When i first started exploring Buddhism i listened to a lot of talks by Thich Nhat Hanh. I gave that talks names that reflected the themes i heard: enjoying practice, patience, breathing, eating mindfully, ancestors, refuge, stillness. In one talk (a talk give on 12 10 2006 that was once available online, but no longer appears to be available) Thay (thay is the Vietnamese word for teacher, and is the name Thich Nhat Hahn uses to refer to himself, it is also a name his students and friends call him by) talked about the importance of enjoying practice, and obstacles to enjoying practice. He talked about the breath, the body, and mind, and how the three are connected; when we calm the breath, we calm the body, we calm the mind. He talked about how we get pushed around by our habits, so that we think we just want to relax and do nothing, but when we have the time to relax we feel a need, something internal, to get up, move around, or somehow distract ourselves from our thoughts. The way he said it was that the body doesn't enjoy sitting; there is some kind of energy, an agitation, preventing the body from enjoying the sitting. This energy is in the body, but it isn't limited to the body, because the mind, the body, and the breath are linked.
When i found a talk i liked i would listen to it over and over again. This was one of the talks i listened to repeatedly. The talk connected with me because the experience he described, being pushed by habit energy, was something i had experienced. I wanted to be still, but when i sat down I'd start thinking, and bounce back up to do something, even if that something wasn't important, even if that something was playing solitaire or freecell on the computer, even if i didn't really enjoy whatever it was i was doing. It was easy for me to believe that the three are linked because i can feel how thinking makes we want to move, how movement and exercise can affect the breath, and how thoughts can affect the breath. I've noticed myself gasping or sighing over a thought. I could also feel how the breath affected the body, how when i calmed my breath it calmed my body. And so i could believe that calming the breath could calm my thoughts, and calming my body could calm my thoughts, even though i hadn't had this experience as often.
Thay talked about how the practice, sitting quietly, should be something enjoyable, because it means we are free. Part of it is that we have the time to enjoy having nothing to do, but he also talked about having freedom from the past, freedom from worries for the future, freedom from feeling like we have to much to do. This was a different kind of freedom, an internal freedom, one that no one else can give us. The way he talked about freedom made it sound very appealing and desirable. At some point in the talk there were translation problems, so he had to take a break while the translators figured things out. While waiting he said "well ... we have the time to sit," not upset at all about the break in his talk. The way he talked, i felt like i could hear his freedom, he wasn't pushed to give his talks, to make a point, to convince people his views were right. It inspired me to use that short pause to practice sitting and breathing and stopping and enjoying stopping whenever i listened to that talk. Even though it was only a short time, not even five minutes, it was enough to get me started, enough to start changing my habits.
While Thay spoke of enjoying practice as something easy, something natural, something that began right away, he also spoke of learning how to sit. He made it clear that we need to learn how to enjoy sitting. Anybody can enjoy sitting, and we can enjoy sitting right away, but we still have to learn how to enjoy sitting. For reasons i can't quite explain this didn't sound contradictory to me. In a sense i experienced it. I would sit and breath mindfully and for an instant i would enjoy it, and then i would feel the restlessness and want to get back up. Thay explained this by saying that your worries, your fears, your anger are obstacles to enjoying practice. The way i interpret this is that these emotions generate energy, and that energy manifests itself as restlessness. Thay also said you are capable of being mindful. There are obstacles, yes, but there are also supporting conditions. We need to be able to recognize the supporting conditions. I interpreted this as practicing gratitude, focusing our attention on the good things in our lives.
Because Thay described experience i had had, and because he not only described the outcome of practice in a way that sounded appealing, but also seemed to demonstrate though his own presence that these outcomes were possible, it inspired me to continue practicing even if i didn't always see the results right away.
The idea of practice as just that, something you do over and over, sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong, but making that effort to get it right more often than you get it wrong, is not something unique to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. I've heard it from other teachers, too. Below are links to talks by Joseph Goldstein and Narayan Liebenson Grady that talk about the importance of practice when it comes to mindfulness and meditation.
Narayan Liebenson Grady: Training the Heart
Joseph Goldstein: Instructions for sitting and walking meditation
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Cultivating Right Intention
One of the core Buddhist teachings in the Noble Eightfold Path. It is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths, the path that leads to freedom from suffering. Right Intention is part of the Noble Eightfold Path, along with Right View, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. The Buddha taught that intention was as important, or more important than, action. Right intention, combined with an clear understanding of how things are, leads to good actions. If we misunderstand things, or if our intentions are wrong, it comes out in our actions. This is why Right View and Right Intention are so important in the Path.
