The Ego and the Five Poisons

Our mind is fundamentally infinite. It is not limited by the constraints of an individual existence. There is no ego. Although it does not exist, we identify ourselves with this illusory ego. It is the center and the touchstone of all our relationships. Everything that confirms its existence and is favorable to it becomes an object of attachment. Everything that threatens its integrity becomes an enemy, a source of aversion. The presence of the ego itself conceals the true nature of our mind and of phenomena. It makes us unable to discriminate between the real and the illusory. In this sense, we are prisoners of mental dullness. The ego also engenders jealousy toward persons considered possible rivals in any possible area. Finally the ego wants to be superior to others. This is pride.

Attachment, aversion, mental dullness, jealousy, and pride are the five basic poisons produced by ego clinging.

They form irrevocable obstacles to inner peace, constantly creating worries, troubles, difficulties, anguish and suffering, not only for ourselves but also for others. It is obvious, for example, that anger results in suffering for oneself and when overcome by an opponent, curses and hurtful words, for the person toward whom it is directed.

Likewise, ego and the five poisons lead us to harm ourselves and others which leave imprints with negative karmic potential on our mind. The ripening of this karmic potential will be expressed in the form of future painful circumstances.

The ego and its entourage are our true enemy – not a visible enemy which can be defeated by weapons or material objects – but an invisible enemy which can only be defeated by meditation and following a spiritual path. Contemporary science has developed extremely powerful weapons, bombs that can kill hundreds of thousands of people. However, no bomb can annihilate the ego and the five poisons. In this domain the true atomic bomb is meditation.

From: Meditation - Advice for Beginners by Bokar Rinpoche

Stress and Work

Questions and Answers

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Q: How do you maintain mindfulness in a busy work environment? At times it seems there is not even enough time to breathe mindfully.

A: This is not a personal problem only; this is a problem of the whole civilization. That is why we have to practice not only as individuals; we have to practice as a society. We have to make a revolution in the way we organize our society and our daily life, so we will be able to enjoy the work we do every day.

Meanwhile, we can incorporate a number of things that we have learned in this retreat in order to lessen our stress. When you drive around the city and come to a red light or a stop sign, you can just sit back and make use of these twenty or thirty seconds to relax-to breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy arriving in the present moment. There are many things like that we can do. Years ago I was in Montreal on the way to a retreat, and I noticed that the license plates said Je me souviens-"I remember." I did not know what they wanted to remember, but to me it means that I remember to breathe and to smile (laughter). So I told a friend who was driving the car that I had a gift for the sangha in Montreal: every time you see Je me souviens, you remember to breathe and smile and go back to the present moment. Many of our friends in the Montreal sangha have been practicing that for more than ten years.

I think we can enjoy the red light; we can also enjoy the stop sign. Every time we see it we profit: instead of being angry at the red light, of being burned by impatience, we just practice breathing in, breathing out, smiling. That helps a lot. And when you hear the telephone ringing you can consider it to be the sound of the mindfulness bell. You practice telephone meditation. Every time you hear the telephone ringing you stay exactly where you are (laughter). You breathe in and breathe out and enjoy your breathing. Listen, listen-this wonderful sound brings you back to your true home. Then when you hear the second ring you stand up and you go to the telephone with dignity (laughter). That means in the style of walking meditation (laughter). You know that you can afford to do that, because if the other person has something really important to tell you, she will not hang up before the third ring. That is what we call telephone meditation. We use the sound as the bell of mindfulness.

And waiting at the bus stop you might like to try mindful breathing, and waiting in line to go into a bank, you can always practice mindful breathing. Walking from one building to another building, why don't you use walking meditation, because that improves the quality of our life. That brings more peace and serenity, and the quality of the work we do will be improved just by that kind of practice. So it is possible to integrate the practice into our daily life. We just need a little bit of creative imagination to do so.

[JUMP TO ORIGINAL]

Plum Village

Completely Ordinary People

We must be willing to be completely ordinary people, which means accepting ourselves as we are.

-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, The Myth of Freedom

What Meditation Really Is - Mingyur Rinpoche

What Meditation Really Is - Sogyal Rinpoche

Meditation On Buddha Shakyamuni

Prepare for this meditation by doing a few minutes of breathing meditation (focus your attention on your breath) to calm your mind. Then bring your attention to the suffering that all sentient beings undergo: the sufferings of heat and cold, hunger and thirst. Just as you experience many sufferings, remember that all mother sentient beings experience suffering at least equal to--if not greater than--your own. Determine to undertake this practice in order to awaken your own buddha-nature, quickly attain enlightenment and lead all other sentient beings to that same state of permanent, lasting happiness.

