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The Clear Mind Quarterly Newsletter #8
[This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via anonymous
FTP and/or COOMBSQUEST gopher on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU]
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[This version: 2 August 1993]
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SAKYA LOSAL CHOE DZONG
THE CLEAR MIND QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER No 8
May-July 1991
First Executive Committee is Elected
During the General Meeting held in February, members of Sakya Losal Choe Dzong,
the Tibetan Buddhist Society of Canberra elected its first Executive Committee.
Congradulations and best wishes to Tim Brennan, President; John Chen, Secretary;
Merril Cook, Treasurer; Carol Hall, Course Co-ordinator and Kerry Arthur, Public
Liason Officer for their dedication to manage our Centre's affairs. They are
currently working on the draft constitution of the Centre which will soon be
circulated to all full members before incorporating with the A. C. T. Corporate
Affairs Commission. Your working together as committee members of the Centre
will indeed make a valuable contribution for the firm establishment of Dharma
in Canberra and far beyond. We shall all rejoice in those people of the past
whose unselfish dedication to the Dharma have brought the Dharma to most parts
of the world including Australia. We also hope that our associating through the
Centre will uplift our own spiritual growth and consequently may we always be
guided by the Triple Gem to benefit many sentient beings.
H.H. Gyalwang Drukchen Rinpoche to Visit Canberra
As we have been hoping, His Holiness Gyalwang Drukchen Rinpoche has kindly
accepted our invitation to visit Canberra despite his tight schedule. His
Holiness is the Supreme Head of Drukpa Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism and
heads many monasteries in the Himalayan region stretching all the way from
Ladakh to Bhutan. Accompanied by his parents and an attendant, He will arrive in
Canberra on Thursday, 2nd of May. His Holiness will be conducting a weekend
retreat at Wat Buddhadhamma monastery for the benefit of Dharma students from
Canberra, Sydney and far beyond between 4-5 May. Sakya Tharpa Ling in Sydney
is co-ordinating this retreat, please phone Jane Miknius (02) 8183695 for
details as soon as possible. His programme in Canberra is:
5. 30 pm. Shared Vegetarian Dinner at 33 Bruxner Close, Gowrie. All members and
friends are encouraged to join the dinner and are requested to bring something
to share to welcome His Holiness and to recieve His blessings.
7. 30 pm. A Dharma Talk at Shakyamuni Buddhist Centre, 32 Archibald St.
Lyneham. All welcome.
Invitation to the Joint Vesak Celebration with Canberra Buddhists
Ever since the world Buddhists celebrated the 2,500 Anniversary of the Buddha's
Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana (Great Passing Away) of the Buddha in
1956 in New, the full-moon of Vesak month has become the official date for
world Buddhists to celebrate this triple sacred occassion. Some Mulim countries
such as Malaysia and Indonesia have also recognized this and declared public
holiday ever since. This year some five Buddhist organizations in Canberra
have come together to jointly celebrate Vesak as you can see from the enclosed
leaflet. You and your friends are cordially invited to attend this celebration
to acknowledge and thank Buddha for His wonderful gift of Dharma and meet many
Buddha to bes. Bring some flowers and candles and if you can, please arrive by
7. 30 am. to help to set up the shrine. The Centre need everybody's help.
Workshop on the Tibetan Game of Rebirth
This is a most enjoyable, educational, psychological and therapeutic game
invented by Sakya Pandita in 13th century. By playing this game, it teaches how
people are reborn in a particular rebirth by their own thoughts and actions.
Throughout the game, players toss a dice after at least 30 seconds of meditation
at each turn and make a move accordingly. There are some 104 squares on the
game board which represent different states of the mind corresponding to
different rebirths. Each move takes a player to one of the squares to indicate
the flow of his progress or downfall. At times a player can get stuck in one
square for obvious reasons. The aim of the game is to get out of undesireable
states of rebirth by making deliberate attempts to toss the dice for appropriate
number so that higher rebirth and eventually higher stages of enlightenment can
be achieved. While the result of the game does not predict the future of the
players, each player will gain a clearer picture of their own minds, attitudes
and their potentials. It is a pleasant way of learning the Dharma and can be
very therapeutic. Date: Sun. 2 June, Time: 10 am to 4. 00 pm. Cost : $ 50 & $
40 for members and concession. If you are interested, please register as soon
as possible. For enquiries please call Lama on 2928150.
