We were blessed by a teaching by Bambi Shen on Sunday, and she did a special loving-kindness practice for people in our lives with whom we have difficulty. Many asked for a copy. Here it is:

"Breathe into your heart area. Now think of a difficult person, a person that you need to forgive, or a person who needs to forgive you.

We recognize that the difficult person in our life, is often our most valuable teacher.

Take this person into your heart, strive to undestand, and say to him or to her, in all sincerity:

Please forgive me if I have ever caused you pain and suffering through my desire.

Please forgive me if I have ever been impatient with you.

Please forgive me if I have ever spoken ill of you.

Please forgive me if I have ever judged you or made you feel inadequate.

Please forgive me if I ever looked at you through the eyes of prejudice or dissatisfaction.

Please forgive these things of me so that I may give more freely to you.

Now, my dear friend, just as I wish to be happy,

may you be happy and peaceful, may you be happy and peaceful;

may you be healthy in mind and in body, may you be healthy in mind and in body;

may you be safe and protected in all ways, may you be safe and protected in all ways;

may you be free from suffering, may you be free from suffering."

Blessings to everyone on this glorious spiritual path of awakening.

John Corbaley shared the following Dharma Talk last Sunday. (Thanks, John!):

November first is All Saint’s Day. In Latin countries it is El Dia de los Muertes, or “The Day of the Dead”, which follows All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween. In Western Christian theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven; in the Roman Catholic Church, the next day, All Soul’s Day, commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven.

The origin of the festival of All Saints dates to the year 609 or 610, when a Roman pope consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the blessed virgin and all the martyrs. This religious holiday brings with it a rich history, one which predates its Christian meaning. Like many Christian holidays, it is recycled. It replaces a holiday from earlier, more ancient traditions.

In Europe, it replaced the Celtic Wiccan holiday of Samhain [pronounced Sow-een] when, in the eighth century, another pope moved the date to November 1, closer to the Celtic harvest festival. This chosen day was a pagan observation of great antiquity, during which malevolent and restless spirits of the dead were propitiated.

Samhain customs included setting a place for the dead at the feast table and telling tales of the ancestors on that night. This was also the time to decide which animals were to be slaughtered for use during the winter because, with the frost, the meat would keep all winter, and the animals could no longer forage for food. Huge bonfires were lit during the Samhain festival, and bones of the slaughtered animals were thrown in the fire.

With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together. Often two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Sometimes the cattle and other livestock would be driven between the fires, as well.

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous native American Olmec, or Aztec roots. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations for as long as 3000 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month.

The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl [pronounced Mick-tech-atchee-watel] known as the "Lady of the Dead," the queen of the underworld, corresponding to the modern Santa Catrina. Her role is to keep watch over the bones of the dead. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions. She is said now to preside over the contemporary festival as well.

This strategy of remaking holidays and traditions is not limited to the Christian religion. In the eighth century, The Indian sage Padmasambhava, trained at the great Buddhist University of Nalanda traveled to Tibet to bring the wisdom of the Buddha to that great civilization in the North. There he encountered the native Bon religion, an old religion with beliefs similar to the Wiccan religion the early Christians found as they spread through Europe.

The Bon religion existed in greater Tibet prior to the introduction of Buddhism. It is an animistic, shamanist religion which utilizes spirit guides and spiritual possession to attempt to positively influence human behavior and cultural activities. Padmasambhava wisely saw that his mission of bringing the Buddha’s teaching to this new land would require that he adapt his message to an imagery and vocabulary that was already understood by the native people he was proposing to reach.

So we see in the brilliant iconography of Tibetan Buddhism the colorful imagery of demons and spirit worlds informed by the symbols and beings which the Tibetans already knew. These native spirit beings, representatives of the powers and workings of the natural world, were now employed to convey the Buddha’s overlayed teachings of the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and egolessness of existence.

The monastics who learned from Padmasambhava capitalized and embellished this rich Bon iconography to produce a rich and expressive visual, symbolic language. Bon has now is now become entirely assimilated into the Buddhist canon in Tibet and HH the Dalai Lama has officially recognized it as one of the five official schools of Northern Buddhism.

Syncretism is the adaptation of new ideas and concepts to practices which are already known. It’s always easier to sell something that people can identify with, be it a holiday, a ritual, or a philosophical concept. Another way of looking at it is that it’s always easier to jump in the front of the parade that’s already marching than to try and start one all by yourself.

Religions may have syncretic elements to their beliefs or history, but adherents of so-labeled systems often frown on applying the label, especially adherents who belong to "revealed" religious systems, such as the Abrahamic Religions, or any system that exhibits an exclusivist approach. Such adherents sometimes see syncretism as a betrayal of their pure truth. By this reasoning, adding an incompatible belief corrupts the original religion, rendering it no longer true.

