3 October 2004: Check your heart - The importance of reflection

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Buddhist Hour
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Buddhist Hour Script 349 for Sunday 3 October, 2004

This script is entitled: Check your heart - The importance of reflection

Plato said “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile”.

Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when said, “It was a great surprise to me when I discovered that most of the ugliness I saw in others, was but a reflection of my own nature.”(Hill, 1966)

A powerful method of self-reflection is currently being practised by many of the Members of our Centre. “The Book” is a method devised by Geshe Michael Roach, a fully ordained Buddhist monk who received his geshe (master of Buddhism) degree from Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery after twenty-two years of study. A teacher of Buddhism since 1981, he is also a scholar of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Russian, and has translated numerous works. Geshe Michael Roach founded and directs the Asian Classics Institute, as well as the Asian Classics Input Project, and has been active in the restoration of Sera Mey Monastery.

Buddhist practitioners keep a minimum of five vows, or precepts, but may keep many more, depending upon their individual practice.

The five vows are:

No killing
No stealing
No sexual misconduct
No lying
No intoxicants that cloud the mind

The practice of “The Book” basically involves taking a blank notebook, ruling it into six boxes on one side, and then putting one vow in each box. Under the vow is written a plus sign, a minus sign, and a small heading that reads ‘to do’.

For example, the first box may contain the precept “No Killing”.

The practitioner looks at the precept, and thinks back over the last 24 hours, reflecting “What have I done during the last 24 hours to avoid killing?”

Perhaps he or she carefully swept some ants outside to avoid harming them, and then took the rubbish outside to prevent them from being attracted inside again.

Okay, so write “Saved some ants” next to the plus sign.

Move to the minus sign.

Maybe the practitioner thought that saving the lives of the ants coming out between the tiles in the bathroom was just too hard.

So write “Killed off some ants in the bathroom due to lack of patience”.

The practitioner then has the opportunity to reflect on his or her own behaviour.

Against the final sub-heading of “To do”, he or she then writes a concrete action to be taken.

For example “Put silicon in the cracks between the bathroom tiles to stop ants from coming in”. This has to be a small, specific action that can be completed in the next 24 to 48 hours.

The six boxes are for six times during the day when you stop, look at the vow in the appropriate box, and check your heart.

The intention of the practice of “The Book” is to bring your morality down to nuts and bolts, real life, specific things that are happening.

Sometimes it may seem difficult to find an action or an aspect of your behaviour that relates directly to a vow, but these precepts have a greater depth of meaning than appears at first glance.

The Five Wonderful Mindfulness Trainings below are Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's translation of the 5 basic precepts as taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni. The Buddha offered these precepts to both his ordained and lay followers so that they could have clear guidelines to lead mindful and joyful lives on the path to awakening. Thich Nhat Hanh has updated the precepts so that they are beautifully appropriate and relevant in today's society. In his book entitled "For a Future to be Possible", Thich Nhat Hanh describes in detail how the Five Wonderful Mindfulness Trainings can be used by anyone in today's world to create a more harmonious and peaceful life. Here are Thich Nhat Hahn’s translation of the Five Precepts.

The First Mindfulness Training:
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.

The Second Mindfulness Training:
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways to work for the well being of people, animals, plants and minerals. I vow to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

The Third Mindfulness Training:
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I vow to cultivate responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families and society. I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.

The Fourth Mindfulness Training:
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I vow to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

The Fifth Mindfulness Training:
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practising mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practising a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

Geshe Michael Roach also advocates the use of free association to think of appropriate items to record in your book.

Morality starts small, self-control starts small. After a couple of months, practitioners find their self-control, their reflection, becomes very powerful.

The important thing is to keep The Book, six times a day, every day.

In the Buddhist world-view, all happiness you have ever experienced arises from moral action, and all unhappiness you have ever experienced arises from immoral or unwholesome action.

So why not program yourself for morality, and thus program your own future happiness?

