Buddhism: What's Hot Now: The Five Niyamas

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The Five Niyamas Oct 5th 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com The Buddha's teachings on karma differ from those of other religions of Asia. Many people believed -- and still believe -- that everything about their present life was caused by actions in the past. In this view, everything that happens to us happened because of something we did in the past. But the Buddha disagreed. He taught there are five types of factors at work in the cosmos that cause things to happen, called the Five Niyamas. Karma is only one of these factors. Present circumstances are the result of countless factors that are always in flux. There is no single cause that makes everything to be the way it is. 1. Utu Niyama Utu Niyama is the natural law of non-living matter. This natural law orders the change of seasons and phenomena related to climate and the weather. It explains the nature of heat and fire, soil and gasses, water and wind. Most natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes would be governed by Utu Niyama. Put into modern terms, Utu Niyama would correlate with what we think of as physics, chemistry, geology, and several sciences of inorganic phenomena. The most important point to understand about Utu Niyama is that the matter it governs is not part of the law of karma and is not overridden by karma. So, from a Buddhist perspective, natural disasters such as earthquakes are not caused by karma. 2. Bija Niyama Bija Niyama is the law of living matter, what we would think of as biology. The Pali word bija means "seed," and so Bija Niyama governs the nature of germs and seeds and the attributes of sprouts, leaves, flowers, fruits, and plant life generally. Some modern scholars suggest that laws of genetics that apply to all life, plant and animal, would come under the heading of Bija Niyama. 3. Kamma Niyama Kamma, or karma in Sanskrit, is the law of moral causation. All of our volitional thoughts, words and deeds create an energy that brings about effects, and that process is called karma. The important point here is that Kamma Niyama is a kind of natural law, like gravity, that operates without having to be directed by a divine intelligence. In Buddhism, karma is not a cosmic criminal justice system, and no supernatural force or God is directing it to reward the good and punish the wicked. Karma is, rather, a natural tendency for skillful (kushala) actions to create beneficial effects, and unskillful (akushala) actions to create harmful or painful effects. 4. Dhamma Niyama The Pali word dhamma, or dharma in Sanskrit, has several meanings. It often is used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha. But it also is used to mean something like "manifestation of reality" or the nature of existence. One way to think of Dhamma Niyama is as natural spiritual law. The doctrines of anatta (no self) and shunyata (emptiness) and the marks of existence, for example, would be part of Dhamma Niyama. See also Dependent Origination. 5. Citta Niyama Citta, sometimes spelled chitta, means "mind," "heart," or "state of consciousness." Citta Niyama is the law of mental activity -- something like psychology. It concerns consciousness, thoughts, and perceptions. We tend to think of our minds as "us," or as the pilot directing us through our lives. But in Buddhism, mental activities are phenomena that arise from causes and conditions, like other phenomena. In the teachings of the Five Skandhas, mind is a kind of sense organ, and thoughts are sense objects, in the same way the nose is a sense organ and smells are its objects.

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Buddhism: What's Hot Now: Karuna

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Karuna Oct 5th 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com Definition: There are two Sanskrit words frequently used by Buddhists that are translated as "compassion." One is karuna, which means compassion, active sympathy, gentle affection and a willingness to bear the pain of others. The other word, metta, means loving kindness; a benevolence toward all beings free of selfish attachment.

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Buddhism: What's Hot Now: Eight Dharmapalas

