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In order to achieve a goal we need to cultivate determination. Setting the right goal is very important. In order to achieve the goal we have to walk on the path with determination. If we want to reach the top of the mountain we need to keep on climbing with a firm determination. Sometimes we may lose our hope for attaining our goal. We may feel despair and think, it is impossible to go any farther. Will you become apathetic or will you stand up with an unyielding spirit? The battle is decided by firm determination. When we have chosen a path to pursue the goal, we move steadily toward our chosen path, step by step, whether or not others are watching us, We meet difficulty with the steady relentless strength of ceaselessly flowing water. Such firmness of purpose, such integrity and perseverance builds a foundation that can never be compromised. Having a firm solid resolve is what secures the path of victory. Dedication helps our resolve to continue. Build life from inside out. Let not outside forces control you. Start with a goal that is relatively easy to accomplish. Then select a little difficult one. And keep on selecting and working on goals that have increasing difficulty. It is like climbing on a mountain. The supreme goal is attaining Enlightenment. Reflect on the following questions as you are walking on this spiritual path:
Get help from advanced fellow travelers and be grateful to them. Practice Mindfulness Meditation regularly. In life when we feel we have reached a limit, that’s when the true battle begins to go beyond the self-restricting limit. When we decide to live each moment fully, with all our might, to live true to ourselves and make the present moment shine, we discover and bring forth immense and unlimited strength. <- Go Back to Pragna Paramita
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Brian Conroy is a story teller and an excerpt from his book - Stepping Stones is published here. Following is my reflection to it:
Such simple and easy to understand stories teach a profound spiritual lesson. When we offer a gift from our heart without expecting any reward, it becomes an abundant offering. When a poor old woman heard that the Buddha was accepting offerings she had already eaten half of the pomegranate. The only thing she had to offer was the other half of that pomegranate. It was a meager offering but it had the deepest abundance. It is indeed a gift from the heart and that way it was priceless. Serving others with no axe to grind. This is the heart of the Karma Yoga narrated in the Bhagavad Gita. This is my understanding of spiritualty. It lifts us from a lower self to a higher self. I practice Karma Yoga in my life by sharing what I have with others mostly in the form of teaching without expecting any reward in return. This way of living feels my heart with deep joy, contentment, and fulfillment. Reading such stories from different wisdom traditions, contemplating on them, and sharing them with others has been very helpful to me in my spiritual journey. Daily practice of mindfulness meditation and cultivating skills of compassionate living help me stay on my path. It's by giving we receive! Namaste! Attachment is a kind of emotional involvement, our desire for certain things to remain the same as they are. For example, we are in a pleasant place like a beautiful beach of the sea. We like it very much and we want to hold on to it, we get attached to it. We get attached to sensual pleasures. We get attached to someone we like or love. There is a negative side of attachment called aversion. Aversion is a kind of negative attachment.
