lake of lotus (12)-the application of wisdom-the wisdom in d

8/12/2019 Lake of Lotus (12)-The Application of Wisdom-The Wisdom in D

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ByVajra Acharya Pema Lhadren

Translated by Anne W.M. Chow

The Wisdom in Directing

Ones Dharma Practice (12)

Excerpt of Last IssueThe Skills in the Setting-up of Plans

The primary condition for success is the setting-up of anobjective (please refer to Issue 2 of the Lake of Lotus).In the setting-up of an objective with regards to onespreference, capability and ideal, to be supplementedwith the skills in the setting-up of an objective(pleaserefer to Issue 3 of the Lake of Lotus), a blueprint ofgrandeur for the ideal of ones life has more or less beendrawn up. Then, what is the next step to proceed in orderto ensure success in achieving the objective?

The next step is to draw up a detailed and concrete planwhich is also strategic and efcient in nature. To work

out a series of plans for the major, medium-term andsmall objectives is like the building up of a network ofinterconnected highways which would eventually lead tosuccess. In designing the numerous plans, attentionmust be paid to the following items:

1. Complementarity and the Enhancement ofEffectiveness: The links between plans should havecompatible, complementary and interdependenteffects(please refer to Issue 4 of the Lake ofLotus).

2. A thorough elimination process to decide what toadopt and abandon: Irrespective of working outmajor, medium-term and small plans, there must

be a process to prioritize and eliminate with regardsto some designated elements and conditions. Athorough elimination process to determine what toadopt and abandon

Designated Elements & Conditionsin Determining What to Adopt and

Abandon

(i) Importance: To what extent would the plan helpin achieving the objective? To what extent would

this objective, in which one is prepared to achieve,help in achieving the major objective?......(pleaserefer to Issue 5 of the Lake of Lotus).

(ii) The Price to be Paid:Life is short and limited. Allthe resources that you presently possess could belost at any moment. One must clearly understandthe characteristics of the Combination ofResources and its relations with Destiny in onesown life before making any changes, to realize theprice that one has to pay for the different plans,and then go through the processes of elimination

Similarities and Differences Between the Static State of DharmaPractices and the Dynamic State of Dharma Practices

The Cardinal Mentality Inuences Everything The Planning of Ones Dharma Practices in Daily Living

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and deployment in order to adopt and abandonin these various plans. In this way, this wouldenable the limited resources to become ever-renewing, inexhaustible and of unusual value formoney within a limited framework of time andspace (please refer to Issue 6 of the Lake of

Lotus).

(iii) Strength and Weakness: Every person has his/her own strengths, merits, skills, as well as his/her weaknesses and the Achilles heel (weakestpoint). In order to achieve success of anyobjective or of any plan, one must be veryclear of ones own strengths and weaknesses;and then through various skillful arrangements, tryto complement and make use of ones strengthsand weaknesses in designing the contents andprocedures of the plans. This is an important

strategy in eliminating and deploying the plans,and thus should not be underestimated (pleaserefer to Issue 7 of the Lake of Lotus).

(iv) The Factors of Time and Effectiveness (1): Indrawing up any plan, one must take into accountthe planning of time. The principles for theusages and wastages of time must be clear,and have to be linked up with the effectiveness ofthe plan. Hence, time should be spent on thoseplans which are most effective and can bringthe highest rate of return. One should prioritize

ones different plans according to the long orshort durations of time used and their relativeeffectiveness. Plans that require one to put in alot of time and effort, but with low rates of return

and low effectiveness, should be scrapped. Oneshould rene and improve ones plans by makingreference to the principles for the usages andwastages of time. This is a major direction inthe selecting, eliminating and rening process ofones plans (please refer to Issue 8 of the Lake

of Lotus).

(v) The Factors of Time and Effectiveness (2): Dueto the simple fact that one has only very limitedtime and energy in ones lifetime, and if ones ownobjective is either to be liberated from the cycle oftransmigration (known as Samsara in Sanskrit),or to attain full enlightenment (Buddhahood)within this very life, then your planning of timeand the principles for the usages and wastagesof time for this life will become one of the criticalpoints in determining whether you would succeed

or fail. Hence one must be very cautious andrational about this. If your objective is to be reborninto the Buddhas Pure Land within this lifetime,then you would have had greater exibility inthe handling of your planning of time and theprinciples for the usages and wastages of time,but they still should not be neglected. Hence,what will be the most wise and effective way inthe planning of time for ones life while one is onthe path for Dharma practice?......(please refer toIssue 9 of the Lake of Lotus).