My early practice of walking meditation, mindfulness, and listening to Dharma talks was focused mainly on building my desire to practice; it was months before i actually started practicing sitting meditation. I'd put on Dharma talks all night, so that whenever i woke up I'd hear bits. I didn't worry about whether or not i listened to talks mindfully or in a way that fostered mindfulness. I'd put on talks while doing the dishes, folding clothes, painting the house, or even playing solitaire or freecell. I didn't worry about giving talks a fair chance; I'd put on a talk for five minutes, and if it didn't catch my attention I'd switch to another. I didn't watch TV, so it was easy to listen to talks for 2 or 3 hours a day. On weekends or days i didn't work it was easy to listen to talks for 6 or 8 hours a day, and some days i listened to talks for even longer.
Sometimes i thought i was doing things wrong - i should sit quietly and listen mindfully, i should be more open, i should listen to a whole talk before judging, but Buddhism teaches the importance of acceptance, which includes accepting our imperfections. As Thich Nhat Hanh would say, mindfulness of distractedness is mindfulness. So i practiced being mindful of how distracted i was, accepting myself as i was, and focused on talks that inspired me. Sometimes i did practice sitting quietly and listen to the talks. One way i did this was to practice drinking tea slowly and mindfully while listening to the talks.
Thich Nhat Hanh liked to call the monastery bell the bell of mindfulness. He said that whenever you hear the bell it is important to stop what you are doing and put all of your attention in the present moment. Anything could be a bell of mindfulness, he talked about using stop signs as a bell of mindfulness while driving, and so i used the talks as a bell of mindfulness. I'd put on a talk while doing the dishes to remind myself to wash the dishes mindfully. Thich Nhat Hanh described the practice of washing dishes mindfully in some of his books and talks. The important thing is to remember the principal of emptiness, what he calls interbeing. The way i practiced mindfulness while washing dishes was to remember that i had dishes to wash because i had food to eat, and the dishes i washed were my own dishes, that i was washing the dishes in a sink of warm water because i had running water and a water heater, and that while it is easy to take these things for granted, even now in many parts of the world running water, and hot water, are luxuries not everyone has access to. In this sense doing the dishes was a privilege, not a chore. I didn't have to rush through doing the dishes to get to do something more fun, i could use the time washing dishes to be grateful for all i had. In this way i practiced what learned listening to the talks, and the practice helped me change my perspective to one i believe is more beneficial.
Listening to Dharma Talks was, and still is, an important part of my practice. Through the talks i absorb bits of the teaching. I believe i have learned more about Buddhist practice listening to talks than I have from books, articles, or essays. But it is not an intellectual understanding of the talks that is most important to me. At times where i don't feel like I'm getting anywhere the talks remind me why i continue to practice, they inspire me to keep going forward, even if i sometimes forget where i am going. Some talks have specific suggestions for practice, focusing on mindfulness of action, mindfulness of thought and feelings, awareness of the breath, or other ways to focus the mind. Other talks describe things we experience, the pleasant and the difficult. And other talks remind me why i practice, what i hope will happen, where the path will take me.
Here are some talks that have inspired my practice:
Narayan Liebenson Grady
Sacred Idleness
Illuminating the path
The Possibility of Stopping
Training the Heart
Jack Kornfield
Quiet the Mind, Open the Heart
The Wisdom Characteristics of Life
The Bodhisattha
My early practice of walking meditation, mindfulness, and listening to Dharma talks was focused mainly on building my desire to practice; it was months before i actually started practicing sitting meditation. I'd put on Dharma talks all night, so that whenever i woke up I'd hear bits. I didn't worry about whether or not i listened to talks mindfully or in a way that fostered mindfulness. I'd put on talks while doing the dishes, folding clothes, painting the house, or even playing solitaire or freecell. I didn't worry about giving talks a fair chance; I'd put on a talk for five minutes, and if it didn't catch my attention I'd switch to another. I didn't watch TV, so it was easy to listen to talks for 2 or 3 hours a day. On weekends or days i didn't work it was easy to listen to talks for 6 or 8 hours a day, and some days i listened to talks for even longer.
