XPost: alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, alt.zen, talk.politics.tibet   
   XPost: talk.religion.buddhism   
   From: peter@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com   
      
   by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche   
      
   The Secret of True Success   
      
   Although we’re intelligent people in a technologically sophisticated world,   
   we’re often confused about the meaning of   
   success, because we are caught in the cycle of thinking that outside factors   
   will bring us what we want. We’re in a very   
   materialistic society. Our mind is trained to naturally adhere itself to   
   everything and anything. It wants things to be a certain   
   way. So we mistakenly associate worldly activity with negative emotion:   
   success comes from using ambition and greed to   
   make things go our way. Our first thought in the morning is often some   
   variation of “What about me? Will I get what I want   
   today?” And when the world gives us what we want, we call it a good life, a   
   good day, success.   
      
   In Shambhala, what we call a good life and a good day is something different.   
   True success is having a fulfilled, meaningful,   
   and permanently happy mind. To achieve this kind of success, we have to   
   continually point ourselves in the right direction. If   
   we want to be successful, we need to learn what our own mind is and how it   
   works, no matter what beliefs we hold. Without   
   the ability to rule our thoughts, we are seduced or abducted by every whim   
   that walks through the door. Being trapped by   
   negative emotions and perpetuating them is not success—it is ignorance. The   
   magnet of “What about me?” dulls our mind   
   and draws away windhorse—the ability to bring about true success.   
      
   We are taught at such a young age to fight for everything, and to hold on to   
   what we get. The time of death is painful   
   because everything we fought for is taken away. We’re left with anxiety,   
   suffering, and not knowing. The Buddha said we   
   need to look beyond this: What can be gained that we can truly have? True   
   success is beyond our conventional level of   
   expectation. It requires a slightly different approach to life, one in which   
   we’re letting go a little bit.   
      
   We have to learn to think beyond our immediate satisfaction.   
      
   In meditation, we train the mind to wake up. First we train it to focus on   
   what is happening in the moment, underneath our   
   habitual self-absorption. The mindfulness and awareness we learn offer the   
   revolutionary opportunity to observe the   
   movement of the mind without being swept into it. In following the breath we   
   soon see that thoughts are mere vibrations of   
   the mind, not our personal identity. In relaxing our grip on “me,” we’re   
   laying the foundation for a shift in attitude that has   
   the power to change our lives. For a short time each day, we are cultivating   
   peace rather than anger and jealousy.   
      
   That feeling of peace lays the ground for seeing clearly where we are: Our   
   life is precious, and it will end. The power of   
   karma is as inescapable a force as gravity. Continually making decisions in   
   the name of “me” keeps us on the wheel of   
   suffering, the opposite of success. We also begin to realize our inherent   
   noble qualities, such as love and compassion. What is   
   happening with others? Just like us, they want happiness. Like us, they do not   
   want to suffer.   
      
   When we contemplate these qualities in formal meditation, compassion and love   
   may feel overwhelming. We’ve been doing   
   “What about me?” practice for so long that opening up is scary. But as we   
   visualize our mother, our child, or someone else   
   we love, we start to feel a little bit of caring. We want that person to be   
   happy, and to know the good mind that brings   
   happiness. That feeling is considered to be the source of a limitless love   
   that we all have. We stabilize it, enlarge it, and   
   practice taking it off the cushion and into our day. Eventually we might be   
   able to say, “May that driver in front of me enjoy   
   happiness and the root of happiness,” instead of honking our car horn.   
      
   Wishing others happiness at school or in the office may bring up jealousy,   
   agitation, and other emotions. Although the point   
   of thinking of others is not to heighten our own negativity, seeing how we   
   hang on to “me” can deepen our feeling for what   
   others are experiencing. Everyone suffers in the same way for the same reason:   
   we’re all thinking of “me” because we   
   mistakenly believe that it will bring success and happiness. As we generate   
   compassion, we can keep this in mind, but not   
   with a sense of one-upmanship, as in, “I see you doing it, too.” Genuine   
   compassion is not demeaning to others. There’s an   
   element of letting go.   
      
   Specifically wishing happiness for people we don’t like can make them easier   
   to deal with. If we have a list of ten people we   
   are angry with, as we work our way through the list, we will find it becoming   
   easier to forgive. We can use the strength of   
   mind we’ve built through practice to let go of negative elements instead of   
   being used by them. We begin to see the   
   transparent quality of our grudges.   
      
   We may feel compassion in just the heart or mind, but this practice is   
   transforming our whole body, putting us in tune with   
   the nature of things. The nature is selflessness. When we solidify thoughts,   
   feelings, memories, projections, assumptions,   
   and opinions into a solid “self,” we butt our head against reality. This   
   tension creates discursiveness, which inflames the   
   emotions, which leads to suffering. When we respond to situations with   
   compassion, wisdom arises and cuts through the   
   habitual pattern of selfhood. Our infatuation with “me” becomes a little   
   less compelling.   
   Helping others will bring us the success we want, because extending ourselves   
   to others increases our life-force energy—   
   lungta (Tib.), windhorse. You see the image of windhorse printed on the prayer   
   flags that flutter in the breeze all over Tibet.   
   It is the ability to bring about long life, good health, success, and   
   happiness. When we have windhorse, we are able to   
   accomplish what we want without many obstacles.   
      
   On its back, windhorse carries a wish-fulfilling jewel. This jewel represents   
   the ability to extend love and compassion. Love   
   means that we want others to experience happiness. Compassion means that we   
   wish for them not to suffer. If we extend   
   ourselves to others with this attitude, our life will be successful in both a   
   spiritual and a worldly way. Learning to balance the   
   worldly with the spiritual has nothing to do with vocation, and everything to   
   do with intention.   
      
   Some may consider the Shambhala approach unrealistic. But in fact it is the   
   most expedient, smooth, and practical way to   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)