Prison Chaplaincy Without Being a Nuisance
Tracy Ellen Steele
Upaya Zen Center
Buddhist Chaplaincy Final Project
Cohort four
March 2013
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Abstract
We long to be helpful and sometimes we are more of a nuisance. How does anyone help relieve the suffering of others, particularly those individuals who are serving years and lifetimes in our prisons for inflicting serious wounds on the world? I will explore this question using the three steps outlined by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the chapter called “Working with People” in The Myth of Freedom. (Shambhala Publication, 1976)
1. First open to ourselves in order to stop being a nuisance to others. 2. Develop kinship by communicating and establishing a relationship with people. 3. Selfless help through offering what is needed over satisfying our own needs.
The ground of all three steps is the fundamental nature of all beings; what Shambhala calls Basic Goodness - which has the qualities of unconditional open space, compassion and wisdom. Holding this view of Basic Goodness, I will use these three steps to explore the role and responsibility of chaplaincy in prisons. I will investigate this path of service using Buddhist concepts such as love, compassion and equanimity without attachment, pity and indifference.
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Acknowledgment
I would like to extend my love and appreciation to my partner Beka Davis for her loving support, encouragement and practice. Her presence and loving action in the world is a constant source of inspiration. I extend gratitude to Acharya Dale Asrael for her teachings and to my local sangha for their constant example and motivation. Special gratitude goes to Roshi Joan Halifax for her vision, courage and stamina to create the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy training. I deeply appreciate Roshi’s extraordinary capacity to magnetize brilliant and accomplished leaders of engaged Buddhism and beyond so that they may offer their wisdom. Thanks also to Maia Duerr for her leadership and mentoring over the past two years. With palms together, I thank my Upaya Chaplaincy cohort, especially my mentor circle, Phyllis Coletta, Ginger Norwood and Ann Morrow. Deep thanks to Gary Allan for his constant support and mentorship in working with the incarcerated. Gary is a living breathing example of Shambhala Warriorship and I am honored to be on the path with him. Last but not least, all my love, devotion and appreciation to my guru Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Dharma king, heir of the Rigden kings, may your vast Buddha activity spread throughout the whole world!
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Contents Abstract ...... 2 Acknowledgment ...... 3 Introduction ...... 6 Methodology ...... 9 Why Serve in Prisons ...... 11 Ground ...... 13 What is Buddha Nature ...... 13 Tathagatagarbha ...... 14 Bodhisattva and Bodhichitta: the ground of chaplaincy ...... 15 The history of Basic Goodness in Shambhala ...... 16 What is Basic Goodness ...... 17 Doubting Basic Goodness ...... 19 Tathagatagarbha ...... 20 Angulimala ...... 22 Milarepa ...... 24 Path: Not being a Nuisance ...... 25 Being a Nuisance ...... 25 Learning to Open ...... 30 Meditation Tools for Learning to Open ...... 31 Shamatha ...... 32 Touch and Go ...... 33 Maitri ...... 34 Tonglen ...... 35 Path: Kinship ...... 36 Emptiness ...... 37 Compassion...... 39 Examples of Kinship ...... 40 Fruition: Selfless Help ...... 42 Serving in Prison ...... 42
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Ratna Peace Initiative ...... 43 Prison Mindfulness Institute ...... 46 Conclusion ...... 47 Appendix A: The Six Points of Posture ...... 49 Appendix B: The Four Immeasurables ...... 50 References ...... 51
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Introduction
There are already scores of studies, papers and books on the criminal justice system and prisons citing conflicting arguments about the death sentence and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Statics show again and again that it does not work to lock people away without any means to rehabilitate behavior. This paper will not attempt to address any of those concerns that are well beyond my expertise. My interest is in how to work with the incarcerated individual in ways that might be helpful.
I started offering meditation instruction at the Boulder County jail in 2009. Later I started visiting the Colorado State prisons to teach Buddhist studies and meditation. This is the extent of my experience in working with individuals in prisons and jails. There are far more experienced pioneers of this work, such as Fleet Maull and Gary Allen. I am grateful to share the path with these leaders and gain the benefit of their wisdom and expertise.
At fourteen, I learned to trust something within me that I now recognize as wisdom. I called Children and Family Services and placed myself in foster care. I was too afraid of the other choices, to either run away from home or kill my step-mother. Since then, I have cultivated a deep confidence in my own wisdom and goodness and the wisdom and goodness of others – including my wicked step-mother.
For twenty years - from my early twenties until my early forties I studied a teaching called Science of Mind founded by Ernest Holmes. I was a licensed Practitioner of the teaching which basically means I took over six years of classes and an intensive year long training that qualified me to represent the teachings. As a Practitioner I was trained to remind people of the truth of who they are – divine, unique, expressions of life, whole and complete. Science of Mind is a non-dualistic, non-Christian teaching that draws on the truth of all the great teachings. From the book, The Science of Mind (1988) Ernest Holmes writes
The Science of Mind is not a special revelation of any individual; it is, rather, the culmination of all revelations. We take good wherever we find it, making it our own in so far as we understand it. The realization that Good is Universal, and that as much good
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as any individual is able to incorporate in his life is his to use, is what constitutes the Science of Mind and Spirit.
These teaching healed me, helped me know my wholeness and taught me to appreciate the goodness in others. It taught me to recognize that we are all connected and that there is a perfect law of cause and affect operating through each one of us. This law of cause and affect operates though each of us individually and through society as a collective race consciousness. In short, I came to understand that all of my actions affect others. We are not separate.
In 2004 I injured my back. I went from being an endurance athlete to laying flat-on-my-back on my floor for three months. During that time I started to meditate. I eventually received meditation instruction through Atlanta Shambhala. I was not looking for a new teaching and since I was seeped in a teaching that recognized the oneness in all teachings, I didn’t find that there was much difference. Gradually I started taking classes through Shambhala. It felt like a new way to explore the teachings I had been studying for the past twenty years. In 2006, I moved to Boulder Colorado so that I could study the Dharma more deeply.
The Shambhala path is rich and clearly defined and it continues to expand and change. There is tremendous emphasis on meditation practice for cultivating strength and stability of mind. Before one can progress too far along the path we have to complete a dathun or a full month, four weeks of shamatha practice. There are series of courses to teach the Buddhadharma and Shambhala training. Through the teachings and the practice of meditation, we glimpse the ground of our existence and the potential as compassionate human beings. We learn to recognize fear and how it blocks us from experiencing our innate goodness and the goodness of others.
After two months of seminary training, I took vows of commitment and devotion with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in 2008. I completed the long preliminary practices called ngöndro and received vajrayana empowerments within the Shambhala lineage. I am authorized to give meditation instruction.
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The Science of Mind teachings gave me a very practical way to appreciate the divinity in all beings and to recognize that the way that we think creates our personal experience. Science of Mind also taught me to appreciate the truth and wisdom within all of the faith traditions. The Dharma teaches me the truth of impermanence and change. It teaches me the root of suffering associated with grasping, aversion and ignorance. The esoteric vajrayana practices help me develop the skillful means or Upaya of body, speech and mind so that I can open my heart to the world.
These are the experiences that I bring to this paper. I have a deep confidence in the Shambhala teachings on Basic Goodness. I have taken a vow of compassion for others and kindness towards the world and to engage in the practice of meditation. This is the path I have chosen for myself and it is the path that helps me meet others where ever they are with compassionate presence. Chaplaincy is never about proselytizing or persuading anyone to share my practices or beliefs. It is about holding the space so that others might find their own wisdom. It is about being a companion along the way and honoring the intelligence and understanding of others. I believe that the three tenets of the Zen Peacemakers – Not knowing, Bearing Witness and Loving Action towards ourselves and others – capture this essence of chaplaincy.
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Methodology
In considering this topic, I first talked with other Buddhists currently working with the incarcerated. I started by asking the following questions to these seven individuals: Errol Korn, Gary Allan, Carol Crutchlow, Ray Olson, Trime Persinge, Kate Crisp and Carter Tracy.
1. What inspired you to work with those in prison? 2. What does prison work mean to you? 3. Tell me about a “day in the life” of a prison volunteer or chaplain. 4. What’s been the most meaningful experience for you so far? 5. What’s been the most challenging experience so far? 6. What do you consider to be the most significant training or skill that has contributed to your work?
I interviewed Shambhala Buddhist Trime Persinger who has served as a full time Chaplain at Snake River Correctional Institute in Oregon since 2007. In addition to sharing numerous personal experiences about her work, she provided answers to my questions.
I also interviewed Gary Allan, the education director for Ratna Peace Initiative and incorporated his responses throughout the paper. Overall the feedback from others helped shape the direction of this paper.
I want to acknowledge Karen Kissel Wegela and her book, How to Be a Help Instead of a Nuisance. I did not know of her book when I landed on my topic. As noted in the abstract, I took the idea of “not being a nuisance” from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s The Myth of Freedom. Once I discovered Mrs. Wegela’s book, it became a significant resource for my topic. I exchanged emails with Karen Wegela and she was grateful to learn where her teacher Trungpa Rinpoche had actually written the words!
Although most of my references are from Shambhala Buddhist sources, I know that there are infinite resources from all faiths and traditions equally as inspiring and full of wisdom. Gregory Boyle’s book Tattoos on the Heart: the Power of Boundless Compassion is one of them. A Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory’s book is about his work with the gangs in Los Angeles. He embodies love
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and compassion beyond religion. This book was the single most important book in my research. I was so inspired by this book and his work that I went to visit Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles.
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Why Serve in Prisons
Why does anyone choose to serve in a prison when it seems like things are only getter worse and the prison populations are growing at a staggering rate? A pioneer in prison work, Bo Lozoff started the Prison-Ashram Project in 1973. He is the author of We're All Doing Time. He wrote the forward for Fleet Maull’s Dharma in Hell and speaks to the question, “why serve in prisons?”
