Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Posted by: Michael | 11/16/2015

Delusion

This weekend I was fortunate enough to have helped bring Bhante Saddhasara to Manhattan for the second time and to be involved in making plans for him to return on a more regular basis. In doing so I have met wonderful people from different backgrounds and with their own personal, spiritual narratives that both she’d light on my own and brought me to reexamine just what it is I am doing.

My recent rejection from training under a Seon master who I will not name was difficult at first for me but, with time and reflection, I am beginning to wit as a blessing. I always knew that the training, if I were accepted, would have to be taken with a grain of salt and I would necessity leave to the side those things that didn’t accord work my own (Theravadin) understandings. But after talking at length to a new Dhamma friend about her heart-rending experience with a lay teacher and hope it almost destroyed her faith completely, I see now just how dangerous it can be to associate oneself with a tradition that does not clearly define and emphasize morality at every point.

This is not to say that one cannot progress in another school or that there aren’t problems with monks and mums in the various Theravadin nikayas, just that the chances seen to be stack more in your favor with a solid adherence to the Vinaya.

Delusion is, almost by definition, something we cannot see in our daily life and it can sneak in to pull the rug out from under us at almost any time. By attempting to follow the Doctrine and Discipline of the Lord Buddha as best as I can understand it I hope to give delusion as few footholds as possible. May the sasana last for another 2500 years and may we all work hard for our liberation!

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Sangha, Theravada, Tisarana | Tags: delusion, lay, sasana

Posted by: Michael | 11/15/2015

Roots of Striving

318. There are these five limbs of striving. What five? One has faith in the enlightenment of the Buddha. One has health and well-being, a good digestion, not over-hot or over-cool, but even and suitable for striving. One is not deceitful or dishonest, but reveals oneself to the Teacher or one’s followers in the holy life as one really is. One lives striving hard to give up evil things and to develop the good, staunch and strong in effort, not shirking the burden of Dhamma. One has wisdom into the way of the rise and fall of things with noble perception into the complete overcoming of suffering.

Anguttara Nikaya III.64

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Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: effort, striving

Posted by: Michael | 11/12/2015

Rejection

I’ve never really thought about the possibility that I would be denied access to training in a spiritual discipline but that is precisely what has happened. Perhaps it’s hubris or an unexamined sense of entitlement, but suffice it to say that being rebuffed twice in less than a month left my mind telling in confusion and aversion as I sat in meditation. What is this telling me?

There is a lesson here and it is a valuable one-that much I can intuit. But how to best digest it? I have come to the realization that I never want to be in a leadership role or to take in the responsibilities of a teacher so then what is the draw? I want a place that offers opportunities for regular practice and retreat in the midst of my daily life. I want to someday be able to offer presence for people crossing from this life to the next. But, having been told that this is not possible for me with the teacher I have been frequenting what should I do?

I am inclined to stay on out of compassion: he is old and is trying to start a new temple in NYC and having a rough time of it. It’s clear that I won’t be getting any further instruction except for the lessons of patience and commitment. Just for that it makes sense to stay on but I may also take up the search one more for a place I can find those things.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Khanti, Seon | Tags: commitment, loyalty, patience, rejection

Posted by: Michael | 11/12/2015

Purifying the Mind

315. There are these gross impurities of gold: dust, sand, gravel and grit. The dirt washer or his apprentice heaps the gold into a trough and washes it up, washes it down and runs the dirt out. When this process is finished there are still moderate impurities in the gold such as fine grit and sand. So the dirt washer repeats the process. When this is finished there still remain small impurities such as fine sand and dust. So the dirt washer repeats the process again, after which only the gold dust remains.
Then the goldsmith or his apprentice puts the gold into a crucible. It is molten but not flawless, it is not yet finished, the impurities are not yet all strained off. It is not yet pliable, workable or glistening, being still brittle and incapable of being perfectly worked. But in time, the goldsmith melts the gold so that it runs from the crucible with all the impurities strained off.
Then it is pliable, workable, glistening, no longer brittle, is capable of being perfectly worked. It can be used for whatever purpose one wishes, to make a gold plate, a ring, a necklace or a chain. It is just the same for one who is trying to develop the higher mind. Gross impurities of body, speech and mind, the thoughtful, careful one abandons, keeps in check or makes an end of so that they do not recur. When these faults are finished there are still minute impurities which cling to him such as sensual, malicious and cruel thoughts. Again, these he abandons. When these faults are finished there are still minute impurities which cling to him, such as thinking about his relatives, his country of his reputation.
Once again the thoughtful, careful one abandons them, keeps them in check, or makes an end of them so that they do not recur. When this is done, there still remain thoughts about Dhamma. At this stage, concentration is neither calm nor lofty, it is not tranquil nor has it reached one-pointedness, it is dependent on habitual restraint. But there comes a time when the mind is inwardly stable, still, one-pointed and concentrated. Such concentration is calm and lofty, it is tranquil and has reached one-pointedness; it is not dependent on habitual restraint. Whatever knowledge one directs his mind to, one can realize it.

