Tag: spirituality

Practical Buddhism

Chong Go Sunim1 Comment

Here’s the beginning of a Dharma talk Daehaeng Kun Sunim gave to the Young Adults group on November 1, 1998. This is a very direct talk, with nothing complicated about it. Not necessarily easy to do, but nothing complicated, and within the ability of all of us.

If you’re sitting with your legs crossed, please straighten them and sit comfortably. This may seem like a trivial issue, but no one else will take care of your legs, and no one else can keep them from hurting.

This practice of relying upon our fundamental mind is the practice of transcending ourselves. It’s the practice of transcending the level we’re currently at by means of working through our fundamental mind to respond to what we’re facing and make a positive difference in our daily life. It’s easy to say that everything depends on how we use our minds, but in reality, not many people are able to actually use their minds to overcome what they’re facing.

My style of speaking isn’t particularly exciting or entertaining, but I can do is tell you about what’s deeply true, so please listen carefully and think about how you can apply it to your life.  

If you think about various different Buddhist teachings, you’ll realize that they’re saying that we have to always practice in daily life. They’re also saying that sitting meditation, meditation while laying down, and meditation while working don’t exist apart from your life. They teach that even sitting on the toilet and having a bowel movement can be spiritual practice.

Really. There’s not a single thing in your life that can’t be part of your spiritual practice. All of the things you’re doing, the thoughts you’re giving rise to, the actions you’re doing with your body, and all that you’re experiencing can all become spiritual practice when you entrust everything to this foundation that’s your source. But in the beginning, this is probably going to be a bit difficult.

So, whenever you have a few minutes, practice entrusting everything to your Juingong, your fundamental mind, with the thought that, “Juingong! You’re the one who has to show that you exist.” I’m not talking about doing this with words, you have to actually entrust everything to your fundamental mind, “Okay, now take care of this and prove you exist!” It’s like going straight to the door and knocking loudly.

Take whatever you face in your daily life, and as it comes up, entrust it to your fundamental mind, Juingong. “Only you can clear the path in front of me, only you can clear away the brush and logs blocking the way!” Take all the different things and situations you experience and return them like this.

Sometimes, according to the circumstances, you may need to stay focused on raising a particular intention and continuously returning that. If you keep returning things like this you will be able to experience the one ocean, and will be able to practice acting and experimenting through this one ocean.

This is Halli, she is an utter sweetheart!

The Blame Game

Chong Go Sunim7 Comments

As soon as you concern yourself with the “good” and “bad” of your fellows,
you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter.
Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weakens and defeats you.

Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace, page 55 

 

This is such a wonderful verse. Like other truly profound teachings, it causes everything within me to settle deep down. It’s a lot like the deep-centered feeling of sitting in the full lotus posture (assuming one isn’t being tormented by rending knee pain!) 

I think the reason for this is that it acknowledges and reinforces the fundamental truth of our lives: that we are not separate.  We’re living together as one, and anything I direct towards someone else is felt equally (or more!) by myself.  It’s as if we’re living in the same room, breathing the same air, and eating from the same plate.  If I said I was going to poison the plate of food we’re eating from in order to “get” one person, everyone would think I’m nuts.

 
“But you’re eating the same food!?!  It’ll kill you as well!”  To poison the air we all breathe, thinking “Hah! I really showed you!,” would be the act of a lunatic.  Yet the actions and thoughts we give rise to continue to act through this unseen connection we all share.  This isn’t to say don’t ever have harsh thoughts; everyone has them, and they tend to arise out of habit before we realize it.  Rather, when you realize you’re caught up in them, stop feeding them energy.  Entrust that situation, as best you can, to your inherent Buddha, the source of all energy, and that which is truly taking care of things.

Another thing about blame and criticism, is that it’s often dumping the entire cause for something onto the other person(s). When in reality, if there’s something going back and forth between us, then I also share partial responsibility for it.  At the very minimum, I’m at this place now as the karmic result of the choices I’ve made, so there’s no use in blaming others. And in fact, acknowledging that I have a share of the blame often feels very liberating.  Look at how you feel when you get caught up trying to defend yourself and justify your actions. Now look at how you feel when you say “I’m sorry,” even if only silently, to yourself.

 
Daehaeng Kun Sunim often teaches that everything gathers together because of its similar level of growth and its similar karma. She gives the example parents and children, saying that they’ve gathered together because they created similar karma, although it’s not always apparent. Parents chose their children, and children chose their parents, because that was the level that looked most appealing to them. 

Thus, for all these reasons, Daehaeng Kun Sunim has always emphasized that blaming and criticizing others is one of the most spiritually harmful things we can do. She tells people to be generous in how they view others, and to interpret the things in their lives positively. For everything in this world manifests according to the thoughts we give rise to. Whether this world is a hell realm or a heavenly realm depends upon the thoughts we choose.

 
Over these many kalpas of our evolution, there’s no one who hasn’t been our father or our mother, our son, our daughter, our husband or our wife. Let’s remember the love we once felt for them, and raise the desire to see them grow and succeed, and know peace and liberation.