BRINGING TOGETHER THE SUN AND MOON

The wretched familiar "me" is like a lead shoe that weights us down.
However, we don't actually have to live that way at all. We could
have a sense of celebration and positive arrogance. It's not that we
should abandon one part of ourselves and cultivate the other part,
but we could simply look at our Joe-Schmidt-ness, the you-ness, with
openness. When we do that, there is space to fall in love with
ourselves, in the positive sense. You begin to like Joe Schmidt, and
at that point, the other wretched Joe begins to phase out. It's not
that your personality has changed, particularly, but rather that the
positive aspect of yourself has expanded. We could see our world as a
big world and see ourselves as open and vast. We can see our world as
sacred, which is the key to bringing together the sun and moon.

From CONQUERING FEAR: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery,
forthcoming August, 2009, from Shambhala Publications.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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A BASIC ATTITUDE OF GOODNESS

The final characteristic of a dharmic person, which is a basic attitude of goodness, or a general sense of goodness, comes from your own practice and discipline. There is nothing to say about this, except: keep on sitting and you will find out that both sanity and insanity exist in you. Insanity is not particularly regarded as an obstacle; it is simply regarded as kindling wood. Because of your insanity, you are here. But you don't stop there; you go beyond and you brighten up your sanity by sitting and perfectly watching your activities. The basic, hinayana, approach has nothing to do with big explosions of enlightenment, big orgasms of enlightenment on the spot. Instead, we are talking about paying attention to details and to your mind and to your behavior pattern. When you wake up and before you fall asleep, just look and be genuine; you can't fool yourself. If you have been attempting to fool yourself, please don't. It won't work.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, page 489.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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UNDERSTANDING WHO YOU ARE

UNDERSTANDING WHO YOU ARE

Propagating prajna, or your intellect, fully and thoroughly is a characteristic of a dharmic person. That is to say, you should find out and understand who you are and what you are made of. You should find out what your mind is made out of, what your mind's projections are made out of, and what your relationship with your world is made of....The myth of original sin can be wiped out by realizing and studying how your mind can be unwound by undoing what you are. There are positive and good qualities, or basic goodness, in everybody.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, pages 488 to 489.

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Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg - Vomit Express

http://tiny.cc/crYsk

The Essence of Bodhichitta is the Heart that Thinks

The essence of bodhichitta is the heart that thinks,
"I alone, personally, will establish all sentient beings in the state of complete enlightenment."
This is quite a great heart, isn't it?
Whether we are or are not able to establish sentient beings in enlightenment in that way does not matter.
It is first important to think that we are going to do it.


Yongey Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche

Contentment

Contentment is connected with appreciating what you have, with some sense of rejoicing, which is often very hard. You are constantly involved with possibilities of change, all the time changing from one thing to another. You cannot celebrate your own life as what you have, what you are. You are unable to celebrate the simplicity of the practice itself and the simplicity of life. But being contented with what you have IS a celebration.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, page 485.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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NO CHEWING GUM IS SIMPLICITY

Supposing you feel an itch in your pocket, but you don't have any chewing gum on that particular day. You should feel contented; you should feel relieved. "For heaven's sake, I don't have any chewing gum! That's fine." A chance to appreciate that simplicity has been presented to you. Ordinarily, people talk in terms of obstacles: "I had a bad time. I didn't have any chewing gum in my pocket. I had a bad day." But you could switch gears altogether: "It was such a relief to find that I didn't have any chewing gum in my pocket. I feel fine; I just let go." You can have some appreciation of obstacles becoming simplicity.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, pages 485 to 486.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Preventing Too Many Activities

One characteristic of a dharmic person, someone who practices meditation and the teachings of the Buddha, is to prevent too many activities, or you could say, reduce too many activities. According to tradition, that actually boils down to cutting nonfunctional talking, cutting the baby-sitter mentality, the entertainment mentality. You can get yourself into all kinds of projects, all kinds of engagements. You can become chummy with the world so that you don't have to hold your discipline or your mindfulness properly. ....If you don't like tea, you can have coffee. If you don't like coffee, you could switch to Coca-Cola. If you don't like Coca-Cola, you can drink scotch or vodka. You involve yourself in constant, constant activity. Sometimes you don't even know what you are doing; you just come up with the idea that you need to be occupied with something, but you can't put your finger on anything:" Do I need sex or do I need money or do I need clothes? What do I need?"....You could think about anything; the possibilities are infinite. Getting chummy with the situation involves lots of activity. According to the basic principles of Buddhism, you have to cut that down. When you become too chummy with your world, too familiar with your world, it becomes endless.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, pages 486 to 487.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Like A Bird Without Wings

