Technology
Meditation in Action
In this episode of 'Meditation in Action,' Jetsima Akonlamo explores the challenges of self-centeredness and the importance of understanding the nature of self in Buddhist practice. She emph...
Meditation in Action
Technology •
0:00 / 0:00
Interactive Transcript
Speaker A
Foreign.
Speaker B
Welcome to Buddhism for Beginners, a podcast on foundational Buddhist teachings and techniques to use in your everyday life. This podcast is a production of Kunzang Payal Choling, a Buddhist center in the Payo lineage of the Ningma school of Tibetan Buddhism. For more teachings, meditations and resources, you can visit our online Virtual temple@tara.org that's T A R A.org we live in Western cultures, so we generally have active lives. Jetsima Akonlamo shares some of the many ways we can make our meditation part of this.
Speaker A
We as we grow up and as we become older and things happen to us, we find that by the time we've come to middle age, or by the time we've become elderly, or even really by the time we've reached adulthood, we have probably crossed times in our lives that were like personal crisis times that may seem traumatic in that we have to meet some challenge. And that challenge may be very difficult for us as children. We can never have really imagined that we are going to meet some of the challenges that we end up meeting as we grow older. You know, as a little girl, I had no idea what challenges an adult might have to face. Many of them are moral issues. Many of them are ethical issues. Many of them are issues about deciding what is most important to us. How are we going to develop our qualities in this and future times? There are times when we have personal choices that are very difficult times when we have to make choices between our own personal gain and comfort and the well being of others. How many of us have had to make choices like that? Extremely difficult. How well do we come out in those choices? Well, sometimes we make a sacrifice. Sometimes we do what we can to benefit others. But very frequently we will do what is easiest for us, fall back into our own habits or develop some characteristic or take some course of action that is easy for us and may not bring to someone else the benefit that they need. If you think that that's not true, you should take yourself to a place where you have to strike a bargain. You know, a bargain in the work environment or a bargain for some object that you may want to buy. Our first concern, of course, is our own well being. We would like to pay the price that we would have to pay, or we would like to do what we would like to do and receive the most benefit. And we really don't think of the others that we are involved with. Unfortunately, that is our habitual tendency. How does that actually happen? How does it happen that we would make a decision based on our own well being, make a decision that is based on our own selfishness, or make a decision that is based on what is easiest, more convenient and least challenging for us, each and every one of us. Because we are sitting in our chairs, because we have human bodies, because we have a name and a serial number. And whatever it else that it is that we have, we all have these things must have come to understand by this time that we are egocentric creatures. That is to say, our first understanding of ourself, our thought of ourself, is the idea of self. We have this notion, we have this assumption, which is an initial assumption by which we can come to perceive ourselves. It is not possible to have any understanding of ourselves. It is not possible to even live and move and have our being as we do, without the notion or assumption of the solidity of self, self nature, the notion that self nature is inherently real. This is an idea that we all carry. In fact, we have developed that idea to a great extent. We have ideas about ourselves that are quite elaborate. When asked, each and every one of you will be able to tell me something about your personality. You are like this, or you are like this. And even if you float through your life with the mistaken idea that you are absolutely egoless, you will take the time to tell me that you are absolutely egoless. Even if you have the idea that you are extremely spiritual and you have no such notions, you will tell me that you have no such notions. So any idea that we have about ourselves, whether it is the most convoluted and neurotic idea, or whether it is an idea that seems to us to be very straightforward and highly spiritual, is based on the idea of self nature as being inherently real. This is something that each of us carries. Every idea, every notion that we have after the idea of self nature as being inherently real is going to be developing or having to do with that self. It's going to be based on that idea of self nature. If we have the idea that we have certain kinds of qualities, if we have the idea that we have had certain kinds of experiences, all of those ideas about our qualities or even a determination of what our experiences are or have been, come from the idea of self nature as being inherently real. One can witness that two people growing up and living in the same environment will have very different ways in which that environment affects them. Even two twins or two brothers or two sisters growing up with the same parents and the same value systems will have very different ideas as to how that environment has affected them. And they will react to that environment very, very differently. One of the reasons that we will react to the environment very differently, of course, is our karma, the karma of our mind stream, the content of our mind stream. But that karma and even the reactive process that we engage in since the time of our birth is due to certain ideas that we have about self nature. According to the Buddha, we actually come into this life, we could not be born into this life as a human being without the notion of self nature being inherently real. Each of us has that idea during the course of our life. We react to certain kinds of information according to our belief in self nature and how we see ourselves to be. So everything, every idea, every intellectual structure that we have within our minds, every thought that we have, every reaction, every perception, every notion of any kind, no matter how developed, always, always begins with the idea of self nature being inherently real. It builds one on the other. If our ideas about ourselves change, our reactions change. If our ideas about ourselves change, even on that gross of a level where we can register our ideas about self, then not only do our reactions change, but our assumptions about external phenomena, our assumptions about the way that we are developing, all developments from that point on will also change. Everything is based on the idea