7 Point Mind Training

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Buddhist Sangha

Lojong is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition originating in Tibet in the 12th century by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje. The practice involves refining and purifying one’s motivations and attitudes. We discussed the 7 point mind training with John Wenz February and Lama Gursam February 2016 and will continue in March with The Root Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje

Point One: The Preliminaries, Which Are a Basis for Dharma Practice

  1. First, train in the preliminaries.

Point Two:  The Main Practice, Which is Training in Bodhichitta

Absolute Bodhichitta

  1. Regard all dharmas as dreams.
  2. Examine the nature of unborn awareness.
  3. Self-liberation even the antidote.
  4. Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence.
  5. In postmeditation, be a child of illusion.

Relative Bodhichitta

  1. Sending and taking should be practiced alternately, these two should ride the breath.
  2. Three objects, three poisons, and three seeds of virtue.
  3. In all activities, train with slogans.
  4. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.

Point Three:  Transformation of Bad Circumstances into the Path of Enlightenment

  1. When the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of Bodhi.
  2. Drive all blames into one.
  3. Be grateful to everyone.
  4. Seeing confusion as the four kayas is unsurpassable shunyata protection.
  5. Four practices are the best of methods.
  6. Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.

Point Four:  Showing the Utilization of Practice in One’s Whole Life

  1. Practice the five strengths, the condensed heart instructions.
  2. The Mahayana instruction for ejection of consciousness at death is the five strengths: how you conduct yourself is important.

Point Five:  Evaluation of Mind Training

  1. All dharma agree at one point.
  2. Of the two witnesses, hold the principal one.
  3. Always maintain a joyful mind.
  4. If you can practice even when distracted, you are well trained.

Point Six:  Disciplines of Mind Training

  1. Always abide by the three basic principles.
  2. Change your attitude, but remain natural.
  3. Don’t talk about injured limbs.
  4. Don’t ponder others.
  5. Work with the greatest defilements first.
  6. Abandon any hope of fruition.
  7. Abandon poisonous food.
  8. Don’t be so predictable.
  9. Don’t malign others.
  10. Don’t wait in ambush.
  11. Don’t bring things to a painful point.
  12. Don’t transfer the ox’s load to the cow.
  13. Don’t try to be the fastest.
  14. Don’t act with a twist.
  15. Don’t make gods into demons.
  16. Don’t seek others’ pain as the limbs of your own happiness.

Point Seven:  Guidelines of Main Training

  1. All activities should be done with one intention.
  2. Correct all wrongs with one intention.
  3. Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
  4. Whichever of the two occurs, be patient.
  5. Observe these two, even at the risk of your life.
  6. Train in the three difficulties.
  7. Take on the three principal causes.
  8. Pay heed that the three never wane.
  9. Keep the three inseparable.
  10. Train without bias in all areas. It is crucial always to do this pervasively and wholeheartedly.
  1. Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment.
  2. Don’t be swayed by external circumstances.
  3. This time, practice the main points.
  4. Don’t misinterpret.
  5. Don’t vacillate.
  6. Train wholeheartedly.
  7. Liberate yourself by examining and analyzing.
  8. Don’t wallow in self-pity.
  9. Don’t be jealous.
  10. Don’t be frivolous.
  11. Don’t expect applause.

Chodron, Pema. Start Where You Are. Shambala, 1994 (pp. 145-147); Be Grateful to Everyone: An In-depth Guide to the Study of Lojong, Shambala Audio, 2014; Trungpa, Chogyam. Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, Shambhala, 2004; Wallace, B. Alan. Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-Training, Snow Lion, 2003; Kongtrul, Jamgon and McLeod, Ken. The Great Path of Awakening. Shambala, 2005.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7 Point Mind Training

Start your day with 10 minutes of sitting in meditation.

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Buddhist Sangha

Meditation is key for you to progress on the path you have set out for yourself.  Start with 10 min each day in the morning and see for yourself how your day and week is transformed.

Meditate sitting on a chair

Meditate sitting on a chair

Meditate sitting on a cushion or on the pillow in your room

Meditate sitting on a cushion or on the pillow in your room

Meditate sitting in your car before or after working

Meditate sitting in your car before or after working

Read our page on How To Meditate for more info

Photo Caption 5 Reasons to Meditate from Mindfulness Magazine, October 2015

Posted in Home | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Start your day with 10 minutes of sitting in meditation.

Giving and God and Such

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Joe Beck

On Monday 12/28, we had an open topic night. Phil kicked it off giving us a brief summary of an article he had written last week (see here)

We talked for a little while about the importance of moderation and not getting sucked up into the commercial side of Christmas. In addition, there was agreement on how critical it is that we instill the correct values related to giving and receiving to the children in our lives. From here we talked for a while about the traditional Buddhist stance on God. Dave pointed out that its often best to turn directly to the Buddha’s words when trying to tackle such a major topic as this. The Buddha apparently did not speak very much about God and religions. He wanted his followers to remain focused on Nirvana without distractions, and I believe we’ve all seen a little bit of that in our lives. Anyway, I’m going to step away from this subject & as a final comment I believe our sangha’s view on God is that it is a personal choice for each of us and that it certainly does not hinder our Buddhist practice.

