Getting Used to It
The night is drawing a shade over a gray sky on this cold autumn day. I notice a chill more characteristic of winter teasing its way into the air as trees and plants retreat into their leafless shroud. A small herd of mule deer graze on some bushes near the entrance to the Dharma Center. I suspect they know winter is around the corner and greedily munch on leaves that have not yet dropped to the ground.
The shifting season casts a cold spell on the landscape. I have to admit to a bit of sadness as I witness the waning warmth of autumn. It is time to wrap my mind around using more clothing layers to stem the chill. Sometimes I forget to layer up and the icy wind bites into my skin. “Just testing you”, Jack Frost is saying. “You better get used to it.”
Getting used to things that change is the liturgy of living things. Buddha knew this as the foundation of understanding the Dharma. But it works on a number of levels. Change in nature, our outer environment and the aging process, and change in our inner world of thoughts and emotions; these are the kinds of variables that are most obvious. The other dimension has to do with our fundamental awareness.
How to we get used to our dawning awareness? We all have moments of insight but do not necessarily embody the wisdom revealed. In the dzogchen teachings it is suggested that “the passage of time is simply the process of growing accustomed to our primordially unconditioned mind.” As linear time progresses we tend to become more aware of certain things. On a spiritual level, if we do some kind of intentional practice, we experience an acceleration of the process.
Still, the most important part of the whole game plan is to manifest the dawning of our wisdom mind through skillful activity. We grow accustomed to the unfolding light of awareness and channel that awakening through compassionate actions. Otherwise, what is the use of waking up? Even Buddha recognized we can get a bit self-absorbed in our spiritual development. Hence, the introduction of bodhicitta, the heart/mind of awakening.
Is awakening without the heart-felt intention to be of benefit to others true awakening? This is a fundamental inquiry for all of us spiritually inclined folks to address. The deer who munch plants in my front yard at home—do I curse the animals or recognize all beings need sustenance and dedicate the nutrition to them? If I am honest, I do little of both. But my bodhicitta intention tends to win. I aspire to get used to it.