Thursday, August 14, 2008

Mindful Speech

Paul Felton and Jill Bates joined the One Dharma group for meditation and discussion on Monday evening. It sounds like a very fruitful experience, because Paul sent me this lovely essay that he was inspired to write on Right Speech as a result of their group discussion. (On a related note, if this topic is of interest to you, you might also enjoy "Talk Like a Buddha," which appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Tricycle, and focuses both on mindful speech and the power of mindful listening.)

"Training in Right Speech"

Jill and I went to sit with the One Dharma group, where Lisa Ernst led a discussion on Right Speech, one component of the 8-fold path of Buddhism. It was a rich discussion, one that was going through my head as I reviewed my day before going to sleep. I was inspired to write down some of the more salient observations I was turning over in my mind, and to share them here.

The gist of Right Speech is to avoid using saying things that are harmful, aggressive or uncompassionate, and thus to avoid causing suffering and damage to individuals, human or otherwise, plus the effects of that radiating out into the environment. The positive aspect of Right Speech includes saying things that are helpful, supportive, kind, and joyful, and which create improvements in the environment.

The question arises: if it is our underlying nature to be peaceful, kind, and useful, and our aspiration is to communicate in ways that do not injure anyone, and to use our speech for beneficial purposes, what is the cause of our tendency to do just the opposite?

There seem to be two causes of improper speech. One is our confusion, springing from obscurations of our basic mind. We each have habits stemming from our conditioning, which result in our blind spots: we are not aware of how our speech comes off, and are bewildered by the results. If we do know that Right Speech is called for and fall short, then it is due to fear; we are protecting ourselves from the costs that speaking rightly may bring.

So all failures in Right Speech are due either to ignorance or cowardice, and both result in the same kind of karma. What can we do to correct this? It is not a simple matter of refraining, as we can do with something like refraining from intoxicants. Often we don’t realize what we are doing, or do not understand the source of our lack of courage.

We can develop skills in Right Speech in two ways. One is from the outside in: we follow rules of thumb. If we never comment about someone when they are not present, we avoid the possibility that we are spreading malicious gossip. There are exceptions to rules, but if we don’t allow exceptions, we won’t make errors. This develops the habit of being mindful of the effects of our speech.

The other way is from the inside out. Through mindfulness meditation, we become more and more familiar with the content of our mind, our habits and heretofore unconscious conditioning. Thus, in time, we better understand our biased point of view, and the conditioned causes of those biases. This not only helps in cases where we engage in wrong speech out of ignorance, but also in cases where we know better but lack the courage.

When we meditate, we become aware of our insecurity. We notice that our true nature is spacious and unconditioned, which gives us a feeling of groundlessness. We want to fill that groundless space with drama and entertainment. Thus, we wrap a boundary around the spaciousness, so we can define "me." My likes, my dislikes, my talents, my quirks, etc.

We sell ourselves on this trumped-up self, and dress it up in our lives. But our prajna, indestructible wisdom, is the still voice within that senses "something fishy" about this self, as Chöygam Trungpa described it. To soothe this gnawing doubt, we buttress this self further, putting things on our walls that reflect it, choose clothes and a car that magnifies it, and perform our style to convince everyone else. Then we are terrified about being found out. Our whole personality is wrong speech!

As we practice, we recognize the things we do to seek ground: we start to see through our self-deception about who we are. We get glimpses of our authenticity, and then see how we trump up a personality that we defend by exaggeration, spin, outright lies, and sometimes inappropriate silence. Mindfulness practice lets us see through our own charade, first with horror, and then with warmth and humor. We cease to be identified with the façade. And no longer being so attached to it, we gain courage.

We can combine both approaches. When we get angry, and want to raise our voice in indignation or aggression, we can "count to ten." This refraining gives the prajna we have developed, but which is still weak and intermittent, a chance to let us see the error we are about to commit. (See, sometimes conventional wisdom is dharmic wisdom!)

A very valuable extension of this one-the-spot refraining practice is to take part in a silent group meditation practice. This is offered on long retreats in retreat centers, but can also be easily arranged for one-day settings at local centers. It is just like group practice but without discussion, without chit-chat, or even the chance to promote our image by speaking words of wisdom. We just sit, walk, and have lunch and tea break, all in silence.

