Thursday, August 8, 2013

The universal bridge

It is the supreme medicine
That quells the world's disease.
It is the tree that shelters all beings
Wandering and tired on the path of conditioned existence.

It is the universal bridge
That leads to freedom from unhappy states of birth,
It is the dawning moon of the mind
That dispells the torment of disturbing conceptions.

It is the great sun that finally removes
The misty ignorance of the world,
It is the quintessential butter
From the churning of the milk of Dharma.

For all those guests traveling on the path of conditioned existence
Who wish to experience the bounties of happiness,
This will satisfy them with joy
And actually place them in supreme bliss.

Today in the presence of all the Protectors
I invite the world to be guests 
At (a festival of) temporary and ultimate delight.
May...all be joyful

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 30-34, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)


Just like a blind man

Just like a blind man
Discovering a jewel in a heap of rubbish,
Likewise, by some coincidence,
An Awakening Mind has been born within me.

It is the supreme ambrosia
That overcomes the coverignty of death,
It is the inexhaustible treasure
That eliminates all the poverty in the world.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 28-29, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)


Equanimity: May all have the fortune to fully awaken

If, in those who encounter me,
A faithful or angry thought arises,
May that eternally become the source
For fulfilling all their wishes.

May all who say bad things to me
Or cause me any other harm,
And those who mock and insult me
Have the fortune to fully awaken.


(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 6, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)




Salisbury, CT, August 2013

Sorrow is transcended

By giving up all, sorrow is transcended
And my mind will realize the sorrowless state.
It is best that I (now) give everything to all beings
In the same way I shall (at death)  

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 12, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)


Matthew 6:19-21

King James Version (KJV)
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

May I be placed close beside

May I be the doctor, the medicine
And may I be the nurse
For all sick beings in the world
Until everyone is healed.

May a rain of food and drink descend
To clear away the pain of thirst and hunger,
And during the aeon of famine
May I myself change into food and drink.

May I become an inexhaustible treasure
For those who are poor and destitute;
May I turn into all things they could need
And be placed close beside them.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 8-10, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)




The great eraser

Thus by the virtue collected
Through all that I have done,
May the pain of every living creature
Be completely cleared away.


(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 7, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)



Please stay


With folded hands, I beseech
The Conquerors who wish to pass away
To please remain for countless aeons,
And not to leave the world in darkness.


(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 6, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

The door is open

Gladly do I rejoice
In the virtue that relieves the misery
Of all those in unfortunate states
And that gives happiness to the suffering.

I rejoice in that gathering of virtue
That is the cause for Awakening
I rejoice in the definite freedom of embodied creatures
From the miseries of cyclic existence...

And with gladness I rejoice
In the ocean of virtue, for developing an Awakening Mind
That wishes all beings to be happy,
As well as in the deeds that bring them benefit.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3, v. 1-4, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)


Arthur Meade, age 4.  Garden of Sharon Gannon and David Life, Jivamukti Ashram, Shady, NY.  Jivanmukti means "liberated while living".   

Everything unowned, unclaimed and free

In order to seize that precious mind
I offer now to the Tathagatas,
To the sacred dharma, the stainless jewel,
And to the Disciplies of Buddha, the Oceans of Excellence,

Whatever flowers and fruits there are,
And whatever kinds of medicine,
Whatever jewels exist in this world,
And whatever clean, refreshing waters; ...

Lakes and pools adorned with lotuses,
And the beautiful cry of wild geese,
Everything unowned*
Within the limitless spheres of space

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 2, v. 1-5, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)



Dahlia, Salisbury, CT.  August 2013


*In another translation this lines reads: "Everything unclaimed and free". 


Purifying your world meditation


Consider an event which brings you discomfort or pain

Think: There must have been some time in the past when I was present for the cause of this.


Then comes relief.  If there is a cause, that means it can change.

Hold that clear in your mind.  

Then think, I am not the only one who is experiencing this form of pain.

Think: I send out compassion to all those who are suffering the same as me.

Motivated by your love for those beings, see the antidote to that very cause.  Resolve to put it into practice.

Dedicate the energy of this prayer to the removal of this seed of pain, for yourself and others. Make the wish that none might ever experience this again.

Having rehearsed, now go out and put your intention into action. 


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Turnaround

When Bodhisattvas greatly suffer they generate no negativity,
Instead their virtues naturally increase.

