The Wisdom Journal, Spring 2016 (Issue 1) by Wisdom Publications

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From the Publisher It’s an exciting time here at Wisdom. Recently, we’ve launched several initiatives to support our mission of connecting our readers with Buddhist wisdom. Let’s start with the publication you’re holding in your hands: Daniel Aitken the first edition of the Wisdom Journal. As you can see, it’s unlike the catalogs you’ve received from Wisdom in the past. Our aim for this twice-yearly publication is not only to highlight our latest books but also to help you gain insights into leading a wise and compassionate life. In addition to excerpts from new Wisdom books, you’ll find interviews with our esteemed authors, sneak previews of our upcoming programs, and more. Better yet, the Wisdom Journal is free and doesn’t include paid advertising.

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Over in the digital world, we’ve been thrilled by the overwhelming response to the new Wisdom Podcast—it’s quickly become one of the most popular Buddhist podcasts out there. If you haven’t already, be sure to check it out at learn.wisdompubs.org/podcast. About twice a month, I interview leading thinkers from the Buddhist world, such as H. H. the Karmapa, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and Robert Thurman (see page 6). Lastly, this month we’ll introduce Wisdom Academy, our new online platform for sharing the Dharma. Alan Wallace will teach the first course, “Introduction to Dzogchen” (see page 21). We have other interesting online courses with amazing Buddhist teachers lined up, so stay tuned! My colleagues and I are delighted to be fulfilling our founder Lama Yeshe’s vision for Wisdom: to produce “publications for wisdom culture.” We hope you enjoy the results. All the best, Daniel Aitken

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What is noself? What is nothingness? And how can we comprehend such vast concepts? Master Guojun looks to the Chinese language to help us better understand. 8

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A H Ā S I S A Y A D A W O N M I N S I G H T M E D I T A T I O N

E M U S T P R E P A R E W F O R D E A T H

Lama Zopa Rinpoche shares that how we approach death is a reflection of how we live every day in this selection from his new book, How to Enjoy Death.

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A K I N G W R E A L I T Y

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K I N D F U L N E S S : H O W P R A C T I C E M E T T A

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Add kindness to your mindfulness—learn a powerful and encouraging practice from beloved teacher Ajahn Brahm.

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Selected journal exercises from Living and Dying with Confidence by Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo.

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H O W D O T H I N K ?

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Tom Tillemans explores the East-West debate on physicalism.

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Read the beginning of the Buddha’s renowned teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

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Experience the classic koan in a new way with this exquisite illustration from The Story of Mu. Continue reading from James Ishmael Ford’s essay to contemplate the meaning of Mu in our everyday lives. 1 8

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A Buddhist chaplain (Robert Chodo Campbell) learns the story beneath the story of a Catholic cancer patient as he readies himself—and his family—for his passing. 2 0

I S H O L I N E S S H T H E 1 7 TH K A R M A P A

Learn how to start practicing insight meditation from renowned teacher Mahāsi Sayadaw.

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K A R M A P A D O R J É

An interview from the Wisdom Podcast. Daniel Aitken, associate publisher, talks to the Karmapa about women’s ordination, vegetarianism, and more.

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The fascinating life story of the great thirteenth-century Tibetan master, as told in The Karmapas and Their Mahāmudrā Forefathers. 6

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H E T H I R D T R A N G J U N G

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H E L I F E O F J A M Y A N G T K H Y E N T S E C H O K Y I L O D R O

The biography of the famed teacher as told in Sam van Shaik’s landmark volume The Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism.

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S O O N

An inside look at what Wisdom has planned for the rest of 2016. 2 3

A B U D D H I S T O B S E R V E D

G R I E F

An excerpt on understanding the first noble truth: suffering. 2 4

L A M A Y E S H E C A L L E D M E D A U G H T E R

Jan Willis recalls a lesson from Lama Yeshe in Dreaming Me: Black, Baptist, and Buddhist. 2 5

W I S D O M

F A V O R I T E S

Our favorite books from the Tibetan, Theravada, and Zen traditions, as well as perennial bestsellers and new releases.

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When he turned eighteen, Rangjung Dorjé took full ordination. Acting as the abbot was Neten Shönu Jangchup (the fifth in a line of abbots from Gendun Gangpa), and the ritual master was the learned Gendun Rinchen. With both of them Rangjung Dorjé studied the words of the Buddha and the treatises related to the Vinaya.

The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé T H E L I F E O F A G R E A T T H I R T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y M A S T E R

Rangjung Dorjé then traveled to Karma Gön. Once, when he was staying in the monastery’s place of practice known as Yang Gön, he had a vision of Vimalamitra, who dissolved into the space between the Karmapa’s eyebrows.

The bodhisattva Dripa Namsel, from mural by Lama Rigzin

The Third Karmapa, mural by Lama Rigzin

Just eight days after Karma Paks.i had passed into nirvana, he wished to enter his former body, but it had already been cremated. Then he thought, “I could transfer my consciousness to another body, and benefit living beings,” so he entered the corpse of a thirteen-year-old boy, laid out between an elder couple. When his eyelids opened wide, the astonished couple watched the dead person’s eyes coming to life. Thinking, “This is a very bad omen,” they threw ashes into his eyes and pierced them with needles so he became totally blind. Realizing that he would not be able to help others, Karma Paks.i left that body. Though he searched for another opportunity, he could find only a pigeon’s corpse and realized that the time had not yet come to help others, so he remained in one-pointed meditation. About four months later, on the eighth day of the first month in the year of the Wood Monkey from the fifth sixty-year cycle (1284), he was born in Tsaphu of Gungthang in Mangyul, located in Western Tibet. His father was the teacher Chöphel and his mother, Jomo Yangdren. At the age of three he said, “Make a hat like this out of black felt.” Wearing the small hat, he sat on a stone throne in front of many other children and taught the text Introducing the Three Kāyas, saying that he remembered it from before. The young boy also said, “I’m the Karmapa,” and he often talked about what had happened previously and recounted other things that revealed he possessed the modes of higher perception. Both of his parents gave him the same devotion they would have

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offered him if he were actually the Karmapa, and they also spoke of him to others. When Rangjung Dorjé was five years old, he wished to meet the realized master Ogyenpa Rinchen Pal, and so he departed with his parents and companions. In a vision, the Karmapa appeared to Ogyenpa and said, “You should know that I’m coming tomorrow.” Ogyenpa got up very early and told the inner and outer circles of disciples, “Prepare a grand welcome!” Ogyenpa also thought, “We need to test this young boy.” So he set up a seat higher than his own, figuring, “If this isn’t my lama, he won’t have the courage to sit here.” Then all who had gathered went to welcome their special guest. When the young boy arrived, he did not even prostrate to Ogyenpa but went straightaway to sit on the high seat. “Who are you?” Ogyenpa asked. Raising his hand in the air, the boy replied, “My name is Karmapa. My fame has spread everywhere.” “Do you remember what you gave me?” Ogyenpa asked. “My Black Hat and a text!” was the quick reply. “That’s true.” So Ogyenpa gave back to the young Karmapa his Black Hat and his text, Introducing the Three Kāyas, which he had remembered as a child. Donning the hat, the Karmapa gave a radiant smile and descended from the throne. “Previously you were my lama. Now again I supplicate you to take care of me,” and he prostrated to Ogyenpa.