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Eight Dharmapalas Oct 5th 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com Dharmapalas grimace from Vajrayana Buddhist art, and their sculpted, threatening forms surround many Buddhist temples. From their looks you might think they are evil. But dharmapalas are wrathful bodhisattvas who protect Buddhists and the Dharma. Their terrifying appearance is meant to frighten forces of evil. The eight dharmapalas listed blow are considered the "principal" dharmapalas, sometimes called “Eight Terrible Ones." Most were adapted from Hindu art and literature. Some also originated in Bon, the indigenous pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, and also from folk tales. Mahakala Image courtesy of Estonia Record Productions (ERP) Mahakala is the wrathful form of the gentle and compassionate Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. In Tibetan iconography he is usually black, although he appears in other colors as well. He has two to six arms, three bulging eyes with flames for eyebrows, and a beard of hooks. He wears a crown of six skulls. Mahakala is the protector of the tents of nomadic Tibetans, and of monasteries, and of all Tibetan Buddhism. He is charged with the tasks of pacifying hindrances; enriching life, virtue and wisdom; attracting people to Buddhism; and destroying confusion and ignorance. Yama MarenYumi/Flickr Creative Commons License Yama is lord of the Hell Realm. He represents death. In legend, he was a holy man meditating in a cave when robbers entered the cave with a stolen bull and cut off the bull's head. When they realized the holy man had seen them, the robbers cut off his head also. The holy man put on the bull's head and assumed the terrible form of Yama. He killed the robbers, drank their blood, and threatened all of Tibet. Then Manjushri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, manifested as Yamantaka and defeated Yama. Yama became a protector of Buddhism. In art, Yama is most familiar as the being holding the Bhava Chakra in his claws. Yamantaka prorc/flickr, Creative Commons License Yamantaka is the wrathful form of Manjushri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom. It was as Yamantaka that Manjushri conquered the rampaging Yama and made him a protector of the Dharma. In some versions of the legend, when Manhushri became Yamantaka he mirrored Yama's appearance but with multiple heads, legs and arms. When Yama looked at Yamantaka he saw himself multiplied to infinity. Since Yama repesents death, Yamantaka represents that which is stronger than death. In art, Yamantaka usually is shown standing or riding a bull that is trampling Yama. Hayagriva Hayagriva is another wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara (as is Mahakala, above). He has the power to cure diseases (skin diseases in particular), and is a protector of horses. He wears a horse's head in his headdress and frightens demons by neighing like a horse. Vaisravana Vaisravana is an adaptation of Kubera, the Hindu God of Wealth. In Vajrayana Buddhism, Vaisravana is thought to bestow prosperity, which gives people freedom to pursue spiritual goals. In art, he is usually corpulent and covered in jewels. His symbols are a lemon and a mongoose, and he also is a guardian of the north. Palden Lhamo Palden Lhamo, the only female dharmapala, is the protector of Buddhist governments, including the Tibetan government in exile in Lhasa, India. She is also a consort of Mahakala. Her Sanskrit name is Shri Devi. Palden Lhamo was married to an evil king of Lanka. She tried to reform her husband, but failed. Further, their son was being raised to be the destroyer of Buddhism. One day while the king was away, she killed her son, drank his blood and ate his flesh. She rode away on a horse saddled with her son's flayed skin. The king shot a poisoned arrow after Palden Lhamo. The arrow struck her horse. Palden Lhamo healed the horse, and the wound became an eye. Tshangspa Dkarpo Tshangspa is the Tibetan name for the Hindu creator god Brahma. The Tibetan Tshangspa is not a creator god, however, but more of a warrior god. He usually is pictured mounted on a white horse and waving a sword. In one version of his legend, Tshangspa traveled the earth on a murderous rampage. One day he attempted to assault a sleeping goddess, who awoke and struck him in the thigh, crippling him. The goddess's blow transformed him into a protector of the dharma. Begtse Begtse is a war god who emerged in the 16th century, making him the most recent dharmapala. His legend is woven together with Tibetan history: Sonam Gyatso, the Third Dalai Lama, was called from Tibet to Mongolia to convert the warlord Altan Khan to Buddhism. Begtse confronted the Dalai Lama to stop him. But the Dalai Lama transformed himself into the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Witnessing this miracle, Begtse became a Buddhist and a protector of the Dharma. In Tibetan art, Begtse wears armor and Mongolian boots. Often he has a sword in one hand and an enemy's heart in the other.