Reflections on the workshop on Buddhism in Everyday life
i) During this workshop, each of us shared some of our everyday difficulties;
for example, with relationships and personality traits, whereupon Lama Choedak
proceeded to unflod the eight steps of Eight-fold Noble Paths, which begins with
the right view and ends with right meditation. He continued to allude to
potential solutions to the difficulties we had mentioned earlier. So once
again, the importance of meditation, especially regular meditation each day, was
stressed. Developing equanimity towards ourselves and others involves untying
the knots of anger and resentments of attachment that bind us to another person,
whether we want it or not. Once we have untied the tortous knots of our own
emotions through exploration of our mind, then we can choose the most skilful
means of helping ourselves and others. In this way, I came to realize that
morality is in fact something I choose because it helps me develop a more
peaceful state of mind, rather than being something that is imposed on me. Once
again the Triple Gem has done it ! Thanks Lama Choedak. Merril Cook
ii) As an individual, I gained in several ways from our workshop on Buddhism in
Everyday Life. The first came from Lama Choedak's skillful explanation of the
Eightfold Noble Path as a framework to encompass the diversity of highly
sensitive and personal topics we nominated for discussion. Lama Choedak gave us
a context in which we, as lay practitioners, could meaningfully consider
everyday matters such as relationship difficulties, divorce or separation,
sexuality, alchohol, drug abuse, domestic violence and long-term family
conflicts. The second benefit of this experience for me, came from the group's
opennness in sharing such personal vulnerabilities and seeing, in others, the
same awareness of dilemma I feel sometimes in trying to mold the "reality" of
such issues with a growing commitment to a Buddhist way. The trust shared in
this workshop have deepened relationships, increased mutual respect and added
dimension to my links with our Centre. Carol Hall
The Window of Right View to life
If you live in a house from where you have a nice view, you are probably happy
as far as the location of your house is concerned. The happiness of living in
the House of Life depend on what kind of views you have to your life. In this
issue you will read my thoughts about ways of applying one's understanding of
the Dharma and meditation practice in everyday life by developing the right view
to life. Those who have genuinely taken refuge in the Dharma and have developed
self-discipline through meditation would have discovered a view which provides
a clear understanding of what is going on in their lives and why. The
teachings of the Dharma makes lot of sense as it shows how to see things in a
correct manner without being obscured by any distorted views of life's
confusion. The Buddha taught about eight interrelated techniques that were
essential to provide as a guide to sustain one's spiritual inspiration and
practice. Practising the Dharma according to its teachings depends on how much
understanding we may have of the Eight Noble Paths. Just as we use the
prescribed ingredients to prepare a meal according to a recipe, we must combine
and integrate correctly all the eight skillful techniques. In this issue we will
discuss two Buddhist principles which constitutes main factors to develop the
right view.
To understand anything and life as a whole, one must not be influenced by any
narrow and limited views. If you have strong views, they will bring problems
whether you believe them to be right or wrong. The views we hold have no
substance in themselves for any change of the circumstances upon which the views
were based will prove them unsubstantiated. While we don't like to be misled
by others we do not want to be troubled by our own wrong views. Wrong views
produce frustration and bring pain and suffering upon those around us. In fact
all the sufferings are caused by our own ignorance. Our views or perceptions of
any event or our existence in this world mold our attitudes, behaviours and
experiences. Regardless of the correctness of our views, they create deep pain
as long as we cling to them. So, it is essential to cultivate the right view.
If we can associate ourselves with the following principles, we will live a full
and wholesome life. In order to be able to see things in a correct manner, one
must not forget the four basic and universal principles which constitute correct
Buddhist views:
1) All living beings are subject to experience pain and dissatisfaction
2) Everything is impermanent
3) Everything is empty of inherent existence
4) Nirvana (Going beyond suffering) is peace
It is important to understand sufferings and difficulties of living since they
are part of your every day life. If you can fully understand the meaning of
pain, you will not reject it. The best way to overcome pain is by accepting it.
The non-acceptance of pain makes you to believe that you are the only one who is
having a hard time and cannot have concern over other people. Skillful means of
handling sufferings gives birth to compassion but struggle against it
intensifies sufferings. The pain of non-acceptance is far more detrimental
than the actual pain itself. It may sound unfair to have only pain and
suffering when every effort of your life is made to not to have pain. It is
natural for everybody to expect happiness, but it is unobtainable by merely
avoiding pain. The destruction of pain can be fully realized when you overcome
the fear of pain. The purpose of life remains confused until you overcame the
fear of pain. The reason why people find difficult to accept pain is, just
because they think it is bad and so they shouldn't have it. If there is going
to be pain whether you do this or do something else or do neither, the very
purpose of any action, is to accept its consequences. Being responsible for
what you do and being able to accept its consequences makes a harmonious and
productive life. Do not think that you did something wrong when you were
undergoing some unexpected difficulties. What would have happened if you
didn't do it at all? You would have had a problem of a different kind. Do not
consider yourself to be unsuitable to whatever you are doing when difficulties
persist, but remember the saying: No pain no gain. Try to cultivate a positive
view of pain and its benefits. Do not reject pain for it is there for a reason.
Your seriousness and sincerity of engaging to do something is being tested when
you face difficulties which derives from your own effort and you are not going
to blame your effort. The meaning and purpose of the difficulties seldom become
clear until you learn to accept it. Rejection of pain and fear of it give you
real trouble and you will not find freedom. This view that the pain is
unavoidable and it is a fact of life, is one of the most crucial element in
being able to maintain the right view even in extreme conflicting conditions.