The young Karmapa was given the name Rangjung Dorjé (Naturally Arisen Vajra) along with empowerments, lay precepts, and abundant advice. With Kunden Sherap of the Trophu Kagyü acting as the abbot, the Karmapa took lay precepts. Afterward, he went to Tsurphu and met Nyenré. In front of a bone-dry boulder, Rangjung Dorjé said, “If I am Karma Paks.i, may a spring appear.” As soon as he spoke, a copious spring gushed forth. Then he inserted a half-burned stick into the rock and said, “If I am Karma Paks.i, this will grow. If not, nothing will happen.” Instantly, the stick came to life. Even now, these two are famous as the water blessed by attainment and the tree blessed by attainment. Mostly with the great master Nyenré, Rangjung Dorjé studied all the profound Dharma of the Kamtsang Kagyü, including the collections of the advice from Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa, and also all the teachings of the old and new schools of Tibet. Mainly with Jamyang Shakya Shönu, he studied texts belonging to the vehicle of characteristics and its commentarial tradition: The Seven Treatises on Validity and the Compendium of Validity, the Compendium of Abhidharma, and the . Treasury of Abhidharma, along with Asanga’s treatises on the five levels, the five Dharmas of Maitreya, and the main Madhyamaka texts—the Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Entering the Middle Way, and the Four Hundred Verses—as well as many other works. In total, Rangjung Dorjé studied with one hundred and thirteen lamas and had the reputation of knowing every Dharma text that existed in Tibet.

I N A V I S I O N , T H E K A R M A P A A P P E A R E D T O O G Y E N P A A N D S A I D , “ Y O U S H O U L D K N O W T H A T I ’ M C O M I N G T O M O R R O W . ” O G Y E N P A G O T U P V E R Y E A R L Y A N D T O L D T H E I N N E R A N D O U T E R C I R C L E S O F D I S C I P L E S , “ P R E P A R E A G R A N D W E L C O M E ! ”

From that time onward he knew clearly the words and the meaning of the Great Perfection (Dzokchen). The Karmapa then traveled on to Kampo Nenang and other places, caring for people by settling important disputes, eliminating the fear of fire, and reversing mantric spells. When he went to monasteries belonging to other traditions, such as the Sakya, he engaged many of their masters in conversation about the Dharma. He met Kunkhyen Dölpopa, who at that time was partial to the view of intrinsic emptiness (rangtong). Rangjung Dorjé prophesied, however, that later Dölpopa would realize a very special view, which turned out to be that of extrinsic emptiness (shentong). Rangjung Dorjé’s compositions include the treatise the Profound Inner Meaning and its auto-commentary; the two shorter texts Distinguishing Consciousness and Wisdom and A Treatise on Buddha Nature; the Compendium of Astrology; and so forth. His collected works encompass sixteen volumes.

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/third-karmapa THE KARMAPAS AND THEIR MAHAMUDRA FOREFATHERS By Khenpo Sherap Phuntsok

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His Holiness the 17th Karmapa A N

H. H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

For our inaugural episode of the Wisdom Podcast, associate publisher Daniel Aitken interviewed His Holiness the 17th Karmapa in India. His Holiness is the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and an influential young leader among Buddhists worldwide. In the condensed conversation below, he shares his vision with the Wisdom community. Daniel Aitken: Your Holiness, these days some people are getting empowerments over the internet. Is this okay? His Holiness the Karmapa: I think this is where maybe we need to do some research on this or investigation, whether that is appropriate or not. But I think in some places, some people have difficulty to come to meet the teacher. Then this is the only way they can receive the empowerment. For this kind of situation I think it is understandable. The teacher also maybe is well-informed and understands the situation. The student also has a strong wish to receive [empowerments], but he or she

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could not meet [with the teacher]—maybe due to some restriction or some economic problems. Then I think in this kind of situation maybe we can understand. But sometimes people know that we can receive over the internet, then people go the easy way. Even if you can visit, you would rather take the easy road. Then, I think it’s a little bit not respectful to the Dharma. It’s not taking it seriously. I think then that is not good. DA: That makes sense. And this problem [of disconnection] is not just between Dharma teacher and student, but also in families. HHK: Yes. This kind of, you know, virtual connection, I think it does not serve the purpose. We don’t have something real. We have friends, but we are still lonely. That’s why I think we of course need to rely on these technologies, but we should be beyond technology with friendships or teacher-student relationships. We should be beyond those kind of technological communications. We need mind-communication. We need more spiritual communication. DA: Your Holiness, you recently visited the United States. I was wondering if you had any ideas about the conditions required in the West for Dharma to flourish? HHK: I think the Dharma centers should be stronger. But that means they should have not just traditional education but modern education and methods to introduce the Dharma through some new ways and methods to the public. And also sometimes

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maybe it’s not necessary for people— there are different kinds of people. Some people are ready to become serious practitioners, and some are not. Some just like Buddhist teachings, but they are not ready to become a Buddhist follower. For those people, we also have another path they can take. Now there are more and more secular people who are interested. DA: Your Holiness, we heard you speak on ordination for women. Our Wisdom listeners might want to hear your thoughts around this. HHK: [Some have] said, Oh, I’m the tipping point, I’m the first man that is doing this. Actually, that is not true. That is a little bit made up. Because His Holiness the Dalai Lama and also lots of scholars have spent a long time, almost thirty years, investigating this issue of whether the Mulasarvastivadin tradition of gelongma [nuns] can be restored or not. That is one issue. . . Then of course in the past some Karmapas have been involved in the issue. Like the 8th Karmapa, actually it looks like he gave the gelongma ordination. Some of history shows that the 8th Karmapa gave the gelongma ordination himself. That’s why historically the Karmapa was also involved in the issue. That’s why I took some interest.

