When Being Buddhist Gets too Hard

I have been away from engagement with my community for a year now.  I have barely seen my Rinpoche, even though he is less than 20km away, partly because of his illness with dengue fever.  Our community is not functioning well.  We catch up with other from time to time and every so often we meet for a practice, but somehow everything seems withdrawn.

Maybe this has been my year to churn over what this is all about.  I still practice in one way or another at least 5 days a week, and do some reading most nights. I am writing this tonight mainly to put something up and recommence  and reinforce my contemplation.

Next weekend I will be blessed by being able to spend 3 days with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Melbourne, where he is doing a teaching on Shantideva's Bodhisattva's Way of Life.  The book I most turn to for daily reading is a translation of Shantideva's teaching, as listed in my reading list.  So this teaching will have great relevance for me.  Another blessing is that the three monks from Kyegu are still here and will be at the teachings.  I include the photo of them at the last teaching by His Holiness in Sydney as a source of inspiration and gratitude for their presence.

I will publish this now, so I have some action on this blog.  I will be back within 2 weeks with a few words around the teachings, maybe even with a little wisdom to pass on. 

Thank you for being with me as I move through this illusion of Buddhism being Too Hard.

Yours in Dharma,  Vajramate

A Tribute to the Wisdom Beings

Some time ago I became friends with a man who was part of my early introduction to Buddhism and was one of the major influences that lead me to undertake my retreat in Tibet in 2007.  Recently, after the Kyegu earthquake, he accompanied our Rinpoche, the spiritual director of the Kyegu monastery, on a 4 day trip, of which just one day was spent in the ruins of the town and monastery providing some solace to the shattered inhabitants.  The emotional impact on my friend was enormous.

During this time, his mother had a massive stroke, leaving her incapable of moving, feeding herself or talking.  I will pass you across to him----

"Totally dependent and in high care in hospital. I said to Tony last Friday that i was going to call on many pushy Wisdom Beings to give her body a reminder of what she used to know. These Wisdom Beings showed up later that day as poor Mum had an epileptic seizure while a doctor was visiting her. A few days later she is walking and talking. Apparently it rewired many lost functions. So thank you all for helping her along."

So how to explain this?  Why even bother to try?  It is surely enough to know that there are mysteries beyond our ken, and beyond that of so many more learned people.  Just the possibility of Wisdom Beings, who care about all sentient beings, can serve as an inspiration to us to also care about all others and find the happiness that comes with loving kindness and compassion.

Yours in Dharma and wonder,

Vajramate

Understanding Sleep in the Practice of Mahayana Buddhism

For years I have been reading passages that exhort practitioners not to waste time sleeping. While this might be achievable when undertaking a long retreat, I wondered how practical this advice was in our day-to-day world.
Then I came across this passage in Nagarjuna’s “Letter to a Friend”, written to a king of the time, indicating the possibility of a slightly different interpretation of this instruction.

“O Knowledgeable One, recite all day
And in the first and last watch of the night.
Then in between these two sleep mindfully
So that your slumbers are not spent in vain.”

To me this seemed to be saying that if one goes to sleep in a dharmic frame of mind, the sleep will continue in that vein, and not be wasted.

I raised this with my Rinpoche and he confirmed that this was a reasonable interpretation for our way of life. He then went on to remind me how, during my extended, solitary retreat, after a short time I was quite often not clear whether I was asleep, dreaming or awake. This state of being is a direct result of being in isolation, when the familiar daily routines are abandoned, and the “sleeping” time becomes an integral part of the practice.

So the message I have taken from this is that it is important to create some reminder of dharmic practice immediately before dropping off to sleep. I try to spend at least 10 minutes reading from one of my favourite texts and then recite the Vajrasattva 100-syllable mantra as I am falling asleep. I can’t guarantee how effective this is, but I’ll just keep following the Mahayana principle that aspirational activity will in time transform to become an integral part of being on the path.

