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Your choice
Little do we know or realize, but we have a choice in how we see things. Right now it might seem like our reactions are automatic and out of our control. This is because they are. At the moment, we react to life mostly out of habit.
When I was a child, my mother sat our family down at the dinner table one night. She gave each one of us a pencil and a piece of paper and told us to draw a picture of the television set. We drew it. Then she had us look at each other’s pictures and pointed out that each one of us sees the same object differently. There was only 1 television, but 4 interpretations of it. This idea didn’t really kick into my head until much later on in my life and a many years down the spiritual path.
During our meetings with Ajahn Brahm, he told us a story about a trip to Indonesia. He was going to give a talk to an audience of 10,000 people. When his plane landed the patron from the event approached him and fretfully told him the bad news. There had been 99 reported causes of SARS in Indonesia and it might be too dangerous to have the event. They might have to cancel. The Venerable Ajahn looked at the men and asked how many people live in Indonesia. They estimated an upwards of 3 million people. “So”, he said, “the chances of someone with SARS coming to the talk is 1 in 300,000. I think it will be ok.” This simple change of viewpoint turned around the minds of the event patrons and the event went on successfully (and SARS free).
When we notice that we are focused on a negative, there is always a relative positive. Just as when you touch cold ice, you can say the ice is cold or that your hand is warm. There are always two sides. We can think about how cars are polluting the earth, or we can be thankful about how easily we can travel to important places. We can be angry at what the President did or be thankful that he invigorated the public’s interest in the country. We can notice our faults or we can see our strengths. And it’s really just a choice we can make.
Next time you go outside, try to only look at the color blue. You will see blue everywhere. You will see how much blue there is in the world. Then next time only try notice the color green. You will notice every plant and street sign. Cars and shirts and eyes. Then look for red. Then the next time only look for living things, then only man-made things. Only look at people. You will start to notice that whatever it is you want to see, you will find everywhere. It almost becomes overwhelming. It’s because there are actually all possibilities. Everything is there. A full spectrum of colors is present, and it’s only through our unrealized habits that we take certain pieces again and again and leave the rest as non-existent.
Try to change your perspective and see things from another angle. Nothing’s all good or all bad. It’s just what we make of it.
Take Care
During Ajahn Brahmavamso’s visit to our temple he gave some really great advice to our Sangha. Don’t work so much! He explained that in the mundane world in the world before we became monks or nuns before we really became interested in meditation, we became successful in the world by putting in a lot of effort, trying hard , setting goals and meeting them. Ajah Brahmavamso told us that to become successful in meditation is a different direction.
Enlightenment by Ajahn Brahm
The Venerable Ajahn Brahm told us that if you really understand enlightenment then you must be able to explain it in simple terms. In fact, you need to be able to explain enlightenment in a way so simple that the girl serving you beer can understand.
So here is a simple understanding of enlightenment in the form of a story. This is a story called the 5 Children Playing the Wishing Game…
Once upon a time, 5 children were playing the wishing game. The child who came up with the best wish would win the wishing game.
First was a young boy, maybe seven or eight, and he said if he could have any wish he would wish for a McDonalds hamburger with double fries (because his mother was Buddhist and wouldn’t allow him to eat hamburgers).
So they asked the second child if she could you think of a better wish. And the second child was a young girl and she said that she would wish for a McDonalds restaurant so she could eat as many hamburgers as she wanted.
Then came to the third boy. He had more time to think as the others and he said that he wants a billion dollars. So he could buy a McDonalds restaurant, then buy a video game store and play all the video games he wants. Then he would buy a school so he could spend all day playing video games then give himself good grades. Then he’d buy a university and pass himself through that too. Then he still has enough money for the rest of his life. So he asked if anyone could think of a better wish than that. The fourth child, a girl, had to think very deeply and she came up with a better wish.
The fourth girl was very clever. She said if she had a wish, she would wish for 3 wishes. With the first wish she would wish for a McDonalds restaurant, with the second wish she would wish for a billion euros, and for the last wish she would wish for 3 more wishes. So she was clearly winning the wishing game.