Everything that comes into being depends on everything else. Nothing arises by itself. In Buddhism, we often talk about “no self.” This is a difficult idea to grasp in English. What we mean is that the self as we usually imagine it doesn’t really exist. Just as the daffodil is made up of the nutrients it draws from the soil, the energy of sunlight, the water that helps it grow, and the bees that pollinate, so, too, we are made up of the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the ancestors who have come before us and made our lives possible. But does this mean that because the daffodil is comprised of nondaffodil materials it isn’t a daffodil? Of course not! And likewise for each of us.

or obstruction, fully functioning, free but still connected, as clouds are connected to the sky and rivers to the earth. When we realize that, we don’t feel terror or despair. On the contrary: to realize that, to live it, gives rise to a feeling of potential and possibility. We are no longer bound to the stifling attachment to who we think we are. Everything changes, including each one of us. We get stuck because we limit ourselves. We do not really open up and become intimate with the world around us. Not no, non-.

In Chinese the word for “no self ” is wuwo, but wu does not mean “no” in Chinese. It negates rather than defines. It is indefinite. It is not fixed or concrete. Wu connotes fluidity, movement, even hope. The realization of no self is not at all nihilistic. It simply means that the self is something different from what we habitually assume it to be. In Chan, emptiness is not nothingness. And nothingness is not nothing. We might say “nonthingness” instead. No self might be better expressed as nonself. Not no, non-. What is the meaning of nonself? Infinity. The downward sweep of Songnian’s hand came out of the place from which each breath comes and goes. Where each moment is born and vanishes. A place of nongrasping where there is complete freedom and everything comes together naturally. A lovely Chinese phrase, xing yun liu shui, expresses this. It means clouds flowing across the sky, a stream running downhill in spring without hindrance

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/chan-heart CHAN HEART, CHAN MIND By Master Guojun

Listen to the full interview and others with guests Robert Thurman, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and more at wisdompubs.org/podcast

Photo by Cosmic Timetraveler 6

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W I S D O M P U B S . O R G

Mahāsi Sayadaw O N I N S I G H T M E D I T A T I O N

path knowledge.” If you suspect that you may have ever committed some offense toward an enlightened person, you should apologize for the mistake. If you cannot go to see that person to apologize, you should offer the apology in front of a teacher. Entrust yourself to the Buddha’s wisdom, in order to be free from fear in the event that frightening objects appear during intensive practice. Also you should entrust yourself to a teacher’s care, so that the teacher may guide you without any hesitation. This may not be necessary if you are already following a teacher’s instructions respectfully. Reflect on the merits of: nibbāna, which is completely free from any mental or physical suffering; path knowledge, which eradicates defilements and leads directly to nibbāna; and insight practice, which will surely lead to the attainment of path knowledge and nibbāna. You should find inspiration by remembering that the path of insight you are practicing is the same path that the Buddha, arahants, and all of the noble ones have followed. You should then bow to the Buddha, reflecting on as many of his attributes as you know. After this, it is recommended that one cultivate loving-kindness toward all living beings, beginning with the devas that guard the monastery. If possible, you should then contemplate death and the impurity of your own body. T R U E I N S I G H T P R A C T I C E I S A N A W A R E N E S S O F A L L O F T H E M E N T A L A N D P H Y S I C A L P H E N O M E N A T H A T C O N S T A N T L Y A R I S E A T T H E S I X S E N S E D O O R S .

Finally, you should sit with legs crossed, or in any other sitting posture that is comfortable, and observe as explained below. T H E

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The Primary Object Image courtesy of Virañani

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If a meditator aspires to attain path knowledge and fruition knowledge and nibbāna in this very life, he or she should cut any impediments during the time of meditation practice through the following preparations. Purify moral conduct as explained in chapter 1, and cultivate the wish: “May my moral conduct be supportive of

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A meditator should focus his or her mind on the abdomen. You will feel it rising and falling. If you don’t feel this clearly, place a hand on the abdomen and its rise and fall will become obvious after a while. When breathing in, you will experience the rising movement of the abdomen. Note this as “rising.” When breathing out, you will experience the falling movement. Note this as “falling.” While doing this you may reflect that observing the

form or concept of the abdomen is not what you ought to be doing. This is not a cause for worry. Initially, of course, it is almost impossible to avoid a conceptual sense of solid form. So in the beginning, you must observe objects on a conceptual level. That is the only way that your concentration, awareness, and insight knowledge will mature. In due time, however, insight knowledge will break through to the absolute reality beyond concepts. True insight practice is an awareness of all of the mental and physical phenomena that constantly arise at the six sense doors. However, because concentration and awareness are not strong enough in the beginning, it will be difficult to observe all of the phenomena that constantly arise. You will not be skillful enough to follow all of the objects, or may get caught up in searching for an object to note. For these reasons you should initially focus just on the rise and fall of the abdomen that occurs all the time and is noticeable enough to observe without much difficulty. Later, when your practice matures, you will be able to note objects as they arise. So you should concurrently and continuously note the movements of the abdomen as “rising” and “falling” from moment to moment. A meditator should do this mentally, not audibly. Do not make the breath more vigorous than usual so as to make the rise and fall more distinct; neither slow down nor speed up the breath. If a meditator changes his or her natural pattern of breathing, he or she may get tired quickly and not be able to note properly. Just breathe in and out normally and regularly, and observe concurrently. A

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The rise and fall of the abdomen is a manifestation of the air element, one of the types of tactile, physical phenomena. When observing the rise and fall, you will experience pressure

and movement—characteristics of the air element—in accord with the following Pāl.i passages: Bhikkhus, attend carefully to form. Recognize the impermanence of form as it really is. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu sees as impermanent form which is actually impermanent: that is his right view. This is stated in discourses contained in Khandhasam.yutta of the Sam.yutta Nikāya. And it is also in accordance with the contemplation of mind-objects (the five aggregates) in the Mahāsatipat.t.hāna Sutta.

cordance with the contemplation of mind-objects (the six bases) in the Mahāsatipat.t.hāna Sutta. Now both the internal air element and the external air element are simply air element. And that should be seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.” This is as stated in the discourses dealing with the elements. It is also in accordance with the contemplation of the body (elements) in the Mahāsatipat.t.hāna Sutta. Moreover the air element is part of the materiality aggregate subject to clinging (rūpa upādānakkhandha) and is therefore included in the truth of suffering. It should be seen as it really is, in accord with the Buddha’s teaching: This noble truth of suffering is to be fully understood.

Mahāsi Sayadaw, courtesy of Insight Meditation Society

Bhikkhus, attend carefully to tactile objects. Recognize the impermanence of tactile objects as it really is.

This is in accordance with the discourses dealing with the noble truths. It is also included in the contemplation of mind-objects (the Four Noble Truths) in the Mahāsatipat.t.hāna Sutta.

Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu sees as impermanent tactile objects which are actually impermanent: that is his right view. . . . by directly knowing and fully understanding the eye . . . the mind, by developing dispassion towards it and abandoning it, one is capable of destroying suffering. When one knows and sees [tactile objects] as impermanent, ignorance is abandoned and true knowledge arises. This is stated in discourses contained in Sal.āyatanasam.yutta of the Sam.yutta Nikāya. It is also in ac-

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/mahasi MANUAL OF INSIGHT By Mahāsi Sayadaw

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We Must Prepare for Death B Y

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Buddhist teachings explain that the best spiritual practitioners are joyful when they are dying, as if they’re going home to see their family after a long absence. Less accomplished practitioners are happy and comfortable at the time of death and are fully confident that they will have a happy rebirth. And even the least accomplished practitioners die without worry or fear; death does not bother them at all. Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism has so many powerful methods to help people before they die, while they are dying, and even after death. There are two aspects to helping a dying person: (1) helping those who are facing death to find peace and (2) doing the appropriate spiritual practices at the right time.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, photo courtesy of FPMT

When suddenly one day one of your loved ones dies and you don’t know what to do to help, you’ll feel so confused, so lost. Recently a Buddhist student of mine told me that this is what happened to her when her father died unexpectedly. This made me think that knowing how to help others at the time of death is such important education to have. As you get older, you’ll definitely hear about people dying—family members will die, friends will die, even your enemies will die too!—so you will need to be prepared to help them. This doesn’t just apply to people who work with the dying; everyone should learn to know how to help people when they die. Helping our loved ones at the time of death is the best service we can offer them, our greatest gift. Why? Because death is the most important time of life: it’s at death that the next rebirth is determined. By providing the right support, the right environment, you can help your loved one die peacefully, with virtuous thoughts, and thus have a good rebirth. We need to deal with the physical needs of our loved ones at the time of death, of course, but the spiritual needs are paramount. To die with a happy mind, a peaceful mind, that is a spiritual concern. Some people are prepared for it but most are not, because they never think about death.

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First of all, the most important thing is to help the person prepare psychologically so that they die with a positive and happy mind. To die without anger or clinging is vital for a happy death and a good rebirth, and so that should be foremost in our thoughts when we are around a dying person. The help we give can result in a better rebirth and a swift path to attaining all realizations and eventually enlightenment. This gift is absolutely priceless, more valuable than universes full of wish-granting jewels. Secondly, there are many spiritual practices that can be done before, during, and after death that can help your loved one die well and receive a perfect human rebirth or rebirth in the pure realm of a buddha. I will explain what to do at each stage. You don’t need to think, “Oh, I don’t know what to do.” Remember, as a Buddhist, the foundation of all your practices is refuge: relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. At the time of death, for example, with strong faith you could visualize Buddha above the head of your loved one and pray strongly that they purify all their negative karma immediately and achieve a good rebirth. Even if you don’t know any other practices, other sophisticated things, this would help hugely. As for babies, small children, or people who have lost their capacity to understand because of coma or dementia— animals too—there is not much that they themselves can do. The least we can do is help them be peaceful and thus die with a happy mind. But this is not all. Whether a person or animal is benefited by many of the practices in this book doesn’t depend upon the person’s or animal’s understanding; just hearing the sounds of mantras, prayers, and teachings or seeing holy images will leave positive imprints on their mind, which can activate virtuous karmic seeds at the time of death, allowing them to receive a good rebirth. This is our precious gift to them. But before you can help someone else at the time of death, you need to learn how to prepare for your own death. If

So prepare now. Write down now what you are going to practice, what you intend to do; then when the time of death comes you will be able to do it easily. That’s very intelligent, I would say; that’s the action of a very, very intelligent person.

Inside spread of How to Enjoy Death

But preparing for a happy death depends not just on practices at the time of death; a happy death depends upon how we live our life every day, every moment. Practicing patience when someone is angry with us, provokes us, or disrespects us, for example, is practical preparation for death. Practicing like this every day protects us from creating negative karma, and that makes death lighter, less fearful. The future depends on the present. Practicing every day and preparing for the time of your death is far more important than going to the hospital to check the body, because death can happen at any time—even for healthy people. Today many people have died, healthy as well as unhealthy.

you look at your mind and how much attachment you have, I think you will see that there is a lot of work to be done before you face death, and this is true of almost When you know how to die, fully everybody. Have you freed yourself P R E P A R I N G F O R confident that you won’t be reborn from attachment to your possessions? A H A P P Y D E A T H in the lower realms, that you will To your loved ones and friends? To D E P E N D S N O T J U S T definitely have a good rebirth, a good your career and reputation? Could O N P R A C T I C E S A T future, that death is just change, that you separate from your body happily T H E T I M E O F D E A T H ; you’re leaving this old, sick body for tomorrow? The more familiar you are A H A P P Y D E A T H a new, healthy one—then you will be with the various practices, the ways D E P E N D S U P O N H O W qualified to help others who are dying. to think, how to make your mind W E L I V E O U R L I F E You will be able to explain things E V E R Y D A Y, E V E R Y happy, the more easily you can help skillfully, according to their minds. others at the time of death. But if you M O M E N T . You will create the right conditions haven’t prepared for your own death so that it’s easy for their and you’re limited in your knowledge of what to do at minds to be transformed the time of death, you’ll be limited in your ability to help into virtue at the time others. of death. You will know So write down what you want to practice at the time of how to help them die your death, how you want to die. Write it down in your with a happy mind. diary right now! Whether you die gradually or suddenly, And not only that: once you need to know this. Otherwise when death comes or you’re familiar with what when the doctor tells you that you have cancer, you will to do you can tell others have no time to prepare, and because of attachment to what they can do to help this life you’ll panic. You will have no renunciation, only you at the time of your grasping at this life. own death. At the time of death it’ll be like, “You mean you didn’t prepare anything? Nothing? You don’t know what to do?” You won’t have planned anything. You will never have thought about it. You won’t have had a good, strong practice of Dharma: collecting extensive merits, purifying, meditating on the path to enlightenment, planting the seeds of the path in your mind. If it’s like that, at the time of death there will no difference between somebody who continue reading at doesn’t know any Dharma at all and somebody who does wisdompubs.org/enjoy-death know Dharma but didn’t practice. How very, very sad that HOW TO ENJOY DEATH would be. By Lama Zopa Rinpoche

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Waking Up to the Reality of Death J O U R N A L