(vi) The Factors of Time and Effectiveness (3): Doesit mean that if one is unable to undergo long-termretreat, one would not be able to achieve theobjective to become liberated from Samsaraor in attaining Buddhahood within this lifetime? Ifyou want to know the answer, please answer thefollowing three questions rst and to know aboutthe three essential factors in the applicationof Buddhist teaching in our Daily Living ..(please refer to Issue 10 of the Lake of Lotus).

(vii) The Factors of Time and Effectiveness (4): Wrong

Planning of Time

It is no easy matter at all for one to be able to masterthe keys to success of Dharma Practices inones daily living in order to have achievements,as well as to be able to achieve the objective ofbecoming liberated from Samsara or in attainingBuddhahood within this lifetime. Even if one doespossess the three best conditions (please referto Issue 10 of the Lake of Lotus), it will still beunavoidable that one can fall prey and become

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lost again in this tidal sea of sorrow in Samsara,as one goes through thisundulated waves of ever-changing life cycle. If one tries not to fall again,and instead wants to further consolidate uponones own foundation, one of the best methods isto merge ones own Dharma practices into onesdaily livingso as to ensure ones mastering of thePlanning of Time.

No matter in the setting of what kinds of plans, onehas to try and predict what would be the outcomesthat would be brought upon you by this plan?What will be the side-effects and how many?One always hopes for the best but be preparedfor the worst. Many a Dharma practitioners, whenplanning the times for their Dharma practices,will tend to take care of one but then lose holdof the others, making it more contradictory, and

also more confusing, for ones own daily living,and thus ending in theloss of what to adopt andabandon. (please refer to the Issue 11 of theLake of Lotus),

(viii) The Factors of Time and Effectiveness (5): ThePlanning of Time in Ones Daily Living

How can the planning of time in ones dailyliving be designed so as to avoid the variouswrong doings? How should we practice the HolyDharma so as to make the effectiveness of

Dharma practices during meditation be linkedup and steadily sustained with that in post-meditation daily living so as to further it andlet it become fully developed? If one wantsthe success to be speed up, how should it beplanned so as to remove those obstacles that willhinder the effectiveness? How can the sequenceof incidents to be traced out of those confusions,and the key positions to be found in solving theproblems? How can a consensus be reachedbetween ones cognitions and reality so thatthe contradictions can be resolved?How can thedevotion, pure state of mind and dedication of

Dharma practices during meditation be linked upand be sustained with that in the post-meditationdaily living with a correct state of mind?

For any kind of planning of time, it is unavoidablethat there are merits as well as shortcomings. It isdifcult to avoid wrong doings, yet an appropriateplanning of time can lessen and reduce theseverity of these kinds of wrong doings, thusenabling the successfulness to be speed up. An

appropriate planning of time has to be designedusing the following principles:

1. Link up the main theme, get through the sequences target: daily living during ones lifetime.

2. Simplify the complicated, nd out the keys target:the wrestling ring of energies after death.

3. Distinguish between the important ones with theless important ones, handle interferences well target: the wrestling ring of energies after death

(1) Linking up by the Main Theme, and Getting Throughthe Sequences of EventsBy completely dividing up the practices of the HolyDharma with those during meditation from thoseof post-meditation daily living in ones own state ofmind is an extreme wrongmentality for ones Dharma

practices, simply because the wrong doings thus causedare many, indeed. Since all disturbances will be sealedoff when one performs those Dharma practices duringmeditation, so it belongs to the static state of Dharmapractices. Whereas for those Dharma practices inthe post-meditation daily living, these have to beconducted when there are numerous and complicatedinterferences, and so these belong to the dynamic stateof Dharma practices.

So, in fact, which type of the Dharma practices, be itthe static state or the dynamic state, can producethe greater effectiveness? The answer to this questiondepends on what kinds of environment that one will facein the future. If one divides the stages of ones life intobefore death and after death, one will then nd out thatthe environment that one will face during ones life is allin the dynamic state. Then, how about the environmentafter death? According to what has been revealed inthe Tibetan Book of the Dead, the environment thatone will face after death is all in a high speed dynamicstate,and it is so fast that it is just like the myriads ofchanges within a ash (please refer to the descriptionsof the wrestling ring of energies in the articles on theMeaning of the Near-death Experiences in the Issues

10 and 11 of the Lake of Lotus).

