Lion's Roar had a nice article today... In the new year, and in such a divisive climate, it seems appropriate to ponder Bodhichitta--what drives us to want to practice, awaken and find our true selves. Here is an excerpt:
"...aware of our limitations, we are not paralyzed by honest self-reflection. Driven by motivations stronger than any limited self-concept, we are able to transcend our perceived limitations in order to act for the greater good. Easier said than done—after all, the voices demanding perfection are not just inside our heads. They are everywhere in our culture today. They come from outside and inside.
Underlying this inner critic, behind the veil of rampant insecurity, we find self-absorption. If we aim to ground our lives in a concrete sense of “self,” before long we find ourselves drowning in a whirlpool of dualistic concepts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard successful, prominent people tell me that they live in fear that others will find out who they “really” are. And students, after gaining some kind of worldly success, will tell me that they’re suffering from the feeling of not deserving it, fearing that they will lose what they’ve worked so hard to gain.
In the West, we tend to dismiss this as an issue of self-worth, low self-esteem, or, more recently, “impostor syndrome”—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is believing in the existence of a worthy or unworthy self in the first place. Worthy/unworthy or perfect/imperfect are equally false narratives. From the Buddhist point of view, there is no worthy or unworthy self. Instead, something else is taking place—the pervasive presence of bodhichitta as our intrinsic goodness, our natural propensity for compassionate action.
At first, Buddhist teachings on no-self sound destabilizing. How can we develop confidence without building up a strong ego? Actually, the nonself principle skillfully disarms all our self- concepts, turning us away from the actual source of our suffering. This doesn’t have to lead to nihilism, but it could, hence Dzogchen’s emphasis on positive frameworks such as identifying with our buddhanature or resting into presence of awareness. We are directed instead to a deeper force within us that is more trustworthy and more powerful than mere concepts of self.
To reliably locate that deeper force, we must deliberately cultivate bodhichitta: an enlightened mind-set, the wish to realize awakening in order to be of greatest benefit to all beings. In Tibetan it is called chang chub sem, the mind of enlightenment held by an “awakened mind warrior.” This powerful idea annihilates the dualism between being and doing. Being and doing can be united. When we act from the depths of being, the actions themselves arise organically from our ultimate nature. Imbued with presence, we can show up and help our world." --Pema Khandro Rinpoche
As babies and children, we naturally develop a sense of self. But then later if we cultivate bodhichitta--we go beyond that (perhaps not in a way that destroys the ego, but in a way that includes it in a much bigger space?) We may have our different perspectives out in the world, but I think all of us here in the sangha have this in common: the desire to awaken to our true selves, because we suffer.
Thank you all for your practice.
Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday
"...aware of our limitations, we are not paralyzed by honest self-reflection. Driven by motivations stronger than any limited self-concept, we are able to transcend our perceived limitations in order to act for the greater good. Easier said than done—after all, the voices demanding perfection are not just inside our heads. They are everywhere in our culture today. They come from outside and inside.
Underlying this inner critic, behind the veil of rampant insecurity, we find self-absorption. If we aim to ground our lives in a concrete sense of “self,” before long we find ourselves drowning in a whirlpool of dualistic concepts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard successful, prominent people tell me that they live in fear that others will find out who they “really” are. And students, after gaining some kind of worldly success, will tell me that they’re suffering from the feeling of not deserving it, fearing that they will lose what they’ve worked so hard to gain.
In the West, we tend to dismiss this as an issue of self-worth, low self-esteem, or, more recently, “impostor syndrome”—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is believing in the existence of a worthy or unworthy self in the first place. Worthy/unworthy or perfect/imperfect are equally false narratives. From the Buddhist point of view, there is no worthy or unworthy self. Instead, something else is taking place—the pervasive presence of bodhichitta as our intrinsic goodness, our natural propensity for compassionate action.
At first, Buddhist teachings on no-self sound destabilizing. How can we develop confidence without building up a strong ego? Actually, the nonself principle skillfully disarms all our self- concepts, turning us away from the actual source of our suffering. This doesn’t have to lead to nihilism, but it could, hence Dzogchen’s emphasis on positive frameworks such as identifying with our buddhanature or resting into presence of awareness. We are directed instead to a deeper force within us that is more trustworthy and more powerful than mere concepts of self.
To reliably locate that deeper force, we must deliberately cultivate bodhichitta: an enlightened mind-set, the wish to realize awakening in order to be of greatest benefit to all beings. In Tibetan it is called chang chub sem, the mind of enlightenment held by an “awakened mind warrior.” This powerful idea annihilates the dualism between being and doing. Being and doing can be united. When we act from the depths of being, the actions themselves arise organically from our ultimate nature. Imbued with presence, we can show up and help our world." --Pema Khandro Rinpoche
As babies and children, we naturally develop a sense of self. But then later if we cultivate bodhichitta--we go beyond that (perhaps not in a way that destroys the ego, but in a way that includes it in a much bigger space?) We may have our different perspectives out in the world, but I think all of us here in the sangha have this in common: the desire to awaken to our true selves, because we suffer.
Thank you all for your practice.
Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday
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