Reflections on Auschwitz and the plight of the Roma

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life

I was at a conference on the Roma in Krakow over the weekend.  Part of the trip included a trip to Auschwitz.  I thought I would share some of the thoughts I had from my visit.

First, Auschwitz is the natural, logical, end result of hatred and racism.  I think a very useful way of testing whether a thought is virtuous or not is by asking ourselves “what is the end result of this train of thought?”  Anger mistakenly blames others for our problems, and generates the wish to harm the object of our anger.  The end result, the logical end, of human anger is Auschwitz.  Why would we allow even the slightest trace of this horrible mind to remain within us?

Second, samsara gives us impossible moral dilemmas every day.  I was told a story of a sister who was in the camp.  She knew it was just a matter of time before her pregnant younger sister and elderly mother would be brought to the camp.  The Nazis would automatically send any woman carrying a baby and all old people to the gas chambers.  One day the sister saw her mother and younger sister arrive on the train carrying the baby.  She knew how the camp worked but she knew her sister did not.  In an effort to save at least one of them, she told her younger sister to give the baby to the mother without explaining why.  The Nazis took the mother and the baby away and sent the younger sister into the work camp.  When the younger sister found out what had happened, she never forgave her older sister for having told her to give the baby to the mother.  What would we do when faced with impossible choices like this?  To a lesser extent, samsara gives us choices between two bads every day.

Third, the Roma are the forgotten victims of the holocaust.  Approximately 500,000 Roma were killed in the holocaust, and they were treated exactly as the Jews were with the same intention of extermination.  But within Europe, discrimination against the Roma is still an acceptable form of discrimination.  In many countries, they are still called “parasites” by mainstream politicians who call for their being rounded up and put into what can only be described as concentration camps.  For 60 years the Roma have been fighting to get recognized as holocaust victims.  I met this weekend the man who has been leading this charge.  The work was actually started by his father, and the son is continuing the work.  Only in the last 6 years have the Roma finally been given a building for an exposition at Auschwitz, a memorial by the furnaces and a memorial in the “gypsy city” within the camp where on one night several thousand were shot and killed just for Nazi fun.  One of the reasons why it is so taboo to be racist against Jews is because everybody knows what happened to them in the holocaust.  I can only hope through the efforts of brave civil rights activists like the man I met this weekend it can become similarly taboo to be racist against the Roma.  There are laws against denying the holocaust, yet it has been considered acceptable to deny the genocide against the Roma.  Why?  Racism projects the mistakes of a few on an entire group.  Yes, there are some Roma who steal and engage in forced begging, but the vast majority are people like you and me who struggle to survive.  More accurately, I think the Roma can be viewed as 10 million homeless people shunned by the whole world with nowhere to go.  After you have lived like that for a few centuries, then decide whether you want to judge them for the mistakes made by some in their community.  Really, what is the difference between some of the criminal bankers on Wall Street and some of the criminal Roma?  The difference is only how well they dress and the amount and methods by which they steal (no, I am not saying all bankers on Wall Street are criminals, check my language carefully).

Fourth, dehumanization is the precursor to genocide.  Both the Jews and still to this day the Roma were considered an inferior race.  Because they were “inferior”, they didn’t matter as much and it became OK to treat them worse and worse until finally they became like cockroaches that needed to be killed.  As Buddhists, we go one step further and equate all living beings, human and non-human alike, as being equally precious.  Shantideva says we should realize that each being is just as precious as a Buddha.  The sign that we still have deluded discrimination in our mind is when we consider any being to somehow be less precious than a Buddha.

Fifth, we are all in Auschwitz.  Samsara is a death camp, pure and simple.  It is powered by delusion and the end result for all of us is ritual slaughter.  The only difference between Auschwitz and samsara is speed and intensity.  There were some Jewish people who worked with the Nazis in the gas chambers believing that if they did so, somehow they might survive.  But every two months, they would round them all up and kill them all in a surprise.  Our thinking we can cooperate with samsara is no different than these ill-fated victims who thought they could cooperate with the Nazis and survive.  We make all sorts of bargains with our delusions thinking we can somehow get away with it.  We never can.  Likewise, the Nazis system of control was largely based on lies aimed at creating false hopes.  People so want to believe that it will work out and people so want to deny the horror of the rumors they had heard that they willingly believed the lies and were then led, like sheep, to slaughter.  We are the same with samsara’s lies and its promises of false hope.  We are little different than those in the photos, naked in the forest having a picnic thinking they were waiting their turn for their “shower”.  Many people say there is no way the German people did not know what the Nazis were doing.  While some surely did, after visiting the camp and learning how people moments before their murder still held onto willful denial and ignorance, I can see how the average German could do the same.  We are little different.  All of us have received teachings on the horrors of samsara, yet we still do not engage these as truths because if we did, we would not behave the same nor maintain the same priorities.

