Randomness is one of the most helpful and illuminating elements of life. Gregory Bateson commented that within the holy of holies is a random number table.
The I Ching is one example. It is a book that offers thoughts based on numbers generated in various ways, and additional thoughts on those numbers changing their character. The system is viewed different ways. It may be that the numbers are reflections of the moment and the situation. It may be that the numbers are random, and it is that randomness that makes the thoughts most valuable, given that whatever path is taken, it is changing as we plan and step. Those plans and steps are good but temporary. As physics finds with quanta, or as Shunryu Suzuki said, “It is so, but it is not always so.”
Randomness can be used with any text, not just the I Ching. A cousin of random numbers is bibliomancy, in which a page and passage on that page in a book are randomly selected for advice.
I have used random numbers to explore texts from many traditions; the Tanakh/Hebrew Bible contains 929 chapters, for example. Today I applied it to the Dhammapada, considered the most accessible and most widely-read summary of the Buddha’s teachings. It contains 423 verses. The number generated was 3:
“He abused me, attacked me, Defeated me, robbed me!” For those carrying on like this, Hatred does not end.
“She abused me, attacked me, Defeated me, robbed me!” For those not carrying on like this, Hatred ends.
Dhammapada, Chapter 1 – Dichotomies, translated by Gil Fronsdal
We are not used to staying in the present but there is nowhere else to be. The past has gone and the future is not yet here. It is that simple: only now exists. The present cannot be controlled. If we hold this moment back, it becomes the past. If we try to make the moment last, we are sending it into the future.
All meditation methods have the same purpose: to keep us in the present and to introduce us to the mind. We are not trying to stop our thoughts but to feel less trapped by them. The earlier we can catch ourselves from falling in with habitual patterns and getting entangled the better, and one of the most dependable techniques for preventing this is awareness of the breath.
Usually we breathe without taking any notice but in this technique we watch the breath, following it as it flows in and out of the body. We keep calm. We are not trying to accomplish anything. We just allow the mind to use the breath to settle. We do not have to supervise our senses or our thoughts. If something distracts or interrupts us, we let it pass. Staying mildly aware of our breath, we observe it without getting too absorbed by it.
Meditation is like taking a holiday. We have permission to give up planning and worrying. We are off duty. It is time to relax and slow down. Too much effort with our practice makes us tight and that is no use, but allowing the mind to go completely flat is not the answer either. If we are not alert, we will fall asleep or our attention will wander without us knowing it. We are trying to find a balance, neither too tense nor too sluggish.
When we are not wound up or straying between the past and the future, the meditation gradually brings us into the present moment—grounded in our body.
“We can’t tailor the world to suit ourselves, or force it to fit into our vision of things. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aspire to make things better.” Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
Point Three: Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening
We now come to the instructions on how to train our minds amid the unfavorable and unwanted circumstances of our lives. We have been born into an imperfect world, characterized by unpredictability and adversity, as finite human beings that have foibles, make mistakes, get confused, and think irrationally. There is much to contend with, and our ability to prevent or circumvent difficulty is quite limited. We aren’t omnipotent beings, and while we try to protect ourselves and maintain order in our lives, we simply don’t have the ability to safeguard ourselves from its disasters….
We can’t tailor the world to suit ourselves, or force it to fit into our vision of things. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aspire to make things better. The bodhisattva ideal specifically recommends trying to improve our world to the best of our ability, but that ideal is based on a realistic recognition that the world is imperfect and likely to remain that way. Things may sometimes work a little better, sometimes a little worse, but so long as there is ignorance, hatred, jealousy, pride, and selfishness, we will all be living in a world that is socially and politically imperfect….
Sometimes things just happen, and there may be nothing we can do to change that, but we can control our responses to events. We don’t have to despair in the face of disaster. We can either continue to respond in the way we’ve always done and get progressively worse, or we can turn things around and use our misfortune to aid our spiritual growth. For example, if we suffer from illness, we should not allow despondency to get the better of us if our recovery is slow. Despite seeing the best doctors and receiving the best medication, we should accept our situation with courage and fortitude and use it to train our minds to be more accommodating and understanding. No matter what situation we encounter, we can strengthen our minds by incorporating it into our spiritual journey.
