Okay, you manage to stop yourself from hollering at some jerk who is cutting in front of you at the market. Or, you don't lay on your horn when you lose the closer parking space in the lot in a rainstorm. Or you bite your tongue when criticized...however, does this make the other person look like more of a jerk? Do you get instantaneous public merit for being the Good Guy--while, at the same time, making the other person look like the Bad Guy? Are you consciously setting this game in motion? Hmmmm...
Buddhist practice is simple but it ain't easy.
It calls on us to examine every motive, every action, every activity and thought. It calls us on our crap--period. If we are consciously making someone "less than", however we are doing it, it's not cool. We have to own it. Work on changing it. Lojong doesn't work if we are hurting the person we are supposedly trying to heal. Being devious in this way is like covering our tracks. For those of you old enough to remember "Leave It To Beaver", on t.v., it's like being Eddie Haskell.
If we are unconsciously doing this--or it becomes suddenly brought to our attention that we have done this by accident or awkwardness or just being dumb--it is on us to correct this "twist". Being perfect isn't what we are striving for. Having other people think we are perfect is also false. Being aware--and working from that place of awareness--that's what it is about.
As a writer, I have to be especially clear when I'm writing about people and situations I find myself living. Going for the laughs, or the tears, or simply to move the plotline around, is part of my craft. However, if that hurts innocent people, it isn't all right. (At least if I'm trying to practice Buddhist philosophy.) Now, we can't please all people all the time. And sometimes folks misread what has been written, or interpret text from their own biased perspective. In that situation, all I can do is to try to hear them out, explain things from my side and apologize if they take offense. Then, I can honestly assess: am I writing with a devious "twist"? Am I being clean-hearted; writing from my own perspective, and owning this? Am I causing unnecessary pain?
Perhaps this will make me less "effective" as a writer--or less commercial. However, in this journey I'm trying to take, on this path I'm following, being "a writer" is as much an illusion as any other dream. Far more important to keep to the path of Kindness. At least becoming aware of the effects I'm having on the people around me; making sure my motivation matches my activity.
The sole purpose of sharing these lojong posts is to share my adventures as an American artist and educator, trying to follow Buddhist philosophy as I experience it in daily life. I own this is my interpretation of far greater teachers than myself. (I'm coming from Beginner's Mind, and hoping there is some value in this.) As other teachers have written (or said), part of the deal of walking this path is sharing the journey with others. This is my best way to share.
Simple. But not easy.
Buddhist practice is simple but it ain't easy.
It calls on us to examine every motive, every action, every activity and thought. It calls us on our crap--period. If we are consciously making someone "less than", however we are doing it, it's not cool. We have to own it. Work on changing it. Lojong doesn't work if we are hurting the person we are supposedly trying to heal. Being devious in this way is like covering our tracks. For those of you old enough to remember "Leave It To Beaver", on t.v., it's like being Eddie Haskell.
If we are unconsciously doing this--or it becomes suddenly brought to our attention that we have done this by accident or awkwardness or just being dumb--it is on us to correct this "twist". Being perfect isn't what we are striving for. Having other people think we are perfect is also false. Being aware--and working from that place of awareness--that's what it is about.
As a writer, I have to be especially clear when I'm writing about people and situations I find myself living. Going for the laughs, or the tears, or simply to move the plotline around, is part of my craft. However, if that hurts innocent people, it isn't all right. (At least if I'm trying to practice Buddhist philosophy.) Now, we can't please all people all the time. And sometimes folks misread what has been written, or interpret text from their own biased perspective. In that situation, all I can do is to try to hear them out, explain things from my side and apologize if they take offense. Then, I can honestly assess: am I writing with a devious "twist"? Am I being clean-hearted; writing from my own perspective, and owning this? Am I causing unnecessary pain?
Perhaps this will make me less "effective" as a writer--or less commercial. However, in this journey I'm trying to take, on this path I'm following, being "a writer" is as much an illusion as any other dream. Far more important to keep to the path of Kindness. At least becoming aware of the effects I'm having on the people around me; making sure my motivation matches my activity.
The sole purpose of sharing these lojong posts is to share my adventures as an American artist and educator, trying to follow Buddhist philosophy as I experience it in daily life. I own this is my interpretation of far greater teachers than myself. (I'm coming from Beginner's Mind, and hoping there is some value in this.) As other teachers have written (or said), part of the deal of walking this path is sharing the journey with others. This is my best way to share.
Simple. But not easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment