Teachings:
October 29, 2006 November 26, 2006
Geshe Jinpa's Advice
The second teaching session on the last Sunday of every month is reserved for Questions and Answers. It is a time when students can ask any questions and receive advice or spiritual guidance from our precious teacher Geshe Jinpa Sonama.
October 29, 2006
Note: The following is from a student's notes. If there are any errors or miss-reporting it is solely the responsibility of JoAnn Bush, the most unworthy of all of Geshe-la's students. However, in the hope that these notes will be of benefit to someone and perhaps lead to a deeper understanding of the Dharma, I present them here.
Question: As a lay person, how can I balance the idea of impermanence in my daily life?
Answer: The practice of the Dharma is an internal practice. It doesn't matter if you're a monk or not as long as you have a good intention. At the physical level, you can be driving a car...at the mental level you can be generate loving compassion while you drive. From one level it is very easy. At another level it is very difficult. But, approached from the right way, there should be no conflict.
Question:Our technological society allows us so much free time, yet we can't seem to make time for our practice - not even 1/2 hour a day. Can you help with this?
Answer: This same question was raised by a student of the Dalai Lama. You must have a conviction of your own impermanence. You don't practice because we harbor a sense of permanence and self-grasping. This kind of mentality takes a lot of time to generate.
It is important to manage your own time. If you look closely, you will see that there is probably time you are not using in a meaningful way. If you try to finish all you have set for yourself to do before you can meditate...the unending chores you have listed...you will never finish the chores and you will never get to your practice. It is better to limit yourself...limit what you must finish before you can sit down to your practice.
Question: I have a lot of intrusive negative thoughts that seem to pop up out of no where. How can I stop this unwanted mental activity?
Answer: You can say that we're more used to negative thoughts than positive ones. This comes from the imprints of our negative karma. First, look closely and analyze. These negative thoughts are not caused by the person who seems to instigate them. They come from your own ignorance. By determining where they come from, you can eliminate them. But this will take time.
Question: I sometimes feel that I'm losing my credibility by trying to stay positive. Many of my peers say I'm living on Sesame Street. They think I'm a wimp as a boss.
Answer: We discussed this before. Use the wisdom that helps the organization in the long term. Buddha himself tried to live within the mundane rules of the organization, group, etc. that he was in.
Everything depends on context. You have to use your intelligence. So maybe you're doing the individual a favor by firing him or her even if as a Buddhist you think you should have compassion and wish he could keep his job...and, in fact, in a different world you wouldn't fire him. If there is a person who is always causing problems, you don't need to show your patience which might cause even more problems. The important thing is to help the problem maker change so he's not causing problems for the group. You can do this through many different means. Use your wisdom to determine which one will work. The idea is that you want to help the individual.
There is such a thing as wrong compassion or wrong patience. If you see the Buddha meditating and he's getting skinnier and skinnier (from not eating) and you feel compassion, it is wrong compassion because he is becoming happier and happier as he reaches enlightenment.
Also, it is wrong patience when it spoils the individual so he can no longer function. This is wrong. You are probably getting angrier and angrier and hating the person more and more as you patiently spoil them. Practicing patience is not letting your negative mind take over.
Teachings:
October 29, 2006 November 26, 2006
Geshe Jinpa Sonam's Teaching, Hindu Temple of Central Indian, February 2008