How do one enjoy anything with bliss and wisdom?
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Hey i quote this from another thread as i do not want to hijack it. This comes rather personal for me. As you see...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:No amount of positive thinking can make you be liberated at all times. Liberation comes from seeing our true nature. Even if you are a person with a v care-free, take-it-easy kind of perspective, you cannot thereby be freed from all distresses and the pain of sickness, death, etc.
In Buddhism, there are 8 kinds of distresses that we go through. See http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol4no1a.htm
The fundamental point here is that, without liberating from the basic dualistic assumption of subject-object, you will always be trapped in tanha (desire), and the 2nd noble truth states that tanha (desire) causes suffering (such as [lack, fear, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, etc).
is only going to see black and white. Why? Because the nature of the flower is Empty -- there is no graspable 'Essence of Flower' or the 'Flowerness of the Flower' -- Flower is empty of any inherent existence, being only conditioned arising, merely the aggregation of causes and conditions, and having no reality apart from it!
Whatever arises is the whole universe manifesting as that moment. Know that the universe is giving its very best for this moment to arise. All conditions and causes are just right for the birth a moment of manifestation. When this is understood, the 'conditioned arising' is really unconditioned, all spontaneously arise.
If we can understand the the nature of the object we are seeking is in essence empty of any inherent existence, being merely conditioned arising, and that the subject-object relationship is false, there will be complete resting and contentment in the moment of arising. You will not fall under the false dualistic relationship of a 'subject' trying to manipulate the 'external universe', trying to get away from or stop/manipulate what is presently arising, trying to get something better than what is here, trying to shut off yourself from the world, etc.
It is seen that all there is is conditioned arising -- that what you are is simply the scenery, sound of bird chirping, sound of keyboard typing, words appearing on the screen.. there is no observer apart from the observed. As Buddha said, in seeing, only the seen, no seer. In hearing, only the heard, no hearer. (this goes for all other six senses including thinking) And the seen, the heard, the felt, the thought, the taste, all are simply conditioned arising that is empty of any fixed forms, shapes, attributes, etc. Emptiness that has a luminous heart giving rise to infinite potentiality. And that is your nature.
So Buddha Nature is not one! There is no 'The Absolute' but all moments are a reality/'absolute' in itself! (just like there is no 'Essence of Flower', only conditioned manifestation according to causes and conditions) Because Buddha Nature really is the manifold -- the whole universe, everything, as conditioned arising that is empty and never fixed, everchanging. Yet it is not many either! Because all that is inseparable in One Taste, being all the manifestation of our pristine awareness, and being an inseparable wholeness, also known as One Reality or One Mind but really it does not have a single nor multiple realities because its nature is empty. (See the recent topic, the last few posts, A nightmare)
There are lots of various descriptions of our Buddha Nature -- all pervading, brighter than a thousand suns, mirror-like, indestructible. And all conditioned arising is an expression of the unconditioned Buddha Nature. All that is arising is the Buddha. They are all your pristine awareness at that moment with its nature empty -- never the same and never remain (having no existence and reality apart from conditioned arising), nothing apart from the crystal clear manifestation of appearances. Completely and fully real and gone.
A bird is chirping happily outside... just that sound. The whole universe is just that sound. Completely real, but never staying... gone as it arises. Merely a conditioned manifestation that is empty.
Just like patterns of clouds appearing in the sky -- they are all conditioned arising.
...We call it weather, but what is it really? Wind. Rain. Clouds slowly parting. Not the words spoken about it, but just this darkening, blowing, pounding and wetting, and then lightening up, blue sky appearing amid darkness, and sunshine sparkling on wet grasses and leaves. In a little while there'll be frost, snow and ice covers. And then warming again, melting, oozing water everywhere. On an early spring day the dirt road sparkles with streams of wet silver. So—what is weather other than this incessant change of earthly conditions and all the human thoughts, feelings and undertakings influenced by it? Like and dislike. Depression and elation. Creation and destruction. An ongoing, ever-changing stream of happenings abiding nowhere. No real entity weather exists anywhere except in thinking and talking about it....
