This
is the first chapter of my booklet Kshanti, originally given as part
of a series of talks at the London Buddhist Centre in 1997
In
the novel "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling, one of the main
characters is a Tibetan Lama. Kim becomes his disciple or chela and
the Lama, who is an artist, paints a picture of the Wheel of Life so
that he can use it to teach Kim.
"When
the shadows shortened and the lama leaned more heavily upon Kim,
there was always the Wheel of Life to draw forth, to hold flat under
wiped stones, and with a long straw to expound cycle by cycle. Here
sat the Gods on high - and they were dreams of dreams. Here was our
Heaven and the world of the demi-Gods - horsemen fighting among the
hills. Here were the agonies done upon the beasts, souls ascending or
descending the ladder and therefore not to be interfered with. Here
were the Hells, hot and cold, and the abodes of tormented ghosts. Let
the chela study the troubles that come forth from overeating -
bloated stomach and burning bowels. Obediently then, with bowed head
and brown finger alert to follow the pointer, did the chela
study."(1)
The
Tibetan Wheel of Life is a very comprehensive symbol of the world, a
symbol of our minds and our lives, both individually and
collectively. In the centre are a cock, a pig and a snake, biting
each others tails. They represent the mental poisons of greed, hatred
and spiritual ignorance which are the forces that keep us going round
and round in circles of suffering and unsatisfactoriness. The pig
represents spiritual ignorance, the unwillingness to recognise that
actions have consequences, that it is possible to dwell in higher
states of consciousness and that all things are impermanent. The cock
represents greed or craving. According to Sangharakshita this is a
state "in which the self or ego reaches out towards the
non-self or non-ego with a view to appropriating and even
incorporating it, thus filling the yawning pit of its own inner
poverty and emptiness."(2)
The
snake represents hatred, ill will and anger. Hatred is the desire to
destroy whatever prevents us from possessing the things or people we
crave. The snake of ill-will lashes out with its venom at whatever
gets in the way of its greedy desires.(3)
Kshanti
is the antidote to snakebite, the antidote to hatred, ill will,
resentment, jealousy, anger and a lot of other poisonous mental
states. Kshanti is a term with many meanings. It is a Sanskrit word
with no exact English equivalent, but it means patience, forbearance
and forgiveness. In his book "The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment"
Sangharakshita, who as a Buddhist and scholar is very careful to give
both the spirit and letter in elucidating the meaning of words,
enlarges on this;
‘It
means patience: patience with people, patience when things don't go
your way. It means tolerance: allowing other people to have their own
thoughts, their own ideas, their own beliefs, even their own
prejudices. It means love and kindliness. And it also means openness
, willingness to take things in, and, especially, receptivity to
higher spiritual truths."(4)
Hatred
or ill will is with us all the time, from the mild irritation and
annoyance we experience at not getting our own way, to self-hatred,
outbursts of anger, jealousy, competitiveness, narrow-minded
rationalism, racism, ideological politics and so on. Ill will
manifests itself in all sorts of ways and a glance at any newspaper
will confirm how ubiquitous it is (not that newspapers give a
particularly balanced account of the world we live in). There is
murder, rape, child abuse, warfare, ethnic cleansing and bigotry of
all sorts. Then, on the more personal level, there are the jealousies
of lovers and former lovers, the breakdown of relationships between
parents and children, the anger of motorists and pedestrians, the
harsh words of political rivals, the petty back-biting of office
politics and so on. Lack of self-esteem which is ill-will towards
ourselves is also very widespread.
Sangharakshita
makes a distinction between two different kinds of anger. (5) There
is the anger of frustration which wants to remove all obstacles to
communication. This can be very good. It is energy that wants to move
beyond limitation. Then there is the anger of rage or hatred which
wants to remove the person. This is anger out of control. The point
is that anger is not necessarily a bad thing, but usually we do not
maintain enough awareness to be able to direct it positively. The
anger of frustration can easily tip over into the anger of rage and
hatred. And of course there is not just anger which is demonstrative
but also anger which is quiet. Quiet anger is characterised by
incessant obsessive thoughts which may manifest as stubbornness or an
'atmosphere' of ill will. Sometimes people on the spiritual path
think that they should not be angry and try to bury or dismiss any
anger that arises. However, it is necessary to experience anger in
order to transform it. To experience it does not mean to express it.
