Working
with Karma
- #5
Look
into your own basic nature
When you look into your mind, it is very simple. There is nothing
to do. Just sit. First, you just sit without doing anything. Then,
from time to time, look at your own nature. Look at yourself.
It is similar to pacifying the water. When you want moving water
to settle, you simply leave it on its own. It will settle. Similarly,
when you sit to watch your mind, you let all the feelings and
thoughts calm down on their own. Let them become pacified. Actually,
when you do look at yourself, you will find it very difficult
to find out about your nature. Why? It is because of the many
contradictions in your mind. They arise when your obligations,
your duties, and the things that you feel you have to do not fit
into your set of circumstances. You feel confused and somewhat
at a loss as to what to do. For example, you will think as follows:
“This
is right for me to do. But, it does not fit well with my conditions…so
maybe it’s not quite right…”
“I
must be mistaken because things just can’t be like that...”
These
thoughts of contradiction can appear in the mind. They may be
very minor or trivial but nevertheless they confuse you. The point
is to sit, and try to become calm, and quiet. You will then, as
we say in Tibetan, “go back to your nature”, your
original nature. It means to see who you are really and how you
function. It is very difficult to find this nature at first. But
if you refer back to the teachings, then you will gradually know.
“I
am here. I exist. Right now, I am a human being. I am like this…”
Just
try to look at the self. You actually have many capabilities.
If you really try to focus, you can understand everything. You
have this potential. You are capable of trusting and believing
in the Dharma teachings. When you look, you will see your conditions,
and all your abilities. There is kindness, compassion, and love
in you. They are there very naturally. We can see them very clearly
for ourselves. This is what the Buddha taught - we have these
qualities. Somehow, when we have to link or engage in external
conditions and circumstances, then these qualities seem to disappear.
The teachings affirm that this does happen. We have all experienced
such ambiguities in ourselves. This is why it is so important
to look at ourselves by ourselves. Usually, we tend to think like
this:
“Oh,
I am not so good.”
“ I am not so capable.”
“ I am quite bad.”
While
some of us may think along these lines:
“Everything
about me is good.”
“ I ‘m alright.”
“ I can do everything.”
These
are just individual concepts. What will make a difference is to
know clearly yourself, then you will feel differently. Your expectations
and perspective will change. In Buddhism, we simply look inward
without connecting to the externals. Simply look at the basic
human nature. This is what we call meditation. The Tibetan masters
say, “Just look at your mind.” You connect to your
mind in your practice (meditation). When you know your own potential,
or capacity, then you will be able to work with any and all conditions.
It is when you don’t see your own nature that you are foggy
or confused. You are doubtful, and confused.
“I
cannot see.”
“I cannot accept.”
>>>