At Auschwitz, they make a point of saying of the 8,000 SS who worked at the camps, only about 10% were ever “brought to justice for their crimes.”  It is the desire for revenge that keeps the cycle of slaughter going.  As hard as it is to do, I think it is very important as Kadampas that we view the Nazis as equal victims of the holocaust of delusions.  They became possessed by their delusions, their delusions compelled them to enage in unbelievably horrific actions, and they are now experiencing the fruits of their actions in hell.  Ghandi said the oppressor is unfree when he oppresses. When we can find it in our hearts to also view the Nazis as victims of their delusions and generate compassion for the terrible sufferings they must be experiencing in hell then our compassion has the potential to become universal.  But for as long as we still wish harm on anybody and don’t feel equal compassion for oppressor and oppressed (which are separated only by time, not by fate), then we will never generate the compassion of a Buddha.  I know what I am saying here can be misinterpreted and misunderstood if one tries.  I am not justifying in any way what happened nor belittling in any waythe suffering metted out against the victims, rather I am trying to take a more expanded view that sees the karmic tragedy of delusion and karma as it plays out over the expanse of time.

Your turn:  what does the holocaust and the plight of the Roma mean to you?

Believing makes it true

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life

One of the most trouble-making aspects of ignorance is grasping at what ‘is’ true. We think there is a truth independent of what we think, and therefore when we choose to try think/believe certain things that are different than what we grasp at being true, our thinking/believing lacks any power and seems like make believe. I can think X, but I know it is not true, so it doesn’t move my mind any. Virtually every Dharma mind involves believing in certain things, and so this ignorance can block us from developing virtually every Dharma mind.

But with all the objects of Dharma, it is our believing in them that they in fact become true – believing makes them true. This is especially true with Tantric objects. The key point is wherever you imagine a Buddha, a Buddha actually goes. So if I believe something is an emanation of my spiritual guide, he enters into that object completely and inseparably, and it becomes actually true – the object becomes an emanation of my spiritual guide and I can receive his blessings through it. In this way, if I believe that all objects are his emanations and that I am in the pure land (the pure land is a world emanated by him for practitioners to complete their training), then this becomes true – I actually am in the pure land. So it is a correct belief – a belief in something that is true. When I understand this, then the belief has real power to move my mind and oppose my delusions.

There is a deeper level at which believing makes things true. The mental action of believing in an object of a correct belief plants the karma on your mind which will ripen in the future in the form of that object appearing directly to your mind as your living reality. In other words, by engaging in the mental actions of pure conceptions, we create the karma to have pure appearances later. When we have pure appearances, it is easy to have pure conceptions about them, and so the karmic cycle becomes self-replicating.

To be precise with all of this, because Buddha’s mind pervades everywhere and is the ultimate nature of all things, whether I personally believe it or not does not make it true since it is already true (from the perspective of the Buddha’s mind). But my ignorance obscures my mind from this truth. But by believing it to be true, then it makes this truth become manifest within my mind (before it was a hidden truth) and then it functions within my mind as being a manifest truth.

Living in the pure land now

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Of course our goal is to attain liberation and enlightenment in this lifetime. But that goal seems so far off and so unattainable (this I need to work on), that sometimes it is not a very motivating goal because it seems undoable. In contrast, getting to the pure land when I die (or before) definitely seems something that is doable, and VGL has said that it is possible for me (and I have received other signs). So for me, this seems quite doable, and as such it drives me. Reaching the pure land itself has almost the same effect as liberation and enlightenment, because once we reach it, we are free from uncontrolled rebirth, our enlightenment is guarranteed, and all of our experiences are pure.

In reality, reaching the pure land is not as hard as it seems. We do not have to die to reach the pure land, rather it is just an issue of completely changing our conceptions of what appears with unshakable and self-reproducing convictions. If I have complete, 100% conviction that I am in the pure land, I actually am in the pure land. A pure land is, in essence, a tantric bodhisattva training ground. In a pure land everything teaches us the truth of Dharma and everything functions to bring us closer to enlightenment. This is what makes a pure land a pure land.