Because for some mysterious reason of human nature, the very horror of such a bleak and maddening prison system seems to inspire and fuel a level of spiritual growth, sometimes even total transformation, that is unparalleled in any other context. Without a doubt, the most wonderful, sincere, honest conversations of my life have been inside terrible prisons. Interestingly enough, the worse the prison, the more magical the conversation [is]. People in hell have no energy to waste on pleasantries or beating around the bush. (Maull, pg. 13)
I started volunteering at the Boulder County Jail in 2009 after completing the facilitator training for the Path of Freedom through the Prison Dharma Network. I had been volunteering at the Shambhala Center for over five years, doing things like reception, coordinating programs, and offering meditation instruction. I was relating only with people who came into the center and I was interested in stepping out into the world. I had witnessed my brother Neptune struggle with going in and out of jail and fighting with his addiction to drugs. While he wasn’t particularly interested in changing, I felt that perhaps there were some who were curious about how to transform their lives. From nearly ten years of experience with meditation, I was interested in offering meditation practice as a way to relieve suffering and awaken others to their inherent potential – if they were interested in waking up.
I interviewed several people who work in prisons and asked them, “What inspired you to work with those in prison?” Trime Persinger, a Shambhala Buddhist Chaplain has worked full-time at Snake River Correctional Facility in Ontario, Oregon since 2007. She answered the question this way. Incarcerated people are more likely than the rest of us to be asking serious questions about the direction of their lives. They cannot escape their suffering. It seemed to me
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that working in a prison would give me a wonderful opportunity to serve such people in a meaningful way—what I had to offer would fit well with their needs.
By being a prison chaplain, I have the rare privilege of making a difference in peoples’ lives, every day. Just by showing up with warmth and genuine interest, I make a difference. It doesn’t take much, I’ve found. Then there are the times when I REALLY make a difference, when I help someone to begin thinking in terms of personal accountability, empowerment, and change. It doesn’t get better than that.
I asked Gary Allan, education director for Ratna Peace Initiative, “What does prison work mean to you?”
It seems to me that the karmic propensities of inmates brought them into a dark situation. They hurt other people, hurt their families and friends, and hurt themselves through their own actions. Often this means they proceeded to deal with their lives with a kind of selfish blindness that didn't consider or even recognize the cause and effect of karma on a very daily and obvious level.
I've received a lot of letters over the years from inmates who said they never really considered what anyone else wanted or needed until they were cooling their heels in a prison cell with time to think about. Then they started to sort out their own actions and what led to what.
There are plenty of people in prison who still manage to avoid this penitence (the "penitence" intended for the "penitentiary" by the Quakers), maybe the majority of them. But for the ones who do come to face their lives in a way that makes them open to learning further, one sees a way out of the darkness for them, despite the brutal environment.
So that's what prison work means to me, to begin with, that people who caused the most suffering in society--to the point that society removes them from its shared life and isolates them from everyone else--could completely turn around their understanding of how to be and act. At that point, they stop being a problem to themselves and society at large, and even to the prison. They begin to recover their own humanity, and their lives become vessels of creativity that help others. Criminal pathology reverses and sanity grows.
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The shared aspiration to serve those in prison seems to be to relieve suffering by awakening others to their own potential and brilliance. How do we do that? We start by working with our own confusion and deepening our confidence in our intrinsic purity and wisdom, our Basic Goodness.
Ground
We long to be helpful and often we don’t know how to be helpful. We have to first work with our own confusion, lack of confidence and clarity and fear before we can really be helpful to others. To help begins with being able to “be.” If we are to be present with others, we must first learn how to be present with ourselves. Although compassion and wisdom are innate, we still have to cultivate these qualities within ourselves. As I will discuss later, mindfulness- awareness practice, maitri and tonglen are just some of the tools we can use to learn to be present with ourselves and then with others. I will outline some of the ways these practices can help us develop a deep confidence in our own worth as human beings and how they can help us recognize our inherent wisdom. If we can develop certainty in the indestructible Basic Goodness that lies at the heart of everyone, then we can help selflessly. In Buddhist terms this inherent potential is called Buddha Nature. In Shambhala terms, our indestructible nature is called Basic Goodness. Before we can discuss the path of service, we should first understand these terms Buddha Nature and Basic Goodness and how they are the ground of all that we have to offer in the world of service.
What is Buddha Nature
When the Buddha became enlightened he realized that all beings without exception have the same nature and potential for enlightenment, and this is known as Buddha Nature. Because this ground - sugatagarbha or potential is common to all beings, all beings are capable of attaining enlightenment. Enlightenment meaning that one has completely awakened from ignorance and opened to his or her vast potential of wisdom. We are waking up to understand the nature of things – the nature of oneself and the nature of all sentient beings. A Buddha then is one who
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has brought an end to suffering and discovered unconditional happiness and peace. (Mipham, 1999)
The teachings of Buddha Nature are abundant and vast with the earliest sources tracing back to the Tathagatagarbha Sutra (approximately 200-250 CE) and detailed further in the Five Treatises of Maitreya. It is said that the Buddha introduced the teachings on Buddha Nature in the third turning of the wheel of dharma. The first turning is traditionally said to have taken place at Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi in northern India approximately 2500 years ago and consisted of the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. 1) The Truth that there is suffering. 2) The Truth that suffering is caused by grasping or passion, aversion or aggression and ignorance or delusion among many other causes. 3) The Truth that there is a way to work with suffering and a possibility of restoring well-being. 4) The way out of suffering is the Truth of the Eight Fold Path which includes meditation and a moral code. The second turning is said to have taken place at Vulture Peak Mountain in Rajagriha, in Bihar, India. The emphasis for the second turning was on emptiness as embodied in the Prajnaparamita sutras also known as the Heart Sutra. Compassion was also emphasized. These two elements, emptiness and compassion form bodhichitta. The third turning was delivered to an audience of bodhisattvas in Shravasti and other Indian locations. The focal point of the third turning was Buddha Nature. The three turnings illustrate the evolutionary teachings of the Buddha. (Ray, 2000)
Tathagatagarbha From the Fourth Vajra Point: The Element
The perfect buddhakaya is all-embracing, suchness cannot be differentiated, and all being have the disposition, Thus they always have Buddha Nature.
The Buddha has said that all beings have Buddha Nature “since Buddha wisdom is always present within the assembly of beings, since this undefiled nature is free from duality, and since the disposition to be buddhahood has been named after it’s fruit.”
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Just as a jewel, the sky, and water are pure It is by nature always free from the poisons. From devotion to the Dharma, from the highest wisdom And from samadhi and compassion [its realization arises]. (Fuchs, 2000, pg.23)
According to the Buddhist perspective there are problems, but they are temporary and superficial defilements that cover over one’s Buddha Nature (tathagatagarbha). This view is not purely conceptual. It is rooted in the experience of meditation. (Ray, 2000)
Bodhisattva and Bodhichitta: the ground of chaplaincy
For Buddhist chaplains aspiring to offer compassionate service to others, the Bodhisattva is our inspiration and example. Bodhisattva and Bodhichitta are Sanskrit terms. In English they translate to “awakened being” and “awakened mind.” It is said that the path of the bodhisattva is basically shila, samadhi and prajna - or conduct, meditation and view. Bodhi and Buddha both mean awake and come from the same root. Both are waking up dormant seeds or dormant Buddha Nature and overcoming confusion.
The Bodhisattva vow is a vow to work on oneself so that one can be useful and actually benefit others. The motivation of the Bodhisattva is to work with his or her mind. The practice of the Bodhisattva is generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation and prajna – the six paramitas. Paramitas means going beyond and indicates going beyond concept. The ground of all of it is bodhichitta; the Bodhisattva raises bodhichitta – awakening mind and heart to engage fully in the world. There are two kinds of bodhichitta, relative and absolute.
Relative bodhichitta is referred to as aspiring and entering. Aspiring is having the motivation while entering is like going; it is the practice of the paramitas. Ultimate bodhichitta is the experience of having a complete and pure understanding of emptiness. Absolute love and compassion arise naturally from this understanding of emptiness. (Mipham, 1999)
A circle of suffering called samsara is when we keep looking for something to be different. In the middle of all the chaos of samsara, the Bodhisattva lifts his mind and recognizes the
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suffering of all beings. (Mipham, 2003) The Bodhisattva practices in order to know the nature of his own mind so that he can see the fundamental nature of all beings. The Bodhisattva chaplain has a big mind – a mind able to see the potential in others, even those in prison and be able to offer selfless genuine help.
The history of Basic Goodness in Shambhala
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was introduced to the kingdom of Shambhala while he was the abbot of Surmang monasteries in Tibet in the 1950s. He attempted to smuggle out his research and study of the history of Shambhala when he escaped from Tibet over the Himalayas in 1959 but his thousand-page manuscript on the Shambhala teachings was lost in that heroic journey. There is mixed opinion on whether the kingdom of Shambhala ever existed or if it is merely a legend. Regardless, the story is that of Dawa Sangpo, the first king of Shambhala from ancient Himalaya. Dawa Sangpo supplicated the Buddha for spiritual guidance as he was a king with a palace, a family, subjects and obligations and he could not just abandon all of his responsibilities to pursue a spiritual practice in a monastery. He wanted to know if there was a way that he could be fully engaged in the world and reach enlightenment. The Buddha assured him that he could fulfill all of his duties as a king and practice a spiritual path. He taught Dawa Sangpo that he could be a Sakyong – an earth protector, by learning how to balance wisdom with everyday experience. He called this joining heaven (wisdom) and earth (everyday experience). The Buddha taught that the path is learning to mix wisdom or the spiritual with the secular or worldly. In essence, the Buddha said to the king,
Don’t be biased. Look at the land and look at your people. If you can develop certainty in the indestructible Basic Goodness that lies at the heart of everything, then you can rule your world. But becoming a Sakyong is a challenging path, since life in the world is full of decisions to make, as well as endless distractions. (Mipham, 2005)
King Dawa Sangpo took these teaching to heart and developed certainty in the view of Basic Goodness. He brought inspiration and meaning to many peoples lives.