In that silence, just as in the silence on the cushion, we notice our urge to use speech to explain ourselves and enhance the impression we imagine we make on others. We notice when we want to put ourselves a notch above others, or have a judgment about someone else. We notice when we put ourselves below another, which is just another form of confirming our ego: "poor, underachieving me" is still solidifying "me." After a while, judgment drops away, and the difference between "me" and "other" dissolves. In this glimpse of egolessness, space is created for warmth, compassion, and joy to spontaneously emerge.

Without meditation, all we can do is follow rules, and train in concepts of what Right Speech is and isn’t. With mindfulness practice, we spontaneously begin to recognize ways we misuse speech. We notice our choice of dress. How we dress is a form of speech; it communicates a message about who we are and what we are doing. Are dressing pretentiously, overdone with designer outfits and bling? Aggressively, with power suits? Provocatively, with revealing cuts? Deceptively, with… well, you get the picture.

We can start our day with the right speech of dressing appropriately. We could dress sloppily, setting low expectations and giving ourselves permission to be lazy. We could choose something slightly more crisp than we feel, which inspires us to carry ourselves with dignity, and to speak precisely. This is telling the truth about our authentic selves and challenging ourselves to have the courage to speak frankly and compassionately, despite the fears that may tempt us to hide in our comfort zone. This is the beginning of spiritual warriorship. The Tibetans call it raising lungta, or windhorse, creating the conditions that inspire us to the next level of courageous behavior.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Helping by clicking

The most recent issue of Shambhala Sun has an excellent article by Thich Nhat Hanh titled "The World We Have," which includes some short verses, or "gathas," to help us practice mindfulness throughout our day. This gatha about looking at your empty bowl has really resonated with me lately:

"My bowl, empty now,
will soon be filled with precious food.
Beings all over the Earth are struggling to live.
How fortunate we are to have enough to eat."

He says: "When many people on this Earth look at an empty bowl, they know their bowl will continue to be empty for a long time. So the empty bowl is as important to honor as the full bowl. We are grateful to have food to eat, and with this gatha, we can vow to find ways to help those who are hungry."

There are many ways we can help, and while you're online you might want to check out some of these internet options:

A friend recently turned me on to the Free Rice website, which is an online vocabulary game that donates rice to the U.N. World Food Programme each time you choose the correct definition to a word. Feed your brain while helping (in a small way) to feed others. (Warning: this can get addictive!)

Another great website along similar lines is the Hunger Site. While you're out web surfing, give it a click and check out the other causes you can support there as well.

You might also consider checking out The ONE's website about global poverty. (I learned about this campaign through the powerful and lovely movie, The Girl in the Cafe with Bill Nighy.)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Some great quotes

Here are a couple of recent Tricycle Daily Dharma quotes I've really enjoyed:

"Two Sides of a Coin that does not Exist"

All things reflect, interpenetrate, and indeed contain all other things. This is the organic nature of the universe, and is called mutual interdependence in classical Buddhism. Affinity and coincidence are its surface manifestations . . . the other is no other than myself. This is the foundation of the precepts and the inspiration for genuine human behavior.

To acknowledge one's own dark side with a smile and to acknowledge the shining side of the other person with a smile--this is practice. Keeping the shining side of one's self always in view and holding fast to the dark side of the other--this is not practice.

--Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words

"Yes, Really"

Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others. That seems so simple--except when we substitute for real practice some idea that we should be different or better than we are, or that our lives should be different from the way they are. When we substitute our ideas about what should be (such notions as "I should not be angry or confused or unwilling") for our life as it truly is, then we're off base and our practice is barren.

-- Charlotte Joko Beck, in Everyday Zen from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

Turning the Mind into an Ally

Here's a wonderful program coming up at the 12South Dharma Center:

Turning the Mind into an Ally
Saturday, August 9th, from 10am-5pm
Directed by Chuck Whetsell, founder of Birmingham Shambhala Center

Would you like to have a more stable mind? One that helps you accomplish your goals, rather than one that acts like it's under the influence of a randomly programmed remote control? For thousands of years people in eastern countries have stabilized their minds through the practice of calm abiding. In this one day workshop, all the tools necessary to begin and sustain a meditation practice in the tradition of calm abiding will be presented.

The curriculum for this class is drawn from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche's best selling book, Turning the Mind into an Ally. In addition to receiving complete and precise instructions for the practice of mindfulness meditation, participants will learn methods for dealing with obstacles to meditation that arise during practice sessions as well as those that prevent us from getting to the meditation cushion at all. This day long training is suitable for first time meditators. It is also recommended for more experienced practitioners who wish to establish a daily practice and to deepen their understanding of mindfulness practice. Chuck has been teaching meditation for 25 years, and is himself an ally of Shambhala Nashville.

