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I Want Change - Artist: Meek

The Mythical Mental Reboot

To get away from destructive patterns some put their hopes into the idea of the mental reboot, thinking that by taking oneself away from harmful objects, and through other methods, the mind will return to a neutral state, and that through this alone a mental reboot will happen – a reboot of the mind in a more wholesome manner, perhaps a manner one knew earlier in life. If it were just that easy, we would all be enlightened.

What this does not take into consideration is that mind is a creature of habit, that one cannot undo past actions and that one can never start from scratch. Without having a strong inner antidote or counterforce to one’s afflictions and inner demons, upon returning to one’s usual environment one’s old habits arise again strongly in one’s mind, and soon one is acting in the same way as before all over again.

The Buddha taught that there are things to be abandoned, and that there are things to be cultivated. Examples for that to be cultivated and internalized are the positive qualities of love, compassion, generosity, patience, renunciation and wisdom. The more we have of those, automatically the less we have of the opposite.

  • The more love, compassion and patience, the less anger.
  • The stronger the generous mind wanting to give, the less greed,
  • The more renunciation, the less grasping and clinging desire,
  • The more wisdom, the less ignorance just living in the moment, without awareness of cause and effect.
  • The more mindfulness of the kindness of others, and the more gratitude, the less pride and isolation.
  • The more altruism, the less self-cherishing, the less anger, the less anything negative.

It is like switching on the light, the darkness goes away automatically at the same time, without having to focus on it.

This is the path of the antidote.

New Zealand News Report on Death Meditation

Part 1

Part 2

 

Definition of the Week (43): The Actions of the Path of Meditation

Bodhisattvas on the path of meditation are the beneficiaries of the actions of the path of meditation, such as mental independence and the like.

Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsan:
The definition of the action of the mahayana path of meditation is: The benefits attained through meditating on their causal path of meditation.

Six-fold Division:

  1. Internally their mind is thoroughly pacified – their manifest afflictions are subdued.
  2. Through this they are respectful towards every sentient being.
  3. They have overcome the power of ´the afflictions such as attachment and so forth.
  4. Through this they do not experience suffering from external harm, such as from poison, fire and the like.
  5. Internally they abide in the action of achieving highest enlightenment.
  6. Through this the external place where such a person resided becomes a holy place, worthy of worship by gods and humans.

All of these benefits are achieved through the path perfection of wisdom, the non-dual transcendental meditative equipoise on emptiness, which is achieved in dependence on the scriptural perfection of wisdom.

Shakyamuni Buddha: This Perfection of Wisdom is a great Mantra.

Definition of the Week (42): Antidotal Knowledge Aspect

Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsan: An exalted wisdom that is able to overcome its antithetical class is the definition of antidotal knowledge aspect.

To be a path it has to counteract its antithetical affliction, such as love counteracting anger, impermanence counteracting attachment or wisdom counteracting ignorance.

To be a happy meditator, it is important that over time the meditation becomes an antidote against the afflictions, because only a lessening of these disturbing thoughts can produce the inner happiness that one is looking for. The meditation needs to hit the spot. Otherwise our meditation will drive on one side of the highway, and our delusions happily on the other side of the highway in the opposite direction, leaning out of the windows, waving and jeering at us.