We do not need to scorch others with the sparks of our anger. It is
not a case of express it or repress it but rather a case of
experience and transform it.
There
are a multitude of forms in which hatred or ill will manifests within
us and all around us. We are often taking offence or seeking revenge.
There is a verbal sniping that goes on in even the most polite
circles that is often nothing more than ill-will dressed up as wit or
humour. Do we need to take offence, even when offence is given? Do we
have to get our own back, even when we have been badly treated? Do we
have a choice in how to respond? How can we withstand the poisonous
darts of our own anger and the ill-will of others? Obviously we do
have a choice. Otherwise we are simply controlled by the moods of
other people, like puppets jerking crazily on fraying strings. If we
are to make choices we need to be aware of the choice before us and
we need to feel motivated to choose what is most beneficial. To
develop awareness of our choice of responses and the ability to
choose a response we will have to make an effort. Awareness does not
just descend upon us because we think it is a good idea. Awareness
develops gradually as we make an effort to cultivate it, through
meditation, reflection and observation. To be motivated sufficiently
to want to broaden and deepen our awareness we need to engage our
emotions. Emotions are energy. Where our emotions tend is where our
energy goes. Therefore we need to develop energy to deal with hatred
and anger. In Buddhist terms we need Virya, the energy which
transforms negative emotion and actions into positivity and benign
activity. Kshanti, the antidote to the snakebite of hatred and ill
will, is not something passive or anaemic. It is an energetic
quality. It requires strength and robustness. It requires stamina and
endurance. We cannot allow ourselves to be put off or dispirited by
minor setbacks or upsets.
All
too often we are lacking in stamina. Do we have sufficient motivation
or vision to rouse us to heroic effort? Politicians for instance seem
to have tremendous stamina. People in theatre or pop stars have
stamina. In the world of business people exert themselves
strenuously. It seems that when people are motivated enough they can
perform great feats of energetic striving. Often the motivation is
quite selfish in character. To lead a life centred around spiritual
values we need that kind of stamina too. We need it in order to make
the consistent effort that personal development demands and we need
it if we are to be of help to others. As Sangharakshita puts it;
‘We
are so effete in the spiritual life, more often than not. We can’t
stand
any sort of strain; after any bit of extra effort we have to go
away
and rest, have a little holiday, sit down for a while, play a
record
and take things easy. Its pathetic! Here you are, aspiring to gain
Enlightenment, which is after all the most difficult
thing
you can possibly propose to yourself, and look how easily one
usually
takes it - what an easy time one gives oneself. And there, [[on
the
other hand]] are people aiming at the very inferior, trivial, easily
attained
things like the Presidency of the United States. Just look at
the
massive effort they are putting in - it puts us to shame!’(6)
Perhaps
you think he is exaggerating for effect. I don't think so. I
think
he is probably even sugaring the pill. If you read the life of
Sangharakshita
or of other great Buddhists or remarkable practitioners
from
other spiritual traditions, you will find they all had great
stamina
and the ability and willingness to make consistent effort in
pursuit
of their goals. How can we develop stamina? The answer is with
practice.
If we are to develop stamina we need to learn how to endure
discomfort, whether it is physical discomfort or emotional
discomfort. Endurance is an aspect of Kshanti. The Dhammapada uses
the image of an elephant as a simile for endurance. It says: "I
will endure words that hurt in silent peace as the strong elephant
endures in battle arrows sent by the bow, for many people lack
self-control.’(7)
The
quality of endurance is not very popular these days. Comfort and
instant gratification are hallmarks of our society. Endurance and the
ability to postpone gratification of desires are hallmarks of the
spiritual life. In his book "The Sibling
Society",
Robert Bly argues that people no longer want to grow up and face the
difficulties of adulthood. Instead we are creating what he calls a
sibling society, a society of adolescents which demands little in the
way of responsibility and difficult work. He says;
"When
enough people have slid backward into a sibling state of mind,
society
can no longer demand difficult and subtle work from its people -
because
the standards are no longer visible. Without the labour of
artists,
for example, to incorporate past achievements - in brushwork,
in
treatment of light, in depth of emotion, in mythological intensity -
people
with some talent can pretend to be genuine artists. Their choices
seem
to be to cannibalise ancient art, or to create absurdly ugly art
that
"makes a statement". They don't ask themselves or each
other for
depth
or intensity, and most contemporary critics pretend not to miss
them.
