Mind–Creative and Reactive

THE founder of the Buddhist Western Order returns to London’s East End on Sunday (November 9) to open a week of ‘Urban Retreat’ events for the public.

The Venerable Sangharakshita—now 83—established the Order in a converted East End fire station 30 years ago.

He returns for the London Buddhist Centre’s 30th anniversary on Sunday afternoon for a public interview in which he gives his vision for the future of the centre.

The religious leader then unveils at 5pm a specially-commissioned triptych, a three-panel painting of Buddha and two disciples.

The ‘Urban Retreat’ is a week of activity, November 9-16, for people from across London to learn a range of simple daily practices which the centre says will help make modern life less stressful and more meaningful.

Sangharakshita was serving in the British Army during the Second World War in Ceylon, where he first came in contact with Buddhist practice.

He went to India after the war and wandered as a beggar and teacher for 20 years, carrying out pastoral work, before returning to Britain in the 1960s where he founded the Western Buddhist Order. The Order took over the old Bethnal Green fire station in Bethnal Green’s Roman Road in 1978 and turned it into the London Buddhist centre.

Sangharakshita's words

I was born in London in1925, of working-class parents, and grew up largely self educated. After a year in the retail coal trade and two years in local government service, I was conscripted into the Army and sent, at the age of 19, to India. Having realised that I was a Buddhist three years earlier, after reading the Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Wei Lang (Hui Neng), I was delighted (unlike some of my fellow conscripts) to find myself in the land of the Buddha.

After a year in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and a year in Singapore I returned to India, where I spent two years as a freelance ascetic, wandering from place to place, often on foot, living on alms, and meditating in caves and ashrams. During this period I met, and spent time with, a number of famous Hindu teachers, including Ananda Mayi, Swami Ramdas of Kanhangad, and Ramana Maharshi.

Contact with Hinduism served to confirm and deepen my faith in Buddhism, and in 1949 I was ordained as a samanera or novice monk in Kusinara. In 1950 I became a bhiksu or fully ordained monk in Sarnath.

Early in the same year the venerable Jagadish Kashyap, with whom I had been studying Pali, Abhidhamma, and logic in Benares, took me up to Kalimpong, a small town in the eastern Himalayas, and told me to stay there and work for the good of Buddhism. I stayed there for fourteen years, founded a Buddhist organization and a Buddhist magazine, and engaged in literary work, A Survey of Buddhism being published in 1957. I also had the good fortune to come in contact with a number of eminent Tibetan lamas. From some of them, including Jamyang Khyentse Rimpoche, Dudjom Rimpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche, I received initiations and teachings.

With my monastery in Kalimpong as a base, I went on regular preaching tours in the plains, visiting every State in India except Kashmir. From 1959 I was involved in the movement of mass conversion to Buddhism inaugurated by Dr. Ambedkar, the great leader of the former Untouchables, now known as Dalits. Together with meditation and literary work, my work among the New Buddhists was a major preoccupation for many years.

In 1967, after a preliminary visit, I returned permanently to England, where I established the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (1967) and the Western Buddhist Order (1968)*. The former conducts city centres, retreat centres, residential communities and team-based right livelihood businesses in many parts of the world, while the latter comprises some 1,500 ordained members of a score of nationalities.

In the year 2000, at the age of 75, I handed on my responsibilities as Head of the WBO to a group of senior disciples, and despite periods of ill health continue to take an active interest in the Movement I had founded.

During 2002 I suffered from chronic insomnia, amounting to sleep deprivation. This resulted in severe debility, from which it took me more than a year to recover. In July of 2005 I suffered a heart attack, spent a week in hospital and had an angioplasty. Though I continue to see people, and to do a certain amount of literary work, it was not until 2007 that I was again able to take a more active interest in the affairs of the WBO and the FWBO.. During that year I visited FWBO centres in Stockholm, Paris, Dusseldorf, and Essen, as well as those in London, Colchester, Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In the course of these visits I had discussions with members of the WBO and gave talks about my teachers and my life in Kalimpong for the benefit of the local sangha. I also visited the Taraloka and Padmaloka retreat centres, spent a day at the Buddhafield festival, and attended the Biannual convention of the WBO.

