Talk by American monk: Ven. Kusala (audio)

Ven. Kusala Bhikshu (a.k.a. Thich Tum Thien, urbandharma.org), AgainstTheStream.org, Melrose Avenue, Hollywood; Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ven. Kusala (center) at IBMC, the International Buddhist Meditation Center, L.A.

PODCAST: "More Than One," a Dharma talk by Ven. Kusala, Nov. 29, 2017, L.A.

Talk on white supremacy at POC/Allies Against the Stream Group, LA (JoAnna Harper)

"The Buddha and His Teachings" (Narada)

Ven. Narada (via UrbanDharma.org); Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha and His Teaching by Ven. Narada is is one of the clearest and most detailed introductions to the fundamental teachings of Buddhism available in English.

In simple and lucid language the monk-author explains the doctrines and concepts that form the common bedrock of Buddhism as preserved by the Theravada school.

The first part of the work is devoted to the life of the Buddha. The remainder of the book explains in detail the Buddha's teachings, the final chapter showing the relevance of Buddhism to the problems of modern life.

 

Ven. Narada Maha Thera (born Sumanapala Perera, July 14, 1898-October 2, 1983) was a Theravada Buddhist monk and translator, the abbot of Vajirarama Temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a popular figure in his native island country and beyond.

 

Born in Kotahena in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo to a middle-class family, he was educated at St. Benedict's College and Ceylon University College and ordained as a Buddhist monastic at the age of 18.

 

In 1929 he represented Sri Lanka at the opening ceremony for the new Mulagandhakuti Vihara monastery in Sarnath, India, and in 1934 he visited Indonesia, the first Theravada monk to do so in more than 450 years.

From that point on he traveled to many countries as a Buddhist missionary: Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Nepal, and Australia.

In 1956, he visited the United Kingdom and the United States and addressed a huge crowd at the Washington Monument.

 

Along with others (such as Ven. Piyadassi) he contributed to the popularization of the sermon (bana) style Dharma talk in the 1960s and brought Buddhist teachings "to the day-to-day lives of the Westernized middle class in Sri Lanka." Free download (3.9 MB PDF)

Dalai Lama: California State Legislature (video)

14th Dalai Lama; Kusala Bhikshu (urbandharma.org); Wisdom Quarterly

California loves Tibetan Buddhist leader.

The 14th and current Dalai Lama addresses the California State Legislature on June 20, 2016, during his first visit to California's state capital Sacramento. The California State Legislature has not held a joint session with a foreign dignitary since 2014.

F Rodeo Drive! "A People's Guide to LA"

Whitney Friedlander, LAWeekly.com; Ven. Piyananda; Wisdom Quarterly

Saffron Days in L.A. (Read excerpts)

Let the tour buses take the throngs to visit Marilyn Monroe's handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater or to press their noses up to the windows on Rodeo Drive and wander Beverly Hills like they're Julia Roberts. 

  

Despite what the entertainment industry would have us believe, the city of Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods have a much richer, often conflicted history than just those landmarks -- and A People's Guide to Los Angeles, just released by UC Press, would like to make sure we don't forget it.

    

Researched for more than 15 years by Laura Pulido, Laura Barraclough, and Wendy Cheng -- three Southern California natives and academics with backgrounds in ethnic studies or sociology -- and cultivated from published and personal accounts of Los Angeles' long-standing political, social, and racial power struggles, the travel guide was released this month and includes 115 sites of interest for the progressive-minded explorer. 

  

"We're looking to reach a whole group of tourists who might find themselves dissatisfied..." More

"Hello" - When Karmin moved from Nebraska to LA, capital of the world

Give up that foolish religion! (Self-reflection)

Thich Thien-An, Zen Philosophy, Zen Practice (IBMC.info via UrbanDharma.org) See PART I

A simple story shows the importance of self-reflection in daily life.

In ancient China there were many pious Buddhist families in which the religious life of Buddhism was shared by all its members.

But in more recent times a generation gap set in between parents and their children. The parents might be very devout Buddhists, while their children regarded them as old-fashioned and superstitious. 

In one such family the parents chanted sutras, practiced meditation, recited the name of the Buddha, and often went to the temple to hear Dharma-masters speak the Dharma and explain the discourses.

The son, however, would have none of these activities. He regarded Buddhism as a mass of superstition, ritual, and fantasy. He was interested only in science, technology, and the materialistic lures of modern life. 

The son continually pleaded with his parents to give up their Buddhist ideas. He criticized the concepts of Buddhist philosophy and mocked the practices in which his pious parents participated. 