Critics of a specific syncretistic trend may sometimes use the word "syncretism" as a disparaging epithet, a charge implying that those who seek to incorporate a new view, belief, or practice into a religious system actually distort the original faith. Non-exclusivist systems of belief, on the other hand, may feel quite free to incorporate other traditions into their own.

What matters is whether you can extract meaning and significance for leading your life from that ritual, whether new or old. The words don’t really matter, only the change those words make in your consciousness. Samhain, Day of the Dead, and El Dia de los Muertes, and the Aztec ritual of the lady of the underworld are all expressions of an acknowledgement of the continuity of life. Even though the interpretation placed upon that acknowledgement may be very different.

The meaning of the ritual lies not in the motions or acts but in how you are changed by the experience. I am reminded of the Zen saying: “Even false words are true if they lead to the path of enlightenment; even true words are false if they become the object of attachment.”

I am also reminded of that gem of wisdom, the Heart Sutra, when it talks about no wisdom, no path. No one really knows who wrote this stunning sutra, but it contains so much enlightening teaching in such a brief verse.

In it, the Buddha is explaining the perfection of wisdom to one of his disciples, Sariputra. The sanskrit word for it is Prajna-Paramita. The Perfection of wisdom refers to the idea that form and emptiness are essentially meaningless concepts, just words that confuse us and obscure reality rather than reveal it. The perfection of wisdom also holds that nothing in the universe exists except in relation to something else--the ultimate interrelatedness of everything. Meaning lies in reality, not in our meager efforts to describe it.

It’s no wonder that most of eastern Buddhism reveres this sutra so much. I’ll end by reciting a quick Japanese translation...

When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is practising the profound Prajna-paramita,

He sees and illuminates the emptiness of the five skandhas, (the aggregates of clinging to existence) and Thus attains deliverance from all suffering.

Sariputra, matter is not different from emptiness,

and Emptiness is not different from matter.

Matter is emptiness and emptiness is matter.

So too are sensation, recognition, volition and consciousness (the aggregates of clinging).

Sariputra, the emptiness character of all dharmas, all truth, neither arises nor ceases, is neither pure nor impure, and neither increases nor decreases.

Therefore, in emptiness: there is no matter,

No sensation, recognition, volition or consciousness,

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind,

No sight, sound, scent, taste, tangibles, or dharma,

No field of the eye up to no field of mental consciousness,

No suffering, no cause of suffering,

No ending of suffering, and no path,

No wisdom and also no attainment.

Because there is nothing obtainable.

Bodhisattvas through the reliance on Prajna-paramita, the perfection of wisdom, Have no attachment and hindrance in their minds.

Because there is no more attachment and hindrance, There is no more fear, and

Far away from erroneous views and wishful-thinking, Ultimately : The Final Nirvana.

Therefore, realize that Prajna-paramita

is the great wondrous mantra,

the great radiant mantra,

the unsurpassed mantra, and

the unequalled mantra.

It can eradicate all suffering, and

It is genuine and not false.

Therefore, utter the Prajna-paramita mantra -

Chant: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhisvaha!

GONE, GONE, GONE FAR BEYOND,

AH! AWAKENING!

-- November 1, 2009. John Corbaley, M.S., M.A.

Basics of Buddhism

Here is an overview of Buddhist principles and practices. Buddha was a man named Siddartha Gautama, who lived 2500 years ago, and through a series of explorations, he discovered a way of life that brought more happiness than he had ever imagined possible. He went on to share his discovery with many people of his time, and they discovered that happiness as well. The Buddha always taught that there was nothing special about him—that each person has everything they need to dissolve suffering and experience happiness. The Buddha found that the key to real happiness is to change our thoughts, intentions and actions, and by doing so, we will find happiness innately within us, regardless of our external circumstances.

His first teaching was about the Four Noble Truth and the Eightfold Path:

The first Noble Truth is that Life can be difficult. Most of us will find that we sometimes have trouble coping with what is happening both around us and inside of us. Buddha recognized this truth and explained the importance of it in a story. He told the story of a mother who lost her only son. Overwhelmed with grief, she took his body to the Buddha to find a cure. The Buddha asked her to knock on the door of each house in the village and bring back a handful of mustard seeds from any family that had never lost a child, husband, parent or friend. When the mother returned, unable to find such a house in her village, she realized that death and suffering are common to us all.

