Train the Mind in Stillness and Action

Garrett Speight, LV. 2 Buddhism Class, Buddha Mind Monastery

In today’s modern world, people have lost sight of what is truly important. People chase after money, fame, and lust as if these are all that matter. In reality, these things are only temporary and can completely lead one away from the Noble Eightfold Path. This kind of search only perpetuates the cycle of Samsara. If we ever want to free our minds, we must first learn to overcome our clinging and attachments. Only then can we observe the mind in its original state and gain real knowledge.

Overcoming our attachments is much easier said than done, though. These desires are deeply rooted and require constant effort to eradicate, especially when the society around us pushes these desires onto us. We might not even realize how attached we are until we try to give them up. Then, it feels like tearing oneself apart. However, if we can manage to give them up, then we will have a deeper peace and happiness than any of these could ever provide. When we crave money, lust, or fame, we only take ourselves further away from the Dharma. The way of a true Dharma practitioner is to investigate why these desires arise and why we cling to them in such a way. By doing this, we can learn to be content with what we already have instead of always searching for more. We can also examine these desires as being impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not self. When we believe that these thoughts are ours—or something we choose to think—then craving arises. We think they are correct because we assume ownership of them. But where do they arise from, and who is aware of their arising? We can simply watch the mind and see these thoughts arise and cease, thereby understanding their empty nature. Then, once the mind is settled and at peace, we can start to see its true nature— that which knows. This pure awareness is always present, yet it is obscured by our desires for material things such as money, fame, or lust.

People often think that if they had more money, everything would be better. This kind of thinking just leads to more suffering. Instead, we should learn to be content with having little. Look at the monks and nuns who have renounced all of this—they should be our example. Even when we do have a lot of money, our problems remain or new ones arise. Maybe we get some money and buy a lot of nice things, but then we worry about them breaking or about what might happen if someone steals our possessions. It is just trading one kind of dukkha for another. Even when we have money, it’s not permanent. I remember back when I had a better-paying job and a nicer house, but I would worry about what would happen if I got another job and could no longer afford any of these things. Instead, now I live in a smaller house and am much happier doing so. It should be this way with all things.

Some people want to be famous and have fans all over the world; however, this fame creates a lot of stress and pressure on people. There are countless celebrities who can never get away from either the paparazzi or constant attention. Many of them would just like to return to a normal life of peace and quiet. In my own life, I know people who are well-known throughout town, but constant attention has made it so that they don’t even want to go into the grocery store because of the stress it brings. The Buddha himself praised seclusion, and despite having thousands of lay and monastic disciples, he would still go into a solitary Rain’s Retreat.

Lust is a constant problem for people today. The Buddha compared this kind of mind to a fish being trapped in a net. This is one of the greatest hindrances. We desire either to love someone or simply attempt to fill a craving. When people let lust guide them through life, they are no better than an animal suffering in the realm of desire. Following the Dharma, we seek to free ourselves from suffering. The Buddha left his family in order to find an end to our suffering. He knew that by living a worldly life, he would not be able to find an end to suffering.

Many people build their lives around these three things and aren’t ready to give them up. They don’t see that what they attach to is impermanent. All these things are simply the Eight Worldly Dharmas: gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness. To truly practice, however, some renunciation is necessary. Who is it that is holding on so tightly to all these things? Investigate in this way, and you will experience it firsthand. Recognize that the ego is the source of all your craving and suffering. The only thing that is stopping you is yourself. We may try to blame something external instead, but that only reinforces our attachment to the ego. Going beyond the self, we can find true freedom, pure awareness, and our Buddha Nature. All that is needed is to let go. Our mind, with its afflictions, is like a pearl that has been left in the dirt. We simply need to clean it to reveal its radiance again. This should be the goal for anyone who wishes to follow the Buddha’s Teachings.