The Heart of the Practice

One of the most accomplished Tibetans masters of the seventeenth century, Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, explains the heart practices of the bardos --this life, dying, dharmata, and becoming-- in terms of the state of our present understanding of the nature of thoughts and emotions, and of mind and its perceptions:

Recognize this infinite variety of appearances as a dream,
As nothing but the projections of your mind, illusory and unreal,
Without grasping of anything, rest in the wisdom of your Rigpa, that transcend all concepts:
This is the heart of the practice for the bardo of this life.

You are bound to die soon, and nothing then will be of any real help.
What you experience in death is only your own conceptual thinking.
Without fabricating any thoughts, let them all die into the vaast expanse of your Rigpa's self awareness:
This is the heart of the practice for the bardo of dying.

Whatever grasps at appearance or disappearance, as being good or bad, is your mind.
And this mind itself is the self-radiance of the Dharmakaya, just whatever arises.
Not to cling to the risings, make concepts out of them, accept or reject them:
This is the heart of the practice for the bardo of dharmata.

Samsara is your mind, and nirvana is also your mind,
All pleasure and pain, and all delusions exist nowhere apart from your mind.
To attain control over your own mind;
This is the heart of the practice for the bardo of becoming.

Source:
Sogyal RinpocheThe Tibetan Book of Living and Dying(New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1992).

Religion and Moral or Spiritual Training

Do humans need religions? The Dalai Lama said religious rituals, temples and religions are luxuries. What we need is to build the temple inside, and to devote ourselves to daily spiritual practice. Everybody has the capacity to transform him-/herself morally and spiritually if s/he wants to attain liberation from negative emotions, false perceptions, and the cycle of birth and death full of sufferings. Spiritual practice is fundamentally dedicated to this transformation. Buddhist teachings provide us the methods and guidelines, and the Buddha is our Master. Of course in life we may encounter various teachers, and learn from many others in various situations. However, it is the practitioner who embarks on the spiritual journey , and who takes the most responsibility in his/her spiritual transformation and ultimate liberation.


Source:
The Dalai Lama: My Spiritual Journey (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010). Collected by Sofia Stril-Rever, and translated by Charlotte Mandell.

Stress

Stress can be caused by both internal and external factors, and we should distinguish false from real stressors. Although it is harder for us to change our situation and the environment, at least we can examine ourselves, and change our way of living or thinking, and reduce internal stressors. Sometimes we impose more pressure on ourselves than necessary, without knowing it. For example, setting too high standards to achieve, or thinking that only you yourself, and nobody else, can do the task makes your life more stressful. People may feel too worried and fearful. Worries and fears usually come from lack of knowledge, lack of self-confidence or lack of control of the situation.

What should we do then? Lower your standards, and learn to accept the imperfectness in life. Delegate responsibilities to others, but do not expect others to do exactly as you would like them to. Research for information to help you solve the problem, or get help from others by sharing, discussing, and asking for their opinions. Do not keep to yourself, but build up a support network. You may even seek professional advice and assistance.
You may need to break a big task into smaller chunks, and tackle one at a time. Most importantly, remember to take care of yourself, and reward yourself whenever you make some good progress, however little it seems. Your mental response can make or break how well you weather the storm. A valuable insight is that stress swamps the immune system, making existing symptoms worse and speeding disease. New research says stress also piles on abdominal fat, which nobody wants.


For more information, go to:
http://www.caring.com/blogs/caring-currents/stress-causes#ixzz1IHiz3jAo
By Paula Spencer (2005), Caring.com senior editor.

The Environment and Our Choices

The environment is not a question of religion or morality; it is a question of survival of all beings. Life on earth depends on nature, and we simply cannot survive if we act against it. Moreover, we must take into consideration future inhabitants of the earth. Our responsibility is to hand down to our children and grandchildren a healthy world, if not a healthier world than we found it. One person's capacity is limited, but together we can make a huge change in preserving the earth's resources, and protect the environment. (Stril-Rever, pp. 152-153).

Since the 1990s many United Nations declarations have been written to inspire people around the world to a new sense of interdependence and share responsibility (universal responsibility) for the well-being of humanity and all living beings on earth. When we look at the earth from outer space, we don't see borders of separate nations, we see only ONE PLANET. Why don't we join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace?

