The Five Pillars of Transformation

Overview

A Fresh Look
So we come to our last talk, and just for a few minutes Id like to gather and summarise what Ive offered you over these last few days concerning the practice that is at the heart of the Dharma ind !uddhist "roup, namely #he Five $illars of #ransformation% &e need to develop understanding towards each one of these five pillars and 'e willing to put each one in place for our practice to 'e complete and fulfil itself% &e need to understand these very important features and Ive spent the last few days reviewing them one 'y one% Ive highlighted and 'rought to your attention features that could 'e completely new to you, or may'e youve heard of them 'efore and thought of them as not 'eing particularly important, or may'e saw them as just part of a landscape that goes to make up a much larger picture% !ut Im very much of the conviction that if you are really interested in the type of practice we pursue in our group then these are the key features to 'e aware of and constantly 'ring to your attention and open up to% #urn them over within yourself and 'ring them into your mandala of awareness and daily life% !ring them into the mandala of what you would call your practice% Dont imagine, as we can often do, that this is an opportunity to create yet another list of formulas so often found in !uddhism% I guess lists and formulas can and do have their use, 'ut please dont imagine this list to 'e of that nature% #hese so called five pillars have 'een primarily created to arouse and orientate your awareness and reflective a'ility% #he real use of these features is to 'ring them into our lives right now% #hese five pillars are not things to think a'out 'ut to do, something to taste% &hen we 'egin to 'ring these pillars into our practice we will see that they do not line up one after the otheras you might e(pect, that would 'e theory, which is the nature of thinking% #hat would 'e the dualist world, one thing sitting alongside another% &hen we 'ring these pillars into life as our direct e(perience we find they merge, 'ecome one% &hichever pillar you wish to reflect on, look carefully and youll see the other four% &ith direct e(perience concepts 'ecome one, they penetrate each other, thats the difference 'etween theory and practice% In theory there is duality, when we practise theres a direct impact and direct living of awareness and in that moment there is no duality% So please see these pillars as pointing to our direct e(perience of what we regard as our reality% It is in this moment that we e(perience and realise the heart and spirit of our particular practice) it is so important to realise this% Continuing from the web page

#asting the $ractice

Ive often used the analogy in the past that this practice isnt like thinking and theorising what an ice cream might taste like, rather its a'out direct tasting% *ou can spend your whole life theorising a'out the taste of an ice cream 'ut there is only one way to know the taste and that is to lick it, and when you do you will know% #his is not a theory, not a formula, not something dualist, this is direct e(perience% #his direct impact e(perience is the heart and spirit of this practice, it is a'out tasting it% So again, please keep this in mind% If we do +taste the practice, if we do e(perience the direct impact 'efore thinking and creating duality with views and opinions, and retain that state of awareness, we will 'e creating something very important, indeed

