5 Most Valuable Life Lessons

March 22, 2013

Meditation as repose Stephen Batchelor (Buddhism without Beliefs) recounts an ancient tale from Tibet. A wise monk saw an old man walking earnestly about in the garden of a Buddhist monastery. The monk approached and said, “it is good to see you walking, but wouldn’t you prefer to be practicing the dharma (the teachings)?” The old man thought about this and decided he should read some Buddhist writings. He sat down in the garden and read. The same monk found him attentively reading, wrinkled brow and all. The monk said, I am happy to see you reading the dharma, but wouldn’t you prefer to be practicing it?” Hearing this, the old man reflected and the next day returned to the garden and sat down on his cushion and worked to meditate deeply. I have an image of him, a stern look on his face. Sure enough, the same monk found him there and said, “Good to see you meditating, but wouldn’t you like to be practicing the dharma?” ••••• It appears that many Americans equate Buddha practice orBuddhism with periodically sitting on a cushion in silence and engaging in some form of meditation. This equation is  not accurate. Buddha practice is an effort to pervade one’s life with actions that accord with the dharma. upon which we stand as human beings. This action, of course, includes right or effective concentration, which one can enhance by meditating.

Buddha’s  life demonstrates that mindful activity liberates us and allows us to help society. For years he had followed stringent yogic practices, including meditation. He practiced to such extremes that he became ill to the threshold of dying. He awakened after he began to nourish himself and search the nature of his own human existence. Buddha’s first important decision after awakening was to go to his friends and help them see and learn what he had learned about active living, especially dealing with aging, disease, death, and loss of what we love. He taught others to deal directly with elements of life, joy, achievement, and success, loss, pain, and confusion, as well.

Buddha taught people to look directly what makes them suffer; understand the roots of suffering, to realize some relief, and cultivate a path, which includes effective concentration, such as meditation. (These are called the “Four Noble Truths.) The path (called Eightfold Path) has a rough “goal,” which is a joyful, balanced relation to all life. It is not self centered. The Buddha was not centered on himself: He spent the last forty years of his life helping others to understand his teachings. I’d like to relate meditation to relaxation or repose. Meditation presents an opportunity to clear the mind; it is not a forced march. It takes discipline, but that, too, is composed of relaxation as well as attention. The Zen master Dogen (founder of Soto Zen) said it is a good idea to wear comfortable garments and find a comfortable place when practicing Zazen (sitting meditation.) He suggested that the meditator might keep his or her eyes half closed. I suppose that is to invite the awareness

Thich Nhat Hanh explains the amplitude of useful or “right” concentration practices: “The Buddha taught many concentration practices. To practice the Concentration on Impermanence, every time you look at your beloved, see him as impermanent, and do your best to make him happy today. If you think he is permanent, you may believe he will never improve. The insight into impermanence keeps you from getting caught in the suffering of craving, attachment, and despair. See and listen to everything with this insight.”