The discussion went in several directions including mentions of the 12-step program and a buddhist version of such–dharmapunx. There are apparently a few of these types of 12-step programs with a focus on Buddhism–one such program that appears quite legitimate is founded by author Kevin Griffin. His site has several books, one of which includes praise by Jack Kornfield.

In the end, it was a great discussion and I for one enjoyed everyone’s input. I look forward to seeing some of you for our New Year’s Eve gathering and wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Posted in Home | Tagged | Comments Off on Giving and God and Such

Giving and Receiving in the Holiday Spirit

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Joe Beck

A Challenge for Parents and Kids Alike
By Philip Brown

Whether we are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, we can all agree that the holidays can bring out the best of us and the worst of us. As the big end of year holidays approach it is a common experience to get anxious about how much there is to do, whether we have enough gifts to make everyone happy, and if our celebration of family and religious traditions will go as we hope. Our motives may be the best, but execution is daunting.

For parents there is a particular dilemma that is in our face every day because of the commercialization of the holidays that begins in early November.  How can we help our kids understand the joy of giving as well as the pleasure of receiving? How can I make it a holiday filled with love rather than a time of regret and emotional emptiness?

Opening our Hearts is Part of Forming Our Character
If we are serious about building an ethic of care and giving into our holidays, it’s best not to start during the holidays! When tensions and expectations are high is not the best time to introduce and ask or demand new behaviors from our kids. But if you decide to, start small and commit to emphasizing the power of giving throughout the year. Talking to kids about giving and how to do it from a place of compassion takes an open mind as well as an open heart and repeated exposures. Whether we’re talking about giving of our money or our time and our energies, research shows that talking with children about giving is important. Helping them understand the family and society values associated with giving, as well as involving them in the process of selecting charities or persons to whom they want to give all goes a long way in building a generous spirit in children.

Intentional teaching by talking to children about giving and charity is what works. Talk about how it makes us feel and what values we are upholding. Here are some additional tips:

  1. Let children know they are part of a community and global citizenship. Ask who has served your family this past year and could use some recognition. Look at where there are people in need locally, nationally and internationally.
  2. Get children involved in making the decisions about whom they want to give something to, whether it’s a toy, a dollar, a card, the offer of service or a good word. Think of the family and then extend outward. Simple and sweet can open the heart as much as big and fancy.
  3. Think of gifts of experiences rather than just material items. We remember and cherish good times together longer than almost any gift. Could a neighbor use a helping hand, the local food pantry some extra servers?
  4. You can help children build their character by learning how to receive gifts gracefully and with gratitude, which is as important as being a caring giver. The holidays are also about receiving. Receiving should be done with an open heart, and remembering that the person giving the gift wants to please you and make you feel good.

Dealing with Disappointments Is Part of the Learning
Dealing with disappointed expectations during holidays is a good time to be supportive of each other and remember that the holidays are about sharing the embrace of loved ones, not about the size of the gifts. Be present to each other and remember that children’s learning about how to handle these intense times is rarely a smooth course. Be tolerant of their mistakes as you would want them to be of yours. Emotional honesty goes a long way to healing the wounds of dashed expectations.

Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be on your way to a heartfelt, joyous holiday time.

Posted in Home | Tagged | Comments Off on Giving and Receiving in the Holiday Spirit

Why We Meditate

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Joe Beck

On Monday 12/21, our discussion was just that–Why we meditate. I prepared some material which I’ll share with you here but we didn’t really get to most of it. As it turns out, this was one of those nights where the discussion took on a course of its own. There were 10-12 of us and each of us took anywhere from 2-5 minutes to share with the sangha (not sure if this word should be capitalized?) some of the origins behind why and how we became meditators or Buddhists. It was a real treat to hear everyone speak so passionately about their journey.

Why The Buddha Meditated

Short excerpt from Dan Harris/Joseph Goldstein 10% Happier Course:

behind the waterfall     

The 2 things I pulled out of this clip are: 1) Homo sapiens sapiens – the one who thinks & knows he thinks (like observing awareness & recognizing that your observing)   2) See your thoughts for what they are—passing impulses in the mind, often with little connection to reality.

