A lot of people talk about the spirituality of Buddhism, and it is a spiritual discipline. But in Shambhala there also is a notion that you have to be synchronized with both heaven and earth.
Many people think spirituality has nothing to do with success or accomplishing – that it’s something you do with removal, with leaving the world.
What is amazing is how stuck people are in their own habits. It is really hard to get people out of their habits. But once they shift, it also is amazing how rapid the progress can be.
Fundamentally, Buddhism is for the awakenment and benefit of beings. So, you can’t say, “Oh, you can’t have it because you’re not ready for it.” That goes against the fundamental principle.
You have people who are good at English but don’t have the training in Buddhism or Shambhala, or they have the training but are not good in English. Getting that mixture is really rare.
For me, language and how I use it are very important. I held back on doing a poetry book, walking the fine line between trying to be helpful and just putting more junk out there.
Throughout life it is inevitable that we will experience both pain and pleasure. Learning how to handle them leads to harmony and happiness. In meditation, if we are unable to handle pain or boredom, then that pain or boredom becomes our master. Then we spend our entire life trying to avoid being bored or feeling pain. However if we can handle our mind, then we know that we can handle boredom and pain.
To be gentle is to understand that life is a journey deserving constant attentiveness. Therefore it is gentleness that allows us to finish a marathon, not putting pressure on ourselves to immediately think about the next one. Gentleness is “just doing it” in such a way that we can do it again and again.
Meditate with delight and run with joy.
We can say “blue,” but until we see the color blue, we don’t really know what the meaning is. We can say that something is hot, but until we touch it, we don’t know what “hot” means. We can talk about bringing our mind to compassion by saying “May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering,” but until we feel the pain of others, “pain” is only a word. We have to crack its shell to let its meaning infuse us, seep into our lives.
We already have what we need – the opportunity to weave the tapestry of happiness every day with the needle and thread of our own mind.
Meditation stabilizes us in our inherent power as humans. It introduces the possibility of living our lives in a continually conscious, confident, and balanced state of mind.
The exertion it takes to get back in shape when we are out of shape is arguably more than it takes to stay in shape...
In the tradition of warriorship, to celebrate moment to moment is called discipline. Discipline is not a sense of oppression or being punished; it is freedom from our own self-perpetuating laziness.
We embody our worries. When stress is the basic state of mind, even good things stress us out.
When I came to the West and heard about knights slaying dragons, I was shocked. In Tibet, the dragon symbolizes incomprehensible profundity.
Heaven is the natural spaciousness of our mind before we make it small with self-protection.
According to the Chinese system of medicine, stagnation is the cause of many illnesses.
Our minds become more supple as we develop ourselves on the meditation seat. Each time we acknowledge a fantasy or thought, we’re softening up our mind by becoming less bound to concepts and emotions. Following the technique fosters curiosity instead of dullness, appreciation instead of disheartenment, and imagination instead of limitation.
If we subject the mind to prolonged periods of watching television or sitting at the computer, or even more potentially harmful environments such as feeling unloved or uncared for or we are subjected to long dissatisfaction or intensely aggressive environments, the mind takes a beating. That piece of tofu is turning many colours. It is being bruised and battered, but we cannot see it.
The breath is like the waves in the ocean that help circulate the water so that it does not become stagnant.