“We can’t tailor the world to suit ourselves, or force it to fit into our vision of things. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aspire to make things better.” Traleg Kyabgon
The 59 slogans of lojong mind training are divided into Seven Points.
Point Three: Transforming Adversity into the Path of Awakening
We now come to the instructions on how to train our minds amid the unfavorable and unwanted circumstances of our lives. We have been born into an imperfect world, characterized by unpredictability and adversity, as finite human beings that have foibles, make mistakes, get confused, and think irrationally. There is much to contend with, and our ability to prevent or circumvent difficulty is quite limited. We aren’t omnipotent beings, and while we try to protect ourselves and maintain order in our lives, we simply don’t have the ability to safeguard ourselves from its disasters.
It is self-evident that the natural world doesn’t behave in a predictable way or do our bidding. We can see this in the recent examples of the Indian Ocean tsunami and the hurricane that decimated New Orleans. Natural disasters have occurred repeatedly in the past and are likely to continue to do so in the future. Millions of people have lost their lives, are losing their lives, and will lose their lives to disease: the typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and bubonic plagues of the past; the HIV epidemic of the present; and so on. Even at a personal level, many things go awry, and our efforts to complete projects are constantly thwarted and disrupted by sickness, mental distress, and all kinds of deception and mistreatment by others.
Adverse circumstances and situations are an integral part of conditioned existence. They tend to arise as sudden interruptions, so we shouldn’t be surprised that natural calamities and upheavals occur in both our private and our public lives. Buddhists do not believe in divine authorship or omnipotent governance of any kind; things just happen when the proper conditions and circumstances come together….
We can’t tailor the world to suit ourselves, or force it to fit into our vision of things. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aspire to make things better. The bodhisattva ideal specifically recommends trying to improve our world to the best of our ability, but that ideal is based on a realistic recognition that the world is imperfect and likely to remain that way. Things may sometimes work a little better, sometimes a little worse, but so long as there is ignorance, hatred, jealousy, pride, and selfishness, we will all be living in a world that is socially and politically imperfect….
If things are interdependent, as Buddhists say, we can never expect to protect ourselves against unexpected occurrences, because there is no real order to existence apart from the regularity of certain natural processes. The fact that anything and everything can and does happen would then come as no real surprise to us. The question then becomes not so much why these things happen, but what we can do about them once they do. We cannot control the environment in any strict sense, so we must try to change our attitude and see things in a different light. Only then will we be able to take full advantage of our situation, even if it happens to be a bad one. While it often seems there is nothing we can do in the face of insurmountable obstacles, the lojong teachings tell us this is not true. The imperfect world can be an opportunity for awakening rather than an obstacle to our goals.
Sometimes things just happen, and there may be nothing we can do to change that, but we can control our responses to events. We don’t have to despair in the face of disaster. We can either continue to respond in the way we’ve always done and get progressively worse, or we can turn things around and use our misfortune to aid our spiritual growth. For example, if we suffer from illness, we should not allow despondency to get the better of us if our recovery is slow. Despite seeing the best doctors and receiving the best medication, we should accept our situation with courage and fortitude and use it to train our minds to be more accommodating and understanding. No matter what situation we encounter, we can strengthen our minds by incorporating it into our spiritual journey….
We grow more quickly if we are open to working with difficulties rather than constantly running away from them. The lojong teachings say that when we harden ourselves to suffering, we only become more susceptible to it. The more harsh or cruel we are toward others, the more vulnerable we become to irritation or anger that is directed at us. Contrary to our instincts, it is by learning to become more open to others and our world that we grow stronger and more resilient. It is our own choice how we respond to others. We can capitulate to the entrenched habits and inner compulsions deeply ingrained in our basic consciousness, or we can recognize the limitations of our situation and apply a considered approach. Our conditioned samsaric minds will always compel us to focus on what we can’t control rather than questioning whether we should respond at all. However, once we recognize the mechanical way in which our ego always reacts, it becomes possible to reverse that process.