My favourite texts right now are Letter to a Friend, Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the text from HH the Dalai Lama’s teaching on Awakening the Mind (Based on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta) and HE Chogye Trichen’s Commentary on Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s Parting from the Four Attachments. Open any of these at any page, whatever you read will be totally relevant.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Yours until next time, Vajramate.

Dalai Lama’s Teaching on Nagarjuna’s Exposition of Bodhicitta

Nagarjuna. The crown of snakes symbolises the incredible capacity of his mind.

Here is the update I promised on the two days of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings on Awakening the Mind in Sydney, to an audience of 5,000.

Once again, I am totally amazed at the physical impact he has on people, even in such a large gathering. All of the people in my group experienced short bursts of intensely deep sleep when he was talking in Tibetan. We believe he was doing a transmission as he was talking. We would then wake up when his interpreter took over. He would talk in bursts of 10 to 15 minutes at a time – amazing. The teachings were 4 sessions of 2 hours each over the 2 days.

The stage setting was enhanced by the presence of the Jade Buddha, which was consecrated by HH the Dalai Lama at this event. The Buddha is carved from a single rock, weighing 18 tonnes and found in Canada. In its finished form it is 2.7 metres tall and weighs 4 tonnes. This Buddha will eventually be housed at the Great Stupa for Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, a project of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Details are at http://www.jadebuddha.org.au/

The text His Holiness used was the 112 verses of Nagarjuna's Bodhicittavivarana, available at http://www.bodhicitta.net/ . Look for Bodhichitta Teachings, then Nagarjuna Bodhicittavivarana.

This text is quite intense. One of my friends, Lama Tsekyab, who is a learned monk and Puja Master, said at the end of Day 1 "Peter, this was a very hard day!" Lama Phuntsok told me he had studied Nagarjuna for 4 years, and he found the day was hard work. Loppon Ngawang, a highly trained teacher, also said the teaching was not easy. All we could do was be there, hear and feel the transmission and rejoice at being blessed to spend time with His Holiness. I will now try to distil the message we got and pass on the advice His Holiness gave us. In the photo, left to right, are Lama Tsekyab, Loppon Ngawang and Lama Phuntsok. All three of them now have long term visas in Australia, while they have family at Jyekundo, the Kyegu Monastery town in what was Eastern Tibet, where they were all born.

The main message that came through was that to achieve an Awakened Mind (Bodhicitta) it is necessary to achieve an understanding of Emptiness as defined in Mahayana Buddhism. Without moving towards an understanding of Emptiness, our Mind will always be suffering from the afflictions of ignorance, attachment and aversion. In this state, while we may be able to aspire to compassion and altruism, we will always become diverted from effectively achieving it. But the Buddhist teaching is that only through achieving loving kindness and compassion that we can attain happiness. Personally, I like to think of happiness as being in a state of contentment with whatever circumstances I may find myself in at any time.

As Westerners, indeed for all humans, our early life training conditions us to continually strive for and defend our own unique Selfhood. But Emptiness is only achieved through realisation of the non-existence of a Self i.e. selflessness. Achieving this realisation is necessary to achieve happiness. Understanding (Inter)Dependent Origination (or Arising) and the Five Skandhas/Aggregates is an essential part of the journey. So how to get there?

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was very explicit about the study program to undertake.

The Bodhicittavivarana text was the basis for the two days of teaching. The prime text is Arya Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, also referred to as the Madhyamika – The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. I have a translation and commentary by Jay L Garfield, published by Oxford University Press. It contains both the 27 Chapters of text and then 27 Chapters of commentary, with embedded text. Garfield is a Professor of Philosophy at Hampshire College and Director of an Indian Philosophy Program with Tibetan Universities in Exile (Remembering Nagarjuna was an Indian philosopher from about the second century). For those of a philosophical study background, Garfield's commentary quite often analyses Nagarjuna by reference to Western philosophy, enhancing our understanding.