Basically there are two faces of attachment. Our desire for the pleasant things as they are. And our desire for the unpleasant things to change. We know pleasant things will change and end. If we do not realize it and keep on craving for things that are changing or going to change or going to end, we go through mental suffering. If we realize that nothing stays forever and accept the reality, we will not suffer. It is hard to let go of attachment for things, position, power and people in our life. We identify ourselves with things like cars, political persuation, national persuasion, sports. Such identification has its pleasant aspects but it leads into longer term suffering. I see some of my friends identifying themselves with a certain football team. No team always wins. They go through victory and defeat, ups and downs. My friends emotionally go through ups and downs along with the team’s ups and downs. Identifying ourselves with a certain team in the longer term brings suffering to us. Attachment to a person whom we love makes both persons miserable. We need to learn how to overcome our attachment caused by identifications. The opposite of attachment is non-attachment. It’s a state of mind in which we minimize or release our attachment to whatever we are attached to. It’s a kind of equanimity, upeksha, mental state of non-attachment to the worldly wind of success or failure. It does not mean that we should not be successful or strive to be better.. It is wise not to identify with the outcomes which are not guaranteed. We find joy in the process. If the outcome is great, that's great. If the outcome is not great we accept it with equanimity and move on. Samatva Yoga uchyate. Yoga is defined as equanimity in the mind. Non-attachment has a “near enemy”. It is indifference or disinterest, a “near enemy” of non-attachment. That’s not the right way to practice non-attachment. Indifference is like emotional divorce. “...the mind of non grasping is the essential unifying experience of freedom”-Joseph Goldstein. It's a free mind, a non-attached mind, a non-grasping and non-craving mind, a mind of non-identification. An attached mind is not free. A skillful state of mind operates in non-attachment. But it operates on the basis of kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. <-Go back to Pragna Paramita “ Just as a flower gives out its fragrance to whoever approaches or uses it, so love from within us radiates towards everybody and manifests as spontaneous service.” -Swami Ramdas Most of us find it difficult to be compassionate to ourselves and to others. Caring for oneself and caring for others is a wise way of practicing spirituality. If I use my energy unmindfully for taking care of others, I may do a disservice to myself. I get compassion burnt out. I need to learn how to be balanced, even-minded. The less we dwell on ourselves, the more sensitivity will open to the needs and feelings of others. “Every time we hurt someone and grieve inside because of it, we are attending a valuable seminar on sensitivity. It is a seminar at the deepest and most personal level.” says Eknath Easwaran. Self-examination, self-honesty and self-awareness can be powerful tools for internal transformation. Daily Practice “ When we take our seat on our meditation cushion we become our own monastery. We create the compassionate space that allows for the arising of all things: sorrows, loneliness, shame, desire, regret, frustration, happiness.” Jack Kornfield “ Take the One Seat” If you feel remorse about something you have done in the past because it has caused harm to you or someone else, it can be helpful to acknowledge the harm it caused and undertake a commitment to refrain from such behavior in the future. Self-compassion and self -correction are the doorways to internal transformation. The same way, if you feel someone has harmed you, be empathetic and compassionate to the other person. Loving kindness-metta meditation heals the hurt caused to us and and also the hurt caused to others. <-Go back to Pragna Paramita We have an ordinary mind which is conceptual, delusional, and dualistic. The Enlightened Mind is also known as the awakened mind. It is pure mind untarnished by dualistic concepts, unhealthy emotions, and obsessive sensations-particularly strong clinging and craving- of our ordinary mind. These obsessive thoughts and sensations are the coverings that obstruct us from realizing and manifesting our true nature like the clouds covering the sun.
Wisdom is defined as insight knowledge endowed with virtue. It abolishes the darkness of delusion. It emerges by following the spiritual path of awakening, realizing and manifesting our true nature. A wise mind understands the three characteristics of all things:
There are three types of pragna or wisdom: 1. Learned pragna- knowledge and wisdom acquired form books or listening to teachers.(Skt-sravana) 2. Reflective pragna-by asking questions, by using logic and reasoning until you fully understand the true nature of reality.(Skt-manana) 3. From a higher state of meditation, from direct spiritual experience. (Skt-nididhyasana) <-Go back to Pragna Paramita The Buddha considered Patience as one of the highest spiritual qualities. What is patience?
