Yesterday we talked briefly about Bardo, which is a Tibetan concept and involves the afterlife.

I tend to lean more toward the Zen methods, and easily the most famous, most well-respected Zen teacher today is Thich Nhat Hanh. We’ve discussed him here before many times, most notably back when I introduced the Five Precepts. He’s a great man, and very entertaining as well. Here’s a LONG video of him discussing the Zen thoughts concerning Birth and Death. It’s roughly an hour and 40 minutes, so maybe you don’t want to watch this one at work.

His accent is a little hard to follow at times, but if you stick with him, you’ll be fine. Enjoy!

A Reader Wrote In: 

Hello, I’ve just found your website and podcasts. I’ve wanted to start studying Buddhist philosophy since 2008 when I was volunteering in Nepal, but only now I feel like I have the dedication to really pursue it.

Right now I’m listening to podcast 46, and there was a part that I wanted to address. In the podcast, you briefly talk about addiction and mind-altering substances, and how they can make the mind less clear and so on. I do understand this perfectly clear, it makes sense, but I was just wandering what would a buddhist say about psychiatric disorders? I myself am schizophrenic and more or less I understand that most “heavier” drugs imitate the effects of schizophrenia. That’s why it sort of sprung to my mind. What’s also interesting is that I’ve been told that intense meditation can actually be harmful for schizophrenics, that it may trigger hallucinations. Are there some precautions I should take before taking on meditation?

So what would be your Buddhist view on schizophrenia and the like? I’m sorry if this has been answered somewhere on the site before, but I just felt like asking it myself. I’ve often wondered why I am schizophrenic and what kind of attitude I should have about the whole thing. I’m not anywhere near finding my own answer, most of the time I just dismiss the question and try not to think about it. I hope you could give me some insight into how Buddhism sees my disorder as. Maybe I then can find a new way of looking at the whole situation of my sickness.

Best regards!
J. from Finland

And my Response:

Just last week, I put up a post “Magic Mushrooms” which revisited the topic of drugs and addictions. Generally speaking, most Buddhists see mind-altering drugs as bad, but there are limitations on that. I don’t know the specifics of your case, but since you are on these medications based on your doctor’s prescriptions, I would assume that you would suffer more without the drugs calming your mind than if you did without.

From the Buddhist perspective, having a clear mind is very important to successful meditation, and good meditation is necessary to attaining Enlightenment. Depending on the symptoms or effects of your schizophrenia, you probably have a hard time meditating on your own. The drugs may actually be beneficial in your case. It’s unfair and a unfortunate that you have this condition, but there isn’t much you can do about it on your own, at least so doctors would tell us. If current science says drug X will help you, then by all means use it until something else comes around. Some drugs have side effects, and only you and your doctor can judge whether those effects (hallucinations in your case) are bad enough to merit changing prescriptions.

Either way, you are going to have a hard time of it. Do your best, keeping in mind the rules of karma, make the best of the hand you’ve been dealt and live as an example for others.

And now we have our first guest post in ages. This one is by Dr. Douglas Gentile, who writes the American Buddhist blog at usbuddhist.blogspot.com.  He has been training in multiple Buddhist traditions since about 1989.  In his professional life he is an award-winning researcher, author, and university professor.

What Does Meditation Do?

By Douglas Gentile

Western stereotypes about meditation are interesting.  People often initially come to meditation because they believe it will bring them bliss, or bring sudden enlightenment, or at least be a relaxing break from the stresses of the day. Yet, instead, it often feels really bad, and people then believe they’re doing it wrong or that it doesn’t work.  But what does meditation actually do?

There are many answers to this, at many different levels of analysis, but at least in the beginning stages for most new meditators, it allows us to see how the mind works.  It is constantly jumping — emotions follow thoughts which follow emotions which follow thoughts and on and on ad nauseum.  Sometimes this is called “monkey mind,” although I personally think that’s somewhat unfair to monkeys.  By recognizing how easy it is to get trapped into this pattern of chasing every thought and feeling to the next, and how difficult it is to slow that pattern, it teaches us that we don’t need to put quite so much faith in our thoughts and feelings.  They will all change, even if we try to hold on to them.

