Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche Meditation in Action

Content

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Meditation in action 1
From Publisher 3
Chapter 1 The Life and Example of the Buddha 4
Chapter 2
Chapter 3. Transmission 13
Chapter 4. Generosity 15
Chapter 5. Patience 20
Chapter 6 Meditation 23
Chapter 7 Wisdom 31
Application. Relationships 35

From the publisher

In the summer of 1967, under the leadership of Venerable Trungpa Rinpoche, the Samye-Ling Tibetan Center was established. Since that time, Venerable Trungpa has given many discourses on various aspects of the fundamental teachings of Buddhism; many of these conversations were tape-recorded. Now a selection has been made of them; it has been deciphered and printed. The text is presented here in the hope that it may be of some help to those interested in the path of meditation.

"To the one who is able to watch his mind continuously,

Chatter is not needed, empty talk is not needed;

For those who are able to delve into self-awareness,

There is no need to sit still like a corpse.

If he knows the nature of all forms,

The eight worldly lusts disappear of their own accord;

If there is no desire or hatred in his heart,

It doesn't need external expressions, it doesn't need visibility.

Great Awakening of Boddhi Mind,

Who crosses over to the other side of samsara and nirvana,

Never reach by searching and desires.

(Milarepa. From a song to the Dharma-boddhi temple in Nepal.)

Chogyam Trungpa is widely known as a meditation master, teacher and scholar. He is also an artist, and examples of his calligraphy, flower arrangements and ornamental designs have been exhibited in galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Boulder. A film of his artistic work, Discovering the Fine, is available through the center in Boulder, NY. Colorado.

Chapter 1 The Life and Example of the Buddha

Clear, hot, sunny day; the thick leaves of the sala trees sparkle with flowers and bend under the weight of the fruit. In this rocky and wild place with many caves, which is more than a hundred miles from the city, yogis with long matted hair live in several caves; they are dressed only in thin white robes of cotton. Some of them sit on deerskins and meditate; others do special yoga exercises, such as meditating surrounded by a fire; this is good known ascetic practice. Still others chant mantras or devotion chants. The place retains an atmosphere of solitude, peace and tranquility, but at the same time, it causes some kind of awe. It seems that it has remained unchanged since the creation of the world. Here reigns complete peace, perfect silence; even the birds don't sing. A wide river flows nearby, but not a single fisherman is visible. The river spilled wide; its breadth is not less than seven miles. On the shore, ascetics perform a sacred ritual of purification; you can see how they meditate and bathe. Such a scene would have opened before us two and a half thousand years ago in the town of Nairanjana in the Indian province of Bihar.
And here comes a certain prince named Siddhartha. Possessing an aristocratic appearance, he has only recently thrown off his crown, earrings and jewelry, and therefore feels as if naked. He has just sent back his horse and servant, and is now dressed in a clean white cotton robe. Looking around, he tries to imitate the ascetic way of life, and for this he changes clothes; but nothing brings him true transformation.
After several years of such a life, the Buddha decided to leave this place. In a way, he learned a lot; but the time had come for him to say goodbye to his teachers, the Indian Rishis, and go on his way. He went from there to another place, quite far away, though still on the banks of the Nairanjana; there he sat under a pinala tree (also known as a bo tree). He remained there for several long years; he sat on a large stone, eating and drinking very little, not because he considered it necessary to follow the practice of strict asceticism, but simply because he really felt the need to remain alone and find out for himself, without following the example of any other person. Perhaps he came to these conclusions by other methods; but it is not important. The point here is different: whatever we try to learn, we need first-hand knowledge, and not information from books, not the teachings of teachers, not a simple adaptation to an already existing model. It was this principle that he discovered; and in this sense the Buddha, by virtue of his way of thinking, proved to be a great revolutionary. He even denied the existence of Brahma, god, as the creator of the world. He decided not to accept anything that he had not first discovered himself. We do not want to say by this that he denied ancient tradition of India; on the contrary, he treated her with great respect. His attitude was not anarchist in any negative sense; He was not a revolutionary in the communist sense either. His revolution was a real, positive revolution. He developed the creative side of the revolution, which is not trying to get help from anyone, but figuring things out yourself. Buddhism is perhaps the only religion that is not based on revelation received from God, nor on faith, nor on worship, whether it be the worship of one God or some deities. This does not mean that the Buddha was an atheist or a heretic. He generally tried never to challenge theological or philosophical doctrines, but went straight to the heart of the matter, to how to see the truth - and never wasted time on fruitless speculation.
By developing such a revolutionary approach, we will learn a lot. For example, imagine that one day we did not have lunch. Perhaps we don't feel like eating, we've had a hearty breakfast; but the very thought that we missed dinner has a special effect on us. Some standards are socially shaped and we tend to accept them without scrutiny. Are we really hungry, or do we just want to fill our stomachs at this time of the day? This is a very simple and clear example. But the same can be applied to a large extent to the question of the existence of the "I" when we come to it.
The Buddha discovered that there is no such thing as "I", a person. Perhaps it is better to speak specifically about "I" - there is no "I"! He discovered that all these concepts, ideas, hopes, fears, emotions, conclusions are created from our speculative thinking, from our psychological inheritance, from parents, upbringing, etc. We're just trying to put it all together; of course, this is partly due to the shortcomings of our educational system. We are being told what to think about instead of being encouraged to truly explore within ourselves. So in this sense, asceticism, meaning the experience of bodily pain, is by no means an essential part of Buddhism. What is important is to go beyond the pattern, the thought concepts that we have formed. This does not mean that we need to create a new pattern, or become some special, out-of-the-ordinary personality, always refuse lunch, or do something like that. In our standard of behavior and in our relationships with other people, we do not need to turn everything upside down. This, again, will not be of much help in religious problems. The only way to solve the problem is careful consideration. From this point of view, we always have a desire, or rather, we have some feeling, not as strong as desire, that we want to adapt to something. And we don't even think about it; we are just being led in that direction. So it is necessary to introduce the idea of ​​mindfulness. Then we will be able to check ourselves every time and go beyond mere opinions and the so-called conclusions of common sense. You need to learn to be a skilled scientist and not take anything for granted at all. Everything needs to be examined through your own microscope, to come your own way to your own conclusions. Until we do this, no savior, no guru, no blessing, no guide can help us in anything.
Of course, there is always a dilemma: if there is no help, then what are we? Or are we nothing? Are we not striving to achieve something higher? And what is this higher state? What is Buddhahood, for example? What is enlightenment? Or is it all just nothing? Or is it something? But I'm afraid I don't have the authority to answer these questions; I'm just one of the travelers, like everyone else here. But on the basis of my own experience - and my knowledge, as the Scripture says, "is like a grain of sand from the banks of the Ganges" - I would say that when we talk about something "higher", we tend to think of it with your own point of view; and this point of view is only a larger version of ourselves. When we talk about God, we tend to think in terms of our own image, presenting this image only as a larger, colossal, peculiar extension of ourselves, as if we were looking at ourselves in a magnifying mirror. We still think in terms of duality: I am here, He is there. And the only way to communicate with Him is to try to ask for His help. Sometimes we may feel that we are in touch with God; but one way or another, it is never possible for us to really communicate in this way. We are unable to establish union