Since during ones lifetime, the environment in whichone is subjected to trials and deeply distressed is in adynamic state; while after death, the environmentthat will make one to become endangered and to beconnected with the extremely bad elements at any timesuch that one can bereborn and trapped, is also in thedynamic state. All these mean that, no matter whetherone will adopt a static state or a dynamic state ofDharma practices, the effects that the practices will

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produce have tobe applied and appropriateto the placefor ones nal decisive battle:a dynamic environment.

The dynamic environment during ones lifetime is ourdaily living,while the active environment after deathis the wrestling ring of energies. In order to receive

training omni-bearingly so as to cope with the dynamicenvironment of varying speeds and with differentdegrees of dangers, both static state of Dharmapractices and dynamic state of Dharma practices haveto be employed

The problem is there are variations for both the staticstate and the dynamic state of Dharma practices,whether it will be for the environment for Dharmapractices, the targets for Dharma practices, the methodsfor coping with the changes, the immediate effectsthat are being sought after, or the planning of time forDharma practices. How can this be modied in such a

way so as to mergethe static state of Dharma practiceswith the dynamic state of Dharma practices, so thatthey can complement each others inadequacies andthus avoidthe occurrence of wrong doingsdue to theirincompatibilities?

In searching for the answer, one have to, rst of all, masterthe similarities and the differences between the staticstate of Dharma practices and the dynamic state ofDharma practices. By linking up their similarities into amain theme, thus helping to get through or weaken theconicting nature of their differences, the merits andeffectiveness of these two types of Dharma practicescan be developed to their full extent. The meaning ofmain themeis to regard this part as the main cardinalpart which is themost important point. By its linking up,the similarities of these two types of Dharma practices

will be strengthened and lengthened, and so their meritsand effectiveness can thus be further developed to theirfullest extent.

Since the differences of these two types of Dharmapractices are not the main theme, which means that

they are branch sidelines,and so are less important,and thus this can help to reduce the conicting natureof their differences. When obstacles are reduced whileeffectiveness is strengthened, it is much easier to achievesuccess. This is the most important meaning of linkingup the main theme, and getting through the sequences,and these should be applied in the planning of time.

Similarities and DifferencesBetween the Static State of DharmaPractices and the Dynamic State ofDharma Practices

There are several characteristics when doing theDharma practices during meditation:

1. For ones state of mind maintain devotion,calmness, has the feeling that one is doing Dharmapractices, and considers that practicing in this wayis effective and will have merits. All the differentBuddhas and Bodhisattvas will commend on onespractices.

2. For the environment there is no externalinterference. The environment can be maintainedunchanged temporarily. Sudden assaults seldomappear, and there is no need to take care of othermatters.

3. For ones Dharma practices there are xedsessions for ones Dharma practice, and xedtargets for doing such practices. One only requiresto practice these accordingly; there is no need toadjust ones Dharma practices in response to thechanges in various situations. One does not haveto be subjected to trials immediately.

4. For the effectiveness it is easy to cultivatemental concentration and meditational power,and easy to become familiarized with the lessonsof the Dharma practices. It is much easier to havesome signs of revelations for ones practices.

5. For the shortcomings unable to master the skillsfor adjustments, unable to know the dangersof the dynamic environment, unable to knowwhether ones level of Dharma practice can copewith the dynamic environment or not, unableto know whether the present lessons of Dharma

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practices are sufcient to deal with the dynamicenvironment or not, unable to know what will beones own responses when under impacts, unableto cure the disease with the right medicine,unable to know oneself as well as others.

6. For the planning of time has to set aside acertain period of time during ones daily livingpurely for doing the Dharma practices duringmeditation.

Since the characteristics of doing the Dharma

practices during meditation are mostlyaccordingto instructions, and so it is called the static state ofDharma practices. How can these characteristicsbe adjusted so as to link up the static state ofDharma practices with the dynamic state ofDharma practices? What is the main themebetween these two?

