I want to Give Up!
At this time of year, in the depths of winter these words are sometimes sung in my head. For the effect and intensity imagine Freddy Mercury singing “I want to break Free” but with these words “I want to Give UP!”.
So what do I want to give up? Its not going to the gym, its not eating porridge, well its bigger than those, its being a Buddhist. I look around me, at the people I know, at the news and I realise there is a lot of pain and suffering, there is so much Dukkha. I can see it, I can feel it. One thing of the many great things that Buddhism teaches is awareness, and this awareness is not just of things, its of people and what state there are in. People and life seem to be in constant combat, clashing over this and that, sometimes trivial things and sometimes very big things involving thousands of people. It is hard to know where to start. The Bodhisattva vow is to save all living beings, leaving no one out, to end their Dukkha, and give them peace and happiness. It is a monumental task, seemingly without an end in sight, so that is why I sing “I want to give Up!”.
The image of Avalokiteshvara comes brightly into my mind, especially the thousand armed form. This form has 11 heads because, as the story goes, Avalokiteshvara took his eye off the ball and let the thought arise in his mind that he couldn’t release all beings from suffering, the task was too great. At that moment his then one head split apart and he ended up with eleven heads. He was then able to see even more clearly the Dukkha all around him.
Being a Buddhist is not easy, You come to realise that the Buddha set a big, and almost unachievable task and goal. We try, as Buddhists to help people, all people without prejudice. But there really is so much to do. So how can we possibly achieve this goal, is it impossible and our heads will just explode? The problem as always is to do with us, and not the size of the problem. We need to be clear that we can only help those that we can actually help, for now and not get caught in overwhelm and self-reference. We all come into contact with many people as we go about our lives. It is those people that we can help, that is enough for now. If we help just one person then that person can help another, and so the effects ripple out.
If I stop, if I stop being a Buddhist, then there is no beginning to start that ripple effect.
I can feel sad about my own plight, about what has happened to me or my difficult life. But when I look around, that is always trumped by the suffering that I can see in the world outside of me. I am not being bombed or tortured, I have enough money, I have a warm room in which to write this piece. Many, many do not have these things. But it is not always just things that people need, it is a more positive attitude to whatever their situation is, whatever Dukkha they are facing. To be able to turn it around and see the Dukkha as just part of life takes effort and positive emotion. The Buddha encouraged his followers to lead a simple life, with few possessions so that they could focus on leading a spiritual life in order to help others. His followers would spend their time generating a positive attitude, positive emotion or as we might say Metta for themselves and for those around them.
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world.
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded
(Extract from the Karaniya Metta Sutta)
The figure of Avalokiteshvara with 11 heads also has 1000 arms, signifying the ability to help numerous people out of their difficulties. We can start with those closest to us, our family and close friends within the sangha and without. These are the ones we do have difficulties with, who know us maybe better than others and we even may think we know them better than they do themselves. So we do tend to clash and lock horns over often trivial things. We need to be kinder to this group, in some ways they are part of the first stage of the Metta, they are so close to us that we can easily think of them as actually ‘our self’ and in this way we can be harsher towards them and not show the kindness we may show to those further away.
So start close, this often gives the biggest rewards in our understanding of ourselves.
In a similar way, looking for how Buddhism can spread in Ipswich it is wise to look to help those that are closest to us, those that are already Buddhists and may require our help to fully acknowledge their own religious traditions. At the last Census in 2021 there were recorded just under 600 Buddhists in Ipswich, only 0.4 % of the population. Some of those who declare themselves Buddhist will be from our own Sangha, if you count up all our Mitras and OM’s that will be over 100. But the majority of that 0.4% will be ethnic Buddhists. I remember talking to a Nepalese Buddhist family who attended one of our Meditation in The Park events. They enjoyed being amongst fellow Buddhist even if from a different tradition and a different way of practicing.
My head hasn’t yet exploded, maybe it will one day. But for now I will keep on following the Buddha’s path. Reaching out to people from all walks of life, with their many different difficulties. A big part of that reaching out is the Buddhist Centre. The new Buddhist Centre that we are slowly moving towards, will mean that we can reach more people with the Dharma. The New Centre will be four times bigger than the Centre we currently have. Part of me wants it to be bigger, to help even more people. But four times bigger will do for now, it is the limit of all our resources and capabilities. But even though our Buddhist Sangha in Ipswich is relatively small compared to the population of Ipswich, it still has such a positive effect, way beyond our limited means and imaginations.
In the new Centre we will be able to put on more classes and offer the Dharma in ways that appeal to a much wider range of Ipswich society. All people experience Dukkha, whether poor or rich, young or old and being ready to help in a thousand different ways, like the arms of Avalokitesvara, is what we, as budding Bodhisattvas, try to do.
We have over 20 Order Members now in Ipswich and each offers a unique route into the Dharma and how to lead a Buddhist life. I am very indebted to all the work that they do around the Centre not only formal teaching but in the more personal way they pass on the Buddha’s teachings by their very presence and example from which you and I benefit.
I would like to mention them all and sing their praises but time allows me to only pick one, and I will choose our latest Order Member, Dharmacari Bodhisetu as my example. He knows that the way to world peace is a long slow road but that road does exist and humanity will one day achieve that goal. So the start of that road for him is Puja. Puja is a Buddhist ritual, which can be a powerful transformative force for those who fully participate and allow the experience to sink into their being. So in the new year Bodhisetu is going to be starting a regular ‘Puja’s for Peace’ event. Peace is a very difficult idea to get one’s head around. We are so used to hearing about conflicts and wars, we have grown up with these conflicts and we even define our history and the history of our society in terms of destructive conflicts. But peace does exist amid those conflicts. If you turn your awareness towards peace’s subtle energy, an energy that can be felt and rejoiced in, an energy that brings Joy and freedom.
It is clear that we cannot materially help everyone, because the needs and wants of people can never be satiated directly. It is only the attitude, the mindset that continues to desire more things that we can effectively address. The best way to address this desire in others is to address it in ourselves. In this way, in this Buddhist Way, we can lead by example and show that contentment and a route out of difficulties and conflict comes from within.
The new year will be a great time, whether we are old or young, there is still much life to be lived in helping others, helping others to understand that peace and happiness are achievable no matter what external situation one finds oneself.
See you all soon, maybe even in that new Buddhist Centre, but hopefully before then.
Bodhivamsa, January 2025