Bly goes on to define an adult as "a person not governed by the
demands for immediate pleasure, comfort and excitement."
And
in confessional tone he says "The adult quality that has been
hardest for me, as a greedy person, to understand is renunciation.
The older I get, the more beautiful the word renunciation seems to
me."(8)
If
Bly is right, then we have the task of not only counteracting our own
tendencies to shy away from everything uncomfortable, but also the
task of going against a strong trend in the society around us. We
need to be on out mettle. Nothing worthwhile is achieved without
dedicated effort and willingness to endure whatever privations occur
along the way. If we want to achieve anything worthwhile with our
lives we need to learn to endure and thereby build stamina.
Sangharakshita touches on this when he says:
“Perhaps
our daily routine should be such that we are strengthened
rather
than weakened. Not too many mornings lying in bed; not taking
things
too easily; not too many holidays; not too many visits to the
cinema.
Quite apart from the question of distraction, all this can be
very
weakening. Under modern conditions we can end up rather weak
creatures
if we are not careful. We very rarely have to work hard day
after
day, week after week, month after month, as many people in the
world
still have to do just to survive.” (9)
And
we certainly rarely work that hard or with that much indifference to
inconvenience for the sake of spiritual values and principles. The
elephant of endurance is not disturbed or put off by a few criticisms
or by people being difficult. Endurance depends on a higher vision
which sustains us through the discomforts of spiritual development.
In order to cultivate stamina and strength of mind we will need to
develop emotional positivity and clarity of thought. Emotional
positivity is developed most directly through the Metta Bhavana
meditation practice. In this practice we systematically cultivate the
emotion of universal loving-kindness. It is a simple and extremely
effective practice. It is best to learn this or any meditation
practice from a teacher. However there are some excellent books
available now which can help. I would recommend ‘Meditating’ by
Jinananda.(10)
Positive
emotion, as developed by the practice of Metta Bhavana is a necessary
basis for clear thinking, because all of our thinking is influenced
and permeated by our emotional states. Usually we just let our minds
wander around, like slightly demented characters, picking up bits and
pieces here and there. Then we construct all sorts of views and
opinions out of these bits and pieces and imagine that we've had some
ideas. Most of our ideas are not our own, but simply an amalgam of
various things we've heard or read, put together by our conditioned
prejudices, to create a world view that keeps us reasonably sane.
To
develop clear thinking we need to become aware of the extent to which
all our thinking is influenced by the conditions which have
surrounded us since birth. Although we may like to think of ourselves
as independent-minded and wise to the world, we are more likely to be
completely immersed in views and ideas that we simply ingested from
the world around us in the same way that we learnt to speak. In fact
the analogy with learning to speak is not just an analogy, because
the very language bears the imprint of ideas in it which we accept
unquestioningly until something erupts in our experience that makes
us sit up and take notice. In Buddhist terms it is not sufficient
however for us to analyse of deconstruct language.
What
we really need to do is develop greater mindfulness. We need to
become much more aware of the influences and ideas which we are
constantly imbibing. What we feed into our minds is what comes out as
views and opinions If we feed our minds on a daily dose of newspapers
and television, that is what will have the biggest influence on our
thinking. If we feast our minds on something which communicates
broader and higher perspectives then that will begin to form the
basis for our thinking and that would be an altogether healthier diet
for us. It
is
not just the content of what we read that affects out thinking but
also the style. If we read books that are written by people who can
think and express themselves clearly, that will help us to clarify
our own thinking and expression.
