Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Posted by: Michael | 09/27/2016

Delight in Criticism

It is not good to be praised; it is better to be criticized. When you are praised, great pride arises. When you are criticized, your own mistake is blown away.

I copied and pasted this before the night became an endurance marathon so maybe I was in some way prescient. It can be hard to know exactly what’s true in the heart of the moment but, even when criticisms don’t seem to reflect our own perceptions, it is certain that they serve to nip pride in the bud and that they are the result of our own kamma.

This morning my wife laid into me again with very real threats of divorce so I have to admit that I have been nursing a heart of resentment. There is the voice that asks what have I done wrong? Haven’t I been going out of my way to help and make get life less stressful? Clearly I have but that’s just a clearly not the point. All that is ours beloved and pleasing must come to an end and we are the heirs to our kamma. So, whatever happens, it is fair.

May I not lose sight of the dhamma and hold fast to my aspirations and sila regardless of what happens.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Lojong, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: criticism, divorce, mistakes, praise, pride

Posted by: Michael | 09/26/2016

Dissolute

I’ve been developing the impression that my formal practice is scattered and dissolute lately. It had gotten to the point where I feel I have to acknowledge it and come up with a plan to spend my time on the cushion more wisely. As a result, for the next thirty days I am making the aditthana to spend the morning session issuing Ajahn Achalo’s Foundation Metra practice (found on Insight Timer) during the morning and his meditation on holding the whole world with metta at night. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, feels different and how my behavior changes if at all.

Confession of Fault

Yesterday I was overcome by sensual craving and acted on it. May I learn from my failures and take steps not to repeat them.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Confession of Fault, Dhamma, Formal Meditation, Metta, Theravada | Tags: ajahn achalo, dissolution, meditation

Posted by: Michael | 09/25/2016

Confession of Faults

I was listening to a Dhamma on Air episode by Ven. Samahita Bhikkhu the other day and, if I remember correctly, he was discussing Sacca Parami or the Perfection of Truth. At one point I recall him saying how we not only need to admit to our akusala mental and verbal kamma but we need to confess it to a noble friend.

Now, being that I haven’t been able to do much besides parent and work since the birth of our daughter, it’s been hard to meet with any kalyāṇamitta. So, despite my misgivings that doing so her might in some way glamorize or romanticize my failings, I really can’t think of a better place to confess my faults.

I have spoken harshly and acted out of anger when my children did not obey me. May I practice patient forbearance and not succumb to the temptation of anger in the future.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Confession of Fault, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: Bhikkhu Samahita, children, Disobey, kalyanamitta

Posted by: Michael | 09/23/2016

Profound Knowledge

266. I do not say that the attainment of profound knowledge comes straight away; on the contrary, it comes by a gradual training, a gradual doing, a gradual practice.

Majjhima Nikaya I.479

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Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: gradual training, majjhima nikaya, sutta

Posted by: Michael | 09/22/2016

Better than Gratitude

I have always been drawn to spiritual admonishments to “Be grateful to everyone” and “Be grateful for everything” the like and still an to a large degree. But, when I break it down, it can sometimes seem hard to view everything that happens as a drop in the endless shower if blessings, especially in a universe that seems to be devoid of a creator. Intuitively, I appreciate the advice but I’ve never been able to work with it well as a result of the cognitive dissonance.

Reading the book by Thubten Zopa shut transforming adversity into the path has given me the idea that there may be a more useful way to approach life and its problems. By seeing problems as opportunities for training the heart it’s possible to view every suffering as a blessing. in fact, without problems it wouldn’t even be possible to practice the Perfections-which is another reason the Tibetans so often describe the deva-loka as realms to avoid being reborn in.

So, it seems, appreciating the advantages of suffering and adversity is a much more powerful and authentic way of living in samsara. Obviously, to make the practice work one has to have the will and the presence of mind to extract the juice of wisdom from life’s bitter fruit but that’s why Right Effort is a factor of the Path. May we make the wine of liberation from the grapes of our suffering .

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Lojong, Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: adversity, problems, suffering, thubten zopa

Posted by: Michael | 09/21/2016

Dealing with Anger

The first step is to become aware when your mind is becoming disturbed, when you are feeling threatened or angry. As soon as anger begins to arise, you need to recognize it. Once you are aware of it, you then consciously and systematically recollect its shortcomings: Anger never brings the slightest benefit or happiness to you or to others; anger brings only harm, making you unhappy, disturbed, even vengeful and vicious. When you allow yourself to be controlled by anger, that anger deeply affects your mind; it leaves an imprint on your mind, and the next time you meet similar conditions, anger easily arises again out of habit.

