Learn Buddhism: Buddhism During Difficult Times

When challenging and difficult times happen in your life, are you able to continue your Buddhist practice? What does it mean to practice Buddhism during these times, and what practices may be helpful?
In this episode, we will talk about the "storms" that can come into our lives, what we as Buddhists do for our practice, and why continuing on the path of Buddhism is important.

Transcript

Welcome to another episode of Learn Buddhism.

I'm Alan Pitow.

How do you practice Buddhism during challenging and difficult times?

This could be something that's happening at a very large scale,

Like a pandemic,

A war,

Conflicts,

Natural disasters,

Something that's happening to you personally,

Maybe it's an illness,

Poverty,

Maybe something that's affecting you in your sphere,

Your circle,

For example,

A loss of life of somebody that you know.

How do you deal with these storms that are happening around you and to you?

How do you navigate through them?

Because in our world,

We are going to encounter often not just one storm,

But many storms through our current existence.

And in this episode,

I'm not talking about what you need to do on the medical side.

So if you have a physical or mental concern that you need to get addressed,

Those are where you go to professionals.

Emergency,

You go to a professional.

We're talking about the Buddhist religious aspect here.

What we're trying to do as Buddhists is get to the fundamental root of suffering.

So the Buddha said that impermanence essentially is what we loosely define in English as suffering,

Based upon dukkha.

And so because of that,

We have to get to that root cause,

Right?

But we are slowly going through that as Buddhists,

Especially layperson Buddhists.

So we are going to encounter lots of different storms.

Just like if you are on a boat or a ship at sea and you are steering that ship and you got a storm coming,

You have to navigate skillfully through that storm.

That's really important.

And that is what the Buddhist teachings are about.

Again,

Not in the medical sense or the emergency sense,

But we're talking about the religious sense in Buddhism,

How we are going to navigate that storm so we are not affected by that storm,

So we're not blown around by that storm that's going to hinder us on the Buddhist path.

And when we have these storms in our lives,

I think it's important to note that we often look at things that we may feel comfortable doing and it's okay doing when everything is fine,

When there is no storm.

Maybe Buddhism is one of those for you.

But when we have these storms,

We're like,

That can take a back seat because this is more important.

And again,

It depends,

Of course,

What's going on.

If there is a physical or mental issue going on,

An emergency issue,

You've got to get that addressed by professionals.

But when we start neglecting as Buddhists,

We start neglecting the Buddhist religion,

And in practice,

We are missing a crucial component to navigating that storm as well.

So let's talk about how to practice Buddhism during challenging and difficult times because,

As the Buddha said,

The fundamental reason we have what he calls dukkha,

Or we sometimes loosely translate as suffering in English,

Is due to impermanence,

The impermanent nature of things,

And especially in Mahayana Buddhism,

We have all the different phenomena out there are empty of a true self,

And so they're all impermanent.

And because of that,

We have to take that into consideration on how we interpret that,

How we ingest that,

Essentially,

What's happening,

What we're seeing,

What we're feeling,

What we're hearing,

All of these things,

And how we're making these perceptions and assumptions about it and our actions as a result of it.

So as a Buddhist,

We are trying to navigate this storm,

Which is scary,

Which is tossing you all around,

And you're not going to be able to see things at times.

So if you've ever gone through a very bad storm,

Especially if you've ever been out at sea,

You're not going to be able to see sometimes very far off into the horizon or what's going around you.

It could be very dangerous.

It could feel dangerous,

Right?

And so because of that,

We have to be skillful as Buddhists.

So the first part is really going to liken back to my episode I just had regarding faith in Buddhism.

We need to continue our faith.

So if you're just intellectually looking at Buddhism,

You know,

It's just something I want to become intellectual about,

And,

You know,

I'm just going to use it to solve XYZ in my life,

Or I just want to be a little bit happier in my life.

That's not what the nearly half billion Buddhists around the world are practicing Buddhism for.

It's a good side benefit to it,

But it's what we're trying to do is create the right conditions in our current existence right now,

Create,

Generate merit in our life so that future existences will get closer and closer towards enlightenment,

Because becoming enlightened in this lifetime,

Challenging,

But we can create the right conditions.

We can go ahead and start shaping our karma to where it should be,

And that can help either in this life,

And we can see tangible benefits in this life,

Of course,

You know,

As you start being compassionate,

You know,

Showing loving kindness and being skillful in your actions,

Etc.