Thinking
clearly requires objectivity. To be objective we need to be able to
distinguish opinions from facts. This is not necessarily very common.
A simple example is the way people say something like ‘its a
terrible day’ when what they mean is ‘its raining’. The
‘terrible day’ is a value judgment and a matter of opinion. The
rain is a fact. So in order to be objective and therefore truthful we
need to be able to tell what is a value judgment or opinion and what
is a fact. So for instance when we use terms like ‘always’ and
‘ever’ as in "I'm always last to know what's going on"
or "Nobody ever listens to me" we are probably being poetic
rather than factual. But its important for us to realise that,
otherwise we start to believe ourselves on an emotional level and
that can have significant consequences. I'm not suggesting that we
should never use idiomatic speech, but rather that we should try to
be clear about what is subjective and what is objective in our
communication. Often we hold very strongly to our views and this is
for very subjective, emotional reasons and one way of beginning to
loosen our
attachment
to views is to start to see the element of subjectivity and
emotionality and try to distinguish that from what is objective and
factual. The basic wrong view that we all suffer under is the view
that we are a fixed and separate self or ego-identity and this
conditions most of our other views. This sense of fixed, separate
selfhood, is the fundamental prejudice from which all others flow. To
begin to undermine or attenuate this view we need to approach it from
many angles. We need to cultivate positive emotion, we need to
practise generosity, we need to immerse ourselves in Buddhist study,
we need to experience solitude and we need to make an effort to
distinguish what is objective from what is subjective in our thoughts
and words. If we achieve greater clarity and develop the positive
emotion of loving-kindness we will be able to practise greater
tolerance towards those who are different from us and those we
disagree with, without being vague or woolly or compromising our real
beliefs. We will be able to develop an attitude
of patience towards both ourselves and others. Patience is the gap
between our experience of being hurt and our response to being hurt.
Without the gap there is simply a knee-jerk negative reaction. With
the gap created by the exercise of patience there is a possibility of
a more creative and positive response. One such response is
forgiveness.
Forgiveness
is the creative response that emerges from the gap created by
patience. When we feel hurt or upset by someone, if we manage to be
patient, we create time for reflection. When we reflect we may come
to realise the uselessness and stupidity of retaliation, which only
creates further hurt and upset. It is in the common interest of all
of us to stop the endless downward spiral into anger, hatred and
violence. It is in the common interest to let go of grudges and
resentments.
It
is in our common interests to be tolerant in the sense of being
willing to allow others to have their own beliefs, their own ideas,
their own thoughts and feelings. Intolerance is an unwillingness to
allow others to have different beliefs, views, ideas and so on and
intolerance often leads to violence, oppression and persecution. It
is possible to strongly disagree with someone, to totally disagree
with them, but still allow them to have their own beliefs and views.
Tolerance promotes communication, not persecution. In communication
there can be disagreement and a vigorous exchange of views, but this
doesn't have to lead to persecution, or even to ill will.
This
kind of patience and tolerance is difficult to experience and
exercise. In order for it to be our attitude and perspective we will
need to be deeply imbued with a world view which accepts and lives by
the words of the Dhammapada “Not by hatred are hatreds ever
pacified….. They are pacified by love . This is the eternal law.”
