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By Root 1039 0

business of living. If this ever happens to you—and it happens to many of us at one time or another—self-inquiry needs to be directed at ways in which you have abandoned or lost touch with yourself. When you’re working on depression and other difficult life situations, it’s important to summon your faith, fall back on soulful inner practices, and go for refuge where you can find spiritual solace. Try to remember to have faith in your own Buddha-nature, your own inner light, and seek guidance from a reliable teacher or Bodhisattva-like mentor who inspires spiritual wisdom and energy. Go for refuge to the Dharma by staying true to yourself and your sense that you are on the right path. And look to your friends and your sangha, or spiritual group of any denomination, for support.

When you’re feeling low or lethargic, place some trust in physical activity to mobilize your energy. Practice yoga, tai-chi, breathing exercises, and self-inquiry. Dynamic meditation gives back far more energy than it takes. It’s very common for someone to arrive at a meditation center exhausted and enervated. Yet if this person continues through the entire session, almost inevitably he or she will leave feeling energized. Even when we are heartbroken, a meditation retreat can help us to take heart.

In my experience, however, I’ve also seen that people who are in the depths of despair may not benefit from the quieting effects of simple sitting meditation. Frequently what they need most is to get their energy moving and be less turned in upon themselves. So if you’re in the middle of a depression, you may want to try more active spiritual activities like chanting, breathing, singing, praying, or yoga. Meditative arts like gardening, calligraphy, tea ceremony, or martial arts are often very helpful activities. Even vigorous walking, jogging, or dancing can be beneficial. Also, remember that there is nothing in Buddhism that is incompatible with psychotherapy, and I often recommend it. We have to remember not to use meditation as a spiritual bypass, to avoid our psychological and daily life issues.

And don’t forget to find spiritual strength by reaching out to a spiritual community or some kind of support group.

A meditation weekend always leaves me raring to go. Although meditation seems to take time and energy, it gives us back even more time, as well as a sense of spacious ease and clarity. The same can be said for the spiritual life. You truly do get back much more than you give. This is something you can see for yourself.

MY GREATEST DHARMA EFFORT

AND CHALLENGE

Often when we see photographs of lamas and monks in Tibet, they are pictured in their maroon robes prostrating themselves on the ground. What they are doing is a foundational practice of Tibetan Buddhism called Nöndro. Westerners who are drawn to study with Tibetan lamas quickly discover the level of effort and energy required for meditational practice in the Tibetan tradition. Monks, nuns, and lay yogis all complete these foundational practices, sometimes several or even many times. Consider the discipline these preliminary practices require. The Nöndro includes: 111,000 full bodily bows or prostrations, performed while chanting the three-fold Refuge Prayer; 111,000 Bodhicitta and compassion prayers; 111,000 of Vajrasattva’s hundred-syllable purification mantras; 111,000 offerings of the universe in the form of a man-dala to the enlightened ones, to accumulate good karma and cultivate generosity and nonattachment; 111,000 guru yoga practices, which merge one’s dualistic, limited mind with the infinite Buddha-mind embodied in the form of the Buddha-lama. In Tibet, the word “boom” is used to refer to this 100,000+ number of meritorious practices. Any time someone does more than a 100,000+ prayers or mantras, it is called a boom.

My own elderly teachers, like the Dzogchen masters Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and others performed these foundation practices every morning, even into their seventies and eighties, typically including at least a few physical bows to the floor. Almost