I bow down to the body of those 
In whom the sacred precious mind is born.
I seek refuge in that source of joy
Who brings happiness even to those who bring harm.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1, v. 35-36, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

Spontaneous kindness

If whoever repays a kind deed
Is worthy of some praise,
Then what need to mention the Bodhisattvas
Who do good without it being asked of them? 

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1, v. 31, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

Friend, virtue and merit

For those who are deprived of happiness
And burdened with many sorrows,
It satisfies them with all joys,
Dispels all suffering,

And clears away confusion.
Where is there a comparable virtue?
Where is there even such a friend?
Where is there merit similar to this?

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1 v. 29-30, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)


Samsara


Although wishing to be rid of misery,
They run towards misery itself.
Although wishing to have happiness,
Like an enemy they ignorantly destroy it.
(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3 v. 28, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

The panacea

This intention to benefit all beings,
Which does not arise in others even for their own sake,
Is an extraordinary jewel of the mind,
And its birth is an unprecedented wonder.

How can I fathom the depths
Of the goodness of this jewel of mind,
The panacea that relieves the world of pain
And is the source of all its joy?

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3 v. 25 - 26, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

Cosmos and Bee, Salisbury, CT, August 2013

Planting bulbs before winter

And for those who have perfectly seized this mind,
With the thought never to turn away
From totally liberating
The infinite forms of life,

From that time hence,
Even while asleep or unconcerned,
A force of merit equal to the sky 
Will perpetually ensue.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1 v. 18 - 19, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

My mother lives in northwestern Connecticut and gives great care to her garden.  In winter, the snow blankets the garden.  The white interior of the house washes into the cold stillness outside.  Everything is waiting.  In spring, summer, and especially in the brilliant window of August, the garden gives and gives an offering of colors, smells, and sounds.  The bees are thick and audible.  There is a stand of tall lilies called Black Beauties.  In a city florist, this assemblage might cost hundreds of dollars.  They have bold faces where the petals curl back, like heavily made-up extroverts.  Three years ago in the fall, the bulbs were trimmed and planted with care.  Each year, a little less care is needed.  Now, it is only necessary to put a stake in the ground to guide them, and a flourish of flowers shoots up.  What was planted well has assumed a life of its own.  The gardener is now only an observer, celebrating the effortless beauty of nature.  

"Even while asleep...a force of merit equal to the sky will perpetually ensue."

When we see ourselves learn to care for others, and care for the environment in our minds, these moments are not lost in the speed of the day.  They are planted like bulbs, buried in the subconscious of our mind.  Every night in sleep, they multiply.  Each night when we lie down, we can review the day and consider what has been put into the garden.  We can clear the trash and pull the weeds so the good seeds receive as much light and nurturance as possible.  The next day, everything might look the same.  But one day in the future, something beautiful we might not have even let ourselves dream of, will appear, seemingly without effort.  The individual aligned with the laws of nature can offer simple acts of kindness like a humble gardener.  In time, their efforts will generate "a force of merit equal to the sky";  the whole world benefits.



Clearing history

Just like the fire at the end of an age,
It instantly consumes all great wrongdoing.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1 v. 14, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

The one good karma that never ends

All other virtues are like plantain trees;
For after bearing fruit, they simply perish.
Yet the perennial tree of the Awakening Mind
Unceasingly bears fruit and thereby flourishes without end.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 1 v. 12, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)
Reading List

The Garden, Geshe Michael Roach

Meditation in Action, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

An Offering of Leaves and Sweeping the Dust by (Lady) Ruth Lauer-Manenti

Bodhicharyavatara, or Bodhisattvacharyavatara, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Master Shantideva, translation by Stephen Batchelor

The Yoga Sutras, translations and commentaries by Barbara Stoler-Miller, Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally, and Swami Satchidananda

Holding up the sky


Just like earth and space itself
And all the other mighty elements,
For boundless multitudes of beings
May I always be the ground of life, the source of varied sustenance.

Thus for everything that lives, as far as are the limits of the sky,
May I be constantly their source of livelihood
Until they pass beyond all sorrow.
(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3 v. 18 - 19, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)
Lotus Bloom, Bill Lester's Garden, Dockery, MS.  July 2013.

Adaptive Self


May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road.
For those who wish to cross the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for land,
A lamp for those who long for light;
For all who need a resting place, a bed;
For those who need a servant, may I be their slave.

(A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, ch. 3 v. 18 - 19, trans.  Stephen Batchelor)

 Oak Tree, City Park, New Orleans, LA July 2013