Sometimes i thought i was doing things wrong - i should sit quietly and listen mindfully, i should be more open, i should listen to a whole talk before judging, but Buddhism teaches the importance of acceptance, which includes accepting our imperfections. As Thich Nhat Hanh would say, mindfulness of distractedness is mindfulness. So i practiced being mindful of how distracted i was, accepting myself as i was, and focused on talks that inspired me. Sometimes i did practice sitting quietly and listen to the talks. One way i did this was to practice drinking tea slowly and mindfully while listening to the talks.
Thich Nhat Hanh liked to call the monastery bell the bell of mindfulness. He said that whenever you hear the bell it is important to stop what you are doing and put all of your attention in the present moment. Anything could be a bell of mindfulness, he talked about using stop signs as a bell of mindfulness while driving, and so i used the talks as a bell of mindfulness. I'd put on a talk while doing the dishes to remind myself to wash the dishes mindfully. Thich Nhat Hanh described the practice of washing dishes mindfully in some of his books and talks. The important thing is to remember the principal of emptiness, what he calls interbeing. The way i practiced mindfulness while washing dishes was to remember that i had dishes to wash because i had food to eat, and the dishes i washed were my own dishes, that i was washing the dishes in a sink of warm water because i had running water and a water heater, and that while it is easy to take these things for granted, even now in many parts of the world running water, and hot water, are luxuries not everyone has access to. In this sense doing the dishes was a privilege, not a chore. I didn't have to rush through doing the dishes to get to do something more fun, i could use the time washing dishes to be grateful for all i had. In this way i practiced what learned listening to the talks, and the practice helped me change my perspective to one i believe is more beneficial.
Listening to Dharma Talks was, and still is, an important part of my practice. Through the talks i absorb bits of the teaching. I believe i have learned more about Buddhist practice listening to talks than I have from books, articles, or essays. But it is not an intellectual understanding of the talks that is most important to me. At times where i don't feel like I'm getting anywhere the talks remind me why i continue to practice, they inspire me to keep going forward, even if i sometimes forget where i am going. Some talks have specific suggestions for practice, focusing on mindfulness of action, mindfulness of thought and feelings, awareness of the breath, or other ways to focus the mind. Other talks describe things we experience, the pleasant and the difficult. And other talks remind me why i practice, what i hope will happen, where the path will take me.
Here are some talks that have inspired my practice:
Narayan Liebenson Grady
Sacred Idleness
Illuminating the path
The Possibility of Stopping
Training the Heart
Jack Kornfield
Quiet the Mind, Open the Heart
The Wisdom Characteristics of Life
The Bodhisattha
Friday, April 3, 2009
Freedom: The Seal of the Emperor
When i left off i (March 31) was talking about my experience in transforming a difficult situation. The Jataka story and description of mindfulness practice inspired me, but at that time my habit energy was very strong. I felt restless, unable to sit still. My mind wandered, and the same thoughts repeated themselves over and over. So how would i begin practicing? The answer was in that same talk ("Transforming Negative Habit Energies" reprinted here, March 31). Near the end of the talk Thich Nhat Hanh described the practice of walking meditation. It was something i felt capable of practicing, and the way he described the practice inspired me. While i didn't feel ready to practicing sitting, walking meditation was something i could do.
I didn't need a lot of space to practice walking. I practiced indoors, in the living room, walking in a figure eight pattern. Sometimes i used the phrase "I have arrived," other times i imagined my foot was a seal, a rolling stamp that had to be pressed down firmly and evenly. As my foot touched the ground from heel to toe i imagined the word "freedom" was imprinted on the ground, letter by letter. Sometimes i walked with my difficult emotions. I would name my feelings as i became aware of the, "hello frustration, hello disappointment, hello desire," and experience the feelings without trying to change them or act on them.
My practice of walking meditation was far from perfect. When i was talking about my practice someone asked if i walked slowly, like Thich Nhat Hanh. I had to admit that i did not. At times my walking was more like pacing, something Thich Nhat Hanh might describe as walking "as though chased by a hungry ghost." I suppose in a sense i was being chased by a ghost. Even while focusing on my breath and coordinating my breath with my steps, feeling the sole of my foot touch the ground, and leaving the mark of freedom in my footstep my mind still wandered. But walking fostered mindfulness of the body, as i noticed that the more my mind wandered, the faster i walked. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, mindfulness of forgetfulness is mindfulness. Or in other words, when you become aware of how much your mind wanders that awareness itself is mindfulness. And so, that is how i was able to get a foothold into mindfulness practice.