Besides periods of actual illness, there has been the problem of the gradual deterioration of my eyesight. The deterioration began quite suddenly, in the spring of 2001 when I was on retreat at Ill Convento in Tuscany. On my return to the UK ‘wet’ macular degeneration was diagnosed and I underwent laser treatment in both eyes. Two years later I was again able to read and write, but the improvement did not last. Around the middle of 2007 the macular degeneration returned to one eye and since then I have had a series of 4 injections into that eye. At the moment I am unable to read or write and am faced by the prospect of not being able to do so again.

Partly because I was receiving treatment for my eye, December 2007 and January 2008 were quiet months and I did not travel outside Birmingham. I continued to see people, however, and with the help of an Order member started work on the editing of a new Spoken Word book. Being unable to read, I have had recourse to audio books, and a few weeks ago was so fortunate as to come across a new translation of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. It is in a 4 CD set and is unabridged, and the translation is by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso the founder of the NKT in collaboration with an English disciple. I have very much enjoyed listening to this version of Shantideva's famous work, which the translators have entitled Guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life, and I strongly recommend it to all Buddhists and students of Buddhism. It may be usefully compared with the Crosby-Skilton translation of the Bodhicaryavatara, made from the original Sanskrit and published by OUP and by Windhorse publications. This translation has an introduction to the text by the translators besides, many useful endnotes which naturally are lacking in the other version.

Over the years I have authored more than fifty books and have given hundreds of lectures, many of which are available as recordings. Together with my commitment to Buddhism, I have always been deeply interested in Western philosophy, comparative religion, literature (especially poetry and drama), the fine arts, classical music, and history.