Patience means being here. Not going somewhere. Being full present with yourself, with some other, with activities, place and time. In a relationship, patience means embracing the present with a cool head and a warm heart. Waiting in this moment is patience. Waiting on others and serving others with no expectation in return is patience. The more we are in the moment, the more patient we are, we learn faster and better. Patience helps us from making errors. Waiting for something yet to come in the future may cause anxiety and apprehension. What if and when if mindset hijacks us from the present and makes us impatient. There is an interesting story about what happens when we lose our patience and when we are captivated by impatience. It was time to plant seeds in the garden. The father gave a handful of seeds to grow in the garden. The son planted the seeds in the soil. He waters them everyday. After a few days little green shoots came out from the ground. He decided to water the green shoots two times a day so that they grow faster. His mind was captivated by impatience. He decided to stretch the green shoots to make them grow faster. He killed everyone of the green shoots. I want it now, not later. He paid the price for his impatience. The Buddha formulated the two arrows theories for understanding and reducing mental suffering. We have two kinds of pain: physical pain and mental pain. Our physical pain is the first arrow. It hurts. How we relate to the experience of physical pain makes the difference. If I become anxious and worry about the physical pain I create mental pain. This is the second arrow. The pain is in the mind. If I patiently relate to the physical pain, acknowledge it with loving kindness, I stop the second arrow. In one of Tolstoy’s stories, the emperor is asked three essential questions: 1. When is the most important time? 2. Who is the most important person? 3. What is the most important thing they do? Answers: 1. Now is the most important time. 2. Not self, but the other person with you. 3.The most important thing to do is to care for the other, serve the other. If we follow these simple rules of living our heart blossoms and our relationships also blossom. Patient life is calmer and richer. Patience creates good will. Impatience creates bad will. Patient lifestyle helps us to be free from anger and irritability and regrets. We get many opportunities everyday for cultivating patience especially at our home, with our friends, neighbors and colleagues. <-Go back to Pragna Paramita Energy is the fifth Pragna Paramita. According to the Buddha suffering arises in the mind
by holding on to and getting attached to unwholesome cravings called tannaha. When Gautam became the Buddha he wanted to teach his wisdom to the people living in Sarnath. As he was walking on his way to Sarnath, he met a young boy. The young boy saw the radiance on the Buddha’s face. He asked the Buddha,”What are you? Are you a man? Are you an angel? Are you a God? “ The Buddha said,” I am the Buddha-the awakened one.” When do we feel uplifting energy? When do we feel down grading energy? Awakening is one of the ways of understanding our energy. When we are “sleeping” we take wrong steps and hurt ourselves and others in our life. When we get stuck with and attached to unwholesome desires and cravings, we suffer and drain our energy. When we forget the first noble truth, anicca-impermanence and live under the delusion of permanence, we get disappointed and depressed and we drain our energy. The Buddha taught the Noble Eightfold Path to give for reducing and ending our self-created suffering- physical, mental, emotional, and relational.
understand yourself. Identify what causes suffering and drains your energy. What reduces or ends your suffering? What creates wholesome energy? What restores your energy? How do you bounce back? What inspires you? What supports you? Keep a journal. Spend five minutes everyday to reflect on what blossoms your energy and what hinders your energy. Keep on working on your journal to learn from yourself the wise ways of enhancing and preserving your energy. <- GO back to Pragna Paramita Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path First Noble Truth: We all suffer. Second Noble Truth: There is a cause of Suffering. The cause is unhealthy craving. Third Noble Truth: There is a Way to End Suffering called Dhamma-Dharma- Pada- Path of Righteous Living Fourth Noble Truths: Walk on The Eightfold Path Consistently. The eight parts of liberation are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice- moral or ethical conduct( (sila) , mental discipline (samadhi), and wisdom (panna). Ethical conduct is based on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all beings. Here compassion (karuna) represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance-the qualities of the noble heart. While wisdom (panna) stands for the intellectual qualities of the mind, one should not be a good-hearted fool or a hard-hearted intellect. To be perfect one has to develop both head and heart equally. The Noble Eightfold Path:
They are to be developed simultaneously. They are linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others. The eightfold noble path is a way of life to be followed, practiced and developed by each individual. It is self-discipline in body, word, and mind, self-development, and self-purification. It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship, or ceremony. In that sense, it has nothing to do which is popularly called religious. It is a Path leading to complete freedom, happiness, and peace through moral, spiritual, and intellectual perfection. Four Noble Truths: 1. The Truth of Dukkha: The truth of suffering and dissatisfaction. There are different kinds of suffering, birth, aging, sickness and death-janma, jara,vyadhi and mrityu; not getting what we want 2. Cause of Suffering is the second Noble Truth. It is tannah, craving, desiring, wanting or greed. Craving for things that we want and getting rid of things we don’t want. Craving for materially, mentally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually: craving for permanancy, and stability. We suffer when our desires do not match reality. Origin of suffering is our mental state, craving (raga), abhorrence or aversion (dwesha) and ignoring (agnana). 3. The Third Noble Truth. Cessation of dukkha, suffering. There is a way, an alternative to end suffering. Suffering can be extinguished if we remove the cause. To quote the Buddha: “ Cession of suffering , as a noble truth is this: It is remainderless, fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go and rejecting of that craving.” If we let go of craving, we can extinguish the fire of our suffering. The fire is burning in our mind. It is mental fire. We must train our mind in a different way. That is the Fourth Noble Truth. 4. To quote the Buddha: “ The way leading to cessation of suffering , as the noble truth, is this: It is simply the noble eight path, that is to say right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The Buddha taught that by learning to use our three doors , body, speech and mind skillfully. It would remove a lot of suffering. We can reduce or end our suffering by controlling our body, speech and mind in ways that help others, instead of harming them, and by generating wisdom in our mind, we can end suffering. Therefore, true happiness is achievable through personal endeavor. A question is raised. Are there good wholesome cravings or desires? Desire to live a life of virtue and non-violence, wanting to meditate, to discover peace, and discover what we deeply and truly attain. To learn how to be fully present in the moment. Exercise: What cravings can you identify in your life that might be causing unnecessary suffering? What cravings do you need to let go? Out of the Noble Eightfold Path, which steps you would like to work on? <- Go back to Pragna Paramita The core of all religions is spirituality. As seekers of Truth and Peace we
practice spirituality. By practicing spirituality we cross over the flood of suffering and reach the safety of the other shore called Nirvana, Moksha, Liberation and Salvation. There are different ways of reaching the other shore. In Mahayana Buddhism , ten inner qualities are prescribed to attain Perfect Wisdom, Pragna Paramita. The Buddhist path is a way of perfecting human nature, both by eliminating toxic imperfections and gradually cultivating and maturing the inner qualities of heart and mind that can help us cross over many difficulties we face to arrive safely on the further shore. The following ten qualities or paramis are prescribed for reaching the other shore. (Click on each one for individual notes about it)
The perfection is applied to these qualities needed to attain awakening (jagruti), to be Buddha. One needs to cultivate and perfect these qualities often over multiple life times. Only reading and talking about these qualities will not take us on this path of liberation from suffering. It requires consistent practice. Even mastering only one of the ten qualities will create noticeable change or transformation in our consciousness. Let us begin with one quality that you would like to cultivate in you. Check in and notice the progress you will notice in yourself and how it has a positive impact on your relationship with others in your life. The central message of the story of the Caterpillar Turning Into A Butterfly is the story of transformation and emergence of ourselves as we travel in our life's journey. We all change. Nothing remains the same. The challenge is how the change transforms our ways of thinking, feeling and doing. It's a deep qualitative change, like the caterpillar turning into a butterfly. We all grow but in which direction of our life. Are we repeating the same cycle or we are getting out of the routine and move in an upward bound direction?
I see myself growing slowly from childhood, to young age, to adulthood and old age. It has not been a steady journey of transformation. It has its ups and downs, its twists and turns. A couple of times I fell down. I leaned from falling down and moved on in my upward journey of life. As I look behind I see myself emerging and transforming. My outlook has been widened. I see myself unbound and freed from my judgmental stances of people different from me in many ways. My inner eyes have become clear and I see people as they are. As the Buddha says "see the isness." Cultivating healthy habits of mind and nurturing the mind in a healthy way has been very helpful to me. I keep my mind and heart open without tarnishing them with my preconceived notions. Practicing mindfulness meditation and non-judgemental awareness help me constantly emerging from my past caterpillar self into the present butterfly self. Namaste! |
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