The suggested donation is $50, which includes lunch at the center. No one will be turned away for economic reasons. For more information, call Paul or Jill at 615.262-2895.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Pause practice

I really enjoyed Pema Chodron's article "Waking Up to Your World" in the new Shambhala Sun. Here's a taste:

"Find a way to slow down. Find a way to relax. Find a way to relax your mind and do it often, very, very often, throughout the day continuously, not just when you are hooked but all the time. At its root, being caught up in discursive thought, continually self-involved with discursive plans, worries, and so forth, is attachment to ourselves. It is the surface manifestation of ego-clinging.

"So, what is the most important thing to do with each day? With each morning, each afternoon, each evening? It is to leave a gap. It doesn't matter whether you are practicing meditation or working, there is an underlying continuity. These gaps, these punctuation, are like poking holes in the clouds, poking holes in the cocoon. And these gaps can extend so that they can permeate your entire life, so that the continuity is no longer the continuity of discursive thought but rather one continual gap.

"But before we get carried away by the idea of continual gap, let's be realistic about where we actually are. We must first remind ourselves what the most important thing is. Then we have to learn how to balance that with the fact that we have jobs to do, which can cause us to become submerged in the details of our lives and caught in the cocoon of our patterns all day long. So find ways to create the gap frequently, often, continuously. In that way, you allow yourself the space to connect with the sky and the ocean and the birds and the land and the blessings of the sacred world."

Don't forget about the 12South Dharma Center Open House tomorrow from 1-4pm! Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Bhutanese Artist Showing in Nashville

"Signs: Classical to Contemporary" features traditional, transitional, and contemporary artwork by Phurba Namgay. Opening reception on Sat, Jul 19 at the Rymer Gallery. 233 5th Avenue North. 752-6030. Free. 6 - 9 pm. Exhibit on display through July 26.

Phurba Namgay was born in 1963 in the village of Chendipji in Trongsa. When he was a child, as part of his preparation to become a monk, he studied Tibetan writing (Choki), “dharma” and “ritual” under watchful eye of his uncle, who happened to be one of Bhutan’s Lama’s.Exhibiting unusual talent for drawing, at the age of 13 he entered formal studies of traditional Bhutanese painting, at the Institute for Zorig Chusum, the government’s school of traditional arts in Thimphu. Zorig Chusum means “13 Arts”.

After eight years of study Namgay gained an apprenticeship, which eventually led him to become a master painter. The next eight years of Namgay’s life were spent working on commissions of murals temples and monasteries throughout the kingdom of Bhutan. Examples of his work can be seen in Punakha Dzong and Paro Tsang Chuiko.

Namgay returned to the Institute for Zorig Chusum in 1990 to as an instructor of thanka painting and rimo, or drawing. Artworks produced by Namgay represent some of the best examples of contemporary Bhutanese thankas and mandelas available. Namgay specializes in commissions employing hand mixed natural pigments, mineral paints and 24k gold. Phurba Namgay uses the traditional methods of thanka painting that include making his own canvas, paints and brushes of natural animal hairs.

Mahayana Buddhism permeates all of Phurba Namgay’s works as well as his life. His paintings are imbued with power and a blessing of spiritual integrity.

Lopen Phurba Namgay’s thankas grace temples and art collections all over the world. He lives in Thimphu and Nashville and has shown his work at the Shambhala Mountain Center and the Boulder Shambhala Center.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Jim Hartz is back!

Please join us for meditation and a talk by Jim Hartz of Clarksville at our new location this Sunday, July 13 at 10am. Jim has just returned from a trip to centers out west visiting friends there. He stopped at Boulder and had a friutful conversation with Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, whom he has know since the early days with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

Jim will present a personal account of his circuitous route to the dharma. While he disclaims its being a dharma talk, it is really a dharma talk about the nature of path. We all have our unique stories, and we all experience our path uniquely but inevitably, due to the nature of mind, for which we can be grateful and confident.

Upcoming Shambhala events at the center:

July 27: Next Meditation Group

August 9: "Turning the mind into an Ally" One-day meditation seminar with Chuck Whetsell. founder of the Birmingham Shambhala Center. Invaluable for new meditators and seasoned Shambhala graduates alike.

October 4: Fifth Nashville Buddhist Festival, First Church Unity, 5125 Franklin Road. Mark your Calendars now! http://www.nashvillebuddhistfestival.com/index.html

Late October: Shambhala Level I Weekend, TBA