As we begin the new year, I thought it appropriate to focus on the reason most of us are on the spiritual path. When I or anyone began walking the spiritual path, of any type, what was the goal? As stated in my post and my Coming Home video, "The Goal of Buddhism," the goal was to end our individual suffering.
Although I've explained in many posts how to achieve that goal, I thought it would be helpful to approach the end of suffering from another perspective: what do you have when you no longer suffer?
What you have is peace. And what is peace? Peace is the absence of internal and external struggle.
To be in that place requires two things. The first is to accept/understand that things are the way they are because it's just the way it is; it's meant to be; it's all ok. (See my post, "It's Just the Way It Is and It's All OK.") The Serenity Prayer notes the centrality of this to peace when it asks support "accepting the things I cannot change," which I further expand by saying, "which are the way things are right now at this moment." Sister Sharon Johnson says one should focus on eternity not the here and now; which is also saying one must accept things as being the way they are.
Bottom line, one cannot experience peace if you do not accept your life as being the way it is right now at this moment. Because if you don't, you will be caught in interminable struggles, both internal and external, regarding your life. You will always be craving something you don't have now or to change yourself in some way.
NOTE: When we walk the path we are working to change ourselves, to free ourselves from the control of our ego-mind and return to our true Buddha nature/the divinity within us/the child of the universe within us. But it can never be a craving. Because regardless how positive this effort is, many people get tied up in the process and become very frustrated at the difficulty. Here too, it is critical that while we attempt to grow, we understand and accept that we are the way we are at this moment.
The other thing required is to have faith. Not faith in other people, but faith in yourself, or better put, faith in the divinity within you/the child of the universe within you/the Buddha nature that is you. This is not faith in achieving anything material, of the here and now, but faith that you will be safe, spiritually, regardless what happens in your life—success, failure, illness, divorce, loss—because you are one with your true Buddha nature and know you have everything you need within you to be at peace and happy.
A favorite ancient Chinese poem says, "when faith and mind are not separate, and not separate are mind and faith, this is beyond all words, all thought, for here there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow." I have often written and said that it's all about faith, that faith is central to experiencing peace and not be consumed by the here and now. (See my various posts on faith.)
Both of these two preconditions for peace, while straight-forward, are beyond challenging to realize because they go against the conditioning of the ego-mind by our life experiences and culture. This is why so many of my posts concern freeing oneself from the control of the ego-mind.
The important point is, don't get discouraged or frustrated. Be disciplined. Focus on faith and accepting the present. Say your mantras or affirmations about faith and the present every day during your meditation. As your practice deepens, your faith and acceptance of the present will grow and the control of the ego-mind will weaken. And one day, you will be able to say, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., "Thank God Almighty, I am free at last."
Although I've explained in many posts how to achieve that goal, I thought it would be helpful to approach the end of suffering from another perspective: what do you have when you no longer suffer?
What you have is peace. And what is peace? Peace is the absence of internal and external struggle.
To be in that place requires two things. The first is to accept/understand that things are the way they are because it's just the way it is; it's meant to be; it's all ok. (See my post, "It's Just the Way It Is and It's All OK.") The Serenity Prayer notes the centrality of this to peace when it asks support "accepting the things I cannot change," which I further expand by saying, "which are the way things are right now at this moment." Sister Sharon Johnson says one should focus on eternity not the here and now; which is also saying one must accept things as being the way they are.
Bottom line, one cannot experience peace if you do not accept your life as being the way it is right now at this moment. Because if you don't, you will be caught in interminable struggles, both internal and external, regarding your life. You will always be craving something you don't have now or to change yourself in some way.
NOTE: When we walk the path we are working to change ourselves, to free ourselves from the control of our ego-mind and return to our true Buddha nature/the divinity within us/the child of the universe within us. But it can never be a craving. Because regardless how positive this effort is, many people get tied up in the process and become very frustrated at the difficulty. Here too, it is critical that while we attempt to grow, we understand and accept that we are the way we are at this moment.
The other thing required is to have faith. Not faith in other people, but faith in yourself, or better put, faith in the divinity within you/the child of the universe within you/the Buddha nature that is you. This is not faith in achieving anything material, of the here and now, but faith that you will be safe, spiritually, regardless what happens in your life—success, failure, illness, divorce, loss—because you are one with your true Buddha nature and know you have everything you need within you to be at peace and happy.
A favorite ancient Chinese poem says, "when faith and mind are not separate, and not separate are mind and faith, this is beyond all words, all thought, for here there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow." I have often written and said that it's all about faith, that faith is central to experiencing peace and not be consumed by the here and now. (See my various posts on faith.)
Both of these two preconditions for peace, while straight-forward, are beyond challenging to realize because they go against the conditioning of the ego-mind by our life experiences and culture. This is why so many of my posts concern freeing oneself from the control of the ego-mind.
The important point is, don't get discouraged or frustrated. Be disciplined. Focus on faith and accepting the present. Say your mantras or affirmations about faith and the present every day during your meditation. As your practice deepens, your faith and acceptance of the present will grow and the control of the ego-mind will weaken. And one day, you will be able to say, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., "Thank God Almighty, I am free at last."
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