Jeff Oliver's toolbox for skillful living
Though currently a layperson, Jeff Oliver was ordained for eight years as Dhammarakkhita, and has recently returned from further study in Burma. And last night, in language characteristically gentle and free of jargon, in the beautiful Ariyasom Villa, he shared some of his most recent insights as he presented what he called a toolbox for skillful living.
The first tool he presented was appreciation. Jeff talked about having an attitude of gratitude and the power generated by giving voice to it. Not only does this put you in a positive state of mind, he claimed, but is a form of awareness, a way of looking deeply into your heart, a good method for mental training.
Elaborating on the need for positive mental training as a way of countering negative thought patterns, Jeff gave the example of fear. Fear arises due to our imagination. What happens, he said, if a big black dog runs at you in the street. My friend Will, knowing how I feel about dogs, nudged my arm and chuckled.
Jeff's point was that with training we can see that our fear in this situation is based on something that hasn't yet happened, and that we can learn to replace our fear with more useful thoughts, even to the point of maintaining a calm, relaxed, appreciative mind. This would help us make better choices and give us more control.
The point of meditation, Jeff suggested, was to look deep at what lies under the surface of our minds, sometimes finding wonderful stuff, sometimes old rubbish, and to see how our minds work and how they could work. Appreciation is a great starting point. "Can you", he asked "appreciate pain? How deep can you go?"
In using these tools for skillful living, of which appreciation is the first, there are, Jeff said, three steps. The first is to gather the information, from books, from the Internet, from talks like the one he was delivering. The second step is to think about it, and the third is where wisdom comes from; its application in our lives.
Next came forgiveness. There are, Jeff said, three steps. First is forgiving yourself for harming others, second is to forgive yourself for harming yourself, and the third is to forgive others for harming you. But this step, he said, becomes increasingly obsolete as you realise that mostly it's only you harming yourself.
The third practice Jeff pulled from his skillful living toolbox was very much linked to this ability to transform our lives through forgiveness, it is the practice of loving-kindness, or metta, and, again, it starts with ourselves. The phrase "may I be happy and healthy" Jeff said, can be used like a mantra and is entirely natural.
Metta, like the sun behind the clouds, is always there. All beings want happiness and health, and we can all wish it for ourselves. Experiencing it, we will naturally and unconditionally wish it for all other beings too. "May all beings be happy and healthy." A wonderful antidote to greed, anger and delusion.
Next came death, the practice of reminding yourself that you are going to die, followed by concentration, on the breath or beads for example, and finally, vipassana - which Jeff defined as 'awareness with wisdom'. And it's not just for the meditation cushion, but to be brought, like the others, into everyday life.
One way of doing this is through questions. Am I aware? What of? Is this necessary? What is my intention? Is this helpful? I was reminded of the Seon "What is this?" and of Zen Master Seung Sahn's famous "How may I help you?". All designed to generate compassion and wisdom through the practice of awareness.
Jeff finished by reminding us of the tools - appreciation, forgiveness, love, death, concentration, vipassana - and led us into a beautiful, focus-free meditation. Just sit, he said, and know that this is your life, right now, be aware of everything that is happening, don't focus, relax, and let go of trying to do anything.
Links:
0 comments:
Post a Comment