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Buddhism: What's Hot Now: The Golden Deer

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The Golden Deer Oct 5th 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com Introduction: The Jataka Tales are stories of the Buddha's previous lives, when he was called a Bodhisattva. This story, sometimes called The Golden Dear or the Ruru Deer, appears in the Pali Canon (as the Ruru Jataka, or Jataka 482) and in the Jatakamala of Arya Sura. Once the Bodhisattva was born as a deer, and he made his home deep in a lush forest. He was a particularly beautiful deer, with golden fur that sparkled like many-colored gems. His eyes were as blue as sapphires, and even his horns and hooves shone with the luster of precious stone. The Bodhisattva realized his dazzling appearance would make him desirable to men, who would capture and kill him and hang his beautiful hide on a wall. So he remained in the thickest parts of the forest where humans rarely ventured. Because of his wisdom he gained the respect of other forest creatures. He guided the other animals as their king, and he taught them how to avoid the snares and traps of hunters. One day the golden dear heard the cries of a man being carried away in the strong rapids of a rain-swollen river. The Bodhisattva responded, and he cried out in a human voice, "Do not fear!" As he approached the river it seemed the man was a precious gift being brought to him by the water. The Bodhisattva entered the treacherous current, and bracing himself, he allowed the exhausted man to climb on his back. He carried the man to the safety of the bank and warmed him with his fur. The man was beside himself with gratitude and wonder at the marvelous deer. "No one has ever done anything for me such as you have done today," he said. "My life is yours. What can I do to repay you?" To this, the Bodhisattva said, "All I ask is that you do not tell other humans about me. If men knew of my existence, they would come to hunt me." So the man promised to keep the deer a secret. Then he bowed and began the journey back to his home. At that time, in that country, there was a Queen who saw extraordinary things in her dreams that eventually became real. One night she dreamed of a brilliant golden deer that sparkled like jewels. The deer stood on a throne, surrounded by the royal family, and preached the dharma in a human voice. The Queen awoke and went to her husband, the King, to tell him of this astonishing dream, and she asked him to go and find the deer and bring it to the court. The King, trusted his wife's visions, agreed to find the deer. He issued a proclamation to all of the hunters of his land to look for the shining, golden deer spotted with many colors. Whoever could bring the deer to the king would receive a rich village and ten beautiful wives in payment. The man who had been rescued heard that proclamation, and he was greatly conflicted. He was still grateful to the deer, but he was also very poor, and he imagined himself struggling with poverty for the rest of his life. Now a life of plenty was in his grasp! All he had to do was break his promise to the deer. So, as he continued his journey, he was pushed and pulled by gratitude and desire. Eventually he told himself that as a wealthy man he could do the world a lot of good to make up for breaking his promise. Resolved, he went to the King and offered to take him to the deer. The King was delighted, and he gathered a large body of soldiers and set out to find the deer. The rescued man guided the entourage over rivers and through forests, and they eventually came to where the unsuspecting deer was grazing. "Here he is, your Majesty," the man said. But when he raised his arm to point, his hand fell from his arm as if it had been cut by a sword. But the King had seen the deer, which sparkled in the sun like a treasury of jewels. And the King was overcome with desire to obtain this beautiful creature, and he fitted an arrow to his bow. The Bodhisattva realized he was surrounded by hunters. Instead of trying to run, he approached the King and addressed him in a human voice -- "Stop, mighty prince! And please explain how you found me here? The King, astonished, put down his bow and pointed to the rescued man with his arrow. And the deer said, harshly, "Truly, it is better to take a log out of a flood than to save an ungrateful person from it." "You speak words of blame," the King said. "What do you mean?" "I do not speak with the desire to blame, Your Majesty," the deer said. "I spoke sharply to a wrong-doer to prevent him from doing wrong again, just as a physician might apply a harsh remedy to cure his own son. I speak harshly because I rescued this man from danger, and now he brings danger to me." The King turned to the rescued man. "Is this true?" he asked. And the man, now filled with remorse, looked down at the ground and whispered, "yes." Now the King grew angry, and once again he fitted the arrow to his bow. "Why should this lowest of men live any longer?" he roared. But the Bodhisattva placed himself between the King and the rescued man."Stop, Your Majesty," he said. "Do not strike one who is already stricken." The deer's compassion moved and humbled the King. "Well said, holy being. If you forgive him, so will I." And the King promised to give the man the rich reward he had been promised. Then the golden deer was brought to the capital. The King invited the deer to stand on the throne and preach the dharma, just as the Queen had seen in her dream. "I believe all the moral laws can be summed this way: Compassion to all creatures," the deer said. "The practice of compassion to all creatures should cause humans to regard all creatures as their own families. If a person regards all creatures as his own family, how can he even think of harming them? "For this reason, the sages know that the whole of righteousness is contained in compassion. Great king, keep this in mind and practice compassion to your people as if they were your sons and daughters, and your reign will be glorified." Then the king praised the words of the golden deer, and he and his people took up the practice of compassion to all creatures with their whole hearts. The golden deer disappeared back into the forest, but birds and animals enjoy safety and peace in that kingdom to this day.