O P E N I N G O F Y O U R

Take a few minutes to journal today about your thoughts and beliefs about the experience of death. Of the ideas you grew up with, which have you held on to? Which have you discarded? Don’t judge your ideas or worry if they seem contradictory or are not well formed. At the end of the year, you can look back at this entry to see how your thoughts and convictions have changed. D A Y

What has been your personal experience of death thus far? Have you experienced the loss of someone close, such as a parent, a sibling, or even a pet? What was that experience like? Try to find words that characterize your particular thoughts and emotions from that time. D A Y

Reflect on how we, as well as others around us, feel lonely, disconnected, and fearful. Think about how these feelings affect our attitudes toward death. D A Y

Today, take a look at how you organize your time. Do you make yourself so busy that you have no time to connect, feel, or reflect? D A Y

Today, take some time to reflect on relationships. How are your relationships spiritually nurturing? In what ways do they encourage you to shut down? D A Y

How do you keep yourself distracted and shut down, unaware of life’s momentary nature? D A Y

Having to make an emotional connection with the reality of death throws our whole belief system out of whack. After all, when we designed our version of the world, we did not make allowances for the unknown. We failed to plan for the reality of death. But if we examine more deeply, we find that the problem is not the existence of suffering in the world; the problem is the closed system itself. In a closed system, emotional stability relies on compartmentalizing: shutting out and excluding unpleasant and unwanted experiences and avoiding the very reality we live in. 12

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H O W T O P R A C T I C E M E T T A

E X E R C I S E S

D A Y

Photo by Nathan Boadle

Kindfulness

What fantasies about being unique and exceptional do you have that enable you to avoid contemplating the inevitability of your own death?

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/living-dying LIVING AND DYING WITH CONFIDENCE By Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo

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The Buddha’s word for loving-kindness is metta, and this is an important component of kindfulness. It refers to an emotion, to that feeling of goodwill that can sustain thoughts wishing happiness for another, and that is willing to forgive any fault. My favorite expression of metta is encompassed by the words “the door of my heart is fully open to you, forever, whoever you are and whatever you have done.” Metta is love without a self, arising from inspiration, expecting nothing back in return, and without any conditions. A

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Metta can accurately be compared with a warm and radiant fire burning in your heart. You cannot expect to light the fire of loving-kindness by starting with a difficult object, any more than you can expect to light a campfire by striking a match under a thick log. So do not begin metta meditation by trying to spread metta to yourself or to an enemy. Instead begin by spreading loving-kindness to something that is easy to ignite with loving-kindness. In metta meditation you focus your attention on the feeling of loving-kindness, developing that delightful emotion until it fills the whole mind. The way this is achieved can be compared to the way you light a campfire. You start with paper or anything else that is easy to light. Then you add kindling, small twigs, or strips of wood. When the kindling is on fire you add thicker pieces of wood, and after a time the thick logs. Once the fire is roaring and very hot, you can even put on wet and sappy logs and they are soon alight. Kindfulness enables you to embrace other beings—as well as yourself— just as they and you are. Most people find this impossible because of their faultfinding mind. S T A R T W I T H T O L O V E

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I prepare myself for metta meditation by imagining a little kitten. I like cats, especially kittens, so my imaginary kitten is to loving-kindness as gas is to a flame. I only need to think of my little kitten and my heart lights up with metta.

I continue to visualize my imaginary friend, picturing it as abandoned, hungry, and very afraid. In its short span of life it has only known rejection, violence, and loneliness. I imagine its bones sticking out from its emaciated body, its fur soiled with grime and Ajahn Brahm some blood, and its body rigid with terror. I consider that if I don’t care for this vulnerable little being then no one will, and it will die such a horrible, lonely, terrified death. I feel that kitten’s pain fully, in all its forms, and my heart opens up, releasing a flood of compassion. I will care for that little kitten. I will protect it and feed it. I imagine myself looking deeply into its anxious eyes, trying to melt its apprehension with the metta flowing through my own eyes. I reach out to it slowly, reassuringly, never losing eye contact. Gently, I pick up that little kitten and bring it to my chest. I remove the kitten’s cold with the warmth from my own body, I take away its fear with the softness of my embrace, and I feel the kitten’s trust grow. I speak to the kitten on my chest: “Little being, never feel alone again. Never feel so afraid. I will always look after you, be your protector and friend. I love you, little kitten. Wherever you go, whatever you do, my heart will always welcome you. I give you my limitless loving-kindness always.” When I do this, I feel my kitten become warm, relax, and finally purr. This is but an outline of how I begin my meditation on metta. I usually take much more time. I use my imagination and inner speech to paint a picture in my mind, to create a scenario where the first flames of metta can arise. At the end of the mental exercise, my eyes still closed, I focus the attention on the region around my heart and feel the first warm glow of the emotion of kindfulness.

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/kindfulness KINDFULNESS By Ajahn Brahm

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How Do Mādhyamikas Think? O N M I N D S , D H A R M A K Ī R T I , A N D M A D H Y A M A K A

all is only material has a certain type of rigor appealing to the tough-minded who advocate facing facts without old notions that obfuscate. It is in one way or another taken seriously by many who would invoke science as the best or only source of knowledge. It merits attention in an East-West discussion, even if there are arguably other more sophisticated physicalisms on the market. Last but not least, it is the version of physicalism that figured in a round of the Dharamsala discussions. As Patricia Churchland participated in those discussions, what I have to say can be seen as a continuation of a contemporary comparative philosophy dialogue that has already begun and where positions have already been staked out. It’s time to D V P P D

In the Buddha’s Words T H E F O U R F O U N D A T I O N S O F M I N D F U L N E S S

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Kuru country where there was a town of the Kurus named Kammāsadhamma. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:

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“Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna—namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.

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reexamine how the Buddhists could best proceed in that debate. They may well have been betting on the wrong arguments and have more promising ways to defend mind in their philosophy. I I .

Image courtesy of Virañani

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Do Buddhists have a view of mind they can plausibly defend in current philosophical debates often dominated by forms of materialism? In recent years the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and a number of scientists have been meeting regularly in Dharamsala, India, to discuss and compare Buddhist and modern psychological, or cognitive science, approaches to the nature of mind. And no doubt the most difficult problem they have taken up—one that potentially significantly divides Buddhists from many major contemporary analytic philosophers and cognitive scientists—is the question of physicalism, the view that all that there is, is physical in nature or can be thoroughly explained in terms of the physical sciences. The rather extreme version of physicalism that I will take up here is that of the Canadian philosophers Paul and Patricia Churchland. They do not try to show that mind and brain are somehow identical entities but argue instead that mind and the mental are just pseudo-entities accepted in “folk theories,” pseudo-entities that can and (at least in the Churchlands’ estimation of things) probably will end up being eliminated by better science. This stark version of the position that

“What are the four? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.”

