What Tibetan Buddhism Can Teach Us About Happiness

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San Francisco, CA (USA) -- One of the most geographically isolated cultures in the world may contain the secrets to happiness that the rest of us have been looking for. Perhaps in part because of the country's remote location, the Tibetans have become the guardians of a deep, well-preserved wisdom tradition that modern science is only now catching up to.

But with the "mindful revolution" spreading in the West and a growing amount of research funding being dedicated to the study of contemplative practices and the science of compassion and altruism, the secrets of this ancient tradition are finally being recognized globally.

"Tibet has probably the greatest treasure trove of ancient contemplative knowledge, science and wisdom about how to influence the mind from the inside out," Joe Loizzo, founder of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, told The Huffington Post. "The Tibetans have an unbroken lineage of oral knowledge and technical expertise ... both in medicine and in psychology."

Early Indic cultures developed public systems of training in mindfulness -- including the Hatha Yoga tradition and Tibetan Buddhist mind training -- to ensure that the skills of contemplation and positivity were taught to everyone, explains Loizzo.

A Harvard-trained psychiatrist and a Columbia-trained Buddhist scholar, Loizzo has spent his career merging "the scientific and the spiritual," bringing ancient teachings on contemplative practice to modern Western psychotherapy and preventive medicine.

"There's a growing understanding that we need to move back in the direction of the contemplative traditions -- the ancient wisdom that says slow down, pay attention, be kind, be at peace -- whereas our modern wisdom has said that we need to just push forward and move into the future. We're realizing that's not sustainable for us either as a civilization or for our individual minds and brains. It's wearing and tearing us down just like it's wearing and tearing the planet down."

Loizzo spent years studying with Tibetan teachers in exile in India and in the West, and is convinced that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition -- which emphasizes training in mindful awareness and compassion -- has something to teach us all about how to live better lives.

Here are four essential lessons from Tibetan Buddhism that can help in your own pursuit of happiness.

Get intimate with your own mind.

We need two main things to become happy, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition: mindful awareness and loving compassion. The theory goes that the combination of attention and loving-kindness -- both of which can be built through contemplative practices like meditation -- can help bring the brain into its most plastic, growth-oriented state and support the development of a greater state of consciousness, Loizzo says.

Meditation -- "the quiet, humble work it takes on a daily basis," as Loizzo puts it -- is the cornerstone of the Tibetan contemplative science. Through a meditation practice, we can begin to overcome negative thoughts and habitual emotional responese, and start to live from a more calm, centered place, he says.

“Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature," Sogyal Rinpoche advised in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a guide to meditation and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. "Think of your ordinary emotional, thought-ridden self as a block of ice or a slab of butter left out in the sun. If you are feeling hard and cold, let this aggression melt away in the sunlight of your meditation."

The research is now there to back up the benefits of this time-worn strategy for stabilizing emotions and boosting the brain's capacity for joy. Studies have shown meditation may be effective in reducing anxiety and depression, lowering stress levels, reducing loneliness and boosting emotional well-being.

"Twenty years and a thousand stories that have given me an unshakable confidence in the truly boundless potential we human beings have to heal ourselves and transform our lives," Loizzo wrote in his 2012 book, Sustainable Happiness.

Practice compassion, at every moment.

Most Eastern spiritual traditions involve some form of practice around compassion, or "loving-kindness." In Buddhism, there is a meditation for loving-kindness,“metta bhavana”, which involves sending kindness to yourself, loved ones, community members, people you may dislike, and eventually, all beings. In the Tibetan tradition, monks practice tonglen, which consists of breathing in suffering and breathing out happiness, so as to reduce pain and spread peace among all beings.

"What's unusual about the Tibetans is that they have what I call an industrial-strength version of this discipline," Loizzo says of loving-kindness practice. "These practices allow us to turn our sense of life as a battle, a struggle for survival against everybody else, into a communal experience of connecting with friends and the larger world. That, we've learned, is so important to our quality of life and our personal sense of meaning in life."

