Buddhist Writings

Bankei – Buddha Mind

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From: Teachings of Zen

Edited by Thomas Cleary

When we look back on this life, we see that when people are born, no one has thoughts of joy, sadness, hatred, or bitterness. Are we not in the state of the buddha mind bequeathed by our parents? It is after birth that intelligence develops, and people learn bad habits from others in the course of seeing and hearing them. As they grow up, their personal mental habits emerge, and they turn the buddha mind into a monster because of biased self-importance.

People are born with nothing but the unconceived buddha mind, but because of self-importance they want to get their own way, arguing and losing their temper yet claiming it is the stubbornness of others that makes them mad. Getting fixated on what others say, they turn the all-important unique buddha mind into a monster, mulling over useless things, repeating the same thoughts over and over again. They are so foolish they will not give up on things even if getting their own way would in any case prove to be futile. Folly is the cause of animality, so they are inwardly changing the all-important unique buddha mind into a paragon of animality.

Everyone is intelligent, but through lack of under- standing they turn the buddha mind into all sorts of things – hungry ghost, monster, animal. Once you’ve become an animal, even if you hear truth you don’t listen, or even if you do listen, being animal-like, you can’t retain what you’ve heard.

Going from one hellish state to another, from one animalistic state to another, from one ghostly state to another, from darkness to darkness in an endless vicious cycle, you go on experiencing infinite misery for the bad things you have done, with never a break.

This can happen to anyone, once you’ve gone astray. Just understand the point of not turning the buddha mind into something else.

As soon as a single thought gets fixated on some- thing, you become ordinary mortals. All delusion is like this. You pick up on something confronting you, turn the buddha mind into a monster because of your own self-importance, and go astray on account of your own ego.

Whatever it is confronting you, let it be. As long as you do not pick up on it and react with bias, just remaining in the buddha mind and not transforming it into something else, then delusion cannot occur. This is constant abiding in the unconceived buddha mind.

Everyone makes the mistake of supposing that acquired delusions produced by selfish desire and mental habits are inborn, and so they are unable to avoid confusion….

As I listen to the people who come to me, all of them make the mistake of turning the buddha mind into thoughts, unable to stop, piling thoughts upon thoughts, resulting in the development of ingrained mental habits, which they then believe are inborn and unalterable.

Please understand; this is very important. Once you have unconsciously drifted into delusion, if your state of mind degenerates and you flow downward like a valley stream in a waterfall, there is no way back after you have fallen into vicious cycles.

Again, suppose that you have developed mental habits based on selfish desires. When people criticize things that suit your selfish mentality, you become angry and defensive – since they are, after all, bad things – and you rationalize them as good. When people praise things that do not suit your selfish mentality, you reject them – being, of course, good things – and you retort that they are bad.

Everything is like this. Delusion can make a defect seem like a virtue. Having fallen into ignorance, you go through all sorts of changes, degenerating further and further until you fall into hell, with precious little chance of regaining your humanity.

The most important thing is not to be self-centered; then you cannot fail to remain in the buddha mind spontaneously.

To want to be at least as good as others in every- thing is the worst thing there is. Wanting to be at least as good as others is called egotistic pride. As long as you don’t wish to be superior to others, then you won’t be inferior either.

Also, when people mistreat us, it is because we have pride. When we consider mistreatment from others to be due to our own defects and so we exam- ine ourselves, then no one in the world is bad.

When angry thoughts arise, they turn the buddha mind into a monster. But anger and delight both, being self-centered, obscure and confuse the luminous buddha mind, so that it goes around in vicious circles. Without subjective bias the buddha mind remains unconceived, so it does not revolve in circles. Let everyone understand this.

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Truth is Everywhere

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From Awakening to the Sacred

By Lama Surya Das

When I was young, and even more foolish than I am today, I believed that one had to travel far and wide in order to seek truth, divine reality, or whatever you call it. I believed that truth would most likely be found in the world’s so-called sacred places. Yet the fact is that truth is everywhere; it knows no religious, cultural, temporal, or ethnic bounds. Truth is the perfect circle. Its center is everywhere; its circumference stretches into infinite space. The land on which we stand is sacred, no matter where we stand.