His Holiness nominated 4 Chapters in particular to study, in this order:

Ch 26 – Examination of the 12 Links
    (of (Inter)Dependent Arising, the basis of the argument for Emptiness)
Ch 18 – Examination of Self and Entities
Ch 24 – Examination of the Four Noble Truths
Ch 22 – Examination of the Tathagata

Describing himself as a "lazy scholar", His Holiness said he did not undertake serious study of Nagarjuna until his late teens. Then he used Candrakirti's 7^th century commentary Prasannapada (Clear Words), which he recommends as essential and the best commentary on the Middle Way. He referred to Chapter 9 as being of immense help to him personally. The only translation I have been able to find is "Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way: Essential Chapters from the Prasannapada", available as used on Amazon at about $85. The reviews are quite good.

To round out the study program, His Holiness recommended Gyel-tsap's commentary on Aryadeva's Four Hundred Stanzas. The translation I use is by Ruth Sonam, with the Aryadeva commentary and a chapter by chapter commentary on the commentary by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, entitled Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas and published by Snow Lion. Aryadeva was a 2^nd century disciple of Nagarjuna and Gyel-tsap was the successor to Tsong-kha-pa, the founder of the Gelugpa lineage, in the early 15^th century.
If this seems a bit too daunting as a study program right now, I suggest you consider "the Heart of Buddha's Teachings" by Thich Nhat Hahn as a lesser treatise on philosophy.

At the end of the teaching, the Dalai Lama empowered us with the Bodhicitta Prayer, to be used as a daily motivator. It is only three verses and only needs to be read three times.  It is also available at http://www.bodhicitta.net/ . Look for Bodhichitta Teachings, then Bodhicitta Prayer.

To wrap up, again a most beautiful experience with His Holiness, and hopefully it will bring immense benefit to world peace.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.

A Buddhist View of Pride - Affliction, Sin or Goodness?

A recent radio discussion between 3 christian ministers discussed Pride as one of the 7 deadly sins. In Buddhism it is also listed as a key afliction, up there with attachment, aversion, greed and anger. But pride is also a source of strength and achievement, isn't it? This lead me to explore the way in which Mahayana Buddhism addresses Pride.

As with all aspects of the Middle Way, the object itself has no inherent characteristics - it depends on the motivation behind observing the object. So Pride is both "Good" and "Bad".

Once again, I found Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life) gave some very clear distinctions. Whether the object of our pride is wealth, accomplishment, spiritual practice, children, appearance and so on, we can approach it from either of these points of view:
1. Self Importance: I am proud because I am wealthier, more successful, a better spiritual being, etc. than you. I will let everyone know that I have Pride in my achievements so they will think more of me and less of others. My Pride is based on external perceptions.
2. Self Confidence (I don't fully like this translation, but it serves its purpose): I am content with where I am with my wealth, status, practice, etc. and I am proud in that. I can have that Pride without having to broadcast it, and I can move on. My Pride is purely internal.

In contemplating this post, I thought about my pride. Am I taking Pride in putting up a post that I can say a thousand people have read, or does my Pride lie in having meditated on an aspect of me and recorded it, not caring if it is read at all? Maybe my achievement is having considered what is one of the five major afflictions and come to a better awareness of my own progress on my path to becoming enlightened.
But wait! Just by saying this, am I leaning towards Self Importance rather than Self Confidence? Oh well, back to contemplating the beautiful words and poetry of Shantideva!
Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Yours until next time, Vajramate.

Emptiness and Illusion in Mahayana Buddhism

The following quote by the Dalai Lama got me thinking about the topic:

"What is meant …by the term "illusion" is that phenomena do not exist independently of other phenomena, that their independent existence is illusory. This is all that is meant by "illusion", not that something is not really there."

Taking this in the context that Emptiness (Shunyata) is the ultimate reality, the true nature of emptiness, selflessness or non-duality, all other states are illusory to the extent that nothing has inherent independent existence. In Emptiness there is no duality such as Self/Other, right/wrong or samsara/nirvana.