So how can we abide in the pure land now. It is an issue of firmly believing in a few key views. First, if I believe that everything that arises is emanated by Dorje Shugden and in fact the entire universe has forever and always been emanated by him, then he enters into everything. I see everything as emanated by him. This means I strongly believe that everything that arises is a perfect condition for the enlightenment of myself and others. With this conviction, I will then be blessed with the wisdom blessings to understand how this is the case. I will know not only that it is perfect for the enlightenment of myself and others, I will know how and why. I will know what I need to practice and I will see the conditions I have as perfect for practicing exactly what it is that I need to practice. Experientially, I will be in the pure land.

Additionally, the world I normally inhabit is a question of view – nothing more. Viewed from an ordinary point of view, it is samsara. When I maintain this view, I suffer from what appears. If, instead, I view what normally appears as the charnel grounds, strongly believing everything to be part of Keajra, then for me, that is what it will be. Ordinary beings view this as samsara, I choose to view it as the charnel grounds. If I maintain absolute conviction in that conception of things, again, Heruka will enter into everything. I will then receive his blessings through everything. I will see how everything either teaches me some aspect of Dharma or gives me an opportunity to practice something I need to practice. From the point of view of my experience, I will be in the pure land.

Finally, the key to building and maintaining this experience is to be able to transform whatever I experience into the path. There are two things I normally experience: suffering and pleasure. Normally, when I experience suffering I generate aversion and anger and when I experience pleasure I generate attacment. Instead, when I experience suffering, I use all of the practices for transforming adverse conditions into the path (we do this most of the time since most of our experiences in samsara are of suffering). And when I experience pleasure, I need to transform this with the practices of tantra. I need to spend some time contemplating the different ways in which I can transform pleasant experiences into the path. I have less expereince of that, even at the conceptual level. So I need to do some work here. But the point is there are many ways of doing so, most notably in the tantras. If I can master both of these – transforming unpleasant experiences with lojong and transforming pleasant experiences with tantra, then I will be able to transform whatever I experience into the path. Everything I experience will push me closer to enlightenment. Again, I will make it to the pure land.

I, of course, need to practice all three of these methods simultaneously, but I also think there is a certain sequence to them. First, that it is all emanated by Dorje Shugden or taking place within his protection circle. Then I see things as the charnel grounds. Then, within this conception of my reality, I will experience things. As I experience these things, I transform them with lojong and tantra. If I do all three of these things, for all practical purposes, I will experience my reality as being the pure land. Just as the pure land is not technically liberation and enlightenment, but practically has the same function; so too, with these convictions I may not technically be n the pure land, but practically it will have the same function. By gaining more and more experience with these three, I will always be happy (since I will feel as if I am already in the pure land) and I will very quickly transport myself to the actual pure land.

In short, the pure land is not another place, it is rather another point of view.

The importance of practicing our vows

Kadampa Ryan Vows, commitments and daily life

It is very easy to neglect our vows. We get busy with our lives, we get busy with our regular practices that our vows tend to get put on the back burner and we never really take them seriously. We still don’t even really know what they are, much less check our behavior against them. This is a mistake, especially when we do not have regular access to a center.

One of the main functions/benefits of applying effort to keep our vows is by doing so we create the causes to maintain the continuum of our practice in this and all of our future lives. We have the Dharma now, we have an interest in practicing, we have found the solution to all of our problems, but it is so easy to become distracted and swept away by samsara and we gradually lose our level of interest and intensity in our practice. Even if we remember our practice, there is no guarrantee that we will make sufficient progress in this life to guarrantee that we maintain the continuum of our practice in life after life. If we fall into the lower realms, we will lose everything we have built and done and will spend incalculably long times suffering in the extreme. And then we will have to dig ourselves back out again. It is like somebody who has fallen into a deep hole, manages to climb most of the way out, and then falls right back down.