You can see those positive benefits,

But we're looking at the long term here,

Right?

So faith in Buddhism,

You can look at this almost like,

Why are we Buddhists?

And if you're not a Buddhist yet,

That's perfectly fine.

But like,

If you're a Buddhist,

You've likely have taken refuge inside the triple gem.

That's refuge and faith in the Buddha as the teacher,

The Dharma as his liberating teachings,

And the Sangha,

His monastic community that helps us get towards that path.

So that triple gem and that word refuge is so important.

They are our refuge.

Those three things are called gems or jewels because they are so precious in helping us get to that end state,

Awakening,

So I can be enlightened,

I can realize nirvana,

I can be free of this dukkha,

This suffering,

Right?

Creating these unskillful and wholesome karmic conditions.

The triple gem is our refuge,

Like that oasis in a desert.

That's where we need to go because this existence we're in right now,

It is sort of like a desert,

But they are that oasis.

They're helping us get to where we need to go.

So faith in Buddhism,

And it's very simplistic,

Most core aspect is faith in the triple gem.

That is what we're putting our faith into.

So when we're going through the storm,

We may,

As especially new Buddhists or even if you've been Buddhist for a while,

Sometimes different storms have different intensities.

The intensity of the storm can be scary,

Scary,

Scary.

And you may not know exactly how to do it,

And that's what the triple gem is there for.

And again,

I'm talking about the religious aspect here.

As we're going through that storm,

We need to stay on course.

And because of that,

We need the guidance.

So we have here the guidance,

We have here the refuge.

This is the path through that storm,

The dharma.

Who told us about that path?

The Buddha or a Buddha Bodhisattva,

For example.

And they are saying,

This is the right path to go through here.

It may not feel like it to you,

But this is the right path.

And we have the sangha,

The monastic community,

That lineage back to the Buddha.

They are helping us also on that path.

This is why they are so precious to us,

Because without them,

We are just like having a sailboat,

A sail up.

You're going to be blown wherever.

Being that skilled sailor out there at sea,

Through this storm,

Can get you through it.

Doesn't mean you're not going to be knocked around.

Doesn't mean that you're going to be off course sometimes,

Because sometimes that storm can be very powerful,

Right?

But can you get your compass bearing?

Can you get your position back to where it needs to be?

How far off course will you be?

This is why faith in Buddhism is so important,

Because it's challenging being a human.

It's challenging being a sentient being,

Especially when we're clouded to the truth that the Buddha taught.

And it doesn't matter how intellectually good with Buddhism,

There are concepts that are going to take a lifetime or longer to really understand.

So as Buddhists,

We have to have faith in this path,

In this triple gem,

To help us get through the storm.

And when we're going through this storm and we're putting our faith inside of the triple gem,

It is very much what I like,

And as I just mentioned,

To point in the right direction,

That compass direction that we're trying to go,

That bearing that we're trying to go.

It's what we may say out there at sea to right the ship.

We want to make sure that we're continuing on that right direction,

Because ultimately what could happen if we're not on this Buddhist path that we're on as Buddhists,

We may start creating unskillful,

Unwholesome karmic actions.

And as Buddhists,

We understand that unwholesome karmic actions are what's really this catalyst,

Is creating this fourth cycle of rebirth,

Which is dukkha,

Suffering.

So we don't want that.

So when we are able to go that course,

Through that storm,

That's important.

Because faith also here means that that storm is impermanent.

The Buddha taught us that all phenomena are impermanent.

So we have to see that that condition phenomena,

That storm,

Is conditioned.

It's impermanent.

It may last a long time,

It may last a short time,

It may be very intense,

It may be various degrees of intensity,

But we can get through it and we will get through it at some point.

So we have to keep our course,

Our bearing true.

That goes into the next part,

Effort.

So in Buddhism,

We have part of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path,

There is right effort,

Which is also called right diligence or right skillful means.

So this is where we are taking a dharma and we're going,

You know,

That's the direction I want to go into.

So very much connecting to my analogy of like that same compass direction,

Right?

We want to make sure we have our hand on a ship's wheel and we are going in that direction.

We're trying to make sure that compass direction,

That bearing that we were trying to go to,

To the port of Nirvana,

If you will,

We want to make sure it's in that same direction.

And that is very challenging.

So when you're having these hard times coming about you,

And you're,

Or maybe just something's going on in your world that's really affecting you,

You're just ingesting all of this,

Right?