profound) this area and space of awareness I like to call the dharmic environment% It is profound 'ecause it is in this space that the transformation of our samsaric attachments through the arising of wisdom can take place% It is the space where we nurture the a'ility to reflect upon our relationship with ourself and others and life itself, and 'urrow deeply with the tools of insight into our human makeup and condition% #he space where we 'ecome familiar with the mirror,like -uality of awareness that sees and knows, and to learn to a'ide in that mirror,like -uality and realise that when doing so, we are in this very moment 'efore we create the world of dreams% #he dharmic environment is characterised 'y direct awareness, containment, spaciousness, clarity and knowing% It is where we 'egin to learn how to contain our created conditioned karmic world so often driven 'y our wild self,possessed emotions and tame the restlessness ingrained in the 'ody, mind and spirit that deny us the precious stillness so crucial to ever 'righter awareness, clarity and knowing% All of this training is focused upon and nurtured not in the head 'ut at the heart of awareness which is to 'e found in the 'ody% As Ive 'een pointing out throughout these talks we learn to 'ecome familiar with that openness, that spaciousness discovered and nurtured primarily though our sitting meditation so that slowly we 'ecome aware that this state of 'eing is actually our true state, our true 'eing and nature or !uddha nature% &e do not in any way create this state, this is such a crucial point to realise, we are not creating anything, there is no doer doing something here% $lease contemplate this, really look closely and see the su'tlety of this realisation% If you imagine that you are the creator of stillness and spaciousness then this would 'e another typical conclusion of our everyday deluded mind that is always in the mode of creating and 'ecoming something% #his notion that I am the creator is a typical grasping characteristic of the self that would wish to make this e(perience of stillness yet another of its possessions% &hat we are awakening to here is our natural state of 'eing which lies just 'eyond this turmoil of samsara, 'eyond the turmoil of a grasping self% .ust 'ehind this veil is the real +me, the real self% #he self of non, attachment, of openness and spaciousness that is actually with us all the time, 'ut weve covered it over and lost it% It is through learning to put the five pillars of transformation in place that we rediscover what our true nature is, learn to 'ecome familiar with, learn to open to, learn to develop a relationship with and learn to trust% Learning to trust is so important% So open and rela( into the e(perience of feeling vulnera'le at this time when the everyday self that gives us that sense of 'eing in control will 'e a'sent%

$layfulness
#hrough awareness we learn to contain our ha'itual outflows e(perienced primarily in our daily life% /reate an environment through commitment and familiarity, through coming 'ack to over and over again, through nurturing, through tasting, and always 'e watchful of too much thinking% #aste it, taste it, always 'e tasting% Learn through your commitment to 'ring playfulness to your growing familiarity with the dharmic environment and practice, Dont think a'out the particular situation too much, play with it0 Dont think +Am I doing it right, am I doing it wrong) Do it0 ake mistakes0 +Fall over0% Its so important to nurture that spirit of playfulness, spontaneity and e(perimentation% 1ur practice isnt a'out always getting it right, this isnt a'out perfecting something and not making mistakes, 'e prepared to get it wrong and fall over% 1'serve a young child at play, see how spontaneous it is when it 'egins to engage with things% 1'serve when it falls over or 'angs its head on the ta'le leg, there is no self,consciousness a'out making a mistake and running away to hide, the child just picks itself up and carries on, it doesnt worry a'out making a fool of itself% #hats how a child 'egins to learn at the 'eginning of its life, 'efore it 'ecomes enveloped 'y emerging self, consciousness% #his is the spirit we need to return to and 'ring to our practice, learning to nurture the spontaneity of a child% Learn to 'ring that sense of openness and playfulness into our practice, rather than take ourselves as seriously as most of us do%

Acceptance
&hen we create and 'ecome familiar with the sta'ility of the dharmic environment, we can then in that familiarity and stillness allow our world and its attachments, and aspects of our personality that are so precious and dear, ingrained and often powerful, to rise up and come to us% #hings that we identify with, that reinforce

