[2024 June DCTB Mindfulness Tip]
This world, including us, arises from causes and conditions. These innumerable causes and conditions swirl and mix, creating infinite variations.
We can think of causes like rocks dropped in a pond. This in turn creates conditions, which extend from where the rock hits the water, rippling out in all directions. Each rock, each cause, generates countless ripples; and each ripple has the potential to trigger another rock to fall. The ripples cross over one another, sometimes in opposition and sometimes joining in force. This is the world in which we find ourselves.
It’s tempting to think ourselves separate from the rocks and ripples, that we are swimming through this chaotic soup. But we are not separate. Our body-mind system is these causes and conditions!
Is there an end to the tumbling?
Are we subject to endless tumbling? Yes and no. If we center our attention on our separateness, we tumble through the vortices of interacting conditions. If we recognize we are in fact the ocean of joy and the ripples within in, we find the perfect stillness of formlessness in the midst of form.
While we cannot control the conditions directly, we can influence these ripples by understanding the rocks, the causes behind the ripples. We do this through our practice of Trikaya Buddhism. We meditate to connect with the sublime peace within that is our very nature. We practice mindfulness to train the mind to release habitual patterns. We contemplate the workings of our mind.
Through this simple path, we discover which rocks can be dropped (or not) through our own volition and which ones are falling due to past conditions. When we stop fighting that which we cannot change, we harness tremendous energy to build a powerful, bright life.
The path begins when we recognize the light within us. Our specialty at Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism is sharing this transmission of light. Dive into the ocean of joy with us when you are ready to begin! Click here to find our next meeting time.
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