Our vows protect us because they are a practice of moral discipline, and moral discipline functions to create the causes for higher rebirth in the future. Practicing our refuge vows creates the causes to find the Dharma again and again in all our future lives without interruption. Practicing our bodhisattva vows creates the causes to find the Mahayana Dharma again and again in all our future lives without interrupton. Practicing our tantric vows creates the causes to find the Tantric Dharma again and again in all our future lives without interruption. And practicing the internal rules of the NKT creates the causs to find the Kadam Dharma again and again in all of our future lives without interruption. When I asked him many years ago, VGL said the way to guarrantee that I meet him in all of my future lives without interruption is to ‘concentrate on practicing Dharma and always keep faith.’ By putting the instructions of the spiritual guide into practice, we draw closer to him, create karma with him and if we do this with faith when we find him again we will once again want to put his instructions into practice. Putting the Dharma into practice creates the ripened effect to meet the guru again and again and keeping faith creates the tendencies to wish to put the Dharma into practice. When keeping our vows, we must do so with the intention to maintain the continuum of our practice for it to ripen in a qualified way. I wish to maintain the continuum of my practice, practicing my vows will enable me to do so, therefore for this purpose I apply effort to practice them.

It is a good idea to say, once a a month at least, review all of the vows and commitments and just check how we are doing, identify weaknesses in our behavior and make plans for doing better. Yes, we should do this every day, but as a starting point once a month is a good place to start. Then once a week and later once a day.

While building up to this, we can start with the essence of the different vows and try to keep them in mind every day. The essence of the refuge vows is “to make effort to practice Dharma, to receive blessings from the Buddhas and to turn to the Sangha for help.” The essence of the bodhisattva vows is “to cherish others more than you cherish yourself and to improve yourself for the benefit of others.” The essence of the tantric vows is to maintain pure view (pure conceptions and pure appearances). These we can remember and we should make a point to keep them always present within our mind.

Key contemplations during daily practice

Kadampa Ryan 3. Tantra

The following are the word for word contemplations I do at various points in my daily practice of the yoga of Buddha Heruka (together with mental image that associates each set of words – a picture is worth a thousand words):

Before I go for refuge at the beginning: First I imagine all living beings around me within the clear light Dharmakaya and I recall that they are all aspects of my mind. I then think: “I have a precious opportunity to fully train my mind (clear light Dharmakaya) and build my pure land (full mandala), thereby solving all of my own and others’ problems. But I may die at any point, and since I have not purified, I will most likely fall into the lower realms (visualize hell). To protect against this, I must build the foundation of refuge within my mind (like a safety net protecting me against a fall). I must make effort to put the Dharma into practice, to receive Buddha’s blessings and to turn to the Sangha for help.” Then I recite the refuge prayer imagining all living beings are reciting it with me.

Before bodhichitta: “It is not enough to just avoid falling into the lower realms once, I must use this life to secure my permanent freedom in all of my future lives (clear light Dharmakaya as liberation) and to build my pure land (the full mandala as enlightenment, the means by which I gather all beings from the deepest hell and lead them to the highest enlightenment in my heart). Then I recite the bodhichitta prayer.

During the next parts of the sadhana, I try to intend to the meaning of the words with full concentration.

I then add the Migstema prayer, and as I am doing it I imagine I am downloading JTK, BSK, VD, Avaolokitehsvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani (and their corresponding skills and realizations of perfect Kadampa Spiritual Guide, Perfect Sutra Spiritual Guide, Perfect Tantric Spiritual Guide, perfect compassion, perfect wisdom and fully developed spiritual power respectively). I specifically request the wisdom to always make the right decisions and to always know what to do and practice. This is not technically part of the sadhana, but I see no harm or fault in adding it here.

After dissolving the guru after the request (O Guru…inseparable from great bliss): I imagine that GSBH comes to my heart and completely takes over. “May my every thought be yours. May my every word be yours. May you act through me to liberate others. I have no independent self-will. I am your Avatar.” I then imagine everything dissolves into the clear light Dharmakaya thinking, “all the waves of contaminted appearance have been completely pacified on the ocean of my mind. This is my Dharmakaya. I am the Dharmakaya.”