of self nature being inherently real. All courses of action that we take, every single one, are based on notions that we have about self nature. None of us would choose any course of action if we did not have that initial notion, that initial assumption of self nature as being inherently real. When, as adults, we decide to change our qualities because we see that these qualities are bringing us no good benefit, for instance, let us say that we discover for ourselves that we've developed a certain degree of selfishness and self absorption, and that that self absorption and selfishness is an extremely neurotic habit pattern. And we discover that according to the Buddha, this selfishness and self absorption will always bring us unhappiness. And we set out, due to that teaching, to change the selfishness and self absorption. In order to do that, we have to develop a technology by which our assumption of self nature, something very basic and inherent within our minds, will begin to change. If we decide that we're going to change our habit patterns, if we decide that we're going to change the way that we interact with others, if we decide that we're going to become less selfish, that may be very difficult to do. And that may be difficult to do because it seems as though we always revert back to our own old habits. How many of us have noticed that it's Always the case, isn't it? It's always the case that we revert back to our own habits. We may decide one day that now we're going to engage in a spiritual journey, that we are going to take on new characteristics, that everything about us is going to change, and we will discover probably by the end of that very same day that our thought processes have reverted back to what they were and we're acting just like we always have. It's almost as though our minds were like an elastic rubber band and we stretch them to their fullest capacity, but then boom, they regain their original shape. So we have to try to develop some awareness of a technology that may be able to help us kind of over the hump that technology has to be able to help us to change. At the very core of the notion of that is central to our minds. The Buddha teaches us that the idea or the notion of self nature, that that basic assumption is a false assumption, that in fact the idea we have of self nature, the way in which we engage in the process of thought about self nature, that first assumption, the first gossamer thin original notion, is actually a false notion that we do not understand our nature. We believe ourselves to be what we see ourselves to be, mind, body, eyes, nose, ears, personality. And that these ideas of self nature aren't true at all, that they have no basis in what the Buddha teaches. The Buddha teaches us that instead of our nature is the primordial wisdom nature, that our nature is completely uncontrived and free of all assumption, such as the idea of self nature. There is no contrivance in our true primordial wisdom nature, that is the contrivance of separation between self and other. There is no distinction in our true nature that nature is essentially empty, self luminous, innately aware, but aware in a nonspecific way, that is to say, aware in a way that does not distinguish between self and other. In order for us to truly change our habitual tendencies, which are in fact ingrained within our minds not only in this lifetime since our birth, that's the popular thought. We think that our parents did it, but it is not only engraved in our mind since this birth, but actually that we have engaged in habitual tendency based on the assumption of self nature being inherently real since time out of mind. If we really want to change that habitual tendency, that assumption of self nature, we have to engage in a technology that is quite profound and we have to hit the problem at the core. We kind of have to cut it off at the root and the root, of course, is the assumption of self nature as being inherently real. So does that mean that what we should do then is to develop the habit of running around saying, hey, self nature isn't inherently real? No, because it would be self nature that would be doing that. So that wouldn't help. In fact, eventually you'd make yourself just a little bit crazy. I don't think that that is the benefit that we are looking for. We do not want to develop any inappropriate activity. We do not want to increase our neuroses by acting in a way that is inappropriate to what we understand about ourselves. We have to change this habitual tendency of having the notion of self nature through meditation. And that meditation has to happen at a very deep and profound level. In the path of Vajrayana, which is the path that is practiced here, there are many ways to accomplish the same goal, many different levels of practice. One of the ways, or two of the ways actually, or I should say it actually is one complete way, is through the practice of generation and completion stage meditation. Remember that every activity that you engage in, every idea that you have, is based on the notion or assumption of self nature. That that is the initial format for any ideation at all. Any ideation that we have arises from that assumption as though that assumption were at the very center and core of our minds. Anything that happens within our mind blossoms out from that assumption of self nature. So in the Buddha's teachings, we are taught to meditate on emptiness. We are taught to meditate on the natural, uncontrived, luminous, primordial wisdom view. We are taught to relax the mind and teach the mind not grasping, not clinging, to practice the habit of no grasping, no clinging, and to allow the mind in a very spontaneously restful state to meditate on shunyata, to meditate on emptiness, to meditate in such a way that one does not consider or grasp to or cling to the idea of self nature as being inherently real. In generation stage practice, one meditates on shunyata, one practices sunyata. And then from that meditation one actually arises, considering that one is actually arising from shunyata, which is very much like, which is actually our true state, our true nature. And in arising from that natural primordial wisdom state, one can only demonstrate absolutely pure qualities, because those qualities that are extremely pure, that have no ego clinging, these are the qualities that are naturally inherent, that are natural displays of the primordial wisdom state of the natural state that is our state. If we arise from the idea of self nature, we are likely to have all kinds of displays of that clinging to self nature. We are likely to have the idea of grasping as likely to have grasping as non grasping. We are likely to have the idea of self nature display itself as the ignorance that it is, an ignorance that causes us to revolve endlessly in the distinction between self