Accept Suffering?

Buddha’s teachings on practicing the patience of accepting suffering make clear, logical sense to me. I will paraphrase what I’ve learned about this subject while studying within the New Kadampa Tradition…

As a human, we are destined to experience many sufferings, some of which are: aging, sickness, having to part with what we like, having to encounter what we don’t like, failing to satisfy our desires, and finally death. Besides all of these pronounced sufferings, each day we experience countless irritations and frustrations, both big and small. What’s our normal reaction to these unpleasant feelings and circumstances? Frustration, anger, and a general lack of acceptance. What does this reaction do for us, besides add more suffering to the already unwanted situation?

So, if we are bound to experience unwanted feelings and circumstances, then how can we make this situation more bearable? Buddha says by practicing the patience of voluntarily accepting suffering. This doesn’t mean we accept avoidable sufferings. Buddha’s not telling us to be masochists! He’s saying, if there is an unavoidable situation or feeling that we find difficult, don’t immediately try to reject it, get irritated, and increase our suffering. Instead, why not try accepting the difficulty with the calm, peaceful mind of patience? In this way we react to a difficulty with peace, and sever the potential to experience more suffering to an already unwanted situation.

Harmonious Lives

Today I heard inspiring teachings on how to develop harmonious relationships with others.  One of the teachings focused on recognizing the kindness of others as a method for developing our love and respect for them.

If we see the kindness of those around us (our family, friends, coworkers, etc.), it will be easy to love them and feel that their happiness and freedom are important.  If we feel that others are important and their happiness matters, we will naturally cherish them and create harmonious relationships with them.  At one point in this teaching there was a profound and bold statement: without others, we are nothing.  This struck me as a very beneficial, wise statement.  Normally in the west (and perhaps around the world) we like to think of ourselves as independent, self-sustaining individuals.  In Buddhist thought this is nonsense.  How can we be independent?  Did we produce our own body?  Did we teach ourselves how to walk, talk and eat?  Did we invent the language we now speak?  Did we produce the bed we sleep in, the food we consume, or the schools and teachers that enrich our mind?  Did we create the churches, temples and spiritual leaders that allow us to walk a spiritual path?  Of course not.  We didn’t produce any of these things.  We are entirely dependent upon others for all of these things and more.  Everything we are is a result of our dependence on others.  We are now reaping the benefit of countless living beings’ hard work and kindness.  If we focus on the kindness of others and look with wisdom, we realize how much we benefit from them day after day, moment after moment.

These instructions come entirely from Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, as taught by my current teacher, and paraphrased by me.

The Eight Worldly Concerns

The eight worldly concerns that prevent a Buddhist practitioner from having a pure spiritual practice are:

1. Being pleased when receiving resources and respect

2. Being displeased when not receiving resources and respect

3. Being pleased when experiencing pleasure

4. Being displeased when not experiencing pleasure

5. Being pleased when enjoying a good reputation

6. Being displeased when not enjoying a good reputation

7. Being pleased when receiving praise

8. Being displeased when not receiving praise

Without these unbalanced minds our mind is stable and peaceful, and we can make sincere effort towards gaining realizations of wisdom and compassion.  Normally we get excited when we experience pleasure, receive wealth or a good reputation.  Then when we don’t get these things we become agitated and depressed.  This is a sign of our attachment.  Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso says, “To develop detachment to the pleasures of this life we do not need to abandon our wealth and possessions, our friends and family.  Simply being poor and alone does not mean that we have no attachment to the good things of this life; many poor and lonely people are strongly attached to this world and its pleasures”  (from Joyful Path of Good Fortune) .  Developing renunciation does not mean that we escape our modern, busy lives and go retreat into a solitary cave.  What we are renouncing is our attachment, anger and ignorance – the real sources of our suffering.  In this context, we are renouncing our attachment to worldly pleasures and concerns.  Nothing external has the power to cause us suffering, so simply having wealth, pleasure or a good reputation cannot harm us, but our attachment to these thing can and does.  And while this attachment remains in our mind, we will continue to chase the transitory pleasures of this short life and will never get around to sincere study, meditation and practice of Dharma.

Being Mindful

“Therefore, no matter what practice we may be doing, we should check to see that it is actually decreasing our delusions and bringing our mind under control. We should keep this criterion in mind at all times and judge our practices accordingly. There is no value in reciting the mere words of a practice if our mind is not receiving any benefit.” – Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso from Meaningful to Behold

This is from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s commentary to Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.

Volunteering at a Buddhist Center

About nine years ago I started going to Buddhist meditation classes.  After each class I felt more peaceful and mentally refreshed.  Still, I didn’t jump into it right away, but rather progressed gradually at my own pace.  After attending these classes (which were held at a Unitarian church)  for a couple of years, I finally went to the Buddhist Center that the classes were connected to.  I soon found joy in volunteering some of my time for the Center, mostly in small ways.  Changing the water offerings, washing dishes, cooking… anything done for the Center was peaceful and enjoyable.  I found that although the tasks themselves were ordinary, doing them for the Center was not.

The function of a Buddhist Center in the New Kadampa Tradition is to provide a place where people can come and increase their inner peace and happiness.  They achieve this inner peace by listening to Buddha’s teachings (or Dharma), contemplating them, meditating on them, and putting them into practice in their daily lives.  Because the function of these Centers is solely to benefit people, I understand that they are very pure places.  It follows that helping them in any way is not an ordinary task.  This has been my experience.  Working or volunteering at a Buddhist Center is only ordinary if our mind is ordinary.  When my mind is clear and I see the real purpose of the Center, I know that all of my time and energy helping it is incredibly special.  I could even say with confidence (but not pride) that it is sacred, holy work.

The Kindness of Teachers, Past & Present

Hello friends.  I work and study at a Kadampa Meditation Center and live within the residential community near our temple.  I have been studying and practicing within the New Kadampa Tradition for over nine years.  During this time I have seen my life improve drastically.  Gradually my inner peace has strengthened and I feel more calm and balanced.  This inner peace has come from continually examining and training my mind according to the Buddhist path.  Specifically, the New Kadampa Tradition relies upon Je Tsongkhapa, the great Buddhist master who clarified Buddha’s teachings when there was much confusion within Tibet about how to practice in general, and how to practice the union of Sutra and Tantra specifically.  The Founder of the New Kadampa Tradition, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, has said that he is merely giving Je Tsongkhapa’s teachings and not his own.  At one summer festival he said he sometimes cries tears of joy and appreciation when he thinks of Je Tsongkhapa’s kindness.  I feel deeply fortunate to be able to receive Je Tsongkhapa’s pure Dharma from such a humble, sincere Teacher.  It is like pure medicine that cures the inner sickness of the mind – specifically the sicknesses of anger, attachment and ignorance.  This medicine works in both practical and profound ways.  I couldn’t begin to describe my sense of wonder and amazement when it comes to Buddha’s profound teachings, Je Tsongkhapa’s purity, and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s kindness.