"Never believe anything just because someone has told you." -Buddha On my crooked and tangled path of spiritual growth, I've experienced more ditches and dead ends than clear road. There have however been a few brief moments of clarity. One of these came when I was reading a book called "Awakening the Buddha Within," by Surya Das. While reading this book I looked at the concept of praying for my enemies and, for the first time, it made sense to me. Selfless prayer hasn't become a regular part of my life, but I did find it once. The following is the road map I was reading when I was fortunate enough to come upon a brief, but encouraging clearing. Surya Das was born Jeffery Miller to a Jewish family in New York. He pursued a number of spiritual paths until ending up in Tibet studying Buddhism. He eventually became a Lama and has spent the past several years assisting the Dali Lama, setting up Buddhist monasteries in the West, and writing books. In this book, he begins by exploring the non-deistic nature of Buddhism. He illustrates this with the analogy of "small mind," which is a collection of thoughts and desires, and the "Big Mind," which is a reflection of our true nature. This concept of "Big Mind" is undefined and easily fits into the concept of a personally defined Higher Power. He thinks we loose touch with this "Big Mind" through the dream-like quality of the delusions created by the "small mind". These created fantasies are about the past and the future, which cause the loss of the present. These illusions are easily clung to because they seem so real that giving them up seems like giving life up. The Buddhist belief is that these illusions can be dispelled through consistent attention to what we say and do, to the motivations for these actions, and to the underlying habits and beliefs. Enlightenment is one of the central themes in the Buddhist struggle with what is seen as life's illusions. The author feels enlightenment is one of those truths so profound it can only be understood by direct personal experience. Nevertheless, he attempts a definition with a broad description of Enlightenment as the process of inner transformation and self-realization. It's not about a divine spiritual state, but becoming fully human by realizing all of our obscured parts. The first step in achieving this is to admit that this inner transformation is possible. The second step is seeking spiritual refuge in which to learn and grow. He describes the learning part of the process with what Buddha called the 3 poisons. The first is ignoring the truth. These are the delusion and confusions that distort the perception of reality. This leads to seeing things as we would like them to be and living in the fantasies this creates. The second is attachment to people, objects and behaviors. He discusses attachments with two subsets of pride and jealousy. Pride is identifying oneself with attachments, which causes the persona to become a ridged tangling trap. People, places and things become the sole focus of existence and this deadens the connection to the authentic nature of the Big Mind. He cautions the reader to not forget that self-blame and guilt are as damaging as any other attachment. The other, jealousy, is seeing another as being more or different. This leads to wanting, fearing and automatic reactions not fully under our control. The third poison is aversion/dislike. This he describes as a reaction to a frustrated attachment. He says the three work together when we are first ignorant of the truth. We become convinced that our attachment will make us happy, and when this fails, we experience aversion, dislike and hatred. Aversion feeds ignorance and perpetuates the circular patterns that are clung to. The author discusses an 8-fold path which Buddha laid out as a way to break this circular path. The first part is the "Right View" of things. Here he talks about recognizing the dysfunctional myths people live by and the psychological traps people lay for themselves. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of AASG or its members. He emphasizes the concept of karma here by pointing out that the modern translation of the ancient word is “cause and effect”. He frequently discusses his own belief in past lives but states that this belief isn’t necessary. He says the concept applies just as well to the life we led a few… years ago. Our current circumstances are a product of the actions we took in the past, and the “right view” is understanding our own role in all that happens to us. The author illustrates this view with an example of a man who wants to connect to others, but still feels lonely. Using the idea of cause and effect he points out that the cause of fear of connection feeds the man’s need to maintain a distance between himself and others. This leads the man to seek out rejecting women. The effect is that these women, following the tendencies they have built, reject the man and he feels even more isolated. The author also points out that in becoming accustomed to behaving a certain way, people become conditioned to it. This can lead to a view of self which becomes a trap. “I’m a victim of my childhood/ romances/ job…” when consistently repeated, creates the projected fantasy. Expectations of how others will treat us affect our behavior and this influences how others