You Can Be Happy, too.

Here I am again, though I've nothing to write about.

In the past I used this blog as an occasional outlet when I was feeling rather down. But now it seems like—on the odd occasion that I do write something—I am here because I am really fine.

So anyway, I am still not too sure what the purpose of keeping this blog is, but I guess I'll just keep it for now.

When people in the United States have nothing special to discuss, they often talk about the weather.

The weather in Holland is very misty today. It's been misty and nearly freezing many days of late. It also hasn't rained at all the month. Not a drop. So I guess the dikes are at a low level, and there's a drought.

I'm happy with the drought though because we need a new ceiling in our kitchen. It leaks when it rains.

It's just as easy to be happy as it is to be unhappy. Happiness is really only a state of mind, and so is unhappiness. In order to be happy, you have to change your way of seeing. Nothing external can lead to happiness. You can feel a temporary sense of happiness from something outside of yourself, but that sense of happiness won't last unless you have a sense of overall contentment about your life situation.

We think we need all kinds of things in order to be happy, but really, this is not the case at all, since happiness lies within the mind.

If you want to be happy, it's also very important not to harm yourself or others. Harmful actions stem from the mind, so take a look at what's in your mind. Remember that if you harm yourself or others, you will be miserable, so try to avoid harm at all costs. This is very important for a happy life.

Whatever you have, wherever you are, you can be happy, as long as your mind is happy. You don't need anything other than what you have right now. The past is gone, so forget about it. Move on with your life from the present moment. Be kind to others, and kindness will come back to you.

If someone does something to you, try not to retaliate. Retaliation will only make matters worse. Instead, realize that that person also has his or her own problems that led him/her to commit such an action. Remember that harmful actions stem from the mind alone, so then you can go back and think, well, that person must be experiencing pain or unhappiness in his/her mind, and that's why he/she did that. This way you can feel a sense of love for that person, along with the wish that he/she will be able to experience happiness in the future.

Try to remember that we are all essentially the same. We all want to be happy, and we want to avoid suffering. Everyone wants happiness, but rather than creating the causes of happiness, we continually create causes for unhappiness, and that is harm, pain, negativity. So it's better to just stop all of this.

Try to realize your own value as a human being. We all have the same potential for good, and that includes you. So there's no need to put yourself down, or to see yourself in a bad light. You are a valuable person, and you have good qualities, so be happy about that. In order to increase your sense of worthiness, try to think of little things you can do to help someone else, or to help yourself. This doesn't have to involve spending money.

If you mess up, or make a mistake, try to forgive yourself. Forgiveness goes a long way. You can forgive others, and you can forgive yourself. Forgiveness is a form of love. You'll be doing yourself a big favor if you can really learn to forgive. Holding grudges only harms your mind, and since happiness is in the mind, you'll just be unhappy, so whatever it is or was, accept it, forgive, forget.

We can all make small contributions, and it all begins in the mind. You can do it.

Leaving Fear Behind

Leaving Fear Behind is a beautiful film by Dondup Wangchen. He interviewed Tibetans in Tibet on their feelings approaching the Olympic games in 2008. Some of the responses are quite emotional. Several people start to cry when they say that their greatest wish is that His Holiness the Dalai Lama be allowed to return to Tibet.

It's tragic that Tibetans are facing the decimation of their culture, and I think this film is an important document in that it allows Tibetans to express their own ideas about what their lives are like.

In the past several months I've had the great fortune of meeting several Tibetans. Whenever I meet a Tibetan I am always amazed by their warmth and sincerity. I truly love the Tibetan people. They are such kind, warm hearted people. To me they represent the ideal that I am striving to fulfill for myself. If it weren't for the Tibetan's dedication in preserving the Buddha's teachings, I myself would be totally at a loss. By extension, if I make an effort to become a better person through contact with Tibetan people, then I can inspire other people in turn.

The Buddha's teachings tell us that everything we view as a misfortune is actually a teaching in disguise. Whenever we endure mental hardship we become stronger. We can use it as a form of mind training. As an example, if I think that my life is difficult or lonely, I can think about the Tibetans, and see that actually my life isn't difficult at all. Either that or I can think, I am suffering now, but I am going to use my suffering, and mentally take on the suffering of others', thereby relieving them of their burden. In developing an altruistic attitude, my mind becomes joyful because I am able to assist other beings in finding happiness.

Dondup Wangchen is still imprisoned, and is probably being tortured for making a simple film.

Several months ago I met a man who was arrested and tortured in a prison in Lhasa. He recounted his story. It was a horrific one. Yet, despite the suffering he'd obviously endured, he told his story with a smile. I wish I could retell it here, but I haven't asked his permission. Even though he was telling a very difficult and sad story, he was still able to make it positive. After enduring weeks of starvation, he explained that the food he finally was allowed to eat was the most delicious food he'd ever eaten. And then he also said that after being denied water, when he finally did get something to drink, the water he drank was the sweetest water he'd ever tasted.

In actuality, I feel my own pain as a great burden at times, and I bemoan my lot. But my pain is non-existent. And my life is a happy and lucky one. Even the slight discomfort I feel, my shyness, and inability to make friends here, is really not bad at all. I can see this in comparison to many of the lives of people I read about and meet. And I can also see that if it weren't for the perception of suffering that I've experienced throughout my life, I would never have been led to study the Buddha dharma. If I hadn't felt a great sense of loss, and of being lost in the world, of failure, loneliness, what have you, I wouldn't have felt the sense of desperation that was the driving force behind my great thirst for the Buddhist teachings.

Alternately, I can train myself to rejoice in my own qualities, to really look at what I have as valuable, and to view my life as valuable. However small my contribution is, whatever good thought I have, or small kindness I bestow on another being, I can rejoice in that small virtue. Little by little, drop by drop, I can slowly transform my attitude, so that I no longer feel anguished. As my own attitude changes, I will become more a capable, and I will be able to reach out to others in more meaningful ways. I can also aid others in their quest to become relieved of their own suffering.

So it is through my own pain that I have come to discover greater truths, and that I have come into contact with Tibetan people. My fortune is truly great, indeed.

The Six Perfections

One thing which I haven't pointed out is that a genuine or ideal practice of each of the perfections must be complete; it must contain within itself all of the aspects of the other five perfections. For instance, in the case of the practice of patience, while remaining in the state of patience and tolerance, encouraging others also to do so is the practice of giving or generosity. The second is basing your practice of patience and tolerance on honesty and sincerity, which are aspects of ethical discipline involved in the practice of patience. The third, of course, is patience itself. The forth, which is joyous effort, refers to all the efforts which are involved in maintaining patience and tolerance. The fifth is that when you engage in such a practice, you maintain a single-pointedness of mind and the ability to focus on whatever you are doing and remain single-pointed. Mindfulness can also be included here, which is the aspect of concentration and single-pointedness in one's practice of patience. The wisdom practice is your ability to judge what is appropriate and what is inappropriate as well as what is required in a given situation. These are all faculties of wisdom and intelligence that are a concomitant part of your practice of patience. This could also include the wisdom of realizing the empty nature of phenomena, if you have it. This is the same in the case of the practices of all the other perfections, such as generosity: within the practice of generosity, all of the other perfections must be complete. And the same is true for ethical discipline, and so on.

--HH the Dalai Lama, Healing Anger