Humanity is facing two choices: either to form a global partnership to care for the earth and one another, or to risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life on earth. The choice is ours. To survive, we need to have fundamental changes in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We also must identify ourselves with not only our local communities but also the whole earth community, and live with a sense of humility, universal responsibility, and human solidarity. (Stril-Rever, pp. 158-159).

Source:
The Dalai Lama: My Spiritual Journey (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2010). Collected by Sofia Stril-Rever and translated by Charlotte Mandell.

Rebirth and Reincarnation Part 2

Reincarnation is described as the continuity of the highest level of the subtle mind or consciousness from one life to another. Reincarnation is not a simple physical birth of a person. At a certain high level or stage, you may develop a certain spiritual realization, then the birth through karma will cease. With will power, you can choose your rebirth. This type of rebirth is called reincarnation. Reincarnation allows a Buddha or a Bodhisattva to continue his/her efforts to liberate all sentient beings from sufferings. Its purpose is to facilitate the continuation of a being's work, which may have important consequences (Stril-Rever, pp. 65-67).

In August 2007 the official Chinese news agency announced a new rule about the recognition of"living buddhas," an expression the Chinese use to designate reincarnate masters. Henceforth, "all requests for recognition of a reincarnation of a 'living buddha' must be approved by the Bureau of Religious Affairs," under penalty of law. The Dalai Lama has commented on these measures with humor:

This bizarre decision proves that its authors who somehow pride themselves in delivering 'reincarnation permits' understand nothing about either reincarnation or Buddhism. (Stril-Rever, pp. 68-69)

In the speech he gave when he presented the Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama, Egil Aarvik observed:

The process of recognizing a reincarnation implies entering what is, for a Westerner, terra incognita, where beliefs, thought and action exist in a dimension of existence of which we are ignorant, or that perhaps we have simply forgotten.
(Egil Aarvik, Oslo, December 10, 1989; quoted by Stril-Rever, p. 69)

The notion of the transmigration of the soul definitely does not exist in Buddhism. In Buddhism there is no independent and unchanging entity (something called "a soul" or "an ego"). What provides the continuity between lives is the ultimate subtlest level of consciousness (Sogyal, p.90). The Dalai Lama explains:

There are different levels of consciousness. What we call innermost subtle consciousness is always there. The continuity of that consciousness is almost like something permanent, like the space particles. In the field of matter, that is the space particles; in the field of consciousness, it is the Clear Light...The Clear Light with its special energy, makes the connection with consciousness."

(His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in a dialog with David Bohm, in Dialogs with Scientists and Sages: The Search for Unityedited by Renee Weber. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986, p. 237).

The successive existences... are not like the pearls in a pearl necklace held together by a string, the "soul,"... rather they are like dice piled one on top of the other. Each dice is separate, but it supports the one above it, with which it is functionally connected. Between the dice there is no identity, but conditionality.

(H. W. Schumann. The Historical Buddha London: Arkana, 1989, p. 139).

"As one form changes into another, so is the mind born and broken up thence I tell my disciples how uninterruptedly and momentarily birth-[and death] takes place."(The Lankavatara Sutra)

Buddhist scriptures provide a clear account of this process of conditionality in the set of questions and answers between the Buddhist sage Nagasena and King Milinda:

The King asked Nagasena: "When someone is born, is he the same as the one who just died, or is he different?"
Nagasena replied: "He is neither the same, nor different...Tell me, if a man were to light a lamp, could it provide light the whole night long?"
"Yes"
"Is the flame which burned in the first watch of the night the same as the one that burns in the second... or the last?"
"No."
"Does that mean there is one lamp in the first watch of the night, another in the second, and another in the third?"
"No. It's because of that one lamp that the light shines all night."
"Rebirth is much the same: one phenomenon arises and another stops, simultaneously. So the first act of consciousness in the new existence is neither the same as the last act of consciousness in the previous existence, nor is it different."