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These guiding principles are the foundation of the Shambhala teachings that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche brought to the west. Shambhala is a path of gentleness and fearlessness. The teachings are about learning how to join heaven and earth while developing confidence in the innate fundamental goodness of all beings – most especially ourselves. Today Shambhala teaches these principles through a series of courses called The Shambhala Heart of Warriorship. A brief summary gives an overview of the Shambhala training.
Level I: The Art of Being Human Through the practice of meditation, we glimpse unconditional goodness as the ground of our existence. Opening to ourselves with gentleness and appreciation, we begin to see our potential as genuine and compassionate human beings.
Level II: Birth of the Warrior Having experienced a taste of Basic Goodness, we want to go forward. Meditation practice allows us to observe how we create a cocoon of habits to mask our fear. We begin to appreciate that there is no fundamental obstacle to experiencing Basic Goodness.
Level III: Warrior in the World Developing fearlessness by examining our habitual tendencies, we are willing to experience our life without relying on the cocoon. We begin to engage the world directly and extend the attitude of fearlessness to our activities.
Level IV: Awakened Heart With trust in Basic Goodness and daring to experience the sharp edge of reality, we move forward with gentleness, increased awareness, and inquisitiveness about the world, as it is. We can extend ourselves to others fully and with kindness.
Level V: Open Sky Communicating with the world gently and fearlessly, our awareness is sharpened and we find the open clear sky of mind—a delightful source of wisdom and uplifted energy. We trust our nature enough to let go into the present moment. (Shambhala.org)
What is Basic Goodness
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche coined the term Basic Goodness and it is a Shambhalian term closely related to Buddha Nature. It comes from the Tibetan phrase Döma-ne Sangpo. Döma-ne
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is a word that means primordial, basic, or innate; and the word Sangpo is good, pure, or clean. This term Basic Goodness refers to the nature of humans. It is the natural wisdom in the minds of all sentient beings as opposed to ignorance and aggression. (Mipham, 2012)
Chögyam Trungpa describes the difference between Buddha Nature, Bodhichitta and Basic Goodness in the 1979 Seminary transcripts.
Basic Goodness is a Shambhalian expression. There is that element of Warriorship in you already. Buddha Nature is saying almost the same thing: there is enlightened mind in you already. The reason you have to follow the path is because you have to undress, to shed your coverings. It is because you feel that you are so brilliant, so full, that you decide to put lots of coverings on yourself. You don't want to acknowledge your sanity; therefore, you try to collect neuroses of all kinds in order to cover yourself up, to disguise yourself. Bodhichitta is known as heart. It is like the expression hearty soup or hearty experience. It is connected with action rather then with essence as such.
In 1980 Seminary, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche associated the term Basic Goodness with both absolute bodhichitta and the natural virtues of alaya. He said that Basic Goodness can be described with three virtues: unborn meaning not manufactured; non-dwelling meaning that it cannot be pinned down, and free from pigeonholing meaning that it is beyond conceptual reference points. (Trungpa, 1980) In his 1981 Seminary he described it as also referring to personal wholesomeness and dedication to others. It is the pure, primordial, self-existing nature and goodness which exists within in all beings. (Trungpa, 1980) Basic Goodness is beyond word and beyond expression. It is something that we must feel and touch.
Within Basic Goodness there is a quality of gentleness and appreciation. The essential notion of goodness is that we are inherently complete. Every human being has a basic nature of goodness which is undiluted and unconfused just like the jewel buried deep beneath the poor man’s house undiscovered. We have an actual connection to reality that can wake us up. We can experience this goodness in very simple everyday occurrences. We might see a rainbow in the sky and our heart opens, or we might feel the absolute genuineness of a baby laughing and we are fully awake in that moment. Our experience is vivid and real, it is not some arbitrary
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concept that the world is good; in fact, we experience the goodness. We might completely miss the experience of Basic Goodness because it seems so ordinary.
Basic Goodness is simultaneously very ordinary and magical. It is often characterized as having these three qualities: openness, warmth and clarity. (Rockwell, 2012)
Openness is like the all accommodating space of the sky. In the Buddhist teachings this might be called emptiness or shunyata. This openness is both empty and full of potential. Everything we experience arises out of this basic spaciousness. Thoughts, emotions, and sensation all come and go in the mind. We actually witness this in meditation.
Warmth might also be called compassion. Inherent within all of us is a natural tenderness. We might experience this tenderness as a longing to help. We hurt when we see those we love suffer. Sometimes we turn away because it is too painful to see another in pain. We are by our very nature soft and tenderhearted.
Clarity is associated with prajna or wisdom. It is clear seeing. It is experiencing whatever arises directly and completely. So what ever is arising out of the emptiness is vivid. Our senses our heightened and our capacity to hear, see, feel, taste and touch are not obscured.
The actual experience of Basic Goodness is easy to recognize and easy to connect with. It is any moment of freshness when the mind is open and fully present. It might be stepping out of the shower, feeling the breeze against our skin, smelling the salty sea or gazing at the full moon in a clear and empty sky. It might be hearing a song that brings a tear to our eyes or feeling our heart swell when we witness someone being completely open and vulnerable. These are moments of non-thought. They are moments of wakeful non-conceptual awareness.
Doubting Basic Goodness
Basic Goodness cannot be destroyed or lost, but it can be seemingly obscured. Nothing at all needs to be done to improve our basic nature. When our awakened nature is not obscured, our natural brilliant qualities - compassion, wisdom, humor, joy and love manifest without any
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effort on our part. So, if we are already Buddhas, then why do we experience confusion, conflicting emotions and suffering on a regular basis? Why are our prisons so full?
Tathagatagarbha Also from the Fourth Vajra Point: The Element
If an inexhaustible treasure were buried In the ground beneath a poor man’s house, The man would not know of it, and the treasure Would not speak and tell him, “I am here!”
Likewise a precious treasure is contained in each being’s mind This is it’s true state, which is free from defilement. Nothing to be added and nothing to be removed. Nevertheless, since they do not realize this, sentient beings Continuously undergo the manifold suffering of deprivation. (Fuchs, 2000, pg.35)
Misconception obscures Basic Goodness. We are confused about the source of happiness. In Shambhala Training, the suffering of samsara is presented as a “cocoon” that limits our freedom and obscures our Basic Goodness. (Trungpa, 1988) We have not discovered our own brilliance. We have not realized that we are pure, whole and complete therefore we are afraid to trust and open our heart. Our habitual pattern is to protect ourselves. We are trapped in samsara (the cycle or wheel of suffering) and filled with pain, dissatisfaction and neurosis. The more we attempt to get out of this state, the more we become frustrated. Trungpa Rinpoche shares a traditional analogy in a story about the elephant. The elephant feels hot and jumps into a mud hole but the more he moves around the more he sinks. At the beginning it feels cool, refreshing and good, but when two-thirds of his body has sunk into the mud he starts to panic. He struggles more and more to get out but it is too late. (Trungpa, 1991)
Our lives can feel the same way and the more we struggle against life the more we sink. Sometimes it reaches the point where we have made a complete mess of our lives. Maybe we find ourselves in prison. What do we do if we do not get what we want? Or what do we do when we have gotten what we want? How do we hold onto it?
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In Buddhism, this is the development of ego. Fundamentally we are open space. Basic Goodness was described as openness. Before ego develops, the natural state of mind is basic openness, freedom and spaciousness. Rather than relating from this open space, the confused mind tries to add to experience by naming and categorizing things in an attempt to get solid ground beneath our feet. Confused mind views itself as a solid, ongoing thing. Instead of being one with space, we mistakenly feel solid and separate. This is the first experience of duality. (Trungpa, 1973) We view life as self and other. The Buddha described this and the many reasons why we suffer in the second noble truth. One reacts to projections rather than seeing what is. Once we feel separate our defense mechanism tries to protect itself.
Sakyong Mipham describes this as the “me” plan. “Being fooled into trying to make things work out for me is called samsara.” (Mipham, 2005, pg. 13) We bounce around between irritation, desire, jealousy and pride. This unhappiness and frustration is accelerated by the fear of not knowing what will happen to me. We act in ways that hurt others and ourselves. We grasp at what we want and we avoid what we do not want imagining that it will all lead to happiness. We do not trust what we cannot see – wisdom and compassion. We have no relationship with the ground of Basic Goodness.
Karen Wegela says we lose touch with our brilliant sanity or Basic Goodness in these three steps: shock, uncertainty and conviction. (Wegela, 1996)
Shock is something that happens unexpectedly and we do not know how to feel. We lose our ground - all of the ways we have tried to solidify ourselves and feel safe in the world. We have ignored what the dharma calls the three marks of existence: impermanence, egolessness and suffering.
Uncertainty is how we feel after we feel shock. We feel lost and bewildered, groundless and disoriented, anxious and fearful. We cannot see the wisdom and sanity in the uncertainty and we try to escape. Escaping only breeds more confusion and uncertainty.
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Conviction is an attempt to move away from the uncomfortable feelings of shock and uncertainty. Awareness becomes very narrow in our attempt to feel safe. We make hard fast conclusions. We have very strong opinions and ridged beliefs. The world becomes very small and we become stuck in our habitual patterns and story lines about who we are.
