“What we are doing here is so important, we better not take it too seriously.”
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ASK BHANTE G book available
CHECK OUT THE NEW WISDOM EXPERIENCE BOOK “WHAT WHY HOW: Answers to Your Questions About Buddhism, Meditation, and Living Mindfully.” The book compiles Bhante G’s answers to both beginning and advanced questions about meditation practice, mindfulness and Buddhist teachings.
Bhante G, as he is known around the world, is abbot of the Bhavana Society Buddhist retreat center and monastery in the West Virginia hills and is a beloved teacher worldwide. (The book details how one of the leading Buddhist teachers and authors in the Western world ended up in the West Virginia backcountry). Wisdom is now offering a free weekly series of emails featuring Q-and-A’s from the book. Click here for more on that and the book.
Meditation Circle co-coordinator Douglas Imbrogno helped compile the book’s contents, along with other Bhavana lay supporters, from questions Bhante G has answered on the cushion, in interviews and on retreats around the world.
We Can Compare Notes
A bird in a secluded grove sings like a flute.
Willows sway gracefully with their golden threads.
The mountain valley grows the quieter
As the clouds return.
A breeze brings along the fragrance
Of apricot flowers.
For a whole day I have sat here
Encompassed by peace,
Till my mind is cleansed in and out
Of all cares and idle thoughts.
I wish to tell you how I feel,
But words fail me.
If you come to this grove,
We can compare notes.
~ Fa-yen
Happy New Year from The Meditation Circle
The Ill-directed Mind
Whatever an enemy might do to
an enemy,
or a foe to a foe,
the ill-directed mind
can do to you even worse.
~ The BUDDHA, from the Udana 4.33
(Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Like a Cup of Muddy Water
“The mind before meditation is like a cup of muddy water. If you hold the cup still, the mud settles and the water clears. Similarly, if you keep quiet, holding your body still and focusing your attention on your object of meditation, your mind will settle down and you will begin to experience the joy of meditation.”
~Bhante Gunaratana
“8 Mindful Steps to Happiness,” p. 18
‘The Skillful Heart Gives Us Happiness’
“There are times when the heart is in bad shape. Bad mental qualities get mixed up with it, making it even worse, making us suffer both in body and mind. These bad mental qualities are said to be “unskillful” (akusala). The Buddha teaches us to study these qualities so that we can abandon them.
“There are other times when the heart is in good shape: at ease with a sense of wellbeing. We feel at ease whether we’re sitting or lying down, whether we’re alone or associating with our friends and relatives. When the heart gains a sense of ease in this way, it’s said to be staying with the Dhamma. In other words, skillful (kusala) mental qualities have appeared in the heart. The skillful heart is what gives us happiness. This is why the Buddha taught us to develop these skillful qualities, to give rise to them within ourselves.“
~ Ajahn Suwat
Patience, Patience, Patience
“Don’t rush. There is no hurry, so take your time. Settle yourself on a cushion and sit as though you have the whole day. Anything really valuable takes time to develop. Patience, patience, patience.”
~ Bhante Gunaratana, from “Mindfulness in Plain English”
NOTE: For more Bhante G quotes, see the @BhavanaVisitor Twitter feed or follow the Bhavana Society page on Facebook
There is no “time off” from karma
By LYNN J. KELLEY | From “The Buddha’s Advice to Laypeople” blog
The Dhammapada is probably the most popular Buddhist literature in the world. It consists of 423 verses — sort of poetry, sort of philosophy, and a useful set of instructions to guide our deepening practice of the Dhamma. There are more than 50 translations from the Pali into English, and many more into other languages. For our reflections, I’ve chosen Gil Fronsdal’s translation because his purpose aligns with my own: to translate the Buddha’s teachings with all possible accuracy and in a way that enables the practitioner to deepen her wisdom in the here and now.
Without further ado, we begin:
All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.
All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind,
And happiness follows
Like a never-departing shadow.