Visualization
The visualization of Lord Buddha is composed entirely of light, not mundane materials. In the space before you, at the level of your forehead, imagine a jewel-encrusted, golden throne. Each corner is supported by two snow lions with white bodies and turquoise manes and tails; these are the embodiment of bodhisattvas. On the flat surface of the throne is a fully opened lotus; this is symbolic of the awakened mind, arising from the mire of samsara. On the petals of the lotus are the flat disks of the sun and moon which serve as cushions for the Buddha, representing the Buddha's realizations of emptiness and bodhicitta. On the moon disk sits Buddha Shakyamuni.

Buddha's body is made of golden light. He is seated in the "full vajra" or lotus posture. He is dressed in the robes of a monk which do not actually touch his body, but are separated from it by about an inch. His face is very serene and beautiful; each hair on his head is individually curled to the right, not mingling with or touching others; his ear lobes are long; and his eyes are slightly opened.

His left hand rests in his lap in the meditation pose, holding a begging bowl, filled with nectar. The palm of his right hand rests on his right knee and his fingers touch the moon disk upon which he sits; this symbolizes his great control over anger, attachment and ignorance.

Taking Refuge
From your heart, recite the refuge prayer and visualize that streams of golden-white light radiate from the Buddha's body in all directions, blessing you and all sentient beings.

You may also visualize texts of Dharma teachings on thrones near the Buddha which emanate with the sounds of the teachings contained in them. Imagine teachers you have read or heard seated on similar thrones around the Buddha.

Imagine also that you are surrounded in space by all sentient beings in human form; your father and male friends and relatives are seated on your right; your mother and female friends and relatives are seated on your left; those you don't know and call "strangers" reach out to the vastness of space; those you call "enemies" are seated between you and the Merit Field of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, symbolic of anger in our mindstreams that separates us from feeling loving-kindness toward all beings and hinders our advancement to full buddhahood.

Imagine that you lead all these sentient beings in reciting the refuge prayer three times:

I take refuge until I am enlightened
In the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha.

Through the positive potential I create by practicing generosityand the other far-reaching attitudes,

May I attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Requests and Inspiration

From your heart, generate the request to the Buddha that he grant you inspiration to follow the path to full enlightenment; make this request on behalf of all living beings who are trapped in samsara.

Rays of light stream from the figure of the Buddha before you. This light enters your body and quickly removes all negativities, obscurations and hindrances, freeing you to progress quickly on the path. Imagine that this light flows not only to you, but to all living beings situated in space around you. Imagine that they all receive such inspiration and blessings as you recite the name mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha as many times as possible.

tayata om muni muni maha munaye soha

The Blessing of Body, Speech and Mind

Imagine that rays of light stream from the crown of Buddha's head to your crown; this light purifies the negativities of your body and removes the hindrances to attaining the enlightened body of a Buddha.

tayata om muni muni maha munaye soha

Rays of light then stream from the Buddha's throat to yours, pufifying the speech that communicates clearly to all sentient beings, regardless of their level or capacity.

tayata om muni muni maha munaye soha

Finally, rays of light emanate from the Buddha's heart and enter your own heart center. This light purifies the negativities of your mind and remove hindrances to the awakened, omniscient mind

tayata om muni muni maha munaye soha

Imagine that these light rays flow to all sentient beings, helping them to quickly reach a state of supreme awareness.

Maintain this visualization for as long as you can, reciting the mantra quietly to yourself or aloud and imagine that the light continues to stream from the Buddha to you and all sentient beings. Imagine that nectar accompanies the light and nourishes you completely, such is the nature of the Dharma.

Absorption

Imagine that the teachers and their thrones dissolve into light and are absorbed into the Buddha's body. Next, imagine that the texts and their thrones dissolve similarly and absorb into the Buddha. Imagine now that the throne is absorbed into the lotus, the lotus into the sun, the sun into the moon and the moon into the body of the Buddha. Buddha now comes to the crown of your head, facing the same direction as you, dissolves into brilliant, white light and dissolves into your body through the crown of your head, filling your body once again with this brilliant light.

Feel great bliss and joy as your body, speech and mind are completely transformed. Hold this feeling for as long as you can, experiencing the removal of all hindrances and obstructions to omniscience.

From this state, imagine in the space where you are sitting, arising from emptiness are the snow lions, the throne, lotus, sun and moon disks and yourself seated upon them in the same aspect as you visualized the Buddha before. Visualize and really feel that you have attained the state of omniscience; feel the enlightened compassion and wisdom of buddhahood.

