Here is the text for the dharma talk Saturday, April 27, 2019
Initially I titled this talk acceptance, surrender, and sacrifice, knowing that the idea of sacrifice is not currently an American ideal, but rather something people avoid talking or thinking about. Yet is is obvious to me that we must make some profound sacrifices in order to heal the great suffering we are inflicting on our planet and on each other. But sacrifice is such a negative term, right? I think maybe we have to flip it on its head and talk about it in other ways, and perhaps one way is to talk about living in noble simplicity.
And so I was reflecting about this sense of noble simplicity as a way to live in harmony with ourselves, our vows, our lives, our world and all of its beings. This is what people are seeking, I think, when they enter the monastery. But you don’t have to be a monk or live in a monastery to live in noble simplicity.
These are some questions and topics that I will be working with myself, and I wanted to share them with you. Maybe we can discuss them a bit and help each other keep them in mind. They are grouped in some general topics, and probably you can even think of other questions too. I began, of course, with our material culture.
Purchases and technologies
Is it necessary? Why? [let’s think about that term “necessary” carefully]
Is it compassionate? How?
Does it support life? In what ways?
Does it make our relationship (to whatever or whomever) deeper, wiser, more trustworthy, more caring?
Does it waste precious time, the only real wealth we have in our lives?
Finding beauty in everyday moments and simple things
Where am I right now? What is right around me?
How would I describe being alive in this moment?
What do I wonder about?
What opens me to this life?
What is one thing I find beautiful or surprising here?
Simple connections are best
Who is in my life right now? I mean, in any way or capacity, even in my awareness at all.
How can I connect with someone I care about—even for a moment?
How can I connect with someone very different from me—even for a moment?
Can I be genuinely curious about anyone’s experience—close to me or apart?
Can I listen deeply without trying to fix or change anything?
Can I share my own experience or ideas without attachment to some outcome or response?
Can I acknowledge my missteps and blunders and work on repair without shame or blame?
What can I appreciate about someone, near or far away? Have I expressed my appreciation to them?
What will I wish I had said or done, when they are gone? When I am done?
Caring for our world
Can I look beyond my own (and my family’s) personal comfort and pleasures to really see what the world and its many beings needs?
Can I not be broken-hearted or overwhelmed and turn away?
Can I be mindful about my footprint in the world? Can I set an intention to shrink that footprint?
What would that look like, and how would I do it? [Examples?]
Can I be curious about ways not just to reduce the harm we do in the world, but to restore and heal it? This means not only the natural world, but the social world as well, with all of its systems and interpersonal dynamics.
Can I discover how to join with others for a greater impact, without getting overwhelmed?
Can I accept the limits on my influence and still be wholehearted?
Can I surrender my need for signs of my “success” or “impact” on the world—and still act boldly?
Here we are on this path together
What does it mean—right now— to live the bodhisattva vow for relieving suffering and liberating all beings (including ourselves)?
Are we willing to really meet suffering beings in the six realms (including ourselves)? Wait, what are those realms again?
Hell realm: unremitting anguish, crushing suffering, torment without relief
Animal realm: concerned only with creature comforts, seeking safety and pleasure, avoiding the unpleasant or difficult
Asuras: angry gods, constantly fighting, filled with aggression and rage, argument and fury, violence and cruelty
Hungry ghosts: filled with unsatisfiable desire, wandering in search of something they cannot even name, surrounded by all that they need, yet unable to find any satisfaction in it
Heavenly realm: every desire satisfied, every need met. Long lifetimes spent in ease and comfort, yet here they are oblivious to suffering and the need to practice and so they are unprepared for and uncomprehending about the inevitable sickness, old age, and death that awaits them.
Human realm: our usual existence: all that we see around us, all beings and a world in need of our care. The only realm in which we have clarity enough to see the need for practice and the capacity to actually do it. We can recognize the suffering of others and work to relieve it, we can assist in the work of liberation.
These are realms we have all passed through and still are passing through in our lives, even moment to moment. Bodhisattvas vow to free beings in all of the realms—what does that mean? How can we be present in loving kindness and wisdom for all of the beings we encounter, who are inhabiting these realms, and for ourselves when we are traveling through them? Obviously we need to cultivate skillful means.
Can we support each other in our aspiration to walk this path together through our very own lives, with all the training opportunities they provide, in each and every moment? The world desperately needs our attention and care.
Was there something more important you had to do? Get a little more sleep? Go shopping on the internet? Have a snack? Binge watch a Netflix series? Fire off another text message? Argue with someone about something unimportant, given the grave situation of our planet? Just checking.
Because here’s my understanding: as things grow more complex, more confusing, more dangerous in our world, we need each other more, and we need to establish our practice and our sangha so that we can meet the challenges ahead—whatever they may be—with some wisdom, some deep compassion, some connection and care for each other. Our hearts and minds will depend on it. So returning to my original title for this talk, we accept this responsibility, we surrender our self-agenda, and we sacrifice only what we do not need, whatever encumbers us on this path. We turn toward the world with gratitude for all that life provides us, offering all that we are, and asking nothing in return.
And that is noble simplicity in our vow. These are questions that can only be answered by living them. I would love to hear your thoughts about this.