Reflections on Carefulness

In chapter four, Shantideva is trying to encourage us to press on toward spiritual enlightenment.  This chapter is very challenging because it is filled with imagery of hell and talk of life in the lower realms.  But what is really happening here?

To me, I view Buddhism as a very psychological religion.  So what strikes me as a part of the overall message of this chapter is that in the world that we inhabit it is impossible to maintain the current state of yourself without changing.  Because everything is constantly changing if you are not working to improve, than samsara is pulling you down into lower states of consciousness.  If you are not actively striving to achieve greater love, forgiveness, patience and other spiritual virtues then the gravity, so to speak, of samsara will pull you down into more negative or selfish states of being.  Therefore, the best way to use this life is to be proactive in your spiritual life and take action while you have the freedom and inclination to do so.  If you wait for tomorrow to take up serious spiritual practice you will inevitably end up in less ideal circumstances in the future. You may have less opportunity or interest in pursuing spiritual development.

Shantideva implores us in this chapter to seize this moment and not to give up this chance, which is so rare and precious.  After all, circumstances may seize it from you at any time.  Shantideva points out that this is an opportunity that we have not seized before (from his perspective, even in our many past lives).  Obviously relatively few are enlightened Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, even though authentic teachers have undoubtably crossed our paths at some point in the past.  It is for these reasons that we should earnestly take up the challenge and push ourselves to learn what we can, deeply and sincerely, in the here and now.

Can We Give Up Our Anger?

We have been questioning the value of anger a lot the past couple of weeks.  I found this good talk about this same topic on the Dalai Lama's website, and so I am posting it here for you to read, reflect and comment on.  He seems to come to a similiar conclusion as our group did, but his analysis is clear and well explained as always.  Give it a read and let us know your reaction in comments...or follow the link above and read the much longer version. 

How can we start

We should begin by removing the greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred. As we all know, these are extremely powerful emotions and they can overwhelm our entire mind. Nevertheless, they can be controlled. If, however, they are not, these negative emotions will plague us - with no extra effort on their part! - and impede our quest for the happiness of a loving mind.

So as a start, it is useful to investigate whether or not anger is of value. Sometimes, when we are discouraged by a difficult situation, anger does seem helpful, appearing to bring with it more energy, confidence and determination.

Here, though, we must examine our mental state carefully. While it is true that anger brings extra energy, if we explore the nature of this energy, we discover that it is blind: we cannot be sure whether its result will be positive or negative. This is because anger eclipses the best part of our brain: its rationality. So the energy of anger is almost always unreliable. It can cause an immense amount of destructive, unfortunate behavior. Moreover, if anger increases to the extreme, one becomes like a mad person, acting in ways that are as damaging to oneself as they are to others.

It is possible, however, to develop an equally forceful but far more controlled energy with which to handle difficult situations.

This controlled energy comes not only from a compassionate attitude, but also from reason and patience. These are the most powerful antidotes to anger. Unfortunately, many people misjudge these qualities as signs of weakness. I believe the opposite to be true: that they are the true signs of inner strength. Compassion is by nature gentle, peaceful and soft, but it is very powerful. It is those who easily lose their patience who are insecure and unstable. Thus, to me, the arousal of anger is a direct sign of weakness.

So, when a problem first arises, try to remain humble and maintain a sincere attitude and be concerned that the outcome is fair. Of course, others may try to take advantage of you, and if your remaining detached only encourages unjust aggression, adopt a strong stand, This, however, should be done with compassion, and if it is necessary to express your views and take strong countermeasures, do so without anger or ill-intent.
You should realize that even though your opponents appear to be harming you, in the end, their destructive activity will damage only themselves. In order to check your own selfish impulse to retaliate, you should recall your desire to practice compassion and assume responsibility for helping prevent the other person from suffering the consequences of his or her acts.

Thus, because the measures you employ have been calmly chosen, they will be more effective, more accurate and more forceful. Retaliation based on the blind energy of anger seldom hits the target.

Internalizing the Qualities of Virtue

In our discussion last week, several people in the group said that refraining from judging sinners was not a huge challenge.  The real challenge is staying focused on your own path- your own quest for enlightenment and spiritual growth.  This is a wise response and a good practice in dealing with the challenge of judging other people who commit harmful acts.  As Bob Thompson often states in his sermons we cannot change the world without changing ourselves first.

However, a criticism of Buddhists is excessive self centeredness and focusing on your own practice and spiritual development.  For a way that decries the self as empty, there sure is a lot of focusing on the self in Buddhism!

That being said, I have always thought that a critical way to engage in social action (or more ambitiously, to liberate all sentient beings from their suffering!) we need to progress and evolve spiritually in order to be effective actors.  As we understand and internalize more about how the world actually is we naturally display more positive and useful qualities.  As we realize the truth of interdependence we cannot continue to idly harm our planet or our neighbors, because our expanding awareness prevents us from doing that.  And as our compassion grows we will find it impossible to sit on the sidelines when others are mistreated or when injustices occur that we can do something about.  But we will do so hopefully with a thorough understanding of the situation and with a strategy that will remedy the true problem and not just replace the problem with another one.

There is then an argument to be made that working on yourself and your own spiritual path to enlightenment is working on the problems of the world but in a humble and subtle way.  A person who truly internalizes spiritual values and the changes that need to happen in society will just naturally live and express them.  They will also do it better and with less effort than those who force themselves to follow a rigid code of ethics. 

The Way of the Bodhisattva - First Post

Last week in Buddhist discussion group a number of good points were touched upon.  I wanted to post them here so that people can follow along and participate with the conversation even if they missed group.

We revisited the introduction of the Way of the Bodhisattva because of a question Andy had.  The text explained that Shantideva's compassion is so expansive that he even wants to empty the hells of its denizens to liberate those beings from their very intense suffering.  This raises the question: What about justice?  Are not the punished there for a reason?  After all, they are the child abusers, the murders and the perpetrators of great injustices, but in Shantideva's worldview this is irrelevant.  Whether they did something to arrive in hell or not, they are suffering and thus are suitable objects for the aspiring Boddhisattva's goal of compassion.  

This point of discussion really gets to the heart of the matter.  The intro goes on to say that the doctrine of karma does not allow for any completely innocent victims.  This begs the question what did the victims do in their past or current lives to be in this place and time on the receiving end of injustice or violation? 

This is a challenging question to think about.  For me personally, I can't take things that far.  For me Buddhism is a psychological religion designed to point my mind in the appropriate direction for growth and enlightenment.  So in this context, what I learn from Shantideva is how to make people who are guilty of even the highest crimes people whose motivations and circumstances I can try to understand. This helps me find compassion and forgiveness.  I am made aware that my habit of being judgmental is a barrier to compassion and probably also an improper understanding of the situation.  When I am outside a situation I can easily side with the victim and judge another person as evil, bad, selfish or whatever.  But I believe that in Buddhist thought there is not really very much room for this judgement.  As all thing arise because of causes and conditions, to use the Buddhist terminology, can I be so high and mighty to not realize that I could be the victim of a terrible crime or also possibly the perpetrator? 

We like to sit on the outside and judge that we would never be involved in such things. I believe this is a very arrogant stance, but one that I often take without thinking.... are we so different from other people, that if we endured their life's circumstances, would we handle it so much better?  The lesson I take from Shatideva wanting to indescrimanetly empty the hells is that I will get closer to wisdom by focusing on understanding rather than indulging in judgment.