So here is the test. If you are practicing and working to purify your stream of thinking, I am going to guess that you have hit this hurdle. If you have not hit it, watch out because it is likely coming your way soon!

When we begin to have a better understanding of Karma, cause and effect, we start to understand that IF I DO NOT WANT TO SUFFER, I CANNOT EVER BE THE BASIS FOR OTHERS TO SUFFER. So if you do not like people being upset, mad, or angry at us THEN we cannot ever get mad, upset, or angry at others.

This is nothing unique to Buddhism, mind you. It is really just the law behind “you reap what you sow.”

So the day comes. We start off thinking “Today I will be only be compassion – only doing that which helps others not to suffer. I will refrain from getting mad, upset, or angry with anyone. Afterall getting upset at others will harm me and is the basis for them to suffer.”

So you start off the day. Getting on the freeway, a driver doesn’t let you in. “Hmm! Okay I won’t get upset. I will only wish them to not suffer and be happy. I won’t get upset.” So far so good!

Then we get to the office. For some reason this day, everyone seems to have arrived early! I have to park in the back 40. On top of that it looks like it just might rain and I did not bring an umbrella. It is not going to be fun running to my car in the rain for my lunch appointment! But hey, no problem I am just going to wish everyone not to suffer right?

Stepping into the office. It seems that everyone I am coming in contact with has decided that today is the day to complain to Geoff! At some point, usually after the third or fourth enconter, I begin to lose my “faith” in this whole compassion thing.

I started off the day with only good thoughts of compassion to all beings. I did not get upset at the drivers on the freeway. I did not get upset that I had to park a mile away from the office. I did not get upset at the first few who were totally rude in the office.

However, there is a point where none of seems to be working. I accepted compassion. I accepted karma. I applied the methods during the first part of the day and all that I ‘got’ in return was the wrath from everyone I came into contact with.

Its very easy to consider that none of this works. In the current situation, it might even look like my compassion only sent me lots of grief!

This is the moment of the test! What is coming your way, is not based on the actions from just this morning. You have been building up stuff for lifetimes. One morning of being nice is not going to instantaneously result in everyone being your best friends. Trust me on this.

The test is to maintain faith in the law of Karma. (In fact the difficult situations you are now facing are really testimony to the law of Karma but this is next to impossible to consider at this moment). The test is a challenge. Can you still remain compassionate when the fourth rude person enters your space?

I have recently had a situation like this come up. The difference is that it was coming over many weeks. There have definitely been times when I have wondered “what the hell is going on here. I started feeling that it was time to stop being all this good stuff and start telling people what I really was feeling!”

Then all of a sudden, I realized that this was the whole point! I had not truly applied compassion to my thinking. I was acting with compassion. I was refraining from saying negative things. However, I was definitely thinking without compassionate. Wow! I wasn’t there yet!

The second part to remember is that there is a ‘thermal lag’ to the whole thing. Thermal lag is the term used (or at least the term I use) to explain how the sun is at its hottest right at noon but it is usually around 3pm that the day it the hottest. There is a delay. Its not instantaneous.

Recently, I was having coffee with a friend who has been likewise struggling with some issues in life. Despite trying everything he could to set things right, all that seemed to be coming up was more problems!

As I looked around, I saw planters which had recently been weeded. New small plants had been put in the planter where last week there were just weeds. Additionally, wild flower seeds had been put in the middle.

Now when I come back in a week or two, we all hope to see the small plants flourishing and see the beginning of a nice wild flower area. But it is very likely that we will see lots of new weeds coming back. Some of the small plants are likely to be withered even maybe dead. If the gardener was to take a short-term view on the whole thing, he is likely to conclude “Its hopeless. I removed all the weeds. Planted these nice plants and put in wild flowers. All I am getting is more weeds! I give up!”

However, anyone who has ever worked in a garden knows that you have not removed all future weeds just by removing the weed that were present on one weekend. The seeds of new weeds were already present in the soil. Further, there are also new seeds being blown in from the surroundings.

The immediate results of new weeds is not the result of the recent weeding. They were already there. If one wants a clean beautiful planter, one must continually attend to it. New weeds must be removed, ideally early on before they really take root and start producing more seeds.

