J 'Bell - The Mindfulness Bell

of happiness and we want the people we love to follow that
idea, but by forcing them to do so, we make them suffer. True
love is always made of true understanding. That is in the
teaching of the Buddha. "Looking with the eyes of compassion"
is an expression from the Lotus Sutra, describing
Avalokiteshvara. When you look at others with the eyes of
compassion, not only do they feel pleasant but you also feel
very pleasant, because understanding and love pervade your
heart. The amount of happiness you have depends on the
amount of compassion that is in your heart. Compassion
always carries with it joy and freedom. If you love someone
without understanding, you deprive her of her freedom.
In Buddhist psychology, wesay that our consciousness is
made of two levels. The lower level iscalled store consciousness
(alayavijnana), like the basement. We keep all ourseeds
down there,and every timewe or someone else waters a seed,
that seed will sprout and manifest itself on the upper level of
our consciousness, called mind consciousness (manovijhana).
Mind consciousness is like the living room consciousness.
Seedsin the storehouse consciousness manifest themselvesin
the living room consciousness. There are also mental formations.
Mental formations are of 51 kinds, according to the
Northern tradition of Buddhism. Mindfulness, loving kindness,
hatred, violence, fear, equanimity, and faithfulness are
mental formations. They manifest themselves on the upper
level of our consciousness.
Our store consciousness is described asthe soil,the earth,
containing many positive and negative seeds. We have to be
aware of all these seeds and their importance. We have seeds
of suffering in us, but not only seeds of suffering. When we
look deeply into ourselves, we may touch the suffering first,
but we should know that there are other seeds present. Our
ancestors have transmitted to us seeds of suffering, but also
seeds of peace, freedom, joy, and happiness. Even if these
seeds are buried deep in our consciousness, we can touch them
and help them manifest.
To touch the seeds of joy, peace, and love within you is a
very important practice. You can ask your friends to do the
same for you. If you love someone, you acknowledge their
positive seeds,and practice touching them every day. Touching
and watering the seeds in one person is a very concrete
practice of love.If you love me, please refrain from watering
only the seeds of anger, despair, and hatred in me.If you love
me, recognize the seeds of joy, gladness, peace, and solidityin
me also and touch them, several times a day. That will help me
grow in the direction of health, joy, and happiness.
To practice mindfulness is to practice selective touching.
Your happiness and suffering depend on you and the people
around you. If they refrain from touching your negative seeds,
if they know theart of touching the positive seedsinyou, you
become a happy person and your suffering will gradually be
transformed by that kind of selective touching.
We learn howto touch the beautyof the sky and the autumn
leaves even if pain and sorrow are still there. If it is difficult, we
have to rely on the presence of a Dharma sister or brother to
help us do so. If one mindful person, capable of joy and
happiness, sits close to us, her energy of mindfulness and joy
will support us and help restore our balance. Suddenly, with her
sitting close, we are able to touch the blue sky and the colors of
autumn again. I think all of us have had that kind of experience.
Aloneitmay be difficult. But with someone beside you, solid
and free, it is less difficult. We profit very much from his or her
presence.Ifyou find yourself in a desperate situation and that
person is far away, you go to her, because her presence can help
you restore your balance and get in touch with the positive
elements that are withinandaround you. Thatis why a Sangha
and a practice center are so crucial.
You need a practice center where you can find brothers and
sisters, so that in difficult moments you know where to go to get
support. Even if you cannot come, just thinking about it can
give you some relief. Building a practice center, building a
small Sangha in your city so that you have the opportunity of
meeting other brothers and sisters for the practice of walking
meditation, mindful breathing, tea meditation, and recitation
of the precepts is very important. Itis a raft thatcan rescue us.
One young American who practiced during the Winter
Retreat at Plum Village was asked to write down all the
positive traitsof hisfather and his mother. Hefound it easy to
list positive things concerning his father, but he was having
difficulty with his mother. He was able to write only two or
three positive things about her. But when he began to look
deeply, he was surprised to find that he could touch many
positive things in his mother. He practiced walking meditation,
sitting meditation, mindful breathing, and all the activities of
the Sangha. Then when hesat down to write, the insight came
very naturally. In a few dayshe discovered dozensof positive
qualities in his mother. The more he discovered, the more his
resentment toward his mother vanished, and he reestablished
his deep connection with her. Compassion and love flowedin
his heart. Then he sat down and wrote a love letter to her.
When his mother received the letter, she was very moved.
Her son had never talked to her that way, in the languageof true
love. He recognized all her qualities and felt grateful for her
presence. She rediscoveredher son and her own happiness. She
regretted that her mother was not still alive so she could write
the same kind of letter to her. The son then wrote anotherletter,
saying, "Mother, my grandmother is still alive in you. You
think that she has passed away, but she is still alive in you. You
can touch her deeply. Sowhy don't you write that letter now?
I am sure Grandmother will read your letter, even as you are
writing it." That was the insighthe got in the practice—that all
our ancestors are still alive in us. Our parents, even if we hate
them and do not want anythingto do with them, are still inside
us. We are only a continuation of them. The son wrote the
second letter to his mother, and his mother practiced writing
thesame letter to her mother. Oneperson practicing may help
the whole family to practice.
The practice of Buddhist meditation is the practice of true
love. True love has the power to liberate us and bring happiness
to ourselves and to living beings around us. True love is the
love that retains libertyand creates joy.We cannot be peaceful
and happy if we do not have true love in us.