Motivation & Mindfulness
The Beginning of Practice
Many of us have been tricked into thinking that Spirituality is about belief. It's actually about connecting to a certain state of being. It is really about holiness, or wholeness. As long as we have not connected with that sense of wholeness, then we can view our efforts as a path leading towards the goal of wholeness.
In order to accomplish anything in the world, we need to have the intention to work towards it. We then need confidence in our ability to achieve what we are working towards. It then helps to develop enthusiasm for the project by thinking of its benefits. This helps us have the energy to persevere towards our goal. Finally, we need alertness to watch for and overcome obstacles that could keep us from our goal and so we can recognize what we need to do in order to keep us on the path which will take us where we want to go.
In order to create a successful spiritual practice, we need the exact same qualities. What follows is a description of Intention, Confidence, Enthusiasm, and Alertness and how they apply to creating and maintaining a spiritual practice.
A) - STEP 1 - INTENTION:
We need to have a clear idea of what we mean by spiritual practices and what the goals of our spiritual practices are. Buddhism talks of 5 Wisdoms which relate to the 5 elements as well as the 5 body/mind components of Form, Feeling, Perception, Intention, and Awareness. In the same way, spiritual practices involve 5 basic activities. These are Study, Contemplation, Meditation, Prayers or devotional activities, and Virtuous Action. However, we need to be certain as to what we are trying to accomplish by doing these practices.
Buddhism defines 3 main purposes for spiritual practices. The first is to eliminate suffering and its causes and develop permanent peace and joy. The second is to understand and master or gain control over our reality. The final purpose is to develop the skillful qualities that we need to be able to help others.
With any goal that we choose, we first need to investigate how we can achieve what we are looking for. If we are looking for spiritual awakening, we need to know what the qualities of being spiritually awake are. If we are looking for union with God, then we need to find instructions on how to achieve this. Religious books and spiritual teachers are there for that reason. We need to seek out the books and teachers that have the knowledge that relates to the goal that we have chosen for our spiritual path. Finding out what the steps we need to take are and learning all that we need to undertake in order to achieve our spiritual goals is important. We can't get to vancouver or bake a cake very easily without directions and without instructions on how to avoid any problems along the way.
This is where the role of Study takes precedence
The next set of issues relating to Intention are part of the practice of Contemplation and Investigation. Enlightenment is not necessarily an appropriate or accurate term (if I lose weight, am I more enlightened?). When people asked the Buddha why he appeared to be so different from everyone else, he replied, "because I'm awake (buddha)". It only became a title after that. This means that it is possible to know the terms that relate to our goal, but not understand the actual meaning of those terms. It is very important to get to the meaning, especially if we want our intention to have any strength against outside distracting influences.
Again, Buddhism has a saying called "the four reliances". It says:
Rely on the Teachings, not just the Teacher.
Rely on the Meaning, not just the Words.
Rely on the Actual Meaning, not just the Interpretation.
and Rely on the Experience, not just the Idea.
So our goal becomes turning the teachings into an experience. It means delving into the meaning and reconciling our reality with the interpretations that we hear. This is a large part of our practice of contemplation and investigation.
We need to be clear that everything should be working towards a spiritual experience, and not just learning to remember a bunch of nice ideas. We need to come to our own conclusions based on what we've heard and experienced. The Buddhist teachings say that Spiritual teachings are like gold, we need to dig deep to find it, and then we need to burn the stone in the fire of investigation to extract and purify the gold within the ore.
Once we are clear on our goal and clear on the steps that we need to follow to get to our goal, then following the spiritual path should be easy. Somehow we still have problems, though. It can be amazing the amount of obstacles that are thrown in our path. There is a saying in Buddhism that performing virtue is like rolling a boulder up a large hill, but performing non-virtue is as easy as rolling the same boulder down the other side of that hill.
Some of the biggest problems in regard to intention is that we forget what we are trying to do. Most days, we wake up in the morning and we forget where we were going and why. Or we start out working on our spiritual development and we very quickly get distracted by something else. This is where prayers and affirmations can help to remind us. Every time we forget what we're doing, it's nice to be able to pull out a small saying that can remind us to stay on track.