Perhaps the best way of explaining rebirth is using an analogy of the flame and the candle. The flame burns until the candle is almost finished. As the flame begins to flicker out, a second candle is lit from the first. The flame of the first candle now dies out completely, leaving only the second candle burning. The flame burns away the second candle and, again, just before it reaches its end and flickers out, a third candle is lit from that . . . and so on, and so forth. The flame flickers and burns continuously and the candles are constantly being used up and renewed. The candles represent physical bodies; the flame, the mind. The two work harmoniously together — an interplay of mind and body. This combination of mind and body is what we usually think of as 'ourselves'. The body gets older and older as the years roll by until it falls into decay and, like the candle, is incapable of being used any more. The mind, like the flame, twists and turns constantly, the same yet not the same, different yet not different, from moment to moment, day to day, year to year, and from life to life. There is nothing permanent or static in the candle or the flame; they are constantly changing. There is nothing permanent or static in the mind and body either. In this impermanence there is no eternity and no annihilation. Instead there is a re-becoming process.


Sources:
Sylvia Cranston & Carey Williams, Reincarnation: A New Horizon in Science, Religion, and Society, (New York, NY: Julian Press, 1984).

http://www.knowbuddhism.info/2009/03/rebirth-reincarnation-and-recognition.html

The Dalai Lama: My Spiritual Journey. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010). Collected by Sofia Stril-Rever, translated by Charlotte Mandell.

Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992).

http://www.buddhanet.net/funbud10.htm

The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is the only living religious and political leader whom I wholeheartedly admire and respect. Many books have been written about him, which reveal his wisdom and compassion, as well as his unique humbleness and greatness. Many Buddhists consider him a living Buddha, but he insists that he in only "a simple Buddhist monk." (Johnson, p. 225)

"I'm nothing special. I'm just another human being, just like you. When you listen to my talk, just listen to another human being....If the audience considers the Dalai Lama very special, then my talk is useless." (Johnson, p. 230)
(His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Ethics for Our Time" lecture,University of California, Santa Barbara, April 24, 2009)

He says he has three commitments in life. His first commitment as a human being is the promotion of human values and those spiritual qualities which are fundamental to a happy life for the individual, the family, and the community. His second commitment as a Buddhist monk is the promotion of harmony among different religions. Despite different concepts and philosophies, all chief religious traditions bring us the same message of love, compassion, tolerance, temperance, and self-discipline. They also have in common their potential to help us lead a happy life. His third commitment as the Dalai Lama is Tibet, the well-being of the Tibetan people in their struggle for justice. He considers himself their free spokesperson in exile. (Stril-Rever, pp. 1-2)

The Dalai Lama's day begins at 3:00-3:30am whether he is on the road or at his residence in Dharamsala. As soon as he arises, he pays homage to the Buddha, and begins his morning prayers and meditation. He also does some exercise. In Dharamsala, especially during the rainy season, he may exercise indoors on a treadmill. Otherwise, he will walk outdoors. By dawn or around 5:00 am the Dalai Lama sits down to a hearty breakfast, usually bread, jam, fruit, and tea. After that he usually reads the paper, or goes to meetings. If there is no meeting, he reads Buddhist scriptures and books. The he practices analytic meditation on altruism (bodhicitta or enlightenment mind). He also meditates on emptiness. Bodhicitta and emptiness are the most important meditations in his daily practice. They help him throughout the day to stabilize his mind and support it from within. He has lunch around noon. At 12:30 or 1:30pm, he goes to his office and remains there for other meetings. After 4pm he returns to his personal residence. At 5:00pm he has evening tea. As a Buddhist monk he does not have dinner. He spends the rest of the evening saying prayers or meditation. Before going to sleep at 8pm, he examines what he did during the day. (Stril-Rever, pp.35-36; Johnson, p. 232)

When traveling, he commonly flies on commercial airlines, economy or business class rather than first class. "First class too much luxury. Too much drink. I'm a Buddhist monk," he said in Berkeley (April 25, 2009). He takes little with him, a small crimson bag is almost always slung on his shoulder. He does not use a computer or a mobile phone. His aids opened a Twitter account for him, and maintain his official website. (Johnson, p. 233)

Speaking to a group of ethnic Chinese at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, May 4, 2009, the Dalai Lama said, "If I go back to China, I'll probably be handcuffed right at the airport." Such meetings have not always gone smoothly.
(Johnson, p.225)
Exile has forced on the Dalai Lama vast exposure to the modern world. In North America and Europe, his talks draw enormous crowds. The Dalai Lama is committed to non violence as a tool for change and espouses social equality as a necessary step toward genuine social harmony and peace. His battle to win greater freedom for Tibetans under China's yoke has given the Dalai Lama a distinct political hue. Like Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama is a strong critic of authoritarian one-party government. (Johnson, p. 227)