In the mean time the results of our plantings will be begin to come forth. It just does not happen overnight overnight. (or in one morning of being kind).

I write this to remind myself. When shit happens, I sometimes just need to remind myself that I still need to do only good. Good only creates good! Bad will surely create bad! There just might be a thermal lag!

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

I have been listening to some wonderful teachings from Lama Sumati Marut recently. Google him if you want. He is marvelous at presenting essential Buddha-Dharma teachings in ways that resonate with my Western deluded mind.

He has distilled the ways that we in the West try to find happiness. He has categorized them into 5 categories:

1) Money and things
2) A Job
3) Relationships
4) Entertainment (including all that stuff from use of drugs to tv and sex)
5) Physical appearance

Each one of these, are going to fail as providing lasting happiness. They can provide temporary satisfaction but will ultimately result as the source of suffering if we try to rely on them for happiness.

Each are impermanent and consequently subject to constant change.

Each one in their own way are more or less our unspoken sources of “Refuge” that we try to take shelter.

So where should we go for refuge?

Oh by the way, once you remove your expectations, we can have everything that we need including lots of everything if that really works for. No one is saying that one must be poor, jobless, without friends, bored, and fat to awaken!

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Watch out for the wrath of hate! How will we respond?

I recently listened to a public radio program on religious intolerance in the United States. The springboard for conversation was a new book focusing on the attack of homosexuals by fundamental Christian groups and most notably the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas – the authors of the “God Hates America (http://www.godhatesamerica.com/index.html) and its other ‘Hate’ sites.

Clearly, I could talk to the perversion of Christian teachings and the Bible (would anybody really think that the Old Testament is a guide to how one should live their life?). I could talk about the Buddhist teachings on negative thinking such as hate (negative thinking – including hate – 100% causes our suffering and is the condition of others suffering).

However, I want to point out a warning to us Buddhist Practicitioners here in the United States. Right now, we are off the radar screen of fundamentalist hate groups. As Buddhism grows within the United States, we are going to find more and more attention directed towards our practices and us! As Practicitioners, our actions and behavior will be increasingly scrutinized. Every Practicitioners actions will be looked at as a statement to the merits or the condemnation of Buddhism!

One of the points made during the public radio discussion of hate groups is their need to create a “bad seed” which can then be looked upon by groups. The “bad seed” is then alleged to be the reason why things are not going well. In the community, in the country, and in the whole world! As Buddhism grows in the United States, we can easily become target of their wrath.

We can become the new poster child for the “God Fearing” crowd. For now, I think we fall way behind, gays, illegal immigrants, and Muslims as the boogieman that is out to destroy these community’s view of the world.

How will we respond? Can we remain in equanimity and filled with love and compassion toward all beings – including those with so much hate directed towards us?

I can see that I must quickly train and purify my negative thinking now. It is in this way that I can help all sentient beings as well as hopefully becoming an example of Buddhism in action. All of our actions will be judged. Every one of us will be held to standards almost impossible to be met.

I feel that noting examples of good action is helpful for me to recall. One such amazing example is that of the Amish Community in Pennsylvania following the killing of 5 Amish children on October 2, 2006. The Amish community reached out to the killer’s family and even attended his funeral. While this was not done to spread good message about Mennonites, it definitely did so. Their actions speak louder than any printed text. We all grew a little more respect for this peaceful and compassionate community.

There are numerous examples including the forgiveness of Chris Williams here in Salt Lake City whose car was hit by a 17-year old boy who under the influence of alcohol. Chris Williams’ pregnant wife and two of their children were killed the evening of Friday February 9, 2006 in the accident. As a committed member of the LDS faith, he is exemplary in his thoughts and actions. Three days after the tragic accident and less than 24 hours after his release from the hospital, Chris is forgiving the 17-year old! Wow! I could only hope to be so compassionate. I aspire to be as forgiving. In fact, the future of Buddhism in America will depend on us practicitioners to do such.

As more scrutiny is placed on Buddhist Practicitioners, it will be up to us to weather the storm and act with love and compassion to all sentient beings – even those that will hate us, even those that will harm us, and even those that beat us.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

Continuing with the Preliminary Practice of Buddha Path, we recite the following:

In this life, I have a precious human body.
In my body, I have one aware mind.
This mind is Single Present Thinking only.