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Buddhism: Surrender Has No Goal

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Surrender Has No Goal Oct 3rd 2013, 11:57 In the last post I talked about the differences between surrender and submission. I'm basing much of this on a new book by Zen teacher Barry Magid, Nothing Is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans. I want to discuss this just a little more, because it's something that a lot of us (me too) need to clarify. Of course, I'm not using "surrender" in the military sense, but in the sense of liberation from clinging and from our self-imposed limitation of, well, self. This is not something we can will ourselves to do; it happens when conditions are ripe for it to happen. Submission is something we choose to do, and of course if we're in anything like a traditional practice we choose to submit to the disciplines of practice. And that's fine; gotta start somewhere. As we continue, we find that it's not always fun to practice, and sometimes we get shoved outside our comfort zones a bit. But we choose to continue, usually because we think we will benefit from it somehow. Again, up to a point, that's perfectly normal. This practice we choose may enable genuine surrender. But for some people, submission metastasizes into a stubborn pathology, which can take many forms. It can take the form of submission to the will of authority, the teacher; or to a kind of groupthink, or both. When this happens, students are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Even when the student isn't exploited, sometimes his or her practice turns on gaining acceptance and approval from the teacher. Then practice becomes all about being a model student who will please the teacher. Barry Magid writes that the defining difference between submission or surrender is that submission is "tied to eliciting a response from another person, whether simple approval, love, or just an absence of criticism or abuse. True surrender, on the other hand, has no goal." I've also heard of people denying themselves physical comforts, like sleeping on a board instead of a mattress. or forcing their legs into full lotus even when it's bone-crushingly painful. I honestly don't see the point, except to give oneself something to brag about. I said earlier that we may choose to continue to practice even when we run into difficulties, because we believe we will benefit from it. That might be a phase most of us go through; I know I went through it. But if this phase drags on for month after month, year after year, and practice is something you are making yourself do because you think you are supposed to do it, then something's amiss. At some point practice begins to pull you like a current, and then it's not just a chore, or a duty. That may be the beginning of surrender. Ultimately, it's up to us as students to be very honest with ourselves about what we're doing. After an abusive teacher-student situation is finally made public, I've heard members of the sangha, more than once, admit that they were uneasy about the teacher's behavior, or with relations within the sangha-group, and they ignored their unease.  So, at the very least, try to not do that.

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Buddhism: What's Hot Now: The Wheel of Life: The Realm of Hungry Ghosts

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The Wheel of Life: The Realm of Hungry Ghosts Oct 3rd 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com Hungry Ghosts (Pretas) are pitable things. They are wasted creatures with huge, empty stomachs. Their necks are too thin to allow food to pass. So, they are constantly hungry. Greed and jealousy lead to rebirth as a Hungry Ghost. The Hungry Ghost Realm often, but not always, is depicted between the Asura Realm and the Hell Realm. It is thought the karma of their lives was not quite bad enough for a rebirth in the Hell Realm but not good enough for the Asura Realm. Psychologically, Hungry Ghosts are associated with addictions, compulsions and obsessions. People who have everything but always want more may be Hungry Ghosts.

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Buddhism: What's Hot Now: Sunyata, or Emptiness