Pema Chodron calls this “being nailed,” and it usually comes in the form of illness, death or loss. (Chodron, 1997 pg. 7) Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we can no longer manipulate things in such a way to make ourselves feel good. She tells us that when things aren’t working we might consider that we are on the verge of something. In those moments, we can discover tenderness. We have a choice, we can shut-down and feel resentment, or we can touch that tender quality of groundlessness.
I offer two stories from the Buddhist teachings to illustrate how innate goodness can and will manifest in even the most doubtful situations. Angulimala is the story of a serial killer who met the Buddha and changed the direction of his life through working with his mind and studying the Dharma. Milarepa is the story of sorcerer who inflicted black magic on many and out of pain and guilt sought a way to heal his life through the Dharma. Both stories demonstrate how one can change his life through the practice and study of the Dharma but it does not have to be the path of Dharma, the Dharma just happens to be my path. The point is that all beings are capable of cultivating the goodness that always exists as inherent potential.
Angulimala
The story of the Buddha and Angulimala illustrates how Buddha Nature can be obscured. It is a good example of trusting in and pointing out innate goodness in even the most unlikely and the most obscured individual. The name Angulimala means “finger necklace” and was given because he wore severed fingers around his neck. Everyone feared Angulimala. When the Buddha was heading out for a walk, he was warned not to go.
"Lord, it is very dangerous to go outdoors today. The murderer Angulimala has been seen in these parts. They say he has killed many people in other cities. Every time he
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kills someone, he cuts off one of their fingers and adds it to a string he wears around his neck…” (Hanh, 1991. pg. 352)
The Buddha was not deterred and went anyway. Fearlessly, he walked slowly down the street and until he eventually heard Angulimala.
Angulimala shouted at the Buddha to stop, but the Buddha continued to walk and said, "Angulimala, I stopped a long time ago. It is you who have not stopped."
Angulimala was surprised that the Buddha showed no fear. He never met anyone who radiated such peace. He said, "Monk, you said you stopped a long time ago. But you were still walking. You said I was the one who has not stopped. What did you mean by that?"
The Buddha replied, "Angulimala, I stopped committing acts that cause suffering to other living beings a long time ago. I have learned to protect life, the lives of all beings, not just humans. Angulimala, all living beings want to live. All fear death. We must nurture a heart of compassion and protect the lives of all beings."
"Human beings do not love each other. Why should I love other people? Humans are cruel and deceptive. I will not rest until I have killed them all."
The Buddha spoke gently, "Angulimala, I know you have suffered deeply at the hands of other humans. Sometimes humans can be most cruel. Such cruelty is the result of ignorance, hatred, desire, and jealousy. But humans can also be understanding and compassionate. My path can transform cruelty into kindness. Hatred is the path you are on now. You should stop. Choose the path of forgiveness, understanding, and love instead." (Hanh, pg. 355)
Angulimala was confused. The Buddha looked upon Angulimala as a whole person worthy of respect, but Angulimala believed it was too late to change his evil ways. The Buddha encouraged Angulimala saying, “…though the sea of suffering is immense, look back and you will see the shore… It is easy to see you are a man of intelligence. I have no doubt you could succeed on the path of realization." (Hanh, pg. 356)
Angulimala took the vow to abandon his evil ways and learn compassion. He was taught the practice of the precepts and the practice of meditation. After just two weeks, Angulimala
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radiated serenity and gentleness. The other monks called him "Ahimsaka," which means "Nonviolent One" the name he was given at birth. It is said that outside of the Buddha, no one’s gaze was more filled with kindness. (Hanh. 1991)
Milarepa
Milarepa the evil sorcerer transformed his life and became a Mahamudra master. His life story is one of Tibet's most beloved stories and it continues to teach and inspire. There are many renditions of Milarepa’s life and even a movie was made in 2007.
Milarepa was born in western Tibet approximately 1052. Just before Milarepa’s father died, he asked his brother and sister to care for his family, but Milarepa's aunt and uncle betrayed their brother's trust. They divided the property between them and abused Milarepa and his mother and sister. They were given little food and made to work in the fields. When Milarepa reached his 15th birthday, his mother tried to restore his inheritance but they were forced out into the streets as a consequence. Filled with hatred, Milarepa’s mother urged Milarepa to study sorcery and get vengeance.
Milarepa went off to study and practice the black spells and rituals. When he emerged from his studies, he learned that a house had collapsed on his family crushing all but two -- the greedy aunt and uncle -- to death. Milarepa believed they survived the disaster so they could witness the suffering their greed had caused. Milarepa hid in the mountains and summoned monstrous hailstorms destroying all the barley crops. Afterwards, Milarepa overheard the villagers talking and he realized then that he had harmed innocent people. He was filled anguish and guilt.
Milarepa decided to seek out a dharma teacher which led him to Marpa, a master of Mahamudra. The night before Milarepa arrived; Marpa dreamed that he was given a precious dorje.
The dorje was tarnished, but when it was polished it shone with brilliant radiance. Marpa took this to mean he would meet a student with a great karmic debt but who
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would eventually become an enlightened master who would be a light to the world. (O'Brien, Barbara)
Marpa put Milarepa through many trials and tribulations. Building towers was one of the many tasks given to Milarepa, but when a tower was nearly finished, Marpa had Milarepa tear it down and build it somewhere else. Milarepa built and destroyed many towers and he did not complain. This illustrates Milarepa's willingness to stop clinging and place his trust in Marpa. Marpa's intention was to help Milarepa overcome the evil karma he had created.
Eventually Marpa began to teach Milarepa. Milarepa went to live in a cave and devote himself to the practice of Mahamudra. During this time he wrote many songs and poems that remain jewels of Tibetan literature. He mastered Mahamudra teachings and realized great enlightenment. Eventually students came to him. Milarepa is thought to have died in 1135. (O'Brien, Barbara)
Appearance and Sound, Like Reflection and Echo – a song by Milarepa
Seen from within the natural state, which is equality, Attachment and aversion are just causes of suffering I’ve cut the rope and I’ve tossed these tortured states of mind away So, family and acquaintances, you can go – Ho, Ho- where you please
And here within the luminous light, the nature of mind itself, The stains of thoughts, yes, these are not here anywhere to be seen I’ve tossed examination and analysis away So, terms that try to formulate mind, just go – Ho, Ho-where you please (Scott & Goldfield, 2003)
Path: Not being a Nuisance
Being a Nuisance
Before looking at how not to be a nuisance, let’s look into the many ways that we are a nuisance – such as seeing others as weak or broken. Rachel Naomi Remen author of Kitchen
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Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal has written and taught extensively on the subject of deep listening and working with others. This is one of her most famous and inspiring quotes:
“Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.” ― Rachel Naomi Remen
This quote comes from an article in the Shambhala Sun called “Helping, Fixing or Serving?” (September 1999.) In the article, Ms Remen expands on the difference between helping and serving emphasizing that helping is not a relationship between equals and sees others as weaker and needier. When we come from this perspective, we “inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity or even wholeness.” In serving genuinely as opposed to helping, we draw from all of our experiences especially our “limitations and our wounds.” Pain can be the source of compassion and empathy but only if we have learned to be with it in ourselves. It is also the reason that we all make a nuisance of ourselves from time to time. We have to work with our own confusion, lack of confidence and clarity and fear before we can really be helpful to others.
In the August 2012 Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy intensive we compiled a list of just over a hundred ways that we are more of a bother than a help. Just a few of my favorite items on the nuisance list include:
Assuming you really know what someone else needs Arrogance, Being a martyr Creating dependence Having all the answers Not meeting people where they are Not setting boundaries or knowing your limits Motivated by the desire for acceptance
These are all excellent examples of being a nuisance when serving - in prisons or anywhere.
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To understand the ways we might serve unskillfully in a prison setting, it helps to first take a look at the prison system. Prisons are a place of deep suffering, loneliness and pain. By their very nature, they are designed to control and inflict punishment. They are more about revenge and less about reform. Society as a whole must believe in a fundamental evil on some level or we would not have created these institutions that lock people away and hope to forget them. Clearly it does not seem to be working since the number of incarcerated continues to increase. In Colorado alone, the offender population has grown from 5,000 in 1990 to 22,980 in 2010. It has grown over four times in twenty years! (CDOC, 2011)
Fleet Maull describes the hellish situation of prisons and jails – or any other place of tremendous suffering as “charnel grounds.” (Maull, pg. 21) Traditionally in Tibet and India, yogis would go to these burial grounds where corpses were exposed and vultures and wolves circled – so that they could meditate on death and impermanence. The teachings on fearlessness are about moving towards our fear rather than away from it. This is not the inspiration of the incarcerated. Most prisoners come from poor and marginalized societies. “They end up in prison generally as a result of responding to their situation in the only way they knew, after years of being caught in the ignorance, greed, and aggression of human conditioning.” (Maull, pg.29)
Here is but a glimpse from inside by an inmate:
A penal institution is a dimensional paradox for the physical. It's where a makeshift society exists within a society. Those populating prisons are people who inherited poverty. They'll break the law to be free from poverty. During the penal process a prisoner is unquestionably dehumanized. Once an identification number is assigned to the prisoner, it becomes his or her birthright. The identification number is an extension of one's actual name. The initiation of imprisonment entails a mortifying strip-search in which a prisoner is stripped of his or her identity. "Department of Corrections" is literally stamped on every prisoner. The thought of spending [years] or a life sentence in prison is demoralizing. [Prison] defeats the human will to live for anything beyond his or her own existence. There's no escaping the loneliness of prison. A prisoner creates a smile, forces laughter and nonchalantly nods at the foreign exchange with strangers. He uses them to hold together normalcy.
