Venture Fourth Weekly Work
Week Thirty Dec 18, 2010

Dear Venture Fourth friends,

Suddenly we are near the end of this year, one that has been remarkable for many of you, according to your emails, for the intensity and depth of your learning. This is what I hoped for when I created this program, and what you share brings me much joy. It certainly hasn't been easy; most of you have struggled at times. But I see so much deepening, so much heart opening. I want to thank you all for your perseverance and hard work.

This month of December our focus was Chapter 8, "Transforming Anger," and for January it will be Chapter 9, "Acting with Equanimity." Let's look together at some of the contents of those chapters. The whole discussion of the nature of anger on pages 149 to 155 is a vital one. What is the difference, in your experience, between anger as a precursor for hatred and anger as a catalyst for compassion? What is the difference between anger that engenders desire to harm and anger that brings forth energy for change? Is the difference in the anger itself or in how we relate to the anger? find page 159, "Distinguishing the experience of anger from what we do with our anger," to be a core concept in the chapter.

In pages 155-158, Rothberg talks about giving himself permission to explore anger. As long as we say, "No anger," and condemn ourselves when it arises, how can we ever understand what anger is, out of what conditions it arises and the vast variety of experience we label as "anger"?

If we believe anger is evil in some way and always strive to stop it, there can be no deepening of insight. The Buddha says "Abandon the Unwholesome." The question is what "abandon" means. Aaron and I have both spoken to this many times. When I did a search for "Abandon the Unwholesome" in my mac files, I found hundreds of transcripts throughout the past 20 years and from everywhere including retreats in Mexico and Japan. Here are a few excerpts.

101113SH. Aaron: There's a beautiful sutra in which the Buddha says, "Abandon the unwholesome. If it were not possible I would not ask you to do it. Cultivate the wholesome. If it were not possible I would not ask you to do it." Trust then, one can cultivate the wholesome and abandon the unwholesome.

Abandoning does not mean getting behind it and kicking it with hatred; that's just more anger. Abandoning means knowing there is a choice here. I don't have to follow the old conditioning.

And again, this from 030517 Tokyo: Aaron

There is a sutra that says, "Abandon the unwholesome." People often mistake that "abandon" to mean destroy. But destruction involves giving energy to it. To abandon is always to say no and turn your back to it. Not to get involved in the stories of that negative energy. The Christian scriptures have the same distortion written in, in interpretation of scriptures, such as, "Thou shalt not" have certain emotions. But what do I do if I have them? The intention was not to forbid with a statement , "you are evil if this happens," but to guide, to know distortion as distortion so it can be attended.

To take this step, then, into increased clarity is to understand that what arises out of conditions will continue to arise until the conditions are no longer present for it to arise. We see it arise. We determine not to enact it in the world but to hold a space for it until it dissolves. We don't condemn ourselves. We don't move into the story, "I'm bad, I'm unworthy because this arose". But only, "here is anger, here is greed." That means at some level there is fear and misunderstanding. Can there be compassion for this human that you are, caught right now in the pain of this emotion? This is how we abandon the heavy emotion, by abandoning the self-identity with it, and the old story that says, "I am bad because this occurs."

From 040107SI : Aaron

We have been talking through the weeks about manifestation and how we choose to manifest that which is wholesome and beautiful, how we let go of the negative. Some of you may be familiar with a very beautiful piece of Buddhist scripture in which the Buddha advises, "Abandon the unwholesome. One can abandon the unwholesome. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. Cultivate the good. One can cultivate the good. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it."

Abandon what is unskillful. One can abandon the unskillful. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. If this abandoning of the unskillful would bring harm and suffering, I would not ask you to abandon it. But as it brings benefit and happiness, therefore I say, abandon what is unskillful.

Cultivate the good. One can cultivate the good. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. If this cultivation were to bring harm and suffering, I would not ask you to do it. But as this cultivation brings joy and happiness, I say cultivate the good.

The Buddha

Anguttara Nikaya, Book of the Twos, #10

We aspire to this and yet so often we do cultivate the unwholesome and abandon the wholesome. We say we don't want to do that, but we still do it. The power of intention is so important. Perhaps you can begin to see where this ties in to the Four Empowerment practice and the Seven Branch Prayer, with which we have been working.

One sees an unwholesome pattern in the self. One does not condemn that pattern. To abandon doesn't mean to chop off the hand that grasps at the unwholesome. To abandon means to let go as you are about to take that which is unwholesome. You don't have to chop off the hand. You stop and acknowledge, "This is not for the greatest good."