If your mind becomes firm
Like a rock
And no longer shakes
In a world where
Everything is shaking
Your mind will be your greatest friend
And suffering will not come your way.


Buddha Shakyamuni, From: The Theragata

AWARENESS IS THE BASIS OF GOOD CONDUCT

For a dharmic person, good conduct is a sense of mindfulness and awareness: whatever you are doing, you should try to see it as an extension of your sitting practice, your general sense of awareness and refraining from too much, unnecessary activity....You could look at yourself and smile. You could be awake and aware and, at the same time, on the spot. Constant sunrise happens. You reflect that yourself, and you always look awake and aware of what you are doing. That is good conduct. You respect yourself and you respect the sacredness of your whole being, your whole existence. When you have that kind of self-respect, you don't spill your tea or put your shoes on the wrong feet. You appreciate the weather, your coffee, your tea, your clothes, your shower. There is a tremendous sense that for the first time you have become a real human being and you can actually appreciate the world around you. That appreciation comes from being aware.

From "Seven Characteristics of a Dharmic Person," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Two, pages 487 to 488.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Obama Had The Dalai Lama's Scarf In His Pocket During His Swearing In

1. Obama Had The Dalai Lama's Scarf In His Pocket During His Swearing In

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Beliefnet.com - New York

Friday January 23, 2009

Lama Surya Das passed on this fascinating bit. Richard Blum, who is the
husband of California Senator Diane Feinstein, also happens to be a major
supporter of Buddhism. He was up on the platform during the swearing in.

Beforehand, he told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata -- a
silk Tibetan scarf -- given him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Blum
described what happened next in a letter to an associate of the Dalai Lama:

"I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I
could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take
it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was
sworn-in."

A Kind Heart

To make things as easy as possible to understand,
we can summarize the four boundless qualities
in the single phrase -"a kind heart."
Just train yourself to have a kind heart
always,and in all situations.


Patrul Rinpoche

INDIVIDUAL LIBERATION

It might be a somewhat depressing prospect to realize that you are so thoroughly soaked in this greasy, heavy, dark, and unpleasant thing called samsara, or confused existence, but that realization is tremendously helpful. That understanding alone is the source of realizing what we call buddha in the palm of your hand -­ the basic wakefulness already in your possession. Such vajrayana possibilities begin at this point, right here, in realizing your samsaric anxiousness. Understanding that anxiety, which is very frustrating and not so good, is the key to realizing where you are.
The only way to work with this anxiety is the sitting practice of meditation, the taming of your mind, or shamatha practice. That is the basic idea of pratimoksha, or “individual liberation”: taming yourself. The way to tame yourself, or to talk yourself out of this particular anxiety, is through the concentrated practice of
shamatha or meditative discipline. The beginning of the beginning of the path...is about how you can actually save yourself from samsaric neurosis.

From Chapter One, "Recognizing the Reality of Suffering," in THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING AND THE PATH OF LIBERATION, edited by Judith Lief, forthcoming this Spring from Shambhala Publications. To preorder your copy at a 20% discount, go to:
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-668-0.cfm