The final piece of material I’d like to share with you was published on Lion’s Roar website a few months back. It is an excerpt from The Art of Transforming Suffering, by Thich Nhat Hanh.
5-practices-for-nurturing-happiness

Posted in Home | Tagged , | Comments Off on Why We Meditate

Metta Meditation with Anushka

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Buddhist Sangha

Metta bhavana, or loving-kindness meditation, is a method of developing compassion. It comes from the Buddhist tradition, and taught by Buddha himself as one of the “Four Immeasurables” or Four Divine States of Buddhism. These are mental states or qualities cultivated by Buddhist practice. The other three are compassion,sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The practicecan be adapted and practiced by anyone; loving-kindness meditation is essentially about cultivating love.

Loving-kindness, or metta, as it called in the Pali language, is unconditional, inclusive love, a love with wisdom. It has no conditions; it does not depend on whether one “deserves” it or not; it is not restricted to friends and family; it extends out from personal categories to include all living beings. There are no expectations of anything in return. This is the ideal, pure love, which everyone has in potential.

This is a meditation of care, concern, tenderness, loving kindness, friendship–a feeling of warmth for oneself and others. The practice is the softening of the mind and heart, an opening to deeper and deeper levels of the feeling of kindness, of pure love. Loving kindness is without any desire to possess another. It is not a sentimental feeling of goodwill, not an obligation, but comes from a selfless place. It does not depend on relationships, on how the other person feels about us. The process is first one of softening, breaking down barriers that we feel inwardly toward ourselves, and then those that we feel toward others.

Some metta practices begin with loving ourselves, for unless we have a measure of this unconditional love and acceptance for ourselves; it is difficult to extend it to others. Then we include others who are special to us, and, ultimately, all living things. Gradually, both the visualization and the meditation phrases blend into the actual experience, the feeling of loving kindness.

The Metta Meditation by Anushka Fernandopulle is slightly different and begins with another person to help us cultivate metta for ourselves.  You can try it right now http://bit.ly/1Yb7PDw

Anushka Fernandopulle Metta     
  1. Sit comfortably, get present, observe breath  <– begin at 10:35min –>
  2. Get in touch with a positive quality you have ( eg.. kindness, compassion, honesty, patience, etc. you have)
  3. Bring to mind someone for whom it’s easy to cultivate well wishing ( someone close, child, animal, etc)
  4. Repeat some well wishing phrases for them
    • May You be peaceful and happy
    • May You be strong and healthy
    • May You be safe from inner and outer harm
    • May You care for myself with ease
  5. Repeat the well wishing for ourselves ( try to put your hand on your heart )
    • May I be peaceful and happy
    • May I be strong and healthy
    • May I be safe from inner and outer harm
    • May I care for myself with ease
  6. Repeat the well wishing for a group (everyone here, all the animals, etc. )< end:27m >

Anushka has other Metta meditations that are on DharmaSeed as well including this really great one that deals with

Metta for our own bodies.     

Anushka Fernandopulle Metta For Body     

Other Links To Metta Materials

https://www.bcbsdharma.org/article/metta-what-it-is-what-it-isnt/

If above link doesn’t work let us know and click here 

/2015/03/27/loving-kindness-metta-meditation/

 

Posted in Home | Tagged | Comments Off on Metta Meditation with Anushka

The BSBC New Year’s Eve Retreat

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Buddhist Sangha

On this last evening of the year, you are invited to join the BSBC community for a rare and lovely opportunity to engage in extended meditation practice with our sangha. The retreat begins at 8 pm and end at 12 am.  Everyone is welcome to come for the whole or part of the evening. The schedule will include guided meditation instructions, chanting, alternating sitting and walking meditation periods, and a time for sharing poems, readings and reflections. Visiting Sangha member and long-time practitioner Jeanne Reis is coming down from Boston with BSBC founder James, and has graciously agreed to lead the New Year’s Eve Retreat meditation sessions, as she has for the past couple years. Tea with light refreshments will be offered at 9:30 pm.

If you aren’t able to arrive at 8 pm, you may either time your arrival to coincide with a walking session or enter quietly if the group is sitting. If a sitting is in progress, choose a spot in the back of the hall, then feel free move to a preferred spot during the next walking session. There will be chanting sessions at the beginning and end of the evening; chanting sheets will be provided.

You may bring a favorite poem, reading, and snack to share at teatime, if you wish.