For all his fame, the Dalai Lama remains modest and humble, exhibiting consideration and caring. Tibetans consider him an emanation of the Buddha of Compassion. Those who have observed him for decades say the Dalai Lama gives equal treatment to nearly everyone. Pico Iyer, a British-born essayist and novelist, wrote that when the Dalai Lama goes to the White House, he shakes hands with writers and bodyguards as well as the American President. Matthieu Ricard, a French monk and translator for the Dalai Lama, said, "How often have I seen him, just after having bid goodbye to a president or a minister, go and shake hands with the doorman in his box, or with the telephone operator behind her glass window." (Johnson, pp.228-229)

The Dalai Lama routinely travels with a delegation of half a dozen people comprising of a translator, two attendants, a personal secretary, and two or three bodyguards. Most countries where he visits provide additional security. In the USA, the State Department gives him the protection accorded to a top-level visiting foreign dignitary. Once in Cambridge, Massachusetts, security aids to the Dalai Lama were alert to small protests from mainland Chinese students, but none turned out at the Memorial Church. It is easy to understand why. Some of the leading academic lights of Harvard arrived for his talk, giving him the imprimatur of the most prestigious university in America. No mainland Chinese student dared to go against the collective view of major Harvard dons. (Johnson, p. 233)

The Dalai Lama spends at least five and a half hours a day praying, meditating, or studying. He says he also prays during all the idle moments throughout the day, during meals or while traveling. As a Buddhist monk, he sees no differences between religious practice and daily life. In fact, religious practice is a 24/7 occupation. There are prayers for every activity, from walking up to bathing, eating, and sleeping. For tantric practitioners, exercises performed during deep sleep and dreaming are some of the most important, since they prepare them for dying.

The Dalai Lama's meditation focuses on emptiness and interdependence on the subtlest level. He uses different mandalas, visualizing himself as a series of deities (a practice called "deity yoga"). His mind then is on a level beyond sensory awareness, but it remains lucid in a pure awareness, not in a trance. Neither language nor everyday experience can translate or describe the experience of pure awareness.

One important aspect of his daily practice is about death. About this subject, the Dalai Lama says there are two things you can do in life: either you choose to ignore it, or you choose to confront and analyze it, so as to diminish the suffering it may cause. As a Buddhist, he accepts death as a normal process of life, a reality that will occur in samsara. He does not worry about it, but thinks it is like leaving behind used old clothing. Death is not an end in itself. As a Buddhist, the experience of death is essential, for at the moment when one dies, the most profound and beneficial experiences can manifest. For this reason, there are many great spiritual masters who take leave of earthly existence during their meditation. When that occurs, their bodies don't decompose until long after clinical death. (Stril-Rever, pp. 77-78)

The Dalai Lama often speaks of the promotion of human secular values and religious harmony as two of his commitments in life. He said, " Compassion, what I sometimes also call human affection, is the determining factor of our life." (Stril-Rever, p. 10).
True compassion does not stem from the pleasure of feeling close to one person or another, but from the conviction that other people are just like me, who want to be happy, and from the commitment to help them overcome what causes them to suffer. True compassion extends to enemies, too. It bears with it a feeling of responsibility for the welfare and happiness of others. In human relations it contributes to the promotion of peace and harmony. (Stril-Rever, p. 20)
At Harvard he said, "Differences of race, differences of color, differences of religions, differences of age --but fundamentally no differences. Mentally, emotionally, psychologically, we are the same." (Johnson, pp. 233-234)


Sources:
http://www.dalailama.com/

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/acceptance-speeches/nobel-peace-prize

Tim Johnson, How the Dalai Lama Conquered the World but Lost the Battle with China. Tragedy in Crimson. (New York, NY: Nation Books, 2011)

The Dalai Lama: My Spiritual Journey. Collected by Sofia Stril-Rever and translated by Charlotte Mandell. (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010).

Iyer, Pico. The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama (2008) Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0307267603

Ron Gluckman.(February-March 1996)
http://www.gluckman.com/DalaiLama.html

Lessons from Trinh Cong Son

(This is based on an article about Trinh Cong Son, written by Hoang Ta Thich, Trinh's brother-in-law.)