There are several characteristics when doing the Dharmapractices for the post-meditation daily living:

1. For ones state of mind unable to maintain

devotion and calmness, one has the feeling thatone is not doing Dharma practices, and feelsthat often one is not observing the disciplines.The feeling of wild fantasies will not stop for justa while. One has the feeling that all the differentBuddhas and Bodhisattvas will not commend onwhat one is doing. One feels very tired and bored,and has the feeling of disordered events comingaltogether.

2. For the environment it is full of externalinterferences. The environment is always

changing. Sudden impacts will appear at any time,and one has to take care of all other matters aswell.

3. For ones Dharma practices there is no xedlessons for ones Dharma practices, also with no

xed targets for doing the Dharma practices. It isdifcult to practice, and one has to adjust onesown Dharma practices in response to the variouschanges according to different situations. One hasto be subjected to trials immediately.

4. For the effectiveness if one is being instructedby a qualied Authentic Guru, it is much easierfor one to learn how to handle and master theadjustment skills needed. Also, one can knowthe dangers of dynamic environment. It ismuch easier to know whether ones level ofDharma practices could cope with the dynamic

environment or not, and much easier to knowwhether the lessons of Dharma practices at thepresent moment are sufcient enough to deal withthe dynamic environment or not. One is also ableto know what will be ones own responses whenhaving impacts, and has the chance to try out incuring the disease with the right medicine. It ismuch easier to know oneself as well as others.

5. For the shortcomings it is very difcult to cultivatemental concentration and meditational power,and is also difcult to have signs of revelation forones practices.

6. For the planning of time at any time of onesdaily living is the time for ones Dharma practices.

Since the post-meditation daily living is alwayschanging, and so this is called the dynamic stateof Dharma practices. So, what should be theway for their unication so as to link up the staticstate of Dharma practices with the dynamic stateof Dharma practices? What is the main themebetween these two?

The Cardinal Mentality InuencesEverything

Have you ever found out that a persons life isalwayscontrolled by a particular cardinal mentality? In thedifferent stages as well as in the different periods of oneslifetime, there are different types of cardinal mentalitiesthat are in control of each section of a persons lifetime.That is to say, there is a cardinal mentality which totallyand completely ties up ones whole life, while there is

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another cardinal mentality which catches ones mindtransiently at a certain moment.

For example, the cardinal mentality when one falls inloveis tender, loving, happy, easily get lost, emotionalrather than rational, and is relatively easy to give in.

Whereas, the cardinal mentality when one takesrevenge is malevolent, full of hatred, miserable, easilybe trapped in the wrong way, easy to loose ones reason,and is unwilling to make concessions.

Why will it happen like that? This is because the cardinalmentality is a kind of main lter lens. Once it is set up inones mind, all kinds of ideas, judgments coming fromthe mind, as well as all other external matters, will haveto go through this lter lens of the cardinal mentalityfor ltering, processing and dyeingbefore they can enterinto the boundary of ones thinking process. All those

information that have been ltered, processed and dyedby the cardinal mentality will automatically becomesome kind of a distorted or twisted information. Hence,in using these distorted or twisted information as theraw materials forones own thinking, then the productsof ones thinkingwill also be within the limited boundaryof this cardinal mentality.

For example, if you expect the stock market is onthe rising trend, and so the idea of having a goldenopportunity will become your cardinal mentality at thatpoint. Even if there are other unfavorable news about thestock market, one will still use various reasons to convince

oneself to invest the capital into the stock market.Thus, the cardinal mentality becomes the machine forthe making-up of many reasons and, therefore, it playsthe most crucial and important leading role in affectingall the decisions and the whole picture.

Since the cardinal mentality is the major key in decidingon everything, one has to directly deal with it if one wantsto link up the static state and the dynamic state ofthe Dharma practices. However, since the mentalityof the static state of Dharma practices is basicallycontradictory to that of the dynamic state of Dharmapractices, then how can one deal with this? When one

wants to merge things that are contradictory to eachother, one has to nd out the agreed rationales for acommon consensus, upon which adjustments andunication can be made later on.

To merge the contradictions thathave nothing in common, one hasto nd out the agreed rationales

for a common consensus.

To link up the crisscross sequences,one has to adjust and unifythe variations basing upon thoserationales.

For any kind of Dharma practices, one has to maintaindevotion and calmness, which can be considered asthe agreed rationales for a common consensus.