Anguttara Nikaya I.253

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Posted by: Michael | 11/11/2015

Happy Uposatha – A Question of Speech

Today is the uposatha and I have done my level best to keep the precepts throughout the course of the day. I feel like I had some good results and even managed to get in a half an hour of formal, seated meditation at work but, towards the end of the day I feel like everything kind of fell apart. Why? Well, had just hired or drop them and go with someone else. Obviously, such a decision involves fault-finding (as well as a review of the good points) but I feel that, once we were more or less certain of the decision, we got a little overzealous in our critiquing.

As I look at it now, I don’t see how we could have voided coming to the conclusion that they weren’t a good fit and that they had fumbled the job but I hate that I lost sight of the fact that these were real humans with real lives who would be negatively impacted by our decision. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wish I had handled the deliberations with a little more dignity and solemnity than I did. Afterwards, as I rode the train home alone, I felt besmirched by the torrent of words we had unleashed and I don’t know if the mind was distrubed simpy by their abundance or because they were based largely on greed, hatred and delusion.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada, Uposatha | Tags: Business, delusion, greed, hatred, work

Posted by: Michael | 11/10/2015

Bitterness

Each day that I make it home after with and the kids are all up devolves into a grudge match of duties and obligations: do homework, wash dishes, clean the litter, take our the garbage ask while my wife acts as the sarcastic and abusive forewoman. And despite my justified displeasure with the situation what did is my practice if I continue to fall prey to the same defilements again and again?

Tonight I was centered enough to keep my mouth shut but even while I was restrained verbally I was a mess in mind and heart. This is my challenge: not solely to forebear but to do so with a heart of love. I must learn to bear injustice with a smile, hardship with joy and insult without feeling injured.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Parami, Theravada | Tags: bitterness, injustice, Insult

Posted by: Michael | 11/09/2015

Wealth

312. And what is a monk’s wealth? Concerning this, one abides with the mind filled with love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, suffusing the first, second, third and fourth quarter. One abides suffusing the whole world – upwards, downwards, across, everywhere – with a mind filled with love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, abundant, unbonded, without hatred or ill-will. This is a monk’s wealth.

Digha Nikaya III.78

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Posted by: Michael | 11/06/2015

Death and Equanimity

As samsara continues to dole out another round of loss, it’s really helpful to reflect on death and what it means for material gain. When we’re forgetful of it, financial security, status and praise grow out of proportion like cancerous tumors. But, in the light of death, we can shine a light to see what really matters to us.

For me, contemplating the very real possibility that today could be my last, shows me that worrying about the inevitable ebb and flow of fortune is ignoble at best and, when it leads me into unskillfulness, worse than death itself. There is no question I will die and it is my belief that the only thing I can take with me is my kamma so depression, anger and anxiety don’t help me to prepare for the inevitable journey.

Besides, focusing on the negative is just as foolish being the eternal optimist. May I cultivate wisdom and equanimity by reflecting on death and kamma and may we all free ourselves from suffering.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Maranassati, Theravada, Upekkha | Tags: Blame, death, equanimity, loss, praise

Posted by: Michael | 11/05/2015

Non-annihilation

309. When one has freed the mind, the gods cannot trace him, even though they think: “This is the consciousness attached to the Tathagata.” And why? It is because the Tathagata is untraceable. Although I say this, there are some recluses and Brahmins, who misrepresent me falsely, contrary to fact, saying: “The recluse Gotama is annihilist because he teaches the cutting off, the destruction, the disappearance of the existing entity.” But this is exactly what I do not say. Both now and in the past, I simply teach suffering and the overcoming of suffering.

Majjhima Nikaya I.140

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Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: annihilation, materialist, nihilist, Tathagata

Posted by: Michael | 11/04/2015

Happy Uposatha – Right Effort

The uposatha is here again and I am thankful to have had the presence of mind to observe it. Someone has finally written an android app for the uposatha calendar so I really have them to thank for today’s observance. If you’re using an android phone I suggest downloading it if you’re interested in keeping the Eight precepts on uposatha days.

Perhaps it’s because restraint is already on the mind but I find that observance days tend to be more challenging than others when it comes to chasing after sense pleasures at the door of the eyes. Specifically, I find it harder to resist the temptation to delight in playing female forms and have to make an extra effort to restrain the eye. Yes, despite the shame I feel in admitting it, it is still a struggle to wrest my attention away. Thankfully, at this stage of its nothing more than a desire to look but there is always danger in looking with a mind inflamed by craving.

May I do my utmost to restrain the eye and learn to prevent unwholesome states from arising. Happy uposatha!

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Sensual Desire, Theravada, Uposatha | Tags: craving, desires, restraint