the sense of self over and over, things positive as well as those things negative and even those dark aspects we can hardly 'ear to look at) now we are in a position to 'egin to accept them all and say +yes to what in reality is all of me% Allow e(perience to, as it were, sit in front of you, 'ut not 'e caught in the old familiar way and 'e carried away% 2ow through commitment we are containing our emotions, now we are not 'eing carried away as has 'een the ha'it of the past% 2ow 'ecause weve 'ecome familiar with the dharmic environment we willingly allow anything to come onto that work space of spaciousness, an area within our e(perience where you can allow any part of your self to come alive in, whatever that may 'e% 2ow we are now longer in a mode of running after a desire or pushing away an e(perience we find difficult to 'e with or even suppressing% #his is not what we now do% ay'e for the first time we are 'eing prepared to open and accept ourselves for what we are% #he good 'its a'out ourselves we can accept) we usually dont have a pro'lem with those features 'ut there are 'its that are within all of us that we all know we can find difficult% 1ur fears, our aversions, the more unwholesome and ugly aspects of our makeup that many of us would rather not know, would rather pretend were not there, we now are opening up to% 2ow we can say to our e(perience +Let me see you as you are, let me 'e intimate with you, 'ut Im not going to 'e carried away 'y you, Im not going to 'e fuelled 'y you, Im not going to 'e caught 'y you nor am I going to reinforce nor 'e negative towards you% 3ather, Im going to 'e like a mirror that sees all that comes into its e(perience 'ut doesnt have an opinion or get involved% Im going to 'e open and allow you to 'e, and Im going to open and accept and say 4yes5 to what you are% In that openness and in that acceptance there comes the 'eginning of the sense of healing and integration% !ecause you are not 'eing reactive you are no longer creating a space 'etween yourself and the e(perience 'ut a willingness to come together intimately with what is really a part of what you are% &e are learning to 'ecome friends with ourselves in the true dharmic spirit% 2o longer do we 'lame our dukkha on our mother or father 'ecause of having done something to us in the past% 2or do I any longer 'lame my 'oss or wife for my dukkha, 'ut to see that this whole e(perience is actually just a part of what I am and what I create% All the pictures, all the solid and concrete convictions that Ive had up till now that most of my woes have 'een given to me 'y others 'egin to fall away% 2ow youre saying +*es, I am the creator of my dukkha, now youre 'eginning to own the whole of what you are% All of this has 'ecome possi'le 'ecause you have created the dharmic environment of openness and spaciousness, where transformation of our whole makeup and understanding of life can take place 'ecause wisdom of the knowledge of how things really are 'egins to arise% #hat space where youre no longer 'eing carried away 'y your ha'its and the world that you create% 6ere youre no longer caught and carried away 'y that world, now you have the a'ility through the commitment of training and through familiarity to 'egin to taste and rest in what is your true nature, your true nature that it is not attached to your world at all% It isnt affected nor pulled around, 'ut something that is always free% 2ow you are 'eginning to discover and recognise that which is your true nature% Invite into your life this discovery of spaciousness that has a mirror like -uality of seeing and of 'eing non,attached that youve 'een calling the dharmic environment, and awaken to seeing it as 'eing not apart from your true nature, and the one that knows% #he one that is free, and the one that never gets caught 'y the world%

Forgiveness
Feel drawn to developing a relationship with your true nature, with the !uddha within% !egin to develop a relationship with that which is 'eyond +me and at times of difficulty ask with humility for forgiveness, help and support% 2ow 'egin to turn away and let go of that which always wants to 'e in control and instead take refuge and learn to trust that which is 'eyond +me% 1pen and allow the -ualities of the !uddha which has as its nature love and wisdom to 'egin to e(press itself through our human condition% #hese innate -ualities that weve all got, that characterise our humanness are -ualities of openness and acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness% I 'elieve the -uality of forgiveness to 'e the -uality that transforms us most 'ecause it undercuts the grip of self and its neurotic desire to always 'e in control% In my e(perience it is certainly the greatest -uality on the

path of li'eration% #o learn to forgive could 'e said to 'e the only -uality that we need for transformation and li'eration as all other -ualities naturally follow% 2ot just forgive others for what they may have done to us 'ut also to forgive ourselves through acceptance for what we are% For most of us this will 'e the greatest of challenges, and not for nothing is this the case 'ecause it is the nurturing of forgiveness that opens up the human heart and guides us to e-uanimity and the middle way, and true li'eration from the wheel of 'ecoming% #o learn to forgive ourselves and others is to make friends with ourselves, and from there friendship matures into authentic selfless love% Awakening to love is to awaken to our true nature, not just love for ourselves 'ut love for others and for all that is% In that healing within ourselves is the reintegration of mind and 'ody% &ith reintegration comes e-uanimity and stillness and within this condition and through skilful guidance insight 'egins to arise% &ith insight and seeing things how they really are, comes the fulfilment of the five pillars of transformation and li'eration from samsara%