Celebrate the journey of Shambhala and live in basic goodness

The goal of warriorship is to express basic goodness in its most complete, fresh, and brilliant form. This is possible when realize that you do not possess basic goodness but that you are the basic goodness itself. Therefore, training yourself to be a warrior is learning to rest in basic goodness, to rest in a complete state of simplicity. In the Buddhist tradition, that state of being is called egolessness.” Chogyam Trungpa 

Overcome both hope and fear.

When you hope for something in your life, if it doesn’t happen, you are disappointed or upset. If it does happen, then you become elated and excited. You are constantly riding a roller coaster up and down. With nothing to hope for and nothing to fear, fearlessness is achieved.

Don’t spell out the truth.  

When you spell out the truth, it loses its essence and becomes either “my” truth or “your” truth. By implying the truth, it doesn’t become anyone’s property. When the dragon wants a rainstorm he causes thunder and lightning. That brings the rain. Truth is generated from its environment; in that way it becomes a powerful reality. From this point of view, studying the imprint of truth is more important that the truth itself. The truth doesn’t need a handle.  To join heaven and earth, go beyond selfishness.

To bring together vision and practicality, you need confidence and trust in yourself. Beyond that, you have to be without selfishness. If someone thinks, “Now I have it! Ha ha!”—that doesn’t work. Joining heaven and earth happens only if you go beyond an egoistic attitude. The master warrior is extremely humble.

Give yourself time to be. 

Give yourself a break. Enjoy that day, your normal existence. We have to learn to be kinder to ourselves, much kinder. Smile a lot, although nobody is watching. Listen to your own brook, echoing yourself. A lot of problems come from self-hatred. Let us let go of that; let us let it go away. Let us be real people. Let us be genuine people. Cheer up. A lot of us feel attacked by our own aggression and by our own misery and pain. However, even in the darkest of the Dark Age, there is always light. That light comes with a smile, the smile of Shambhala, the smile of fearlessness. The cheerfulness is what we call the Great Eastern Sun. We are capable of smiling beautifully, utterly, extraordinarily. We can always cheer up.

Don’t cause the Great Eastern Sun to eclipse. 

Developing meekness is one of the disciplines or dignities of the warrior. Meekness is not feebleness but strength and brilliance that come from resting in a state of simplicity, being uncomplicated and approachable. In that state, simple awareness allows you to refrain from activities that dim the vision of the Great Eastern Sun, the warrior’s vision of wakeful sanity. Then your mind is not filled with ordinary preoccupations. When you are not seduced by trivial situations, there is a sense of uplifted mind and vast vision.

The fundamental doubt is doubting yourself, which occurs when body and mind are unsynchronized. Continuous discipline joins body and mind and brings unconditional cheerfulness.  When discipline becomes a pleasure rather then a demand, you are free from the lower realms, free from living purely for survival. You possess the goodness of the higher realms, meaning you are clear and precise, free from doubt. At this stage, the warrior is always aware and never confused as to what to accept and what to reject.

A good self-existing sword: desire to sharpen it will make it dull.

 When, out of hope and fear, you apply a competitive and comparative logic to your experience, trying to measure how much you have fathomed, how much is left to fathom, or how much someone else has fathomed, you are just dulling you sword, the sharpness of your mind. Instead, have confidence in your awareness and relax in you ability to connect with a larger vision, the experience of vast mind.  

This is part 9 in a continuing series on Shambhala.

Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,

Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, or Part 8