and others, creating false separation and creating thereby discursive thought. But if we arise from the meditative state of Shunyata, if the display that arises from that natural state is pure display, pure display, having all pure qualities, any activity that arises from that natural state must naturally be compassionate activity, because in that state there is no ego clinging, because in that state there is no consideration of self nature. When we meditate on emptiness, all that can arise from that natural state is the natural display of emptiness or the bodhicitta, the compassion. This compassion can be understood then after meditation, to the extent that we really purify, our view can be understood as truly our natural state. But in the condition that we are in now, we do not naturally arise in the state of compassionate activity. We do not naturally display the compassionate activity due to the clinging of self nature. So we try to practice the path, and in practicing the path, we are able to practice in such a way as to meditate on emptiness. And then all activity arises as the display of that emptiness. When we look at our heroes, the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas, in the same way that I ask the children to look at their heroes, we see them as displays of that natural purity. We see them as arising from the state of Shenyata. We see them as having the characteristics of the primordial wisdom state, such as Manjushri, who holds the sword that cuts through ignorance, such as Tara, who holds out her hand in compassion. All of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have these natural conditions. When we wish to live a spiritual life, we should practice the natural, the meditation on the natural primordial wisdom state. And then we should practice generation stage practice, in which from that natural state we arise, displaying pure characteristics. And we see ourselves actually visualized as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and having all of the natural state, natural characteristics of the Buddhist and Bodhisattvas. Generation stage practice is like that. It's true that we think of ourselves as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And you might argue, well, you're still thinking of yourself as an entity or as a self. But the difference is that we are practicing the technology of arising from the natural state as opposed to arising from. From ego clinging. In that one always meditates on the natural state first and then arising from the natural state. We only display the pure characteristics that are naturally inherent within the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We generate ourselves as having those pure characteristics. And so that technology, when practiced again and again and again over a great long period of time, when practiced very succinctly and very purely, will help us to generate the pure qualities that we wish to generate in order to be of benefit to sentient beings, in order to be able to complete our spiritual practice. Therefore, we should understand that beneficial activity, the kind of activity that we wish to engage in, then must arise from meditation. It is the natural display of meditation. And so meditation, therefore, is the technology that brings about the desired change. What I must caution you against is that one cannot use any generic meditation to accomplish that goal. There are many different forms of meditation. One can meditate on an object, or one can meditate on simply clearing the mind. One can meditate on thought. One can meditate on the image of clouds. One can meditate on feeling happy. One can meditate on healthiness. These may not be the method by which you wish to accomplish the goal that I have just described. One should actually accomplish the technology taught by the Buddha in order to meditate on the primordial wisdom state, that state that is pure luminosity, that state that is emptiness, and then from that state the naturally arising characteristics that are the natural display or dance of that state. Therefore, one spiritual practice becomes a dance or a display of one's meditation. In the beginning, we learned from the Buddhist teachings, and certainly we adopt these ideas all through our practice, that there are certain moralities that we should take to ourselves, certain ethics, certain guidelines. For instance, of course we should not kill, of course we should not steal, of course we should not act in such a way that brings disgrace or brings destruction upon ourselves or harm to any other sentient beings, and we should try to engage in activity like that. But as we continue to practice, we discover that the morality that we display after a period of time in our practice naturally arises from our meditation. When we cease to be so deeply engaged in ego clinging, when we cease to be so deeply engaged in ignorance, when we cease to be so deeply engaged in selfishness and self absorption and actually practice the meditation on emptiness, our activity will naturally and spontaneously change in such a way as to always be of benefit to sentient beings, those lamas, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, that have attained the significant realization associated with Buddhahood naturally arise, naturally come forth in such a way that all their activity is compassionate activity. They actually do not have to think about acting in a compassionate way. They naturally display the qualities and characteristics that are of benefit to sentient beings, and that is due to the power of their meditation. So the suggestion here is to develop and hang on to, to learn and to accomplish generation and completion stage practice. To actually learn the technology of meditation so that one's life can really become a spiritual vehicle or an expression of that natural primordial wisdom style. Any of you that wish to learn the technology associated with the Buddha's teaching, of course are welcome to stay here and learn that technology is taught here. And any of you wishing to learn more about that technology before you make such a decision, of course are welcome to stay and learn about that. I understand you can even learn about that this afternoon. So please take these thoughts with you. Help yourself to travel more firmly and more exactingly on the spiritual path, so that you can truly accomplish the spiritual life in a natural and long lasting way, rather than in the way of the rubber band, which is to try and not succeed because we haven't obtained for ourselves the technology by which our most profound habitual tendency of self assumption can truly be changed.
Speaker B
This podcast has been a production of Kunzang Pahyul Choling. For more teachings, meditations and resources, you can visit our online virtual temple@tara.org that's T A R A dot org SA.