Contentment Here and Now!

Many Buddhists think that they have no chance of awakening. "That's for the monks who devote all their lives to reading Scriptures, saying mantras and meditating." "I've got to pay the rent (or mortgage) and spend quality time with the family; how could I possibly seek such things." The fact is, the Buddha taught as many lay people as monks, and many of them followed what he recommended into enlightenment (full awakening). Many others - monks and lay people - never felt that they had arrived at the ultimate goal, but found a real measure of inner peace and outward helpfulness.

I have become convinced that it is possible for any of us to find "contentment", if they heed the Buddha's advice about obtaining it. Awakening is not gained by asking for it from some outside power, but from our own efforts, upheld by honest intentions to follow the principles and practices which Gautama (our Buddha, our Teacher and Example) showed and spoke of.

That's why I'm writing a book on applying the Buddha's core teaching, in terms of a modern and secular spirituality... not requiring the world view of ancient India, and open to the findings of modern science... while retaining the wonder and mystery of the dharma (the reality behind the Buddha's teaching).

In my Blog I'll be sharing some thoughts directly from the book - but also addressing other topics. The following is from my introductory chapter, which includes "A Letter to a Friend". It's appropriate for my initial post, since I imagine these blogs as writing to friends (those I can identify and those who've not yet introduced themselves). Every good to you, in these critical times!

Dear Alex;

You know me well enough to realise I couldn’t be happier with your questions, “What is Buddhism?” and “What does it offer?” And I know you well enough to trust that you are not just looking for more and better of what the world is promoting - wealth, health, beauty, pleasure and prestige. These are ‘good’, but there’s a different dimension of living that offers a path to something even more satisfying: the deepest joy and peace. I’m also sure that you are not looking just for selfish (me only) satisfactions. The Buddha, like so many others, recognised that the fullest individual life comes from a sense of meaning that take us beyond ourselves. Ironically, the deepest pleasures for our “self” come when we loosen up, see the dynamic and inter-related nature of life, and go with that flow.

Buddhism is not about improvement so much as transformation, a radically new engagement with life. The Buddha after six years of earnest searching found reliable truths about human nature, within the context of the natural world. He discovered how a person can escape what many term “existential anxiety” and move into a zone of peace and joy. This positive condition marked by a clearer sense of reality, avoiding the common distortions our minds make, seeing the ourselves in an inter-related, not isolated, context. This “wisdom” frees our natural capability for “compassion” (two key words for the promised transformation).

The Buddha’s words are not “revelations from heaven” but the insights of an exceptional human being. He wanted to find a firm foundation in this transient and unstable world. He’s recognized as one of the world’s significant philosophers, but he was immensely practical. Increasingly, modern science, such as neurology and evolutionary psychology, are explaining how aspects of his teaching show us the means to a more satisfying life. The challenges us to take actions and make changes that will allow it to happen are not as risky as they my seem. It offers liberation from our present condition, but not salvation in the sense of rescue by an unearthly power. The dynamic we draw upon is his teaching about how to adjust our minds and habits to take advantage of “the way things are” (reality), and to draw upon all the resources our world has to offer. Such good news!

Friends always,

Dennis