Once we accept that we have had countless previous lives (in various forms) and that we will have countless future lives until we fully awaken, we can then move on to looking deeper at this life.

In this current life, if you are reading this, you like me are most likely endowed with a human body. In Tibetan schools, one is regarded as having a “precious” human birth if we have the Eight Freedoms and Ten Advantages.

The Eight Freedoms are:
1) Not being born in the Hell Realm
2) Not being born in the Hungry-Ghost Realm
3) Not being born as an animal
4) Not being born demi-god realm
5) Not being born in the long-living God realm (note this is different from what can be translated as Pure Lands – which is a separate matter)
6) Not born with wrong views (such as nilhism or eternalism)
7) Not being born in an era where Buddha has not been and taught
8) Not being born deaf and mute.

The Ten Advantages are as follows:
Five individual advantages
1) Born a human
2) In a Central place (where the Buddha-Dharma is available)
3) With all of one’s faculties
4) Without conflicting lifestyle
5) With faith in the Dharma

Five circumstantial advantages
1) A Buddha has appeared
2) Buddha has preached the Dharma
3) The teachings still exist
4) They are practiced
5) There remain other beings who are kind hearted toward others.

Writings such as that of Patrul Rinpoche in “Words of My Perfect Teacher” provide very good discussion of each one of these. I merely noted them here so that they were not overlooked in this writing.

For me it is enough to remember that my currently life is a Precious Human Birth which is not to be wasted. It is rare. It is a unique opportunity to practice Dharma and train our thinking. If we waste this chance, when will we have the opportunity again?

In each birth, what is reborn into a new life is our Mind. Our one aware mind. As Khenpo Choga Rinpoche says, it is the power of our thinking the reincarnates to the next moment and reincarnates into future lives. Sometimes I have brief glimpses of digesting this and other times I am lost. Today I feel like I am somewhere in between.

Finally, we get to the critical point of these lines (at least in my current thinking): “This mind is Single Present Thinking!” I write the balance of this from my very limited understanding of the profound teachings of Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. I apologize for the confusion and my inability to articulate clearly. I am going to do the best that I can and hope to refine and improve as my understanding, experience and realization increases.

Khenpo Choga Rinpoche likes to remind us that the past does not exist. The future does not exist. Typically, when I hear this, I think of way back in my past and way out into the future. But last night when we were discussing this, I considered the immediate past and the immediate future. I am referring to the immediately proceeding moment. It no longer exists. Further the next moment does not exist either.

Only this moment. Only our single present (not past or future) thinking exists. It is almost beyond time. Time is a concept of linking many moments together and really does not exist outside of our thinking.

Each moment, Khenpo-la likes to remind me, can only hold ONE thought. That thought can be positive, negative, or neutral. Best that we take this moment to have positive thinking. And then positive thinking in the next moment and the next and so forth. It is a never-ending moment – a never-ending single present thinking moment.

Each moment is one thought. Each thought has power propelling to the next thought. In the finest detail, we change the trajectory of this momentum to positive or to negative. However, for me it is important to remember that instantaneous moment. This single present thinking.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff

In the second section of Buddha Path’s Preliminary Practice, we say:

From beginningless time, I have been born in past lives.
Until I attain Enlightenment, I will be born in future lives.

The first two lines of this section are to reinforce that our unenlightened living has no beginning. We have been born in countless lives – human, aninmal, as well as the other 4 realms of existence. Rebirth in future lives will continue until we awaken – until I attain Enlightenment.

So what do we consider Enlightenment. I must save for another day.

Oh! Another comment for the day:

I have recited the Preliminary Practice almost every day since June 2002 when we printed the first version of “the Buddha Path.” And yet it seems, repetition can cause me to overlook the essence of the words that I am repeating.

Actually, I think that this is one reason why repetition is so very important. It is seeing the deeper levels of our words that demonstrate the benefit of our regular practice. It is those occasional “Ahhhhh!” experiences which keep me coming back for more. It is the ever deepening understanding which gives me hope that I can progress within this lifetime.