something you need to accomplish. It may point to something you need to learn. It may point out that what you assumed would be good for you was true. Or false. Hold your resolution as a contemplation rather than a directive.

And pay close enough attention so that you know when to let it go completely.

May all circumstances conspire to turn the wheel of dharma for you. I wish you a year of deep personal realization and all the happiness and peace that come from it.

Yesterday I did a radio interview with the Martha Stewart show on Sirius. It was about an article I wrote for the new Body + Soul Magazine, which is published by Martha. The article is called “Love Lessons” and is about how instead of getting all cranky when our loved ones don’t act right, we could employ something called The Four Immeasurables instead. (The Four Immeasurables are loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.)

As we were chatting, the very nice host said something like, “I guess we should all just try to be more Zen about the things that bug us” and I had to interject. I think by “being Zen” she meant relaxed. It’s easy to think that being relaxed means something akin to not caring. Like when someone accidentally knocks the cake you spent hours baking onto the floor, you’re supposed to be all “oh, no problem.” I said to her I don’t think that’s what it means. It’s more like being awake. It’s more like not lying to yourself about how pissed off you are that the dog is now walking all over your cake. And you’re not blaming anyone for your feelings. (This is key.) You’re just feeling them—and then you’re not. Only a relaxed person can ride the waves of emotion without getting thrown off onto the hard ground of despair, anger, or disingenuous-ness. Which are very stressful.

So this begs the interesting conclusion: the more awake, attentive, and sharp you are, the more relaxed you are.

Something to think about. But not too hard. That wouldn’t be very Zen.