Fri, 04 Jul 2008
The Elevator Speech
Sometimes when people find out that I'm a Buddhist, they ask me what Buddhism is all about. I've fumbled this several times in the past, so I've tried to come up with the elevator speech — a short explanation that I can rattle off in an elevator. I suppose in some sense, the Four Noble Truths would be the best answer. But "suffering and the end of suffering" just seems too heavy for our pleasure drenched and pleasure obsessed culture. So here is my latest elevator speech: "There are two parts to our experience. The first is what's actually there and the second is our feelings and thoughts about it. Usually we confuse the two, which causes us problems. Buddhism shows us how we can recognize the difference by watching our minds. Once we can recognize the difference, a lot of things that were problems aren't any more." So that's my explanation of Buddhism in less than a hundred words.
Drupon Thinley Nyingpo gave a two day teaching on a short Mahamudra text from the Drikung tradition. I only was there for the second day, but you may find some value in my notes. Here's an excerpt.
There is no need to rely on anything else at all than resting the mind. It is called the white panacea, after a medicine that would cure all diseases. If you know this remedy, however gross your afflictive emotions are, your realization will be that much stronger. It is like Angulimala, who instantly saw the truth when it was explained by the Buddha. It's difficult to overcome conceptual mind and tranform our thoughts into wisdom, because we have a constant chain of them. But in an instance of strong emotion, it is easier to recognize our minds and transform it. A moment of anger is unvirtuous if not transformed into wisdom, but it is easier to transform that emotion. Phagmodrupa was teaching a student and making him angry. When he got very angry, he said, now rest in that, and in that way was able to bring him to realization. Just as manure helps the crops grow, so afflictions can bring forth wisdom. The essential point of practice is to sustain Mahamudra within whatever arises without contrivance.