According to Joseph Murphy, in his book “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” (1963) suggests that the subconscious is totally neutral in a moral sense. “In other words, it is happy to adopt any habit as ‘normal’ - good or bad. We blithely let negative thoughts drop into the subconscious every minute of our lives, then are surprised when they find expression in day-to-day experiences and relationships. While there are some things that will happen to us that we had no role in creating, these are in fact rare. Mostly, the bad that happens is in us all ready, waiting for the light of day.

“.. if it is … a matter of replacing existing mental images with new ones, you begin to see the ease with which you may change.”

People who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common. They all know the reasons for failure and have what they believe to be air-tight alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement.

Following is a list of the some of the commonly used alibis:

IF I didn’t have a wife and family . . .
IF I had enough “pull” . . .
IF I had money . . .
IF I had a good education . . .
IF I could get a job . . .
IF I had good health . . .
IF I only had time . . .
IF times were better . . .
IF other people understood me . . .
IF conditions around me were only different . . .
IF I could live my life over again . . .
IF I did not fear what “they” would say . . .
IF I had been given a chance . . .
IF I now had a chance . . .
IF other people didn’t “have it in for me” . . .
IF nothing happens to stop me . . .
IF I were only younger . . .
IF I could only do what I want . . .
IF I had been born rich . . .
IF I could meet “the right people” . . .
IF I had the talent that some people have . . .
IF I dared assert myself . . .
IF I only had embraced past opportunities . . .
IF people didn’t get on my nerves . . .
IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children . . .
IF I could save some money . . .
IF the boss only appreciated me . . .
IF only I had someone to help me . . .
IF my family understood me . . .
IF I lived in a big city . . .
IF I could just get started . . .
IF I were only free . . .
IF I had the personality of some people . . .
IF I were not so fat . . .
IF my talents were known . . .
IF I just get a “break” . . .
IF I could only get out of debt . . .
IF I hadn’t failed . . .
IF I only knew how . . .
IF everybody didn’t oppose me . . .
IF I didn’t have so many worries . . .
IF I could marry the right person . . .
IF people weren’t so dumb . . .
IF my family were not so extravagant . . .
IF I were sure of myself . . .
IF luck were not against me . . .
IF I had not been born under the wrong star . . .
IF it were not true that “what is to be will be” . . .
IF I did not have to work so hard . . .
IF I hadn’t lost my money . . .
IF I lived in a different neighborhood . . .
IF I didn’t have a “past” . . .
IF I only had a business of my own . . .
IF other people would only listen to me . . .
(Hill, 1966)

The goal is to develop a good heart.

But what are the benefits of a good heart?

Dale Carnegie was a US lecturer, author and teacher and became an instant success with the hugely popular “ How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Like most of his books, it reveals little that was unknown about human psychology but stresses that an individual’s attitude is crucial.

It appears that what is needed for success is the ability to talk the talk within the chosen culture.

Spiritual experience to develop the good heart is not yet a popular field for scientific inquiry in Western culture. However, a small band of scientists have begun to look at scientific data in relation to the various altered states of consciousness.

James H. Austin, a neurologist, describes such an experience.

After 8 years of Zen training, he spent a sabbatical year at the London Zen Center. One morning, while waiting for a train, he suddenly felt the loss of his “I-me-mine” perspective, and the scene around him seemed to acquire an “absolute reality, intrinsic rightness, and ultimate perfection.”

He felt that his experience was impossible to fully describe, that he had nothing to fear, and he immediately took himself less seriously. This experience inspired him to initiate a scientific investigation into the neurology of enlightenment which he describes in his book Zen and the Brain (1998, MIT Press).

We prefer the term “the good heart” to “the good mind”.

Some persons may query if there is much proof in developing the mind. If the mind is thought of as permanent, how could it change? Not only is the mind consciousness impermanent and subject to change, but it is also the chief of all happenings according to Buddha Dharma.

The mind is not only chief, but is also the driver of change for each individual’s behaviour in the world.

Persons might argue it is difficult to see why one would bother to assume something ought to be cultivated only to have it change. The changing mental flux is a large problem when we come to the practice.

The evidence for doing something about the good heart is strong in Buddha Dhamma literature.

Over the last 2,500 years, many persons have reported that through developing their minds, they have discovered for themselves a better state of heart than before they commenced spiritual practice. Increased awareness and understanding of present happenings is the mark of success.