Emptiness cannot be described in conventional terms and can only be experienced when one is far progressed along the meditation and wisdom path.

In the conventional samsaric world in which we live, we cannot escape from the interaction of I – the observer – and phenomena – the observed. The illusion is that the subject and the object are separate, whereas in ultimate reality they are the One Taste.

In studying phenomena, there are 12 aspects that combine to define a phenomenon at that instant in time. These are the basis of the concept of interdependent origination. In considering the I or Self, the five skandhas or aggregates define an individual at that instant in time.

But in both of these, each of the elements is in continual change, so the phenomena and the Self are constantly changing. Thus they have no inherent permanent or ongoing existence.

Our illusion is that we see the Self and phenomena as having inherent existence.

To summarise, in our samsaric state the Self and phenomena are there. The illusion is that they will continue to be there in their current state, when even in our relative reality they are in constant change. The ultimate reality is when we transcend this state of continual change and experience the true nature of Emptiness.

So in this state of constant change the hope for us all is that we can transcend the suffering by diligent meditation on merit and wisdom, guided by the teachings of Buddha and the practices brought to us by our teachers.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.

Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya or Gelugpa Buddhism? Or?

Which tradition should I follow? How do I choose?

Remember, I am commenting only in relation to Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. The key thing to remember is that all schools base their teachings on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, as described by great Indian mahasiddhis and scholars such as Aryadeva, Nagarjuna, Virupa, Shantideva, Atisha and Naropa. There are four main schools and many other traditions and lineages. New ones are being formed today with the take up of Buddhism by the West.

The oldest school is Nyingma, founded in Tibet in the 8^th century based on the work and teachings of Padmasambhava. The Kagyu tradition was established in the 11^th century by Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa and is based on the teachings of Naropa and Tilopa. The Sakya school was founded in the 11^th century by Khon Konchok Gyalpo and is based on the teachings of Virupa. The Gelugpa school was founded by Tsong-kha-pa in the 14^th century, based on the teachings of Nagarjuna and Asanga.

The differences between the main schools are mainly in tantric practice and variations of philosophical views, but the underlying philosophy is still that of the Buddha.

So let me ask another question – why choose?

My experience was that having listened to a number of teachers, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I asked my mentor how to go about finding a teacher. His response was that it was not my choice – the teacher would find me. That happened 18 months later and Rinpoche happened to be from the Sakya lineage.

This image is of the five Sakya Masters.  The top one is Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, son of the founder Khon Konchok Gyalpo.

All teachers receive teachings from masters of other schools. As long as the authenticity of the transmission of the teachings is established, the teachings of the Buddha will be sustained. There is no way I would miss a teaching from the Dalai Lama just because he is not Sakya!

To exemplify this, I have just finished reading Treasures of the Sakya Lineage – Teachings from the Masters. It is compiled by Migmar Tseten, Buddhist chaplain at Harvard and of the Sakya tradition. One endorsement reads  "This volume is a treasure of heart teachings ...... expounded by the greatest masters of the glorious Sakya lineage. These are invaluable provisions for all travellers of any Buddhist path."  by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, a renowned author of the Nyingma tradition.

So my advice is to wander along the various paths that open up to you and at about the time you consider taking refuge, be clear on the lineage of the transmissions and make sure they carry the authenticity of being based on the early mahasiddhis and scholars. That way you can be sure you are receiving the Buddha's teachings.

If you like an intellectual challenge, go to Ken Wilber's Integral Spirituality and read Chapter 5 – Boomeritis Buddhism. In this chapter he draws on work by Traleg Rinpoche to highlight the dangers inherent in the Western world interpreting Buddhism and how the teachings can become distorted. It reinforces the need to be sure of the authenticity of the teaching lineage. The book is listed in my reading list.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.