One day, after his parents returned from temple, his father called his son to his room and spoke to him: "Son, it seems you are not happy to see your mother and me go to the Buddhist temple so often. You always criticize our religion. Would you like us to stop going to the temple?"

    

The son nodded his assent. "Well, I'll tell you something," the father continued, "we will never go to the temple again...." The son became excited [to hear it before the father continued:] "provided you could do for me one small favor. Are you willing to do it?"

 

"Oh yes, father, I would do anything to get you to throw off that religious nonsense." 

"Go to the store, and buy yourself a pencil and a small notebook. Then from today on, for the next week, I would like you to sit down for one hour a day, let your mind flow, and write down in the notebook every idea that comes into your mind -- every plan, every desire, every memory. The only thing I ask is that you do this honestly, with complete candor. Then come to me at the end of the week, and show me the notebook. Do you promise to do this?"

The son, thinking this an easy task, readily agreed. "You also keep your promise," he added. The father nodded. 

That night the son sat down at his desk and began to write. He wrote with complete honesty, not holding anything back. One moment this thought came into his mind, he wrote it down; the next moment that thought came into his mind, he wrote it down. He wrote down all his hopes and dreams and fantasies, all his desires and regrets and fears and memories. 

Thus he continued one hour each night for three nights. Then on the third night, as he lay on his bed, curiosity began to grow. He started to wonder what he had written the past few days. His curiosity grew stronger and stronger until he could not sleep. He jumped up and began to read. As he read through his notebook, a burning sense of shame overwhelmed him. He felt a pain gnaw at the heart as he poured through the pages he had written.

He thought of his mother and father and of their love for him, and all this provoked in him a disgust for his inward state of being, the state which he had candidly revealed in the pages of his notebook. 

Too ashamed to show the book to anyone, he threw it into the fire and watched over it until it was all consumed. Then he went to see his father. He found his father sitting in meditation before the Buddha altar in the shrine room. He entered and sat quietly behind him. After the father completed his meditation, he turned around and saw his son. 

Sensing that something was wrong, he asked: "What is the matter with you, son?" 

"You've won the game, father."

"What game?"

"Well," the son explained, "you asked me to write down all my thoughts and feelings an hour a day in a notebook. I kept my promise and did so honestly. Tonight I looked over my notebook and realized that I cannot show it to you. There are some thoughts and feelings I have that are just too private and of which I am too ashamed. Now I am aware that there is a great deal of imperfection in myself. I see that it is necessary to practice Buddhism to purify myself. Next time you go to the temple, please let me go with you."

This story clearly shows us the necessity for practicing meditation and cultivating the Way. Within the privacy of our minds pass many thoughts we would not reveal even to our closest friends and dearest loved ones: our minds are filled with dark tracks and shadows.

It is no solution to conceal these thoughts from others or from ourselves, for the impulses they spring from still remain and haunt us in the depths of our being. The only solution is to pursue the harmful thoughts to their roots in the heart/mind and extricate the roots. Then our minds will become pure and clear.

The first step in this process is to become aware of our faults. So long as we are blind to them, no self-cultivation can take place at all. For our passions, aversions, and delusions are the material upon which self-cultivation works. More

Buddha Nature and Self-Reflection

Thich Thien An, Zen Philosophy, Zen Practice, (IMBC.info via UrbanDharma.org) .See Part II

To know ourselves is first of all to know that our own true nature is the Buddha nature [our innate potential for enlightenment].

Just as the sun and moon are always shining but may not be visible because they are obscured by clouds and mist, so the Buddha nature is ever present within us, though it may not be apparent because it is covered over by the clouds of lust, hatred, and delusion.

To practice meditation is to remove the layers of clouds that conceal our true [potential] so that our Buddha nature may appear again, wonderful and radiant in its intrinsic [luminosity].

When the Buddha attained supreme enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he laughed. Why? Because before he was enlightened he thought the truth he was seeking was something distant from himself. But when he achieved enlightenment, he realized that the truth he sought was nothing other than his true nature, which was ever with him before the beginning of time. 

The whole process of samsara, of [beginningless] wandering through the painful round of birth and death, [in a sense started] merely because he had lost sight of his original nature. But his true nature had never departed from him. And when he became enlightened, he discovered that is was ever present, only needing his recognition to become apparent. 