The Tibetans have devised powerful ways of helping people learn how to become more compassionate that are now being used in the Western world. A 2012 Emory University study suggested that compassion training derived from ancient Tibetan practices may boost empathy, and other studies have shown that loving-kindness meditation could increase positive emotions and lead to more positive relationships over time.

Connect with others who support your journey.

The traditional "Three Jewels" of Buddhism consist of the Buddha (the example), the Dharma (the path) and the Sangha (the community). In this tradition, the community is just as important an element as any other in living a happy, purposeful life. Increasing your happiness and well-being is a difficult thing to do alone. It requires the support and love of others, and a sense of belonging to a community.

"Modern neuroscience is showing us that we're really wired to be extremely social creatures," Loizzo says. "We're happier and healthier when we do that in a committed way ... We need to learn to connect with others with mindful openness and positivity, and to deal with the daily slings and arrows and work through those and maintain a sense of connection that's positive. This is something we practice in spiritual communities."

Strong social support networks have also been linked to a number of health benefits, including lower stress levels and increased longevity.

Embrace death -- don't fear it.

In Western cultures, our attitude toward death is largely characterized by fear and denial -- and this can, consciously or unconsciously, cause a great deal of suffering throughout our lives. But a central aspect of the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy is the belief that death should be embraced, and the concept that dying can be the "crowing achievement" of a life well lived. Although this attitude stems in part from a strong belief in reincarnation, you don't have to believe in an afterlife in order to better accept the impermanence of life in the here and now. The Tibetans believe that meditation can help us to come to terms with the nature of life and death.

When Loizzo is working with patients who are suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses, in addition to practicing meditation and loving-kindness, he goes through a traditionally Tibetan practice of asking some of life's big questions: What has been meaningful to you in your life? How do you face the impermanence of your life and the inevitability of death?

"Being able to embrace the idea of death and being present ... some of the women say it gives them a new lease on life," says Loizzo. "The ancient traditions made a science of trying to understand the death process and make meaning out of it ... This kind of approach of facing reality, even the parts that scare us, has tremendous potential for healing."

Asking these questions can help bolster an acceptance of things that can't be changed or controlled, which Buddhist teachings have long touted as a key to reducing suffering. Now, this ancient doctrine has science on its side: A recent study from Australian researchers showed that during the difficult changes of later life -- moving into residential care and losing independence -- an acceptance of what can't be changed may be a significant predictor of life satisfaction.

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Young monks pitch new ways to teach old values

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Tokyo, Japan -- Put it down to good karma. More than 100 curious citizens
applied over the Internet for the chance to feast on vegetarian fare at the
table of Kakuho Aoe, chief monk of the Ryokusenji temple in Tokyo’s
Asakusa district.

<< Blindfolded diners cautiously nibble at dishes placed in front of them during a recent "Kurayami Gohan" event at Ryokusenji temple in Tokyo's Taito Ward. (By Hiroshi Matsubara)

But only the first 13 were accepted.

As the diners were escorted into a backroom one recent evening, they looked more nervous than excited.

In the event called “Kurayami Gohan” (eating in the dark), guests are treated to eat a course of basic Buddhist cuisine--tofu, rice, vegetables and other simple dishes, along with broth. But they have to wear blindfolds during the one-hour course.

Their verdict on the food? Highly original and delicious.

Then Aoe posed a question that almost sounded like a Zen riddle: When was last time they had eaten a meal in such a picky and earnest manner.

Almost to a person, the diners responded with “no” or “probably never.”

Afterward, Aoe, 35, said with a satisfied smile that his mission was accomplished. “It is my pleasure if I can help guests see such routine activities like eating as a very special experience,” said the 14th generation chief monk at the temple, which was founded four centuries ago.

Although “Kurayami Gohan” looks like a fun, gourmet event, Aoe said it is actually aimed at steering people to notice “impermanence,” an essential doctrine of Buddhism that says nothing stays the same, and thus, should not be taken granted.

Aoe belongs to the Jodo Shinshu sect of Pure Land Buddhism and is a member of an interdenominational group of Internet-savvy monks who organize cultural and community events at their temples to attract young people.