I then build the pure land and do a checking meditation of each aspect of the mandala, understanding each aspect to be my helping all living beings in a particular way. I first go outwards and then back inwards, recalling the appearance and its function:
1. Dharmakaya – the ocean of my mind which is the gold of the gold coin of the mandala.
2. The nada – my Enjoyment body, the synthesized version of the entire mandala for superior bodhisattvas.
3. The seed letters of the deities of the mandala – The enjoyment body version of the mandala
4. Myself as Heruka Father and Mother – gather all winds into the indestructible drop where they are completely purified.
5. Deities of the great Bliss will – I balance all the inner elements and purify the five objects of desire.
6. Deities of the mind, speech and body wheels individually – heal the subtle body of all living beings so that the winds can flow effortlessly into the indestructible drop and all faults of body, speech and mind are completely purified.
7. Deities of the commitment wheel – Purify the sense doors of all living beings.
8. The celestial mansion – I gather all beings into a Kadampa Buddhist temple where I teach them all of the Kadam Dharma.
9. Mount Meru – emanate all the different levels of pure land for living beings to take rebirth in, leading up to the highest pure land Keajra (where the celestial mansion and HBM deities are).
10. The continents – the completely purified version of the three thousand worlds that I am emanating for beings to live.
11. The protection circle – everything inside this is completely pure
12. The charnel grounds – training grounds I am emanating for tantric bodhisattvas. It is also like a bridge between samsara and the pure lands.
13. The six realsm of samsara – where I am emanating countless emanations to help beings and lead them inwards.
14. Dorje Shugden’s protection circle and Dorje Shugden – this surrounds everything. I request/recall that everything that is taking place inside of his protection circle is absolutely perfect for the swiftest possible enlightenment of all the beings within it. All of this is taking place inside his pure land, within which everything is emanated and controlled by him.
15. All of this is floating inside of the ocean of the clear light Dharmakaya of my mind. So the appearing mandala is both inside the clear light Dharmakaya and is the coin of the gold coin.

I then do the same checking meditation moving back inwards to my heart. I then contemplate: “Though it (the mandala) appears, it is not other than emptiness (union of two truths). I am leading all beings from the deepest hell to the highest enlightenment (the function of my pure land). I am Heruka (on the basis of the function, I generate Divine Pride). It is the nature of the emptiness of my mind of great bliss (recall bliss and emptiness as the gold of the gold coin of the mandala).

I then recite the different mantras, imagining with each I am accomplishing the actions/functions of Heruka through each mantra, like they are magic words that accomplish different beneficial functions on all living beings:
1. Essence mantra of the father – bestowing the realization of the tantric union of the two truths on all living beings.
2. Close essence mantra of the father – bestowing the five omniscient wisdoms on all living beings.
3. 3-OM mantra – healing the subtle body, speech and mind of all living beings.
4. Individual mantras of the deities of the body mandala – I am purifying and repairing the different channels and drops of the subtle bodies of all living beings.

I then do the Dorje Shugden part, requesting that everything forever and always be under his control for the swiftest possible enlightenment of all beings. I then believe this to be the case and recall that as a result of this conviction for all practical purposes I am inside his pure land and everything that happens to myself and everyone else is emanated by him.

I then do the dedication prayers.

May everything in my world be controlled by Dorje Shugden, forever and always

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Since all things are empty, the world is, at a very profound level, what you believe it to be. Wherever you imagine a Buddha, a Buddha definitely goes. Wherever a Buddha goes, they accomplish their function. A Buddha has the power to fulfill all pure wishes. Conditions are neither perfect nor imperfect, they are as perfect as the way we view them.

I request Dorje Shugden to control everything, literally everything, in my world forever and always. I do this with the clear knowledge that his function is to arrange all outer, inner and secret conditions so that they are perfect for our swiftest possible enlightenment. He accomplishes this function on the side of what appears by manipulating what karma ripens and on the side of conception by blessing our mind with the wisdom to understand and realize how things are perfect for our enlightenment. A condition is perfect for our enlightenment because (a) it gives us an opportunity to train our mind in exactly the thing we need to train our mind in to advance to the next stage of the path, and (b) because it reveals to us the truth of the Dharma. Since all other beings are empty, I can request Dorje Shugden to accomplish his function not only for myself, but for all the beings of my dream.

In dependence upon this request, if I believe that Dorje Shugden is indeed accomplishing his function for myself and for all the beings of my dream, that will become my living reality. For all practical purposes, by believing this to be the case it becomes true (all of the attainments I desire arise from merely remembering you…). From an experiential perspective, it will feel as if I am already abiding within Dorje Shugden’s pure land.