The great strength of the lojong teachings is the idea that we can train our minds to turn these unfavorable circumstances around and make them work to our advantage. The main criterion is that we never give up in the face of adversity, no matter what kind of world we are confronted with at the personal or political level. When we think there is nothing we can do, we realize there is something we can do, and we see that this “something” is actually quite tremendous.
Whatever your area of study and learning—not just religion, but science, business, arts, etc.—there are those who you want to learn from and those who want to teach you. Sometimes individually, sometimes institutionally.
You may keep in mind two Buddhist principles that apply universally: skillful means and testing teachings.
Skillful or expedient means—known in Sanskrit as upaya—suggests that at any point in a life, under any particular circumstances, one method of learning may be appropriate for an individual, but at another point under different circumstances, another method may be more appropriate.
Buddha was also very specific about how an individual can choose methods and teachings. In a sutra attributed to Buddha, he recommended testing teachings, and not simply accepting teachings from any teacher—not even himself:
Don’t accept what you hear by report, and don’t accept mere tradition. Don’t jump to conclusions based on assumptions. Don’t accept a statement just because it is found in scriptures, or on the basis of general acceptance, or because it is what your teacher says. After examination, only believe and act upon what you yourself have tested and found reasonable. —Kalama Sutta
The year 2024 presented challenges. The new year will too.
Some of the challenges were and will be individual and personal, some shared and public.
In the past year, I thought more and more about compassion. For a while I bemoaned what I perceived to be a lack of compassion on the part of other people, lots of other people. But late in the year, I began to see that cultivating compassion could only begin with me. Fortunately, I discovered a thousand-year-old Buddhist practice known as lojong, aimed at doing just that.
One of the many points of the practice concerns how to deal with adversity, including enemies. Many are familiar with the suggestion of Jesus to “love your enemies.” This goes one stop further, with the suggestion “Be grateful to everyone.” Everyone, including those who do harm.
“Be grateful to everyone.”
This is a very profound statement. One of our primary tasks in this training is to get rid of anger and hatred. If we disperse these emotions, a great deal of suffering will vanish along with them. When we feel grateful, it breaks down anger and we cannot continue to feel hate. That is why this slogan is so effective. It is not difficult to be relaxed and forgiving when conditions are harmonious. However when things go wrong and we feel abused or under stress, we tend to be hostile. Dwelling on our hurt stirs up our aversion and the whole experience becomes totally negative. This can be avoided if we remember the positive potential in the situation.
The adversities that other people bring us are gifts, not betrayals. Disappointments try our patience and compassion. If our lives are completely sheltered and blessed, we have no friction to use as raw material in our practice. We will never conquer our ego if we are spared from every single upset and provocation. Atisha was known to travel with an attendant who was terribly bad-tempered. The man was irritable and very rude to everyone. People could not understand why a kind and wise teacher like Atisha permitted this nasty man to accompany him on his travels and they asked him how he put up with it. Atisha answered that the man was his “patience tester” and very precious to him.
Our efforts to generate compassion are always in connection with other people and our progress depends on these relationships. The people we live and work with and who share our lives are the sentient beings for whom we seek enlightenment. They are also the means of acquiring wisdom and patience on the way to enlightenment. Rather than feeling insulted or victimized by those who have been unkind to us, we bear the discomfort and feel thankful towards it.
Suffering so often comes from not being able to find the good in things and being critical. If we can be positive about whatever comes, we cling less to the world and are less wounded by bad experiences.
Aside from whatever personal situations arise, it is certain that in 2025 many people will be affected, frustrated, angry or outraged by developments in public life. It will be difficult to treat the people responsible for those policies with kindness or gratitude.
In the case of those who suffer because of those policies, we can do what we can to help relieve that suffering.
In the case of those who cause that suffering, being grateful to them is the last thing on our minds. But when we treat it as an opportunity to develop our wisdom and patience, that is something to be thankful for.