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Basic NO

January 8, 2009

BASIC NO

Basic NO is accepting discipline in our life without preconceptions.
Normally, when we say the word "discipline," it comes with a lot of
mixed feelings. It's like saying "oatmeal." Some people like hot
cereal, and some people hate it. Nevertheless, oatmeal remains
oatmeal. It is a very straightforward thing. We have similar feelings
about discipline and the meaning of NO. Sometimes, it's a bad NO: it
is providing oppressive boundaries that we don't want to accept. Or
it could be a good NO, which encourages us to do something healthy.
But when we just hear that one word, NO, the message is mixed.
Fearlessness is extending ourselves beyond that limited
view. In the Heart Sutra, an essential teaching given by the Buddha,
it talks about going beyond. Gone beyond, gate, is the basic NO. In
the sutra, it says there is no eye, no ear, no sound, no smell -- all
of those things. When you experience egolessness, the solidity of
your life and your perceptions falls apart. That could be very
desolate or it could be very inspiring, in terms of shunyata or the
Buddhist understanding of emptiness. Very simply, it is basic NO. It
is a real expression of fearlessness. In the Buddhist view,
egolessness is pre-existing, beyond our preconceptions. In the state
of egolessness everything is simple and very clear.

From "Overcoming Doubt," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from
Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009. [Chogyam Trungpa gave the first
teachings on Big No 30 years ago today.]

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BUDDHA SAW THE PROBLEM

With tremendous deception, we create samsara -- pain and misery for the whole world, including ourselves --but we still come off as if we were innocent. We call ourselves ladies and gentlemen, and we say, "I never commit any sins or create any problems. I''m just a regular old person, blah blah blah.” That snowballing of deception and the type of existence our deception creates are shocking.

You might ask, "If everybody is involved with that particular scheme or project, then who sees the problem at all? Couldn't everybody just join in so that we don't have to see each other that way? Then we could just appreciate ourselves and our snowballing neuroses, and there would be no reference point whatsoever outside of that." Fortunately -- or maybe unfortunately -- we have one person who saw that there was a
problem. That person was known as Buddha. He saw that there was a problem, he worked on it, and he got beyond it. He saw that the problem could be reduced -- and not just reduced, but completely annihilated, because he discovered how to prevent the problem right at the source. Right at the beginning, cessation is possible. Cessation is possible not only for the Buddha, but for us as well. We are trying to follow his path, his approach.

From "Introduction" to THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING AND THE PATH OF LIBERATION, edited by Judith Lief, forthcoming this Spring from Shambhala Publications. To preorder your copy at a 20% discount, go to:
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-668-0.cfm

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A JOLLY GOOD LIFE

Confidence is there. It is a fact. It is the case. But surprisingly, nobody noticed it before. So telling people about this state of being is simply telling the truth. You don't have to make up anything at all. This unconditional confidence manifests in our lives as appreciation: the appreciation of our intelligence, our sympathy towards self and others, the appreciation of good food and drink, appreciation for our meditation practice. Appreciating the details of life begins to open up our life so that it is no longer purely a struggle but a jolly good life. So the real way to share our understanding with others is to cheer ourselves up to begin with.

From "Unconditional Confidence," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009.

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The Black Dragon Jewel

Through one word, or seven words, or three times five,
even if you thoroughly investigate myriad forms
nothing can be depended upon.
Night advances, the moon glows and falls into the ocean.
The black dragon jewel* you have been searching for is everywhere.


—Xuedou, From: Moon In Dewdrop - Writings of Zen Master Dogen, pp. 60, North Point Press


* The Black Dragon Jewel is a rare and valuable jewel found under the chin of a black dragon, symbolizing Buddha-Dharma and original face. (The image of a black dragon with a jewel is represented in the Zen monastery as a fishlike wooden carving, called a hō, which is struck with a mellet before meals.

Attentiveness

Attentiveness is the path to true life;
Indifference is the path to death.
The attentive do not die;
The indifferent are as if they are dead already.

Buddha Shakyamuni From: The Dhammapada

Buddha said

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

EATING WITH AWARENESS

When you eat with awareness, you find that there is more space, more
beauty. You begin to watch yourself, to see yourself, and you notice
how clumsy you are or how accurate you are. You notice the way you
pick up your fork and knife, and the way you put the food in your
mouth. When you practice awareness, everything becomes majestic and
good. You begin to see that you have been leading a different kind of
life in the past. You had the essence of mindfulness already, but you
hadn't discovered it. So when you make an effort to eat mindfully...,
you find that life is worth much more than you had expected.

From "Introduction to Practice," in the 1979 Seminary Transcripts,
pages 4 to 5.

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