Once I firmly believe this to be the case, then my subsequent practice is to (1) strive to understand how things are indeed perfect for both myself and for others and (2) to then apply effort to train my mind in the Dharma in the way that seems the most appropriate given the circmstances. There will be zero basis for anger. Anger is the mind that wishes things were otherwise. Why would I want them to be anything other than perfect? There will be no basis for attachment because if conditions change, and my faith follows suit accepting that things continue to be perfect, then I can easily let go of whatever existed before. There will be no basis for ignorance because Dorje Shugden is a wisdom Buddha and the principle way in which he removes all obstacles and arranges perfect conditions is by bestowing upon us the wisdom that realizes how what is arising is in fact perfect. So we realize the emptiness of all things. In this way, pure reliance upon Dorje Shugden eliminates all anger, attachment and ignorance – just as all delusions find their opponent in the larmim, so too do all delusions find their opponent in pure faith and reliance upon Dorje Shugden.

If I am unsure how some appearing condition is perfect, I should (1) recall that Dorje Shugden is controllng and arranging everything, (2) accept that it is only my ignorance and delusions that prevent me from seeing and understanding how what is appearing is perfect, (3) generate a pure motivation wishing only to train my mind to become a Buddha, and (4) request wisdom blessings to understand what this new appearing condition reveals to me about the truth of Dharma or provides me with an opportunity to train my mind. On the basis of this new understanding, I then apply effort to practice in the way that seems the most appropriate.

To generate this pure motivation, I should recall that from their own side things are neither good nor bad, but it is thinking that makes them so. Therefore, all problems come from the mind. There are no problems other than the ones our mind creates for ourself. Our ignorance and delusion create all our ‘problems’. Our faith in Dorje Shugden and our wisdom frees us from this mistaken conception. All delusions find their opponent in the Kadam Dharma. Therefore, the solution to all problems is to be found within the Kadam Dharma. My ability to solve my own problems, therefore, is entirely dependent upon making the Kadam Dharma my exclusive mental habit. Likewise, my ability to help others is exclusively grounded in my ability to help them change their own mind with respect to what is appearing to their minds. If I know that everything that arises both for myself and for others is in fact, forever and always, controlled by Dorje Shugden. Armed with this wisdom, I can then come to understand how everything is perfect for others. Then I can share my perspective on what is appearing to their mind. They can then also come to see how what is appearing to their mind is indeed perfect. Then they will not have any problems anymore. My ability to effectively share this point of view, however, is entirely dependent upon my own personal experience of the instructions. Realizations come only in dependence upon blessings. Blessings come only through personal experience of the instructions, not abstract theoretical knowledge of the Dharma. Therefore, others will only receive benefit to the extent that I myself have personal experience of the instructions and this special wisdom arising from faith in Dorje Shugden. Put simply: all problems come from the mind, all solutions to all problems come from personal experience of the Kadam Dharma.

What does NKT Day mean to me?

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Luna Kadampa asked what does NKT Day mean to each of us.  I recently received a letter from my former spiritual stomping grounds about some apparent “set backs” at the center.  I realized I had my answer to Luna’s question:  What NKT Day means to me is the love I feel for my family and for the people and Sangha of the Swiss Romande.  Here is my reply letter.

To my vajra family,

I have heard that there have been some significant changes in the Swiss Romande area lately.  I can understand how this can sometimes lead to difficult transitions, both externally and internally.  It has taken me a good four years to transition from the life I had to my new life now to get to the point where looking back I realize clearly how all the changes that happened were the best things possible.  Change is sometimes very hard, but not only is it inevitable, we need it.

One thing I have realized is even if my own practice slips, Venerable Geshe-la’s does not.  I have received Dorje Shugden empowerments from him, and during the empowerment he made special promises as and requests to Dorje Shugden that he look over me every moment of every day from now until I attain enlightenment.  So even when I forget about him, he never forgets about me.  Even if I do not realize how or why, I can be certain that whatever happens to me is arranged by him, and therefore is exactly what I need.  Recalling this, my job is to figure out how it is perfect and go from there.  The same is true, but on a much more significant level, when it comes to Dharma centers.  Venerable Geshe-la is the founder of all of the centers in the Swiss Romande.  He has granted empowerments of Dorje Shugden in the area.  He has made promises and requests to arrange everything for everybody in the region.  There is no doubt that everything that happens there is arranged by him, and therefore is perfect for the swiftest possible enlightenment of all concerned.  This is true whether we remember Dorje Shugden or not.  Our relying upon him just helps us realize how and why it is true, and gives us the strength and energy to capitalize on our new found opportunities.

