Book One: Wisdom, Compassion, and Awakening

I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation and happiness in your interest in learning the guidelines for meditation practice in your life. The practices of meditation and mindfulness ultimately lead to the awakening of our mind’s true nature of wisdom and compassion. We start our path by establishing the motivation to study these teachings. We must answer the question, “Who am I?” Just like the Buddha, we have to answer this question for ourselves. There is a story about a young reporter at an airport who spots a Buddhist monk and decides to interview him. The reporter asks, “Sir, what would you say is the world’s biggest problem? Is it global warming? World hunger? Corruption?” The monk smiles and replies, “Before I answer, let me ask you something first … Who are you?” The reporter agrees and says, “I am a reporter.” “No, that is your profession,” says the monk. “Who are you?” “I’m John Adams,” says the young man. “No, that is your name.” He asks again, “Who are you?” “I am… a human being,” he hesitantly replies. “No, that is your species,” says the monk. This goes on for some time until the young reporter finally says, “Alright, … it appears I don’t know who I am!” Then the monk answers, “This is the world’s biggest problem.” In this book we will look at how the Buddha answered this question and at what eventually led him to enlightenment. I emphasize it, because it is the fundamental question that faces each of us. What follows is the ongoing answer to that question on the nature of the self. An important ingredient for the success of our journey is having a strong motivation to change our life for the better by adopting new positive habits that are the foundation for your future happiness. We can learn to uproot our negative habits and replace them with positive healthy habits. This requires mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way of training to become more aware of your own mind. This is done through the meditation practices we will study. It is a way to end our suffering and attain true happiness. The following instructions place the emphasis on our direct inner experience in applying the truths revealed by the Buddha. The Buddha is called the Supreme Physician because, in his words, “My teaching is about suffering and the remedy to end it.” Its purpose is to diagnose and offer a remedy for our suffering and discontent. His genius was the ability to analyze suffering and then show us how to apply this wisdom as the remedy to achieve our serenity and peace of mind. The Buddha did not come to teach a new religion or convert anyone; he simply welcomed and taught everyone who wished to awaken to deep peace and truth. Today, people around the world are struggling with the many difficult challenges that our modern life presents, such as health problems, finances, relationships, climate changes, the threat of war, and much more. This has resulted in overwhelming worry, fear, depression, and anxiety at personal, regional, and global levels. For many, these myriad struggles have led to such things as substance abuse that are reaching epidemic proportions. In recent studies from CDC, it was reported that over 66 million Americans reported binge drinking. In addition, in 2020, National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that over 40 million Americans, aged 12 or older, had a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year. They report these numbers continue to rise annually. The World Health Organization has reported that over 280 million people on the planet can be classified as clinically depressed! This includes people of all ages – it isn’t limited to adults. Sadly, the latest statistics on adolescent health in our country have shown that over 16 percent of this population suffer from depression. Even worse, depression leading to suicide is one of the major causes of death in adolescents, second only to auto accidents. Although these disturbing numbers are staggering, unfortunately, they are continually rising. We can conclude from this that a method for spiritual healing and awakening is desperately needed. Data has shown a connection between a spiritual orientation and mental health (see the Bibliography and Recommended Reading section at the end of the book; The Awakened Brain). Buddhism shows us that we can change and learn how to lead happy, fulfilled lives! This is why it has so much relevance and appeal in our modern world and is making such a strong resurgence. Buddhism has spread from India to China, Japan, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and more recently to the West. Despite certain cultural differences, it currently is proving its ability to peacefully transform the lives of over five hundred million people around the world. This is why despite Buddhism being one of the oldest of the world’s religions, it remains as alive and relevant as it was for its earlier followers. Many scholars and adherents to these teachings, including myself, see it more as a mind science and a supreme psychology than as a religion. Anyone can derive healing benefits in body and mind if Buddha’s teachings are applied consistently in daily life. We all want to be happy and don’t want to suffer, but we must have the proper motivation and training to progress. Implementing these practices into our busy lives can be daunting, and they are not a quick fix. Time and consistent effort are required to uproot the habitual negative patterns we have been cultivating for years and even lifetimes. Each petal of our Golden Eight-Petaled Lotus represents an effective means to cultivate virtue and uproot our negative tendencies, starting with the mindfulness and meditation practices. These methods can skillfully lead us to a solution for the many challenges we are facing. With each of the eight healing traditions we will study in this series, the lineage of their teachings plays an important role. This is a necessary consideration when looking for qualified and respected teachers in any area of study we wish to pursue because it establishes the basis, beliefs, context, and intent of the information. Each of the eight areas of study will be preceded by a brief lineage history. This book presents an exploration of meditation from the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This is one of four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism originating with the historical Buddha of our time, Buddha Shakyamuni. We call this a fortunate eon because the sutras say there will be 1,002 Buddhas who will come to teach. We are in a time when the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, the fourth Buddha of this fortunate eon, are available and still being taught and practiced around the world. The teachings can be summarized by three aspirations to practice and uphold: (1) cultivate excellent virtue in abundance, (2) avoid wrongdoing and harmful actions, and (3) completely tame your mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha. These may be simple to say but can be hard to follow! There are many ways to practice these three profound aspirations. All spiritual traditions profess to teach behaviors that lead to a happy and fulfilled life, but few give such precise methods for doing so.