Of Five Skandhas, Emptiness and Prajnaparamita

At many teachings the Heart Sutra, or Prajnaparamita, is recited at the beginning. In our centre we recite it before every meditation session and at a five day teaching of the Stages of Meditation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama it was chanted at the beginning of each day, each time in a different language.

Although I joined in the recitations, it was some years before I acknowledged I had little idea of what it was about, except at a very superficial level, so I set about doing some research.

The teachings are complex and not within the charter of this blog. A good starting point to explore the actual teachings is the Dalai Lama's Essence of the Heart Sutra published by Wisdom Publications.

I will just try to convey the essence of what it was that I gathered that help make the recitation of the Heart Sutra much more meaningful to me.

To put it in perspective the Heart Sutra, in just one and a half A4 pages, encompasses all the teachings of the Buddha. So it is incredibly intense and dense.

The essence is contained in these words:

"The five skandhas (or aggregates) are empty of intrinsic existence. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is not other than form, form too is not other than emptiness. Likewise, feelings, perceptions, mental formations (or volition) and consciousness are all empty."

At his point I was lost. This is what I have come to understand to some extent.

The five skandhas or aggregates are form, feeling, perception, mental formation/volition and consciousness. Mental formation is the aspect that comes from past lives and volition comes from our actions in this life. It is the combination of these skandhas that defines the illusory "Self" that we erroneously identify as who we are. "Self" is just a convenient term to describe a collection of two or more of these five factors. The Heart Sutra teaching is that the true or ultimate state is non-self or emptiness or shunyata. As each of the aggregates is in constant change, they are impermanent. So therefore is our traditional concept of Self.

At this point I came to understand the importance of realising that the Self we perceive and cling to is nothing more than an illusion, which the Mind needs to comprehend and transform to achieve reality, emptiness and purity.

It was when I came to Peter Della Santina's Tree of Enlightenment discourse that I became aware of the importance of understanding these skandhas.

In our impure condition of Mind, the skandhas are associated respectively with the five afflictions; ignorance, pride, attachment, envy and aversion. These in turn have these associations; ignorance- the realm of animals; pride – the realm of gods; attachment – the realm of hungry ghosts; envy – the realm of demigods; and aversion – the realm of hell beings. Note that these afflictions result in rebirth in the corresponding realms.

In the Perfection of Wisdom literature and Vajrayana teachings, as the Bodhisattva progresses towards Buddhahood the five skandhas are purified and transformed to appear in the form of the five celestial Buddhas. In Vajrayana physiology each Buddha is associated with a chakra. These are: form –Vairochana on the crown; feeling –Ratnasambhava at the navel; perception –Amitabha at the throat; volition –Amoghasiddhi at the genitals; and consciousness –Akshobhya at the heart.

Each of the Buddhas represents the transformation from the impure skandha to a specific knowledge; respectively reality, equality, discrimination, accomplishment and transcendental knowledge.

In this post I have set out to show the significance of understanding the skandhas or aggregates and the transformations that occur in our Mind as we progress towards Buddhahood. For me this understanding has enabled me to better grasp the various teachings as I receive them. It has also highlighted to me the need to better understand the roles of the five Buddha families in the scheme of practices.

The Tree of Enlightenment can be downloaded from http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~dsantina/tree/

Be aware it is a very scholarly discourse.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.

Strengthening the Motivation for Vajrayana Practice

In talking about this blog, I was asked why am I doing it. What is my motivation?

My answer is that I want to progress my practice and help spread understanding of the dharma of Buddhism for the benefit of other sentient beings. This then lead to the question of how do we maintain motivation to undertake and continue our practices.

I have been taught that before commencing any practice, we should remind ourselves of what is the benefit of practice and what is the danger of not practice.

The underlying belief that must exist is that we are in a never-ending cycle of reincarnations, samsara, and that we wish to escape by helping all sentient beings to escape. That is the premise of Mahayana Buddhism.

Before starting any practice it is beneficial to recall what the Sakya tradition calls the four common foundations to help turn the mind towards Dharma.

