In the depth of winter this year, February 2020, our KDK St. Louis sangha initated a 28 Day Meditation Committment period to motivate a deepening dedication to Dharma practices. Participants included Vajrayana practitioners from various lineges represented in our extended community. We requested some words of encouragement at the outset committment from Lama Jinpa Tharchin and below is the message he conveyed to us:
"Greetings to all of you who have committed to the 28 days of meditation.
Given the times in which we live and situation in which we find ourselves, this is a very important and worthy commitment. All that arises is due to causes and conditions which, of course, all of us have had a hand in bringing about. All beings seek only happiness and wish to avoid suffering; but due to our habitual tendencies we tend to seek the immediate happiness in this life and avoid what is uncomfortable and painful at the moment. We discount our suffering (and happiness!) in future lives because of our mistaken perception that all this seems so permanent, in a mistaken belief that this life will not eventually come to an end. As a consequence, we rush from one entertainment to another, from one worldly endeavor to another, from one dissatisfaction to another.
We have been born as human beings in this lifetime. It is taught that this rebirth is primarily due to excessive desire in our past lives. Gelong Pema Karpo’s daily practice prayer says that this human form’s particular experience of suffering is “excessive activity and constant frustration.” Sound familiar? However, due to our past virtuous actions, we are now encountering a remedy for all our negative tendencies and a method to cultivate happiness in both this and future lives, the holy Dharma. In cultivating the daily practice of meditation, we can begin to counteract our negative habitual tendencies that drive us to frivolous, unproductive, and harmful pursuits. We can instead establish an enthusiasm for calm, clarity, and mindfulness. Through our daily practice of meditation, we can begin a journey to discover our true nature and awakened mind.
There will be challenges, of course. Over the 28 days we will come up with many excuses to skip our meditation. We must be determined at the outset not to succumb to these obstacles, but give priority to our commitment. Buddhists define diligence as a state of mind that takes joy in virtue. Various conditions will arise to oppose that diligence. One we can quickly identify is our own laziness We must resolve to overcome this inclination, and summon the energy and power to stay on track with our practice. We cannot indulge our sleepiness and the strong desire to lie in bed when we know it is time to rise and meditate.
By the same token, we should not indulge an interest is whatever idle entertainment will inevitably present itself to distract and pull us away from our meditation seat. We should also know that a failure to be sufficiently saddened by the suffering of beings in samsara will only strengthen all of the distractions that will arise. All of these distractions, no matter how pleasurable in the moment, will eventually transform into suffering; and however much we pursue and work at them, there is no end to them. We should contemplate impermanence and death. If we just think about Dharma and don’t practice it, the demons of distraction and laziness will carry us away!
Another challenge will be facing up to and dealing with what we perceive to be our own shortcomings. Meditation itself can be frustrating, particularly when we have expectations of accomplishing something. From the beginning we should be wary of our expectations. Letting go and relaxing are the two primary approaches to the practice of meditation. We must also avoid putting ourselves down, giving in to our frustration that thoughts and distractions continue to arise, that we are incapable of focusing for more than a few seconds, that our emotions are just too much to handle, and that we are unworthy and far from attaining unsurpassable enlightenment. The Buddha teaches us that whoever persists, even feeble beings like gnats and fruit flies, will eventually gain enlightenment that is so hard to find. Given that we exist now as human beings, with the opportunity and ability to learn and practice the dharma, we should not succumb to despondency or defeatism; but through the strength of our persistence, without fear or hesitation, we should be true to our commitment of 28 days straight of meditation, and apply with joy and enthusiasm the remedy to the suffering of samsara.
So now enter on the blissful path toward a blissful goal. Aspire to the great accomplishment, all beings’ liberation from samsara and attainment of unsurpassable Buddhahood. Be steadfast in your commitment and joyful in your practice. With courage and self-confidence, sit in meditation, relinquish all hope and fear, and relax your mind. All will go well and all will benefit.
May the Buddha’s teachings flourish and good fortune abound!
Lama Jinpa Tharchin"
"Greetings to all of you who have committed to the 28 days of meditation.
Given the times in which we live and situation in which we find ourselves, this is a very important and worthy commitment. All that arises is due to causes and conditions which, of course, all of us have had a hand in bringing about. All beings seek only happiness and wish to avoid suffering; but due to our habitual tendencies we tend to seek the immediate happiness in this life and avoid what is uncomfortable and painful at the moment. We discount our suffering (and happiness!) in future lives because of our mistaken perception that all this seems so permanent, in a mistaken belief that this life will not eventually come to an end. As a consequence, we rush from one entertainment to another, from one worldly endeavor to another, from one dissatisfaction to another.
We have been born as human beings in this lifetime. It is taught that this rebirth is primarily due to excessive desire in our past lives. Gelong Pema Karpo’s daily practice prayer says that this human form’s particular experience of suffering is “excessive activity and constant frustration.” Sound familiar? However, due to our past virtuous actions, we are now encountering a remedy for all our negative tendencies and a method to cultivate happiness in both this and future lives, the holy Dharma. In cultivating the daily practice of meditation, we can begin to counteract our negative habitual tendencies that drive us to frivolous, unproductive, and harmful pursuits. We can instead establish an enthusiasm for calm, clarity, and mindfulness. Through our daily practice of meditation, we can begin a journey to discover our true nature and awakened mind.
There will be challenges, of course. Over the 28 days we will come up with many excuses to skip our meditation. We must be determined at the outset not to succumb to these obstacles, but give priority to our commitment. Buddhists define diligence as a state of mind that takes joy in virtue. Various conditions will arise to oppose that diligence. One we can quickly identify is our own laziness We must resolve to overcome this inclination, and summon the energy and power to stay on track with our practice. We cannot indulge our sleepiness and the strong desire to lie in bed when we know it is time to rise and meditate.
By the same token, we should not indulge an interest is whatever idle entertainment will inevitably present itself to distract and pull us away from our meditation seat. We should also know that a failure to be sufficiently saddened by the suffering of beings in samsara will only strengthen all of the distractions that will arise. All of these distractions, no matter how pleasurable in the moment, will eventually transform into suffering; and however much we pursue and work at them, there is no end to them. We should contemplate impermanence and death. If we just think about Dharma and don’t practice it, the demons of distraction and laziness will carry us away!
Another challenge will be facing up to and dealing with what we perceive to be our own shortcomings. Meditation itself can be frustrating, particularly when we have expectations of accomplishing something. From the beginning we should be wary of our expectations. Letting go and relaxing are the two primary approaches to the practice of meditation. We must also avoid putting ourselves down, giving in to our frustration that thoughts and distractions continue to arise, that we are incapable of focusing for more than a few seconds, that our emotions are just too much to handle, and that we are unworthy and far from attaining unsurpassable enlightenment. The Buddha teaches us that whoever persists, even feeble beings like gnats and fruit flies, will eventually gain enlightenment that is so hard to find. Given that we exist now as human beings, with the opportunity and ability to learn and practice the dharma, we should not succumb to despondency or defeatism; but through the strength of our persistence, without fear or hesitation, we should be true to our commitment of 28 days straight of meditation, and apply with joy and enthusiasm the remedy to the suffering of samsara.
So now enter on the blissful path toward a blissful goal. Aspire to the great accomplishment, all beings’ liberation from samsara and attainment of unsurpassable Buddhahood. Be steadfast in your commitment and joyful in your practice. With courage and self-confidence, sit in meditation, relinquish all hope and fear, and relax your mind. All will go well and all will benefit.
May the Buddha’s teachings flourish and good fortune abound!
Lama Jinpa Tharchin"
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