June 4

Through My Eyes

Saturday June 4

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his typical day!)

" As a means of helping myself in this quest, I choose to be a Buddhist monk. There are 253 rules of Tibetan monasticism, 364 for nuns, and by observing them as closely as I can, I free myself from many of the distractions and worries of life. Some of these rules mainly deal with etiquette, such as the physical distance a monk should walk behind the abbot of his monastery; others are concerned with behaviour. The four root vows concern simple prohibitions: namely that a monk must not kill, steal or lie about his spiritual attainment. He must also be celibate. If he breaks any one of these, he is no longer a monk.

I am sometimes asked whether this vow of celibacy is really desirable and indeed whether it is really possible. Suffice to say that its practice is not simply a matter of suppressing sexual desires. On the contrary, it is necessary fully to accept the existence of these desires and to transcend them by the power of reasoning. When successful, the result on the mind can be very beneficial. The trouble with sexual desire is that it is a blind desire. To say ' I want to have sex with this person' is to express a desire which is not intellectually directed in the way that ' I want to eradicate poverty in the world' is an intellectually directed desire. Furthermore, the gratification of sexual desire can only ever give temporary satisfaction. Thus as Nagarjuna, the great Indian scholar , said:

When you have an itch, you scratch

But not to itch at all

Is better than any amount of scratching

Regarding my actual daily practice, I spend, at the very least, five and a half hours per day in prayer, meditation and study. On top of this, I also pray whenever I can during odd moments of the day, for example over meals and whilst travelling. In this last case, I have three main reasons for doing so: firstly, it contributes towards fulfilment of my daily duty; secondly, it helps to pass the time productively; thirdly, it assuages fear! More seriously though, as a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life. Religious practice is a twenty-four hour occupation. In fact, there are prayers prescribed for every activity from waking to washing, eating and even sleeping. For Tantric practitioners, those exercises which are undertaken during deep sleep and in the dream state are the most important preparation for death.

However, for myself, early morning is the best time for practice. The mind is at its freshest and sharpest then. I therefore get up at around four o'clock. On waking, I begin the day with the recitation of mantras. I then drink hot water and then take my medicine before making prostrations in salutation of the Buddhas for about half an hour. The purpose of this is twofold. Firstly, it increases one's own merit (assuming proper motivation) and secondly, it is good exercise. After my prostrations, I wash-saying prayers as I do so. Then I generally go outside for a walk, during which I make further recitations, until breakfast at around 5.15 A.M. I allow about half an hour for this meal ( which is quite substantial) and whilst eating read scriptures.

From 5.45 A.M. until around 8.00 A.M. , I meditate, pausing only to listen to the 6.30 news bulletin of the BBC World Service. Then, from 8.00 A.M. until noon, I study Buddhist philosophy. Between then and lunch at 12.30, I might read either official papers or newspapers, but during the meal itself I again read scripture. At 1.00P.M., I go to my office, where I deal with government and other matters and give audiences until 5.00P.M. This is followed by another short period of prayer and meditation as soon as I get back home. If there is anything worthwhile on television, I watch it now before having tea at 6.00P.M. Finally, after tea, during which I read scripture once more, I say prayers until 8.30 or 9.00P.M., when I go to bed. Then follows very sound sleep.

Of course, there are variations to this routine. Sometimes during the morning I will participate in a puja or, in the afternoon, I will deliver a teaching. But, all the same, I very rarely have to modify my daily practice- that is my morning and evening prayers and meditation.

The rationale behind this practice is quite simple. During the first part of it when I make prostrations, I am 'taking refuge' in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The next stage is to develop Bodhichitta or a Good Heart. this is done firstly be recognising the impermenance of all things and secondly by realising the true nature of being which is suffering. On the basis of these two considerations it is possible to generate altruism."

( The Dalai Lama has an incredible ability to maintain his spiritual practice in the midst of a very intense life as a world leader. I promise to add more tomorrow...)

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

* This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth

Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Through my eyes

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue spraying. Two as one pulling strongly and patiently together we've completed the spraying for the week! After that I returned to our studio to take a nap then headed back up to continue working on extending the electric fence. Then I rested by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to spin for you then to work on the printing block which with we two working as one is going quite well! It was a wondrous walk across the field in the evening with the raccoons purring and all the glowing winged beings hovering here and there! After that I worked a bit on our a land of Tibet. You'll notice the usual changes in the pages. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up for now so we can rest.