Another thing that happens is that we end up with a conflicting intention. Something more pressing, more pleasant, or more distracting comes along, requiring us to put aside our "spiritual" goal for awhile in order to work on another goal. If we're not careful, then one distraction can lead to another, which leads to another, and, before we know it, our spiritual practice is a faint memory.
Meditation is the practice we use to develop concentration and awareness. Meditation helps us recognize when we are being distracted, or losing focus. It helps us to maintain our focus and not succumb to distraction so easily. It helps us to keep our mind on our goals.
Distraction has a lot to do with our priorities. Just how important is this "spiritual" practice to us? How much do we really want to achieve the goals of spiritual practice? If we decide this early on, then that can help us make choices. We are still going to have to make choices on the spot, when other demands or enticements come our way. However, if we have thought about it a bit beforehand, then our practice has a better chance of surviving these temptations.
Indecisiveness leads to a struggle amongst conflicting intentions or desires. Having a firm intention, based on having already investigated our choices and having made a decision, helps us change the struggle into joyous effort. With joyous effort, we find ourselves doing something and losing track of time, because we are so involved and engaged in what we're doing.
So, we first need to develop and strengthen our intention when it comes to spiritual practice. To do this, we need to first be clear about what we are trying to accomplish. We then need to get instruction and knowledge about the steps that we need to take and the practices that we have to do in order to achieve our spiritual goals. We then need to constantly remind ourselves of these practices, our goals and our intentions. And, finally, we need to decide how important our spiritual practice is. These are contemplations that we need to go through in order to have an effective practice. We need to decide where it stands on the list of our priorities, so that we can protect our spiritual practices from destruction or neglect.
This is the beginning of the practice of devotion. We are deciding how much time and effort we are going to "devote" to spirituality and spiritual awakening.
A)- STEP 2 - CONFIDENCE:
Another thing that can help us have a strong intention is confidence. We really need to feel that it is actually possible for us to achieve our spiritual goals.
In Buddhism, it says that we all have this basic nature, this basic intelligence and skilfulness which is called BuddhaNature in Buddhism. This Nature represents inseparable Wisdom and Compassion and is composed of inseparable space, potential energy, and awareness. It manifests in our life as Peace and Joy. We all have this nature, from the lowliest insect, to the most spiritually advanced being. The whole universe is filled to the brim with this nature of space, potential energy, and awareness.
Because of this, we ALL have the potential to be spiritually advanced beings. Because of this basic nature of ours, there is always the possibility of change. Because of this nature, nothing is carved in stone. Even our most intractable problems or tendencies can be altered. Even our most terrible faults can be transformed into positive qualities.
Because of this nature, we are all interconnected. Because of this nature, although we are individual and separate beings, we are also always connected to everything and everyone else. This means that our efforts are always being supported, and that transformations are always taking place. With each moment, connections are being made based on the directions of our effort.
Our relationship to our basic nature is said to be like a destitute person whose house is sitting on top of a buried treasure. Our true nature is said to be like a jewel encrusted with mud. The role of spiritual practice is to clear away the mud and polish the jewel. Calm abiding or Mindfulness Meditation plays a major role in this process.
Shamata or Calm abiding meditation involves watching our minds without reacting to it or acting on our thoughts and feelings. We use a focus object such as the breath to anchor the mind and then we just observe ourselves and learn to become comfortable experiencing ourselves without grasping, resisting, or ignoring what's happening. In this way we gradually begin to experience our true nature for ourselves.
Remembering these ideas can help strengthen our confidence when we feel it weakening. Applying this confidence to our intention then strengthens the force of that intention and spreads its influence into a wider portion of our lives.
It also helps at this point to know of someone who has already achieve the goals that we seek or seems to be farther along the path than we are. This person can act as a coach or mentor and help us stay on the path towards our goal. They can also help warn us of obstacles. This person also serves as an example of what to do and how to proceed. They also provide an image of how someone who has achieved our goals, thinks, speaks, and acts. In that way, we can gain confidence from seeing the results of working on the path. Part of our practice of devotion involves the degree of enthusiasm that we have for listening to, and following, the advice of our spiritual mentor.
A) - STEP 3 - ENTHUSIASM:
Based on the strength of our past conditioning and habitual ways of looking at and reacting to ourselves and our world, our spiritual development can be easy or difficult. For most of us, getting from our current spiritual condition to complete spiritual development takes a lot of effort and perseverance. Maintaining this effort and perseverence in the face of numerous and difficult obstacles is easier if we can develop some enthusiasm towards our goals. Again, it helps to be clear about what those goals are, before we can develop any enthusiasm for their results.