...Now, is there such an entity as me or I? Or is it just like the weather—an ongoing, ever-changing stream of ideas, images, memories, projections, likes and dislikes, creation and destruction, that thought keeps calling I, me, Toni, and thereby solidifying what is evanescent?...
...How are we to come upon the truth if separateness is taken so much for granted, feels so commonsense?
The difficulty is not insurmountable. Wholeness, our true being, is here all the time, like the sun behind the clouds. Light is here in spite of cloud cover.
What makes up the clouds?... (see Emptiness and No-Self)
I tend to indulgence in sensory pleasure and become addicted or should i say attached to it. From my personal experience i find that, being attached to it makes my mind dull and a wastage of my mental energy.
I find this particularly true....
The problem is that when we desire something, lets say sense pleasure, the more we seek, the wider we split the subject and the object (and as you know there really is no subject apart from object), the more painful and dissatisfactory it is. We then become discontent with life as it is, we cannot see that what is arising now is already self-perfected as it is, we cannot see that all there is is simply conditioned arising -- and a perfect expression of our primordial nature, our Buddha Nature. -
Now my question is how can i stop myself from being addicted to eating suppers, watching shows in btw studies and listening to music when i'm studying..
The activities are not bad in nature but my addiction to it isn't good esp when my exam is around the corner.. i find myself not being able to concentrate and my
will power to detach myself from these sensory pleasure not strong enough .. -
You may have to make a formal resolution to focus your mind on your object.. during this period of time, I'm not going to do anything else other than this. And just focus your mind and ignore any other thoughts.Originally posted by Isis:Now my question is how can i stop myself from being addicted to eating suppers, watching shows in btw studies and listening to music when i'm studying..
The activities are not bad in nature but my addiction to it isn't good esp when my exam is around the corner.. i find myself not being able to concentrate and my
will power to detach myself from these sensory pleasure not strong enough ..
In terms of practice.. We have to practice observing and sustaining awareness first... before we talk about self liberation at all moments, we have to start from maintaining an awareness that eventually becomes constant. When you are are highly aware and alert, thought that arise, the awareness will be able to 'catch it' resulting in the spontaneous liberation of the thought.
Then at later point of stage, all these thoughts self-liberates.. no effort is needed. But we probably have not reached that level yet.
Am reading a book by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche recently, he wrote that there are three capacities for liberation. I will thus summarise it very briefly here:
First level, Cherdrol, means 'one observes and it liberates'. The analogy given is that whenever the sun manifests and shines the dewdrop evaporates. Whenever dualism and distraction arises, one observes the distraction to grasp its true nature -- when the thought is clearly observed and the obscuration of dualism self-liberates, then our true nature unveils.
Second level, Shardrol, means the moment any dualism arise it liberates of itself without even any effort being needed to maintain awareness.
Last stage is where the illusion of subject and object collapses, it is called Rangdrol and 'of itself it liberates itself'. It is instantaneous self-liberation, and neither an intentional action of the subject (as in Cherdrol), nor a spontaneous reaction of the subject (as in Shardrol) is required here. Whatever arises liberates itself of itself without the need for anyone to do anything to liberate it. The practitioner is like the mirror which can freely reflect whatever presents itself, without the reflections in it either sticking to it or leaving any trace in it; the reflected image liberates in the very moment that it appears. -
YoOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:You may have to make a formal resolution to focus your mind on your object.. during this period of time, I'm not going to do anything else other than this. And just focus your mind and ignore any other thoughts.
In terms of practice.. We have to practice observing and sustaining awareness first... before we talk about self liberation at all moments, we have to start from maintaining an awareness that eventually becomes constant. When you are are highly aware and alert, thought that arise, the awareness will be able to 'catch it' resulting in the spontaneous liberation of the thought.