(11) If this is to become our heartfelt way of being we will need to
be receptive to the teachings of the Buddha, known as the Dharma. To
be receptive to the Dharma means to allow yourself to be affected by
the Dharma. To be affected by the Dharma, you have to hear it,
reflect on it and put it into action. You have to listen creatively
and make connections between what you are hearing and the day to day
details of your life. It is not possible to be receptive to the
Dharma unless you have some feeling for the reality of spiritual
hierarchy. The Dharma as Insight and experience is mediated through
concepts and images and those concepts and images come to life and
are distilled into living precepts by those who have made the effort
and have grown and developed spiritually. When you recognise that
others are more spiritually developed than you are you can begin to
learn from them. You enter into a relationship of spiritual
friendship with them and through that you begin to imbibe the spirit
of the Dharma as well as the letter. The spirit of the Dharma is a
spirit of loving-kindness in action and of clarity of perception. The
spirit of the Dharma is what is most important for transforming our
lives. It is the spirit of the Dharma that we need to be receptive
to. We need to allow the spirit of the Dharma to change us. Kshanti,
in the form of receptivity, is an antidote to our attachment to
views. We all have so many views; views about ourselves, views about
others, views about the world, views about history, views about
politics, views about religion, views about Buddhism even. And we are
often very attached to our views, we identify with our views, indeed
to some extent we are our views. The Dharma challenges our views. It
challenges our views fundamentally. Most of our views and most of the
views that have currency in the world are the product of
unenlightened consciousness and are therefore, to say the least,
limited and often simply wrong. For instance, just to take a very
simple and widespread view that we are all affected by - the view
that money provides security. but it is best not to think of money as
something concrete, it is best to think of it as something fluid.
Money is a flow of energy. It is pure potential. Money is a medium by
which consciousness acts in the world. Because we are egotistic
creatures and therefore spend much time and effort defending and
consolidating our ego identity, we tend to channel money to this
purpose too. Therefore we tend to give money the qualities of
security, stability and substance. This is an extension of the
delusion that gives stability and substance to our ego identity. But
just as we are in reality a constantly changing process, mentally,
emotionally and physically, so too is everything else in the universe
including money. Seeing money as a source of stability and security
is too literalistic and therefore from the point of view of the
Dharma, from the standpoint of enlightened consciousness, this is a
wrong view and, as such, a hindrance to spiritual progress. So we can
see that the Dharma challenges deeply held views and our receptivity
to the Dharma can turn us upside down and totally transform us.
The
antithesis of the spirit of loving-kindness and clarity is anger and
hatred. Anger is an emotion we have to thoroughly transform if we are
to be of benefit to others spiritually. It is said that it is better
for a spiritual aspirant to experience greed rather than hatred,
because hatred denies the interconnectedness of humanity and is
therefore totally opposed to all that the spiritual life is about. So
the energy of hatred or anger has to be channelled in a positive
direction. We need energy to practise the Dharma, to break through
our hindrances, limitations and blindness. Often that energy is bound
up with negative emotions, protecting our ego-identity, defending our
comfort zones, blaming our suffering on others and so on. If we
choose to we can use the tools of meditation, mindfulness, spiritual
friendship and study to gradually channel our energy more positively,
to help us break through our fears and self-imposed limitations. To
do this we have to learn to be patient, to introduce a gap between
any experience of being hurt or misunderstood, and our response to
that experience. We need to learn to forgive others for their
imperfections and insensitivity. We need to learn how to disagree
without being intolerant. And we need to be receptive to the vast
perspective of the Dharma and allow it to change us.
When
we practise in this way, we will begin to experience something of the
tranquillity and stability that is given such sublime expression in
the figure of the Buddha. We will also be training ourselves in the
practice of Kshanti, one of the virtues most characteristic of the
saints and sages of all traditions.
This
endeavour to further the evolution of human consciousness by our own
efforts is the greatest work of all. In the following chapters you
will find many practical suggestions and ideas to help you with this
great work of spiritual transformation.
Notes:
- Rudyard Kipling, Kim
- Sangharakshita, The Ten Pillars of Buddhism, Windhorse, Glasgow 1989, p.89
- Kulananda, The Wheel of Life, Windhorse, Birmingham2000
- Sangharakshita, The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment, Windhorse 93, p.13
- Sangharakshita, Seminar on Jewel Ornament of Liberation, unpublished
- Sangharakshita, Masculinity and Femininity in the Spiritual Life, Lions Roar, Norwich 1987, p.46
- Radhakrishnan (translator), The Dhammapada, OUP India 1950, p.160
- Robert Bly, The Sibling Society, Hamish Hamilton
- Sangharakshita, The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment, p.210
- Jinananda, Meditating, Windhorse, Birmingham 2000
- Sangharakshita (translator), The Dhammapada, Windhorse 2001, p.14
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