The Pure Mountain Path

To believe in the way of sensual desires as true instead of knowing the truth of the Way is due to ignorance born out of delusion. The path we seek is not fulfilling all the sensual desires which you want to fulfill, but losing the imaginary relative knowledge.

Remember that ridding oneself of all desire is not the goal we aim for. We aim instead to rid ourselves of unhealthy sensual desires. There is nothing wrong with desiring proper shelter, food, water, etc. New students often say they are trying to eradicate all desire. They are incorrect in their thinking.

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If you have never taken
The principles of the teachings to heart,
You have no basis
For awakening to the hidden path.
Kuei-shan Ling-yu

Meditation has been compared to astronomy for the mind. You gaze into the darkness of the mind using meditation as your telescope. When doing this, there is illumination. Everything is in harmony. You see the stars, the moon, and the sun. The entire universe of the mind comes into a crystal clear focus.

You may even see things that you did not know were there or were so small that you had forgotten about them. Yet, they still silently orbit the mind. Some things may frighten you at first, but as long as you see them clearly, you can see them for what they really are, thus the fear withers.

Disharmony results when we ignore this truth seeking activity, and seek instead to placate our sensual desires. This type of wrong view causes our telescope to become unfocused and dusty from lack of use. As a result, we lose sight of our inner universe and what can make us progress peacefully along our path.

Some people are surprised to learn that many Buddhists pray everyday. But why would they? Buddhists do not pray to a God, but they do have devotional meditation practices which could be compared to praying. Radiating loving-kindness to all living beings is a practice which is believed to benefit those beings.
For example, I may pray that all beings are blessed with happiness. It does not matter if no one else hears this prayer. The important part is that I hear it. If I perform a sincere prayer, this prayer practice helps to build and reinforce compassion within myself. Prayer in Buddhism is not to anyone or anything. It is an expression of a wish.
It is my understanding that the Tibetan word that is generally translated as “prayer” actually means literally “Wish Path.” A wish path is for expressing our intentions to benefit all beings by attaining Buddha-hood, or other enlightened activity.

Those who pray are not calling upon higher powers to affect this for us as much as we are calling upon our own minds to be open to such. Prayers are more for the person that is doing them for the person that is “receiving” them. Prayers can be very powerful, but such power does not come from outside ourselves. It solely comes from inside ourselves, namely from our Buddha-nature.

Of course there is the unknown. Does prayer actually somehow affect outcomes? No one knows for sure if the metta created by prayer somehow results in a favorable outcome. It certainly does not hurt. One thing that is known is that prayer develops compassion within the person doing the praying and that in itself is a reason to pray.

It is said by the ancients that the six vices are desire, anger, miserliness, confusion, pride and jealousy. It is these vices that keep us trapped in samsara.

Desire keeps us chasing after things that do not bring us lasting peace or happiness. Not all desires of course are bad. We desire food, water, shelter, and other things that are needed. Desiring sensual items however leads us down the road to suffering.

Anger is a fire that burns us and people around us. Anger is like drinking salt water as it only makes one more thirsty. The way to defeat anger is through compassion.

Miserliness is does not make one rich, but poor in helping others or even ourselves. It is fine to be thrifty and live simply, but being a miser creates unhappiness in the heart. Generosity is one of the three treasures spoken of in the Tao Te Ching, verse 68.

Confusion is brought on by delusions, not seeing the truth as it is, but as we want it to be. We want things our way and are befuddled and frustrated when we do not get our way. My friends, there are billions of people on this planet. How could it be possible that we all get our way?

Pride does not allow us the gift of humility. It is by being lower, that one is higher. It is pride that often stands in the way of reasoning and the settlement of differences.

Jealousy keeps us away from contentment and peace. We must learn to cultivate sympathetic joy for others. When we have joy in the heart, there is no room for jealousy.

The ancients have said that if one can rid themselves of all these vices, one can be said to be pure of mind.

Conduct yourself in a calm manner and do things in a leisurely fashion whenever possible. Be the gentle breeze that calms the violent ocean. The man who rushes, walks without dignity. Plan accordingly, but do not become chained to plans. Be flexible and adaptable. There is no need to rush, where are you going anyway?

The primary cause of impatience is being in a hurry. We hurry here and there, without thinking whether we really need to hurry or not. When we are delayed, we become upset. Water flows quickly when it needs to, when it does not need to, it flows gently and easily. Remember this my friends, and slow your pace.

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Thank you to all those who sent best wishes to us in regards to Tropical Storm Fay. Thankfully, we were spared the brunt of the storm and suffered no damages. Prayers to those who were not as fortunate as us. May they get their lives back in order as soon as possible. May their minds be at peace.

Likewise, it is easier to maintain a ‘clean’ mind by meditating and practicing the teachings everyday rather than when it is conveinent or the mood strikes us. A half hearted effort will yield half hearted results. If you are not committed to following the Tao each and every moment, you should ask yourself what you are committed to.

Use natural herbs and methods whenever possible to heal sickness. Toxic prescriptions drugs often cause more problems or simply substitute one problem for another. The sellers often will say something like “Simple blood tests can detect liver problems”. Yes, but the liver problems my friends may not be so simple. Sometimes it is necessary to take pharmaceutically made drugs. But always seek out natural alternatives to see if they can be used instead.

Maintain purity of the body and soul as well as the physical environment. The body is your personal temple. Treat it as such. You would not bring trash into a temple, so do not put it in your body. Stay away from toxins such as negativity, and unwholesome ‘entertainment’. Eat healthy and in moderation. Do not drink alcohol.

Fasting occasionally is a good way of getting the body back into balance. Even a few days of fasting will help the body to eliminate toxins that have built up. We concentrate on healing the mind but we must not neglect the body. Harmony is achieved when the mind and body are in perfect balance.

Stop judging that this is big, small, pretty, ugly, slow, fast, nice, unpleasant, etc…Just observe and draw no conclusions. Do away with old perceptions and habits. Practice non-judging as much as you can. Make a game of it. See how long you can go before you make a judgment about something. When you catch yourself doing so, start over. Non-judgment leads to non-friction of the mind. Let the mind flow easy and tranquil.

Sit in your usual meditation position, straight back but relaxed and comfortable-

Concentrate on each single breath you take-

Contemplate on how each breath has the potential to be your last-

Think about death. Life is the mother of death. You are born, you will die-

There is no escaping death, it is a certainty. You are here one day, gone the next-

Think of all the family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers who have died-

People die at all ages, expected or unexpectedly. One never knows when death shall arrive-

Since death is natural, contemplate on being at peace with it-

Since death may come at any time, appreciate the life you have now-