A guest in Barbara's house this week brought an enormous box of chocolate candies. There must be over 200 bonbons in there. They're sitting on the kitchen counter. Every time she walks by, she sees this box, and it's so big there's no place to put it. Desire comes up, "Oh, maybe just one." She has to stop and remind herself, "I am cutting down on sweet things; I am not eating sweets. This will not be helpful to my energy. It will not be helpful to my body. What is there in me that wants this?" She sees the old habit energy, old craving. "Oh, something sweet! A reward. A small pleasure." But the greater pleasure, of course, is a healthy body. To abandon the unwholesome is not to condemn herself that the craving arises when she walks past the box of candy. To abandon the unwholesome is to be present with that craving without acting it out, to make the wholesome choice to literally let go and step back into the spaciousness of non-craving. That which does not need the candy is right there with that which says, "Oh yes, let's have a piece!"

So you have got to understand what "abandon" means. "Cultivate" is easy. To cultivate the wholesome, this is really what you're doing in these 2 new practices. You are cultivating gratitude and joy. You note the unwholesome tendency that has arisen, you note those great masters who have moved past that unwholesome tendency, and you feel appreciation that such masters have existed in the world to serve as a model for you. You thank them for their teaching. You allow your heart to open in gratitude. You feel their support. These are the practices that lead you to cultivate the wholesome.

From PK&F; Release From Habitual Stories

The habitual tendencies may continue for a while even after there is deeper insight into them. You can't chase them away; the attempt just gives them energy. When you have attended to the conditions out of which these results have grown, there's nothing left to feed them. It's like taking a tree and cutting off its roots, not cutting at the trunk of the tree but 5 or 10 feet out. I cut all its roots. It's got enough root structure to stand up but there's nothing to nourish it any more, so eventually it dies. Because you are still incarnate and experiencing, the trunk of the tree is not cut but this awareness and presence cuts the long taproots. The habitual, karmic results have no more nourishment and they die. It is in this way that we abandon the unwholesome mind states, abandon anger, greed, and so forth. Kindness cuts the roots. When the tree dies, all that's left is kindness.

Back to the present. Anger is energy; it is not bad. It is an emotion arisen from conditions, and will cease when the conditions cease. To hate it is just more hatred. It is unskillful to use anger as a reason to do harm and will carry unwholesome results. For me, this is so much a core of the dharma that I try to live and teach. If you get nothing but this from this 2 year program, I will feel there has been enormous benefit. Be with what arises with kindness and an open heart. If what has arisen carries a negative contraction, know that and be willing to hold space for it until the negative charge dissolves. Be willing to investigate the conditions out of which it arose. Don't be afraid of it and do take care of it so it doesn't spill over and do harm But if fear of the emotion arises, be with that fear. There is nothing to control, fix or destroy. When the conditions change, from hostility to kindness and from belief in the separate self to deep understanding of the empty nature of self, heavy emotions will cease.

Please do the exercises in the chapter, especially with an intention to explore your relationship with anger.

Equanimity for January: The Eight Worldly Dharmas" is a wonderful practice. Please spend at least a week with this focus! Be aware of attachment and aversion as these come and go; begin to see how impermanent each is, and even how quickly one becomes the other. Early this bitter cold morning, sitting in my hot tub with some snow flakes drifting down, pleasure: But it quickly becomes too hot. I sit up on the edge of the tub, snowflakes hitting bare shoulders. It feels wonderful at first, for maybe 90 seconds. Then unpleasant feeling is back!

This holiday season is a wonderful time to practice with forgiveness. Often we are thrown together with challenging family members, even ones whom we love, but who are still difficult for us at times. Look in yourself at the "worldly dharmas," and the wanting things to be different. Use the "Vision is mind" practice and explore the relationship with this famous person. He/ she is likely to continue just as he/she is. Can there finally be an equanimity that can love this person as he/ she is, and find the true equanimity that lets go?

If a person is abusive, love can say no. There doesn't have to be aversion and argument.

I find pages 175-8 on the "near enemies to equanimity" to be very valuable guidance.

Please practice with the exercises.

Next week Hal and I go to visit our son and his family in upstate NY for Christmas. Then I'm back here for 2 weeks, and then to Brazil. A wonderful group will accompany me, including 3 of you. We'll have a lot to share. I'll be writing a Brazil journal again, which you can read on line at http://barbarainbrazil.posterous.com or subscribe on line at that site to and have it emailed to you automatically whenever there is a new message.

I return Feb 12. I will arrange private meetings for us during the last part of February and early March. Until then, wishing you all a very joyful holiday filled with love and blessings.

Barbara