1. Recall the suffering nature of samsaric existence. By understanding suffering and its causes, we become very clear on the unsatisfactoriness of samsaric existence and create the strong desire to escape by achieving enlightenment.
   
2. Recognise the preciousness in obtaining human rebirth. Of all the possibilities, this is one that gives us the opportunity to encounter the teachers and the dharma and move along the path. Just think how fortunate we are to have access to so many wonderful teachers and to have the opportunity to learn and study.
   
3. Renew the awareness of the impermanence of all phenomena, particularly that the time and place of our own death is unknown yet inevitable.
   
4. Re-emphasise the understanding of the infallibility of the cause and effect of karma. Outcomes follow from creating the right causes and conditions in this life.
   

In the Kagyu and Nyigma traditions, these are commonly referred to as the traditional framework of the Four Reminders - the preciousness of human rebirth, the truth of impermanence, the reality of suffering, and the inescapability of karma. These traditions have a different definition of the Four Foundations, related to meditation practice.

Reflecting on these four common foundations, just for a few minutes, instils in us clarity of why we wish to continue to follow the path. It should also instil a sense of urgency – we could be dead tomorrow. It should raise awareness in our day to day life – is what I am currently doing generating merit and virtue or negativity, or is it, like more than 90% of our daily effort, just a filler or waste of time? It doesn't matter whether these reflections raise fear or hope. All that matters is that there is a call to action.

These reflections will stir our motivation to escape samsara and make the most of this precious opportunity to practice. Then the practice we do will be for the right motivation and of so much greater benefit.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours until next time, Vajramate.

The Three Afflictions: Ignorance, Attachment, Aversion

One of the hardest question I get asked is "What is Buddhism about?" My own journey has been through personal development, some philosophy, psychotherapy and then into Buddhism. For me right now Buddhism is about finding a better way to live my life and come to grips with what doesn't work for me, at the same time finding ways I can be of service to other sentient beings. While we westerners might see it as taming the ego, Buddhists see it as a more active process called Mind Training.

Buddhist philosophy deals with the suffering created through our grasping at the concept of a separate and unique Self and the release from suffering in the ultimate reality of Non-Self. But that, like Emptiness, is a topic for further down the path.

The initial teachings deal with a whole bunch of issues we experience as human beings, many of which we are totally unaware or which totally consume us. The labels are familiar – anger, greed, craving, fear, avoidance, procrastination – on and on it goes.

If we choose to go down the Mahayana path, what we are choosing is to rediscover within ourselves a nature of loving kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings. It is through this we move towards the path of the bodhisattvas, working for the benefit of all sentient beings, and ultimately realising our own inherent Buddha nature.

In my initial years I was confused by the terminology. Were my problems the result of afflictions, poisons, obstructions or illusions? How many were there – 3? 5? 7? 84,000? How could I overcome them if I didn't know and understand what they were and how they applied to me? Then I came across teachings that talked about the 3, 5, 7, 10 or 84,000 antidotes to the afflictions. More confusion!

It came as a great relief to me one day to realise that I really only had to deal with three labels. Ignorance, Attachment and Aversion.

Ignorance can be summarised as "We don't know what we don't know!" The teachings are all aimed at gradually expanding our understanding of what is suffering, how we create our suffering and the paths available to us to address these conditions and move towards happiness. The fundamental Mahayana objective is the establishment of loving kindness and compassion as the basis of how we live our daily lives for the benefit of others. Dispelling ignorance is achieved by leading us to understand the afflictions or poisons of attachment and aversion.

I started to better understand attachment when I came to realise that there are many different ways we can experience it. Common labels are greed, craving, desire, selfishness. We may be attached to a desire for a variety of material things – cars, houses, objects. Then there are attachments to relationships or a desire to be admired or loved. Or we may become attached to an idea – "my religion is the only true religion" or "my race is the only worthy race". The suffering we experience manifests in many ways. When we don't have something, we suffer until we get it – and when we have it, we suffer in case we lose it. Resistance to change is a symptom of attachment. You can even have an attachment to having no attachments in that you may feel pride in your achievement and become attached to that pride.

