The Best Buddhist Writing 2010 - Melvin McLeod [132]
Daniel Asa Rose, “Seth and Willie.” From the December 2009 issue of the Shambhala Sun.
Daniel Doen Silberberg, “Wonderland: The Zen of Alice.” From Wonderland: The Zen of Alice by Daniel Doen Silberberg. Copyright © 2009 by Daniel Doen Silberberg. With permission from Parallax Press. www.parallax.org.
Steve Silberman, “Happily Ever After.” From the May 2009 issue of the Shambhala Sun.
Joan Sutherland, “The Whole Way.” From the February 2009 issue of the Shambhala Sun.
John Tarrant, “In the Wild Places.” From the Winter 2009 issue of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.
Hannah Tennant-Moore, “By Song, Not Album.” From the August 2009 issue of The Sun.
Anam Thubten, “No Self, No Problem.” From No Self, No Problem by Anam Thubten. © 2009 by Anam Thubten. Used by permission of Snow Lion Publications.
Jaimal Yogis, “Saltwater Buddha.” From Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea by Jaimal Yogis. © 2009 by Jaimal Yogis. Reprinted with permission from Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144 USA. www.wisdompubs.org.
Excerpt from Rebel Buddha by Dzogchen Ponlop
eISBN 978-0-8348-2286-3
introduction
BORN TO BE FREE
REBEL BUDDHA is an exploration of what it means to be free and how we can become free. Although we may vote for the head of our government, marry for love, and worship the divine or mundane powers of our choice, most of us don’t really feel free in our day-to-day life. When we talk about freedom, we’re also talking about its opposite—bondage, lack of independence, being subject to the control of something or someone outside ourselves. No one likes it, and when we find ourselves in that situation, we quickly start trying to figure out a way around it. Any restriction on our “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” arouses fierce resistance. When our happiness and freedom are at stake, we become capable of transforming ourselves into rebels.
There’s something of a rebellious streak in all of us. Usually it’s dormant, but sometimes it’s provoked into expression. If nurtured and guided with wisdom and compassion, it can be a positive force that frees us from fear and ignorance. However, if it manifests neurotically, full of resentment, anger, and self-interest, then it can turn into a destructive force that harms us as much as it does others. When we’re confronted with a threat to our freedom or independence and that rebellious streak surfaces, we can choose how to react and channel that energy. It can become part of a contemplative process that leads to insight. Sometimes that insight comes quickly, but it can also take years.
According to the Buddha, our freedom is never in question. We’re born free. The true nature of the mind is enlightened wisdom and compassion. Our mind is always brilliantly awake and aware. Nevertheless, we’re often plagued by painful thoughts and the emotional unrest that goes with them. We live in states of confusion and fear from which we see no escape. Our problem is that we don’t see who we truly are at the deepest level. We don’t recognize the power of our enlightened nature. We trust the reality we see before our eyes and accept its validity until something comes along—an illness, accident, or disappointment—to disillusion us. Then we might be ready to question our beliefs and start searching for a more meaningful and lasting truth. Once we take that step, we’re starting off on the road to freedom.
On this road, what we free ourselves from is illusion, and what frees us from illusion is the discovery of truth. To make that discovery, we need to enlist the powerful intelligence of our own awake mind and turn it toward our goal of exposing, opposing, and overcoming deception. That is the essence and mission of “rebel buddha”: to free us from the illusions we create by ourselves, about ourselves, and from those that masquerade