The Tao Te Ching says: Without going out of my door I can know all things on earth. Without looking out of my window I can know the ways of heaven.

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Conscious Drifting

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Finding the Natural Meditations in Your Own Life

From Awakening to the Sacred

By Lama Surya Das

Natural mind or primordial intelligence informs those moments when we are most true to ourselves. These moments often occur when we are doing something I like to call “conscious drifting.” Conscious drifting helps us get a glimpse of our natural Eden-like state. This is something we already are, not something we have to be injected with or acquire from anyone else.

Here are some examples of conscious drifting: staring at an ocean, lake, pond, river, waterfall, forest, or garden. Surprisingly enough, I think that fishing is for many people an instinctive expression of the human longing for peace, space, alone time, and a natural form of contemplative sweetness. One of my brother’s mathematician friends spends a good part of each evening in the bathtub with a swiveling tray that holds papers filled with scrawled equations over his watery lap. Driving to my local post office, I often see a woman ambling along with her large dog. They both seem very happy. Conscious drifting has nothing to do with shirking responsibility, not to mention thinking or worrying. Quite the opposite. The symbol Thich Nhat Hanh chose for his hermitage at Plum Village in southern France is a hammock, which more than anything else expresses what “drifting” means.

You can drift with others. “Let’s take a walk,” we say to a mate or a friend. Then without a real destination, we head off. “I think there’s a concert in the park. We could listen to some music. Or maybe ride the paddleboats.” Drifting is letting things happen. Letting the mind drift. Sitting in the rocking chair and letting the clouds drift by. The secret inner aspect of this practice is relinquishing control by surrendering and trusting. Everything will be fine; what’s the big deal?

Why is conscious drifting a spiritual practice? Because it helps us connect to our inner being. Our innate aliveness. Just being. To just be for a minute without trying to do anything; this is a spiritual discipline. It helps bring us more into the spirit of the moment-a spontaneous expression of oneness. We are in the right place at the right time. We can afford to just be there and enjoy it. Nothing special is required.

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Choosing Universal Love

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THE BODHISATTVA VOW

From: Awakening the Buddha Within

By Lama Surya Das

Traditional teachings about rebirth say that most of us are unwitting prisoners on the wheel of samsara; we keep returning because we have no choice. According to this way of thinking, there are also men and women walking among us who are here of their own conscious volition. These men and women are known as Bodhisattvas. Bodhi means awakening; sattva means being. This is a being who is ready for nirvana but whose compassion is so great that he or she remains on this earth solely in order to reduce suffering and help free others. A Bodhisattva is someone with pure, impeccable intentions – a gentle yet fearless spiritual warrior who strives unceasingly to help everyone reach nirvanic peace and enlightenment.

A transcendent Bodhisattva has seen beyond delusion and selfishness; he or she has felt and experienced the intolerable despair, alienation, misery, and suffering in the world: Because such a person is able to understand that we are all caught in the same existential plight, he or she seeks to alleviate the suffering of all.

In Mahayana Buddhism, one is encouraged to take what we call the Bodhisattva Vow. Taking this vow means you understand the world’s pain, and you commit to work for the enlightenment of all. That means all the people, all the creatures, including all the inhabitants of the air and sea – insects, birds, shellfish, dolphins, whales and sharks, all the shiny little eyes in the dark forests, as well as all the creepy crawly, buzzing things trying to get in and chew on your house or on you.

The first time I heard the Bodhisattva Vow was in I971, and I was at Lama Thubten Yeshe’s monastery in Nepal. I felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. And I’m still somewhat intimidated by it. Lama Yeshe explained the vow very simply. He said, ‘Think of what you want, and realize that all beings want and need the same things. They are just seeking it through different ways.’