This is going to be where you're going,

Yeah,

Buddhism is a nice to have,

But I need to do this,

Or I need to feel this way,

Or I'm just going to do this.

We're going off of that path.

And we may be very,

In our minds,

Justified in what we believe we are believing and what we should be doing.

So this is not to discuss that portion of it.

But as far as the Buddhist path is concerned,

We need to continue on this particular direction.

And this is where,

When you're going through that storm,

The ship's wheel is going to be tugging at you all different ways.

It can be very,

Very hard to keep that ship in the right direction.

And in Buddhism,

You know,

I'm using a ship analogy,

Right?

We do talk about the other shore in Buddhism.

So the other shore in Buddhism is just imagine you've got this big river or whatever,

Right?

The other shore is going to be Nirvana.

That's what we're trying to get to,

Right?

We're trying to get to that state that's inherently inside us we just can't see.

So as we try to get over this river,

Most of us,

We're not even in the river yet.

We're just on land,

And maybe we haven't even seen the river yet,

Or we don't even know about the river.

And the river,

We can use an analogy of being the Dharma,

Right?

Okay,

I'm in this Buddhist practice.

I've made progress.

I'm getting inside here.

We need to get over there,

Right?

So it's like a raft or a ship or whatever to get to that other shore,

Right?

So the other shore,

In my case here,

I'm saying the port,

That's Nirvana.

And so we have to keep up this effort to get to there,

And that requires courage,

Which is something that could be lacking during this particular time because we're scared and we're fearful.

As sentient beings,

Human beings,

That's inside us.

That's just part of human nature,

And different things can affect us when it comes to that.

So what do we do?

We have to recognize we have fear.

We are scared.

We're unsure,

Especially when we're unsure.

We don't understand something.

Then,

Yeah,

We're going to have that.

So how do we handle that?

So when it comes to Buddhism,

We're talking about that path towards enlightenment.

We have to understand the Buddhist teachings.

We have to understand the Buddhist practice that we've been doing.

We're not just doing it just to feel better.

We're doing it to get to that port of Nirvana,

Right?

So the storm around us,

We may go,

This storm is necessary for me to do X,

Y,

Z.

And maybe that's not the case,

But you really feel that way.

Or maybe it's scaring you so much you go in this other direction.

You're like,

I don't want to go to this port of Nirvana anymore.

I want to go over here to this island that I see over to the right.

That may not be the right course of action,

But you're so fearful at that particular time or unsure.

That may feel like the right direction.

So when we have right effort inside Buddhism,

It also encourages you to have courage inside yourself,

This diligence,

This effort to get towards that port of Nirvana.

So we're going to be enlightened,

And we're going to get that.

That's going to be a challenging portion,

As I mentioned,

A few times here.

Because as a storm,

And of course we can have storms,

You can just weather.

And we've all had those in our lives,

Different things,

Maybe just different situations.

They can be very fleeting,

But you've got these big storms like we're talking about now.

It can be easy to lose control of that wheel because it's so hard.

It's so much effort to keep that wheel turned in the right direction.

You just may want to ease up a little bit.

And this is where us as Buddhists really have to focus on our Buddhist practice.

And that will take us into the next portion.

The Buddhist practice we're doing is just not something ceremonial or just for the heck of it.

I'm going to try this out and say I'd do it.

Maybe wear robes.

We're doing this because we are Buddhists.

We've taken refuge in the Triple Gem.

We may not understand everything.

I may not be the most skilled sailor out there being able to steer the ship,

But I want to learn,

And I'm practicing,

And I'm practicing,

And I'm practicing,

So that when these storms hit,

I'm able to more effectively stay on course.

Because right now,

Maybe I'm not staying on course.

I am being kicked around by these waves and the winds and everything,

And it's taking me off direction.

The more you practice in Buddhism,

And I mean really practice in Buddhism,

The more you're able to weather these storms better.

It doesn't mean the storms don't have power.

It doesn't mean that they still can't affect you because we are not enlightened beings right now.

They're going to affect us because we don't have all the skills and knowledge and everything else that we need to really become an enlightened being and realize our true natural state in nirvana.

But we saw,

For example,

The Buddha and his followers who became enlightened as well.

We see where they were no longer affected,

But they went through some very severe storms as well.

Even the Buddha was trying to stop this war that was going to essentially slaughter the clan that he came from.

He was able to stop it once,

But not the second time.

So just imagine that.

Your entire clan,

Your entire community just wiped out,

And you couldn't do anything about it.

