Body, Speech and Mind in Perfect Oneness

I’m continuing the series of talks about the Lojong or Mind Training teachings.  This group of 59 pithy slogans is a great place to start your practice or to deepen your practice, wherever you are at.  In fact, a good reference book is Pema Chodron’s entitled, Start Where You Are.  These teachings are about opening our heart, getting comfortable with the power we have to transform the way we relate to ourselves and others.  

This week, we’ll talk about the slogans in the Sixth Point, about how we relate to others.

Point Seven: The Guidelines for Mind Training

47.  Keep the three inseparable.

What are these three?  Body Speech and Mind

Thich Nhat Hanh translation of Buddhist poem:

With body speech and mind in perfect oneness
I send my heart along with the sound of the bell
May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness
And transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow

This slogan is reminding us that we can use our body, speech and mind as tools for awakening, for transformation.  No special equipment needed.  We all have a body, we all speak and we all have a mind.  It might seem too simple, but how often are we not in sync with ourselves?  We read a lot of spiritual books, but we think or speak with anger, resentment, fear or judgment.  Or maybe we speak well but we continue to treat our bodies with disrespect.  How can we leverage the integrated power of these three tools to relieve the suffering in our lives and the lives of others?

Since it’s Easter today, I thought I’d take this opportunity to tie in the Unity perspective as well.  One of the five basic principles of Unity’s take on Christianity is the Law of Mind Action.  There’s an easy phrase to remember the concept, which is “Thoughts held in mind produce after their own kind.”  So what does that mean?

Some would say that we are what we think, but more importantly, this principle reminds us what we think determines what we experience.  If your thoughts are constantly on doom and gloom, you will see doom and gloom all around you.  This isn’t about being Pollyana and having no awareness of the realities of the moment, but rather it’s about seeing what’s happening and looking for the good, giving others and yourself the benefit of the doubt.  There’s a cute little story about when you see a pile of poop, you can imagine that there must be a pony in there somewhere.

The most fundamental Buddhist practice is mindfulness and meditation.  It is the foundation of the entire teachings.  Why?  I would offer that it’s so important because the law of mind action.  If we are to harness this principle, we must start by being aware of what we are currently thinking.  Reflect back on the meditation that we just had.  What were the top three thoughts that kept coming back up for you?  Was it situation you’re dealing with, a person you were thinking about?  Thoughts arise, and we need to be aware of what is arising, in order to train our minds to be more skillful.    We start by recognizing our thoughts, loosening their grip, then replacing the random thoughts with consciously directed thoughts on loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity/wisdom.  Our minds are our most powerful instruments.

Everything began as a thought.  Everything in this room started out as someone imagining what it might be.  In fact, everyone in this room started out as a thought.  Isn’t that true?  Wow! That’s how powerful thoughts are.  So, in Buddhism and in Unity, we are learning to train our thoughts to create more positive outcomes. 

Next is speech.  The thoughts alone aren’t enough to make something happen.  We have to speak them as well.  Skillful speech is one of the steps on the eightfold path.  How can speaking relieve suffering in our lives?   Pick a memorable conversation you had with someone in this last week.  As you reflect on that conversation, how would you categorize your speech?  What impact did it make?  When we stop to reflect, we all know how powerful words are, and what an great opportunity they provide to relieve suffering.  I was finally watching the movie, the King’s Speech last night, and it brought home the power of words.  Think of the power of Hitler’s words…and the power of Mother Theresa’s words. 

I also want to take time to reflect on the written word.  Anybody ever sent an email to one person commenting about another person?  And then, oops, somehow the person you were writing about sees the email or it gets forwarded to them?  I was wondering if, in addition to spell check, we could have a Buddhist tool for emails, called skillful speech check, that would read over our emails, and ask us questions about whether we were writing to relieve suffering or increase suffering?

Lastly, we put into action our thoughts and speech through our deeds.  Ask yourself the question. How in sync are you with your intentions and your actions?  We might want to just read a bunch of Buddhist books and spout a bunch of Buddhist phrases, then go home and overeat and smoke and overdrink and underexercise.  We could and sometimes we do, but if we wake up to the way this spiritual path actually works, we will realize that the greatest way to reduce the suffering in our own lives and the lives of others is to take care of our bodies, along with our speech and our thoughts. 

This principle of mind action is more universal than just a Buddhist or Unity or Christian thought.  In Judaism, particularly in Kabbalah, the law of attraction is a key teaching, that our words and our deeds, have the power to draw us closer to, or farther away, from God.  The power in this teaching is the recognition of the power in ourselves to change our experience of the world. 

"You want a better, more just world? Well then, start building it. Who is stopping you? Build it inside yourself and around you.  Build it with those who want it. Build it small, and it will grow."

-- Lanza del Vasto,  Italian follower of Mahatma Gandhi