For me, when I am in doubt about whether what has happened is perfect, I generally practice purification in the context of my Dorje Shugden practice.  I request to please purify all of the negative karma between Dorje Shugden and myself and between Dorje Shugden and everybody else.  I request that all of the obstructions be removed and purified so that (1) everything that happens is perfect for our practice, (2) all of the obstuctions are removed so that I/we can realize how it is perfect, and (3) all of the obstructions are removed to that we have the opportunity to share our perspective on things.  This has always worked for me.

So when I heard there were some changes, I did some purification practice, and the following are the “answers” that came to me:

  • The conclusion of all Dharma is to assume personal responsibility for the world around you.  What this means in the case of each person will vary, but the conclusion is equally valid for everyone.
  • Dharma sometimes may externallly appear to confront a setback, but internally it could be flourishing more.  The real measure of the progress of a center is whether the realizations of the practitioners is increasing.  Perhaps at present there is an external envelope of progress possible, but this just means everyone shifts to internal progress.
  • It is essential that we eliminate our attachment to external conditions for our practice, in particular having our own practice in any way be dependent upon other people practicing.  Even if you are the last soul on earth practicing Dharma, what difference does it make?  You are still going to die, things are still empty, delusions are still deceiving you, negative karma is still binding you.  What other people are doing is irrelevant to your own decision to practice your heart out. Our practice should be entirely internally driven.
  • We need to think about our view of the center.  Do we see the center as providing a service to ourselves or do we see the center as a vehicle through which we can provide services to others?  We need to be VERY careful with this that this is a PERSONAL question we ask ourselves, not a litmus test against which we judge others involvement in the center.
  • We only make progress by being pushed to higher and higher levels.  In this modern world, we are all very lazy.  We only make progress when we are pushed to do so.  Since we are so easily attached to our present conditions, Dorje Shugden has no choice but to pull the rug out from underneath us from time to time.
  • Size doesn’t matter!
  • It is vital that the services provided by the center be useful, otherwise the center won’t last.  Figure out what people’s probems are, have the center provide the services that enable them to solve those problems.
  • Don’t get mad at others because they are not living up to your expectations of what they are supposed to be doing to make the center flourish.
  • Never give up because samsara will never give up against you.
    Feeling of community and family are glue that holds a center together.  Common purpose, harmonious, mutually supportive, non-judgemental, non-manipulative, cool and relaxed, not quincee, happy with what people do do not unhappy about what they don’t do, leaving people free to come from their own side, working for the sake of the community without resentment or expecting anything in return.  Above all, be the example we want others to be – and a big part of this is learn how to turn to the sangha for help.

There is not a day that has gone by since I have left that I have not prayed for the Dharma in the Swiss Romande.  I have no doubt that these latest developments are exactly what is needed.

So in the aggregate, what has really changed?  Will it require some rebuilding?  Yes, but did not Marpa make Milarepa (or was it Tilopa and Naropa, I can’t remember) keep tearing something down so that the other could rebuild it again?

We will forever be vajra family, no matter where we might be distributed in the world. In my heart, the Swiss Romande is my home and all of you are my family.  I don’t know if I have the karma to ever be able to come back to the region, but my feeling is we will all be together again in our old age, helping support each other as we die and go off to the pure land.  Until then, we just keep the faith, keep laughing at our samsara, and as they say in the U.S., “keep on truckin'”

With love and laughs,

Ryan

Some small insights

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The following are some key insights I have had recently. None are too big, but each is useful.

1. Sometimes people are reluctant to change course because to do so would be to admit that they made a mistake in the past. So instead of admitting that, they continue along the same mistaken course. To help these people, help them feel that the decision they made in the past was right for then, but now things are different so it is only normal to make a new choice.

2. Before people will listen to your solutions, you first have to demonstrate to them that you ‘get it’, that you understand exactly their problems. If they feel you don’t get it, then they will automatically assume that the solutions you propose will not solve their problem (which they feel you don’t understand). But when you show and demonstrate to them that you do indeed get it, that you do understand their problems, then when they hear your solution they are much more inclined to listen to and believe your solution.

3. I have been very anxious to hear about the results of certain things in my life. It has become a preoccupation. This is a mistake. I need to just hand my life over again and again to Dorje Shugden and request him to arrange things when the time is right. Until then, I need to accept that he is keeping things as they are for a reason. My job is to then discover that reason by learning what can be learned from the experiences I am having.