Then at later point of stage, all these thoughts self-liberates.. no effort is needed. But we probably have not reached that level yet.
Am reading a book by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche recently, he wrote that there are three capacities for liberation. I will thus summarise it very briefly here:
First level, Cherdrol, means 'one observes and it liberates'. The analogy given is that whenever the sun manifests and shines the dewdrop evaporates. Whenever dualism and distraction arises, one observes the distraction to grasp its true nature -- when the thought is clearly observed and the obscuration of dualism self-liberates, then our true nature unveils.
Second level, Shardrol, means the moment any dualism arise it liberates of itself without even any effort being needed to maintain awareness.
Last stage is where the illusion of subject and object collapses, it is called Rangdrol and 'of itself it liberates itself'. It is instantaneous self-liberation, and neither an intentional action of the subject (as in Cherdrol), nor a spontaneous reaction of the subject (as in Shardrol) is required here. Whatever arises liberates itself of itself without the need for anyone to do anything to liberate it. The practitioner is like the mirror which can freely reflect whatever presents itself, without the reflections in it either sticking to it or leaving any trace in it; the reflected image liberates in the very moment that it appears.
Can lend me the book when you are done with it? -
Thusness also want lehOriginally posted by Isis:Yo
Can lend me the book when you are done with it?
Cos I sent him some of the parts... he thinks the book is quite profound and is interested to read it.
So I see who I meet first then get it first lor
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http://www.jenchen.org.sg/cultivat.htm#purify
Observe the mind to purify it
We are all human beings and we all have a mind. We are frequently ‘deceived’ by our minds. For an entire lifetime we are ‘deceived’ and ‘misled’ by our minds without ever realizing it! If the mind is good, then of course, it is all very well. Such a mind creates a good person; one can ascend to the heavens or one can perform a lot of virtuous deeds. What happens if the mind is evil and becomes defiled? It can drag us to become animals, ghosts and deities, or descend to hell. This is because our mind is not pure, and therefore the world becomes a sea of suffering. This suffering world of ours is called the "Saha World". It means having to endure and is also called the "World of enduring sufferings".
If we all purify our minds, then the world becomes a heaven. Everybody is very happy and there is no suffering. In learning and practising Buddhism, the most important thing is to purify our minds. When we can purify our minds, then naturally there will be happiness in our world.
To do that we have to observe the non-arising of the mind. This is called ‘contemplation of the mind’. When the mind is polluted, then we cleanse it with the dew of the Buddha. And when our minds have been purified, then they are the same as those of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In this way, we will progress very quickly in our cultivation.
Observing the mind is very simple. It is like watching out for the mouse. Everybody dislike mice because they steal our food or they damage our clothings. An idiom describes this sentiment with the phrase, ‘When the mouse crosses the street everybody goes after it.’ Obviously mice are not welcomed and they have to be dealt with. One method of dealing with it, is the cat. At the sight of a mouse, the cat puts his paws firmly on the ground and fixes its steely eyes on the mouse. On seeing the cat, the mouse trembles with fear, not daring to make even the slightest movement. Treat your mind as if it were a mouse and your awareness as the cat. At every moment observe your mind, in the same way as the cat watching the mouse. The mouse wants to live and hardly has time to think of its own safety, let alone of stealing food. If we can observe our minds, then we will hardly have time enough to treasure our wisdom life, let alone think of committing evil deeds.
Therefore when we are learning and practising Buddhism, we need to learn to "contemplate the mind". In this way, we will very quickly be able to avoid all evils and do all that are good.
"Avoid all evils; do all that are good; purify oneÂ’s mind. These are the teachings of all Buddhas". Besides avoiding all evils and doing all that are good, we need to purify our thoughts. When our thoughts have been purified, then the mind is pure. The purpose of learning and practising Buddhism is to purify the human mind. If the minds of everyone in the family is pure, then our home is pure; if the minds of everyone in this society is pure, then our society is pure; if the minds of everyone in the country is pure, then our land is pure; if the entire human race in the world is pure, then our world is as happy as the Western Pure Land.
