“If penguins don’t let go of their young at some point, the little ones will never grow up to be competent adult penguins.”
“Attachment may be the most difficult emotion to overcome, but we can make progress by continually observing how it brings us suffering and does us no good. In place of our attachment, we can cultivate a less self-centered love, a visionary love that is tuned in with the actual best interests of others. This kind of love often involves letting go. For instance, if penguins don’t let go of their young at some point, the little ones will never grow up to be competent adult penguins. They will never be free to live fully. By letting go, the parents are not rejecting love and care, but expressing a higher form of love. As lojong [mind training] practitioners, we can cultivate visionary love for those close to us, and then spread that love among all sentient beings, simply because they have the same desire to be happy that we do.” Dzigar Kongtrul, The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the Compassionate Life
One of the most famous quotes about judging is from the Gospels:
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. Matthew 7:1
Despite that wisdom, Christians and others often tend to forget or ignore it. A lot of judging goes on.
Another similar perspective is taken in Buddhism, which is not to say that Buddhists don’t indulge in judging also.
A maxim from the classic 59 maxims of mind-training (lojong):
Don’t reflect on others’ shortcomings.
We should train our minds to see others as pure by thinking that when we see a fault in someone, it’s because we project imaginary faults onto others due to things appearing to be impure from our own side. Practicing in this way, we will be able to protect ourselves from the tendency to judge others. Gomo Tulku (1922-1985), Seven Steps to Train Your Mind
This goes farther than the Christian message that we shouldn’t judge others because we might get judged back. We don’t judge because whatever the other is doing, we are looking in a mirror. We are pure, though our self-importance keeps us from knowing it. The other is pure, but is also kept from knowing it. Our role is not to judge, but to help them see it and help ourselves see it.
Note that no one suggests that we put our critical thinking in neutral. If we find that what we or others do, say or think might be better, we can point it out, provided our motivation is making things better, and not proving ourselves better and smarter.
Alas poor Yorick! I knew him…” Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1
Today, November 1, is Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and elsewhere. (It is also All Saints’ Day on many Christian calendars.)
Above is a famous skull scene from Hamlet. Shakespeare was all about everything, including death.
Here in Hamlet, Mercutio is stabbed, but still finds a way to pun his way out:
Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1
Dia de los Muertos has many traditions associated with remembering and honoring those in our hearts who have died before us. It is also a way of remembering that we too will die and be somebody’s memory. While thinking about that may sadden and scare us, it is not a dark day.
Skulls/calaveras are a main motif of Dia de los Muertos. Faces are painted as skulls. Candy sugar skulls are enjoyed.
A late tradition from the 19th century is the calavera literaria. These are humorous or sarcastic writings about someone who is still alive as if they were dead. What you might hear at a roast or wake.
Thinking about death on this Day of the Dead or any day:
“Cultivate the thought, “The time of my death is unknown, and were it to come suddenly, my sole recourse would be this practice….In this way, make sure you fortify your mind so that no matter when you die, you do so joyfully and with palpable warmth within.” Tibetan Buddhist master Sé Chilbu Chökyi Gyaltsen (1121-1189)
Like other religions, Buddhism describes a time of degeneration. The farther we are removed from original teachings—in Buddhism from the time of the Buddha—the worse the circumstances. Different religions deal with such worsening times with different scenarios for recovery, some of them dramatic and apocalyptic.
In Buddhism there is a less dramatic and more personal scheme for this period of degeneration. If all is a matter of mind, then training and taming the mind is the way.
Following is commentary on the conclusion of the Seven Points of Mind Training. It details the five kinds of degeneration and repeats the benefits of adversity: “The trainings are like fire, and adverse conditions are like firewood.”
The Excellent Conclusion
“This quintessential elixir of heart advice, which transforms the five kinds of rampant degeneration into the path of enlightenment, is a transmission from Serlingpa.”
In today’s world we need the elixir of mind training. We’re living in what’s referred to in dharma teachings as “a period of degeneration,” an era when sentient beings experience great adversity. There are five different kinds of degeneration, and each one affects our quality of life.
The degeneration of life span refers to the many beings whose lives are cut short because of violence and poor living conditions.
The degeneration of afflictive mental states refers to an increase in negative thoughts and emotions.
The degeneration of the quality of beings refers to the selfish inclination of beings and their willingness to harm others, as well as society’s devaluing of positive qualities such as honesty, consideration, and kindness.
The degeneration of views refers to the radical views that dominate people’s minds, which are not in harmony with the way things are.
The degeneration of time period refers to environmental pollution, natural disasters, and the rampant deterioration of the world, which greatly reduce the quality of life for all of the planet’s inhabitants.
But there’s good news. These degenerating times provide unlimited opportunities for us to apply the methods of mind training. In fact, the more adversity, the more mind training. The trainings are like fire, and adverse conditions are like firewood. The more firewood you pile on, the stronger the fire burns. That’s why this is the perfect teaching for right now. As adversity fuels our practice, we become better practitioners and better people.
There are many profound and effective methods for taming the mind within the dharma, but some of them take a long time to cultivate. The methods of mind training explained in this book, however, can bring immediate results when applied properly. They can be used by any practitioner to transform adverse conditions into the path of awakening. Whether you are old or young, experienced or inexperienced, have a highly evolved practice or are just beginning, it makes no difference. These methods work.
If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes, What reason is there for dejection? And if there is no help for it, What use is there in being glum? Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva
Patience
10. If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes, What reason is there for dejection? And if there is no help for it, What use is there in being glum? Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
10. If something can be fixed, what need Is there to be displeased? If something can’t be fixed, what good Is it to be displeased? Translated by David Karma Choephel
10. If something can be remedied Why be unhappy about it? And if there is no remedy for it, There is still no point in being unhappy. Translated by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche
His Holiness the Dalai Lama comments:
“We should try never to let our happy frame of mind be disturbed. Whether we are suffering at present or have suffered in the past, there is no reason to be unhappy. If we can remedy it, why be unhappy? And if we cannot, what use is there in being depressed about it? That just adds more unhappiness and does no good at all.”
Shantideva (695–743). Indian Buddhist scholar and author of the The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara).
The Way of the Bodhisattva is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. The text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries, first in India, and later in Tibet. It outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas—those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings and to attain buddhahood for their sake.
Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist master who belongs to the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in Eastern Tibet (Kham) and received extensive training in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He studied under many great masters including the 16th Karmapa and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He has a PhD in Buddhist studies and is known for his scholarly work.
He founded Bodhicharya, an international organization that coordinates his educational and humanitarian activities. He travels extensively, teaching meditation and Buddhist philosophy at centers around the world, and is respected for his ability to present traditional Buddhist teachings in a way that’s relevant to contemporary life.
Bob Schwartz 