One of the things to remember about spiritual practices is that the end result is the perfection of Joy and Peace of Mind. If we can remember that this is the final outcome of our efforts, this can help us continue on in the face of difficulty.
Also, if our spiritual practice is really working, then we should see the signs of accomplishment that comes with that. This means that we should be seeing for ourselves that our suffering is decreasing and that we are creating fewer causes for future suffering. The degree of day-to-day joy and peace of mind that we experience, should increase, if not week by week, at least monthly, and, if not monthly, then at least year by year. We should be able to recognize that we are dealing better with our reality and having more success in all areas of our world. We should be able to see the signs of the benefits that others are gaining from our presence in their lives.
Noticing these signs, and rejoicing at these changes in our lives, will help to increase our enthusiasm for these practices. If we don't see these signs, then we need to question the effectiveness or direction of our practices.
One thing that we need to deal with that can affect our enthusiasm is that we need to recognize that, even with spiritual practice, we still have to take care of survival. We still have to go to work, the garbage has to be taken out, the laundry and dishes must be cleaned, little Billy still needs to go to hockey practice. If we create too much of a conflict between our daily life and spiritual practice, then our enthusiasm will evaporate pretty quickly. It helps to remember that the eventual goal is to incorporate Billy's hockey practice into our spiritual practice.
In the beginning, we are like a doctor going to university. Before going to university and learning the techniques, we would never perform surgery based on our current level of understanding. So we step away from the world for a time in order to learn the components and the techniques that we need to know to become a skillful doctor. At a certain point, though, we leave the university and set up our practice in the real world, dealing with the world with our new set of skills and understanding.
Spiritual practice is the same. We need to step back, every once in a while, to learn the components of spirituality and to become skilled at the techniques. Most of the time though, we can't leave our current environment for very long to follow these pursuits. This means that we need to make spaces in our day, or in our week, to devote to this learning process.
At the same time, the goal is not to stay separated from our world. The goal is to eventually take our learning into our world and use it there. Sometimes the world can force itself onto our space for practice. In this case, we need to be patient with this interference and recognize that sometimes events in our world are asking us to use our current spiritual progress right away. When dealing with threats to the space that we've set aside for spiritual practices, we need to be flexible and patient. The key is to remember that eventually we are working towards incorporating all events into our spiritual practice. This also helps to keep up our enthusiasm in the face of obstacles. That way we can begin to view the obstacles themselves as a part of our spiritual practice and as a test of our spiritual development.
Increased confidence also affects the amount of energy or enthusiasm that we have for working towards our spiritual goals. If we feel that we are capable of working with all our life situations, then this confidence will give us the energy to persevere. Of course, this type of confidence comes from the amount of practice that we have already performed and the amount of accomplishments that we already have. This is why it is important to practice while we are young, strong, healthy and in good circumstances so that we will not lose our practice and our accomplishments when we are old, weak, sick, or in the midst of difficulties in our lives.
A) - STEP 4 - ALERTNESS:
The instructions until now should have given us the message that we need to be constantly aware of the existence and the strength of our intention, confidence, and enthusiasm. Maintaining and strengthening our intention, our confidence, and our enthusiasm will speed our spiritual progress and increase the possibility of achieving complete spiritual accomplishment. This is why we need alertness to watch for the loss or weakening of these qualities. Meditation helps us develop Alertness and this Alertness is what we use to begin the practice of Virtuous Action.
B) - DEVELOPING THE FOUR MINDFULNESSES
Alertness begins with developing mindfulness in relation to 4 objects.
First we develop mindfulness of the Body. We may think it strange to develop physical mindfulness when we're working on spiritual practices. This is because the body and our actions are the most outward manifestations of our mind and spirit. They represent that final outward evidence of the proof of our practice.
The body also helps to anchor the mind by limiting its activity to a specific range and slowing it down. This allows us to gain control of our mind more easily. The mind and our emotions are also reflected in our bodies. We only know of our minds activity because of the changes we experience in our bodies.