Their testimony verifies the benefits of the practice of undertaking training designed to reduce the clinging to things.

Cognitive science is a young and developing field. Austin believes that a better understanding of the brain areas that contribute to the sense of self, possibly including the thalamus and amygdala, will lead to insight about spiritual enlightenment.

This is still a materialist approach.

Psychologist Eleanor Rosch collaborated with cognitive scientist Francisco J. Varela and philosopher Evan Thompson on The Embodied Mind (1993, MIT Press) to produce a review and critique of the state of cognitive science. They conclude that Western science and philosophy have brought us to the point where we can no longer believe in a solid foundation of experience.

They go on to describe the Buddhist mindfulness awareness tradition as just such a program of first-person inquiry into the nature of groundlessness, and call for a dialogue between cognitive science and the Middle Way as a means of integrating experience and science.

The Buddhist texts stand alone in this regard.

In 'Language Truth & Logic' A.J. Ayer describes the elimination of metaphysics as a process for developing one's mind. He states that the 'traditional disputes of philosophers are, for the most part, as unwarranted as they are unfruitful. The surest way to end it is to establish beyond question what should be the purpose and method of philosophical inquiry'.

In his criticism of the metaphysical thesis he states that 'philosophy affords us knowledge of a reality transcending the world of science and common sense.'

One way of attacking a metaphysician who claimed to have knowledge of a reality which transcended the phenomenal world would be to enquire from what premises his propositions were deduced.

There is no logic base to the argument of a metaphysical discussion because it is ultimately based on the evidence of the senses.

'Many metaphysical utterances are due to the commission of logical errors, rather than to a conscious desire on the part of their authors to go beyond the limits of experience.'

Metaphysics practitioners would say that intellectual intuition enables them to know facts that could not be known through sense-experience.

'One cannot overthrow a system of transcendent metaphysics merely by criticising the way in which it comes into being. What is required is rather a criticism of the nature of the actual statements which comprise it.’

'The labours of those who have striven to describe such a reality have all been devoted to the production of nonsense.’

But when Buddha Dhamma statements are studied, they are found to be a practical guide of how to live in the world if a person chooses to stay within the becoming of birth and death processes.

If you want to develop your mind, investigate how it actually functions. The mind can be compared to a horse, with you as its master. If you wish to tame a horse you must know its habitual behaviour. If the horse is trained well, it will do what you request. However, the horse will usually act according to a pattern of habitual behaviour. If you want to change this pattern, the horse may refuse, because it is stubborn and wants to do what it always has done.

If we leave the horse untrained, it cannot be relied upon and causes all sorts of trouble.

The horse might run too fast, or jump and throw you off; it may not move at all. What use is a horse like that?

When tamed, the horse is obedient because it has a good heart. We say that the heart we are born with is the result of our many actions from the past (our kamma). We may have a very good heart, but if we don't train it, its good capacities are wasted.

Some persons are born bright, but die dull.

The heart can be method and means, a tool that we can alter. In Buddha Dhamma, much attention is given to cultivating the wholesome heart. If we let the unwholesome heart take over, we will have many problems and our suffering will never come to an end

You can replace the simile of the horse with any animal.

For example, in Japan it is the ox. Master Andre Sollier teaches Sumi-e at our Centre. Last year (2000) he taught the ‘Searching for the Ox: A Series of Ox herding Paintings’. It is a sequence of 10 pictures showing how the mind is tamed.

We have uploaded these paintings, including text adapted from poetry written by Japanese Zen Master Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki onto our websites at www.buyresolved.com.au.

The ox represents the heart. The first picture is entitled "Undisciplined" (meaning untamed).

