CREATING A CULTURE OF CARING

I have sent to you a paper from one of the working groups in our Buddhist community – what does sangha mean? same inquiry as yours on beloved community. Check it out for ways to talk about this among yourselves – nuts and bolts sorts of things. And I won’t go thru it here. Rather I want to talk about a way to look at beloved community, a view of how we can hold it in our minds before we get down to the descriptions and “how to’s.”

Beloved Community = Sangha

From Sanskrit, sangha can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose.

In the Buddhist tradition, there is the basic formula: I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dharma, I take refuge in the sangha.” I take refuge in the Buddha means: as the example of human being who woke up to the truth of suffering and how work with our lives. I take refuge in the dharma – dharma means the “truth of existence,” like it is -- I am willing to open my eyes to the circumstances of life as they are. AND I take refuge in the sangha. “Sangha” means the community of people on a spiritual path, my companions. I am willing to share my experience of the whole environment of life with my fellow pilgrims, my fellow searchers, those who walk with me, alongside me. We just walk with each other, side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, working with each other, going with each other. This approach to taking refuge or surrendering, this idea is very profound.

Surrender here is not a question of being low and stupid, or of wanting to be elevated and profound. It has nothing to do with levels and evaluations. Instead, we surrender because we would are ready to stop fighting our world, we are ready to communicate with the world “as it is.”

The B tradition teaches principles of Basic Goodness and Buddha Nature -- All sentient beings without exception have bodhichitta which is the inherent tenderness of the heart we are born with -- our natural tendency to love and care for others. But over time in order to shield ourselves from feeling pain and discomfort, we have erected solid barriers that cover up our tenderness and vulnerability. As a result we often experience anger, aggression and loneliness in our lives. Trying to feel happy, we unwittingly create greater suffering for others and ourselves.

What are the barriers to this bodhicitta?

According to B neurosis refers to that state of mind, which fixates and holds on to things. It is broken down into 3 categories: Passion, aggression & ignorance.

Passion is too gooey=too much glue

Wanting to magnetize or possess

Aggression is too sharp, too threatening and too rejecting

Wanting to reject, attack, cast out

Ignorance is ignoring, a state of stupor that cannot discriminate

Not interested, can’t be bothered

These are obscurations, not the way we start out. Clouds over the sun. They are accessories. We have a mind that is basically clear, good, precise and workable. But on top of that we go crazy. And we work with these neuroses in meditation.

Passion, aggression & ignorance are the source of all sufferings. Suffering is diff from pain. Pain we often cannot control. And pain and pleasure are seen as the same thing.

Passion of ego is not pure passion – it’s corrupted by grasping, possessiveness which brings wantingness. Generosity is the antidote.

Aggression is pushing away, anger, speed. Patience is the antidote.

Ignorance is ignoring, denial, hatred toward knowing. Antidote: learning.

So how can we work with these obscurations, with these barriers to maintaining a beloved community? Contemplative practices like tonglen or the practice of sending and taking, reverse this process of hardening and shutting down by cultivating love and compassion. In tonglen instead of running from pain and discomfort we acknowledge and own them fully. Instead of dwelling on our own problems we put ourselves in other people’s shoes and go toward their difficult circumstances. We appreciate our shared humanity. Then the barriers start to dissolve and our hearts and minds begin to open more fully to each other.

The Path: 6 Paramitas. The first is generosity: “Generosity is the virtue that produces peace.” Generosity = giving, opening, parting with, not holding back, but offering constantly. The path of generosity is making friends, first with self and then extending this outward. Opposite to generosity is holding back, stinginess, poverty mentality. Generosity is a sense of richness and self-sufficiency, so one can always afford to give something.

Generosity is unconditional giving – unlike our ego, whose job it is to capture territory. Ego tries to hold on to what we like (passion), push away what we don’t like (aggression) or disregard the whole situation (ignorance). Ego’s poverty mentality wants to create a fence, a wall, and put “other” outside this barrier, make them foreigners.

With tonglen, we give away our happiness, and pleasure that’s come to us, and we breathe in the resentments and problems – our own irritated and aggressive feelings and the suffering of others “out there.” The point of this contemplative practice is to remove territoriality.

We can train in this outlook on a daily basis: even 15 minutes of sitting practice, and then meeting weekly with the local UUF meditation group.