Transforming Problems into Happiness

Thubten Zopa

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: anger, mind training, thubten zopa

Posted by: Michael | 09/20/2016

Who Will Attain Enlightenment

263. “If, with full comprehension, the good Gotama teaches Dhamma to his disciples for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and despair, for the ending of grief and dejection, for reaching the method, for the attaining of Nirvana, then will the whole world attain it, or half of it, or a third?”
At these words, the Lord was silent. Then Ananda thought: “This person must not be allowed to think that the Lord cannot answer this all-important question.” So Ananda said: “I will give you a simile. Imagine a walled town with strong foundations and towers and a single gate, and at that gate a watcher, shrewd and alert, who lets in known people and keeps out strangers. As he patrols the walls, he sees there is not a hole in the wall big enough for even a cat to slip through. And he would know that whatever creatures big or small enter or leave the town, they all do so by the gate. ”
“In the same way, as to that question of yours, that is not important to the Lord. What he says is this: whoever has escaped, is escaping or will escape from the world, they will do it by abandoning the five hindrances, those defilements of the mind that weaken wisdom; they will do it with mind well established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and by developing the seven factors of enlightenment.”

Anguttara Nikaya V.194

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Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: Enlightenment, Nibbana, Nirvana

Posted by: Michael | 09/19/2016

Cherishing Others

1. May I always cherish all beings

With the resolve to accomplish for them

The highest good that is more precious

Than any wish-fulfilling jewel.

When I have been able to put this into practice the results have been outstanding. But, when I an overtaken by selfish desires, resentment and laziness it can seem almost impossible to cherish any one at all, let alone more than mysel. May I overcome my preoccupation with short term, sensual gains and devote myself wholly to the practice.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Karuna, Lojong, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: compassion, eight verses for training the mind, empathy, lojong, Tonglen

Posted by: Michael | 09/17/2016

Abhaya-cariya Aspirations

Image result for abhaya

As some of you may know, I have a personal set of aspirations that I try to live up to in addition to the precepts. I’ve come to call them “abhaya-cariya” aspirations because my feeling is that, if I align my behavior with them, I will have nothing to fear at death. So, working with them over the past few months I’ve pared them down to 12 to make daily recitation easier. Additionally, I’ve removed aspirations that didn’t seem to have a direct impact on my daily life.

So, without further ado, here is the latest revision:

May I embrace failure fully and not shrink away from its teachings.
May I practice moderation in eating, never eating to fullness and take only two meals a day.
May I welcome adversity with joy, recognizing it as an unparalleled means for training the heart.
May I give by my own hand once a day as a practice of generosity, renunciation and compassion.
May I refrain from intentionally exposing myself to any media that inflame lust, hatred or delusion.
May I practice humility and modesty, concealing my virtues and practices from others.
May I seek out and wholeheartedly engage with situations and people that I find difficult and troublesome.
May I give the credit and dedicate the merit to others for any good deed done.
May I immediately forgive any harm done to me and ask forgiveness of those I have harmed.
May I avoid even the appearance of impropriety, refraining from intentionally being alone with any person of the opposite sex who is not my partner.
May I completely accept all criticism, knowing it is the result of my past kamma.
May I not complain about or find fault with any situation or person.

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Posted in Abhaya-cariya, Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: aspirations, death, fearlessness, Virtues

Posted by: Michael | 09/15/2016

Fear of Want

From time to time, the spectre of want and ruin raises its head as it is now and I immediately feel the contraction in my chest, the creeping coldness in my limbs and the urge to turn away and forget. One day I know everything will finally go so do I want the days in between to amount to little more than a miserly defense of what gains I’ve got?

As I sat in meditation this morning the though arose that I should train myself to give every time I feel that I might act on the fear of want and scarcity. I hope that by training the heart this way I can come to let go more easily of the things that have never been mine to begin with and perfect nekkhama and dana parami as well.

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Posted in Aditthana, Buddha, Buddhism, Dana, Dhamma, Nekkhama, Theravada | Tags: fear, generosity, giving, miserliness, scarcity, want