SALZBERG, JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN & MARK EPSTEIN

Transcription

1 ABC anchor DAN HARRIS talks mditation with SHARON SALZBERG, JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN & MARK EPSTEIN SHAMBHALA SUN BUDDHISM CULTURE MEDITATION L IFE NOVEMB ER 2014 Gt off th whl of Habit How to fr yourslf from habitual pattrns of thinking, rlating, and acting. It s th whol point of Buddhist mditation. (Thy don t call it th Whl of Lif for nothing.) Hlpful tachings & tchniqus from: THICH NHAT HANH SYLVIA BOORSTEIN TSOKNYI RINPOCHE

2 Rviws Contmplador dl blanco (1999) by Tomás Sánchz, acrylic on canvas Bodhi Trs In natur w s Buddhist truths unfold, whil in Buddhism w find ways to hal th natural world. JESSICA M OREY on Minding th Earth, Mnding th World. TOMÁS SÁNCHEZ, COURTESY MARLBOROUGH GALLERY, NEW YORK MINDING THE EARTH, MENDING THE WORLD: Zn and th Art of Plantary Crisis By Susan Murphy Countrpoint 2014; 320 pp., $16.95 (papr) HOW CAN WE WRAP OUR MINDS around somthing so vast as th dstruction of th plant, and instad of going mad or numb grow intrstd? And how do w slow down nough to quickly tak right action? Ths ar th opning qustions of Susan Murphy s nw book, Minding th Earth, Mnding th World: Zn and th Art of Plantary Crisis. Murphy dos not shy away from th stark ralitis of th dstruction w ar wraking in vry cosystm on Earth. And though hr book is dns with facts, it rads lik potry or a sris of koans. Th radr can fl th author s prsnc, th inspiration of hr roostrs and dog, and th rhythmic shadow of trs and wintr grass outsid hr window. It s a book that must b absorbd slowly. Murphy writs, Th hour is byond lat and in our hart of harts w know it. Indd, w ar living today with th consquncs of carbon missions rlasd two dcads ago and thy hav only bn incrasing mor rapidly ach yar sinc. It s not surprising that so many of us turn to skpticism or silnt dspair. W do not know how to hold in our harts th disastr w v cratd, which may wll mak th plant uninhabitabl for our grandchildrn. At th root of th nvironmntal crisis is our ovrconsumption of th Earth s rsourcs, our nvr-satiatd grd for mor plasur and comfort. Th Wst has njoyd th bnfits of postindustrial tchnology for dcads, and now billions of popl in th dvloping world, coming out of povrty, undrstandably want th sam. According to our capitalist conomic SHAMBHALA SUN NOVEMBER

