XPost: talk.politics.tibet, talk.religion.buddhism   
   From: lionheart@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com   
      
   How to Be a Peacemaker   
   To bring peace to the world, each of us must take on the responsibility of   
   discovering inner peace, says   
   Sakyong Mipham, and the first step in the process is to develop a meditative   
   discipline.   
      
   It is absolutely possible to create a good human society here on Earth. To do   
   so, we need mindfulness and   
   intention.   
      
   As human beings, we are influenced by our environment. If we create an   
   environment of aggression and   
   disharmony, stress will become the norm. Conversely, if we create an   
   environment of kindness, love,   
   discipline, and generosity, we will all begin to feel a sense of peace.   
      
   One characteristic of this dark age is that we doubt our innate goodness. We   
   look outside ourselves for   
   fulfillment, and this creates individualism, in which we believe only in our   
   own interests. We solidify our mind   
   and consciousness—which are naturally fluid and harmonious—into material   
   entities. We become hard   
   individuals who communicate through anger and arrogance. We believe that what   
   will satisfy us is material,   
   and with this view we create a hard, angry, and materialistic world.   
      
   At present, the world seems to be running on self-centeredness, speed, and   
   aggression. As this pattern   
   exacerbates, the possibility of peace, both personally and socially, will   
   diminish. Materialism will never make   
   us happy because it is of a different nature than consciousness. Even though   
   material things are important,   
   they are not fundamentally at the core of human beings. The antidote for this   
   materialistic outlook is peace,   
   the opposite of stress.   
      
   In creating peace, our relationship with the environment is critical,   
   particularly our relationship with the inner   
   environment—our consciousness. If we don’t have a peaceful and harmonious   
   relationship with our own being,   
   it will be impossible for us to create peace anywhere else. Without a personal   
   experience of peace, we won’t   
   even believe in the possibility. Therefore, we must become mindful of peace.   
      
   Looking at modern champions of peace such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther   
   King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and   
   the Dalai Lama, we see that as life put them to the test, they all came to the   
   conclusion that peace is the   
   way. How did they do it? As they developed mindfulness of peace, they   
   identified it as their true state of   
   being. Their example demonstrates that the discovery of inner peace does not   
   belong to any one religion or   
   belief system; it is a universal human potential.   
      
   To bring peace to the world, each of us must take on the responsibility of   
   discovering inner peace. The first   
   step in the process is to develop a meditative discipline. There is little   
   possibility of discovering peace when   
   we are caught up in the speed and stress of daily life. We all need to   
   cultivate contemplative self-awareness   
   in a period of daily introspection.   
      
   The benefit of such a discipline is that we become mindful. What is   
   mindfulness? It is the ability to appreciate   
   our own life, moment to moment, because we are able to access our own   
   consciousness. There is the   
   material world and there is the conscious world, and meditation deals with the   
   conscious world. Reducing our   
   activities for even ten minutes a day by sitting down to contemplate our lives   
   leads to awareness that our   
   situation is precious. At any moment that could change, but for now we have   
   the ability to relax in peace,   
   taking a break from the continual discursiveness in our mind.   
      
   It is understandable that our mind is busy: our whole life is very busy, and   
   we have been training our mind in   
   busy-ness. In the practice of meditation, we are reclaiming it. As we begin to   
   relate with our mind, our   
   alertness and mindfulness increase.   
      
   At first it's just a matter of trying to be present, so we connect with our   
   breath. Then we have to remember   
   to follow the breath, come back to the breath, and let the thoughts go. As our   
   sense faculties—sight, sound,   
   smell, taste, touch—begin to relax, we start noticing how we feel. Our   
   consciousness has now become more   
   subtle and soft. What we are feeling is the mindfulness of being alive.   
      
   How does this practice help us in daily life? As we do it, we begin to glimpse   
   our own richness, which is peace   
   and equanimity. This experience gradually makes us less aggressive. Our senses   
   take on a richer quality, with   
   a strong sense of appreciation. We have mindfulness of our feelings. We begin   
   to feel how we feel. Then we   
   are able to make intelligent decisions about what to do with our emotions.   
      
   Sometimes people ask, “What do I do when I feel jealous?” or, “How do I   
   get less angry?” With consistent daily   
   practice, we calm the waves of our mind at a deep level. Then when a tsunami   
   of emotion arises during the   
   day, we can do what I call “situational contemplation”—looking at the   
   arising emotion and slowly unraveling   
   it, rather than throwing a tantrum or having another drink. Having learned to   
   engage in mindfulness, we no   
   longer struggle against the world so much. We can accomplish our activity   
   fluidly, with ease.   
      
   Mindfulness teaches us to be aware of how we are manifesting and how we are   
   relating to our mind. With   
   space in the mind, we are able to appreciate simplicity and satisfaction. We   
   also become aware that if we   
   shift our attention by just a few degrees, it’s easy to fall into   
   negativity. By the same token, it’s easy to go   
   in a positive direction.   
      
   Mindfulness leads to gentleness. This frees us from the poison of   
   individuality, which thinks that everything   
   always has to be based on “me.” Our gentleness toward ourselves translates   
   into consideration for others. I   
   define gentleness as not being rude. Rudeness is a failure to see our own   
   worth, which leads to personal   
   discomfort and outer displays of aggression and social indecency. Gentleness   
   brings concern for our behavior   
   and its environmental effect. As we develop proper conduct, our inner light   
   shines forth. This is an outcome   
   of mindfulness, because whatever the mind decides, the body will follow. That   
   is why mindfulness is such a   
   key element in creating peace.   
      
   Peace is not based on meditation alone. However, meditation is the best way to   
   build mindfulness.   
   Mindfulness fosters emotional alertness and clarity, which bring clear   
   communication to any sphere of daily   
   life. Mindfulness leads to consideration for others, which is the building   
   block of a good society. It leads to   
   decency.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)