If you fail to accept things that are at hand, you will become unable to control
your thoughts and speech, and will commit unskillful actions which you will
regret later. Even if you meditate every morning, you must not forget this
principle that suffering is very nature of existence. Sustaining this view
prepares you to cope with the problems and can remain at ease. Learn to smile
in times of trouble to prove changeability of the trouble and let go of
attachment to happiness. Even if you found what you were looking for, it does
not last long, so be prepared to let go. Even if you can make it seem last
longer due to attachment, you will not be happy by holding onto a thing that
will inevitably part you anyway.
Suffering will not go away unless you honestly accept that parting is the
ultimate outcome of all meetings. Basic acceptance that pain is the nature of
life enables you to lighten your mental worry and anxiety by reflecting on the
impermanence of all things. You were born alone and will die alone. You will
also have to learn to stop blaming others and be responsible of your experiences
since they are result of your own making. If you have a good recollection of
past after so many years, why don't you try to remember some good and happy
experiences derived from such meetings and then see whether it is going to be
the same experiences of the past that you were so upset about. If you do this in
relation to sufferings, you will find that you yourself are creating the
sufferings based on your inability to let go of the past without having any of
the circumstances under which the past suffering arose. So do not trace the
past, unless you wanted to go that way. You will not be aware of the best
moment of here and now if you are anticipating future. Even if you have obtained
something pleasant without facing some pain, examine how long would it last.
Appreciate everything when it occurs before it vanishes and do not expect things
to stay unchanged as you want them to be. The acceptence of the law of
impermanence will enable you to free from clinging and it provides a swift and
smooth parting into freedom. You do not have to make deliberate attempts to
change things but accept the changes that are occurring in and around you
effortlessly and respect this course of nature's law. Do not try to stagnate
your growth by holding onto things that are no longer part of you. You cannot
have control over other people's actions to make you happy if you have
difficulty controlling your own. Set yourself free from clinging, bitterness
and unforgiveness as soon as the parting takes place, and do not wait to occur
anything that is not yet due. Although it may not be obvious, parting is not
only inevitable but it is extremely necessary as much as the meeting. Learn to
see the movement and change of things when they occur and do not assume what
should or should't happen to it. Do not be hard on yourself, take care of
yourself. Do not appreciate only when good things that come to you but also
when they go away from you so that you remain receptive. You will also set him
free if you would let him go. Observe the fleeting nature of your own thoughts
and attitudes which projects things on to changeable objects and yet you are
trying to make them stand still. Do not have doubts of the result of an action
if you are doing it right. Even if you did something wrong, why should you be
upset if you can understand that it is not happening now and will not happen
again. If you have helped somebody in the past, do not think when and how they
should repay you since he or she may be busy helping someone else. If friends
have become what they were not, check what the foes will become if you don't
hold them to be so. When trees grow taller to provide you shade, energy and
coolness, examine what are you giving to the world as you grow older. When
the busy hours of a worker's day turns into nothing more than a sleepy night,
let him sleep soundly for it may be the only thing he can enjoy for himself and
so that he can be ready for another hard day. When chopping woods, do not hold
an axe tight unless you do not want to use it again. Do not try too hard in
the beginning, for you may loose interest in your goals. Do not speed for a
short distance as in a race to exhaust yourself but walk slowly and steadily to
energize yourself wherever you might be going. Just talking to myself. L.C.
MAY - JULY 1991 SPIRITUAL CALENDAR
May Thurs. 2, 5.30 pm. Shared Vegetarian Dinner to Welcome H. H. Drukchen and his entourage
7. 30 pm. A Public Dharma Talk at Shakyamuni Buddhist Centre
Sat. 18, 9. 30 - 4.00 pm. Joint Vesak Celebration, Albert Hall, Yarralumla
Sun. 19, 7.00 pm. White Tara Practice
Tue. 28 6.00 am. Full-moon Precept Ceremony and 16 Arhat Puja (Actual
Tibetan Vesak Day)
June Sun. 2, 10 am. - 4. 00 pm. Workshop on Tibetan Game of Rebirth
Sun. 16, 7. 00 pm. White Tara Practice
Wed. 26, 6. 00 am. Full-moon Precept Ceremony and 16 Arhat Puja
July Sat. 6, Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Sun. 14, 7. 00 pm. White Tara practice
Fri. 26, 6. 00 am. Full-moon Precept Ceremony and 16 Arhat Puja
Sakya Losal Choe-Dzong, 33 Bruxner Cl. Gowrie, ph. 2925622
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MEMBERSHIP AND COURSE REGISTRATION FORM
Treasurer, Sakya Losal Choe Dzong,
Centre For Tibetan Buddhist Studies, P.O. Box 3430, Manuka ACT 2603
Name....................................................
Address....................................................... Phone ...............................
I wish to subsribe The Clear Mind Quarterly Newsletter $ 15.00
" become a Full Member to support the Centre $ 50.00 P. A.
" sponsor a Tibetan (Monk, nun, girl, boy) $ 25.00 P. M.
" be registered for the Workshop on Game of Rebirth $ 50/40
" contribute for the Dharma Building Fund $..............
Herewith my cheque /money order to S. L. C. TOTAL $..............
If undelivered return to:
Sakya Losal Choe-Dzong,
Centre For Tibetan Buddhist Studies
P. O. Box 3430, Manuka A. C. T. 2603
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