So, the second Noble Truth is that we are all trying to be happy. We try to feel satisfied in our lives, but often we seek satisfaction in ways that are inherently dissatisfying. We eat too much or drink too much or smoke, trying to get some relief, trying to be distracted from our pain, trying to fit in or feel better, but somewhere within us we know that the long term result will be less happiness. Yet, we still continue to do things that become a vicious cycle. This is part of our seeking that is inherently dissatisfying. The other dissatisfying process we use is to put labels on everything around us, labels of good, bad or indifferent. Clinging to what we have labeled as good, pushing away the bad or the potentially painful, and ignoring everything else. This is the labeling and constant action of pulling and pushing and ignoring, trying to get ourselves and our friends and our houses and our jobs and our families JUST RIGHT, so they will make us happy and not make us irritated. The Buddha realized that it can never be made so. You can try as hard as you want to make yourself happy by manipulating your external circumstances, but you will never be happy for long until you find happiness within yourself, regardless of your external circumstances.

The good news, in the Third Noble Truth, that within each of us, we have everything we need to live a happy life, regardless of what’s going on around us. And he goes on to describe the eightfold path, which is the Fourth Noble Truth, which gives us a roadmap for living a life full of joy, compassion, love and wisdom.

The Eightfold Path includes the following steps:

• Right View: Seeing things as they truly are, not through the filters of our past experiences

• Right Intentions: Buddha emphasized, “ As we think, so we become” Changing our intentions changes the way we see and experience the world

• Right Speech: Speaking in a way that supports ourselves and others on their spiritual path

• Right Action: Acting in ways that are wise and compassionate

• Right Livelihood: Working in a way that supports oneself and others on their spiritual journey

• Right Effort: Having a passion for enlightenment

• Right Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness by being fully present in each moment

• Right Concentration: Practicing meditation to train our mind

(translation from “Awakening the Buddha Within” by Lama Surya Das)

In addition to this first teaching, there is another important Buddhist practice. It is called Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. All Buddhist traditions begin with a teaching on these three components for transforming your life. At the beginning of each meditation, we begin by reciting The Refuge Prayer, which reminds us that, until we attain complete enlightenment, we can take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, to support and encourage us.

First, The Buddha. Many of you, I’m sure, have seen pictures of Buddhist Temples and there are always lots of statues of Buddha all around. The Buddha statues remind us that each of us can attain enlightenment, just as the Buddha did. That within in each of us is this Buddha Nature, Unity would call it our Christ Consciousness. That innate goodness within each and every one of us. The statues do NOT mean that we are worshipping The Buddha. Buddha’s teaching emphasize that everything he did, anyone else can do also. So, we can take refuge in knowing that we are innately good and that someone before us was able to attain enlightenment, and not just Buddha but many after him, including Jesus. Taking refuge in the Buddha in our recognition of our own innate goodness, encourages us to keep trying.

Second, The Dharma. Dharma is a Sanskrit word, Sanskrit being the ancient language of Hindu and Buddhist texts, much like Hebrew and Greek were for Christian texts. Dharma has many definitions but in this context, it describes the “Eternal Truth” in Buddhism, the truth about the way things are and will always be. So, Dharma represents the teachings of all the enlightened teachers that came before us and were kind enough to write down or speak these eternal Truths, so that we can learn and grow as they did. So, we take refuge in the Dharma, the teachings of enlightened beings.

Third, The Sangha. Sangha is a Pali word that is translated as “community”, but more importantly in the refuge vows, Sangha represents all the people in our lives that are committed to supporting us on our spiritual path. Until we reach enlightenment, we can take refuge in the support of others on a similar spiritual journey, who will encourage us and urge us to grow spiritually and transform our lives. This refuge in the spiritual community is critical to our spiritual growth.

Then, there are two other important tools to practice to cultivate our innate goodness: Mindfulness and Meditation.

The first practice is meditation, which is about setting aside time during each day to practice being fully aware of our breath, or a mantra, or a chant or some other specific activity. With everything coming at us every day, each of us can benefit from even 5-10 minutes of quiet time each day. When you think about how many minutes there are in any given day, it seems ironic that we struggle to find even 5-10 minutes to just be quiet. Find the quietest place in your home. You can sit on a chair or a cushion. The importance is to daily spend a few minutes, preferably 20-30 minutes, just concentrating on your breath and loosening our stranglehold on thoughts. Meditation can be like untangling a knot, let the rope go loose. We practice to get more comfortable with just resting in natural awareness.

Mindfulness is perhaps better described as Compassionate Attention. Instead of sleepwalking through our lives—glossing over our thoughts and actions, looking for distractions and things and activities that numb us out, ignoring and trying to run away from our problems—instead, we commit to waking up and being more aware in our lives. Having recently been with a dear friend that passed away, I can unequivocally say that at the end of our lives, we will want to have lived as fully and as awakened as we possibly can, for as many moments as we possible muster. Now is the time to wake up to whatever is happening in your life, not trying to sleep through the bad parts and gobble up just the good. By awakening we can better deal with the pain and frustration that is a natural part of life and more fully experience the good. Buddha was trying to teach us that happiness is an inside job. First, decide to be happy, then adjust your thinking and actions accordingly. So, we can practice being mindful in each moment by breaking down our thoughts and action into smaller and smaller parts. Like breaking down the act of walking into smaller and smaller components—the thought of going walk, lifting the leg, feeling the muscles and tendons contract, moving the foot forward, placing the food. Etc

