Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Posted by: Michael | 09/11/2015

Protecting One’s Boundless Heart

253. One should not blame another
Or despise anyone for any reason anywhere.
Do not wish pain upon another
Out of either anger or rivalry.

Just as a mother protects her only child
Even at the risk of her own life,
Even so, one By thinking of all sentient beings
As more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel
For accomplishing the highest aim,
I will always hold them dear. unbounded love
Towards all beings in the world.

Sutta Nipata 149-150

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Posted in Dhamma | Tags: boundless heart, love, only child

Posted by: Michael | 09/08/2015

Knowing How to Forbear

251. Asurinda of the Bharadvaja Brahmin clan heard that the leader of the clan had gone forth into the Sangha of the recluse Gotama. Angry and displeased, he went to where the Lord was and reviled and abused him with rude, harsh words. When he had spoken, the Lord remained silent, and Asurinda said: “You are defeated, recluse, you are defeated!” The Lord replied:

The fool thinks he has won a battle
When he bullies with harsh speech,
But knowing how to be forbearing –
That makes one victorious.

The worse of the two
Is he who, when abused, retaliates.
One who does not retaliate
Wins a battle hard to win.

Knowing that the other person is angry,
One who remains mindful and calm
Acts for his own best interest
And for the other’s interest, too.

He is a healer of both himself
And the other person also.
He is thought a fool only by those
Who do not understand the Dhamma.

Samyutta Nikaya I.163

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For many of us, this story is well enough known that we figure we have already digested its meaning and are likely simply to nod in assent workout giving it further thought. But, imagine being in the same situation for a moment: your spouse or partner is arguing with you and it has become pretty dirty. You know enough to try to keep silent but then they take your silence as an admission of guilt or defeat. Would you be able to remain steadfast in silence, only pointing out their erroneous conclusion when the mind had settled?

Even reading these verses i feel my heart racing and wish that the Lord Buddha would have put the fool in his place but this would require the fool to acknowledge his ignorance-something which is beyond the ken of someone engulfed in the flames of hatred. Mai we never forget the Teachings of the Blessed One and may we do our best to practice khanti parami in the face of hardships.

Lowest Among All

Whenever I’m in the company of others,
I will regard myself as the lowest among all,
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme

This verse had been reverberating in my mind for days now. For whatever reason, i had assumed it was one of the 59 lojong slogans and waited expectantly to come across it as read Chogyam Trungpa’s book on the same. i was surprised to find it was part of the Eight Verses for Training the Mind but, reading them again, i see that they are a really great distillation of the mind training teachings and are, in fact, even easier for me to use due to the ease with which they can be memorized.

I recall the first time i came across this teaching i was almost indignant but i have come to see it as a skilful means for dealing with what i perceive as an ever present attitude of superiority that i conceal whenever i meet with or see others. Yes, the Lord Buddha likened all forms of comparison to conceit but how else to rid myself of the stain of arrogance and self importance until i develop the wisdom to see through wrong view of self?

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Lojong | Tags: arrogance, self-importance, Wong view

Posted by: Michael | 09/04/2015

Off

Today started off strangely for reasons i cannot begin to fathom. All day long i have felt disconnected from my sense of purpose, anxious and slightly fearful. I still managed to get in my formal, morning practice and 15 minutes at work but i have felt almost as if i was a spectator all day.

Perhaps it all really began this morning at 6am when i received a text from one of my employees telling me that her sister had been found on the floor, without a pulse a 4 in the morning. She had fortunately been revived and wad now in hospital but, shamefully, immediate reaction to the news was one of consternation and annoyance: how date her sister’s mortality impinge upon my schedule? Despite my shame i was happy that i had was able to catch myself in the act and prevent any further unskillful thoughts to arise.

I think it was really this incident, or rather, my reaction to it which set the tone for the day. I surprised myself by my true lack of initial concern in that moment and the depths of my selfishness. Obviously i have much work to do and i pray that i will yet have time to carry it out before i end up rooming someone’s day.

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Posted in Anicca, Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Maranasati, Theravada | Tags: death, impermanence, selfishness

Posted by: Michael | 09/03/2015

The Balm of Acceptance

I feel that i have been putting in quite a bit of effort and energy lately and have been seeing the fruits of the practice: i am less reactive, more patient and generally a nicer guy. And yet, one unintended side effect of all of this pushing and rousing seems to be a restlessness during formal practice which has been especially prominent for the last few days.

More often than not, the feeling of restlessness arises during my anapanasati session and manifests as a strong desire to achieve a certain state or type of concentration. The result is that i check the clock with increasing frequency or, sometimes, try to smash the mind down with the meditation word. It should be obvious that repeatedly breaking my concentration by checking the clock won’t help me to deepen it but, in the moment, common sense flies from my awareness.

And, then, somehow, i am struck by the realization that all i need to do is accept where i am and how i am feeling and things begin to change. There is a loosening, a feeling of unbinding. Usually, i need to use a parikamma in the form of a meditation word like “ease” or “accept” to focus myself but really that is all it takes.

