Buddhist Belief — Don’t Sweat Success …
“Some people think that one can become a buddha through meditation. This is wrong. The potential for Buddhahood is within your own nature. If it were true that Buddhahood depended on meditation, then if you stopped meditating after you became a buddha, you would become a common person again. The objective of practice is to be in accord with the natural way, so that your true nature can manifest itself. Just practice according to the methods taught by the Buddha and do not worry about being a success.”–Master Sheng-Yen
If you’ve been following this blog for any time at all, you will know how much I believe that a vital ingredient to following Buddhist Belief, is to have a daily practice of meditation, and to live our lives as the Buddha taught.
Stop worrying about success!
I also believe it’s necessary that our meditation practice be natural and spontaneous. One of the reasons for feeling meditation is so important is it provides the time necessary to help us train our minds. We want to learn to use our minds in a natural way.
What’s the best approach? Pay close attention to your breath or your mantra. If you do that, stray thoughts will be kept to a minimum. It’s not that they won’t still pop up, but you won’t worry about them. If you’re really focusing on your breath or your mantra, you’ll be aware of a stray thought as soon as it arises. When it comes up, just let it go. Don’t be afraid that another thought may follow it. That fear is just an extra stray thought. It’s sort of like a person who is carrying a stack of bowls. If someone says, “Be careful! You’re going to drop them!”, chances are the bowls will get dropped.
Do not fear failure. Whatever happened in the past is past; don’t worry about it happening again. Before you meet with success, failure is natural and usually necessary. As a baby learns to walk, it keeps falling down. Is this failure? No! Those first steps are just steps to eventual success. It’s the same with our meditation practice; there is never a successful conclusion. If you have never failed, you have never tried.
A word of caution about this post — to follow your own nature is not the same as following your personal habits or whims, as in the expression “be natural.” Natural here refers to your self-nature, or Buddha-nature. Some people think that one can become a Buddha through meditation alone.
Not exactly!
The potential for Buddhahood is within your own nature. Everyone has this potential. If it were true that Buddhahood depended on meditation alone, then if you stopped meditating after becoming a buddha, you would become a common person again. The objective of practice is to be in accord with the natural way, so that your true nature can manifest itself. Just live your life according to the methods taught by the Buddha and don’t worry about being a success. Although daily meditation and living a Buddhist lifestyle may be trying, if your heart is carefree, nothing will bother you. Being carefree doesn’t mean not caring about how you live your life or how you approach your meditation — it means considering anything that happens as natural. Always remember, there is a difference between pain and suffering. You may not be able to overcome some physical pain you may experience — but you can always overcome suffering. There is nothing in your mind that you cannot put down.
Below, I’ve inserted a video of an interview Bill Moyers did with Pema Chodron where she talks about the difference between pain and suffering as well as your potential for achieving Buddhahood. It’s almost an hour long — but I do hope you’ll take the time to watch it. It’s very worthwhile.
Metta ….May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.
Namaste — Be in Peace.
Ron Rink
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Here’s the video …. This is a direct link if you’d rather. There may be some advertising pop up which may not be in tune with the video, but we who are working on our Buddhist lifestyle should be able to “just let them go!” (Said with a smile!)
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/faith_and_spirituality/watch/v471374rScnEhqA
Watch Bill Moyers – On Faith and Reason – Interview with Pema Chodron.wmv in Faith & Spirituality | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
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Here’s another article to share with you. It’s a great article about the Bodhi Tree.
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Buddhism 101: Flora of the Buddha- the Bodhi tree
August 28, 12:11 PM Buddhism Examiner Emily Breder
The story is well-known: The prince of the Shakya clan left his privileged life to achieve enlightenment, eventually giving up the life of an ascetic to sit under the Bodhi tree; here he achieved the final goal. The Buddha reached Paranirvana at the age of 80 upon the death of his body, but the Bodhi tree lives on, in various incarnations. The tree itself has an interesting story to tell.
The original tree was destroyed and replanted from cuttings at least three times. The most recent planting at the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodhgaya was recorded by a British archaeologist about 120 years ago, after the older tree died. The Mahabodhi tree, supposedly grown from a cutting of the southern branch of the original tree under which Siddhartha sat, parented the trees at Sri Mahabodhi and Anuradhapura. When the original Mahabodhi tree died, it was replanted from a cutting of the Anuradhapura tree and is still standing today.
Ficus Religiousa, member of the moraceae is sacred in Hinduism and Jainism and is a traditional place to sit and meditate. The fig tree is known for its considerable medicinal properties, which may have been a contributing factor to its revered status. The leaves, fruit, and seeds are used for lung and gastric ailments, while the bark, sap, and roots are an antiseptic that can treat gum disease and other infections. Chewing on a leaf or piece of bark can stave off stomach upset (common then and now) and many other illnesses, making it an ideal place to sit in extended meditation.
Sometimes known as the strangler fig, the young shoots can reach the ground and grown back up to the canopy, creating the aesthetically pleasing appearance to the trunk. This also allows the tree to grow to exceptional heights and have an incredibly long life. The tree at Anuradhapura is thought to be the oldest documented sapling of the original Bodhi tree in the world, planted by the Buddhist nun Sanghamitta in the third century B.C. Scientists this year began work in the laboratory to clone the original tree against future disaster.
In more recent times, the Bodhi tree has been planted from cuttings all over the world. Ficus Religiosa can only produce viable seeds when the pollinator wasp is present, making cuttings from a living tree the only way to produce seedlings. Lay people grow them on their altars and gardens from cuttings in respect and remembrance of the Buddha’s struggle and victory over his mind. It is interesting to note that “transmission” is achieved in much the same way- not from parent to child, but directly communicated and traced back to the original transmission of the Dhamma by the Buddha to five fellow ascetics in the Deer Park at Sarnath.
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I’ve added another book to the list. See below.
Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem
No Self – No Problem shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem.
Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook
“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that.” – From The Kindness Handbook — “The Kindness Handbook
Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, “A New Earth”
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, “My Stroke of Insight” — “Nirvana is just a breath away!”
And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: “A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.
This is a new one for you by Pema Chodron entitled: “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
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Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”~~~ Buddha
Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”~~~ Buddha
Have a peaceful day!! —
Ron Rink
http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com
http://www.buddhistbelief.com
Tags: Buddhist Belief, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Nirvana, inner peace, peace, attachment, detachment, karma, meditation, loving kindness, metta , mindfulness