3 systm, this is a grat thing. But it is vry much at odds with th carrying capacity of th Earth. Th Buddha pointd to this kind of grd as th root of our suffring, and h taught an nd to suffring. H taught us to s th phmral, unsatisfactory, and ultimatly mpty natur of snsual plasur and comfort and to look instad for a mor lasting contntmnt. From th start, natur playd a cntral rol in th Buddha s nlightnmnt. As Gautama lay maciatd aftr yars of futil ascticism, h rcalld a tim whn, as a child, h sat in th shad of a ros-appl tr and in quit solitud xprincd an ffortlss, abiding calm. This mmory spurrd him to sit undr th bodhi tr until h ralizd full nlightnmnt. As th story gos, throughout th night, th soon-to-b Buddha was assaild by th armis of Mara, who prsonifid snsual dsir and far. Th Buddha brushd off ths tmptations asily. Thn cam Mara s final attack, mant to cast doubt on th Buddha s ffort and worth. Who ar you to claim th thron of nlightnmnt? h askd. Who is your witnss? Th Buddha silntly rachd down to touch th Earth, which roard in rspons, I am his witnss! And in that momnt, just as th morning star appard in th sky, th Buddha achivd full libration. As a child, th Buddha sat in th shad of a ros-appl tr and in quit solitud xprincd an ffortlss, abiding calm. Prhaps th Earth aros in support of th Buddha out of hr own slf-dfns, knowing that th tachings of th Buddha might b hr only salvation 2,600 yars latr a mr blink in gologic tim. Th Buddha did not sk support from clstial bings or othr ralms but from th Earth bnath him. And th Earth can lnd us a similar support in our sarch to undrstand th cntral tachings of th dharma of imprmannc, suffring, and no-slf. Today many of us ar suffring from natur dficit disordr, strangd from th Earth in our air-conditiond comfort. I am a prim xampl of this; dspit my firc lov of natur, I spnd most of my tim indoors staring at a scrn. But whn w do gt outsid, whn w go out into th wild, vrywhr w look w can s th truth of th Buddha s tachings. Imprmannc is vibrantly apparnt in th wathr, th sasons, rivrs, and vn in rocks. Contmplat, for xampl, how what was onc lava turnd into granit bouldrs and how tns of thousands of yars ago, glacirs draggd ths sam bouldrs to nw locations. Indd, Murphy ncourags us to look vn furthr back and s th Earth and ourslvs as actors in th story of th univrs a story that bgan btwn fiv and thirtn billion yars ago. Murphy writs that w ar insparabl from th caslss cration of an unfinishd cosmos. W ar sun, rain, and soil transformd through food into brathing, sntint bings. With som quit rflction, mptinss and dpndnt co-arising ar vividly apparnt in natur. This caslss changing from on thing into anothr pry bcoming prdator, dcomposing lavs transforming into trs only causs suffring whn w cannot prciv it as a shifting whol, whn w cannot s byond our on lif. Murphy provids a striking story that spaks to this truth. Sh dscribs an abandond mining pit in Montana that is still today slowly filling with watr toxic from havy mtal. A numbr of yars ago, a flock of gs drank th watr and did from fstring burns throughout thir intstins. Months latr, scintists discovrd that growing in th pit thr was a nw form of yast that has th ability to xtract havy mtal from watr at a rat narly svn tims mor fficintly than othr yasts. Thy also discovrd that this yast is found in th rctums of gs. Things ar as thy ar. Not only do th Buddha s tachings provid a powrful viw for rlating skillfully and compassionatly with th Earth, but th Buddhist contmplativ practics of mditation and koans may also hold answrs to our currnt nvironmntal challng. Murphy points out that ths practics cultivat a flxibl, non-fixatd, crativ, and playful stat of mind out of which wis action can mrg. Mindfulnss mditation practics tach us that mting difficultis dirctly can b haling, joyful, and dply rwarding, and this is an important lsson for us as w fac th difficultis of th climat crisis. I witnssd th intractabl complxitis firsthand at annual UN climat confrncs, many of which I attndd as a clan nrgy analyst rprsnting both small nonprofit think tanks and multinational organizations. Th othr rprsntativs and I always cam prpard with xprt financial stratgis and tchnical solutions, only to find no traction in th political morass. It didn t mattr if a proposal would sav millions of tons of carbon, spur innovation, and pay for itslf through a small tax that would b offst through hundrds of wll-paid jobs. It didn t mattr that our solution mad prfct sns whn you took th gratr good into account, rathr than th short-trm profit of a fw powrful corporations and thir bholdn political rprsntativs. Each country, corporation, and politician at ths confrncs took a prfctly rational position, which cumulativly assurd nvironmntal dstruction. Our nvironmntal crisis will b th making or braking of us as humans in a global community. It s th ultimat opportunity to raliz our intrdpndnc and act accordingly with kindnss and gnrosity. To confront th climat crisis, vry country must participat, or at last a critical mass of us must dcid to trust ach othr, to broadn our fram from national to global, from short trm to long trm. W must not only rcogniz but also act on th truths of intrconnctdnss and karma. Minding th Earth, Mnding th World, lik a koan, dos not 72 SHAMBHALA SUN NOVEMBER 2014