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Let us first briefly go back to the Indian canonical sources to be clear on the main historical antecedents for a contemporary East-West debate on physicalism. For the Buddhist side, the physicalist school against which they (and other Indians) argued vociferously was the Cārvāka, a school that no doubt was perceived as threatening, although we have no clear image of its actual situation in India, or its institutions and the number of its adherents. Indeed we have almost nothing remaining of the Cārvāka’s own writings, apart from a few fragments from its founder, Br.haspati (second century BC?), and a much later text, the Tattvopaplāvasim.ha of Jayarāśi (eighth century). Nonetheless we do have in-depth refutations of their positions by their Buddhist and non-Buddhist opponents, and it is these polemical treatments that enable us to form something of an image of the broad outlines of the Cārvāka physicalist position.

Continue reading: wisdompubs.org/buddhas-words

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/madhyamikas HOW DO MĀDHYAMIKAS THINK? By Tom J. F. Tillemans Photo by Alexandre Chambon

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Mu Is Just a Noise

In the Silence of Leaving

A N E S S A Y B Y J A M E S I S H M A E L F O R D

B Y R O B E R T C H O D O C A M P B E L L

What we’re promised by the teachers of the Zen Way is that we and all things, we, you and I, and every blessed thing, share the same root.

Marcelo had a gentle voice and a very heavy Puerto Rican accent. He was maybe 5’6”, just slightly taller than his wife, with beautiful deep brown eyes and hair now grey but still thick and wavy. I could tell he had once been a handsome man. He was wearing the standard hospital gown, and I assumed it was Maria who had placed a set of rosary beads around his neck. A Bible and a small statue of the Virgin Mary were on the bedside table. He was listening to his wife and smiling.

But what it holds for us is a way of being in the world, that in fact we’re always experiencing. It’s always here. We just don’t notice it. The catch is that the other way of being in the world, of slicing and dicing, of separating and weighing and judging, well, it’s important too, it’s useful. In fact seeing into our shared place isn’t particularly useful. It doesn’t pay the bills. It doesn’t get us a partner. It’s in fact the most countercultural thing we can be about. And so, even though we are surrounded by it, often, usually, its very existence slips into the back of our human consciousness. And even though it is the background of our lives, we come to forget it.

from The Story of Mu, illustrated by Mark Morse

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/story-mu THE STORY OF MU By James Cordova, illustrated by Mark Morse

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I said hello to Marcelo. “Hello, Father,” he replied. Maria offered me the chair next to his bed, lowering her voice. “Perhaps you can say a prayer, Father,” adding again, “He’s giving up and God is not ready for him yet.” I asked Marcelo if he would like me to pray for him. “Yes, maybe in a while that will be nice,” he replied.

M U I S J U S T A N O I S E . I T I S A P L A C E H O L D E R .

But rarely do we forget it completely; it is our common heritage, our birthright as we enter into this universe. It peeks out at us in our dreams. It whispers to us in the dark. It beckons in the playing of children and the touch of a kiss. And it appears even in some very rough patches of our lives, sometimes the roughest. You never know when you’ll notice it.

they serve him here, and to be honest I wouldn’t either.”

“How are you doing today?” I asked, looking directly at Marcelo.

Photo by Ales Krivec

The nurse manager on the oncology unit asked me to look in on Marcelo and his wife. Marcelo was sixty-two years old and dying of cancer. It originated in his colon and had metastasized to the spine and liver. This was the fourth time he’d been admitted to the unit, and this time he wouldn’t be going home. The next stop was hospice, but his wife would not or could not entertain the idea of her husband dying. I introduced myself to Mrs. Ruiz as Chodo, the chaplain on the unit. “Hello, Father,” she said, assuming that because I was a chaplain I was a Catholic priest. I told her I was a Buddhist. “That’s okay, Father,” she said. “The Lord has sent you to us. Please call me Maria, and this is my husband, Marcelo. Can you please tell him he has to fight?” She gestured to her husband emphatically. “He is giving up,” she said. “But I don’t believe God is ready for him yet. “I want to take him home and make him all his favorite dishes,” she continued. “He’s not eating any of the food

“Oh, he’s doing much better, aren’t you, mi amor?” answered Maria for him.

maid-of-honor. I knew the moment I saw her that I wanted to marry her, but I was too shy even to ask for a dance.” Maria laughed. “Rosa told me about her cousin Marcelo—how cute he was and how shy. She said he probably hasn’t kissed a girl yet—a perfect gentleman. I wasn’t going to let him get away. I walked straight up to him and said, ‘Ask me for a dance.’” Marcelo chuckled. “And I have not refused her anything since that day.” Maria began to cry and turned her head away, looking out the window. “Ay dios mio,” she said. “Look at that beautiful sky.” A F T E R F O R T Y Y E A R S , T H R E E M O N T H S , T W O W E E K S , A N D T H R E E D A Y S , S H E W A S N ’ T R E A D Y T O S A Y G O O D B Y E . S H E W A N T E D M O R E T I M E .

Marcelo looked at me and winked. Facing both of them, I asked, “So what brought you to the US and to New York?”

“Well,” began Maria, “I wanted to be a schoolteacher ever since I was a little girl, and I wanted to get a good job in a decent school. My older sister was already living here and I asked Maria how long they had convinced me this was the place to been married. “Forty years, three find good employment and raise a months, two weeks, and three days,” family. We came here shortly after we she replied, smiling with tears welling got married. I will be retiring soon, up in her eyes. and I have been teaching for thirty Marcelo looked at me and said, “She’s years. Dios mio, how it has changed.” a schoolteacher—very smart and She turned to her husband, “Marcelo, good with numbers.” tell Chodo what you have done for all these years.” Maria continued, “I met Marcelo when I was nineteen. He was the Marcelo looked somewhat embarmost handsome man I had ever seen. rassed. “I told you she was the smart Of course, I didn’t let him know that, one. I was never any good in school, not at first.” but she went to college. I began Marcelo smiled and nodded his head as if to say, “There’s no point arguing with her.”

Marcelo added, “We met at my cousin Rosa’s wedding. Maria was the

working for UPS and have been there all this time.”