The reason that one cannot maintain calmness in thepost-meditation daily living is simply because thereare too many temptations and attacks coming from theoutside world which are all pointing directly towards themost weakest points of a Dharma practitioner: greed,hatred and ignorance. To coverthese weak points witha protective screen,one has to maintain devotion andcondence for the practice of Buddhist teachingsin anyperiod of time during the post-meditation daily living.

Pious mentality, if matched with the teachings of aqualied Authentic Guru on the Dharma practicesin daily living, will not only enable one to obtain theprotective screenbut will also make one feel that oneis doing the Dharma practices which will be effectiveand with merits, with all the different Buddhas andBodhisattvas to commend ones doing, while the actionsof breaking disciplines could be rectied. This kind ofmentality is sufcient to counteract against the numeroustemptations and attacks from the outside world.

In other words, the following methods for Dharmapractices in the post-meditation daily living can beused to avoid wrong doings, develop the expectedeffectiveness and link up with the static state of Dharma

practices in a unied manner.

1. For ones state of mind with maintenance ofdevotion and condence as the cardinal mentalityto link upwith the static state of Dharma practicesin a unied manner.

2. For the environment with the externalinterferences, the ever-changing environmentand the sudden impacts as the testing ground to

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check on ones own responses, the progress ofones Dharma practices, and its practicability, thenmodify these in accordance with the instructionssought from the qualied Authentic Guru, andto train oneself to cultivate a certain degree ofmeditational power and concentration power inan environment whereupon one can also give dueconsideration to other things as well.

3. For ones Dharma practices request the qualiedAuthentic Guru to transmit Dharma practices indaily living by employing exible, adaptive Dharmapractice lessons to deal with different targets, andto give instructions on how to solve difculties thatare encountered during ones Dharma practices,one learns how to adjust the Dharma practicesin response to changes of various situations,and is willingly to accept the trials

immediately.

4. For the effectiveness to make up forthe inadequacies of the static stateof Dharma practices.

5. For the shortcomings to cultivatethe power of concentration andmeditational power as an objective,use the cardinal mentality tomatch and lengthen the powerof concentration and meditationalpower that were obtained from the

static state of Dharma practices,and then apply them intothe dynamicstate of Dharma practices so as tostrengthen the width, sustainability and degree ofpracticability of the power of concentration andmeditational power. Use ones responses andprogress of ones Dharma practices as the signsof revelation for ones Dharma practices.

6. For the planning of time regardless of whetherit be the time for doing the Dharma practicesduring meditation, or in the post-meditation dailyliving, any period of time in ones daily living

is considered as the time for ones own Dharmapractices.

The Planning of Ones DharmaPractices in Daily Living

The purposes of Dharma practices, whether it is forgetting the spiritual elevation and supportin ones daily

living, or for coping with the high speed wrestling ringof energies after death so as to avoid falling into thethree lower realms through different kinds of rebirthsand reincarnations in the cycle of karmic existence(Samsara), all will have to face the dynamic state of the

environment. Thus, it is unavoidable that any kind ofDharma practices has to use the post-meditation dailyliving as one of the training grounds.

Since the effects of the static state of Dharma practicescannot be obliterated nor can it be completely replaced,one has to retain a certain amount of time for onesDharma practices during meditation as the staticstate of Dharma practices, within the planning of timein ones daily living, particularly for those Dharmapractitioners whose level of Dharma practices has notyet reached the degree of no-return. For the time

settings, it is necessary to have a period oftime in each day, each year, during oneslifetime, to be allocated for ones Dharmapractices during meditation as the staticstate of Dharma practices. Yet, in onesown state of mind, and even for theplanning of time, one has to link up theDharma practices of the static state withthat of the dynamic state; otherwise, it isunavoidable to have wrong doings causedby just talking about theories withoutputting them into practices, and may endup with a disastrous result.

Basing upon the agreed rationales onthe common consensus, one can adjust

and unify the differences between the static state ofDharma practices and the dynamic state of Dharmapractices into some common points. Then, with thecardinal mentality, one tries to link up the commonpoints between the static state of Dharma practicesand the dynamic state of Dharma practices, in orderto get through the rigid dichotomy in ones planning oftime, and thus opening and tidying up the disorderedsequences of events. This is the planning of ones

Dharma practices in daily living, among which thecardinal mentality and the planning of time are themain keys for ones success or failure.

In the next issue of Lake of Lotus, we will continue toshare with you on the planning of time in the applicationof the Dharma teachings in daily living..(To beContinued)

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