2012-04-05

6 triggers of bad actions

Actions or spoken words that cause suffering may be nailed down to one of those 6 triggers or reasons:
  1. Absence of appropriate (better) knowledge - or simply ignorance
  2. Attachment
  3. Jealousy
  4. Pride
  5. Anger
  6. Miserliness
All those triggers are caused by the fearful ego. With exercise you will be able to get aware of those triggers because they drive you (unwillingly) into (re-)action.

Related posts: There is suffering, The most important things to know, What remains.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Functional silence is much like that when sitting a
retreat. It entails an absence of social engagement.
It's not only a refrain from social expression, but
also very much a request for privacy, much as how we
practice in the dharma room every day. Isn't it
interesting that we do this practice together, even
encourage others to join us, yet mind our own business
entirely while doing it? I suspect there's a significant
kernel of insight or wisdom concerning sangha that's
inherent in this, the way we practice individually yet
together. I think many of our practice forms are living
symbols of deeper things, much as the expression of
human dignity is inherent, practically unavoidable is the
way we sit. Isn't it a little mind-boggling how we live in
a place where together we formally, physically assume
and hold such a posture not only once, but twice daily?
Or how we daily present ourselves and others with the
opportunity to expressively harmonize together with
our chanting?

I certainly need it. Functional silence isn't a social
game, but a practice form that entails a minimum of social
activity, much like our bows in the morning. So please
handle it like that. In this very social environment, it's
a way to disengage. A nice thing about retreat is the
remarkable privacy of it, the freedom from social expression
and expectations extended over a period of time, though all
the while we're doing it together. So please don't engage me
about anything at all unless it's entirely necessary, even if
this entails a little inconvenience for you. This is practicing
respect for my keeping silence. I accept responsibility for
discerning where exceptions are appropriate, but please
don't decide for me, especially in matters that don't concern
life and death, some real emergency. Staff people are
certainly exceptions to this, like Tracy telling me Friday
night that I was on kitchen clean up. I knew it already, but
it was appropriate for him to remind me, since it hadn't been
done yet at 7PM and he's the kitchen master. And interacting
normally with guests and visitors and people doing work
in the house is appropriate.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.