Jack, the Dragon Slayer

Once upon a time, in a not so far away place, and not so long ago time, there lived a young boy named Jack.

Jack was a frail lad, who wore thick glasses, didn’t much care for sports, was sick a lot, and was often bullied by the other boys. 

But Jack had one notable thing:  He could see dragons. 

As a kid, Jack never met anyone else who could see dragons.  He would point them out and people would just say, “Sure, Jack.  I see them too.”  But they said it in such a way that Jack knew they didn’t; that they were just saying that to shut him up. 

But Jack knew.  There are dragons everywhere. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones, red ones, blue ones, green ones. Some that bite, some that claw, some that beat you with their tails and wings, and some that burn you with their fiery breath.  Jack knew you can't escape them. And for the most part you can't kill them.  But Jack thought SOMETHING could be done about the dragons.  So he looked, and he thought.  He looked and he thought.  But nothing came to him. 

Well, nothing but laughter and derision from the other kids.  And trips to all kinds of doctors – M.D.s and Ph.D’s.  But Jack couldn’t be persuaded that the dragons were just his imagination, that they were all in his head.  Because he saw how other people were affected by the dragons.  How the dragons made other people uncomfortable.  Or sad.  Or angry.  Or mean.  Or . . . well, maybe even crazy.

Then, when Jack was in High School, a literature class read a book – a fictionalized history about a guy who lived a long time ago, and who purportedly not only saw dragons, but came up with a theory about why we have dragons, about where the dragons come from.  He also figured out a way to slay some, to tame some, and to [vanquish, calm, conquer, quieten, tranquilize, trounce, domesticate, dispense with] the rest.  But, this guy in the book also knew, and pointed out, that there are enough dragons around that it is safe to say, “There will always be dragons!”  But also that we can make them leave us alone.  We can do that; we can deal with the dragons very effectively by practicing the Dragon Dispensing Discipline this guy in the book recommended.

Well, Jack was impressed.  So he started investigating, and found that there really was a guy a long time ago who figured out how to deal with dragons, and it was the eight-factored Dragon Dispensing Discipline that would do it. 

So Jack started practicing the Dragon Dispensing Discipline, and sure enough, it worked!  Over time, with regular practice, Jack became a Dragon Slayer of the first order.  But as it turns out, Jack learned, we can only slay those dragons that are after us.  We can only slay our own personal dragons; not those of other people. 

However, Jack was convinced that the Dragon Dispensing Discipline would work for anyone and everyone who practiced it religiously.  So he began to talk about the Discipline to anyone who would listen.  And sometimes even to those who didn’t.  And he was right.  Those who practiced had no more trouble with dragons. 

If you’ve got personal dragons you want to deal with, but don’t know how, send us an email.  ambms.sasana@gmail.com.  We’ll be teaching the Dragon Dispensing Discipline in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11, 2016.

The Only Buddhist in America

I was “on the road” a few days ago, and stopped at a restaurant to eat.  I took a couple of books with me to read and cross-reference each other.  Well, a woman came over shortly after I sat down, and asked what I was reading.  She said she was interested in Buddhism, but was confused by the stuff she finds on the internet.  I gave her a copy of Dr. R. Walpola’s “What The Buddha Taught,” and went back to my food. 

I was almost done eating when a fellow came over and said he saw the book I gave the lady, and asked if I am a “Lama.”  I choked down the desire to respond with, “No, I’m just an overgrown old goat,” (Lama vs. llama – get it?), and told him I was a “bhikkhu” originally ordained in a Sri Lankan tradition.  He then told me that he was really the only Buddhist in America.  I invited him to sit with me, and elaborate on his statement.

This fellow, we’ll call him “George,” is probably in his early thirties.  He told me he works for a defense contractor and travels all over the country.  He was on his way from Oklahoma to North Dakota.  In his travels he has been from coast to coast and border to border in the U.S., traveled all over Europe – north, south, east, and west, and has been to Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia.  He has also been to Africa, and spent a lot of time in Israel.  And he seeks out Buddhists everywhere he goes.

George contends that he has visited with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Buddhists – priests, monks, nuns, and lay practitioners.  And, he avers, none of them are practicing the Way of the Buddha.  They are practicing stuff, and most have a small part of the Way of the Buddha, but not one has ever explained their practice in terms of the Four Noble Truths.  George avows that if you’re not trying to live the Four Noble Truths, then you are not a Buddhist. 

As we continued our discussion, George clarified what he meant; that one needed to spend time every day reflecting on the Four Noble Truths, and seeing how one could practice and apply them in one’s moment to moment life.  The more we talked, the more it became clear that what George was talking about was the Fourth Noble Truth, that is The Noble Eightfold Path. 

George meditates on the four factors of mindfulness – body, emotions, thinking process and the things and events in the social and physical environment.  He tries to study something for an hour or so each day.  He struggles with his role as representative of a defense contractor.  He thinks about the moral/ethical implications of his actions, and also the moral/ethical implications of all the “actors” on the world stage.  And so on. 

I gave George a business card – the Ariya Magga Buddhist Missionary Society – and pointed out that Ariya Magga is Pāḷi for Noble Path.  George asked a bunch of questions about my practice, and I think he may have changed his mind.  He’s not “The Only Buddhist in America.”  There are at least two of us.

And probably more.  Many more.

