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Spiritual training can result in almost miraculous effects. People training in all different kinds of traditions have discovered that is possible to utterly transform their experiences; they have been able to rise above pain, find optimism in the midst of calamity, suffer injustice with grace, maintain equanimity while surrounded by chaos, and summon immense energy and strength. They do this primarily by redirecting their minds.<\/p>\n
A Christian might be able to find the strength and motivation to bear her pain by thinking of how she shares the experience of great physical suffering with Christ. A Muslim might feel optimism in the midst of great personal difficulties because he knows they are the way Allah is testing his faith. In some religions people find substantial patience when they face injustice by taking real solace in the fact that the perpetrators of the injustice will face punishment after death. A Buddhist<\/a> might maintain equanimity in the midst of chaos by focussing her mind on the direct experience of her breath, rather than on fears of what is to come or anxiety about a lack of control. Someone training in a martial art (most of which have a strong spiritual aspect) might be able to summon the \u201cstrength\u201d to\u00a0 perform incredible physical feats by focussing his mind on a spot in his lower abdomen.<\/p>\n All of these examples reflect an important truth about human experience: the nature of our experiences depends in a large part on how we relate to those experiences in our minds. To put it another way, the state of our mind influences to a great extent whether we experience something as positive, negative or neutral, manageable or overwhelming, meaningful or pointless, connecting or alienating, ennobling or humiliating. Say what you like about spiritual or religious practice, the careful and systematic attempt to change our views and the ways our minds work has a profound effect on our lives \u2013 mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Science is gradually catching up to religion as it laboriously proves this effect, but those of us who have undertaken a spiritual discipline understand the importance of mind training and don\u2019t need to wait for proof.<\/p>\n The tricky part of this whole scenario is that experiencing the power of redirecting the mind can lead \u2013 consciously or unconsciously \u2013 to a belief in the fallacy that, \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0all<\/i>\u00a0in the mind.\u201d The spiritual practitioner who believes this is likely to believe that nothing outside of the mind \u201cmatters.\u201d For example, one need not work for justice, because if one looks at injustice the right way it is tolerable as being all part of God\u2019s compassionate plan. One need not cultivate harmonious relationships with other people, because there is a technique for dealing internally with the anger from others that means it doesn\u2019t really hurt. One need not be bothered by any amount of pain or physical disability, because one can turn the mind in such a way as to be untroubled by it. This last example has been taken to extremes by people who believe that by using the power of their mind they can literally make physical pain, illness and disability disappear.<\/p>\n Perhaps, once we taste the power of mind training, we become intoxicated with that power \u2013 our own power \u2013 and then with the delusion that we can rule the world.<\/p>\n This is why most spiritual traditions also strongly emphasize humility and good behavior. No matter how full of grace or how enlightened we are, there are rules to be followed. Do not kill, do not steal, do not be critical of others, do not be greedy, do not be arrogant. These rules tie us to reality, which is infinitely complex and much more subtle than our delusions. In reality, mind training has great power to change the nature of our subjective experience and therefore our choices, but there is much more to the universe than our personal experience of it. Everything around us also influences our mind, and there are physical, biological, chemical, social, cultural and economic causes and conditions (just to name a few) that are not going to be miraculously transformed just because we change how we subjectively relate to them.<\/p>\n In Tibetan Buddhist teachings<\/a> there is a very clear warning against the fallacy of \u201cIt\u2019s all in the mind.\u201d Before launching into a list of prescriptions for behavior like, \u201cDo not speak on the defects of others,\u201d and \u201cDiscard all expectations of reward,\u201d Se Chilbu (in\u00a0A Commentary on the \u201cSeven-Point Mind Training<\/i>) warns us to:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026[relinquish] all behaviors that disregard the law of karma [moral cause and effect] and its results. This includes ignoring the minor precepts with the assertion \u2018Since I am training the mind, nothing can harm me\u2019 and behaving in ways that contradict general Dharma<\/a> conduct, saying, \u2018If I have this mind training, I don\u2019t need anything else.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In Zen we try to ground practitioners in the precepts, the guidelines for moral and ethical behavior, from the beginning. We constantly return to them, and to the need to take care of lives, no matter how much \u201cliberation\u201d we may achieve through our mind training. It is only in the midst of delusion that it appears \u201cnothing matters.\u201d When our practice matures we might acknowledge the immense power of mind training by saying, \u201cYes, now go have some breakfast.\u201d Life goes on, and if we don\u2019t take care of it, what has been achieved by our spiritual practice except an ability to disassociate from suffering? Enlightened beings know it is possible to transform our experience through mind training, but work for the happiness of all beings without discriminating about what is inside, and what is outside, the mind.<\/p>\n Essential Mind Training<\/a><\/u>, translated by Thupten Jinpa,\u00a0Chekawa\u2019s \u201cSeven-Point Mind Training\u201d section VI, plus commentary by Se Chilbu.\u00a0For a link to\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Chekawa\u2019s \u201cSeven-Point Mind Training,\u201d\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spiritual training can result in almost miraculous effects. People training in all different kinds of traditions have discovered that is possible to utterly transform their experiences; they have been able to rise above pain, find optimism in the midst of calamity, suffer injustice with grace, maintain equanimity while surrounded by chaos, and summon immense energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2173,"featured_media":1081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,27,40,59,60],"class_list":["post-1079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relating-to-the-world","tag-absolute-and-relative","tag-engaged-buddhism","tag-ideals","tag-social-responsibility","tag-spiritual-practice"],"yoast_head":"\n
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