Where's the Excitement?

In Buddhism, we hear a lot about happiness and how our practice will help us to find it. We can also turn on the television or go to the movies and hear that such media can help us to find happiness. How can Buddhism and a television commercial both show us how to find happiness?

It depends on how we define happiness.

Buddhism talks about contentment happiness. The advertising industry, television and movie producers are all trying to sell us excitement happiness.

Contentment happiness is having one's basic needs covered and knowing that this is enough. It is a quiet sense of appreciation. Of time to enjoy being with friends and family, biological or acquired.

Contentment happiness is looking within and liking what one sees.

Excitement happiness is the adrenaline rush that comes from buying something new or having a new experience. It always leads to wanting more because as soon as the adrenaline rush is over, we feel empty. We want more excitement. So we go looking for new things to do or buy. We look for new people to meet, a new job to master, or a new place to live. Excitement happiness is the agitated state of never being satisfied.

Excitement happiness is looking within and upon seeing emptiness, knowing fear. 

The Mind and Heart Disconnect

Knowing what causes us to suffer (what we tell ourselves) doesn't just make the suffering stop. Neither does understanding intellectually that what happens to us is due to our own karmic actions suddenly mean we no longer get upset when we encounter difficulties.

Intellectually understanding and emotionally reacting are two very different things!

We have the habit of reacting in certain ways. So even though there's this little voice saying “Excuse me, but you're causing your own suffering!” or “This is the result of what you did in the past!” we still act out of those habits accumulated over uncountable lifetimes. And so, acting out of habit, we become angry or afraid or disappointed or whatever.

A few days, I was listening to a translation of Master Chin Kung’s talk by one of my fellow nuns. Teacher was talking about a high level of bodhisattvas who no longer had any thoughts of selfishness, greed, anger, ignorance, or arrogance. But the habit of these afflictions is still there. So even these higher level bodhisattvas still have habits. They do not act on these habits or have thoughts that arise from them, but the traces of the habits still exist.

It is little wonder then that we—beings far less advanced on the path as these bodhisattvas—still act automatically out of habit. Yes, we know but we cannot yet do. We’re still stuck in the duality of mind and heart: the mind calmly understands but the heart still blindly reacts. We have yet to reach the point where there is no separation between knowing and doing.

Constant Mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha

Question: I am reading "Changing Destiny” by Master Chin Kung, and on page 202-203 it speaks about our mind having zero thought and attaining “stillness of thought”. I can only wonder that the only time possible to do this is being in the state of meditation. My problem is that pretty much all the time I’m always thinking of something or either fantasizing about something good happening to me. Also I have been trying to meditate, but even then I can’t seem to blank everything out, but I try hard to breathe and just chant “AMITUOFO”.

So, what I want to know is, if I’m in meditation and a thought comes to mind, but I still chant “AMITUOFO” and try to block it out, can I still get to “One mind undisturbed”?

Honestly its Really Really hard for me to just not think of something. I always have wondering thoughts going threw my head, and I fantasize a lot, actually. I like to fantasize of happy times or what I wish my life was like or could be like in another lifetime. Also, am I wrong to wish I can “pass away now” and come back in another life as some type of Rich star or celebrity? Cause I do this all the time, I’m always fantasizing about being of wealth, but I must admit I’m always giving and helping others in my fantasies!

Response: Welcome to the world of meditation!

It’s when we try to quiet and focus the mind that we realize how many thoughts we have. It takes practice—a lot of practice—to gradually eliminate all those thoughts. While we’re still having them, no, we have not reached One-mind Undisturbed. First, we have to attain Constant Mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha. As Master Chin Kung has said:

“One should first achieve Constant Mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha. When one achieves this, one is able to control one’s wandering thoughts, afflictions, and residual habits, so that they will not arise even though they are not yet eradicated. One will not give rise to afflictions or anger in adverse conditions nor will one be attached to favorable conditions. When one achieves this, one is guaranteed to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. However, one must be careful and maintain this state. We should know that we have severe afflictions and residual habits, which we have accumulated over uncountable eons. When we are not vigilant for a moment, they will arise. Therefore, we must remain vigilant at all times.

When one achieves One Mind Undisturbed at the phenomenal level, one has complete control of one’s afflictions and residual habits without intentional effort. When one achieves One Mind Undisturbed at the level of noumenon, all the afflictions and residual habits are turned into Bodhi and are truly eradicated. The state of One Mind Undisturbed at the level of noumenon is the same as that of enlightening the mind and seeing one’s true nature in the Zen school. In this state, one has eliminated a part of ignorance and thereby attained a part of Dharma-body. Not everyone can attain this state. But everyone can attain Constant Mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha if he or she is willing to follow and practice the teachings in the sutras diligently."

So you can see, even this state is very difficult for us to reach. And this is why we need to practice so much.