But there was one boy left, and he would go on to win the wishing game. But how can you find a better wish than an infinity of wishes? Well, this boy was named Buddha, and he said, “If I had one wish, I would wish that I was so content that I would never need another wish again.” And that wish won the wishing game.
That describes nirvana, enlightenment, that you are so content that you don’t want anything else. Most people in the world want an infinity of wishes, to be wealthy, to be powerful, but to be so content that you don’t want any more wishes, this is enlightenment.
Scheiβe
Three (Scheiße) Stories
I was attracted to study Buddhism because of the lightness and fluidity I felt after hearing and practicing its wisdom. This lightness, it seems, some people call “happiness.”
Who knew? I didn’t.
A great master, Ajahn Brahm, recently lead a retreat at Pagoda Phat Hue. This great master has many credentials: a degree in theoretical physics from Cambridge University, a scholarship to study at said university, one year teaching 16- and 17-year-olds, nine years studying with a renowned Theravada master, and his own monastery in Western Australia. But, it seems, his greatest credential is as translator.
He translates enlightenment as “the greatest happiness.”
And Buddhism is about happiness.
Happiness is about knowing what to choose, and too often, during our meal, we skip the happiness and eat the shit. Buddha said, all humans are born ignorant. Thus, we learn about shit – what it is, where to find it, and where to leave it – in order to be clear about happiness.
THE FUTURE OF BLOGGING
Greetings Blog Readers,
Following up on an impulse from Ajahn Brahm, we have decided to stop trying to guess what you want us to write about and instead just ASK YOU.
Blog enthusiasts (or enthusiasts-to-be) now is your chance to make your voices heard! What you would like to see in the future of Pagoda Phat Hue blogging? Teachings? Stories? Buddhist Theory? Bad Jokes?
Please comment below to let us know! -Thanks
Ajahn Brahm arrives
The Venerable Ajahn Brahm arrived in Frankfurt today. We happily greeted him in the airport and then got into the car to bring him back to the Pagoda. Along the way a very humour conversation ensued between the Venerable Ajahn and our littlest monk, 9 year old Hue Bao:
Hue Chuyen:Hue Bao, you should take a shower before you go to bed
Hue Bao:Why?
Hue Chuyen: Because you smell like smoke and you shouldn’t go to bed smelling like smoke
Hue Bao:Why?
Hue Chuyen:…..I don’t know
Ajahn Brahm: Because then you’ll go to sleep and dream of the fires of Hell
Hue Bao:Why?
Ajahn Brahm:Because you smell the smoke with the nose, the nose affects the brain, and you’ll dream of the fires of hell
Hue Bao: Why?
Ajahn Brahm:Well That’s cause and effect
Hue Bao:Why
Ajahn Brahm:Its just the way things are
Hue Bao:Why?
Ajahn Brahm:Why not?
Hue Bao:Why?
Ajahn Brahm:Why not?….. Why do you keep saying that?
Hue Bao:Why?
Ajahn Brahm:I asked you why!
Our Place In The World
There is so much going on these days. So much is happening in the news and on TV. There is much to see and do. Information is available about everything and anything that we could wish for. The Internet is making people famous in seconds. So many different kinds of ideas. SO many impulses. SO much stimulation.
It’s no wonder that we feel so restless. It’s no wonder that we can’t sit still to meditate. Its no wonder our sleep isn’t as deep as we would like. Its no wonder our minds are always somewhere else then the present moment. Its no wonder contentment always seems beyond our reach and we feel driven to keep doing more and more and more.
When you’re in the car, you’re in the car. When you’re in bed, you’re in bed. There is no-where else but right there where you are but the feeling is different. We get so angry when people cut us off or do something to make our drive a few seconds slower. We get so frustrated when we can’t fall asleep in bed. We want and we want now and if that doesn’t work out then we get upset about it.
Why are we doing this to ourselves? Because we are ignorant. We are ignorant about the causes of suffering and the causes of happiness. We mistake the unwholesome for the wholesome and lead ourselves the wrong way. This ability to quickly get what we want seems like the perfect way to live but does it actually work? Does our thirst ever become quenched or does it just jump to the next thing? Are we satisfied or do we just find the next feeling of unfulfillment and chase after it.