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Sunyata, or Emptiness Oct 3rd 2013, 11:02, by buddhism.guide@about.com Of all Buddhist doctrines, possibly the most difficult -- and misunderstood -- is sunyata. Often translated as "emptiness," sunyata (also spelled shunyata) is at the heart of all Mahayana Buddhist teaching. In the Mahayana Six Perfections (paramitas), the sixth perfection is prajna paramita -- the perfection of wisdom. It is said of the perfection of wisdom that it contains all the other perfections, and without it no perfection is possible. And "wisdom," in this case, is nothing other than the realization of sunyata. This realization is said to be the door to enlightenment. "Realization" is emphasized, because an intellectual understanding of a doctrine of emptiness is not the same thing as wisdom. To be wisdom, emptiness first must be intimately and directly perceived and experienced. Even so, an intellectual understanding of sunyata is the usual first step to realization. So, what is it? Anatta and Sunyata The historical Buddha taught that we humans are made up of five skandhas, sometimes called the five aggregates or five "heaps." Very briefly, these are form, sensation, perception, mental formation, and consciousness. If you study the skandhas, you might recognize that the Buddha was describing our bodies and the functions of our nervous systems -- sensing, feeling, thinking, recognizing, forming opinions, being aware. As recorded in the Anatta-lakkhana Sutta of the Pali Tipitaka (Samyutta Nikaya 22:59), the Buddha taught that these five "parts," including our consciousness, are not "self." They are impermanent, and clinging to them as if they were the permanent "me" gives rise to greed and hate, and to the craving that is the source of suffering (see the Four Noble Truths). The teaching in the Anatta-lakkhana Sutta is called "Theravada. Anatta is a refutation of the Hindu belief in atman -- a soul; an immortal essence of self. But Mahayana Buddhism goes further than Theravada, and teaches that all phenomena are without self-essence. This is sunyata. Empty of What? Sunyata is often misunderstood to mean that nothing exists. This is not so. Instead, it tells us that there is existence, but that phenomena are empty of svabhava, a Sanskrit word that means self-nature, intrinsic nature, essence, or "own being." Although we may not be conscious of it, we tend to think of things as having some essential nature that makes it what it is. So, we look at an assemblage of metal and plastic and call it a "toaster." But "toaster" is just an identity we project onto a phenomenon. There is no inherent toaster essence inhabiting the metal and plastic. A classic story from the Milindapanha, a text that probably dates to the first century BCE, describes a dialogue between King Menander of Bactria and a sage named Nagasena. Nagasena asked the King about his chariot, and then described taking the chariot apart. Was the thing called a "chariot" still a chariot if you took off its wheels? Or its axels? If you disassemble the chariot part by part, at exactly what point does it cease to be a chariot? This is a subjective judgment. Some might think it's no longer a chariot once it can no longer function as a chariot. Others might argue that the eventual pile of wooden parts is still a chariot, albeit a disassembled one. The point is that "chariot" is a designation we give to a phenomenon; there is no inherent "chariot nature" dwelling in the chariot. Designations You may be wondering why the inherent nature of chariots and toasters matters to anyone. The point is that most of us perceive reality as something populated by many distinctive things and beings. But this view is a projection on our part. Instead, the phenomenal world is like a vast, ever-changing field or nexus. What we see as distinctive parts, things and beings, are just temporary conditions. (See also Dependent Origination.) Nagarjuna said that it is incorrect to say that things exist, but it is also incorrect to say that they don't exist. Because all phenomena exist interdependently, and are void of self-essence, all distinctions we make between this and that phenomena are arbitrary and relative. So, things and beings "exist" only in a relative way. See also the Heart Sutra. Wisdom and Compassion I said at the beginning of this essay that wisdom -- prajna -- is one of the Six Perfections. The other five are giving, morality, patience, energy, and concentration or meditation. Wisdom is said to contain all the other perfections. We also are empty of self-essence. However, if we don't perceive this, we understand ourselves to be distinctive and separate from everything else. This gives rise to fear, greed, jealousy, prejudice, hatred. If we understand ourselves to inter-exist with everything else, this gives rise to trust and compassion. In fact, wisdom and compassion are interdependent also. Wisdom gives rise to compassion; compassion, when genuine and selfless, gives rise to wisdom. (See Buddhism and Compassion.) Again, is this really important? In his foreword to A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nicholas Vreeland wrote, "Perhaps the chief difference between Buddhism and the world's other major faith traditions lies in its presentation of our core identity. The existence of the soul or self, which is affirmed in different ways by Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, is not only firmly denied in Buddhism; belief in it is identified as the chief source of all our misery. The Buddhist path is fundamentally a process of learning to recognize this essential nonexistence of the self, while seeking to help other sentient beings to recognize it as well." In other words, this is what Buddhism is. Everything else the Buddha taught can be tied back to the cultivation of wisdom.

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