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(Armstrong, Norrel EM 6453)
The prison guards and staff are part of the system. They may have started out with good intentions, but they are also influenced by this system of domination and cruelty. If the objective of prison is to control people then the staff is responsible for dispensing the control. As volunteers, we are entering their world and it is important to show respect and appreciation to the staff and the realities of their culture and environment. Entering with a dualistic view is an obstacle and a nuisance.
Some Quaker women prison volunteers published some advice to new women volunteers in a paper called, “What we wish we had been told when first going into prisons.” (Quaker) It is filled with nuggets of wisdom and sage advice.
Expect to feel an unfamiliar, very heady and very addictive “super star" feeling, especially at first. It may arise from sexuality in a deprived environment, from the unfamiliar real power to help the helpless or other sources. Do not let it go to your head. Remember that you will be constantly tested and probed by prisoners and staff alike, and that no leading lady's image can survive the footlights forever. If your mascara runs in the heat, remember to be real.
Gary Allan is the education director at Ratna Peace Initiative and has been to over thirty prisons. I asked Gary what he considered being a nuisance when serving within a prison. These were his thoughts. (Allan, 2012)
Inmates have to be guarded in order to survive in prison. When we present teachings telling them to be kind and generous to the psychopath in the cell next door who raped his sister’s fourteen year old daughter - it completely clashes with their entire world. This is not easy information to receive. They feel provoked. They simply do not even know how to relate to it. Often times they are pretty shut down and they may not even speak up and ask questions about it. As a Dharma teacher coming into this environment, one has to find a way to make the teachings resonate with their world and not freak them out.
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Traci Bear and I alternate classes at the Boulder County jail. Traci was formally a resident at the county jail and now she gives back by teaching yoga. She offers two key things that can be a real nuisance: trying to connect and setting boundaries.
I would think that from an inmate's point of view, one of the most annoying things in a volunteer would be a tendency to want to try to connect experiences. I think it's safe to say the most of the inmates in jails and prisons feel pretty separate in their circumstances. I think personal stories can really help people find their own connection but if the volunteer tries to point those connections out, I think it closes people off, generally speaking.
Another annoyance would be a volunteer who tries to rule the class too much. On the flipside of that a volunteer who has no control over the class can be pretty annoying as well. I think finding that balance can be one of my challenges as an instructor. Remembering that I am offering an opportunity for people without having expectations of what they should be taking from it, but still having clear boundaries for the class, and being able to adhere to those boundaries with an open heart. Being present myself is key.
Trust is another thing to consider when serving in a prison. Most inmates learned not to trust anyone long before they landed in prison. It may take months of just showing up to develop any kind of credibility. Showing up inconsistently is yet another form of being a nuisance. Finally, it is important to realize that when we come into a prison, there is nothing to bring in. All the wisdom and compassion is already there. Our purpose is to simply introduce them to it – to their own Basic Goodness. And as Father Gregory Boyle notes, it may not be easy.
Much stands in the way of liberating this truth. You need to dismantle shame and disgrace, coaxing out the truth in people who’ve grown comfortable believing its opposite. (Boyle, pg.193)
Someone once asked me if it felt like a lot of pressure to introduce someone to their own intrinsic goodness. I never thought of it that way. I’m merely pointing to what is already there and I trust that the wisdom and clarity will arise when and if a person is open to it. The “when and if” are not my business so it never feels like a burden. My job is simply to show up and commit to telling the truth. None of us can “save” another. Gregory Boyle describes this so poetically.
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Possessing flashlights and occasionally knowing where to aim them has to be enough for us. Fortunately none of us can save anybody. But we all find ourselves in this dark, windowless room, fumbling for grace and flashlights. You aim the light this time, and I’ll do it the next. (Boyle, 2010)
Learning to Open
Bernie Glassman answers the question, “What is the essence of Buddhism?” with “it’s to awaken. And the function of that awakening is learning how to serve.” (Glassman, 1998) In Ruling Your World, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche speaks to our desire to extend ourselves with genuine purpose, saying that wisdom and compassion are the basis for being truly helpful.
The thought of helping others is compassion Knowing how we can do it is wisdom Doing something about it is courage (pg. 76)
Trungpa Rinpoche says, “The idea of helping each other is more subtle than we might think. Generally, when we try to help other people, we make a nuisance of ourselves and make demands upon them.” (Trungpa, 1976) The reason we make a nuisance of ourselves is because we have not made friends with ourselves. Out of feelings of inadequacy, “we extend ourselves and step on someone else’s territory without permission.” He says, “the first step in helping others is to first love ourselves, make friends with ourselves and not torture ourselves anymore." (Trungpa, 1976)
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche tells us, “How we feel about ourselves is essential. In that moment of reflecting how we feel, we create our self image - how we feel about ourselves and it immediately affects how we relate to other people.” We wonder how people can be good. It's not that we don't believe in goodness, it’s that we've been convinced that humanity is somehow flawed. (Mipham, 2012) In Shambhala, we are taught to self reflect on these teachings of Basic Goodness - not simply intellectually looking but manifesting and actually bringing it into our life. We must learn to respect how we feel about ourselves. Self reflecting is multidimensional; it is consciousness and mind coming together constantly trying to understand itself. From the time we get up in the morning we are trying to understand who we
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are and how we feel in relationship to our world and those around us. (Mipham, 2012) There is a deep level of unworthiness in the West which likely traces back to the idea of original sin. (Trungpa, 1976)
Meditation Tools for Learning to Open
Meditation practice is a way that we can learn to open to ourselves and then to others. Within the framework of meditation, there are specific practices to help cultivate stability, clarity, wisdom and compassion. I will present just a few: shamatha, touch and go, maitri and tonglen.
The notion of meditation is very simple. We slow down and begin to look at the pattern of our life. We have to start with the mind, then the body follows. This is not to say that once we start meditating, everything will work out and we’ll have no problems. [Meditation] opens the possibility of completely embodying our enlightened qualities by making our mind an ally. (Mipham, 2003, pg.29)
Meditation is how we can begin to open and make friends with ourselves. Through meditation, we can learn to see ourselves as we are. The Buddhist view is that we are not intrinsically aggressive, we are inherently peaceful. The untrained mind strikes out and reacts habitually to emotions, but a trained mind can learn to rest in its natural peaceful state. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche says, “Eventually we may actually be able to turn the mind of anger into the energy of love and compassion.” (2003, pg.62) First we have to learn how to abide peacefully which is what the mindfulness meditation technique is called shamatha – calm peaceful abiding. By practicing the technique of bringing our mind back to the breath again and again, we begin to see the underlying stillness. Like training a muscle, we are developing strength and stability of mind. We can see how the discursiveness of thought and emotions keeps us from experiencing the natural qualities of mind. (Mipham, 2003) We can touch into our fundamental wisdom. Through the practice of meditation, we get glimpses of this unconditional goodness as the ground of our existence. Opening up to ourselves with gentleness and appreciation, we can begin to see our potential as genuine and compassionate human beings. Pema Chodron says,
How long does this process take? I would say it takes the rest of our lives. Basically, we’re continually opening further, learning more, connecting further with the depths of
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human suffering and human wisdom, coming to know both of those elements thoroughly and completely, and becoming more loving and compassionate people. (Chodron, 1997)
Shamatha
It is recommended that one has the support of an experienced practitioner who can provide detailed instructions. This is but a brief overview of the instruction. The instruction is very precise but the emphasis is to always bring a quality of gentleness to it. There are three components to shamatha meditation: the posture, the breath and the mind. The posture assists synchronizing body and mind enabling the body to relax and the mind to be awake. See the Appendix A for the six points of posture. The breath is the object of meditation. The instruction for the mind is to watch our thoughts arise, label them “thinking” and return to the breath. We apply the label thinking with tremendous gentleness regardless of the thought. The thought might be violent, passionate, worrisome or scary but it is all just thinking. The mind is always meditating on something, so with shamatha practice we train the mind to come back again and again by placing it on the breath. In resting the mind on the breath, we become familiar with staying present, awake and mindful. It helps reduce discursiveness. The instruction is to simply notice and gently place the mind back on the breath again and again. “Every time we acknowledge thoughts, we’re recognizing the movement of the mind, the wildness of the bewildered mind. We’re training in awareness of who we are as human beings.” (Mipham, 2003)
For another perspective on shamatha instruction, here is part of an essay submitted to Ratna Peace Initiative from an inmate.
THE WHEEL KEEPS TURNING A note from the author: This piece has the element of an inside joke. Someone who’s never attempted meditation wouldn't get it—
My cellmate went out to the yard. This would be a good time to meditate. I’ll just hop down on the floor and do this. Okay, what am I doing here? Am I sitting right? My legs are folded and let’s see, the book said to have your butt up higher than your knees so
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this pillow works okay for that. Is my back straight? It feels straight, but I’m straining too much. Oh yeah, they said to put a curve in your back with your belly sticking out like the Buddha. They’re right, that does make it more comfortable. Okay, I’m ready to go. Where do I put my mind? Was it the belly or the nose? What did they say, count the breath or feel the breath? Man, now I have to check the book and start all over again. The belly and feel the breath, stupid. Now, back to my posture, Ani Pema said to get the points right, let me see, butt, feet, back, neck, head, and ready. I feel the breath coming in; I feel the breath going out, in and out. This is easy man, what’s all the whining about? I hurt when I sit, the noise bothers me, and my cellmate is an inconsiderate wimp, that’s all.
