Daily Dharma

Energy arises when one has a clearcut direction. One knows exactly where one is going and keeps at it. But when the mind has no clear concept of what it's actually trying to accomplish other than staying alive physically, not much energy is produced. It's not fascinating or interesting and the subconscious mind knows already that it's a lost cause. Nobody can survive. To use one's strength and direction just for survival is not a fruitful undertaking and real energy will not arise. On the contrary, one feels bogged down and oppressed by it.

The Buddha compared sloth and torpor with being in prison. When one is in prison in a little cell, there's nothing one can do until somebody opens the door. When the mind is beset by lethargy and drowsiness (lethargy is in the body and drowsiness is in the mind) it is imprisoned to the extent that one can only just rouse up enough energy to do the most necessary things.

Most people don't know and don't accept that meditation is a necessity and so the mind easily gives up. One has to be clear about the efficacy of meditation. It's not only necessary to eat, sleep, wash and dress. These are automatic survival techniques, and don't need a lot of energy. They are instinctive. But meditation needs energy and that can only be aroused if one knows the importance of it, if the mind is quite clear that this is what one really must do.

[...from Five Hindrances... the 5th chapter in Being Nobody, Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema, pg. 75]

Greatest Attainment

In the beginning of a book called Achieving Balance, there is a quote by Melodie Beattie from The Language of Letting Go. Melanie says:

Rest when you're tired.
Take a drink of cold water when you're thirsty.
Call a friend when you're lonely.
Ask God for help when you feel overwhelmed.

Many of us have learned how to deprive and neglect
ourselves. Many of us have learned to push
ourselves hard, when the problem is that we've already
pushed too hard. Many of us are afraid the work
won't get done if we rest when we're tired.

The work will get done; it will be done better than
work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit.

Nurtured, nourished people, who love themselves and
care for themselves, are the delight of the Universe.
They are well-timed, efficient, and Divinely led.

This reminds me of a previous Daily Dharma entry that quotes Layman Pang. Pang speaks of his greatest attainment. It sounds simple, but the more time that passes as I take this journey into zen, the more I get what a challenge it can be.

Recently I've been forced to look at the ways I push myself and how often I put off doing things that would refuel me. One realization I had over the holidays was the simple understanding that the shackles of business, hurriedness, and overwhelm I have viewed as natural byproducts of this modern, fast-paced life we live are shackles I have taken on... not because I'm forced to but because I choose to.

Yes, I have to get up and go to work every day if I want to feed my family and have a place to live. It's not the getting up and going to work... It's not the commute... It's not the people I work with... It's not the eleven hours I have to give away Monday through Friday... No. None of these things are the source of my overwhelm when I'm overwhelmed. The problem is simply that I won't always sleep when I'm tired, and I don't always eat when I'm hungry. I won't always drink when I'm thirsty, and I don't always perform my practice faithfully.

Between delusion and diligence there is a choice. The wise choices, like warm mittens on cold days, take care of everything. The poor choices tear us apart. Knowing that daily meditation practice can enhance your life accounts for nothing if you know but you still don't sit. Knowing that a certain diet will take good care of your body, guard against illness, shed excess weight and improve your energy levels accounts for nothing if you know but you still go for junk food every chance you get.

I'm in the process of reviewing old tapes of the Franklin Time Management Seminar that was distributed circa 1989. In it, time management guru Hyrum Smith discusses what he calles the productivity triquation. He suggests that there is a cyclical relationship between event control, productivity and self-esteem. What does this mean? When event control decreases, productivity decreases. When productivity decreases, self-esteem plunges. Low self-esteem perpetuates ambivalence about time management, and the cycle continues. On the other hand, when we manage our discretionary time well, our productivity increases as do our feelings of self-worth.

So many people I know are waiting for something to happen so they can feel better about themselves and their lives. They are waiting for that right person, that right job, that right relationship, that right car, that right salary, that right child, that right house, that right number on the scale, that right dress or pant size... This lecture series reminds me that achieving high self-esteem and avoiding overwhelm are simple matters that are under our control. We just need the diligence to do two things every day... We need to decide what's important and do it faithfully. This is my focus right now.

Unexcused Absences

I guess I could've said something. I really didn't plan to check out of the blogosphere for as long as I have... almost a month now... but that's how it goes sometimes. At the end of the year I was experiencing total burnout. It affected everything... my attitude, my tolerance level, my yoga and meditation practice. I needed to do three things, and I alternated my time between cleaning house, resting and playing with my daughter.

I've missed out on several comments... I'll catch up over the next few days. For now, I'll just thank those of you who stopped by with a few words. I'm also late responding to several requests to join the Buddhist Blogs webring. I've just added three new blogs as I'm typing this. I browsed them a bit today. Here are a few snippets from these new members of the blangha.

First, there's Michael. He's writing about life with an incurable illness... and like all else that confronts us in life, he deals by placing One Foot in Front of the Other. In a post titled That's Not Buddhism, he shares this cogent quote:

Regretting the fact that you likely won't have a long life isn't Buddhism. Giving thanks for a long life isn't Buddhism, either.
Buddhism is living in the moment and making the most of the life you have.

Next, we welcome Manoverboard, the stew of an anonymous chef who blends quotes, art, short musings and miscellaneous obscure facts... mostly short entries that can be read quickly. This post on meditation practice caught my eye:

When I teach meditation, I often begin by saying: "Bring your mind home. And release. And relax."

To bring your mind home means to bring the mind into the state of Calm Abiding through the practice of mindfulness. In its deepest sense, to bring your mind home is to turn your mind inward and rest in the nature of mind. This itself is the highest meditation.

To release means to release the mind from its prison of grasping, since you recognize that all pain and fear and distress arise from the craving of the grasping mind. On a deeper level, the realization and confidence that arise from your growing understanding of the nature of mind inspire the profound and natural generosity that enables you to release all grasping from your heart, letting it free itself to melt away in the inspiration of meditation.

To relax means to be spacious and to relax the mind of its tensions. More deeply, you relax into the true nature of your mind, the state of Rigpa. It is like pouring a handful of sand onto a hot surface, and each grain settles of its own accord. This is how you relax into your true nature, letting all thoughts and emotions naturally subside and dissolve into the state of the nature of mind.

Last but not least, I welcome tonight Jayarava of The Jayarava Rave whose recent post speaks to responsibility from a Buddhist perspective. While there are no rules, there are always consequences.  Jayarava closes it out with the following:

I don't think rules will help me be a better person. Only awareness can do that. As a member of the Western Buddhist Order I have made an explicit commitment to develop that kind of awareness. This apparent abrogation of rules is not a shrugging off of responsibility. On the contrary I am taking seriously the responsibility to weigh my every action of body, speech and mind, to see whether it is likely to cause harm to any living being.

The post speaks to karma and right action in the absence of coersion. Worth reading. Check it out.