Forbearance

 Forbearance is one of the six paramitas ("patience" as it is sometimes called), which Fashi had discussed during the Dharma study today. I have lately been reflecting on what's the difference between forbearance and "merely putting up with" an unusually negative or unpleasant situation. Here I would like to clarify my understanding based on what I heard during the lecture today. 

1. Buddha Nature is not affected by "outside" (or even inside, for that matter). Fashi connected low patience to a lack of focus, which in turn comes from focusing too much on external regard from others in order to feel accepted. A truly stable mind is one that is grounded in the present moment, and therefore would not be attached to instances of praise or blame that come from the outside world. As Fashi remarked in today's class, "your Buddha nature will not be frustrated by the situation outside".

2. The 8 Winds are all perishable phenomena. The 8 winds are outlined as follows

a) Prosperity: prospering through gain or advantage
b) Honor: receiving honors or accolades by the public
c) Praise: being praised or admired by those around us
d) Pleasure: enjoying physical and spiritual gratification
e) Decline: suffering loss of various kinds and disadvantage
f) Disgrace: being dishonored and humiliated by the public
g) Censure: being criticized or disparaged by those around us
h) Suffering: experiencing physical or mental suffering

All of these 8 winds relate to external phenomena. When we begin to engage the question deeply--"just who or what is this mind that experiences these 8 winds?" then we become less identified or attached to praise or blame, and can even experiment with the idea that nothing affects our original Buddha nature, or the nature of that which is aware itself. When we gently separate ourselves from our thoughts of gain and loss, we no longer need to buy into the idea that we will only be "OK" when we have a certain amount of wealth,  status, possessions, praise, blame etc. In fact, we can see that being deprived of these external things can be a hidden blessing in the sense that it points us to something that is beyond all of our conditioning, a kind of naked awareness that does not fluctuate with the coming and going of positive and negative emotional states.

3) Practice non-identity. What or who is meant to receive retribution? If we are less attached to our bodies, then we are better able to see karmic retribution for what it is,  rather than adding layer upon layer of identification with what's happening. 

I think non-identity is simple to contemplate: what is it that is reading these words? Without giving rise to any thoughts, are you able to experience a kind of gap or opening before all the subsequent thoughts arise? This gap can actually be the point where we become confident that Buddha nature is already there, but the only issue is that we cloud that Buddha nature by adding all kinds of seeking thoughts.