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Today we begin a series of talks on the Basics of Buddhism. I’m highly recommending the book, Naked Buddha, a Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Life and Teachings, by Adrienne Howley.
So why are you here? What is it about Buddhism that draws you in? Reflect for a moment on what you have learned or heard about Buddhism that seems interesting…
Perhaps you are looking for stress relief or for some peace in life, or as a replacement for Christianity or a way to make sense of the world. We each come to study and practice Buddhism for a myriad of reasons.
The Buddha was a man, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived 2600 years ago, and he practiced this way of life for one single reason. That reason was to relieve suffering in himself and in others. He discovered a way to live that creates more peace and happiness and joy and love in the world, and although it can seem surprisingly simple to describe and to read about, there is only one way to know these teachings, and that is to experience them.
The first of the year is always a great time to reflect on how our life is going. What are we doing that’s working? What are we doing that is causing us to suffer? Then we often make a list of things we want to do differently this year to create a different outcome. That is an excellent idea! Except, in a couple of weeks, or a couple of days or maybe this afternoon, some difficult situation will arise, or some old habit, some old thoughts or emotions, and suddenly that list of new objectives might get thrown out the window. This practice of Buddhism is an opportunity to have a tool that works in every moment of every day of every week of every year. If we screw up, we don’t have to wait until next year to try again. We don’t have to wait until tomorrow morning, we can start in the very next moment—that is what these teachings are about.
So each of us is 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)
The mind is often described like a monkey, swinging from thought to thought…
Today I wanted to dispel some of the common misperceptions about Buddhism. There are two primary practices in Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness, that are ways to bring awareness to the true reality of each moment. Mindfulness is being compassionately aware of what you’re thinking or feeling, and taking the time to look at your surroundings, and looking at things objectively as if the witness. Meditation is simple practicing mindfulness in a quiet, still way, like having using training wheels to hone the skill of awareness.
You might have heard that meditation is about getting rid of your thoughts or maybe just getting rid of the annoying or unskillful thoughts. BUT, these practices are not about getting rid of thoughts at all. It is NOT your thoughts or your emotions that are causing you suffering. It is your RESPONSE to those thoughts and emotions. If you practiced meditation and mindfulness diligently for the rest of your life, you may still have annoying and unskillful thoughts, BUT you slowly no longer give them any power. Not giving them power will relieve your suffering.
In order to not give them power, we are learning to create a gap between stimulus and response. Our thoughts and emotions are the stimulae that urge us to act in old habitual ways. We alone choose how to respond, and we need time to evaluate the options and choose the most skillful response. The gap is only found in the present moment and is the ONLY opportunity that you have to change your way of living. Applying compassionate awareness buys us time to reflect on what to do.
Often, when people first start meditating, it’s a bit of shock to realize all the thoughts and emotions we’ve been having all these years. Most importantly, don’t be hard on yourself—that’s why the compassionate part of mindfulness is so important. In Buddhism, we start with the conviction that each us is innately kind, innately compassionate, innately wise. Everyone, no one is left …. Yes even Hitler. Our innate goodness is in there, but it is sometimes covered up by our old habits, and our skewed way of seeing the world and ourselves, our past experiences that may have given us some false belief that we’re no good or that we will always fail. All these preconceived notions may or may not have anything to do with this present moment. Therefore, we practice being fully present, of SEEING more clearly what is really going on.
There are no commandments in Buddhism. There are five precepts that we are encouraged to follow which are to not kill, not lie, not steal, not use sex in a harmful way, and do not let intoxicants cloud your ability to be present. These are guidelines not commandments, because the Buddhist teachings require us to be fully aware of what’s happening in any given moment in order to make the most compassionate and wise response. Here’s an example, if you see a man stab another man in the chest with a knife, what should you do?..... What if that man doing the stabbing is a surgeon? We must be mentally present to understand the circumstances in order to respond in the way that is most likely to relieve suffering.
In her book, Naked Buddha, Adrienne is very practical about her approach to these teachings. She peels off all the cultural additions to Buddhism that sometimes have nothing to do with the original teachings. Misperceptions about Buddhism abound when just looking at how others practice the teachings. With all these Buddha statues, one might ask, am I worshiping Buddha, is Buddha a God? He was not, nor did he claim to be. He claimed only to be a man who had studied various techniques for relieving suffering, and these practices are what he found to work. In fact, Buddha didn’t say you must believe every word he said just because he said it. He said the opposite, don’t believe a word he said, you must try it out for yourself. The Buddha didn’t talk about a deity at all. He only wanted to teach about what could be practiced and experienced to relieve suffering.
In this context, it’s important to mention that Buddhism does not require you to give up whatever religion you might already be practicing. There are many Catholic priests who feel quite comfortable practicing Buddhism in addition to their Christian faith. From my perspective, I think there were many similarities between Jesus and the Buddha, and we will talk about these similarities in the coming weeks.
Do you have to be Buddhist to practice these teachings, and what does being Buddhist really mean? Being Buddhist usually means that you commit to the Refuge Vows as your primary spiritual path, and look to the Five precepts as guidelines for living. We’ll talk about that more on Tuesday evening, but this morning, I just want to emphasize that you don’t have to designate yourself as a Buddhist in order to benefit from these teachings. Knowing many of you, I know that sitting here today, some of you are Christians or Jews who are adding these teachings to your other spiritual practices, some of you are Buddhists who take this as your primary path, and some of you don’t feel the need for any label on your spirituality, some of you are even atheists. What a mixed bag we are! How delightful!
Did Buddha believe in some afterlife? Buddha was actually silent on any issue where no proof was available. He said he didn’t know what happened after we die, nor was it relevant to relieving suffering in this moment. Buddhism is not about speculation or conjecture, only about the experience we are having in our body in our brain in our world in this moment. In fact, all we have is this moment. Peace comes from giving up hope for a better past, and the future depends on what we do in this moment.
Lastly, I want to talk about karma. Karma has worked its way into our western culture, but actually has many different interpretations. In Hinduism, karma is believed to be quite linear. If you screwed up in this lifetime, you will pay next time in your rebirth. But in Buddhism, Karma is viewed more broadly, we are all interconnected and everything is arising because of many, many things that happened in the past. Past on my past misdeeds, I was encouraged by the story of Milarepa. When he was a young man, someone killed his father, and he was so enraged that he hunted down everyone having anything to do with the murder, and he in turn murdered them. While he was on the run, he took shelter with a Buddhist monk, who said that he could only stay if he studied and practiced the Dharma. Milarepa agreed and went on to become a brilliant Buddhist teacher. His teachings still ring true even though they are 1,000 years old.
It is not to say that actions do not have consequences, but in Buddhism, Karma has an element of grace. You cannot change your past. The ONLY thing you can change is what you are doing in this present moment. That is why it is so precious, that is why it’s so important to be present for it, not distracted or consumed by regretting the past or anxiously awaiting the future. This present moment is amazing because it is all we have to work with.
So, in this next week, your assignment is to simply observe your thoughts and emotions as best you can. As we become aware of your thoughts, and before you speak, ask yourself these three questions:
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
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