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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 37

Different methods may have something to offer us at What would you say is a more ideal Buddhist
different times. practice – be more of a hermit, or to be more
engaged with society, or is there a good balance?
It seems to me that whatever ‘method’ the Buddha
taught to people, it could always be boiled down to It depends on the person’s karma, temperament,
realising the 4 Noble Truths. That is, recognise with proclivities, time and place, the cultural milieu, and so
wisdom and clear seeing where and what you are on. There is no right or wrong way to practice based
grasping, understand how this grasping causes and on the external surroundings, and if we believe there
perpetuates suffering, and in that very recognition, is an ideal and start chasing it out of some fixed view
suffering ceases. of perfection, we are bound to meet with resistances,
disappointment, and barriers.
A major problem for modern people today is their
mental health. How can Buddhism provide the We have to be natural and authentic in our spiritual
solution for this problem? practice. If we try to impersonate some great master
such as the Buddha, based on ideas and ideals, we are
The teachings of the Buddha and the Dhamma as taught only fooling ourselves. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t
by all the great realized masters can provide the deepest inspired by the stories of their lives and the images we
insight into the nature of our minds in order to realise have in our heads about how they lived. However, what
its inherent health, well-being, and essential purity. The is more important is to observe and get to know our
only reason we suffer from mental stress and tension is own minds and hearts, because all we need to learn can,
because we do not see the truth of the way things really and has to be, learnt in that very place. That is the most
are, and consistently take ourselves to be our bodies, important place and one that you can never remove
thoughts, emotions, personality traits, family history, yourself from. Even if you go to some idyllic hermetic
past experiences, and so on. location with no sounds or people to distract you, you
still have to live with this crazy mind!
From the perspective of the Absolute Truth, we are
all ‘mentally ill’ and deluded when we take these We also need to be practical and realistic about the
conditioned, passing forms, feelings, thoughts, current cultural climate and times we are living in.
emotions, and experiences as true and fixed, and believe How easy is it for people to retreat into a solitary
them to be my ‘self’ – grasping them as a permanent hermitage in the hills or caves where they have enough
thing, or wishing to run away from them. This is the food to eat and the support of a teacher?
ultimate psychotic ‘hallucination’ of samsara.
We are currently facing into difficult times on this
The Dhamma reminds us that all of these things planet which can actually work as a catalyst to help
are conditioned phenomena – sankharas – simply us in our practice and empower it if we are willing to
appearances arising and ceasing in the ground of open, accept, learn from, and embrace these difficulties.
Ultimate Reality, and are not a ‘me’ or ‘mine.’ They are We also have many opportunities to help other beings
not what I am in my essence, or true nature. – there are no shortage of suffering beings around to
We can begin to understand and appreciate this by serve and help!
reading and listening to the Dhamma and trying to
understand these truths, at least intellectually – that If someone were to ask you to summarize the
can help a bit. However, we must move beyond the wisdom of the Buddha in a few words or a few short
mere intellectual and conceptual understanding and paragraphs, what would you say?
start practicing the Dhamma through meditation
and inner contemplation. Only through knowing the Don’t cling! EH
Dhamma directly in our hearts.. can we know the
Truth and begin to walk on the path of liberation from
all mental afflictions.