behave towards us. Step two involves our “Right intentions”. According to the author, everything depends on motivation and intent. He gives several examples about how ego-centered thinking can lead to difficulties. He then gives a suggestion on changing the ego-centered view. He says to keep a notebook of all our actions that were not meant to help someone else. Then examine these actions to see how craving, ill will, spiritual laziness, restlessness and doubt played a roll in choosing the behavior. The third step of “Right speech” was the step that had the greatest personal resonance with me. According to the author “Right speech means trying to be honest and forthright by letting go of our elaborate defenses, and being open about who we are and how we feel”. He says fear leads people to harden and shield their hearts with negativity, and protect and conceal them with anger. This leads to a desensitization which leaves a person less able to experience compassion and joy. To overcome this he suggests each person examine the speech and acts behind hidden agendas and masked ego needs. These shortcomings lead to what he terms “egotistical ad campaigning”. The resulting expectations, desires, fears, illusions and projections have the consequence of a decreased ability to be honest in a relationship. This reaction can also lead to the construction of false personas that prevent the people in our lives from being able to recognize our true feelings and needs. Step four is what the author calls “Right action”. He defines this as an expression of higher sanity. One of the primary ideas he explores is this in “don’t take what isn’t freely given”. He explores the ethics of theft of possession and having an excess when surrounded by want, but he also explores emotionally taking what isn’t freely given within the context of unhealthy sex. He defines this as any sexual act which is addictive, exploitive, deceitful, unsafe, irresponsible or harmful. When examining sexual activities to see if they are unhealthy, he suggests that we ask if our sexual needs cause us to tune out reality. This tuning out of reality creates constructed cravings, and cravings disguise motivations. The resulting desires obsessively create more desires and the person goes from one dissatisfying object to the next, in the creation of addictive relationships to money, sex, food, drugs, mood etc. His suggestion is to watch what attracts/causes desire, and then examine the consequences of this. He says search for what motivates this attraction and work to let go of this in the context of self-forgiveness and self-acceptance. In general, the components of “Right Action” are sincerity, appreciation of things as they are, understanding and accepting the laws of cause and effect, and doing your best. This process is helped by daily reminders to let go of ego clinging and lingering resentments. Step five is “Right Livelihood”. In this step he suggests that what motivates us is more important that the actions themselves. When making the decisions which govern our lives he suggests keeping an eye on four pairs of opposites which condition the mind with delusional thoughts. These delusions confuse the difference between the true self and a constructed persona. When making choices meant to dismantle these delusions he suggests watching for: (1) the desire for pleasure vs. retreat from pain, (2) the need for gain vs. the avoidance of loss, (3) the wanting of praise vs. the aversion to blame and (4) the craving of fame vs. the fear of shame. He suggests that practicing staying in the present moment helps in finding a balanced path between these opposites when deciding how to live. Step six is “Right Effort”. In this step the author says that the single most important tool in uncovering the illusions in our life is consistent daily meditation. Through regular practice, meditation lessens the static which keeps people from seeing and hearing the obstructions in their lives. As these obstructions lessen, he suggests we use this as an opportunity to increasingly examine what attracts and repels us and how that influences our behavior. Right effort also involves consistent effort to overcome existing unhealthy thoughts, entrenched actions, and spiritual laziness. Continued growth and development mean fostering good thoughts and actions while maintaining the good that exists. The final two steps are seven “Right Mindfulness/keeping your eyes open”, and eight “Right Concentration”. In these steps he explains several meditation techniques and suggests using these to be present, see difficult situations as learning experiences, and recognize what happens to us as the “perfection of things as they are”. The author’s final chapter encourages the reader to make spirituality a part of everyday life instead of using spirituality as a way of avoiding personal issues. He quotes one of his Tibetan teachers as comparing Buddhist teachings to blue jeans. “It’s good for work. It’s good for school. You can wear blue jeans to a wedding, to ride a horse, anytime”. This everyday approach encourages people to examine motivations, expect questions and expect road bumps. “This may get worse before it gets better. It depends on what you’ve been ignoring in yourself”. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of AASG or its members.