So just imagine those storms,

But the Buddha,

Of course,

Was an enlightened being,

But he was also our teacher.

But these are huge storms,

And there was also sickness and everything else that really happened.

There's a lot that goes on in the Buddha's time that we may always go,

Oh,

It's just these cute quotes we see on the Internet or uplifting quotes.

There were some serious,

Serious things that happened during that time.

It wasn't all just roses.

It was very serious,

Very serious storms.

But as an enlightened being,

He was able to weather those storms.

He was able to continue his practice.

He was able to continue on.

And you can think of it one way.

He was extremely mindful.

And so I'm not talking mindfulness in maybe the secular world,

Where it's just kind of marketed and just devoid of Buddhist practice,

But mindful,

Where he was aware of what he was seeing,

Hearing,

Tasting,

Touching,

All these different sense organs and sense objects.

And he was making sure that they were not being ingested and used in a way that would give rise to,

What I've talked about before,

The three fires or three poisons of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance,

Which are those factors that create these unskillful,

Unwholesome karmic actions,

Keep you trapped in a cycle of rebirth.

So that's what he prevented,

Because he understood the fundamental nature of things.

That's what we as human beings lack right now.

And I've used my analogy in past episodes,

Like a very dirty window,

You can't see out of it.

That's where we're at,

Especially when we're going through the storm.

Of course,

Now the storm is just filled with rain and dark clouds and everything else,

So it's very difficult to go through.

So when we get to the practice aspect,

Super important,

The more we do that three-fold training where we have wisdom,

Conduct,

And concentration,

The basis of the eight-fold path,

Those three groupings,

This is really important for us.

And all different Buddhist traditions have different ways of practicing this as well.

So this is important because it's making us into that skillful sailor that's able to be on the helm of the ship,

Where the wheel is,

To navigate through.

And I kind of like where we see in Buddhism the wheel of the Dharma.

It's very much like a ship's wheel that you'll find on a ship.

And I think that's a good analogy.

If you are able to basically steer the ship,

Just like that Buddhist wheel right there,

The wheel of the Dharma,

That is going to get you to where you need to go.

So we have different ways we can practice in Buddhism.

And I think when you're going through major and sometimes very important storms,

Again,

Emergencies,

Medical conditions,

You've got to do what the professionals say,

Right?

So,

For example,

If there's an earthquake or there's a medical condition,

Well,

You've got to do that.

And we're talking about the religious aspect here.

But what you need to do is continue your practice to the best of your ability,

Which can be challenging.

Just imagine,

For example,

You're in,

Let's say,

The hospital.

And you also can't go to the temple.

You don't have all your religious materials,

Like your mala beads and all these different things.

How do you practice?

What do you do,

Right?

So if you're able to practice,

Practice.

If it's something else going on,

You can do it at home,

You can go to the temple,

Do it.

These are our refuges,

Right?

Even if I can't get to the refuge of the temple where the monastics are and the Dharma and I can see Buddha's statue and all that,

Maybe I have a home practice that can supplement me there,

Right?

But what if I don't have any of that?

So there's different ways you can do this.

For example,

Buddha recitation.

This is a very popular practice where people recite the name of a Buddha.

So it could be everyone from Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha to very popular in Mahayana Buddhism.

We have the Pure Land practice with Amitabha or even other Bodhisattvas.

Very,

Very popular practice.

And we also have the visualization of a Buddha or a Buddha's Pure Land.

And this is also important because both of these practices,

When you think about it,

Are part of meditative concentration.

And as we're doing that,

We are creating these right conditions in our mind to make sure that we are able to do our karmic actions correctly.

Now,

This isn't it.

This isn't all of it.

You know,

Other things you want to do as a Buddhist during this time,

Which could also be very challenging,

And of course,

Depending on the situation,

Are you able to practice generosity,

Charity,

Compassion,

Loving kindness?

And there's also a loving kindness sutra as well,

Metta.

And so these are different ways that you can practice because you might have a particular mindset or view on the situation where you don't want to show,

For example,

Loving kindness towards a thing or a person or event or whatever the case might be.

And that's what the practice is about.

We are very much in this soup,

This storm,

If you will,

And we are not always skillfully navigating it.

And that's just where we're at right now,

According to Buddhism,

With our lack of understanding the Dharma and the truths of things.

So when we're able to do these Buddhist practices,

We are,

Of course,

Generating merit.

We are able to practice in a way that's wholesome,

Because it's on the Buddhist path.