There are great talents and great personalities, but it is rare to find a great talent in a great personality. Trinh Cong Son is such a rare case. In his Forewords to one collection of his songs, Tring Cong Son wrote:

At night I look at Heaven and Earth to learn tolerance, and observe the path the ants are taking to learn patience. Rivers are flowing, and springs are running in their respective courses. Human life is the same; let's live and let go all hatred and envy.

Looking up at the sky (Heaven), one realizes how tiny one is in the boundless universe, only a particle of dust in space. Humans have dumped a lot of wastes onto the ground (Earth), which,  without any complaint, simply absorbs and transforms them to nurture all species. Looking at tiny ants crawling on earth, one can learn patience. Ants represent patience. The image of crawling ants keeping themselves in line inspires patience in us. It does not matter how long it takes the ants to fill up their hills with food, they patiently accomplish their task anyhow. Similarly, running water can eventually break down a huge rock. Perseverance and patience will do wonder.

Patience and tolerance temper hatred, and kindle forgiveness. These virtues arise from one's awareness of one's insignificance among all species, and from forgetting one's big ego. Therefore, Trinh wrote,"In life one needs a good and kind heart. Do you know what for? Just for the wind to blow it away." After all, humans tend to have big egos. No one wants others to be better than himself. Greed, hatred, and ignorance are three essential poisons in humans. All envies and hatred come from big egos. Only when one realizes no self (emptiness) can one become tolerant and humble.

Humbleness is a virtue. With humbleness one may develop forgiveness, which is not easy for many to do. Some people may forgive, but they cannot forget. Forgiveness is an outward expression, whereas forgetting or letting go hatred is hidden inside the person. And what is concealed is usually the most obsessive and gnawing.
Trinh became a celebrity early in his life. No wonder many envied him, even though he was very humble. Living in the mundane world of such vices, he had never spoken ill against anyone, as many of his friends remarked. On the contrary, he now and then met and talked with his opponents, and those who had been unfair with him. Some of them told untrue stories about him in order to alienate him from his fans and the public or audiences. He did not counteract, but remained tolerant toward them. At worst, he only uttered some casual complaints. His tolerance were so profuse that even the undeserved perceived his forgiveness. Whether he forgot their unfairness and injustice or not, nobody knows. But until his death, he never talked about those bad stories again. He must have forgotten (let go) all of them then.

His friends often recalled his popular statement," Let it go!" For it left such a profound impression upon them as an outstanding character of this talented musician. He rarely questioned about untrue stories about him, and he never wanted to correct them. His "Let it go!" teaches us a great lesson, that of patience and tolerance. When facing unpleasant conditions in life, instead of yelling or fighting angrily, we just "let it go!"--let it cool down for a day or two.... When tomorrow comes, we may probably no longer want to talk about it.

He often said that life is too short for such trivialities, and that, if someone said untrue stories about you, and you knew you had not get involved in those stories, why waste time correcting them? Many months before his demise, he used to sing "Rosy Rains," and "The Realm to Come Back," as a reminder to those among us who are engulfed in the fierce rat race, and who are entrapped in their big egos.

Trinh had been an alcoholic since he was young. Alcohol was his friend and his necessity. Every day he drank with some friends. Not until a short period of time before his death did he have to stop drinking for health reasons. That was his "Dilemma." But he needed friends, so his friends came. While they were drinking, he sat and watched them drink with patience and tolerance. Some are frugal; some, misers; still others, stingy, even with words and utterances of thankfulness and reassurance, or with good deeds such as helping to open the door, or offering their own seats for others....Yet Trinh had never spoken anything against others.

Once during a visit to war victims with disabilities, he said, " You should never feel sorry, nor have any inferiority complex. To me, you are normal and handsome people; you are injured but not incapable. In life there are people who are not injured, but their hearts have become disabled"-- (meaning unable to care and love for others).

Although he himself was disappointed now and then, he tried to soothe himself,
"Don't Give Up, My Self!" --a song by Trinh, which has helped many to overcome their depression and frustration, and to stand up, and start again bravely. Anyhow, life is too short to ignore and give it up so easily.
When asked how to live among all kinds of humans, the good and the bad, he simply said," I try to lead a decent life." It is not easy to fully understand the idea of "decent" in his statement.

Trinh had taught us to be humble, patient and tolerant, to love and never speak ill against anyone, to "let it go!" and to lead a decent life.

Source : http://tuanvietnam.vietnamnet.vn/2011-03-25-trang-page