Quantcast
Channel: Inviting the Bell » dhamma
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Refuge in the Dharma – Coming to terms with Reality and Renunciation

0
0

This post is about “Cutting Through Material Spiritualism” by Chogyam Trungpa, a dharma book being read by the #BuddhaBkClb group located on Twitter at #BuddhaBkClb and in this online forum

Most expositions on the three refuges of Buddhism –  The Buddha, The Dharma, The Sangha – translate the Dharma in this context as the Buddhist teachings. In the book, however, it is described somewhat differently, as follows:

I take refuge in the dharma – dharma, the “law of existence,” life as it is. I am willing to open my eyes to the circumstances of life as they are. I am not willing to view them as spiritual or mystical, but am willing to see the situations of life as they really are.

Of four given meanings, Wikipedia defines dharma as essentially “reality as it is” in three of the four. The third given meaning being “the teaching of the Buddha”. So if the primary meaning of dharma is not the teaching, but reality itself, why is the Buddha’s teaching definition used almost exclusively (at least in the books and dharma talks I’ve read and heard over the years)?

Dharma is both the Buddha’s teaching and the law of existence/phenomenon/nature. It reminds one of the totality and scope of the teaching, that it is inseparable from the reality of our existence as we may or may not know it. The selection of ignorance as one of the two causes of suffering (the other is craving) brings it home. In short, we suffer due to our ignorance of the nature of existence.

I find Chogyam Trungpa’s interpretation of this refuge so much more useful. It isn’t about respect specifically for the Buddha’s teachings just because they are his teachings. It’s about coming to terms with reality as it is and stopping our life’s work of avoiding it.

The idea of stopping our life’s work of avoiding reality (and its basic, unavoidable suffering) is a repeated message in this book, paired with how our ego is the agent of our mind that is running with the avoidance agenda and cleverly tricking us into avoiding it even as we tell ourselves we are not. This is what the author refers to as spiritual materialism.

So how to come to terms with reality as it is? A good start is to stop avoiding it.

Several pages after the quote above is a story about Marpa as a student of Naropa. I’ll spare you a detailed retelling, but the culmination of it brings us right back to this point and – cleverly – after having moved on to another topic, teacher/student relationships. Marpa, a wealthy and learned man, offers gold to Naropa in exchange for his teaching as a last ditch effort after an epic run-around and wearing down of the unknowing student by the teacher. Naropa tosses the gold dust into the air and says,

“What need have I of gold? The whole world is gold for me!”

This was a great moment of opening for Marpa. He opened and was able to receive the teaching. He stayed with Naropa for a long time after that and his training was quite austere, but he did not simply listen to the teachings as before; he had to work his way through them. He had to give up everything he had, not just his material possessions, but whatever he was holding back in his mind had to go. It was a continual process of opening and surrender.

Reading “he had to give up everything he had…” reminded me of the Buddha’s continual stress on the importance of going forth, becoming a monk, letting go of material possessions and eschewing most worldly comforts and pleasures. In short, renunciation. A lot of people like to say that lay practioners such as myself have it harder than monks, who don’t have to deal with a job or supporting a family. Harder to realize the teachings, perhaps, but anyone who has read the 227 rules of Thai forest monks or the stories of monks about their life – especially early on – knows that lay people live a sheltered, comfy and pleasure-filled life in comparison. Dropping that is largely the point of going forth.

We must surrender our hopes and expectations, as well as our fears, and march directly into disappointment, work with disappointment, go into it, and make it our way of life, which is a very hard thing to do.  … If we can open, then we suddenly begin to see that our expectations are irrelevant compared with the reality of the situations we are facing.

This type of renunciation – letting go of constant self-coddling, self-soothing with food, entertainment, sex and intoxicants, living in total shelter and comfort from the elements all in an effort to avoid the nature of existence – is largely ignored in most of the Western teachings and books I’ve been exposed to. And yet it’s such a big part of the Buddha’s teaching.

Because of the countless methods available to those of us in modern civilized culture to avoid suffering, there are so many opportunities for renunciation. So while I may not leave my family, quit my job, sell the house and go live in a hut, I do feel that measured and consistent renunciation in both small ways and large is an important part of practice, if not one of its cornerstones.



Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images