So we can live our lives as an experiment, be curious and try it and see what happens. Sitting every day we can check in with our state of mind. And we can make aspirations: begin and end each day by reaffirming your motivation to dissolve the barriers and judgments, and to open our heart and reach out to others. Like you could say, “Today may I open my heart a little more.” And you can do equality practice. Since everyone wants the same thing, to be free of suffering and to be respected and loved and to be healthy, you can start the day with the thought, July like me, may everyone I meet today be free of pain and suffering, may everyone be happy. This is again a way of sharing our humanity with others, even people we don’t know well.

The practice of sharing your heart: sharing your happiness and accepting others’ pain. When things are pleasant, think of others (give out, “I wish they could have this too”); when they are painful, think of others (take in) “Since I am feeling depressed today anyway, may I accept it fully so that other people can be free of it.” Then send them a sense of relief.

Breathe in any pain you see and breathe out a sense of relief. Feel the interconnectedness.

Notice the sense of attachment, aversion or indifference toward the people you pass. Notice when you’re shutting down and empathize with all the people who feel like you do. Connect.

Pain and the fear of pain (suffering) are not yours alone. This is true of all human beings, all sentient beings. We can get an idea how to help someone else by asking what would make us feel better.

Exchange yourself with others – step into their shoes. Start with people you like, and then move to neutral – then when you can to those you dislike. Wonder what would make them feel better, and then offer it, even in your own mind and feel the connection.

By dissolving ego’s boundaries, compassion naturally arises.

To help us thrive and cultivate compassion, we get to be discerning about our mental and physical environment – who we hang out with and what we think about. If we are continually led around by negative emotions, we’re likely to choose friends with whom we can get cozy in a small world of shared complaints, shared dislikes, shared desires. But we can do it differently: we can look deeper for friendships that create a beloved community, a place that offers a “cradle of loving kindness” an environment that cultivates compassion.

Contemplations can open our heart to what we need to do: How can I be a true friend to others and myself? What should I cultivate and what should I discard? Is my communication good, true and helpful?

MEDITATION AS PART OF DAILY LIFE

Chogyam Trungpa:

Meditation practices have nothing to do with the value of the techniques as such, but are based on simplicity as a whole.  They (students) shouldn't regard the technique as magical power at all.  I should warn everybody that meditation has no magical power as such, but everybody has to work on themselves.  Having used the technique diligently, from that point, people begin to develop.  There is simplicity in the technique; they don't have to strive for it.  The technique becomes part of them, (the) same as drinking a cup of tea that becomes very close to it.  So the technique should be referred to as part of the daily life situation, rather than medicine or a sedative as such.

Student: But what does meditation develop?

CT: Becoming sane and becoming skillful in dealing with your daily life.

FOLLOWUP MATERIAL

Life is precious. Who are we going to spend it with is very important --- SMR “Hanging out w. the right crowd.”

Can depend on a view of “basic goodness” over a view of “what about me”

We need to be mindful about who ‘we’re hanging out with and aware of their influence – the person at work who uses lunch hour to gossip or the neighbor who yells at his kids or the friend who would rather watch TV than work out.

Our best friends remind of us the meaning of life. We each need the support of a good environment, a human ecosystem that encourages our virtue and allows us to grow and expand in a positive way. We need and can seek out positive influences. If we feel uncomfortable with how someone is behaving – or even if we feel ambivalent – then we want to examine what it is more closely. Is this a situation that is supporting our personal growth and helping us extend to others? Like hanging out with the friend who you’ve seen be really angry, but who didn’t project it out – just let it go.

3 poisons

THE PRECIOUS SANGHA IS THE UNSURPASSALBE GUIDE

In 3 fold logic have ground, path, fruition, like holding a fan: holding, opening, using it to create a breeze

First establish the Ground; then perpetuate that ground, then put all together and confirm it.

Heaven is ground, the blank page.

Earth is mother principle = accommodates everything, even chaos

Man is an individual (occurrence) existence

When we join the 3 together the fruition is a King, a logical conclusion

Three poisons, 3 objects, 3 seeds of virtue.

3 poisons are P, A, I

3objects are the things or people we desire, hate or are indifferent to.

3 seeds of virtue are what arises in the absence of P, A, I

We can cut the root of suffering when we do tonglen. We cut the root of suffering when we own completely our poison.

Our aspiration prayer is: may this grasping (or aggression or ignoring) be mine so that no other sentient begins will suffer in this way

Then, when we fully own the poison, we take it all in, and the object evaporates; in this way we see the poison as our own and not “out there.”

When the outer object disappears, we cannot project out a poison because it has nowhere to land. This is called “cutting the root” of suffering.