Buddhist Basics

"We are what we think." -Buddha

By now I think people can tell that this website is all about the basics! It is my hope that as I progress and learn, that my experiences, along with any materials I have read and then share, will be of great benefit to others new to the study of Buddhism!

Today I will continue with His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama's wonderful instructions on the Six Preliminaries for meditation practice. Let's look into what he had to say about the Second Preliminary: arranging faultless offerings. Faultless does not refer to perfect, expensive objects that will be the envy of all who gaze upon them. What you use as offerings have no intrinsic value. What matters here is one's attitude, how you make the offerings. If you cannot afford a lovely framed picture of the Buddha, a simple rock or even a grain of sand will do--they can represent the Buddha in your mind. Setting out offerings reflects one's spiritual conviction. It is a discipline.

Discipline. That's a stickler for me! I think of discipline, and I think of constriction, a barrier to my personal freedom! Why do I need discipline in order to meditate?

Turns out, discipline is quite helpful, and it is good to set my ego aside. And, it is my ego that gets ruffled here. But, I am reminded of a story told by Pema Chodron (an American Buddhist nun who has written many books, including "When Things Fall Apart"--highly recommended, deals with Chaos!). She relates that when she first started to study Buddhism and meditation in the early 70's with Chogyam Trungpa in Boulder, Colorado, there was one time, during meditation that one person decided to lay down and take a bit of a nap. They later explained that they wanted to "be good" to themselves. Life was tough, and they felt they deserved to be pampered a bit. Life is tough. But, I think I am discovering that the pampering doesn't really address this challenge. Discipline, however, does.

I am a better person when I am disciplined, no matter what it is I am doing.

Tomorrow's blog will get into suggestions for offerings.

Abide in peace and joy, Cynthia