Mind–Creative and Reactive

What is it that distinguishes a man from an animal? It is self-consciousness and the power to think and choose. These arise from the mind. Ordinarily, the mind is considered to be immaterial. Or, it is taken to be the "name for the action of the brain in evolving thought." Thus, it is believed that if there is no brain, there can be no mind. Supporters of the theory of "Artificial Intelligence" feel it probable that computers and computer-guided robots will eventually—with their superior intelligence—make human beings superfluous. They have arrived at this conclusion by comparing the electronic circuitry of computers with the human brain. But, the brain is only an instrument of the mind. Where did mind come from? Theosophy teaches that there was a point in the course of evolution, when man in form was devoid of mind. However, he had developed a brain that was of much better and deeper capacity than that of any other animal. Man was given the light of mind by Divine Beings—Manasaputras—in a manner comparable to one candle lighting many. As a result, man was endowed with self-consciousness and with the power to think and choose. There are three aspects of mind: (1) When involved in desires and passions, the mind is reactive, making man an animal-man. (2) When the mind functions on its own plane—thinking and reasoning—it is mind per se. (3) When the mind works in conjunction with the spiritual nature, it is creative—making man divine. It is important to recognize that it is the mind, and not the senses, that leads us astray. As Shri Krishna tells Arjuna, "The senses, moving toward their appropriate objects, are producers of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, which come and go and are brief and changeable; these do thou endure..."(Gita, II). Senses and organs produce sensation, when they contact external objects. For instance, when you put ice-cream on the tip of your tongue, the tongue reports that it is cold and sweet, but it is the mind that intervenes and says, "I like it, I want more of it." We are cautioned in The Voice of the Silence: "Thou shalt not let thy senses make a playground of thy mind." Our ordinary, everyday mind is reactive. The reactive mind does not really act,but it reacts. That is, it does not act spontaneously, but requires some stimulus to set it in motion. When we see an advertisement, where a beautiful girl in silk gown recommends buying soap or toothpaste of a particular brand, we are induced to buy it. Aldous Huxley observes that while watching such advertisements, children should be taught that there is no earthly connection between the merits of the toothpaste and the beautiful girl in the silk gown advertising it. So also when someone speaks angrily we hit back without a moment's thought. Thus, we have fixed responses to given stimuli. It is as if we are programmed. In a reactive mind, there are fixed moulds of thinking, feeling and action. We have fixed ideas about people: a Gujarati person is always money-minded, a Marwari is always stingy, etc. Mr. Judge compares the human mind with the flanged wheel of an engine. He writes, "Each mind has a groove, and is not naturally willing to run in the natural groove of another mind. Hence often comes friction and wrangle." He remarks that a flanged-wheel of an engine can run only on a track of particular size. If you take off the flange, and make the face of the wheel broader, then it can run on any track. The human mind, too, is generally a "one-track" mind. For instance, only those who share our views and opinions become our friends. We need to learn to adjust our mind to other minds. Instead of reacting angrily to criticism, bad behaviour or selfishness, we could always pause and reflect, "Why does he behave the way he does?" When criticized for being proud or stingy, we can always do some soul-searching. If the criticism applies, we must take steps to improve; if not, we may ignore it. Similarly, when we are up against a difficult situation or difficult persons, instead of our usual reaction of frustration and despair we could always ask, "Why is it that no one else but I am put into this situation? Do I perhaps have to learn something from this?" This is the mark of a creative mind. As Mme. Blavatsky suggests, we must learn to act from within and not just react to stimuli from without. The creative mind responds, instead of reacting. The creative mind lovesunconditionally. The creative mind is always willing to see the brighter side of life, which enables a person to say, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams it is still a beautiful world." The creative mind makes for an emotionally positive person. As Hugh Downs observes, "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." At another level we have the creative mind as displayed by a musician, a writer or a philosopher, Madame Blavatsky observes: The higher part of the mind is connected with the Spiritual soul or Buddhi, the lower with the animal soul, the Kama principle. There are persons who never think with the higher faculties of their mind at all; those who do so are the minority...and are...beyond the average human kind. These will think even upon ordinary matters on the higher plane. Certainly it [the habit of thinking on a higher plane] can be developed with great difficulty, a firm determination, and through much self-sacrifice. But it is comparatively easy for those who are born with the gift. Why is it that one person sees poetry in a cabbage or a pig with her little ones, while another perceives in the loftiest things only their lowest and most material aspect, will laugh at the "music of the spheres," and ridicule the most sublime conceptions and philosophies? The difference depends simply on the innate power of the mind to think on the higher or on the lower plane. The person who is endowed with this faculty of thinking about even the most trifling things from the higherplane of thought has, by virtue of that gift which he possesses, a plastic power of formation, in his very imagination. Whatever such a person may think about, his thought will be so far more intense than the thought of an ordinary person, that by this very intensity it obtains the power of creation. (Raja-Yoga or Occultism, 1973 ed., pp. 205-6) How do we convert the reactive mind into the creative mind? By watching our thoughts. Often thoughts just arise in the mind and we are not even aware of them. Most of the time our thoughts are random and confused—arising out of a chain of associations. For instance, mention of H. P. Blavatsky reminds us of Russia, which in turn reminds us of an airport, and that in turn of our last trip abroad, and so on and on. Before long we find ourselves thinking at a tangent. The first step is to become aware. We have to become aware of our emotions and feelings—happy or sad, worried or angry. Practising awareness helps us control our emotions. All kinds of thoughts creep into our mind. When someone knocks at the door, we may open the door, but may or may not allow the person to enter. Similarly, we may choose not to allow the unwholesome thoughts to inhere in our mind. Mind is like water that takes the shape of the vessel it is poured into—itbecomes that to which it is devoted. For instance, when we are planning a holiday abroad or planning to have a birthday party, we begin to picturize it so vividly that our mind is totally identified with the situation. We then say, "I can't help thinking about it." Is this desirable? The mind may be compared to a horse. Would it be a good thing if the horse took the rider to his stable and not where the rider wanted to go? We seldom think for ourselves. We merely absorb the ideas and opinions of people around us or from magazines and newspapers—sponge-like. It is seldom that we exercise the power of choice. We desire things that have the sanction and approval of the majority. For instance, a boy wants to become a doctor because it is considered prestigious. We are content to follow the beaten track. So long as we wish to conform and are governed by the opinions of the people around, we cannot develop intuition. Light on the Path suggests, "Only he who is untameable, who cannot be dominated, who knows he has to play the lord over men, over facts, over all things save his own divinity, can arouse this faculty." Mr. Crosbie remarks: From our birth, we are sorrounded by those who suggest certain ideas to us as true, and we follow the suggested ideas. There is very little original thought anywhere, and particularly is this true...in politics, religion, science. Whatever system of thought is presented to us we adopt....This power of suggestion must still be used....If Truth exists and is possible to us—the Truth in religion, science and philosophy—it must first come to us by suggestion from Those who know....But when the true is suggested to us, there is always a means presented by which we may see and verify it. That means is not anyone's authority or endorsement, but in the fact that we can perceive it and test it for ourselves. The final authority is the man himself. (Universal Theosophy, pp. 108-111) We are being influenced by a thousand voices. But the spiritual aspirant must follow only his sense of right and wrong. He must have the courage to defy, if required, the opinion of the society, community or even the religion he belongs to. He has to consult wise people, good books and above all his own inner nature. He may go wrong in his judgement, but it would eventually lead to intuition with certainty. We also need to withdraw our mind from too much involvement with Kama—passions and desires. Mme. Blavatsky writes: This "Mind" is manas, or rather its lower reflection, which whenever it disconnects itself, for the time being, with kama,becomes the guide of the highest mental faculties, and is the organ of the free-will in physical man. (Raja-Yoga or Occultism,1973 ed., p. 64) The Voice of the Silence compares mind to a mirror: "Mind is like a mirror; it gathers dust while it reflects...." Just as a mirror gathers dust in the process of reflection, so also the mind gathers the "dust of attachment," "dust of illusion" and "dust of biases." This prevents our arriving at proper judgements or conclusions. For instance, when there is the "dust of attachment," i.e., when our thinking is guided by emotions, we are not able to see things clearly. Often there is a compulsive drive to talk repeatedly about our problem to all the people we meet. We find that we are more interested in narrating the problem than having the solution. We need to make our mind porous and receptive to the guidance from our divine nature. For this we must acquire breadth and depth of mind. Breadth of mind means acquiring non-parochial views. We must be able to welcome truth from whichever quarter it comes. We must not say, "How can I read the Bible, as I am a Hindu?" In olden days there were what were called wandering scholars, who used to move from city to city gathering knowledge. Today, this breadth of mind comes from reading. We must let our minds contact universal ideas through good books, scriptures, etc. We must spend some time every day reading some ennobling book. When we read we must be awake and discriminating. We learn the most from a book, when we do not agree with the author. We must broaden our knowledge, but this does not mean knowing various unconnected things, like a boy participating in a quiz. Depth of mind comes from enthusiasm and commitment to go deeper into the subject, when we learn to relate a multiplicity of things to Universals. But this is intellectual depth. Depth of mind also results from nobility of character, e.g., having kindly concern for one's opponent. Besides developing both breadth and depth of mind we must cultivate the heart quality of mind. Mr. Judge advises: Every impulse from above, every prompting of the Divine within, should meet at once with hearty welcome and response....If some pathetic story of suffering has moved you, act on the emotion while your cheeks are still wet with tears. In short, put yourself at once in line with Divine ways, in harmony with Divine laws. More light, more wisdom, more spirituality must necessarily come to one thus prepared, thus expectant.