If you were to take the Bodhisattva Vow, you would commit yourself in this way:

Sentient beings are numberless: I vow to liberate them.
Delusions are inexhaustible: I vow to transcend them.
Dharma teachings are boundless: I vow to master them.
The Buddha’s enlightened way is unsurpassable: I vow to
embody it.

This is a four-line affirmation sangha members chant and avow every day. To take the Bodhisattva Vow means that at least for a moment, one can see past one’s own problems and preoccupations and elevate the spiritual gaze toward universal fulfillment. The moment you affirm that great intention – to work for the good of all living creatures – whether or not you are always able to follow it as perfectly as you might wish – you are called a Bodhisattva, a child of the Buddhas. When this epiphany occurs, all the Buddhas rejoice. The scriptures say that as soon as you make this Bodhisattva Vow to realize enlightenment and relieve universal suffering; all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, devas, angels, and guardians of the Dharma clap their hands and rain down celestial flowers and divine nectar. It’s like you scored a touchdown or hit a home run. As poetic as that seems, I really feel that this is true in a spiritual sense. You can feel it yourself as you open a little more to the joy of spiritual awakening.

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Spiritual Life from Scratch

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The following is taken from the book Awakening the Buddha Within – Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World’ by Lama Surya Das. It has become one of my favourite books, and I would strongly recommend you buy a copy. Lama Surya Das is the most highly trained American Lama in the Tibetan tradition and presents a comprehensive book full of wisdom.

Tips and Pointers for Building a Spiritual Life from Scratch

By Lama Surya Das

Pray
Meditate
Be aware/ Stay awake
Bow
Practice yoga
Feel
Chant and sing
Breathe and smile
Relax / Enjoy /Laugh / Play
Create / Envision
Let go / Forgive / Accept
Walk / Exercise / Move
Work / Serve / Contribute
Listen / Learn / Inquire
Consider / Reflect
Cultivate oneself / Enhance competencies
Cultivate contentment
Cultivate flexibility
Cultivate friendship and collaboration
Open up / Expand / Include
Lighten up
Dream
Celebrate and appreciate
Give thanks
Evolve
Love
Share / Give / Receive
Walk softly / Live gently
Expand / Radiate / Dissolve
Simplify
Surrender / Trust
Be born anew

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Path Begins

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From Ask Surya on surya.org

By Lama Surya Das

Q: What advice would you give people who want to connect with their
spiritual lives but don’t know where to begin?

There’s an old saying, “The path begins right beneath our feet.” It doesn’t
mean we have to look down; it means we have to attend, to pay attention to
where we are and what we’re looking for in life. It means we should look
into ourselves and at our motivations, and raise our sights, spiritually
speaking, and try to connect with the bigger picture. We can begin to do
this in any number of ways: by slowing down a little, by simplifying our
lives, by taking a vacation or sabbatical, or by devoting half an hour every
day to our true selves – our transcendent selves. Making time in daily life
for personal prayer, journal writing, or meditation allows us to connect
with the sacred right here in our own life. Because if it’s not here, it’s
nowhere. The Good Book says, “The Kingdom of heaven is within.” And Buddhism
says nirvana can be found in the here-and-now. So, we have to begin right
where we are, and that’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s so obvious
and close to us that we might overlook it. Attention is the essence of the
matter – attention and openness.

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Reflecting Whatever

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Excerpted from  Intuitive Awareness

By Ajahn Sumedho

Consciousness is like a mirror; it reflects. A mirror reflects – it doesn’t just reflect the beautiful or the ugly. If you really look into a mirror, it’s reflecting whatever: the space, the neutrality, everything that is in front of it. Usually you can only notice the outstanding ones, the extremes of beauty or ugliness. But to awaken to the way it is, you’re not looking at the obvious, but recognising the subtlety behind the extremes of beauty and ugliness. The sound of silence is like a subtlety behind everything that you awaken to, because you don’t notice it usually if you’re seeking the extremes.

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