A MESSAGE FROM MY LION

[psylotripitaka]

You need to spend more time in formal meditation if you wanna get out!

[dsiluvu]

True psylo. But after you've gotten "out" then what? Isn't the point of formal meditation to transform ones mind so that one can be of more benefit to others? To be less self-absorb and more focusing out? To be more sensitive, aware, and mindful of those who are suffering and their needs?

I don't think just meditation alone is the means to an end of our spiritual journey. But the beginning to becoming someone who is more well equipped to tackle, tame, guide, help those who are still suffering in samsara. In Vajrayana Buddhism I think we do this action simultaneously with meditation so the path is an actual experience one realises and one can relate with others. A good balance is always good? And that is why we have great masters and teachers teaching us, others today. If not for the great teachers, renouncing, foregoing their samsaric life, and some foregoing their intense peaceful retreats/meditation in the cave... like Tenzin Palmo, who decides to take the tougher road to start a nunnery and teach and raise funds, many will not be able to benefit from the Dharma.

After reading and watching "Cave in the Snow", I felt an intense longing to be in isolated retreats, I intend and hope one day I have an instruction from my Guru to do it too cos it scares me but it's intriguing to see how I will do, what I will experience. But in this documentary of Tenzin Palmo, I learned a great lesson, Tenzin Palmo acknowledges that being in "retreat", in meditation was the best time of her life where she found actual "peace" and she completely embraces it but when she was told to help preserve the lineage of the nunnery... she was uncertain and initially did not want to do it. Then after speaking to a Christian priest on what she should do, to go into retreat or the nunnery? The priest then told her the nunnery is like "sand paper", and she was like the raw material (wood I think) that needs to be polished, where as being in retreat was like silk rubbing on the wood, everything is just comfortable and beautiful. She then realise which is more important and the path she should take. From her true story I learn how our great teachers sacrifice so much for us, to teach us and to tolerate the many sick neurosis crazy untamed minds of this degenerate age. How we should be ever so grateful to our Gurus. They are the reason why we even heard the Dharma. At least that's for me.
 
What my Guru advice is to do both. Intense Dharma work, do our sadhanas (that's when we find time to meditate) and most important follow the Guru's instructions and do what we can to help others always. In doing Dharma and working with others we also discover how to deal with difficult people, and how to deal with our own difficult untamed mind/emotions. It's literally something one actually experience full head on. This is my 2 cents 

[psylotripitaka]

Beautifully expressed Dsiluvu, and yes, of course. Getting out as quickly as possible is so that we can be of the greatest benefit to others. There is a mistaken view started by early western scholastics that a Bodhisattva postpones their own enlightenment to remain in samsara helping others. Bodhisattvas renunciation and universal compassion is so intense they realize they will only really be able to help others if they themselves first achieve liberation and enlightenment, and so they enter the quick path of highest yoga tantra. Getting out does not mean we have to abandon our present body or serving others!

The lion says we need more formal meditation. It's a straight forward point, and if we're honest with ourself we will know the truth if it. If we continuously postpone real effort in formal meditation year after year, we'll arrive at the end of this extremely rare opportunity with some nice imprints of helping others but very little attainment.

What I have observed over the years is that we are addicted now to movement, to being busy, to thinking constantly, to occupying our attention with everything other than prolonged concentration on virtuous objects, and to make ourselves feel ok about this neglect we come up with all sorts of excuses to not only justify our staying busy but to convince ourselves we will attain realizations without doing what all the Buddhas had to do.

That said, there are many approaches to our path and if our emphasis is being active in helping others through serving the Center and Guru, then we can do that and it will have its function, but still, if we neglect the path of formal meditation too much, our opportunity to gain deep inner experience of the path will have passed us by.

Whatever protests are coming to what I'm saying is the exact excuse making little demon I'm speaking if who robs us of concentration by littering our mind with distracted and dissipated energy.

Bottom line - seize the opportunity to meditate, even if that means waking in the middle of the night. Our opportunity is passing more quickly than we realize.

[psylotripitaka]

Dsiluvu,

We have had dialogue beyond this forum, and I understand where you're coming from, so please do not feel I'm belittling working for the Guru, or saying that realizations do not also develop during such service. I am speaking about the delicate inner navigation that refines realization through concentration. There is a very different quality between intellectual confidence and the insight and experience of non-conceptual absorption. While there may come a time for isolated retreat, we must make every effort in our busy lives to seize the opportunity to concentrate. As the Yogi Geshe Kelsang Gyatso says, distraction is the thief of our spiritual life.

As we can see in the lamrim teachings on concentration, even virtuous objects other than our object of concentration become obstacles and are called 'mental wandering'. This can apply to external actions, where although they may be virtuous and important, if they are done to the detriment of formal meditation, they've become a distraction for us to an extent.

Tenzin Palmo is a great example for sure, and you will notice that she has placed great emphasis on formal meditation, and this is what lead to her ability to serve others without losing the inner realization of her retreat.

Thing is, we're addicted to mental turbulence to the extent that when we try to settle in concentration we are physically and mentally agitated and uneasy, we find it hard to make progress in meditation due to this, and because being active is the easier path we rise quickly from meditation. We may have recited and visualized a few things for a couple hours yet spent little to none of that time actually absorbed in concentration. It is because concentration is uncomfortable to us. This is very unfortunate and something each of us needs to rectify immediately before we're dead.

When inner talking ceases, our spiritual life truly begins.

[dsiluvu]

I think you're missing my point. I'm not saying meditation is not good... all I'm saying is that a good balance of both meditation and actualising the realisations of your meditation (e.g. compassion for all) would be even better. This works for me, it's more real and it is not necessary easy for people to do this. Most often people would prefer just going in to meditation and retreats.

The MOTIVATION for going in to meditation or retreats must be pure, otherwise meditation itself could be a form of distraction, the "thief". How so? Simple... we use it to distract ourselves from facing our own problems and fears. Sometimes being outside of meditation one actually come face to face with real difficulties, one actually experience it head on, and one has to find ways of dealing with it peacefully. The awareness of this also one part of meditation.

The Buddha meditated, but He also gave teachings, helped the poor, feed the animals and created the sangha community. If He just remained in meditation... we would not have known the Dharma and what it is... we probably would not even be in discussion now.

I guess my point is meditation is excellent and definitely a requirement for one to gain the awakened mind, but doing Dharma work like teachings/spreading the Dharma/counselling others/helping the poor/etc etc etc... that benefit others is also just as important and required in my personal opinion.

Someone once told me, what's the point in meditating on Bodhichitta and not giving it to others? Isn't the whole point of meditation for us to actualise the teachings of the Buddha and help those who are still "suffering"? 

Our spiritual life begins every moment... everyday, when we decide we want to improve something in us that bugs someone else. Or when we decide to control our hot tempered mind, our bad speech, or ego. I think if we can do a little of this everyday, I do believe this person is just as spiritual as the person meditating in the cave. Perhaps you may argue, it is not of the same degree and level, but still it is a great start... which leads to more, don't you think?

[psylotripitaka]

I agree with everything say.