Suggested donation is $10 to cover the cost of reserving the meetinghouse

Please contact us with questions 

Evening Schedule:

8:00 – 8:20 pm                      Welcome & chanting
8:20 – 9:00 pm                      Guided sitting meditation
9:00 – 9:30 pm                      Walking session* (instructions available)
9:30 – 10:15 pm                    Sharing readings, poems, intentions over tea
10:15 – 10:45 pm                  Mindful Movement
10:45 – 11:15 pm                  Quiet sitting
11:15 – 11:30 pm                  Walking session*
11:30 – 12:00 am                  Sitting & closing chant

*You may opt to continue sitting during walking sessions, if you wish
On the first Monday of every month, we offer Meditation instruction for the first 20 minutes of our meeting to anyone who is new to the sangha or just wants to brush up on their meditation technique.  This is a great opportunity to bring in your family and/or friends to check out the sangha and try out meditation.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The BSBC New Year’s Eve Retreat

Starting out with intention

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Buddhist Sangha

The following post appeared in Bucks Co. Courier Times
written by Edna Telep

Sometimes the universe sends its messages ‘loud and clear’, and often, they come from intentionthe most unlikely sources. I think I was blessed with just such messages a few weeks ago. With Thanksgiving behind me, I awoke on the following Monday worrying about two responsibilities I had to fulfill within the week: getting my weather-damaged Christmas display repaired and mounted and writing this column. I faced them both with dread. It wasn’t that they were so inherently difficult in themselves, but the holiday season often puts me into a glassy-eyed, nearly frantic state, making any job that comes up during that period seem all the more insurmountable. In addition, as a perfectionist, responsibilities usually weigh heavily on me, and I could feel tension starting to settle into my chest.

As luck would have it, my daughter called early in the morning to tell me about her experience with her bird feeder. Apparently it had been noticed by many colorful birds, and then by hordes of sparrows. She was distraught because the numerous sparrows were monopolizing the feeder and emptying it every day, leaving nothing for the other varieties of birds. She wanted to discourage the sparrows but still keep the feeder full for other birds, so she continued to fill it but prayed for a solution. A few days later, she spotted a Sharp-Skinned Hawk, uncommon in her area, nearby. This hawk is known to prey on sparrows, and my daughter was relieved that her problem had been solved without her having to take any offensive action against them.

Later in the day, I went to my Tai Chi class. Although Tai Chi has martial arts applications, my class stresses the health and flexibility benefits of the art, not the aggressive applications. However, Clyde, our teacher, often mentions the protective uses of some of the movements. A main principle of Tai Chi is non-aggression and victory by using one’s opponent’s aggression as a force against him. Clyde used the phrase, “soft overcomes hard”, which seemed to me to be the same message I got from my daughter’s story.

Both of these incidents put me in mind of the value and wisdom of spiritual teachings about non aggression, turning the other cheek, and having right intention. If our intention is to have love and compassion for all beings rather than to have our immediate needs satisfied, the universe will sometimes supply the vehicle to make things work out as we wish them to. Buddhism lists Right Intention as one of the steps on its Noble Eightfold Path, the path leading us out of human suffering; other spiritual traditions teach similar principles. If our intention is to do no harm, we need to examine our attitudes and motivations before we act, especially if our action is of a retaliatory nature, and realize that it’s in our own highest interest to be less ego-invested. Learning to ask ourselves if what we want serves the highest good for all is a worthwhile habit to acquire. Buddhism asks us to develop an unselfish view of the world because we are all interconnected, and our fates are ultimately intertwined, a fact easily confirmed by reading the headlines in any newspaper.

The universe was looking out for me on that Monday. My sweet and artistically talented daughter offered to help me to repair my Christmas display, relieving my mind of one major worry. As a bonus, her bird feeder story suggested a theme for this column.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Starting out with intention

Zen Teacher Visits Sangha

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Buddhist Sangha

On November 23rd, Andre Doshim Halaw, who is a Zen monk in Princeton and teacher in the Five Mountain Zen Order visited our sangha and gave the following Dharma Talk.

PictureAndre teaches high school English and online courses at Buddha Dharma University, where he is also completing his doctoral degree in Buddhist Studies. Andre practiced for several years in two Japanese lineages, Harada-Yasutani and Soto, before finding his home in the Korean Five Mountain Zen Order.

In November 2012, Andre received inka (independent teaching authorization) from his teacher Zen Master Wonji Dharma.

You can visit Andre at his Zen blog, Original Mind or follow him on Twitter.

Click for more audio recordings

Posted in Home | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Zen Teacher Visits Sangha

Eating Mindfully

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Buddhist Sangha

Mindful EatingEating is such a significant part of our daily lives, yet it’s so easy to disconnect from it. In one moment, our plates are full, and in the next, completely empty. What happened? We hardly tasted or consciously enjoyed even one bite.

We can change this mechanical way of eating by establishing a daily mindful eating practice.

Set aside a few minutes each day to practice mindful eating. Start with committing to eating one meal or snack mindfully each day. It’s helpful to begin with a small amount of one type of food that is not a trigger food for overeating. Begin by picking up and holding the piece of food, such as a grape, in your hand. Allow your senses to become alive: smell the grape, notice its contours, shape, colors, how it feels in your palm, between your fingers. When the mind wanders to thoughts of the past or future, gently bring it back to the grape. There is no other grape like it in the universe. Then, mindfully lift your hand and place the grape in your mouth.

Continue Reading

 

Posted in Home | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Eating Mindfully