"Nobody can achieve enlightenment for us; we must cultivate the realizations within ourselves." His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama
The first time I walked into a meditation room, where several people were settling down for practice, I was a bit overwhelmed by the newness of it all--the strangeness. But, I was also intrigued. The distinct feel of austerity, the wood trim painted in vibrate, wonderfully alive colors of orange and deep blue, the meditation cushions, and especially the shrine with its many portraits, bowls of clear water, incense and candles, delighted my senses in a way not previously experienced, and yet warmly familiar. Everyone seemed quite comfortable with the routine, while I, even after some modest prep (as I did not want to appear the complete novice, my ego whining away that embarrassment was just not an option), wondered if I could navigate these new waters successfully. I look back now at my silliness with amusement: I was worried that a bunch of Buddhists would look upon my awkwardness with derision! I had much to learn.
Among so many other aspects, I found myself especially attracted to the shrine and wondered at its components. Why were they there, and what were they for? What did they mean? Why the water? The incense? Are these offerings? Is this god-appeasement? Well, that didn't seem right. Buddha seemed to make it pretty clear that he wasn't a god. Real clear, in fact.
I needed to do more research.
His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama, also known as the "Great Thirteenth", gave a series of sermons at the annual Great Prayer Festivals in Tibet. In the book "Path of the Bodhisattva Warrior", his sermons are translated and reproduced. Now, these sermons are very interesting for many reasons, but one in particular is this: His Holiness is addressing an audience of his fellow countrymen/women/children, people who have not only cut their teeth on the teachings of Buddhism, but so did their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before them, back many centuries. If any gathering of people should have a good working knowledge of Buddhism, it's these folks. But, rather than presenting sermons that expound upon on the finer and finest points of Buddhism, His Holiness instead chose to share with his people his reflections on the most base of practice: preparation for meditation, or the six preliminaries practices. These six concern: setting up the shrine, body posture and mental condition. Just what a greenhorn like me needed to study. Now, as I am sure you know, information on these subjects can be found in many places in Buddhist literature, and indeed classes are offered to those who wish to learn. But, it still sets me to contemplating karma and other such forces, in that I was so fortunate as to stumble upon such a fundamental and powerful voice on the subject so early on in my personal studies.
So, the shrine. Back to the shrine. Back to the basics. Taking care of your shrine is the second of the six preliminaries. The first is cleaning the place of practice. When I first began meditating before my own shrine, I had three dogs, two cats and three birds living in a 950 square foot house. Cleaning my place of practice, even before reading His Holiness' explanation for such an activity, already made sense.
Tomorrow, I hope to relate why the first preliminary is so important, and not just housecleaning.
Abide in peace, Cynthia
The first time I walked into a meditation room, where several people were settling down for practice, I was a bit overwhelmed by the newness of it all--the strangeness. But, I was also intrigued. The distinct feel of austerity, the wood trim painted in vibrate, wonderfully alive colors of orange and deep blue, the meditation cushions, and especially the shrine with its many portraits, bowls of clear water, incense and candles, delighted my senses in a way not previously experienced, and yet warmly familiar. Everyone seemed quite comfortable with the routine, while I, even after some modest prep (as I did not want to appear the complete novice, my ego whining away that embarrassment was just not an option), wondered if I could navigate these new waters successfully. I look back now at my silliness with amusement: I was worried that a bunch of Buddhists would look upon my awkwardness with derision! I had much to learn.
Among so many other aspects, I found myself especially attracted to the shrine and wondered at its components. Why were they there, and what were they for? What did they mean? Why the water? The incense? Are these offerings? Is this god-appeasement? Well, that didn't seem right. Buddha seemed to make it pretty clear that he wasn't a god. Real clear, in fact.
I needed to do more research.
His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama, also known as the "Great Thirteenth", gave a series of sermons at the annual Great Prayer Festivals in Tibet. In the book "Path of the Bodhisattva Warrior", his sermons are translated and reproduced. Now, these sermons are very interesting for many reasons, but one in particular is this: His Holiness is addressing an audience of his fellow countrymen/women/children, people who have not only cut their teeth on the teachings of Buddhism, but so did their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before them, back many centuries. If any gathering of people should have a good working knowledge of Buddhism, it's these folks. But, rather than presenting sermons that expound upon on the finer and finest points of Buddhism, His Holiness instead chose to share with his people his reflections on the most base of practice: preparation for meditation, or the six preliminaries practices. These six concern: setting up the shrine, body posture and mental condition. Just what a greenhorn like me needed to study. Now, as I am sure you know, information on these subjects can be found in many places in Buddhist literature, and indeed classes are offered to those who wish to learn. But, it still sets me to contemplating karma and other such forces, in that I was so fortunate as to stumble upon such a fundamental and powerful voice on the subject so early on in my personal studies.
So, the shrine. Back to the shrine. Back to the basics. Taking care of your shrine is the second of the six preliminaries. The first is cleaning the place of practice. When I first began meditating before my own shrine, I had three dogs, two cats and three birds living in a 950 square foot house. Cleaning my place of practice, even before reading His Holiness' explanation for such an activity, already made sense.
Tomorrow, I hope to relate why the first preliminary is so important, and not just housecleaning.
Abide in peace, Cynthia
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