They have tried to reach out to a broader audience through their slickly-designed, online virtual temple site called “Higanji” since 2003 and have opened their temples for concerts, seminars, workshops, exhibitions and other cultural events.

Because of his cooking skills, Aoe, who holds an MBA from California, has hosted the monthly “Kurayami Gohan” event since 2006. Last November, Aoe released a cookbook introducing 86 recipes based on traditional Buddhist fare.

The recent session resonated with participant Shigeyo Komori.

“It turns people off when a religion preaches dogma, but this way I found myself receptive to the monk’s messages,” said the 44-year-old law firm secretary.

“Monks today need to have cultural tools and event-producing abilities to reach out to the masses,” Aoe said. “That is because we can actually offer wisdom to help an individual live a better life, regardless of religious affiliation.”

VALUE FOR COMMUNITY

Closer to the heart of Tokyo, in Kamiyacho in Minato Ward, is Komyoji temple, which serves as a hub for cultural activities organized by Higanji member monks due to its location and spacious compound.

A project that has taken root is called “Kamiyacho Open Terrace,” offering an alfresco cafe experience on the balcony of the temple’s main building with a view of Tokyo Tower and a graveyard almost at its foot.

The space is open to visitors between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. Visitors are allowed to bring their own lunch and drinks, but from spring to fall, monks offer to serve tea and coffee at no cost, as well as Japanese confectionery they make.

Monks also offer face-to-face counseling and spiritual advice, if visitors ask for it. The venue also hosts periodical concerts and DJ events, titled “Tasogare” (twilight hour).

Another Higanji member, Keisuke Matsumoto, a 33-year-old Jodo Shinshu monk, became a prime mover behind the projects by networking with fellow monks and friends from his alma mater, the University of Tokyo.

Like Aoe, Matsumoto is a MBA graduate, in his case the Indian School of Business.

In his view, Japanese Buddhism has lost much of its cultural appeal, mostly because the traditional “danka” system, whereby local community members and grave owners obligatorily support temple operations, holds so much sway in society.

“The system was built so well that it allowed anyone--even someone who should be least qualified as a monk--to run a temple,” Matsumoto said.

“But those days are rapidly coming to a close because of diminishing family ties in local communities, which were the foundation of a temple’s sustainability. We now need to create another ‘en’ (chain) with society,” he said.

This sense of urgency prompted Matsumoto to set up a year-long special workshop, titled “school for future monks,” in 2012 to teach young monks who just inherited family temples and monk-wannabes how to withstand the economic buffeting they are certain to encounter.

During a recent session at Komyoji, Matsumoto instructed a dozen students to map out a “business plan” for their temples, using advanced management models from the business school he attended.

To an outsider, it sounded odd to hear monks using terms like “stakeholder,” “client satisfaction,” “core values” and “intangible assets.”

But Matsumoto said the goal of the seminar was to help students single out values and services that no social services other than Buddhism can offer.

“Unless it can change people’s lives for the better, religion is meaningless,” he said. “But we, young monks, need to find a new approach suitable for this era.”

OPENING UP

A student at the seminar, Masaomi Tomomitsu, 29, became a resident monk at Jokoji temple in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward after marrying his high school sweetheart, the daughter of the chief priest.

Life at the spacious temple has been full of surprises, said Tomomitsu, who comes from a modest background and grew up in cramped public housing.

Tomomitsu said he found the life of a monk surprisingly stress-free and economically stable.

Other than at New Year, the Bon remembrance holiday for ancestors and the spring an autumn equinox, along with days the temple hosts funeral services, Tomomitsu said he has plenty of time for himself, as daily services, for both morning and night, only take 30 minutes.

“Seeing all my college friends working hard around the clock as freshman corporate workers, I felt as if I was living in another world,” he recalled.

Then, as with many of his countrymen, March 11, 2011, proved to be a wake-up call. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake that triggered devastating tsunami and a nuclear disaster gave Tomomitsu a new way to view the world and stake out a purpose in life.

His search for mission led him to start “Kogen” (toward the origin), an annual music and arts festival at the temple that targets young people in the hope a visit to the tranquil surroundings will help them find peace of mind, even just for a day. By interacting with young artists, Tomomitsu said the temple can, in turn, develop a stronger spiritual and cultural presence.

Last year’s event attracted 150 visitors. This year, the program will be more varied than in the past, with Zen riddle sessions, yoga and meditation workshops and seminars on Buddhism teaching. The event is slated for April 29.

It clearly has potential, as two other local temples and a Shinto shrine will offer venues, and 30 monks will participate from various schools. The event is expect to attract 400 visitors, Tomomitsu said.

Aoe of Asakusa’s Ryokusenji will provide “bento” lunch boxes of his original cuisine during the event.

“If similar initiatives are being made by young monks around Japan, then temples will be recognized again as cultural community centers,” Tomomitsu said. “That, I think, is the only way that Buddhism can survive into the future."

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Kung fu nuns teach cosmic energy to CERN scientists

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GENEVA, Switzerland -- A dozen kung fu nuns from an Asian Buddhist order displayed their martial arts prowess to bemused scientists at CERN this week as their spiritual leader explained how their energy was like that of the cosmos.

<< The 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen, (left) poses with kung-fu trained nuns accompanying him at CERN in Meyrin near Geneva November 15, 2012. - Reuters pic

The nuns, all from the Himalayan region, struck poses of hand-chops, high-kicks and punches on Thursday while touring the research centre where physicists at the frontiers of science are probing the origins of the universe.

“Men and women carry different energy,” said His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, a monk who ranks only slightly below the Dalai Lama in the global Buddhist hierarchy. “Both male and female energies are needed to better the world.”

This, he said, was a scientific principle “as fundamental as the relationship between the sun and the moon” and its importance was similar to that of the particle collisions in CERN’s vast “Big Bang” machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The nuns, mostly slim and fit-looking teenagers with shaven heads and clad in flowing burgundy robes, nodded sagely.

But the 49-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, head since the age of four of one of the new independent schools of Tibetan Buddhism centred in India and Nepal, stressed that their visit to CERN was not just scientific in purpose.

Gender equality

By taking the nuns around the world and letting people of other countries enjoy their martial displays, he told physicists and reporters: “I hope to raise awareness about gender equality and the need for the empowerment of women.”

The group visits the universe of particles exhibition at CERN. — Reuters pic
The nuns themselves — who star on YouTube videos — have benefited from this outlook, he said.

For centuries in Tibet — incorporated into communist China since 1951 — and its surrounds, women were strictly barred from practising any form of martial art.

In his homeland Himalayan region of Ladakh, the Gyalwang Drukpa said, women were mainly servants, cooks and cleaners to monks.

About three years ago he decided to break out of this pattern and improve the health and spiritual well-being of women by training them in kung fu and even allowing them to perform sacred rites once also restricted to men.

“And a very good thing too,” declared CERN physicist Pauline Gagnon, who recently wrote a blog study pointing to the low, although growing, proportion of women in scientific research around the world.

The visit to CERN, whose director general Rolf Heuer recently sponsored a conference of scientists, theologians and philosophers to discuss the tense relationship between science and religion, was not the first by a top religious leader.

In 1983 the sprawling campus on the border of France and Switzerland hosted the Dalai Lama, Buddhism’s most revered figure, who argues that most scientific discoveries prove the truth of the view of the cosmos expounded by his faith — sometimes dubbed by outsiders an “atheistic religion.”

Pope John-Paul II preceded him in 1982 and the present Pope Benedict has a standing invitation from Heuer.

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Presidential election: What the Dalai Lama can teach Obama, Romney about leadership

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Washington D.C., USA -- After the first presidential debate, polls showed that the majority of Americans felt that President Obama had been too polite and not aggressive enough. He was faulted for his apparent lack of emotion and disinterest in the debate. Governor Mitt Romney's spirited attacks on the president captured people's attention. As a result, during the second and third debates, the president resorted to the same disrespectful behavior that Romney exhibited. Both candidates interrupted one another,  bared their fists and let the punches fly.

This got me thinking both about the personal qualities that Americans expect to see in a president and, of equal importance, a president's moral values. With several European countries on the verge of economic collapse, the political situation in the Middle East deteriorating and tension between the U.S. and China running high, the next president faces an incredibly complex, volatile international situation that directly affects our future. The president's inner values will guide him in charting the course that America takes. This may mean launching a new military offensive or resolutely adhering to the practice of non-violence.

 Against the backdrop of the negative campaigning of the 2012 election, his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso toured the United States. He spoke to sold-out audiences at several American universities including Western Connecticut State University, the College of William & Mary and Syracuse University, to name a few.

In his talks and his recent book “Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World,” the Dalai Lama describes the need for an ethical system that goes beyond the confines of any particular religion. Secular ethics are possible because mankind's natural compassion is the source of all our shared ethical or spiritual values. He defines spirituality as the practice of non-harming/non-violence both with respect to oneself and others.

Universal secular ethics center around two principles. In the aforementioned book he writes, “The first principle is the recognition of our shared humanity and our shared aspiration to happiness and the avoidance of suffering; the second is the understanding of interdependence as a key feature of human reality, including our biological reality as social animals.”

The quality of discernment is the ability to recognize our interdependence. A good leader is someone who possesses discernment and thus makes decisions guided by the needs of the broader community rather than those of a particular self-interest group. Likewise, when questions of justice are examined in the context of a moral framework grounded in compassion and non-violence, the key values are forgiveness and a recognition of man's ability to change. Capital punishment, for example, violates a compassion-centered ethic because it is motivated by revenge and does not acknowledge a person's capacity for positive reform.

As the Indian Buddhist thinker Nagarjuna explains in his text “The Precious Garland,” a compassionate leader always acts in a truthful manner, practices open-hearted generosity, treasures peace and is guided by wisdom. He embodies the virtues of patience in the face of hardship and respect for all.

The way in which we perceive ourselves has a profound effect on our relationships with others. We point our fingers at others as the source of all our problems. Instead, we need to recognize that our true enemy is in fact our own self-centeredness and negative emotions. Through meditation, we can free ourselves from the destruction that such emotions cause in our lives and enjoy the satisfaction that arises from cherishing others more than ourselves.

In an October 11, 2012 interview that focused on the tragic self-immolations in Tibet, the Dalai Lama said that Tibetans are engaged in a struggle between the power of truth versus the power of the gun. The power of the gun is winning but only in the short term.  He doesn't admire the U.S.'s military power, including its nuclear armaments. Rather, he deeply admires America's values: democracy, freedom and liberty. The true source of the power of America rests in its ideals, not in its weapons.

Disarmament is nothing less than compassion in practice and must occur first within ourselves – a resetting of our own moral compasses and later in our relations with others. The Dalai Lama writes: “What is required, therefore, is both inner disarmament, at the level of our individual hatred, prejudice, and intolerance, and outer disarmament, at the level of nations and states. Rather than pouring salt on the wounds we have inherited from earlier generations, we must start to heal our divisions by committing ourselves to dialogue, cooperation, and understanding.”

Later he continues, “We can learn from the great achievements of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. to recognize that nonviolence is the best long-term approach to redressing injustice. If the twentieth century was a century of violence, let us make the twenty-first a century of dialogue.”

Let us hope that our next president heeds his holiness's advice.

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Losang Tendrol is a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and a contributor to The Washington Post’s local faith leader network. She teaches meditation and Buddhism at the Guhyasamaja Buddhist Center in Reston. The center was founded in 1994 and is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. The center follows the Gelugpa tradition, the same lineage as his holiness the Dalai Lama.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/presidential-election-what-the-dalai-lama-can-teach-obama-romney-about-leadership/2012/11/05/01d9f850-2780-11e2-b4f2-8320a9f00869_story_1.html

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