Why is it so hard to remember not to fight? Why is it so difficult to accept one’s immediate experience? I have no answers but i hope that, as the practice continues, i get a little quicker at remembering to meet the moment with kindness, curiosity and loving acceptance.

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Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Formal Meditation, Metta, Theravada | Tags: acceptance, concentration, kindness

Posted by: Michael | 09/02/2015

A Precious Opportunity

Maybe it’s the inveterate cynic in me, but it’s very hard for me to admit what a precious opportunity i have to practice the Dhamma. The sugary sweet, quasi pollyannesque title of today’s post seemed to me to be both slightly nauseating but entirely necessary. Truly, without the Dhamma i would be as a rudderless ship adrift on the oceans of samsara.

Why this sudden up-swelling of gratitude? Perhaps because i have been making formal practice more of a priority in my life and i realize just how lucky i ask to be able to do so. Yes: it requires waking up earlier and skipping evening television or reading but for how many millions of people is such a thing completely impossible?

Clearly i have an opportunity that it would be beyond foolish to waste. May i make the most of this short, charmed life.

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Posted in Buddhism, Dhamma, Formal Meditation, Gratitude, Theravada | Tags: charmed life, lucky, opportunity, precious human birth

Posted by: Michael | 09/01/2015

The Guardian Meditatons

244. Develop the meditation that is love, for by so doing, hatred will be got rid of. Develop the meditation that is compassion, for by doing so, harming will be got rid of. Develop the meditation that is sympathetic joy, for by doing so, dislike will be got rid of.
Develop the meditation that is equanimity, for by doing so, sensory reaction will be got rid of. Develop the meditation on the impure, for by doing so, attachment will be got rid of. Develop the meditation that is the perception of impermanence, for by doing so, the conceit “I am” will be got rid of.

Majjhima Nikaya I.424

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Appreciative Joy

This morning, as I moved from metta to karuna in my formal meditation session, i was again at a loss to find suitable subjects towards won to direct the feeling of compassion. Dwelling on the perception of the suffering of the world was effective but i was simply unable to identify any actual individuals in my life that inspired an upswelling of compassion. All things considered, this is an excellent state of affairs despite how inconvenient or may seem for my practice. And yet, the apparent lack of subjects with won to share karuna provided the perfect opening for me to dwell on perceptions which would help give rise to mudita.

For years i tried to live by the advice to meet every situation, or rather, person with one of the brahmaviharas: all people with metta, the suffering worth compassion, the fortunate with mudita and the incorrigible with upekkha. Perhaps due to lack of effort, however, i was never very successful with the last two but things have begun to change somewhat lately.

Sitting in meditation, i realized that many of my colleagues have abundant good fortune on both material and spiritual terms. So, rather than breathing in their suffering i began to breathe in their good fortune, appreciating their blessings and on the exhalation wishing that it not end and be put to good use. Remembering the generosity and wealth of Anathapindika was incredibly helpful here to dispel any ideas that my colleagues were somehow less virtuous or deserving of admiration; an inclination that seems to me to be a vestige of my unexamined, Judeo-Christian conditioning. Truly, the Dhamma is the highest good and i am ecstatic that i have finally broken through to a practical understanding of how one can apply one’s meditation towards the development of appreciative joy.

May we rejoice in the good fortune of others! May they use it for benefit of themselves and others and may their blessings never decrease!

A Return to Seon

Some years ago, 2012 to be exact, i traveled to Toronto by bus in order to tale precepts from Ven. Samu Sunim, a monk in the Chogye Order of Korean Seon and the founder of the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom. I did so at the time in order to begin a path of training which would allow me to someday become a chaplain in hospice, prison and hospital settings. Crazy? Idealistic? Perhaps but it is something to which i find myself continually drawn.

Then, of course, is my desire to be formally apart of a group dedicated to rigorous spirirual training. I am often unsure of my toe motivations in this regard because there are times when i feel that i am motivated b less than pure intentions which lead ever on towards becoming while at others i feel i am pursuing this course for the right. reasons.

At present I’m still suspect of myself but, having been in n the presence of Sunim again and seen what kinds of work he is doing i an inspired to push forward ever mindful of my own intentions. May all beings find freedom from suffering!

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Posted in Buddhism, Seon | Tags: samu sunim, sunim, Temple

Posted by: Michael | 08/28/2015

Buffeted by the Worldly Winds

If there were ever a place for blind faith in Buddhism it would be here. Once more i find myself on the brink of financial insecurity as a result of the fortunes of my business and am i determined not to give fear any ground. Yes, I will make changes and plan for lab times but I refuse to allow a sidebar change in fortune to knock me off center again.

The past few years have been rough and, despite my hopes that our fortunes had changed for good, that is simply not the case. Worse than the money problems, however, was what i allowed my practice to become. Come hell or highwater I now make the firm aditthana to maintain my practice and practice commitments if it is the lay thing i do. Doing so will require great faith or something like it but, really, what is this life for?

I certainly don’t want to look back on this life and realized i had squandered it trying to relentlessly pursue a security that samsara cannot provide.

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Posted in Anicca, Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: financial insecurity, money problems, worldly winds