Our mind is like the stealthy mouse, ever watchful of a chance to creep out to commit evil deeds, and we are not even aware of that. I hope all of us will keep a cat to watch our minds, so that we can become Buddha quickly. -
The follow article is from my local dharma teacher.
From Cultivating Awareness and a Non-moving mind (two other articles by my local dharma teacher can also be found there)
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mm i just came back from Dharma class on six perfection.
It was on Perfect Vigor or also known as Perfect Diligence.
Share the notes that i have taken in the class ( Note this for only reading reference)
Opposite of Vigor is Sloth, Procrastination, Laziness, sian~
What is slot?
- Idleness
- Indulging in pleasure
- Too much sleep which lead to mental heaviness which could cause one to lose interest.
- The longing to lean on others ( dependence).
- Apathy for sufferings of cyclic existence. Don't feel suffering , thus do not feel the need to do something about it, drift in life. For Buddhist, we should practice.
From slot
- we cling what is vile.
- From this, despondency ( in low spirit from loss of hope and courage )
Eg. Indulgence in too much pleasure, as a result, lose of vitality and inspiration. Indulgence in too much sex, lose your integrity and inspiration.
-From Despondency, self-contempt follows.
- No success in life, let alone lead a spiritual life.
- Then we will ask what is the meaning of life? (* chuckle chuckle.. true true. )
Then venerable says: In micro view, we should ask ourselves what is the meaning IN life so that we will feel less despondent. She says from the macro view, there is no meaning in the meaning of life.. interesting..
The she went through how to develop Vigor. Unfortunately, i can't catch all the points that she had said.
And oh yeah, in Buddhist perspective, there are generally two types of Desire.
-The good desire is get one out of samsara and the Bad desire entrapped you in samsara.
* Pls read this article with your own wisdom.
mmm remind me of myself not putting enough effort on my studies. -
I think one can enjoy anything with bliss but not to cling/attached to it.
Quoted from Sinweiy:
when eating good food. Eating your favourite food is happiness. But, if you were to continue to eat bowl after bowl of the same food, it becomes suffering when you cannot eat anymore. This is how happiness if continue become suffering. But suffering if continue will not become happiness.
I think everything need to be in moderation.
My one cent. -
Same for me, Isis. I also tend in indulge in sensory pleasure and become addicted. Without Buddhism, I think I would continue to justify that there's nothing wrong at all with what I'm doing till changes occur and I cannot accept those changes which bring me away from those sensual pleasures or lead me into more addictive ones.Originally posted by Isis:Hey i quote this from another thread as i do not want to hijack it. This comes rather personal for me. As you see...
I tend to indulgence in sensory pleasure and become addicted or should i say attached to it. From my personal experience i find that, being attached to it makes my mind dull and a wastage of my mental energy.
I find this particularly true....
The problem is that when we desire something, lets say sense pleasure, the more we seek, the wider we split the subject and the object (and as you know there really is no subject apart from object), the more painful and dissatisfactory it is. We then become discontent with life as it is, we cannot see that what is arising now is already self-perfected as it is, we cannot see that all there is is simply conditioned arising -- and a perfect expression of our primordial nature, our Buddha Nature.
I agree with your personal experience that attachment can make one's mind dull or even hyperactive, too restless for one's own good.
Take care, Isis.
All the best for your exams. ^_^ -
It's okie. U can passed it to Isis...Just bought 5 books by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Thusness also want leh Cos I sent him some of the parts... he thinks the book is quite profound and is interested to read it.
So I see who I meet first then get it first lor 
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wowOriginally posted by Thusness:It's okie. U can passed it to Isis...Just bought 5 books by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.
Now you should lend me instead -
Longchen also recommended ChNNR's book before in his book recommendation topic: 2 great booksOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:wow
Now you should lend me instead