Maria looked first at me then directly at her husband and said, “Marcelo Ruiz, for all these years you have not only worked at UPS— you have supported me, you have loved me unconditionally, and you have been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am the luckiest woman in the world. And by the way, you are also one of the smartest hombres in Nuevo York and Puerto Rico.” It was now Marcelo’s turn to cry. We sat in silence for a few moments. Then Maria asked, “What do you do here in the hospital, Chodo?” “Well,” I answered, “I am one of the chaplains here. My job is to visit with patients and simply listen to their stories—to offer counsel and spiritual guidance, and sometimes to be with family members of the patients, much the same as the Catholic priest or the Jewish rabbi. However, chaplains are usually interfaith and serve patients of all religions if needed, as well as patients with no religion.” “So it’s okay that you are a Buddhist and we are Catholic?” she asked. “Yes,” I said. “Absolutely. In fact, I would love to hear about your faith and what you think you are being called to do right now.” Looking at Marcelo, she said, “Oh that’s an easy one. We are being tested right now by the Lord. We are being asked to put all our faith in him and to understand his will for Marcelo.” I thought carefully before asking my next question.

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/awake AWAKE AT THE BEDSIDE Edited by Koshin Paley Ellison

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The Life of Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro A N E X C E R P T F R O M T H E S A K Y A S C H O O L O F T I B E T A N B U D D H I S M

Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro

Our unparalleled guide Jamyang Chokyi Lodro Rime Tenpai Gyaltsen Palzangpo, the heart disciple of the lords Loter Wangpo and Jamgon Ngawang Legpa, was indistinguishable from Mañjuśrī himself. The way he accomplished the activities of a second Buddha in this degenerate age is unmatched by any of the sages in the land of snows. He was an impartial master of the Buddha’s teachings. He was one of the emanations of the play of the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities of the all-seeing lama Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo himself that were predicted in a famous vajra prophecy. Specifically, he was prophesied by the unobscured wisdom sight of the omniscient Lochen Jamyang Lodro Taye as an emanation of the wheel of unceasing enlightened activity. This master was born in the fifteenth water-snake year (1893) in the area known as Sangan Sa Dupa, one of the four areas called Dupa—one for

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each of the four elements—in Dome. His father was Dorje Dzinpa Chenpo Tsewang Gyatso, from the family line of the great treasure revealer Dudul Dorje, and his mother was Tsultrim Tso. When he reached seven years of age, in accordance with Jamgon Kongtrul’s prophecy, he was invited to the vajra seat of Kah.tog by Kah.tog Situ Pan.d.ita Orgyen Chokyi Gyatso. A lock of his hair was cut, and he was given the name Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro Tsuglag Lungrig Mawai Senge, “Mañjuśrī, pinnacle of understanding, intelligent in Dharma, lion of speech in scripture, reasoning, and science.” He was taught to read and write by Yongdzin Khenchen Tubten Rigdzin Gyatso, the teacher of Situ Rinpoche himself. He also understood the liturgical texts and the systems of interpretation without any difficulty. . . H E W A S A G R E A T L O R D O F Y O G A , A D E S T R O Y E R O F D E L U S I O N W H O G R A S P E D F R O M T H E D E P T H S T H E Y O G A O F T H E I N N E R T A N T R A S .

He insatiably gathered treasuries of the Dharma, including the major and minor topics of the ten sciences, the scriptures and treatises, the transmitted teachings of the early translation period, everything that remained of the stream of hidden treasure teachings, the empowerments and oral precepts of the four major and eight minor Kagyu lineages, the Sakya oral instructions of the Lamdre, the Compendium of All Tantras and Compendium of Sādhanas, the old and new Dharma cycles of the Kadam, the Kālacakra according to the Jonang and Zhalu traditions, and the Five Great Treasuries of Jamgon Kongtrul. He memorized these without mixing up any of the presentations of view, tenets, and practices, and so when he

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taught the Dharma, he taught each individual in accord with the specific situation of student and teacher, just like a second Buddha. Without bias or attachment, he spread every little-known teaching that he found. Throughout his life he spent his time teaching and studying the Dharma. Having worked primarily to accomplish the essence of liberation, he then performed countless recitation practices of the major and minor tantras of the transmitted teachings and treasures, and the general and specific practices of the three roots. Khyentse Chokyi Lodro never had the haughtiness that comes from the eight worldly concerns and never flattered others for the sake of good food and clothes. He was a great lord of yoga, a destroyer of delusion who grasped from the depths the yoga of the inner tantras. He was taken under the care of his yidam deity and was always experiencing visions, including prophecies from the awarenessholding d.ākinīs. He opened up sacred vajra sites as places of pilgrimage and retreat, and during these times he received many profound treasure transmissions. In the place known as Jematang, in the area below Trashi Lhatse, the Dzongsar seat, he established a new teaching center called Shedrub Dargyeling. There he expanded the teaching and study of the five sciences, principally the eighteen texts of great renown. Thus the place became a root for the propagation of the Buddha’s teachings in general and the supreme textual system of Sakya in particular, as well as a source of countless exegetes of the five sciences.

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/khyentse THE SAKYA SCHOOL OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM By Dhongthog Rinpoche Translated by Sam van Schaik

INTRODUCING

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Coming Soon

for centuries, while also seeking common ground from a traditional perspective.

J O S H B A R T O K O N T H E H O R I Z O N A T W I S D O M

Scholars and Tibetan Buddhist practitioners will welcome the release of the newest volume in our Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series, Remembering the Lotus-Born. This book examines the conventional identity of the legendary figure Padmasambhava, whom the author, Daniel Hirshberg, recalls as the embodiment of “the timeless continuity of ultimate truth.”

I’m pleased to be able to share with you some of what the editorial department has been working on recently—a sneak peak at the coming seasons.

The Grace in Living is the newest book from Kathleen Dowling Singh, author of our bestseller The Grace in Aging. This was a great joy for me to edit, as Kathleen’s writing about the art of spiritual biography and how to find grace in our lives was simply beautiful.