Back! Back, quit trippin’ man, I can do this. In and out, in and out, in and out, in and out, yeah, I got it now. I got to get a quick peep at the clock. I know my time should be up soon. "WHAT? FIVE MINUTES? You've got to be joking! Five minutes is all I been at this? Jesus H. Christ! That's it? I'm writin' Margot Neuman and tellin' her to find me another way to do this. (ratnapeaceinitiative.org)
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche further suggests that rather than going right to technique of meditation, we first touch into the feelings of being human. Rinpoche teaches that we can relate with Basic Goodness through feeling. Feelings are the pathways for how we understand ourselves – through sight, smell, taste and touch. Meditation is a powerful and active period. We are empowering our humanity when we feel. “Otherwise you are just practicing next to yourself.” (Mipham, 2012) One self is watching over the other because we are too afraid to actually feel.
Touch and Go
When thoughts arise, the tendency might be to quickly squelch the thought without even noticing what we are thinking or feeling. Or conversely, we might sink deeply into a thought by creating a whole story around it completely forgetting that we are meditating. This is often how we relate with our emotions off the cushion – either suppressing them or acting them out. Bringing touch and go to our practice can help us learn to work with our emotions in our every day life. In meditation – when a thought or feeling arises, touch it. Feel it completely like tasting a fresh ripe warm tomato sun-kissed from the garden. We move towards it rather than away.
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Rather than rejecting our experience we show an interest in it. We touch then we let go with the out breath. We relax and loosen the grip. We learn to avoid touching and grabbing or quickly squelching without touching at all. “When we let ourselves feel the hot-collared discomfort of embarrassment and touch for a moment just exactly how we feel, we often find that the struggle to get rid of that discomfort subsides by itself. “ (Wegela, 1996) Touch and go is a valuable technique for anyone aspiring to work with others. It teaches us to work with our own feelings and emotions and helps us to open and be available for what ever arises with others.
Maitri
Maitri means that we can still be crazy, we can still be angry. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest. (Chodron, 2002)
Loving-kindness towards ourselves is an essential part of our practice. We work with self- aggression and rejecting parts of ourselves with Maitri practice. We learn to be honest, loving and compassionate toward ourselves. Maitri (Sanskrit) or Metta (Pali) is loving kindness. Friendliness is often associated with Maitri. Maitri is not patting ourselves on the back and it’s not beating ourselves over the head – there is a quality of gentleness and acceptance much like forgiveness and not necessarily approval. It is seeing clearly with an attitude of warmth - without ego. Maitri is unconditional gentleness and friendliness toward our experience, whatever arises. It is cultivated through mindfulness and it is the expression of our Basic Goodness. (Wegela, 1996) Without loving-kindness for ourselves, it is difficult to genuinely feel it for others.
We bring our sanity and our confusion to the cushion. We learn to cultivate a simple and direct relationship with our whole being. Maitri is developing a complete acceptance of ourselves. Pema Chodron says there are four qualities of maitri that we can cultivate when we meditate:
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1) steadfastness, 2) clear seeing, 3) experiencing our emotional distress and 4) attention to the present moment. (Chodron, 2002)
Steadfastness is strengthening our ability to simply stay with what is, mind and body. Clear seeing is being honest with ourselves without deception. Experiencing our emotional distress is dropping the story and leaning in to the emotions and fear. This takes tremendous courage and helps us learn to open our heart. Attention to the present moment is developing the discipline to be fully present toward self, other and the world around us. Pema adds, “This quality of attention is inherent in our ability to love.” (2002, pg. 22)
Tonglen
The things that drive us nuts have enormous energy. That is why we fear them. For example, you are timid: you are afraid to look someone in the eye. It takes a lot of energy to maintain that. It is the way you hold yourself together. In tonglen practice, you have the chance to own that completely, not blaming anybody, and to ventilate it with the out-breath. (Chodron, 2002. Pg.97)
Tonglen - sending and taking, is another practice to help cultivate maitri, deep courage and compassion. Practicing tonglen helps develop sympathy for others. Our own pain is the means to relate directly to the suffering of others. When we begin to really understand our own suffering we can begin to identity with the universal suffering of all beings. Compassion arises because we have been there. We have been angry, jealous and lonely and we have caused harm to others because of our pain. Tonglen also cultivates fearlessness. In doing this practice over time, you begin to realize that fear has to do with protecting your heart. (Chodron, 2002)
It can first be practiced to develop compassion for ourselves and then we can expand out to cultivate compassion for others. It lets us make use of the very things we would most want to ignore. Rather than resisting, the practice is to breathe in anything that is painful or uncomfortable. When unwanted feelings or emotions arise, the practice is to breathe them in and connect with what all humans feel. Everyone feels pain, sadness, jealousy, anger and lonely. The stories vary but the underlying feeling is the same for all of us. We also share the feeling of joy and inspiration.
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The four stages of Tonglen as taught by Pema Chodron (2002, pg 87-88)
1. Rest your mind for a second or two in a state of openness or stillness. This is called flashing absolute bodhichitta, or suddenly opening to the basic spaciousness and clarity of the awakened heart.
2. Work with texture. Breath in a feeling of hot, dark and heavy – a sense of claustrophobia – and breathe out a feeling of cool, bright, and light – a sense of freshness. Breath in through all the pores of your body and radiate out completely, through all the pores of your body. Do this until your visualization feels synchronized with your in and out breathes.
3. Now contemplate any painful situation that’s real to you. For example, you can breathe in the hot, dark, constricted feelings of sadness that you fee, and breathe out a light, cool sense of joy or space or whatever might provide relief.
4. Widen the circle of compassion by connecting with all those who feel this kind of pain, and extending the wish to help everyone.
Shamatha, touch and go practice, maitri and tonglen are the means to discovering how to be present with ourselves so that we can begin to be open to others. From openness we develop an authentic presence that enhances our capacity to communicate and extend ourselves in kinship.
Path: Kinship
You stand with the least likely to succeed until success is succeeded by something more valuable: kinship (Boyle, pg. 179)
Trungpa Rinpoche says that the second step in being genuinely helpful is “to communicate to people, to establish a relationship and gradually help them. It takes a long time and a long process of disciplined patience.” (Trungpa, 1976)
Gregory Boyle has a whole chapter on kinship in his book Tattoos on the Heart which tells the stories of his work with the gangs in Los Angeles. He says, “Serving others is good. It’s a start. But it’s just the hallway that leads to the Grand Ballroom. Kinship [is] not serving the other but
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being one with the other.” (Boyle, pg. 188) He describes a circle of compassion that erases the boundaries of separation.
We imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased. We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and readily left out. We stand with the demonized so the demonizing will stop. We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away. (Boyle, pg. 190)
Father Boyle touches on to two qualities of kinship worth investigating. In Buddhist terms these are emptiness and compassion. These are advanced and complex teachings. In essence, compassion is about keeping our hearts open to the pain of another without trying to get ground under our feet. Emptiness is about the illusion of separation and discovering the oneness of life.
Emptiness
The Buddhist teachings on emptiness or shunyata are about cutting through our concepts of reality and the absence of duality. The best known teaching on the subject is in the Prajnaparamita-hrdaya known as the Heart Sutra where Avalokiteshvara said, “Form is empty, emptiness is form; form is no other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than form.” Trungpa Rinpoche describes form here as that which is - before we project our concepts onto it. It is a way of seeing things directly with out our interpretations. (Trungpa, 1973) There are volumes written on the subject and I won’t begin to try to summarize emptiness here in a few paragraphs. I merely want to touch on the topic to describe how we might erase the boundaries that separate us from others and open ourselves to the experience of wholeness as Bernie Glassman discusses in Bearing Witness. (1998)
First, a practical example of shunyata in terms of relating to others by Trungpa Rinpoche (1973, pg. 201)
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Having an experience of shunyata does not mean that the whole world completely dissolves into space, but that you begin to notice the space so that the world is somewhat less crowded. For example, if we are going to communicate with someone, we might prepare ourselves to say such and such to calm him down or explain things to him. But then he comes out with so many complications of his own, [that before you know it] you are completely confused by him. You share his confusion rather than having the clarity you prepared in the beginning. Shunyata means seeing through confusion. You keep precision and clarity all the time.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche talks about emptiness in simple terms in Turning the Mind Into An Ally. (2003) He says, “Seeing the reality of no self is a preliminary understanding of profound emptiness.” (pg. 192) Yet we see ourselves, the world and others as very solid and real. If we want to understand emptiness, we are taught to contemplate the self and try to find it. Over time, the teachings, shamatha and contemplation can come together as wisdom and show us that the self is far from solid.
This idea of self as empty can feel pretty scary and one of the ways we try to get ground under our feet is with blame and our ideas about right and wrong. Blame is just one barrier that keeps us from communicating genuinely with others. Through blame we harden and solidify. We close down in an effort to hold on tightly to our version of reality. Blame is an obstacle that keeps us from really seeing another as they really are. (Chodron, 1997)
Only in an open, nonjudgmental space can we acknowledge what we are feeling. Only in an open space where we’re not caught up in our own version can we see and hear and feel who others really are, which allows us to be with them and communicate with them properly. (Chodron, p.78)
Bernie Glassman tells us we can find oneness in diversity. Our tendency is to try to find things we have in common with others as a means to join together. Bernie insists this is a trap. That yearning to find what we have in common comes from a desire to be the same. It is actually a way to affirm the way we see things. Only when we can accept that everything is different can we begin to see the oneness of life. He adds, “Trying to find the oneness without accepting those differences can take us on an endless quest that leads nowhere except to tremendous suffering for all beings.” (Glassman, 1998 pg. 36)
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Bernie uses Indra’s Net to illustrate the concepts of emptiness and interconnectedness. Indra’s net stretches infinitely in all directions and all dimensions. The net contains a single pearl at every node. Each pearl reflects every other pearl in an infinite process of reflection. The whole is contained within the part and each part contains the whole. The pearls and their characteristics can be mistaken for substance and separation, but separation is an illusion. Quantum physics proposes that separation is not as separate as we think. Each person contains the infinite universe. We constantly layer our experience with commentary and the experience splits into a duality of subject and object. We solidify the illusion of separation into us and them. (Glassman, 2011) Bernie says, “Unless we are grounded in unity, in I am you and you are me, we may have no incentive to act.” (1998 pg.59)
Compassion
In his chapter on compassion, Father Greg defines compassion this way.