The restless, agitated mind, Hard to protect, hard to control, The sage makes straight, As a fletcher the shaft of an arrow.
Like a fish out of water, Thrown on dry ground, This mind thrashes about, Trying to escape Māra’s* command.
The mind, hard to control, Flighty—alighting where it wishes— One does well to tame. The disciplined mind brings happiness.
The mind, hard to see, Subtle—alighting where it wishes— The sage protects. The watched mind brings happiness.
Far-ranging, solitary, Incorporeal and hidden Is the mind. Those who restrain it Will be freed from Māra’s bonds.
For those who are unsteady of mind, Who do not know true Dharma, And whose serenity wavers, Wisdom does not mature.
For one who is awake, Whose mind isn’t overflowing, Whose heart isn’t afflicted And who has abandoned both merit and demerit, Fear does not exist.
Knowing this body to be like a clay pot, Establishing this mind like a fortress, One should battle Māra with the sword of insight, Protecting what has been won, Clinging to nothing.
All too soon this body Will lie on the ground, Cast aside, deprived of consciousness, Like a useless scrap of wood.
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy, Or haters, one to another, Far worse is the harm From one’s own wrongly directed mind.
Neither mother nor father, Nor any other relative can do One as much good As one’s own well-directed mind.
Translated by Gil Fronsdal
*Māra: The personification of evil in Buddhism and often referred to as the Buddhist “devil” or “demon”. According to some accounts of the Buddha’s enlightenment experience, when the he sat under the bodhi tree, vowing not to rise until he attained liberation from the cycle of rebirth, he was approached by Māra, who sought to dissuade him from his quest. When he refused, Māra sent his minions to destroy him, but their weapons were transformed into flower blossoms.
Following is an outline of Buddhism, found in The Basic Teachings of the Buddha (2007) by Glenn Wallis. Wallis is a far-reaching, creative and iconoclastic scholar of Buddhism, as reflected in his later work, such as A Critique of Western Buddhism (2019), which is available to read and download free.
HABITAT 1. We are like ghosts sleepwalking in a desolate and dangerous domain. DE-ORIENTATION 2. We remain transfixed there, enchanted by pleasure and flamboyant speculation. 3. The most enthralling belief of all is that of supernatural agency. 4. There is a safeguard against this bewitchment: knowing for yourself. RE-ORIENTATION 5. The means of “knowing for yourself” is immediately available: it is the sensorium. 6. But the modes of perception are miragelike, and the perceived like a magical display. 7. And there is no self, no integral perceiver, behind those modes of perception. 8. To hold on to the miragelike perceiver, the phantom self, is a stultifying burden. MAP 9. When we reflect on these propositions, four preeminent realities become obvious, 10. as do the emergence and cessation of our incessant “worlding.” DESTINATION 11. Our genuine refuge from this whirlwind of worlding is to be unbound; 12. to eradicate infatuation, hostility, and delusion. Eradicated, quenched, unbound. 13. Binding is concomitant with the fabricated. 14. Unbinding is concomitant with the unfabricated. GOING 15. Cultivation of present-moment awareness is the means to conspicuous unbinding. 16. Application of this awareness in daily life is concomitant with living as a buddha: awakened.
December includes three notable religious holidays.
Christmas, commemorating the birth of Jesus. It is a major holiday, one of the two most important Christian holidays, and one that has become a secular celebration, especially in America.
Hanukkah, commemorating the retaking and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Religiously, it is a minor holiday, not even included in the Hebrew Bible. Traditionally, it has become a cultural and social counterbalance to Christmas, especially in America.
Bodhi Day isn’t about the birth of a significant person or about the military victory over a religious oppressor. It is about a man who sat under a tree and ultimately woke up, or, as it is usually put, attained enlightenment.
I never rely on AI to do my writing, but I have given my friend Claude a chance to concisely explain Bodhi Day observances:
Bodhi Day (also known as Rohatsu in Japanese tradition) commemorates the day when Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. It’s typically observed on December 8th in the Mahayana tradition, though some traditions follow different calendars.
