Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [73]
The aphorisms and slogans that make up this training are generally considered part of the arcane mystical teachings of Tibet. But as you read them, you can see that they are completely practical and filled with common sense. Cultivating and adapting these truly purified intentions are part of the innate wisdom that we all carry within us. The challenge is to gradually integrate them into your entire being—body, speech, and mind—and to live them more and more through what you do.
Just as a bad workman blames his tools, so a weak Bodhisattva is often tempted to blame difficult life circumstances for his shortcomings. These slogans have helped me keep the ideals and values of bodhicitta in mind whenever life seems to be conspiring to push or drag me off center. We all regularly confront situations that challenge our ability to feel universal love and compassion: Think traffic jams, world chaos, messy roommates, world hunger, partners who don’t want to compromise, political chaos. Whether you are thinking about a cruel dictator, a demanding employer, a hyperactive child, or an obstinate mate or ex-lover, it’s not always easy to live out of the heart of bodhicitta. Here are some of the slogans I have found particularly useful:
“Regard Everything as Though It Is a Dream”
The original source text says, “Consider how all phenomena are like dreams, and examine the nature of unborn awareness.” Things are not what they seem to be; don’t be deceived by appearances. The alchemical secret embodied in Buddhism is that nothing is absolutely real; everything is ephemeral, ungovernable, and hollow. Everything is relative and depends upon the mind and its projections and interpretation. How we relate to things makes all the difference. This does not mean that everything exists solely in the mind, as some idealists would have it. It does not mean that nothing matters at all, as nihilists suggest. Nor does it mean that all things are merely projections of mind—for one might just as well then posit that the mind is a projection of all things.
What it means is that everything is impermanent, interdependent, as malleable as soft plastic. Reality is not fixed. Alter the global situation, atmosphere, or temperature, and all local events are affected. Transform any aspect or part of the universal mandala, the cosmic hologram, and all aspects are affected. Presence of mind, or innate awareness, is the pivot upon which all things turn. The genuine master of mindfulness, who stands nowhere, assumes no position or stance and fits in anywhere—he or she can move the universe. The lever of awareness is in his or her hand, and the fulcrum is nowhere else but the present moment.
Working with mind and its essential nature, rather than struggling to alter mere circumstantial conditions, reveals reality—both as it is and as it seemingly appears. Penetrating insight reveals that the responsibility for what we experience lies nowhere but within ourselves, and that the steering wheel of our own lives and evolution is in our hands. Wouldn’t it be irresponsible to overlook this fact and continue uncontrollably thrashing around, trashing others as well as ourselves? Check and see: Are your hands on the steering wheel of your life, or are they holding the rearview mirror while you wonder why you are careening around in such an unintended fashion?
“Put the Responsibility Where It Belongs”
This statement reflects an essential bottom-line spiritual position: By clinging to the ego and a self-centered notion of I, me, and mine, each of us sets the stage for our own difficulties. We are all interconnected and interdependent. Thinking about others represents enlightened self-interest; wrong-headed self-cherishing is the root of all our problems. Nothing else can be blamed: When you are selfish and self-involved,