"The wild beast snorts, horns projected fiercely;
The crazy black ox; energy undirected. Frantically runs to and fro to nowhere.
Over the valley moves a dark thunderous cloud.
The destructive hooves, trampling the delicate flora."
Next, the ox, restrained by the nose with a straw rope,
Attempts to flee, whipped, whipped, severely beaten.
The powerful creature naturally wild and resistant to training,
The trainer unrelenting with his firm grip and striking whip.
Next, slowly becoming comfortable led by the nose,
From the mountain top, down the valley and by the stream, that ox contentedly follows.
The leader holds the straw rope tight,
One foot in front of the other, aware all day long, except of his own fatigue.
Next, the benefits of training begin to show as the ox is faced round,
The fierce and dominant beast has now melted into a gentle creature.
Although now broken, the trainer does not give the ox his full trust.
The ox is tied to a tree with the straw rope the master still keeps.
Next, under the breezy willow and by the shimmering stream,
The ox is free to pursue what he desires with his free time,
Come dusk, a haze falls over the pasture,
The boy stands and heads home, animal not hesitating to follow calmly.
Next, on the peaceful pastures the beast whiles away the time,
Confidence consolidated, restraint free forever, the whip is no longer required.
The boy can now relax under the pine tree,
His happiness expressed by his playing of peaceful music.
What is your good heart doing now?
In the last picture, entitled "Both Vanished", the aim is achieved (the heart is tamed):
"Empty, both gone, steps without trace,
Full moon upon the lake, no impression, nothing to carry,
What comes of its meaning,
Nothing to own, offer the flowers."

If we leave our heart untamed for too long, it will be too late to change, just as an old or sick horse cannot be trained any more, or an old ox cannot work any more.

The Buddha Dhamma Teacher who knows the student's heart can show the student what he or she needs to do when the proper request for taming is made with sincerity and the will to do is available.

The Lord Buddha has given many teachings about training the good heart.

How do we test our approach to training?

The wrong idea about work is a source of trouble to many persons. "A person in charge of the work" means that we use concentration and discernment to get the job done. "Work in charge of the person" means that we're lacking in concentration and discernment, and think of the work even when we're lying in bed. "Work in charge of the work" means that some things are out of control with the untamed heart.

A heart without concentration is like a pile of wooden posts left lying on the ground for persons and animals to step all over. But if we stand the posts up and plant them in the soil, we can get good use out of them. Even if they're not tall--only a meter or so--but we put them close together in a line, we can fence in our yard and prevent intruders and animals from coming into our property. It's the same with our heart. If we take a firm stance in concentration as the heart's foundation, keeping our mindfulness and presence of mind close together in line, we can keep defilements from slipping into the heart and making it soiled.

Wise consideration is the heart of spiritual life and the foundation on which the mansion of deliverance is built. If not for wise thinking, life would be run amok due to the weight of defilements (asavas).

To consider wisely is to weigh a thing well in one's mind; to deliberate on the reasons for and against; to reflect and reason out action as opposed to being impulsive; and to determine intentionally the right course, having analysed and separated the right from the wrong views, the good from the bad actions.

This wholesome mental activity of weighing it all up is what determines the course of a person's life--whether life is to be progressive or retrogressive, whether one's conduct is to be purposeful and beneficial or the contrary, whether one is to get more and more involved in kamma and be fettered helplessly to recurring existence, or one is to wrench oneself from the grip of kamma and access the Supramundane dimension of spiritual deliberation--Nibbana. But there is to be no sitting on the fence; because there is nothing in between good and evil; there is nothing in between wise and unwise consideration.

The good heart gets clarity of the situation in all cases when it lets go of negative ideas.

In earlier days life was a lot simpler, so cluttering the heart with rubbish was less likely.

May our listeners come to reflect on the simple practice that results in non-clinging to the Teacher or the method, and when this is known may they know, each for himself or herself, this practice is correct.

The regular and gradual “emptying” of the good heart is the only guarantee of mental health.

May you obtain insight into peace.

May you be well and happy.

This script was written, compiled and edited by Leanne Eames.

References:

Hill, Napoleon, Think and Grow Rich, Wilshire Book Company, Hollywood, 1966 (p291-292)

http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio313.html, What is Buddha Dharma? (accessed 1/10/2004)

http://www.speakeasy.org/~tchilders/mgl_html/precept.html, The Five Wonderful Mindfulness Trainings (accessed 1/10/2004)

Murphy, Joseph, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Penguin USA, 2000

http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio186.html, The Benefits of Developing a Good Heart

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