One of the senior monks in the Ajahn Chah lineage said that Buddha talked about dāna[giving] first because if someone didn’t understand the value of basic generosity, they weren’t even teachable. If we don’t have a sense of its significance, and don’t have some degree of maturity in our experience of it, then other forms of practice—sīla, bhāvana, mettā—won’t even get off the ground. There has to be a malleability of heart, a softness, a diminished self-absorption, before the engines can even get started! And this softness is developed largely through our increasingly mature direct experience of dāna.
Giving as a ritual is not the same as giving as practice. There can be various motives for giving, and many of them have to do with varieties of clinging. We cling to the idea of what is expected of us, or what would “look good”, or we give to relieve a feeling of guilt, or even because we think it will produce a better afterlife. But there is a higher motivation that we can tap into, one that moves us away from any form of clinging.
(from Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia) There’s a wonderful story in the Vināya (Mahāvagga 8:15) about a very generous laywoman who lived at the time of the Buddha. As the story goes, she wanted to give a large gift to the community—lifetime gifts of food, clothing and medicinal requisites. Before agreeing to receive this offering, the Buddha asked Visakha why she wanted to make such a generous offering.
Her reply may surprise you. She said that when she sees the monks and nuns she will know that they are wearing robes made out of the cloth that she offered, etc., and it will make her very happy. Thus, her mind will be calm and her meditation will go well. As if to say, “Yes, that’s the right answer,” the Buddha accepted her gift.
So we can give to make our minds peaceful and happy. This may sound like a selfish motive – we want to be happy – but this sort of happiness comes from profound unselfishness, which feels entirely different from building up our self-image. Is this happening without our noticing it? Do we overlook this subtle and beautiful feeling?
Only we know what is in our minds and hearts, and we can track whether we are producing the kind of mental peace that is the foundation for wisdom or the product of a satisfied ego. Mindfulness is essential to discern this difference, but once we see it, we are naturally inclined to pursue a wholesome path.
Experiences of darkness are good and necessary teachers. They are not to be avoided, denied, run from, or explained away.
There’s a darkness where we are led by our own stupidity, our own sin (the illusion of separation), our own selfishness, by living out of the false or separate self. We have to work our way back out of this kind of darkness with brutal honesty, confession, surrender, forgiveness, apology, and restitution. It may feel simultaneously like dying and being liberated.
But there’s another darkness that we’re led into by God, grace, and the nature of life itself.… This is where transformation happens.
Periods of seemingly fruitless darkness may in fact highlight all the ways we rob ourselves of wisdom by clinging to the light. Who grows by only looking on the bright side of things?
Patience has always been a challenge for me. Lynn J Kelly’s blog post today (see link below) helps me better understand how my impatience is a form of anger which I would be much better off without.
“Have patience with all things but first of all with yourself.” – Francis de Sales
Spiritual zombie and spiritual bypassing are two terms that describe how we might “hide” during times of great challenge. Two articles have been especially helpful for me to better understand these concepts. The first is Hold to the Center from Tricycle Magazine and the second comes from Very Well Mind and is titled Spiritual Bypassing as a Defense Mechanism.
Some quick highlights and links to the full articles are offered below:
Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, abbot emeritus and teacher for the Zen Center of Los Angeles, wrote an enlightening article in the Summer of 2017 for Tricycle Magazine. Her words still have much to offer us some eight years later.
Roshi Nakao reminds us, both gently and provocatively, that when times are tough we should be careful to not turn into spiritual zombies. Specifically, she said:
“To hold to the center is not about becoming a spiritual zombie; it is about living the fullness of your own humanity. You are alive, so be fully alive.”
Additional advice includes:
“The Three Tenets, which are Not-Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action, as an effective way to hold to the center in any given situation.”
“Spiritual bypassing is a way of hiding behind spirituality or spiritual practices. It prevents people from acknowledging what they are feeling and distances them from both themselves and others. Some examples of spiritual bypassing include:
Avoiding feelings of anger
Believing in your own spiritual superiority as a way to hide from insecurities
Believing that traumatic events must serve as “learning experiences” or that there is a silver lining behind every negative experience
Believing that spiritual practices such as meditation or prayer are always positive
Extremely high, often unattainable, idealism
Feelings of detachment
Focusing only on spirituality and ignoring the present
Only focusing on the positive or being overly optimistic
Projecting your own negative feelings onto others
Pretending that things are fine when they are clearly not
Thinking that people can overcome their problems through positive thinking
The Center for Action and Contemplation puts the spotlight on our shadow this week and today’s thought-provoking article comes from author and spiritual director, Ruth Haley Barton. She does a wonderful job of capturing the fear of exposure when she says:
“We thought we had kept it fairly well hidden. We thought we could manage it or at least keep its destructive nature fairly private, but now here it is—out there for all to see—and it is wreaking havoc on our attempts to accomplish something good.”
Check out the full article below and at cac.org/daily-meditations/surprised-by-our-shadow/
Today’s Center for Action and Contemplation meditation includes a reflection from theologian Matthew Fox on how we might reinvent and resurrect ourselves daily for our benefit and the benefit of others.
“Who does not seek a full and fuller life(and)how am I life for others?
To be Resurrection for another I need to be Resurrection for myself. That means I cannot dwell in darkness and death and anger and oppression and submission and resentment and pain forever. I need to wake up, get up, rise up, put on life even when days are dark and my soul is down and shadows surround me everywhere
Do not settle for death. Break out. Stand up. Give birth. Get out of easy pessimism and lazy cynicism. Put your heart and mind and hands to creating hope and light and resurrection.Be born again. And again. And again….”
Tricycle’s online magazine offers a provocative article which discusses two key questions: Why love what you will lose? and What else is there to love?
Below is a highlight from this worthy article. To read the entire article see the link at the bottom of this post.
Suffering is, strangely, both sickness and medicine, impossible to tease apart in the end. … That we suffer and share this great fact of impermanence together is profound medicine in itself, a medicine that releases compassion, love, connectedness, and forgiveness as the healing source.
Once again, the Center for Action and Contemplation, helps us reconcile our aspirations with reality. Yes, we can persevere even though we are confronted with “with the forces of death, hopelessness, fear, discouragement, or lack of will.” Yes, we can continue to believe even though we are surrounded by non-believers.
Big inhale, slow exhale. Yes, we can.
Check out the provocative message below and go to CAC’s website for continued encouragement here: cac.org/daily-meditations/easter-people-in-a-good-friday-world/
“Pursuing beneficial practices brings good kamma, and that can overcome any past unwholesome kamma. It’s not a closed system, it’s not fate; it’s a dynamic process.”
Lynn J Kelly blogpost today reminds us our actions matter every minute of every day. We can improve our lives when we seek the good of others too.
Life Matters 