Compassion is not the relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a covenant between equals. Compassion is always, at its most authentic, about a shift from cramped world of self-preoccupation into a more expansive place of fellowship, of true kinship. (pg. 77)
He quotes Pema Chodron on compassion – “its truest meaning lies not in our service of those on the margins, but our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them.” (Boyle, pg.71)
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche defines compassion as “the unfettered yearning that responds to the world with noble heart, the understanding that others are just like us.” (Mipham, 2005) Just like me, all beings want to be happy and free from suffering.
“When we talk about compassion, we usually mean working with those less fortunate than ourselves” says, Pema Chodron. (Chodron, pg.78) But when we begin to work with the teachings on compassion, we discover it is as much about working on ourselves as working with others. Pema considers compassion and working with others to be some of the most advanced practices. (Chodron, 2007) Why? Because it involves feeling what we feel without pushing it away or shutting down. The essence of compassionate action is to be there for people without
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pulling back in horror or fear or anger. It begins with having compassion for those things in us that we don’t like. “If we find ourselves unworkable and give up on ourselves, then we’ll find others unworkable and give up on them.” (Chodron, pg. 80) As we learn how to soften our heart to our own pain, we are less afraid of the pain of others. We can learn to soften with tonglen and bodhichitta practices. We can work with ourselves and others rather than struggling against. Working with is about dropping the struggle of dualism. This non-dualistic approach is the essence of true kinship.
The shadow side or “near-enemy” of compassion is pity. When we split into a dualistic or separate view and see another as less than ourselves – “we forget who we are meant to be to each other.” (Boyle, 2010) My favorite quote in Father Gregory Boyle’s book is this:
The wrong idea has taken root in the world. And the idea is this: there just might be lives out there that matter less than other lives. (Boyle, 192)
Love and equanimity also have near-enemies. The near-enemy of love is attachment. In service to others, we can practice a love that honors and appreciates rather than a love that grasps and tries to possess. The near-enemy of equanimity is indifference. Instead of withdrawing and not caring, we can practice equanimity by seeing the unity in things. (Kornfield, 1985)
Compassion, love, equanimity and joy are known as the four immeasurables - a series of Buddhist virtues and a contemplative heart practice that helps cultivate these qualities. See appendix B for a full description of the practice.
Examples of Kinship
In a prison setting, it’s impossible not to notice the stark difference between my situation and the incarcerated. The most obvious is that I can walk out of the gates, I am empowered. I have choices. To avoid falling into a dualistic view, it feels especially important to find the oneness in the diversity as Bernie says. Communication and relationship must begin with honoring and respecting the human being – much as it would in any situation. I find it easier to do so when I don’t know why they are there – in prison or in jail. I know I’m just as capable of causing harm by reacting out of fear or anger. I’m grateful that so far I’ve mustered enough self-control to not
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cause any serious damage. It also helps that I have had a brother and a sister serve time in jail. I know the pain that they have endured and I know their Basic Goodness. Just like me.
I teach meditation to a group of women every other week at the Boulder County Jail. In the summer of 2011, I had a woman named Stephanie join the group. She had a dark sadness about her and a curiosity to learn meditation. I was teaching a chapter called Pain and Forgiveness from the Path of Freedom. The chapters starts, “Everyone on the planet has experienced pain – either physical or emotional. How do you deal with pain?” (Crisp, p.74) All of the chapters are founded on mindfulness practice. This lesson taught that pain and emotions are energy and it described how you can lesson the pain with mindfulness practice. The lesson included a Metta or loving-kindness practice and a meditation on forgiveness. When the class ended, Stephanie asked for copies of the meditations which I happily gave her. A week later I read about Stephanie in the paper. In a very high-profile case, the article described how Stephanie killed her infant son because she was afraid that he was autistic. This hit me like a punch to my gut. I was filled with so much pain and sadness – not particularly for the baby but for Stephanie. I imagined the pain and possibly guilt that she would have to work with for the rest of her life. I wondered if I could have developed the same relationship with her had I known this earlier. I would like to think so but I don’t really know for sure.
One more story about kinship. Gary Allan shared with me his first experience of coming into a prison.
My first entrance into teaching in prison came through my Masters in Fine Arts degree program at Naropa. They offered a one credit class called "Internship" that placed student writers in the world outside the college to teach creative writing. Our teacher, Mary Stewart Kean, brought [us] into Territorial Prison--the oldest one in Colorado, with the old school giant cement walls and guard towers--for two day workshops.
I went in understandably uncertain what this would be like teaching poetry to felons, but at about the forty-five minute mark of the first hour it dawned on me that I was in a room with a bunch of guys. Whatever they had done, whoever they had robbed or raped or killed, they weren't doing that now--they were just a bunch of guys in a room. They were interested in learning how to write poems, and that's what was happening.
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By the end of our workshop, I began to perceive that this was an unusual experience for them in that it was civilizing and humanizing. It gave them a chance to express and feel their deeper sides--and to play.
Fruition: Selfless Help
If we learn to not make a nuisance of ourselves and then to open ourselves to other people, then we are ready for the third stage [of serving others] – selfless help. In this stage of selfless help, true compassion, we don’t do things because it gives us pleasure but because things need to be done. Our response is selfless, non-centralized. It is not for them or for me. It is environmental generosity. (Trungpa, 1976, pg.91)
At the most profound level, the aspiration to serve is to relieve suffering by awakening the world to its own potential or as Pema says so well, “We want to give something that will help someone else connect with their own insight and courage and gentleness.” (Chodron, 1994 pg. 102)
In cultivating mindfulness and presence, we can invite others to contact their own brilliant sanity. The most important thing we can offer another is our openness and presence. We can interact genuinely, listen deeply and inquire with an open curiosity. We can let go of our expectations and preoccupations. Having worked with our own pain and confusion through awareness and maitri, we can offer wisdom, confidence and courage. We can work with our own mind on the spot without grasping or rejecting experiences. It begins by recognizing we are all basically sane and fundamentally equal.
Serving in Prison
Once we make some kind of genuine relationship with someone by being present and listening, it might be time to take some kind of action. I serve in prisons and jail with two different organizations: Ratna Peace Initiative where I teach in a Buddhist context and Prison Mindfulness Institute, formally Prison Dharma Network where I present non-Buddhist mindfulness-based teachings through a program called Path of Freedom.
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Ratna Peace Initiative
From their website, Ratna Peace Initiative (RPI) defines Ratna “(RAHT-Nah) is the Sanskrit word for jewel. There is boundless wealth, both in ourselves and in the world, that can be tapped for the common betterment.” Their mission statement and company overview summarizes their intention to serve.
We are dedicated to cultivating the fundamental sanity and dignity in individuals and in society at large. Through generosity, we foster environments that encourage humanity, dignity, compassion, and wisdom.
We offer peace of mind to prison inmates through mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness practices and training. We teach these social educational skills as tools for our family of participants to experience improved quality of life.
From an essay in Shambhala Times February 2009, Gary Allan writes, “Ratna Prison Initiative tries to replace active ignorance of the plight of the incarcerated with active compassion. That process begins with the inmates themselves. Many inmates become stranded and embittered, blaming anyone but themselves. Some wake up, examine their pain, confusion, and failure, and seek transformation” They support an inmate’s reawakening of Basic Goodness.
Through RPI, I participate with a book study on Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham. Those interested in studying any one of three books offered will receive essay questions in the mail. My role is to review their responses, offer feedback and write a letter to support their practice and study. I am always inspired by the wisdom and insight that comes through these essays.
For example, in looking at ways we try to make samsara work in our lives, a student answered, “I tell myself that I’m in a situation that I can not control and eventually things will get better for me, when in reality I am grasping for what I already have. I take myself too serious.”
Once a month I drive over two hours to Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado. It is the largest prison in the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDC) system. I lead three on-
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going Buddhist groups with the intention to provide personal contact so that the dharma is transmitted live in a way that serves those interested in studying Buddhism. My mentor, Gary Allan has been leading these groups for over twenty years. It was sobering to meet three older men who have studies with Gary all twenty years. I asked Gary to tell me about a “day in the life” of a prison volunteer or chaplain. It is a rather long response but he captures the fine nuances so well.
First - the many hassles of getting into the prison.
Volunteering generally means a two hour drive one way out across Colorado to a prison where we have a group meeting. So the first thing is just to arrive and get through security in a timely way. Many times this is straightforward, and then other days might hold surprises, like suddenly, although you've been coming to the prison for five years, your name isn't on their list and they don't know who you are. Or you get all the way to your program room only to have the whole prison go on lock down, meaning you turn around, walk out again, and drive all the way home. That kind of snag's a familiar feature of volunteering.
Once in, hope that they let the inmates know you are there so that finally you lead the group.
I give group instruction, then we'll stop and discuss sitting meditation issues, if they have them. From there, usually I give some kind of dharma talk. For established groups with a steady core, we'll study a dharma book and go through it point by point. If the group's fluctuating or mainly has newish members, I just improvise along basic Buddhist principles: shamatha, vipashyana, ego, compassion, karma, etc., or just explore something they bring up. After that there's discussion, and either more sitting.
What is it like to teach a group of inmates?