As i became aware of the speed of my walking i began to slow down. And as my walking slowed, so did my thoughts.
Below are some excerpts from the talk I used to guide my practice.
I didn't need a lot of space to practice walking. I practiced indoors, in the living room, walking in a figure eight pattern. Sometimes i used the phrase "I have arrived," other times i imagined my foot was a seal, a rolling stamp that had to be pressed down firmly and evenly. As my foot touched the ground from heel to toe i imagined the word "freedom" was imprinted on the ground, letter by letter. Sometimes i walked with my difficult emotions. I would name my feelings as i became aware of the, "hello frustration, hello disappointment, hello desire," and experience the feelings without trying to change them or act on them.
My practice of walking meditation was far from perfect. When i was talking about my practice someone asked if i walked slowly, like Thich Nhat Hanh. I had to admit that i did not. At times my walking was more like pacing, something Thich Nhat Hanh might describe as walking "as though chased by a hungry ghost." I suppose in a sense i was being chased by a ghost. Even while focusing on my breath and coordinating my breath with my steps, feeling the sole of my foot touch the ground, and leaving the mark of freedom in my footstep my mind still wandered. But walking fostered mindfulness of the body, as i noticed that the more my mind wandered, the faster i walked. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, mindfulness of forgetfulness is mindfulness. Or in other words, when you become aware of how much your mind wanders that awareness itself is mindfulness. And so, that is how i was able to get a foothold into mindfulness practice.
As i became aware of the speed of my walking i began to slow down. And as my walking slowed, so did my thoughts.
Below are some excerpts from the talk I used to guide my practice.
"Walking in walking meditation is walking just to enjoy walking. You don’t have any desire to arrive anywhere. Walking and not arriving, that is the technique. And you enjoy every step you make. Every step brings you home to the here and the now. Your true home according to this teaching is the here and the now, because only in this moment, in this place, called the here and the now, can life be possible.
Taking one in-breath, taking one out-breath, you make two steps, two beautiful steps, and with every step you say, "I have arrived." That should not be a statement, that should be a practice. You have to arrive in the here and the now, and make a strong determination to stop and not to run anymore. You have run all your life already, now is the chance to stop. You walk in a way that can introduce you to the Pure Land of Buddha right away, that can introduce you to the Kingdom of God right away. The Pure Land is the Land where you don’t feel the need to run anymore…and with one step you can enter it. Also the Kingdom of God is the kingdom of peace, and when you arrive in the Kingdom of God you don’t feel you have to run anymore, if you feel that you need to run more, then you are not there yet. That is why with one in-breath you practice: "I have arrived, i have arrived" …and please don’t just make the statement, you have to really arrive. Allow yourself to sink deeply into the here and the now, because life is possible only in the present, life is available only in the present moment, and you know that you have the capacity to touch life in the present moment, the here and the now.
We have lost our freedom. We have lost our sovereignty. We are not free anymore. We allow ourselves to be pushed and pulled away from the here and the now. Now we have to resist, we have to recover our sovereignty, we have to reclaim our freedom, and we have to walk like a free person on earth. Freedom here is not political freedom, it is freedom from the past, from the future, from our worries and our fear. Be free, and each step like that can help us, can free us. And the Sangha is there, surrounding you and supporting you in making the step. Many of us here are capable of walking like that. Many of us have been trained for five years, seven years, ten years, in order to be able to walk like that. We resist, we don’t allow ourselves to be carried away anymore. We want to be free, because we know that without freedom, no happiness, no peace, will be possible.
Invest one hundred percent of yourself into making that step: "I have arrived. I have arrived." And your foot will become the foot of the Buddha, because the Buddha always walked like that. And by touching the earth with your foot, you produce the miracle of being alive. You make yourself real and the earth real, and such a step is highly nourishing and healing. You are protecting yourself from the habit energy that is always pushing you to run and to get lost. Je suis chez moi. Je suis arrivee. The practice should be very strong, determined. Bring all your attention down to the soles of your feet. Don’t stay over here, bring all your attention to the soles of your feet, and touch the earth as though you kiss the earth with your feet. Like the seal of an emperor on a decree, walk as though you imprint your solidity, your freedom, and your peace on the earth. When i look at your footprint i can see the mark of solidity, of freedom, in it. We have to reclaim our liberty. Liberty, emancipation, Vimukti, that is the practice—to free ourselves from that negative habit energy."
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