At your heart appear sun and moon disks. At the center of the moon disk, standing upright, is the syllable MUM. Surrounding this are the syllables of Shakyamuni Buddha's name mantra:

tayata om muni muni maha munaye soha

Streams of light flow from the MUM and mantra at your heart center to all sentient beings, completely removing their hindrances, obstructions, wrong views, delusions and traces of ignorance and thereby transforming them into the form of the Buddha as well. Meditate in this way for as long as possible, reciting the mantra quietly to yourself.

This portion of the meditation is called "bringing the result into the path." It is a very powerful method for transforming our normal view of and how we behave in the world. The result of our practiceis to attain full enlightenment; this activity of bringing the result of buddhahood to our present state is a powerful, transformative tool. You should not imagine that your body, speech or mind are the same; they have arisen from emptiness and manifested in the form of a buddha. This activity enables you to transform yourself and surroundings into vehicles that lead to full, perfect enlightenment.

Dedication

When you have completed this meditation, dedicate the positive potential of this practice to the benefit of all living beings, that they may be liberated from the hardships of cyclic existence and placed in a state of perfect peace and happiness. Remind yourself that your initial motivation for doing this meditation is to actually attain such a state as the means to be able to lead all other sentient beings to full enlightenment.

In your daily routine, bring to mind the feeling and attitude that you felt when you were just imagining the state of buddhahood. When your activities become particularly stressful, remember that such a state comes about by grasping after your "I" or some sort of non-existent self, by putting the interests of this "self" before all other mother sentient beings. Simply remembering a peaceful, blissful state--filled with love and compassion--is often enough to relieve a stressful situation; such times can be transformed into happiness by such a rememberance.

At other times, when you want to eradicate all traces of a disturbing attitude, simply reciting the Buddha's mantra om muni muni maha munaye soha is often enough inspiration to transform that state into one of peace and happiness. Reminding yourself that you are a "Child of the Buddha" and wishing to attain happiness for yourself and others helps to gradually remove such states of mind completely. When you do so, remember to dedicate the merit or positive potential to all beings, that they might do the same.

From the FPMT Osel Shen Phen Ling Web Page

Preparation for a Meditation Journey

By International Bodhisattva Sangha

To practice meditation, we need to first adjust our body so that it is healthy enough to take on this strenuous journey. To do so,

1st. adjusting your diet—best to be a vegan if you can and do not eat so much each meal, just 70-80% full. Dinner should be light — best if you could just drink liquid food, like juice or rice porridge.

2nd. adjusting your sleep—best to sleep before 11pm or not too late. When you sleep late, your body have to do extra work getting rid of the poisons generated within the body.

3rd. adjust your behavior—do not engage in activities that are not inductive towards the pure practice, like breaking Buddhist precepts or drinking alcohol.

4th. adjust your thinking—do not have greed, hatred or ignorance. Try to always keep happy, peaceful, grateful and compassionate thoughts.

5th. adjust your living—happy to be alone in solitude with peace and tranquility.

Lastly, I would advice everyone to make prostrations to the Buddha everyday. At least 108 bows. This will stretch your body out, prepare your mind for meditation and rid the obstacles generated from previous negative karmas. Each prostration is done slowly and precisely. Be mindful of every body movement. There are 3 important points must remember:

1. When standing with join palms, let your attention focus on your feet, so the the Chi energy move toward the lower body.

2. Breath out through your mouth as you bow to the ground. Imagine letting all the air in your chest and abdomen out. Once on the ground, you should relax your neck, spine, and shoulder muscles, like clothes hanging on the rack. Not exerting any force or have any tension. The position where you can reach maximum relaxation, your must adjust yourself as you practice this.

3. When stand up again, take slow deep breaths through your nose all the way to your abdomen and focus attention again on your feet.

Videos on prostration instructions:

• "How to do full prostrations" - Vajra Master Venerable Dorzin K.C. Dhondup 
• Prostrations part I
• Prostrations part II
• How to do prostrations in Chinese Buddhism - front view
• How to do prostration in Chinese Buddhism -  side view
• How to prostrate holding a sutra in your hand

Anapanasati Meditation

Find a place where you can sit comfortably, undisturbed, for at least 20 minutes. Your back and head need to held straight. You may sit on the floor or in a chair. Your eyes are best closed as you remain still, moving only if it is really necessary. If you must move, notice how and why you are moving.

Simply be mindful of in-and-out breathing. You may feel that your breathing is too short, too long, too gentle or too heavy. Do not try to control it. Stop judging. Just let it be, let it settle by itself as you watch.

It is the process of watching which is the meditation, not what you are watching. Remember not to become identified with, or lost in whatever comes up: thoughts, emotions, judgments, body sensations. When you become distracted, gently refocus your attention on your breathing.

Keep watching. Just breathe...

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