They tend to be pretty polite. There's the classic issue of the guy who talks too much, just like on the outside, which suppresses discussion. Sometimes they struggle with understanding the principles and what they mean philosophically, and sometimes they're just struggling with the miseries of being in a prison and the kind of irritation or despair that comes with that. And sometimes the dharma opens up a vista for them, and their minds appreciate an insight into reality they never had and no one around them would have ever thought of.
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My favorite part of Gary’s description is about the energy that develops in the group when chanting the Heart Sutra or just sitting quietly.
What always I find powerful, regardless of a particular group's chemistry on a given occasion, remains the energy and atmosphere created by chanting the Heart Sutra in such a place or invoking Guru Rinpoche or the Kagyu Gurus or Shambhala, or just sitting there quietly. Even when there's background noise, somehow the quiet environment always seems a contrast to the rest of prison life. There's peacefulness going on. Our groups tend to be white, but it is a place where other races, particularly African- Americans, can come where it's not a racist head space in contrast to how a prison ordinarily self-segregates. As the group absorbs dharma teachings, that can be especially inspiring, as they grapple with understanding their own minds and seek to clarify how to act in the world. It's powerful because it represents evolution and engagement with the path. You can see contemplation and the potential for a real change in understanding and behavior happen before your eyes.
Finally, the dedication of merit and a beautiful acknowledgement of the lineage.
Then we dedicate the merit, and virtually always there's a good-humored atmosphere, a lighter atmosphere from where we started. I walk out of there feeling like something was transmitted of that ocean of teachings I studied, passed on to me by all my many teachers and hours and years practicing. Some of that energy and insight went out and now they're taking it back into prison life. And then I start the long drive home.
I want to add that beyond the structure of teaching that Gary outlines, we must continually bring an attitude of curiosity and not knowing to every situation and simply bear witness to what is arising. Gary illustrates this with his flexibility to teach to the audience that shows up. “What are the ingredients?” as Bernie Glassman likes to say. If we go into the prison with expectations and a plan, then we don’t take all of the ingredients into consideration, we don’t allow for infinite possibilities to arise. Expectations immediately move us out of the moment and into the future. Expectations also lead to frustration and burn out. The best of intentions can be more harmful when not bearing witness to the whole.
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Prison Mindfulness Institute
A letter from Prison Mindfulness Institute October 2012 describes the recent transition from Buddhist meditation to a secular mindfulness-based intervention practice as a means to impact prison systems in a much larger way. This explains why they have changed their name from Prison Dharma Network to Prison Mindfulness Institute. Just this year they’ve launched the first mindfulness-based prison staff and development training and research study in the U.S. They are doing amazing things within criminal justice and prison systems. Their new vision includes establishing the Path of Freedom curriculum as evidence-based practice for the field of corrections.
I have been teaching the Path of Freedom to women in the Boulder County jail since 2009. The curriculum is the inspiration and collaboration between Fleet Maull and Kate Crisp. Fleet Maull served 14 years in a federal prison for drug trafficking. I won’t tell his story here, but his path led to the development of this workbook which offers tools for “discovering and freeing [one] from the internal prison of mental conditioning and impulsive behaviors.” (Crisp, 2006, pg. v)
The workbook is cumulative beginning with transforming self, moving to transforming relationship and finally into transforming groups. The intention is to teach the entire workbook to those incarcerated in jail, juvenile facilities or prison. I find it to be a challenging to teach in jail because it is so transitional. I seldom have the same women for more than one or two classes. This forces me to pick and choose chapters and the women are at the disadvantage not having the background of the other sections. The exception was when I first started to teach at the jail. Two women attended all twelve classes. It was a powerful experience for me because I was able to teach the full course and witness the benefit of the lessons when taken as a whole.
One of the two, Alyssa was pregnant. She was permitted to go to the hospital with her mother when she went into labor and returned to jail after having her baby. She shared with me the most moving experience that she attributed to the lessons she was learning from the Path of Freedom. In tears, she told me that her eight year old daughter had come to the hospital. It was very emotional and extremely painful for her to be with her daughter knowing that she would
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have to leave her again. It was also difficult for her to be with her mother. All of the old patterns surfaced and Alyssa felt young and worthless again. She told me that she remembered the lessons we talked about such as, “dealing with conflict” where we discussed climbing the ladder of escalating emotions, and “holding your seat” where we learned techniques like counting breaths and deep belly breathing to help us remain calm when triggered. She was so proud of herself for having the courage to not react to her mother. She was extremely grateful to have learned some skills that allowed her to be more open and honest with her daughter.
The lessons in the Path of Freedom are extremely practical. They all begin with meditation and some discussion about how meditation is a way to transform ones life, find peace and deal with stress. Everyone is invited to try meditation but is up to them to decide whether or not to practice it. Some do and some do not. Almost everyone gets a glimpse of their impulsive behaviors and speedy mind. For many it is the first time that they have heard that they do not have to follow their discursive thoughts.
Conclusion
You might think you are working with others because you are much more sane than they are and you want to spread that sanity. But a more profound insight is that you realize that the only way to go further is to open those doors and windows and not protect yourself any more but to work with what ever arrives. That’s the only way to wake up further. The motivation for making friends with yourself becomes wanting to help others; these two work together. You know you can’t help others if you’re not making friends with yourself. (Chodron, 1994 pg. 105)
We learn to not make a nuisance of ourselves by learning to open ourselves and then to other people. Then we are genuinely ready to meet others where they are with true compassion and nonattachment – the essence of selflessness. In being fully present, non-judgmental and compassionate we can discover the depths of who we really are and unify with others from this most authentic place that we share.
In reality, the path is not so linear. We cannot wait until we are fully awaked Bodhisattvas; we have to start where we are. We may have periods of moving inward and periods of extending
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out. Like the changing seasons, there is a natural rhythm to opening to ourselves and opening to others. We can cultivate and trust the wisdom to know what is needed.
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Appendix A: The Six Points of Posture
1. Seat: Whether you’re sitting on a cushion on the floor or in a chair, the seat should be flat, not tilting to the right or left, or back or front.
2. Legs: The legs are crossed comfortably in front of you – or if you are in a chair, the feet are flat on the floor, with the knees a few inches apart.
3. Torso: The torso (from the head to the seat) is up right, with a strong back and an open front. If sitting in a chair, it’s best not to lean back. If you start to slouch, simply sit upright again.
4. Hands: The hands are open, with palms down, resting on the thighs.
5. Eyes: The eyes are open, indicating the attitude of remaining awake and relaxed with all that occurs. The eye gaze is slightly downward and directed about four to six feet in front of you.
6. Mouth: The mouth is very slightly open so that the jaw is relaxed and air can easily move through both the mouth and the nose. The tip of the tongue can be place on the roof of the mouth.
Each time you sit down to meditate, check your posture by running through these six points. Anytime you feel distracted, bring your attention back to your body and these six points of posture. (Chodron, 2002 pg.15-16)
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Appendix B: The Four Immeasurables
The following text may be used by the umdze or by individual practitioners to guide this contemplative practice.
The four immeasurables is a heart practice that helps to develop the qualities of equanimity, love, compassion, and joy. We contemplate them in turn, allowing a period of silent reflection for each one. The aim is to generate a sincere feeling of these qualities in our hearts and to allow that to extend outwards:
EQUANIMITY Equanimity is the even-minded attitude towards all beings and events. It is an attitude of complete openness. It is unconditional, free from any distinction whatsoever. We are living through times of great turbulence and suffering. We open our hearts fully to the world, and to whatever thoughts and emotions arise within us as we do so.
LOVE With the profound attitude of equanimity, we extend love to all beings. We open ourselves to all those who are caught in the cycle of violence and horror, to those who have inflicted violence, and to those who are the victims.
COMPASSION We meditate on compassion with great energy, filled by our love for all who are swept away on the ocean of samsara. We open our hearts to all beings, nearby or far away, who are living in fear, who are undergoing unthinkable hardship, who are wracked with pain, who are consumed by hatred. May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
JOY No matter how inconceivable the suffering, whatever arises is cradled in the space of compassion and wisdom. For the benefit of all beings —as limitless in number as space is vast —we arouse the wish that everyone may attain true, complete enlightenment.
TRADITIONAL LITURGY May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness. May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering. May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering. May they dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice. http://www.shambhala.org/int/4immeasur.pdf
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http://buddhism.about.com/od/whoswhoinbuddhism/a/Milarepa.htm Quaker Women. "What we wish we had been told when first going into prisons.” http://prisonmindfulness.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Wishwehadbeentold.pdf Ratna Peace Initiative. http://www.ratnapeaceinitiative.org/pdf/THE%20WHEEL%20KEEPS%20TURNING.pdf Reginald, Ray. "Indestructable Truth" Remen, Rachel Naomi. "Helping, Fixing or Serving?" Shambhala Sun, September 1999. http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2328 Rockwell, Irini Nadel. (2012) "Natural Brilliance: A Buddhist System for Uncovering Your Strengths." Scott, Jim & Goldfield, Ari. "Songs of Realization Songbook" 2003 Shambhala Training. Shambhala.org http://www.shambhala.org/shambhala-training.php Trungpa, Chögyam . (1976) "The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation." Trungpa, Chögyam . (1980) Mayahana Seminary Transcript, pgs 91-94 Trungpa, Chögyam . (1981) Mayahana Seminary Transcript, pg 89 Trungpa, Chögyam . (1988) "Shambhala The Sacred Path of The Warrior." Shambhala Publishing. Trungpa, Chögyam . (1991) "The Heart of The Buddha." Trungpa, Chögyam . (1993) "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism." Wegela, Karen Kissel. (1996) "How to Be a Help Instead of a Nuisance"