The Pure Mountain Path

Many of us have similar thoughts. We see ourselves one way and others see us in a different fashion. Then there is the reality of how we really are. Sometimes it may be the way we look or act. We think one way, other people think another.

We suffer delusions. We look into the mirror at ourselves but we do not see ourselves. I used to think I talked fine but anytime I heard myself on a tape recorder, I could not believe it was me! I would think “who is that person?” I have a soft, whispery voice and many people have a hard time trying to hear me. But to me, I hear myself fine!

Practicing the Way can help us unpeel those layers of delusions so that we can see who we really are. Sometimes we may not like what we uncover but that is fine, yes? We can work on it. That is the whole point of practice. We should not practice to master the study of Buddhism or Taoism. We should practice so that we can master ourselves. That is the whole point.

So we have all these idle thoughts just coming and going all day long. Drifting in and out of our consciousness. We may find ourselves gossiping silently about someone or complaining about someone or something. To what end? These thoughts seldom lead to anything productive. More often than not, they drag us down into the mud and dirty us.

On the contrary, if we can learn to keep our focus on the breath, what a pleasant change! It will help us to stay in the present. Yes, we can pay attention to the breath and become extremely mindful of what we are doing because we are in the present. Not the past, not the future, not caught up in some trivial thoughts.

Your breath is your best friend. It is always with you, keeping you going. Stop ignoring such a valuable resource. A resource for calm, peace, balance, and harmony. Start practicing and at first you will find the mind wandering a good deal. This is normal, the mind likes to be in control. If you keep at it however, you will be in control. More and more time will be focused on the breaths you take. You will be in the moment, one with what is in front of you. Please try this.

My boss makes me angry, the traffic bothers me, my spouse does not this or that, and that is how I lose my sense of peace. No my friends, you do not lose it, you do not use it. Use your sense of peace to make sense of the situation that troubles you. You have two choices. Let the habitual feelings of anger or resentment bubble up to the surface, or use your inner peace to stay on an even keel.

What is difficult is that we fall into the habitual way of thinking quite easily. Even people with many years spent in a temple report falling back into their old ways quite easily. Then they feel they wasted their time and learned nothing but this is not so.

Learn and use, learn and use. Do not learn and forget or file away those feelings of warmth in the back corners of your mind. What good is it if you do not use it? One must realize when habitual patterns are re-emerging and put an end to them. When you first observe them, you must think “Ah, hello old friend.” Then invite him to leave immediately. Instead, welcome your new best friend, peace. So you see, observe and substitute.

If we can learn a new positive habitual pattern, we will fall into that habit and that habit is a good one! You see, life is all one. We sometimes divide up our life into work, home, family, friends and have a different mask for each. But it is all one. There is no reason you cannot carry peace into other facets of your life. We do not need to wear different masks. Be mindful and courageous and you can learn and use.

I have assorted incense. Some last an hour, some 40 minutes, some 25 minutes. I sit until the one or ones I picked have burned out, sometimes. Sometimes, I get up a little earlier and place the unused incense by a Buddha for an offering. Whether I sit 40, 25, 60, or 120 minutes does not matter so much. Was my meditation deep or was my mind chattering away? That is the more pressing issue.

Sometimes schedules must be upheld and practice centers will schedule x amount of minutes. They have a schedule to keep. Or they believe students can only sit for so long without becoming drowsy or bored. This is yet another illusion. Why be attached to a schedule? If you are sitting during your lunch period, this is one thing, but when you are at home is there anything that important that cannot wait if you want to sit longer?

Sometimes students will sit and if they have to quit before the allotted time is up, they feel they have somehow failed, or the session was wasted. This is not the case you see. When we do retreats, we start at 9 for example and we block off time until maybe 12. People amble in quietly at their leisure and begin sitting. They leave quietly when they feel they are done. They get up and walk around in meditation to stretch their legs and then resume sitting if they wish.

We like to keep it relaxed. We hit the gong at 12 and then go have a delicious lunch . Later in the afternoon we have a talk and then we sit some more. Or if you do not wish to sit right then, take a walk in the forest or go canoeing down the beautiful, tranquil river. Then come to sit. The less barriers we have placed in front of us the better. Postures, eyes open or closed, hand positions, you see these can all become barriers. Here it is like we give you a few colors of paint and then you make what you wish. More red, or less red, more blue, no blue. The important thing is you have the basics, the canvas, the brush, and the paints. The rest is up to you. If you do not like your paintings, you ask us and we try to help.

from a talk 05-02-08 Gainesville, Florida 

For a good amount of people, it takes ten minutes or so just to calm the mind and get to the point where they can start experiencing a deep period. So for them, I recommend trying to sit longer periods. You see you do not want to just begin to become settled and then have to get up to do something else.

How short is too short you ask? Sit at least ten minutes. You may find time at lunch or on a break to get in a short period of meditation. Ten minutes is better than no minutes. People often say they do not have time to meditate, yet when they begin they find the benefits most appealing. Before long, they have ‘found’ time to meditate for a longer time. They begin to fit their day around meditation rather than fitting meditation into their day.

So I hope you see that more meditation is better than a little, but a little is better than none at all. The important thing is to practice regularly and you will see your skills increase and the benefits and joy of meditation realized.

from a talk 05-02-08 Gainesville, Florida