To illustrate this truth, the Buddha [is alleged by later writer to have] related the following story in the Lotus Sutra:

Once [upon a time] in India there lived a family which consisted of a man, his wife, and their son. The parents were very rich; they owned many acres of land and had a large sum of money in the [vault] and great quantities of gold and jewels. 

However, their son was not very intelligent. The parents often worried about what would happen to him after they died, for he was so simpleminded that they did not think him capable of managing his own affairs. Then one day the father had an idea.

He gave his son a precious jewel of inestimable value and told him to keep the jewel tied up in his clothes. He was never to take it out until they died. Only then could he remove it, sell it in the marketplace, and use the money he received to support himself. 

The son bore his father's words in mind and kept the promise. Then one day, as the years passed by, his father died; several years later his mother died, and the son came by his full inheritance.

In his ignorance, however, the young man foolishly squandered his wealth on fruitless pursuits. He sold the furniture, the houses, the rice fields, the granaries, and all else. But while he spent, he did not earn. Thus before he knew it, he found himself a poor man, without a penny to his name, without even a roof over his head. He was reduced to the state of a beggar, wandering from house to house and from town to town begging for his meals. 

Some days he got enough to eat, but on other days he got no food at all. One day, overcome by hunger and exhaustion, he lay down in the middle of the street, too weak and tired to move.

Just then a Buddhist monk walked down the street and saw the young man lying on the ground. The monk began to help the man to his feet when suddenly a wonderful precious jewel fell out of the shredded clothing.

"Why are you begging for food," the monk asked, "when all the time you have had this precious jewel? Go sell it, and use the money to support yourself." The young man was struck with wonder and amazement at seeing this jewel he had forgotten about for so long. He sold it in the market, and with the money he got for it he was able to buy back all his former possessions. 

Never again did he have to suffer from poverty. The young man in the story always carried the jewel with him. It was only because he had forgotten about it that he had to suffer from poverty, hunger, and disease. When he discovered that the jewel was always with him, he was able to wipe out all his troubles. 

In the same way, we always carry about within ourselves the precious jewel of the Buddha nature [our own potential to realize the highest knowledge]. But because of our ignorance we do not perceive it and so undergo the sufferings of birth and death.

But when suddenly we become enlightened, we realize the Buddha nature was with us from the very beginning, and thereby we wipe out all the afflictions that have troubled us since we began the [beginningless] round of birth and death.

The Buddha nature [which sounds an awful like Brahmanism's concept of a permanent soul, self, or essence (atman) transmigrating through samsara inherited by the Mahayana school] is not something distant: it is the bright and precious substance of our original mind.

But though the Buddha nature is present within us, we are not yet Buddhas. The reason we are not is because we are still victims of the ego-delusion. Our minds are continually dominated by a seemingly endless train of egocentric thoughts -- greed, attachment, anger, pride, envy, and passion.

Self-reflection not only awakens us to the immaculate Essence of Mind, abiding silently in the mind's depths, but also brings to our attention the hordes of deluded thoughts that clutter its surface. It is only by becoming cognizant of our Weaknesses through self-reflection that we can work to remove the roots from which they spring.

It is only by careful analysis of the functioning of our minds that we can discover in ourselves the negative factors which hinder enlightenment and the positive factors which are conducive to enlightenment.... More

Brazil's "Zen Buddhist mountain"

Photoblog: Buddhist monks meditating on the 37th floor in Brazil (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

(MSNBC) Buddhist monks from the Busshinji Temple meditate on the helipad of the Copan Building in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil on Feb. 18, 2011. Once a month they meditate on top of the 37-story high building, one of the tallest in city. Monks want to take meditation from the temple to the streets, and they consider the Copan Building a "Zen Buddhist mountain" in the middle of the city.

To Rave or Not to Rave? (Electric Daisy Fest)

Seven Dharmachari (Wisdom Quarterly)

I went to this year's massive Electric Daisy Carnival (June 26, 2010). We thought it would be the best way to pretend it was the 60's -- except general admission is now $75. The fireworks were going, the helicopters were buzzing, the techno beats ricocheted off the concrete jungle in the sleazy environs of USC and the California Science Center (with its great exhibit on mummies).

It's not safe to walk, it's not safe to park, it's not safe to eat -- but dancing inside a large sports complex with 100,000 people for 12 hours, why not? As we sweat in our costumes, my friends rave about the transcendent experience to be had. They swear it's significant that the Moon is full and summer's finally here. Every city needs a venue for whirling-dervishes-in-training like us (because Coachella's an expensive dud way out in the boondocks, and Burning Man is for burnouts and voyeurs the next state over).