Becoming aware of these changes also helps us to work with our real thoughts and emotions rather than dealing with abstracts. Mindfulness of our bodies helps us to stay present and deal with what we are really going through, instead of dealing with just ideas or just abstract notions.
Then there is mindfulness of Feelings.
Feelings are important because they are indicators of our priorities and values. They provide the communication between our minds and our world. They help provide the energy for our practice. They are also a large area of where we get into trouble spiritually. This is because they relate to attraction, repulsion, and indifference. Our attachments to portions of our world that are reflected in our feelings are a main part of the area that needs to be worked on in our spiritual practice. Mindfulness of our body and actions and working with our feelings represent the beginning parts of spiritual practice. It is here that we start recognizing skillful versus unskillful thought, speech, and action as well as recognizing what is beneficial and what is harmful.
This is followed by developing mindfulness of the Mind.
This refers to becoming aware of our view of the world, our intentions, our goals, and our values. These together help to form our self-definition. This self definition and all that is involved in the formation of this definition are a main part of the intermediate practices in relation to our spiritual development. It is here where we begin to delve into the depth of our true nature. It is here that we begin to question our values and world view and work towards discovering and adopting better values and a more inclusive world view. The main aspects of this part of our practice are meditation and contemplation.
Finally there is mindfulness of Phenomena.
In Buddhism, phenomena is not just the outside world, but the interplay between ourselves and the world outside of ourselves. It is the dance between our understanding of the world and our response to that understanding and the actual reality itself. At this level, in Buddhism, outside and inside are mere designations. Each one is a reflection of the other. Our relationship with the outside world represents the quality of our own spiritual development. It tells us if we are relating to the world with awareness, confidence, joy, strength and clarity, or if we are succumbing to ignorance and confusion, restlessness and envy, longing, attachment, or impatience.
In this way, the outside world is a test and our response to it determines how much more work we have left to do. Working with the outside world becomes the final portion of our spiritual practice and the advanced levels of operation on a spiritual level. In the final stages of our practice, we are automatically transforming the world around us in the directions of Peace and Joy. At the highest levels, the phenomenal world becomes our guru and teacher and becomes a manifestation of our current level of spiritual accomplishment.
Through developing mindfulness in each of these four areas, we begin to recognize and confirm our own states of suffering and their causes. We begin to notice the difference between our current view, and a more complete view of what we're experiencing. We begin to notice skillful ways of behaving versus unskillful ones.
C) - DEVELOPING THE WHOLESOME AND ELIMINATING THE UNWHOLESOME
Part of the practice of mindfulness involves recognizing the need to engage in certain practices over others. With our bodies, if we spend too much time sleeping and lying around and not much time being active, then this causes health problems. Similarly, if we are too active and don't take time to rest, then that can cause problems as well. In Buddhism it says that we need to balance the four activities of Sitting, Lying, Walking, and Standing.
In the same way, even though we each have a disposition towards one type of spiritual activity, it is healthier to try to encorporate all 5 types of practice. Some people may like to study, but if they are not doing virtuous activity, then their development will tend to be theoretical. However, if we attempt to do virtuous activity without study, or contemplation, we may do things that we think are virtuous, but turn out to cause more harm. This means that it is most beneficial to achieve a balance between meditation, study, contemplation/investigation, devotional practices, and action.
At the same time, there are many different types of activities within each of these 5 categories. Reading books, and attending classes or participating in discussions are all aspects of study. Some people may prefer one over the other, but they all qualify as study. Some people may like to think about things and other people prefer to keep a journal, but these activities can both qualify as contemplation. Some people may like prayer and others prefer singing in a choir, but they can both qualify as devotional practices. Some people may regard ritual as virtuous action, and others may prefer acts of social welfare. Knowing which one is most important to our current state of practice is an important part of being mindful of our current level of spiritual development.
The recognition of our skillful versus unskillful reactions to our body, feelings, mind and phenomena are the beginning of working with our negative or positive habitual tendencies. This is the start of working with our Karma.
In the next portion of this course, we will learn about how Karma works and how we can take advantage of this recognition of skillful versus unskillful to advance our spiritual goals. With an understanding of Karma and how to work with it, we can increase the momentum of our spiritual practice and strengthen and deepen our spiritual accomplishments. If done effectively, it need not take a very long time to achieve tremendous spiritual progress.
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