Gil explains in a footnote that “preceded by mind” is sometimes translated as “impelled by mind”, giving the image more force. But our minds don’t compel us to do anything; we decide how to act, whether consciously or subconsciously motivated. If our mind is habitually angry or selfish or confused, our actions are likely to be the same. And if our thoughts tend to be kind, generous, and wise, then our actions are likely to be more in that vein.
Continue reading There is no “time off” from karmaA flower has no intention of making us happy
“WHEN WE SEE A FLOWER, we think, ‘How pretty. I like looking at this.’ The feeling is one of acceptance. Seeing a cockroach, however, may cause revulsion and rejection. We may experience feelings like ‘I don’t want to see that. It’s disgusting. I wish it would go away.’
“So, who is doing all this accepting and rejecting? The answer, of course, is your own mind. We make these decisions as we see the world around us with our eyes, hear it with our ears, and feel it with our bodies. Acceptance of something gives rise to attachment, rejection to anger. Therefore, we can see that the true source of anger lies in the individual, not in the object. Objects are neutral. A flower has no intention of making us happy; neither does a cockroach intend to cause repulsion. Every individual’s perception is fixed by his or her attitude.
“Let us say that all of us are wearing colored glasses. These glasses are the difference between whether one lives in the light of contentment or in the darkness of dissatisfaction. The Buddha provides instructions to remove the glasses and correct our vision, but the responsibility of actually taking the glasses off falls entirely upon the individual. Please do not wait until a mystical being intervenes. That will never happen.”
~ Venerable Sumanasara
from “Freedom From Anger, Understand It, Overcoming It, and Finding Joy,” p. 12
Meditation Circle Holiday Break
The Meditation Circle will gather Tuesday, Dec. 17, and then take a break for the holiday season for two weeks, and will NOT meet on Dec. 24 and 31 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Charleston WV. The group will commence its gatherings in 2020, starting Tuesday, Jan. 7, at the usual time of 6 to 7 pm.
The Meditation Circle at the Peacetree Center for Wellness in Huntington WV will also take off on Saturday, Dec. 22 and 28 and Jan. 4. The Peacetree Circle resumes Saturday, Jan. 11, at the usual time of 11 am to Noon. NOTE: The same holds true for the Community Yoga sessions on a donation basis, which precede the Saturday meditations from 10 to 11 am.
Beginners; those wishing to restart a meditation practice; or meditators wishing to find a community of fellow practicioners are welcome at both groups. The Meditation Circle is in a circle for a purpose. We are led by co-facilitators, not formal meditation teachers. We practice meditation in the Buddhist tradition of breath and body-centered meditation and are not formally connected with a specific school. We encourage practicioners to seek out teachers and attend formal meditation retreats.
Have a restful season.
With metta (loving-friendliness) from The Meditation Circle.
A Buddhist Holiday Carol
Every year about this time, we like to post what has to be one of the few Buddhist Christmas carols out there. This is one by Bhante Yogavacara Rahula, a Theravadan Buddhist monk. Born 1948 in Southern California as Scott DuPrez, he became a Buddhist monk in 1975 at Gothama Thapovanaya in Kalupaluwawa, Sri Lanka. His colorful life story is told in “One Night’s Shelter: From Home to Homelessness,” which you can download on the book page of his blog at bhanterahula.blogspot.com. He lived at the Bhavana Society, a Buddhist monastery and retreat center in Hampshire County, West Virginia, from 1986 until 2010. He is now the principal teacher at the Lion of Wisdom Meditation Center near Damascus, MD.
Bhante Rahula performs “A Buddhamas Carol or Ode of a Vipassana Yogi” with help from singer-songwriters Casi Null and Douglas John Imbrogno (one of the co-facilitators of The Meditation Circle). Below are the lyrics, which are a Dhamma discourse in themselves:
A Buddhamas Carol or Ode of a Vipassana Yogi | by Bhante Yogavacara Rahula)
Silent night, peaceful night.