When we see the thirst as unquenchable and we see the world as ever changing, unreliable, and conditioned, then we really hit a wall. Where is there to go and what is there to do? Really. When we accept death as the only final outcome of this life. When we see it all moving and changing (coming together and breaking apart) with nothing remaining in the middle, what is there to do? Who is there to be? Where does the restlessness think it has to go? What really matters?
We have to look for ourselves.
Dependent Origination (an exercise)
In front of you there is a table, please touch it….
Put your hand on the table….
Feel the hardness of the table….
Now, look for yourself if the table is really hard or is it that your hand is soft?
Both.
Now, if a rock were put on the table, the rock would probably call the table “soft”, for the rock is much harder.
And, if a drop of water were to touch our hand, then it would probably call our hand “hard”, because the water is much softer.
The table is only hard relative to our soft hand. The hand is only soft in relation to the hard table.
Hard and soft only exist in relation to each other.
And so they would come into existence at the time same time, and would also leave existence together.
The exist only in codependency, as conditions for each other.
When there is hard, there is soft. Without soft, there is no hard.
In just this way, all things are dependently existent upon each other
This is also called selflessness, interbeing, emptiness, or Dhamma.
This is the way of all things.
Below the Surface
I attended the Zen 3 workshop this weekend. Having attended workshops through zen 3, I went into the seminar without any expectations. Even knowing that the theme of the workshop was getting in touch with our feelings - acknowledging them and accepting them- I still had the feeling that anything could happen. For me, the zen workshops are like looking into a dark pond. At first you see the things on top, a fallen leaf, a lily pad, your reflection. But then throughout the workshop, the water clears and you see something moving around. Is that a fish? an insect? just a ripple in the water?
Many things became clearer this weekend. For me, the most interesting was an exercise we did on needs. In groups of three, we were supposed to imagine the other two as our parents and tell them what we need from them. This might seem like an easy experience - mom, I need you to give me a hug. dad, I need you to be proud of me. Speaking from our minds, this could be simple enough. In the beginning of the exercise, each of us took a turn speaking from our minds and alot of it was critical “I need you to stop doing this, be more like that,etc.” but the feeling was disconnected.
The zen students representing our parents were instructed to remain stoic until they felt that we were speaking from our need feeling, and then they could react to us. Thay said only when you bring the feeling up do you have the opportunity to heal it. Only when we allow ourselves to feel our needs do we have the opportunity for them to be met, and to heal the feeling we have of not being able to get what we need.
Our group tried again. I admit I may have been the most mutinous of the three. I couldn’t bring up the need feeling. There was a vulnerability that came up when I got in touch with my need that I didn’t want to deal with. Sometimes I felt the need but when I went to speak to my ‘parent’, the need feeling disappeared and I found myself speaking from my mind yet again or censoring my needs so that instead of asking for what I needed, I was asking for what I thought I could get.
I know, in my life, my inability to recognize my needs has created a kind of resentment. I never allow myself to feel my need but yet I hold other people responsible and blame them for not giving me what I need. There is a feeling I don’t want to have. The feeling of openness and vulnerability. If I feel my need then I have to feel that other people can influence me - can give me what I need or not give me what I need. This lack of control makes me feel scared so to feel safe, I don’t feel my needs.
For years, I’ve been disconnecting from my needs - pushing the feeling ‘I need a hug’ down to the murkiest part of the pond. Every once in a while, I sensed it shifting around but the fear of needing something from someone else kept me from seeing it clearly.
It took the Zen 3 course to clear the water enough for me to say ‘Oh, that’s what that is!’ and a lot more intervention and help for me to be able to speak my need out loud, from the feeling. Honestly, it’s a weird feeling and I’m going to need to practice it alot before it comes naturally to me.
By Kelly
What is Buddhism?