So, practicing Buddhism does not mean that we have to become a Buddhist or renounce whatever other spiritual practice or religion we might already have. Practicing Buddhism is about recognizing our innate goodness, and working with our thoughts and actions to live a more intentionally happy life. We learn to change our internal world, which is the only action that will ever transform our outer world. Each of us gets to choose whether we get to live the life of joy and compassion, love and wisdom

So each of us are always At the Brink of Truth

Every breathing moment of our lives presents us with the possibility of awakening to wisdom or getting mired in fear. Every action, every thought we generate gives us an opportunity to discover our true selves. We alone can choose.

–Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu with Emily Popp, from Meeting the Monkey Halfway (Weiser)

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I love this quote by Pema Chodron!

Are you really ready to let go?

"Working intimately with a teacher is the same as learning to stop shielding ourselves from the completely uncertain nature of reality. All the ways that we hold back and shut down, all the ways that we cling and grasp, all our habitual ways of limiting and solidifying our world become very clear to us, and it's unnerving. At that painful point, we usually want to make the teacher wrong or make ourselves wrong or do anything that is habitual and comforting to get ground back under our feet. But when we make an unconditional commitment to hang in there, we do not run away from the pain of seeing ourselves—and this is a revolutionary thing to do and it transforms us. But how many of us are ready for this? One has to gradually develop the trust that it is ultimately liberating to let go of strongly held assumptions about reality."

–Pema Chodron, from "Unconditionally Steadfast: An Interview with Pema Chodron," Tricycle, Fall 1999

What is Mindfulness?

The practice of mindfulness is an important tool for awakening that is included in the Eightfold Path, from Buddha's first teaching. The word mindfulness is the translation for "Sati" in Pali. However, sometimes translations can mislead us from the original intent. For instance, when I first heard about mindfulness and started to try to practice it, it felt more like I was monitoring—mindfulness seemed to take on a sense of judging, comparing: “Am I doing it right?”, "I wish I wasn't having negative thoughts!" "Is everyone else doing it better than me?", etc. But Pema Chodron prefers the translation of Sati as “compassionate attention", where we are applying attention to our thoughts and emotions and feelings, but also having a kind attitude towards ourselves and others. Compassionate attention seems to better describe the gentleness we need to have with ourselves and others in order to stay present. Sometimes, the judgment that arises when we realize what we are really thinking or feeling can cause us to shut down, to deny, to ignore, and yet recognizing when we are shutting down is also a vital part of the process. So, the good news is that we can't get it wrong, as long as we keep trying.

Whether shutting down or opening up, we can see more clearly how we are interacting with ourselves and the world around us. We can recognize that we can choose to live compassionately and with great joy, regardless of our past, regardless of anything happening in our lives right now, regardless of what we think the future will bring. We can choose using compassionate attention.

From Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English

"Discipline is a difficult word for most of us. It conjures up images of somebody standing over you with a stick, telling you that you're wrong. But self-discipline is different. It's the skill of seeing through the hollow shouting of your own impulses and piercing their secret. They have no power over you. It's all a show, a deception. Your urges scream and bluster at you; they cajole; they coax; they threaten; but they really carry no stick at all. You give in out of habit. You give in because you never really bother to look beyond the threat. It is all empty back there. There is only one way to learn this lesson, though. Look within and watch the stuff coming up--restlessness, anxiety, impatience, pain--just watch it come up and know when you’re hooked. Much to your surprise, it will simply go away. It rises, it passes away. As simple as that. There is another word for self-discipline. It is patience."

Who or What are we?

From Joseph Goldstein:

"The Buddha described what we call "self" as a collection of aggregates – elements of mind and body – that function interdependently, creating the appearance of woman or man. We then identify with that image or appearance, taking it to be "I" or "mine," imagining it to have some inherent self-existence. For example, we get up in the morning, look in the mirror, recognize the reflection, and think, "Yes, that's me again." We then add all kinds of concepts to this sense of self: I'm a woman or man, I'm a certain age, I'm a happy or unhappy person – the list goes on and on.

When we examine our experience, though, we see that there is not some core being to whom experience refers; rather it is simply "empty phenomena rolling on." It is "empty" in the sense that there is no one behind the arising and changing phenomena to whom they happen. A rainbow is a good example of this. We go outside after a rainstorm and feel that moment of delight if a rainbow appears in the sky. Mostly, we simply enjoy the sight without investigating the real nature of what is happening. But when we look more deeply, it becomes clear that there is no "thing" called "rainbow" apart from the particular conditions of air and moisture and light.

Each one of us is like that rainbow -- an appearance, a magical display, arising out of our various elements of mind and body."