All is calm, stars are bright,
Round the hall yogis sitting still.
Keeping their backs straight, exerting will.
Enduring pain without any ill-will,
Pervading metta all throughout space,
Wishing good-will to the whole human race.
Silent Mind, Peaceful Mind,
Thoughts are few, pain is slight.
Focusing mind at the tip of the nose,
Knowing each breath as it comes and it goes.
Perceiving the light that steadily glows,
Feeling the rapture from head to the toes.
Silent mind, tranquil mind,
Thoughts are stilled, body is light,
All the Five Hindrances have died down,
The ego no longer is spinning around,
Mind is one-pointed, not moving a bit,
Enjoying at long last the Jhanic Bliss.
Sitting in rapturous joy,
Sitting in rapturous joy.
Silent mind, focused mind,
All is calm, mind is bright.
The spiritual faculties are prepared,
Vipassana-insight has Mara scared,
Scanning the body from head to the toes,
Anicca, anicca, each moment goes,
Anicca, anicca, impermanence shows.
The Five Aggregates appear empty as foam,
The Truth of No-Self is easily known.
Silent Mind, Wisdom Mind,
Awareness is strong, wisdom is fine.
The six sense-impingements arise and pass,
No desire, no clinging, no ego to grasp.
No holding to present, future or past,
Mara has vanished he’s took his last gasp.
This body-mind house is empty at last.
Sitting and walking the whole night through,
Greeting the dawn completely anew.
Silent mind, holy mind.
Now is the time, Conditions are prime.
The Enlightenment Factors are developed well.
The Four Noble Truths become clear as a bell,
The Eye of Dhamma is opened wide,
The three lower fetters are broken in stride.
Tonight the Yogi enters the Stream,
Tomorrow Nibbana, no longer a dream.
MORE FROM BHANTE RAHULA:
Here is a guided meditation by the monk:
A Mind Directed Well
Na tam mata pita kayira
anne vapi ca nataka
sammapanihitam cittam
seyyaso nam tato kare.
No mother nor father nor
any other kin can do
greater good for oneself
than a mind directed well.
~ The Buddha | Dhammapada 3.43
That’s How It Goes on the Spiritual Path
DZOGCHEN PONLOP RINPOCHE | “If we want to be free of the pain we inflict on ourselves and each other — in other words, if we want to be happy — then we have to learn to think for ourselves. We need to be responsible for ourselves and examine anything that claims to be the truth. That’s what the Buddha did long ago to free himself from his own discontent and persistent doubts about what he heard, day after day, from his parents, teachers, and the palace priests …
“Those teachings today still describe a deeply personal inner journey that’s spiritual, yes, but not religious. The Buddha wasn’t a god — he wasn’t even a Buddhist. You’re not required to have more faith in the Buddha than you do in yourself. His power lies in his teachings, which show us how to work with our minds to realize our full capacity for wakefulness and happiness. These teachings can help us satisfy our search for the truth — our need to know who and what we really are.
“Where do we find this truth? Although we can rely to some degree on the wisdom we find in books and on the advice of respected spiritual authorities, that’s only the beginning. The journey to genuine truth begins when you discover a true question — one that comes from the heart — from your own life and experience. That question will lead to an answer that will lead to another question, and so on. That’s how it goes on the spiritual path.
“We start by bringing an open, inquisitive, and skeptical mind to whatever we hear, read, or see that presents itself as the truth. We examine it with reason and we put it to the test in meditation and in our lives. As we gain insight into the workings of the mind, we learn how to recognize and deal with our day-to-day experiences of thoughts and emotions. We uncover inaccurate and unhelpful habits of thinking and begin to correct them. Eventually we’re able to overcome the confusion that makes it so hard to see the mind’s naturally brilliant awareness. In this sense, the Buddha’s teachings are a method of investigation, or a science of mind…”
~Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche (excerpt from a 2010 Washington Post essay, titled “The Buddha Was Not a Buddhist”) | CLICK HERE for full essay