4. It is counter productive to ask somebody to do something if they are not going to do it. When you do this, and they resist/rebel/say no, they develop the habit of rebuffing you. This puts your in a situation where either you back down and lose all credibility or you have to up the ante and force the situation. If you do the latter, then you keep your credibility, but you often generate resentment. If you are right in your request, and at their core the other person knows you are right, they do not generate resentment when you force it, but rather they generate respect for you that you have conviction, wisdom and strength. But if you are not right, then they will generate resentment. So better to only ask people to do things when you are right and you are prepared to force it if necessary. Otherwise, leave people free to make their own choices.

5. The practice of the Yoga of Buddha Heruka is the synthesis of VGL’s new book Modern Buddhism, which itself is the synthesis of the Ganden Oral Lineage, which itself is the synthesis of the entire Kadampa path, which itself is the synethesis of all of Buddha’s teachings. So by practicing this sadhana you are directly practicing all of Buddha’s teachings and fulfilling all of your Kadampa commitments. It is truly amazing. I feel as if it is VGL’s greatest gift to the modern world. It is short, yet complete. I feel like I could take this as my daily practice for the rest of my life and lack nothing. I can incorporate everything into it, just in different places. The explanation in the new book is like the ‘best of’ VGL’s teachings, his best, most practical, most skilful explanations. Just as Eight Steps was his gift to me for parenting, this new book is his gift to me for this new period in my life of becoming a diplomat.

Knocking others down to get ahead

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life

A lot of people think that the way to get ahead is by knocking others down. A lot of people think nice guys finish last. A lot of people think the way to be treated with respect is to make others fear you. A lot of people think the way to get what you want is fight aggressively to get it. A lot of people think the only way to get what they want is through brute force. But people who think these things are dead wrong.

It may seem in the short run that such strategies are successful, but pursuing them sacrifices the long run stable success on the alter of short term gains and seeming victories. Those who work with such people generate in their hearts the wish to bring down such people. Perhaps in the beginning they can’t, but overtime they will gradually undermine the person and bring them down. Such people engender resistence in all around them, and as such they create even more problems which they then have to resolve with brute force. Karmically speaking, if you are getting ahead through knocking others down you are laying the foundation for your own inevitable downfall. And in the meantime, you are making life a struggle, yourself and all those around you miserable, and generally spreading poison in the world.

I will inevitably have to work with such people. I need to learn how to respond to and deal with such people.

Accepting that there will always be problems and embracing that there is work to be done

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life

Deep down inside, the overwhelming majority of our problems come from us expecting things to go smoothly and for their to not be problems. Then, when things go wrong, we wish it was otherwise and we become frustrated. We then make ourselves miserable, our frustration makes those around us miserable, and when we act based upon that frustration we almost invariably respond to the problem in such a way that we make the situation worse. One of the main reasons we need to ‘know suffering’ is because we need to learn that the very nature of samsara is problems. There will always be problems, the only question is which ones will arise today. We should not be surprised when problems arise, they always will. We need to accept this fact as just the nature of things. So the focus is not on wishing it was otherwise, rather it is accepting that this is part of life. The question of each day is not whether there will be any problems, because there always will be. The question is which problems will arise today. Our day is then to work through those problems with a happy, accepting mind.

A related problem is we expect to not have to work. We wish we had no responsibilities and that we did not have to do anything. Then, when life obliges us to do things, we become frustrated or resentful of that fact. We then have to force ourseves to work. Everything becomes a struggle. I see occasionally these people who so don’t want to do anything that they can barely hold their heads up. They usually rub their faces a lot and hold their heads in their hands. They are exhausted and everything for them is a giant struggle. The reason is they wish they did not have to do anything, and so they are resentful of the fact that they do, they feel put upon that they have to. We need to learn to fully embrace the fact that there will always be work to do. Work is not something to be avoided, rather it is something that we grow through. Just like there will always be endless problems in samsara, so too there will always be endless work to do. This is not a problem, it is just the way things are. The sooner we embrace this fact, we will stop resisting this and start working with it. It is through working that we move ourselves forward and grow as a person.

These two mistakes: expecting there to not be any problems and expecting to not have to do any work are at the source of the overwhelming majority of frustrations and problems faced by people of the modern world.