We have this precious life now. This
is our opportunity. If we let it go, who knows if the opportunity
will ever come again. Now is when we have the freedom to practice,
we have the teachers, we have the intelligence to understand, and we
have a motivation to really, genuinely want to practice. This is so
rare.
But it’s not enough just to
intellectually understand. We have to take the Dharma and use it. We
have to take the Dharma and eat it and digest it until it permeates
every cell of our bodies. What use is it unless it really takes over
our life, unless we and the Dharma merge? Without this, it’s just
another -ism amongst all the many other different ways
of doing and looking at things. At this moment, our mind is in one
place and the Dharma is in another and they’re looking at each
other. Occasionally they touch. But that’s not enough. They have to
become like one, so that it’s impossible to see which is one’s mind
and which is the Dharma. It’s like a dye going into a cloth: the
mind has to be completely dyed with the Dharma so that every word,
every thought, every action is an expression of our understanding of
the way things really are.
In the beginning this is not so easy.
We have to work at it, we have to be mindful, and we have to remind
ourselves. That is what is meant by perseverance. It means moment to
moment to moment, to the very best of our abilities, whatever
situation comes up, we must really try to bring our intelligence and
our heart into that situation. If we have that attentiveness in the
moment then everything that happens to us will have some meaning. It
will be an opportunity to make some progress on the path. This gives
us tremendous freedom because whatever happens can help us. The
Tibetan texts say that we should use all occasions as aids on the
path. If we believe this then it doesn’t matter what happens to us
because whatever occurs we can transform into an aid on the path and
so there is freedom.
But freedom from what? From hope and
fear. This goes back to having a mind that is very open and
spacious. When we talk about effort we don’t mean huffing and
puffing as though you’re in a marathon race. What we’re talking
about is a very spacious effort, a very constant ‘alertness in the
moment’ type of effort. It’s just flowing like a river, from moment
to moment to moment. It’s not doing push-ups, although sometimes
push-ups and prostrations might be called for! It’s the effort to be
here and now and to have a relaxed, open, alert mind which responds
appropriately and with clarity to whatever is happening. Usually we
are so absorbed in our own desires, our own thoughts and feelings
that we don’t see things very clearly. What’s needed is to be able
to step back and have this openness to see things as they really are
and therefore to respond in an appropriate manner. The ability to do
this, to integrate this with our life completely, is what is meant
by effort.
What’s needed is to be able to step back and have this
openness to see things
as they really are and therefore to
respond in an appropriate manner.
The other application of this is what
the Buddha called, I think, the four right efforts. These are: the
effort to prevent the unwholesome from arising, the effort to
discard that unwholesomeness which has already arisen, the effort to
create the wholesome which has not yet arisen, and the effort to
cultivate and maintain that wholesomeness which has
arisen.
Wholesomeness, sometimes also
translated as skilfulness, means those states of mind such as
understanding, love, generosity and openness of heart which create
within us and around us a state of harmony and peace. This is in
contrast to the unwholesome, or unskilful, states of mind such as
ignorance, greed and aversion which create within us and without us
states of conflict. So, part of maintaining our awareness is to be
aware of the states of our mind and where they are coming from. We
must have discernment. We have to recognise those thoughts and
emotions that are rooted in the negative factors. It’s not a matter
of suppression; it’s a matter of recognising them, accepting them
and letting them go. We don’t maintain them, we don’t follow
them.
As our awareness grows so we become
more acutely conscious of our mental states and then we can see, for
example, when aversion, when anger is coming into our mind. We can
recognise it. We can even name it and say ‘This is anger.’ But we
don’t identify with it. We just see that this is an angry state of
mind. We accept that’s what it is. But in knowing that it’s not
helpful, we can also drop it. On the other hand, sometimes very
positive states of mind arise and because we are so busy we don’t
recognise them and therefore they fade away. If the mind is clear
then when positive states of mind come, again we can recognise them,
we can acknowledge them and we can try to help them remain, to grow,
to be appreciated. So, it’s not just a matter of blaming ourselves
for all our negative thoughts. There’s no blame here. It’s
recognising what is and being able to let go. And when it’s
positive, it’s recognising it and encouraging it. It’s dealing with
knowing, knowing what is in the mind, without getting caught in our
conflicts. v