We’re also excited to release Bhikkhu Bodhi’s newest In Awakening volume of translations of the Pali Canon, The Buddha’s from the DayTeachings on Social and Communal Harmony. I anticdream, David Editorial Director Josh Bartok ipate this book will make an extraordinary impact on the Nichtern explores hearts of all who are working for peace—both at home the iconographic meaning of one of the most striking imand in society. And further down the road, we’ll be bringages from Buddhist culture: the wheel of life. He mastering out a Mahayana companion to this volume, edited by fully relates this to how karma operates in our modern lives— Taigen Leighton and Alan Senauke. and how we can liberate ourselves from negative habits. Of course, there’s more too: we’re eagerly awaiting What’s Wrong with Mindfulness (and What Isn’t) is Buddhahood in This Life, a translation of Vimalamitra’s a groundbreaking volume of essays from leading Zen classic Dzogchen commentary; My New Best Friend, a teachers, edited by Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum and Barry brilliant children’s book on self-compassion; Inside VasuMagid. This is the first book of its kind, taking on the bandhu’s Yogacara, a practitioner’s guide to mind-only question of whether the mindfulness movement has lost philosophy; and more. Stay tuned! the heart of meditation as it has been taught in Buddhism

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E B O O K

On Happiness Four profound, exclusive writings from the Dalai Lama: • On • On • On • On

Happiness as Our Life’s Purpose Happiness and Peace of Mind the Happiness of the Four Noble Truths Happiness and the Awakening Mind

Go to wisdompubs.org/on-happiness to download your free ebook

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A Buddhist Grief Observed A N

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Aren’t Buddhists supposed to have transcended grief? What were we expecting? Was the Buddha not clear enough? We just need to “let go.” When I was a young instructor at Mary Washington College, a student paper shocked me by arguing that Vietnamese Buddhists do not mourn their dead family members because they know that they are going on to future lives. Giving this writer skillful guidance was my first big teaching challenge. Most of us would not think this way, but we may fall into subtler missteps. Having met some Dharma and engaged it, many come to feel that they have taken death and impermanence into account. We might have. But probably not. Like everyone else, Buddhists seldom die as they expect. We die in some other way, too soon or too late, in ways we never imagined. We die in fear, and sadness, and in disappointment. Death is what happens when we are making other plans. And if our lives are committed to service, we will die while we still have critical work to do. When Dainin Katagiri Roshi was dying of cancer, he told his frightened students, “I see you are watching me closely; you want to see how a Zen master dies. I’ll show you.” He kicked violently and screamed, “I don’t want to die!” Then he looked at them: “I don’t know how I will die . . . Remember, there is no right way.” None of us know how we will face death. Let’s not fool ourselves. Meditation on death and impermanence does not magically make us invulnerable or transhuman. Losing those we love hurts. When his daughter died of smallpox, Kobayashi Issa wrote: The world of dew Is indeed a world of dew. And yet, and yet . . . Issa comments on his poem: I knew that it was no use to cry, that water once flown past the bridge does not return and scattered blossoms are gone beyond recall. Yet try as I would, I could not, simply could not cut the binding cord of human love. The Buddha teaches that all that arises is ephemeral, vanishing like a drop of dew in the morning sun. And this is true. Issa cannot evade the full force of this fact; as a Buddhist, he has long known this well—or thought

he had. Now this little girl’s death hurts him bone-deep, cuts him to the core. To be utterly heart-wrecked and, at the same time, strangely grateful for some lost grace— this is what it will always mean to be a human who loves another mortal. So we may have unrealistic expectations about how well our practice has prepared us to die or to lose someone whom we love more than our own lives. We may feel worse than we had expected to feel. You are practicing, your spouse dies—and suddenly it seems as though someone clubbed you in the head. Your grief may be complicated by useless disappointment in yourself—or in the Dharma itself. One woman came to me in a difficult grief after losing a parent. She made a commitment to intensive religious practice with the belief that she had taken the prospect of losing her parent into account. When grief hit her S H O C K A N D P A I N A R E N O T A P E R S O N A L F A I L U R E . I T I S C R U E L T O J U D G E O U R S E L V E S S O H A R S H L Y .

hard, she was doubly tormented. Because she felt so bad about her parent’s death, she felt like a failure as a Buddhist. Soko Morinaga tells a similar story. His friend Miss Okamoto was a dedicated Zen practitioner for decades, but as death approached she was terrified—and also profoundly ashamed of her terror. I did not find my wife’s death at all surprising. I had a vague idea that she would outlive me, but I also knew that she expected to die first. I wasn’t startled that she died. And yet: I was shocked; it was a physical shock. Shock does not have to involve surprise. It took me months to understand. It is like someone informing you that he is going to punch you in the head—and then punching you in the head. You’re not surprised, but you do have a concussion. Shock and pain are not a personal failure. It is cruel to judge ourselves so harshly; it is unhelpful to blame ourselves for being human. Knowing the first noble truth does not exempt us from it!

read on continue reading at wisdompubs.org/grief-observed A BUDDHIST GRIEF OBSERVED By Guy Newland

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Lama Yeshe Called Me Daughter A N

E X C E R P T F R O M D R E A M I N G M E

Lama called me daughter. I assumed that he called any number of other single women daughter as well. But I know that he thought of me, in some way, as being special. His mission was to make me feel that specialness, too, and to teach me to trust my own power. There is a vast gulf between “different” and “special.” My mother had seen me as being different; Lama Yeshe saw me as being special. And special means loved for

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Through these beautifully complementary teachings, His Holiness urges us to strive “with an objective mind, endowed with a curious skepticism, to engage in careful analysis and seek the reasons behind our beliefs.”

When I reflect upon the fifteen years during which Lama Yeshe was my teacher, it seems clear that his personal mission with respect to me was to build my confidence. He wanted me to realize and understand that, like everyone, in my innermost core I was pure, intelligent, compassionate, and powerful. He sought to help me manifest that understanding. Lama Yeshe often said that low self-esteem and lack of confidence were the main traits he observed among the hundreds of Western students that flocked to him. I was not only one of Lama’s earliest students; I was one of the ones that fit that bill perfectly. Some of the reasons are clearly cultural and racial: being a black American, a woman, from the South, and an African American woman interested in Buddhism. There are lots of reasons why, when I first met Lama Yeshe at the age of twenty-one, I was a less-than-confident human being in the world. Throughout the course of my relationship with him, I see his primary efforts as having been directed toward having me manifest the qualities of confidence, pride, strength, and capability that he knew I possessed. Lama Yeshe used to tell me that I should not hide so much. He’d say, “You should be beautiful in the world, and strong!” I vividly recall taking him to hear a lecture by Angela Davis once when he was visiting California. She was speaking at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the outdoor amphitheater on campus. Lama Yeshe was visibly excited to see and to listen to Davis speak. Several times during her talk, with clenched fists, he said aloud, “This is how one ought to be: strong and confident, like this lady!” He absolutely loved her. And for a number of weeks after that, he would say to me—never as a put-down but just as a reminder—“You should be strong, like this woman! You should show your beauty and your strength to the world!”

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Jan Willis with Lama Yeshe in 1974. Photo courtesy the author.

one’s self alone, for one’s core, which is ultimately pure, wise, compassionate, and powerful. Lama Yeshe knew this about me, as he knew it about all beings. And this is what genuine teachers do: they love us without reservation because they truly see us as precious, each in our own right—as nothing less than Buddhas. The wonder is that if someone whom you trust and admire views you in this way, even you begin to feel that way; and with continued reminders, you begin to see yourself in this way.

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