This can allow us to not react when under their influence.  We can refrain from automatically reacting.  We can pause briefly and add some space, and perhaps even relax to see what will happen naturally.  This can allow for a much gentler approach both to oneself and to others.

As an example, my girlfriend once told me that she didn’t trust me entirely.  She wasn’t being unkind or attacking me – it was simply true.  My immediate reaction was to feel hurt and I immediately thought of all sorts of angry things I could say in response or to make a pronouncement about how we couldn’t be together then.  But it was bedtime, so instead I lay in bed and let my thoughts and feelings flow as they would until I finally slept (not particularly well).  The next day I was able to express my disappointment with her lack of complete trust, but I could also see how my behaviors had caused it.  She was right not to entirely trust me – I had told her not to in several small ways.  My disappointment was, in fact, equal to hers.  She was disappointed that she wasn’t able to trust me completely and to always be feeling as though she might lose this relationship soon.

By recognizing that my immediate thoughts and feelings were not “truth,” and indeed were limiting my view as long as I focused on them, I was able to not be trapped into believing I had to act on them at the minute I was thinking/feeling them.  Adding a pause allowed for a better view on the situation, and ultimately meant that we didn’t even argue at all – instead, we had a good conversation and a better understanding of each other because of it.

If we consider the stereotypes about the outcomes of meditation, this example doesn’t fit any of them.  At no point in this experience did it feel blissful, enlightened, or relaxing to me.  But meditation had allowed me to see the nature of mind, so that the thoughts and feelings didn’t feel so solid or overwhelming that I had to do something at the minute I was caught in them.  If I had, it would invariably have been less than skillful and would likely have made the situation worse rather than using the opportunity to make our relationship better.

A reader writes:

I am a sort of Buddhist novice, trying to reach mindfulness, and practice mindful action even in ordinary life.

What I don’t know and would like to ask you is – are there any specific techniques / tools to discern the moments of weakness when you are slipping and losing your concentration, succumbing to ones fears and anxiety, both in meditation and/or in one’s everyday life (with its pressures and all)?

I’m asking that because I feel that if I improved in this, I could make a huge progress in my practice.

O. R.
Czech Republic

My response:

This is something that we all have to work through, myself included. It’s a matter that falls under the concept of “Right Mindfulness.” Staying focused on the task or problem at hand and not getting distracted.

You have the right idea when you say you have trouble both while meditating and out in everyday life. This is the point of Right Mindfulness, which is often confused with Right Concentration, which is not the same thing, but definitely have some overlap here.  If you can stay on task, keeping yourself focused on the job, you’re doing better than many of us. Most of us have great plans to live a Buddhist lifestyle and then before we even get to work, we’ve given someone the finger on our drive or smoked a cigarette on the way to work. It’s easy to forget and be distracted by real-world events.

You would think things would be different at home or at a meditation center, when you’re sitting on a cushion, in whatever position works best for you. Staying focused should be easy, right? Nope– Quite often it’s even worse. This is where the idea of “Monkey Mind” comes in. We all have a little thought-monkey in our heads that jumps from mental tree to mental tree, making as much noise and chatter as it can– but only when we’re trying to clear our minds of all thoughts. These mental distractions can be just as bad or worse than the external distractions that we run into daily.

Clearing out these distractions is the goal of all meditators, whether you’re meditating on a koan, doing walking meditation, or simply trying to clear your mind. The path to eventual victory is continued practice and knowledge that we all have this problem to some extent, even the monks who meditate all day have the problem from time to time. They have, however, learned to deal with it. When they feel their minds wandering, they immediately recognize that their minds are wandering and re-focus. It sounds a little redundant, but they are mindful of their distractions. This is what you need to watch for, and realize when you have wandered. Don’t chastise yourself for the monkey-attack, but instead just refocus and get back to it.

Another possible suggestion is to vary your style of meditation. Instead of sitting in the same place doing the same thing all the time, try some walking meditation, or try doing a mantra. Mix it up a little. When walking or repeating a mantra, your mind is, while not exactly busy, at least doing something, and this might be enough to make a difference.

Just remember to be here in the present moment, doing whatever it is you’re doing. Be here now.