If you sincerely and rigorously – maybe even religiously – practice the Ariya Magga, let me know.  Email me at ambms.sasana@gmail.com.  I’ll pass the numbers along to George if I ever cross paths with him again.

This I teach, and this alone . . .

From Monday, January 11, 2016

Tradition has the historical Buddha saying something like, “This I teach, and this alone:  dukkhā and the end of dukkhā.”

Let’s define dukkhā.  Often translated into English as “suffering,” the Pāḷi term encompasses much, much more.  Dukkhā has the sense of the experience of being affected by or being subjected to (something bad or unpleasant).  As said in the previous post, dukkhā is the state or condition we find ourselves in when we want our desires met, and they aren’t, and/or we want things to be different, and they are not. 

“Suffering” just isn’t adequate to encompass all of the scents, and flavors, and hues of dukkhā.  Maybe the following list of English words (and a few phrases) will give you some sense of the breadth and depth of dukkhā.  Its not complete, but it might be helpful.

abide

abraded

abused

accident

ache

adversity

affliction

aggitated

aggravated

aggravation

aggrieved

agitation

agony

alarmed

amazement

anger

angry

angst

anguish

anguished misery

annoyance

annoyed

antagonized

anxiety

apprehension

apprehensiveness

astonishment

bad luck

be affected by

be afflicted by/with

be damaged

be demoralized

be despondent

be discouraged

be impaired

be in distress

be in pain

be miserable

be pessimistic

be troubled with

be upset

bear

blow

bothered

bugged

burdened

burned

burned up

butterflies (in one's stomach)

calamity

catastrophe

chafed

chagrin

chagrined

complete emptiness

concern

consternation

crisis

cross

dander up

decline

deep anxiety

defeatism

depression

desolation

despair

despairing

desperation

despondency

deteriorate

difficulties

difficulty

disaster

discomposure

disconsolate

disconsolateness

discouragement

disgruntled

disheartenment

dismay

displeasure

displeasure

disquiet

disquietude

distress

dread

emotional unrest

endure

exasperated

exasperation

excoriated

exhausted

fear

fearfulness

fed up

feel pain

foreboding

formal brook

frazzled

fright

galled

give up

gone around the bend

gone bananas

gotten to

grief

hackles up

hard times

hardship

hassled

heartache

heartbreak

heebie-jeebies

hope abandoned

hopeless

hopelessness

hot under the collar

huffy

hurt

ill at ease

ill luck

ill winds

impatient

in a bad mood

in a huff

in a temper

incensed

inconvenienced

indignation

infuriated

inquietude

irate

irked

irritated

irritation

jitteriness

jitters

literary dolor

loneliness

lose faith

lose heart

lose hope

mad

maddened

malaise

melancholy

miffed

misadventure

miserable

miserly

misery

misfortune

misgiving

misgivings

mishap

needled

nerves

nervous

nervousness

nettled

pain

pangs

panic

peeved

perturbation

pessimism

pestered

piqued

PO'd

provoked

put out

put up with

put upon

rankled

rasped

rattled

rejection

resign oneself

reverse

riled

rubbed the wrong way

ruffled feathers

ruffled fur

sadness

scratched

setback

shock

sore

sorrow

stand

stress

stressed

Sturm und Drang

suffering

surprise

teed off

tenseness

tension

testy

the creeps

the heebie-jeebies

the jitters

the shivers

the willies

throes

ticked off

tolerate

torment

torture

tragedy

trauma

traumatic

trepidation

trial

trials

trials and tribulations

tribulation

trouble

twitchiness

unease

uneasiness

unhappiness

up the wall

upset

vexation

vexed

woe

worry

wretchedness

wroth

What words describe or define the dukkhā you’ve had today?

On Dukkhā

12/113/15

Much is made of dukkhā in the world of Buddhist philosophies, but little seems to be understood.  There is much about it and about it.  What it is, and is not.  Where is comes from.  What is its cause.  And on and on.  People scour the suttas and commentaries for evidence to bolster their particular view of dukkhā. 

There are some very narrow understandings, some very traditional understandings, taken from the Buddhist literature.  I have from time to time come across explanations of dukkhā which rely on belief in one or another metaphysical systems.

But, dukkhā isn’t found in the texts.  Sure, the texts talk about dukkhā, or more accurately what people think about dukkhā.  But let us take a lesson from Zen:  let us not confuse the finger pointing for the moon. 

Dukkhā is a human experience.  It may also be experienced by non-humans; by sentient animals as well.  If we are to grasp the significance of the Four Noble Truths, then we must focus on human experience.  Our experience.  Our personal experience of dukkhā.  And, whether we are aware of it, whether it has registered as such, we all have experienced dukkhā.  And that experience, our experience of dukkhā, has shaped our thinking and our behavior. 

Dukkhā is not a “thing” like a strawberry.  It is more a “state” that is experienced.  Like being in a state of bewilderment.  Or having a broken heart.  Or just dying to own that 1967, two-door hardtop Chevy Bel-Aire, so Marilu will go out with you.  And not wanting the night to end when she does.

Dukkhā is a state of dis-satisfactoriness.  And a lot of other words.  It is a part of the human condition. 

We enter into the state of dukkhā when we lack the wisdom, the vision, the knowledge, the insight, the clarity to see things as they are, and to understand our desire for them to be in some way, great or small, different than they are.  When we are attached to having things our way, and they are not our way, there arises the state of dukkhā. 

What’s your experience?