And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow

my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright

long dark mane in sunlight

so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday June 4 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his typical day!) " As a means of helping myself in this quest, I choose to be a Buddhist monk. There are 253 rules of Tibetan monasticism, 364 for nuns, and by observing them as closely as I can, I free myself from many of the distractions and worries of life. Some of these rules mainly deal with etiquette, such as the physical distance a monk should walk behind the abbot of his monastery; others are concerned with behaviour. The four root vows concern simple prohibitions: namely that a monk must not kill, steal or lie about his spiritual attainment. He must also be celibate. If he breaks any one of these, he is no longer a monk. I am sometimes asked whether this vow of celibacy is really desirable and indeed whether it is really possible. Suffice to say that its practice is not simply a matter of suppressing sexual desires. On the contrary, it is necessary fully to accept the existence of these desires and to transcend them by the power of reasoning. When successful, the result on the mind can be very beneficial. The trouble with sexual desire is that it is a blind desire. To say ' I want to have sex with this person' is to express a desire which is not intellectually directed in the way that ' I want to eradicate poverty in the world' is an intellectually directed desire. Furthermore, the gratification of sexual desire can only ever give temporary satisfaction. Thus as Nagarjuna, the great Indian scholar , said: When you have an itch, you scratch But not to itch at all Is better than any amount of scratching Regarding my actual daily practice, I spend, at the very least, five and a half hours per day in prayer, meditation and study. On top of this, I also pray whenever I can during odd moments of the day, for example over meals and whilst travelling. In this last case, I have three main reasons for doing so: firstly, it contributes towards fulfilment of my daily duty; secondly, it helps to pass the time productively; thirdly, it assuages fear! More seriously though, as a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life. Religious practice is a twenty-four hour occupation. In fact, there are prayers prescribed for every activity from waking to washing, eating and even sleeping. For Tantric practitioners, those exercises which are undertaken during deep sleep and in the dream state are the most important preparation for death. However, for myself, early morning is the best time for practice. The mind is at its freshest and sharpest then. I therefore get up at around four o'clock. On waking, I begin the day with the recitation of mantras. I then drink hot water and then take my medicine before making prostrations in salutation of the Buddhas for about half an hour. The purpose of this is twofold. Firstly, it increases one's own merit (assuming proper motivation) and secondly, it is good exercise. After my prostrations, I wash-saying prayers as I do so. Then I generally go outside for a walk, during which I make further recitations, until breakfast at around 5.15 A.M. I allow about half an hour for this meal ( which is quite substantial) and whilst eating read scriptures. From 5.45 A.M. until around 8.00 A.M. , I meditate, pausing only to listen to the 6.30 news bulletin of the BBC World Service. Then, from 8.00 A.M. until noon, I study Buddhist philosophy. Between then and lunch at 12.30, I might read either official papers or newspapers, but during the meal itself I again read scripture. At 1.00P.M., I go to my office, where I deal with government and other matters and give audiences until 5.00P.M. This is followed by another short period of prayer and meditation as soon as I get back home. If there is anything worthwhile on television, I watch it now before having tea at 6.00P.M. Finally, after tea, during which I read scripture once more, I say prayers until 8.30 or 9.00P.M., when I go to bed. Then follows very sound sleep. Of course, there are variations to this routine. Sometimes during the morning I will participate in a puja or, in the afternoon, I will deliver a teaching. But, all the same, I very rarely have to modify my daily practice- that is my morning and evening prayers and meditation. The rationale behind this practice is quite simple. During the first part of it when I make prostrations, I am 'taking refuge' in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The next stage is to develop Bodhichitta or a Good Heart. this is done firstly be recognising the impermenance of all things and secondly by realising the true nature of being which is suffering. On the basis of these two considerations it is possible to generate altruism." ( The Dalai Lama has an incredible ability to maintain his spiritual practice in the midst of a very intense life as a world leader. I promise to add more tomorrow...) ( please click here to read of the day with me ) This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Through my eyes ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue spraying. Two as one pulling strongly and patiently together we've completed the spraying for the week! After that I returned to our studio to take a nap then headed back up to continue working on extending the electric fence. Then I rested by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to spin for you then to work on the printing block which with we two working as one is going quite well! It was a wondrous walk across the field in the evening with the raccoons purring and all the glowing winged beings hovering here and there! After that I worked a bit on our a land of Tibet. You'll notice the usual changes in the pages. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up for now so we can rest. And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright long dark mane in sunlight so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)