4 Ligmincha Institut at Srnity Ridg Nlson County, Virginia photo by Janin Guldnr TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE, founding dirctor of Ligmincha Institut, is rnownd for his ability to convy th ancint wisdom of Tibtan Bön Buddhism in a way that is highly rlvant to Wstrn studnts. H is th author of numrous books, including Awakning th Sacrd Body. OCT. 31 NOV. 2, 2014 Th Sacrd Body in th Bön Tradition with H.E. Mnri Lopon Trinly Nyima Rinpoch W ar plasd to wlcom back H.E. Mnri Lopon Trinly Nyima Rinpoch, had instructor of Mnri Monastry in Dolanji, India. H will tach th fiv tsa lung movmnts, supportd by a taching prayr, to hlp allviat physical or othr disturbancs. DEC. 27, 2014 JAN. 1, 2015 Wintr Rtrat: Th Exprintial Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 1: Ngöndro with Gsh Tnzin Wangyal Rinpoch Join us for this first rtrat in a spcial fiv-part sris hld ovr th nxt fiv wintrs of Tibtan Bön Buddhist dzogchn tachings. Ths ar considrd th highst tachings in th Bön and Tibtan Buddhism. Part 1: Ngöndro i(maning prliminary practics) is a prrquisit for Parts 2 5. FREE LIVE WEBCASTS (Eastrn/Nw York tim) with Gsh Tnzin Wangyal Rinpoch Oct. 11, 2014: 3 4:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 2014: 1 2:30 p.m. / Subscrib to our fr -nwslttr at Liv Awak! Each momnt offrs you a choic. In this momnt right now what do you hop for? Pac. Lov. Halth. Scurity. Undrstanding. Dfind xtrnally, ths hops rmain subjct to th whim of your thoughts and motions. Whn mbodid, ths qualitis rval a nw rality a nw way of mting lif, thus changing your lif forvr. NINE GATES MYSTERY SCHOOL How will you mt lif right now? Th Nin Gats Mystry School is an xprinc of total immrsion with tn Mastr Tachrs from nin ancint wisdom traditions. From birth to dath to rsurrction, th Nin Gats Mystry School offrs you th skills, practics and shifts in prspctiv rquird to LIVE AWAKE! For additional information contact us: Or call x 1966 Fall School Part I: 10/24-11/2, Lucrn Vally, CA Part II: 3/13-22, 2015 Joshua Tr, CA provid asy answrs, but Murphy dos sprinkl in som signposts. Sh touchs on idas from th major co-philosophrs of th past half cntury, including Joanna Macy, Thomas Brry, and Wndll Brry. That said, this is whr th book is wakst, a bit too simplistic. Th concrt solutions Murphy rfrncs fl a bit tird and unworkabl, but prhaps it s m who is tird and disillusiond. I was inspird by many co-philosophrs in collg only to find no foothold for thir idas in th worlds of Washington, D.C., and intrnational financ. Murphy also sms a bit too nostalgic toward indignous culturs in juxtaposition to our pluggd-in, frntic modrn socity. W dfinitly hav much to larn from indignous culturs rlationship with th Earth, and prhaps ultimatly a wis dialctic will mrg from th discussion btwn our paradigms, but an ovrmphasis on rturning to indignous wisdom fls lik an intrnal inconsistncy in th book. If w ar to bliv that w modrn, tch-obsssd humans ar mbddd in and insparabl from th story of th univrs, thn Facbook, Googl, smartphons, nuclar powr, and lat-stag capitalism ar all prfct thrads of this story not an abrration. So th qustion bcoms: whr do w go from hr? Rading this book has bn a prsonal call to rawakning. Svral yars ago, I lft my carr in climat policy to tach mindfulnss full-tim, and sinc thn I hav mostly ignord th scintific and political dvlopmnts in th fild of nvironmntal policy. My mditativ practic has crtainly ripnd and bnfitd from this tim, but thr is a gap btwn ths two passions. As I put Murphy s book down, I find I hav a nw, prsonal koan: How is taching mindfulnss mditation also fighting climat chang? Haling this divid might b th most important and joyful practic of my lif, for, as Murphy rminds us, in th nd w practic bing awar, not for our nlightnmnt but to as th xistnc of all bings who happn to b with us in th ark of th world. 74 SHAMBHALA SUN NOVEMBER 2014

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