By the way, there is a reason why you wouldn't get a Buddhist to vacuum your carpets – they don't vacuum in the corners because they have no attachments!

Likewise for aversion. Aversion manifests itself as anger, revulsion, hatred, dislike, fear and even indifference. Resistance to change is again a major indication that aversion may be playing a role in your life.

So – how can we apply the understanding that our suffering is generally about attachment or aversion? It is thought that in the process of getting through our busy days, 95% of the time we are in a neutral state, neither experiencing attachment or aversion. Seems to be somewhat a waste of time- or even a lifetime?

The first step is being open to awareness. If you are experiencing disturbing feelings, work out whether it is a form of attachment or aversion. If this is not clear, then sit with it, meditate on it, until it becomes clearer.

Once identified, you can then contemplate or meditate on what you have been taught on how to deal with it. For example, an antidote for greed is generosity. When you become aware that your current disquiet has an undercurrent of greed, contemplate or commit to an act of generosity. It may be a prayer for the happiness of all beings, a simple act of kindness or the giving of an offering of flowers or incense or a material gift. As you do this, observe what it is about that transformation from greed to generosity that makes you happier or eases the intensity of your suffering.

Repeated awareness of the nature of how you experience attachment and aversion and how you can transform those experiences to experiences of loving kindness and compassion will accumulate as training of the mind.

To use an expression I have heard, it is about habituation. We make a habit of practicing awareness and a habit of applying the antidote. Over time we habituate the practice of loving kindness and compassion. The afflictions of attachment and aversion are slowly shaken loose and we become more content in our circumstances as they are. The happiness we thus experience is real and lasting.

Keeping it simple should make it easier to focus on the awareness and practice, and not get caught up in trying to understand everything from the start.

Introduction to the Blog

Welcome all viewers with an interest in Buddhism.

This Blog is the start of building a resource that will make it easier for you to get to understand Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist teachings and the activities that take place around those teachings.
In my six or so years of gradually easing into becoming a Buddhist and extending my practices from there, I experienced many confusing and almost incomprehensible concepts and teachings. Within our small group in Sydney, Australia I have found myself spending more and more time answering the questions of people new to Buddhism. I have also seen many who attended teachings a few times and then gave up because they couldn't follow what was happening.
I have had the benefit of having a Tibetan Rinpoche resident with our group in Sydney. He is my spiritual guide (or Guru). Much of what I have learnt has been from him and his teachers, all from the Sakya tradition.
It is my intention to post a short article at least once a fortnight. Initially those articles will be sequenced in a structure similar to the general approach to teaching Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
These articles will not be about the teachings themselves - there are thousands of sources available to explore those and I will be referencing some of those.
To give a flavour of what is to come, in this post I have mentioned Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. What are they and what is the difference? They are both traditional aspects of Buddhism as taught by Buddha Shakyamuni 2,500 years ago, and represent what is known as the Middle Way. Both are based on the premise that all practice should be for the benefit of every sentient being ahead of our individual desires. Sentient beings are every life form that has a brain, including animals, fish and insects. The two approaches utilise meditation as the vehicle to contemplate the teachings. The main difference between them is that Vajrayana Buddhism uses esoteric or tantric practices as part of its practices, with emphasis on visualisations and mantras. This is considered to offer a faster path to enlightenment.

So next time, I guess I had better explain what is meant by "Teachings" and "Practices". It may sound simple, but I have been surprised at how many times I have been asked what these terms encompass.

Thank you for joining me in this adventure. I am learning and your responses and questions will help greatly to guide me as to where I take this.

I am facilitating ads on this blog in order to support my ability to spread the Dharma and assist people to assess what Buddhism has to offer them and how they might approach their exploration of it. I dedicate this post for the benefit of all sentient beings.