But the popo (LAPD riot squad) weren't making things easy: keeping ticket holders out, marching in riot formations, and looking for any excuse to shut the event down. Inside, the world revolved on a dance beat. And either we were all united under the umbrella of one enormous Buddha mind or just making some self-centered, small minded bid to be hedonists. I'm not sure which. We had to jump.

I screamed Kanzeon, Kanzeon! (Japanese for Kwan Yin, goddess of compassion, the new Zen mantra my friend Jan gave me) as I radiated my love in all directions. But in the days since, EDC has had a lot of explaining and cleaning up to do.

Six Ways the Dance Massive Can Clean Up its Act
Chris Martins (LA Weekly)
(Photo: EDC 2010, LA Weekly/Tim Norris). Our friends at URB brought you the indispensable guide to the Electric Daisy Carnival last week. So it's only fitting that the L.A.-based electronic music magazine pens a recap of the event that includes a little loving criticism.

At this point, the festival's failings are writ large across the headlines, largely thanks to the drug-related death of an underage patron. Staff wasn't supposed to let anyone in under the age of 16, and yet it was a young girl of 15 who died.

Others were trampled, overly self-medicated, and accidentally drugged (one attendee reportedly ended up in the hospital after sating himself with a stranger's water bottle [and there's usually more than water in a water bottle at a rave]), leading to over 100 people being hospitalized and a temporary ban on "raves" at the L.A. Coliseum.

To get a feel for the music, which was quite good, read our review of EDC. After the jump, URB gets into the nitty-gritty.

After a boisterous weekend, a dark cloud has befallen Electric Daisy Carnival following widespread reports of hospitalized attendees, perilous incidents of fence jumping, and the drug-related death of a 15-year-old girl. While local hospital staffers call for the end of "raves" in public venues and the CBS Evening News picks up the story, here are five ways we thing EDC can improve for the safety and enjoyment of everyone:

• Six things EDC should do to improve (URB.com)
• Death at Electric Daisy Carnival draws attention to E
• California's future governor on Buddhism and governing
• Two-headed calf born in Egypt, called "a miracle"
• UFOs on Independence Day (MUFON)
• Get into concerts FREE (Jack Johnson, Paramore)
• VIDEO: What's a Rave like?

What a rave really like? Boredom and mayhem.

• The Best and Worst of the Electric Daisy Carnival
  With nearly 200,000 attendees over two days, there was plenty to love (and hate) about America’s biggest dance music celebration.

Four Immeasurables: Brahma Viharas

Chenrezig (embodiment of compassion): Kalu Rinpoche said "one does not think of the deity's body as solid or material, made of flesh and blood like one's ordinary body, or made of metal or stone like an idol. One thinks of its appearance as inseparable from emptiness, like a rainbow or like a reflection in a mirror."

THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES
Also known as the Brahma Viharas (the "supreme" or "divine abidings"), the Four Immeasurable states are found in one brief and beautiful contemplation:

May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes,
May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes,
May all sentient beings be blissful without suffering,
May all sentient beings be equanimous, free of bias,

attachment, and anger.

Humorous talk by Kusala Bhikshu, August 2008*

The Buddha taught the following to his son Rahula, as related in "Old path white clouds" by Thich Nhat Hahn:

"Rahula, practice loving-kindness to overcome anger. Loving-kindness has the capacity to bring happiness to others without demanding anything in return. Practice compassion to overcome cruelty. Compassion has the capacity to remove the suffering of others without expecting anything in return.

"Practice sympathetic-joy [a.k.a., empathy] to overcome hatred. Sympathetic-joy arises when one rejoices over the happiness of others and wishes others well-being and success. Practice non-attachment to overcome prejudice. Non-attachment is the way of looking at all things openly and equally. This is because that is. Myself and others are not separate. Do not reject one thing only to chase after another.

I call these the Four Immeasurables. Practice them and you will become a refreshing source of vitality and happiness for others." (To meditate on these, see List of Sample Meditations).

LOVE

One definition of love in Buddhism is "wanting others to be happy." This love is unconditional and it requires a lot of courage and acceptance (including self-acceptance). The "near enemy" of love, or a quality which appears similar, but is more an opposite is conditional-love (selfish love, see also attachment). The opposite is wanting others to be unhappy -- anger, hatred. A result which one needs to avoid is attachment.

This definition means that "love" in Buddhism refers to something quite different from the ordinary term of love, which is usually about attachment, more or less successful relationships and sex, all of which are rarely without self-interest.

