In this issue:
In the Rohitassa Sutta the Buddha declares:
In this very one-fathom long body, along with its perceptions and thoughts, do I proclaim suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of the suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
This is one of the most hopeful and inspiring teachings in all of religion. The Buddha is telling us that the causes of our suffering are not external to us: they are within us, and so is the means for our liberation from them.
Our egocentric self naturally orients itself as the center of the world. From that vantage point, we project a kind of holographic world that reflects our inner state. We cannot escape this superimposed world by “traveling to other dusty countries, thus forsaking our own seat,” since we create it ourselves and carry it with us. And, the sutta tells us that our own body-mind is our vehicle for transforming our personal world of suffering into one of inner peace. The proof of this can be verified by observing how different people react to the same circumstances.
I once read an article about a Tibetan monk who spent many years in a Chinese prison simply for being a Buddhist monk. He was tortured. After his release, he managed a harrowing escape over the mountains to India. There, he met the Dalai Lama, who asked him if he had ever been afraid during his imprisonment. The monk thought a bit, and said, “Well, there were a couple of times when I was afraid I would hate the Chinese.”
It is not hard to imagine that many of us would, in the same situation, respond with anger and hatred and “why is this happening to me?” But the monk truly embodied what the Buddha declared in the Dhammapada: “He who, without anger, endures reproach, flogging and punishments, whose power and potent army is patience – him I call a holy person.” The monk used this awful situation to transform his suffering into a spiritual opportunity. Most of us, mercifully, will not have to endure such extreme opportunities for spiritual transformation. Even so, each of our lives provide the difficult karmic circumstances we need to challenge us to respond with the Four Wisdoms of charity, tenderness, benevolence, and sympathy rather than drink the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and delusion.
The very first verse of the Dhammapada points out that our body-mind is guided and directed by our thoughts:
Mind is the forerunner of all mental states. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with a wicked mind, suffering follows one, even as the wheel follows the hoof of the cart horse. And, if one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one, even as one’s shadow that never leaves.
One implication of this verse is that we have choice: we can let the rearing, plunging, powerful “horse” of our egocentric thoughts and emotions take us on an uncontrolled and dangerous ride that threatens harm to both ourselves and anyone in our vicinity. Or, we can walk mindfully, Preceptually, meditatively so that our passing is graced with equanimity and contentment and happiness, and by that alone be of benefit to ourselves and others.
Our very everyday life is our practice. By training in meditation and the Precepts, the wild horse of our mind can be tamed, can be mastered, can be guided by a firm and gentle willingness to face what life offers us with a positive and upward-looking attitude of mind and heart. Seemingly “bad” things will still happen to us, and they will be difficult to bear. But that foundational attitude of an open heart will orient us on what is truly Real, beyond our passing experiences: the Unborn, Undying, Unchanging Buddha Nature.