Buddhism is actually really simple. There is a lot to practice, a lot to see, but in reality it’s simple. Buddhism basically comes down to 3 laws about reality that we must see and understand. We can call them “laws” because they are like the law of gravity for us here on Earth. These are very simple and observable descriptions of the nature of our world.
In the Pali language, these three laws are referred to as Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta.
To understand these laws, we can start by looking at Anatta, the composite nature of all things. It was many years ago that scientists first looked under the microscope and found that matter was composed of atomic and subatomic particles. Throughout the years, many scientists have even began making up theories about even smaller particles that make up everything. There has been a great deal in the news lately about a large atom smashing machine that has been built in Switzerland that will began searching for just these types of particles. Science knows that all things are made of smaller of smaller bits. It is also apparent to anyone who has watched the ocean waves or seen children leaving school that after things come together, they will also eventually separate. If we think this is not the truth then we can try and hold onto something forever. Whether it’s a feeling or thought, a flower or a loved one. We can keep things for a while, but eventually either it will pass away or you will. In both cases there will be a separation. This act of things coming together and then separating is called Anicca.
The word Anicca means that everything is in a constant state of flux and change. We can look out at the clouds in the sky or our children growing up to see that this is also true. Once again we can dive into the smallest level and see the atoms bouncing off each other, separating and reforming continuously. From big to small, everything we can see and experience is changing. A good example of this is when we eat our favorite meal. When we eat we can try to focus on the good taste we are trying to experience. Now, we should try as hard as we can to get that really good taste to stay in our mouths. After we’ve chewed a few times we will see that it inevitably starts to fade. It just won’t stay. The taste slips away again and again and we are always left wanting something else. Something more. This is our last truth, the truth of Dukkha.
Since we have already seen how all things are composite in nature, making them also impermanent, it is easy to see how nothing can fully satisfy us. There is simply nothing to hold onto. Nothing can always be there for us to give us this consistent comfort or security that we need and desire. This is the same reason why people drink or use drugs, watch television and play games, listen to music or have sex. If we had some sort of constant contentment then we wouldn’t need to spend our lives moving from one sense pleasure to the next. I remember when I was a child, my mother used to read me a book called “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie”. I think the mouse symbolized a child and it was meant for the children to see how the parents viewed their child’s neediness . In any case, the book went something like this:
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk.
If you give him the glass of milk, he’ll ask you for a straw.
When he’s done drinking the milk, he’ll ask you for a napkin.
Next, he will want to look in a mirror to see if he has gotten a milk mustache.
While looking in the mirror he’ll see he needs a haircut and he will ask for a pair of nail-clippers…
…And so on until eventually it comes full circle and the mouse wants a cookie again.
This restlessness to find some sort of fulfillment is the effect from the causes of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta. And in Buddhism, we can say that it helps to creates our grasping, the base of all of our suffering. In Pali, the word for grasping is Tanha. What that word actually means is “thirst”. Because there is no fulfillment to be found we are all constantly very, very thirsty. Always drinking from sense stimulation. But, like the fading taste of our favorite food, the stimularion fades and leaves us wanting more. This is how we get stuck in Samsara or the cycle of existence. We end up wandering the rounds of rebirth searching in vain for our contentment. Like the popular U2 song, each of us comes into this world again because “I still haven’t found, what I’m looking for…..”
This is why the practice of Buddhism becomes so important. Buddhist practice is actually more like a training process. The ultimate goal in Buddhism is to be free from suffering, our thirst. So once we know and see the truth then we must train our mind and feeling to act in accordance. We can notice how upset we get when something we cherish breaks or how miserable feels to be cold. We can observe how our feelings don’t accept the reality of the world. They are more like a small child, eager for pleasure and upset if there is pain. But with enough training our child will start to see how things really are and thirst begins to subside. We will see that there is no point in it. Then there is a letting go, which opens up into peace. With this peace in our hearts we will feel that there is no reason to chase after anything anymore. There will be nothing to do and nowhere to go. This is what can be called enlightenment or liberation. Liberated from the thirst and so liberated from the pull of the next rebirth. There is no reason to come back. This understanding and practice that leads to final liberation and the end of rebirth is then what we can all Buddhism.