Kadampa Beauty

As Kadampas living in the Kadampa world, how often do we stop and think how lucky we are?

We can appreciate how many objects of beauty and awe there are in our world.  In the Kadampa world, a world shaped by great merit, there’s so much to appreciate and feel happy about. True happiness comes from appreciative mind such as gratitude, recognising the kindness of others.  First we can appreciate the great kindness of our Founder Geshe Kelsang, an incomparable Spiritual Teacher who has brought the beauty and wonder of Kadam Dharma into our modern Western world.  How many of our lives have been transformed through the kindness of his books, teachings and blessings?

For example, we can appreciate his new book Modern Buddhism, his clearest, most concise and practical presentation of Buddha’s teachings yet.  This book  is simple but profound, being a clear explanation of the paths of Sutra and Tantra.  Considering how clearly  the rare and complex teachings of Tantra are presented alone makes this truly a wishfulfulling gem, something to be treasured and taken to heart, again and again.

Modern Buddhism - an incomparably clear and practical presentation of the essence of Buddha's teachings

We can also appreciate Kadampa Dharma Centers and Temples.  How many of us were awestruck by the majesty and beauty of the Brazilian Kadampa Temple last October?  Didn’t we just stare open-mouthed that such a beautiful, pure place could exist on this war-torn and grief stricken planet?  I did!  It makes you want to pinch yourself and make sure that you’re not in the Pure Land already!

Count your blessings…..books, sadhanas, teachings, statues, pictures, Centres, Teachers, Sangha friends.  There’s so much to be grateful for and to rejoice in.  It makes you understand how it’s possible to be in a Pure Land for so many pure objects to be appearing in our lives already.  Although we want these to appear to everyone and benefit the world, they don’t yet, so this is our special good fortune that we can pray to share with everyone.

We can remember the special Kadampa prayer which reminds us of the special qualities of Je Tsongkhapa,  and make it fervently:

May I meet the doctrine of Conqueror Losang Dragpa,
Who has a pure practice of stainless moral discipline,
The courageous practice of the extensive deeds of a Bodhisattva,
And the yogas of the two stages to supreme bliss and emptiness.

Kadampa beauty………everywhere you look.

SO MANY BLESSINGS!

Be happy, everyone, you’ve got good reason to be.

“Increase the Peace”

Whilst strolling back through the city centre this afternoon after a constitutional walk, I came across

The purpose of life is to develop inner peace

this slogan roughly chalked on the railway station wall:

 

“Increase the Peace”

Wow, I thought – a mission statement for Kadampa Buddhism if there ever was one!

This got me thinking about what I could be doing to increase the peace. I thought I could keep a mind of love in my heart, think about impermanence or contemplate the deep meaning of Buddha’s teachings on emptiness. I could try to be content (for a change) and be patient with others. In other words, I could try to be a Kadampa!

There are many ways of increasing the peace: what are yours?  Is peace a priority for you?

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso says “without inner peace, outer peace is impossible”, so increasing the peace is our main job. It’s profound: if we don’t change our mind, where is the peace going to come from and how is it going to increase? Ordinary methods can’t increase the peace. Only Buddha’s blessings, putting Dharma into practice (being a real Kadampa) and being inspired by the spiritual community (Sangha) can do it. Only the Three Precious Jewels of Buddhist refuge are the source of real peace.

The more you think about it, the more profound such a simple instruction is.

Isn’t increasing the peace our most important job?

Isn’t it the best use of our precious human life?

From one point of view, is there anything else we actually need to do?

Isn’t ‘inceasing the peace’ the real reason why we’re alive?

The holy being in India who originated the Kadampa tradition, known as Dipamkara Srijana, was called “Atisha” by his disciples. ‘Atisha’ means ‘peace’ because he was always so calm and peaceful. Shouldn’t we all be trying to become Atisha for our local community and the world? It’s a lifelong job.

Strive to be Atisha where you are.

Thank you for the reminder, the person who chalked up the slogan. As Milarepa said “I have no need of books; whatever I see around me serves to develop my mind”.  May we all become like him, finding profound spiritual instructions in the simplest of sources.

THINK BIG!

The ultimate makeover using spiritual imagination.

You are what you think

There has long been an adage in the health world, “you are what you eat”. It makes sense that our body is made up of the things we consume, but what about our mind? We could also say “you are what you think” because Buddha said that our thoughts create the world. As Geshe Kelsang says in Modern Buddhism, page x:

A pure world is the result of pure actions and an impure world is the result of impure actions. Since all actions are created by mind, ultimately everything, including the world itself, is created by mind. There is no creator other than mind.

Relate to yourself positively in meditation

So how should we think? Obviously, we should try to think purely and act purely as this will create a pure world. Buddha taught this in his common, or sutra, teachings but especially in the more advanced teachings of Tantra. Our sense of who we are is governed by our thoughts. For example, we talk about ‘low self esteem’ and this seems to be becoming more common in society, but all that really means is that we are relating to a negative view of ourself and this, unfortunately, is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we think small and act negative, we will be small and negative, but if we think big and act big, we will become a pure being who has power to help everyone. Tantra is nothing more than training to have the biggest and most positive view of ourself and everything around us, and because we create the world with our thoughts, through this practice everything, including the world itself, will become pure and positive – an enlightened world.

Creating a positive future

To create a positive future, all we have to do is overcome our habitually negative and ordinary way of seeing ourself and the

you are what you think, so think BIG!

world by training in the spiritual paths of Sutra and Tantra that Buddha taught.

Does that sound too easy? It is easy! We simply have to cut our negative view and identify with a bigger, more positive vision of ourself and our world. How to do this? We have to use our imagination and our intelligence to create the best view. For example, can you imagine what an anger-free person is like? – you can!

What would that person think and feel?

How would they regard others?

How would they react to life’s difficulties?

Just imagine….by using our imagination in such a positive way, we can come to inhabit the mind of an anger-free person and identify with being that person by developing the same thoughts and feeling ‘I’m anger-free’. This is a liberating and transformative experience.

Try it today. Don’t wait, create the anger-free person you want to be today and identify with this pure vision of yourself, you will become it. Like an actor, inhabit the role and see what it feels like. Your mind will already begin to change from the first seeds of this pure imagining. Gandhi once said ‘be the change you want to see in the world’ and this is how to be it. If you do this meditation regularly, in no time at all you will become it.

You can then ‘try on’ other minds – through imagination, become a person who has no attachment, or someone who has universal love or a realization of the true nature of things. There are no limits to this approach and by imagining, we are becoming. Try it out and see for yourself how it works. It’s incredibly encouraging and shows us how we can completely transform ourself through pure spiritual practice and become the pure being we want to be and that the world needs so badly.