Expert: Bodhicitta - 7/23/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hello, i am Alex and I would like to ask you a question about buddhism meditation and happiness which has troubled me for a wrong time; How can people in starving countries meditate, and be happy when they are distracted and suffering by their hunger?

ANSWER: Hi Alex
According to Buddhism - a human rebirth full of opportunity and freedom in which you can meditate and practice Buddhist dharma is a rare thing.

For this reason we should practice the dharma while we can, and through the clarity and wisdom we develop help those who are less fortunate.

It is possible that people starving really can not practice easily.You
might not even hear about meditation.The situation is like a Hell realm.

However if you are fortunate enough to hear the right instructions and
receive training from a suitable teacher it could be that there
are methods that could be used even in very difficult times.
This is the dark age the kali yuga - in which it is possible to become
enlightened very quickly or to sink deeper very quicker. Like a snake
moving up a tube.

Someone who has a very comfortable life might be in a
position where they would not be interested in meditation because life is just stood good to worry. This is a the golden age.This like the God realm.

The human realm  of opportunity and freedom is a place where you have heard about the dharma, about meditation and you are motivated to practice. This is very rare indeed. It is like a turtle in the vast ocean. There is a small hoop floating in that ocen. The turtle raises its head once every 1000 years. A human rebirth occurs every time
the turtle puts it's head through the hoop.

Bodhicitta

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How do Buddhists speak with non-buddhists and other buddhists? would they talk the same or react differetely trying to talk about Buddha.

Answer
Alex
Thanks for your follow-up question.

According to Buddhism every being has Buddha nature, all Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Everyone has the potential to become enlightened. Everyone is already enlightened if only we could see it. The world itself has an enlightened aspect - but we are confused. Everything is Guru. Everything is a teacher. So why do we not
see that? Well the problem is like a man looking though a dirty window
and thinking that it is a dreary cloudy day instead of a sunny day.

According to one teaching which is common in Tibet called the 7 Mind Instruction from the Kadam : 'Drive All blames into one!" . This instruction tells us that there is really only one big problem - our own ego.

So if we feel the world is a terrible place. If we feel other Buddhists are a pain and have got it all wrong. If we feel all other religions ar mistaken. Then the instruction is to work on ourselves. Blame our own egos for our irritation. Clean our own windows. And seek enlightenment without reservation for the good of everyone. The sun shines on all beings, independent as to if anyone thanks it for shining. That is how
Buddhists should act.

Hope that helps
Bodhicitta