Instead, love in Buddhism refers to detachment and an unselfish interest in others' welfare.

"Even offering three hundred bowls of food three times a day does not match the spiritual merit gained in one moment of love" -- Nagarjuna.

"If there is love, there is hope that one may have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost and you see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education or material comfort you have, only suffering and confusion will ensue" -- the Dalai Lama from The little book of Buddhism.

COMPASSION

The definition of compassion is wanting others to be free from suffering. It happens when one feels sorry with someone, and one feels an urge to help. The near enemy of it is pity, which keeps others at an emotional distance, without the urge to help. The opposite is wanting others to suffer, or cruelty. Another result one needs to avoid is sentimentality. Compassion thus refers to an unselfish, detached emotion that gives one a sense of urgency in wanting to help others.

From a Buddhist perspective, helping others to reduce their physical or mental suffering is very good, but the ultimate goal is to extinguish all suffering by stopping the process of rebirth and the suffering that automatically comes with conditioned living (enlightenment).

The attitude of a so-called Bodhisattva is Bodhicitta [bodhi = "enlightenment," citta = "mind"]. This is the ultimate compassionate motivation, the wish to liberate all sentient beings from the suffering of cyclic existence. Therefore, one wishes to become a fully enlightened Buddha oneself in order to act as the perfect guide for them. (See compassion).

SYMPATHETIC JOY

The definition of empathy is being happy with someone else's good fortune/happiness. Sympathetic joy here refers to the potential of bliss and happiness of all sentient beings, as they can all become Buddhas. The near enemy is hypocrisy or affectation. The opposite is jealousy, when one cannot accept the happiness of others. A result that one needs to avoid is spaced-out bliss, which can easily turn into laziness. Note that sympathetic joy is a great antidote to depression as well, but this is not the main goal. By rejoicing in others' progress on the spiritual path, one can actually share in their positive karma. Sympathetic joy is an unselfish, very positive mental attitude beneficial for oneself and others. In this case, it also refers specifically to rejoicing in the high rebirth and enlightenment of others.

EQUANIMITY

The definition is not to distinguish between friend, enemy, or stranger, but instead to regard every sentient-being as equal. It is a clear minded, tranquil state of mind -- not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness, or agitation.

The near enemy is indifference. It is tempting to think that "not caring" is equanimity, but that is just a form of egotism.

The opposite is anxiety, worry, stress, and paranoia caused by dividing people into "good" and "bad." One can worry forever if a good friend may not be a bad person after all, thus spoiling trust and friendship. A result to be avoided is apathy as a result of "not caring" enough.

.

Equanimity is the basis for unconditional, altruistic love, compassion, and joy over others' happiness and Bodhicitta. When there is discrimination between friends and enemies, how can one ever help all sentient-beings? Equanimity is an unselfish, detached state of mind that also prevents one from doing negative actions.

If one tries to befriend an enemy for even a moment, that person becomes a friend. The same thing occurs when one treats a friend as an enemy. Therefore, by understanding the impermanence of temporal relations, wise ones are never attached to food, clothing, reputation, or to friends and enemies.

"The father becomes the son in another life, mother becomes the wife, enemy becomes friend; it always changes. Therefore, there is nothing definite in Samsara" -- the Buddha.

The foundation for practicing the seven-point cause and effect method is cultivating a mind of equanimity. Without this foundation one is unable to have an impartial, altruistic view, because without equanimity one is always partial towards relatives and friends. Realizing that it is better to be without prejudice, hatred, or desire towards enemies, friends, or neutral persons, thus lay a very firm foundation of equanimity -- the Dalai Lama, from Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to Stages of Meditation.

It is said that the awareness of a Buddha is completely even, like the ocean, taking in equally the joys and sorrows of all people, friends, loved ones, relatives, and those never met. This is the meaning of a statement made by so many of the world's great spiritual teachers, "Love your enemy." It does not mean love the person you hate. One cannot do that. Love those who hate you (from Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-Training).

• Read more

*Urban Dharma: Kusala Bhikshu (http://www.dharmatalks.info/) is an American born Buddhist monk living in Los Angeles, California. He shares his understanding of Buddhism in a simple, non-technical way through stories, humor, and personal insights. He spoke on the Four Immeasurables at the One Spirit Center for Conscious Living in Simi Valley, CA on 8/4/08.

• More information: http://www.kusala.info/
• Free EBooks on Buddhism: http://www.buddhabooks.info/
• Video (2 min video "The Fly" on meditation): http://www.dharmatube.org/