Here’s how Bodhi Day is observed in different parts of the world:
Japan (Rohatsu):
The day marks the end of a weeklong sesshin (intensive meditation retreat) in Zen monasteries
Practitioners often meditate through the night, mirroring the Buddha’s enlightenment experience
Traditional decorations include strings of colored lights, representing the stars the Buddha saw upon enlightenment
Southeast Asian Countries:
In countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka, the enlightenment is actually celebrated as part of Vesak Day in May
Temples are decorated with flowers and lights
Devotees participate in meditation sessions and listen to dharma talks
Food offerings are made to monks and sharing meals with the community is common
United States and Western Countries:
Buddhist temples and centers often hold special meditation sessions
Some practitioners decorate small ficus trees (similar to the Bodhi tree) with lights
Educational programs about the Buddha’s enlightenment are organized
Many observe the day with a traditional breakfast of milk and rice, recalling the offering made to the Buddha by Sujata
China and Taiwan:
Known as Laba Festival (腊八节)
Traditionally celebrated with Laba congee, a special porridge made with various grains and dried fruits
Temples hold ceremonies and offer free congee to visitors
Many people visit temples to make offerings and pray for blessings
Modern Observances:
Some Buddhists maintain a more contemplative practice, spending the day in meditation
Many practitioners dedicate themselves to acts of kindness and compassion
Some observe the day by reading Buddhist texts or sutras
Virtual meditation sessions and teachings have become common, especially in recent years
The focus across all these observances remains on the core meaning of the Buddha’s enlightenment – the realization that freedom from suffering is possible through understanding and practicing the dharma.
Claude
Each year I wonder what to say about Bodhi Day, the Buddha, and Buddhism. With a day to go, I still don’t know.
11 When the world is filled with evil, Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.
That is to say, whatever occurs in your life—environmental problems, political problems, or psychological problems—should be transformed into a part of your wakefulness, or bodhi….
In other words, you do not blame the environment or the world political situation…. According to this slogan, when the world is filled with evil, or even when the world is not filled with evil, any mishaps that might occur should all be transformed into the path of bodhi, or wakefulness. That understanding comes from your sitting practice and your general awareness.
This slogan says practically everything about how we can practice generosity as well. In our ordinary life, our immediate surroundings or our once-removed surroundings are not necessarily hospitable. There are always problems and difficulties. There are difficulties even for those who proclaim that their lives are very successful, those who have become the president of their country, or the richest millionaires, or the most famous poets or movie stars or surfers or bullfighters. Even if our lives go right, according to our expectations, there are still difficulties. Obstacles always arise. That is something everybody experiences. And when obstacles happen, any mishaps connected with those obstacles—poverty mentality, fixating on loss and gain, or any kind of competitiveness—should be transformed into the path of bodhi.
That is a very powerful and direct message. It is connected with not feeling poverty stricken all the time. You might feel inadequate because you have a sick father and a crazy mother and you have to take care of them, or because you have a distorted life and money problems. For that matter, even if you have a successful life and everything is going all right, you might feel inadequate because you have to work constantly to maintain your business. A lot of those situations could be regarded as expressions of your own timidity and cowardice. They could all be regarded as expressions of your poverty mentality….
It is the sense of resourcefulness, that you can deal with whatever is available around you and not feel poverty stricken. Even if you are abandoned in the middle of a desert and you want a pillow, you can find a piece of rock with moss on it that is quite comfortable to put your head on. Then you can lie down and have a good sleep. Having such a sense of resourcefulness and richness seems to be the main point….
We have found that a lot of people complain that they are involved in intense domestic situations: they relate with everything in their lives purely on the level of pennies, tiny stitches, drops of water, grains of rice. But we do not have to do that—we can expand our vision by means of generosity. We can give something to others. We don’t always have to receive something first in order to give something away. Having connected with the notion of generosity, we begin to realize a sense of wealth automatically. The nature of generosity is to be free from desire, free from attachment, able to let go of anything.
Bob Schwartz 