Should We Just Put Up With It?

Question: How come all the books on Buddhism speak a lot about suffering? It seems like Buddhism is made to make us not be happy, and to just put up with it!

Response: The Buddha spoke about suffering because he wanted us to understand our problem. Before we can fix a problem, we need to know what it is.

Think of the Buddha as a doctor who you see because you know something is wrong, but you’re not sure what it is. The doctor says your illness is suffering and that he has a way to end it. But he knows that if you don’t accept the diagnosis, you won’t take the prescription so he tries very hard to help you understand the cause of your illness.

The Buddha diagnosed our problem as suffering and then proceeded to say what caused it. He then recommended how to end our suffering. When we do this, we will find lasting happiness. Unfortunately, we don’t yet understand what genuine, lasting happiness is. We think it’s having a lot of money or being famous.

After we practice for some time and learn about the teachings, we will begin to find some of this real happiness as we begin to let go of the desires for wealth, fame, sleep, food, etc. So no, we don’t “put up with” our suffering, we work very hard to end it. For ourselves and for others.

40 steps on the personal path to green

No Impact Man has done a great short list on how to live in a more environmentally-friendly manner.  His top forty list is below. For the more detailed list click here.

A few weeks ago, I asked readers, "If a friend decided they wanted to do something about the environment, how would you tell him or her to start?"

So just in case you or a friend wants to start, here are 50 of the answers, in no particular order and boiled down to their essence. You can read the full versions here and follow the included links for further explanation (and thanks so much to all who contributed):

1. Don't buy food that comes in plastic or paper packaging.
2. Read the heartbreaking article "Plastic Ocean".
3. Buy fewer things. Don´t buy on impulse. Ask yourself if the thing you're buying is something that you really need.
4. Understand the impact of the products that you buy on the environment, from resource extraction through to disposal (watching The Story of Stuff will help).
5. Eat less meat (read here to understand why).
6. Getting your fingers dirty by growing your own food--even if it is just some basil on your windowsill--is the quickest way change your thought patterns about other green issues.
7. Stopped using my dryer and use a clothes line or drying rack--and enjoy saving the cash.
8. Drive less.
9. Fly less.
10. Organize your community to lobby state and local officials to pass a suite of laws increasing energy efficiency, clean-tech funding, and public education campaigns.
11. Walk more, and walk *to* places. Ideally, walk to the grocery store.
12. Start buying food and household products that are only made of things they can pronounce.
13. Make your own non-toxic household cleaning products.
14. Collect all of your trash each day and so you can see how much you produce.
15. Start with one or two things (take the bus one day a week, use cloth bags, etc) and make it a habit. Then move on to another and another.
16. Stop using your car for journeys of less than 2 miles--walk or bike.
17. Try to go a month without making any purchases other than food and energy.
18. An easy quick tip: stop using papertowels and paper napkins. Keep cloth towels on hand for cleaning and cloth napkins for mealtime (read why getting away from paper products is important here).
19. Find a "green" mentor. Someone whose actions and philosophy you admire. Have them recommend reading, start discussions, teach practices, and lend support. Doing this together is the best part!
20. THINK about how running the tap wastes water. THINK about how lights on in rooms not occupied wastes energy.
21. Avoid bottled water (read why here and here).
22. Join Freecycle, where you can give away what you don't need and get second-hand stuff for free.
23. Go to a good carbon footprint calculator [there's two more on the sidebar] so you can learn in what areas of your life you are using energy and carbon needlessly.
24. Don't waste.
25. Be mindful of how your actions affect others. Everything else stems from mindfulness.
26. Make a contribution of time or money to a green organization.
27. Tithe.
28. Recognize that happiness in life is related to relationships with other people, not shopping.
29. Reach within to determine what inside yourself doesn't feel right, what isn't working for you and start making changes from there.
30. Pray.
31. When the activity is fun, good for the environment, and also affects personal health (physically and also psychologically), it's much easier to maintain. So if you like biking, bike. If you like cooking, cook local.
32. Never use your car for a trip of less than two miles. Walk or bike. Notice the benefits to your physical fitness.
33. Swear off plastic bags.
34. Spend more time in nature, taking a class or reading about the environmentalist movement, whatever will make an impact deeper than the desire to be trendy in an era of greenwashing.
35. Skip sodas, juices, things that come in bottles and cans--for a week.
36. Bring your own mug to the cafe and carry your own water container (read about the ultra-cool reusable water bottle and coffee cup here and here).
37. Make a detailed budget and track spending habits (if you realize exactly how much your car costs you, you may choose a bike).
38. Switch to CFL lightbulbs, turn down your thermostat, and put a blanket on your water heater. 
39. Stop your junk mail.
40. Join grassroots efforts to push the government to pass legislation that moves us quickly off fossil fuels and nuclear energy.