And we are hopefully,

By doing these,

Creating the right conditions in our mind,

In our speech,

Our actions,

All these things that we need.

Because we don't want to be doing unskillful karmic actions.

We don't want to be doing unwholesome karmic actions.

We want to do things that get us to that port of nirvana.

So when you are looking at this storm,

And I'm going to go away from my analogy of the ship at sea,

Right?

If you've ever seen a storm on TV hitting land,

You've likely seen that trees are knocked down,

Right?

And you can see buildings knocked down and flooding and everything,

Right?

But if you've also noticed that even during those very strong storms,

There are some trees that are not falling down because they're bending.

And so they are able,

They're not rigid,

They're not,

You know,

Just rooted to the point where I'm not going to bend,

Right?

Those are the ones that are going to break because they're so firm in their beliefs.

They're so firm that,

You know,

Nothing can really knock me down,

And then they get knocked down.

You see like these palm trees,

They're just like,

They're bending because they're aware.

And based upon what they are,

They're able to bend with the conditions.

Even with buildings,

Especially earthquake-prone areas,

They are supposed to sway.

Because if they're too rigid,

They're going to break in many different ways.

So you have to be flexible in your practice.

We saw that with the Buddha as well and his followers.

So the Buddha was flexible based upon these situations.

He was mindful of what was going on,

And he used the right actions,

The right skillful actions based upon those.

Doesn't mean he was always going to be effective during all those particular times.

I gave you the one example earlier,

But he was able to navigate through these storms.

So when you are encountering these storms,

Make sure that you are being aware,

Is my perceptions or beliefs rooted,

You know,

In the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance?

They could be,

Even though you may not even realize it,

Right?

You may,

Whether that's an illness or an event going on or a situation or just something happens that's affecting you,

We're going to feel a certain way about it.

And this is where we are essentially in this battle,

If you will,

With this storm,

This storm at sea.

And we're trying to get through it,

And we just need to make sure that we can do that.

So it's not going to be easy all the time.

You know,

We're going to have many,

Many different types of storms that are going to pass through.

Some are going to be very easy,

Some may be very fleeting,

Some can be very long,

Extremely long and very challenging.

What we should be doing as Buddhists is continuing our practice.

We're going to leverage,

We're going to use the Triple Gem.

That's our refuge,

The Buddha,

The Dharma,

And the Sangha.

This is why you see Buddhists going to temple,

And maybe they're praying,

They're talking to monastics,

Because they're trying to ensure their faith stays strong throughout this storm.

They're getting guidance in what they need to do as far as their Buddhist religious practice,

Because they need to continue with the right mindset,

Creating the right karmic actions,

So they can have these actions that are generating good merit.

That's so important.

So when you are going through this storm,

Stick in there.

You know,

It's going to be very challenging.

Make sure you're doing the right actions.

Like,

You know,

If there's going to be a medical or emergency situation,

Do the right thing and go towards the professionalist that can help you with that,

Or can help the situation,

For example.

What are you doing also?

Are you really feeling the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance?

We may not be realizing we're doing that,

But when we're mindful of what we're doing,

Then we may go,

Wait a minute,

That's what I'm doing.

I didn't even realize that before,

Because it could be so subtle.

We don't realize that.

And,

Of course,

That flames up and helps us create,

Unfortunately,

Those unwholesome karmic actions that we don't even realize we're doing,

Unskillful actions.

So make sure you get the right help that you need.

Make sure we're taking the right actions by being mindful of what we are fueling the three fires with,

And continue your Buddhist practice.

As I mentioned,

There's many different practices we can do,

Such as visualization and recitation.

This also includes the chanting of sutras.

These are going to be very helpful for us.

You can do,

For example,

The Buddha name recitation pretty much anywhere.

I gave you the example,

Like if you were inside a hospital,

Right?

You can do visualization,

Or if you can,

You can do the recitation of a Buddhist name.

You can do that quietly.

You can do it in your head.

You can do it softly.

There's different ways to do it that continues your practice.

It doesn't have to be doing all the prostrations and everything else like that,

But you want to continue your practice because we're trying to weather the storm.

We're trying to get through it.

Be aware,

Keep practicing,

And be safe.

Thank you for listening to this episode.

If you'd like to leave a comment,

You can do so on Spotify,

Or you can send me a message from my website,

Alanpeto.

Com.

I look forward to talking with you in our next episode.

Thank you.