Bad Times? Good Times?

Emerson suggested that bad times posses a scientific value. From a Buddhist perspective, strictly speaking, we know that such labels as "bad" or "good" are themselves the cause of suffering. However, recognising that unpleasant things do occur, it is more useful to develop the skills to deal with them, and with the labels we consign to them. At the same time, we know, as Nagarjuna points out that "Since unpleasant does not exist, how can aversion exist?"

Emerson's point was that what we perceive as bad can be used as a learning experience, "grist for the mill," as Ram Das puts it. As an example, last month, we were $800 short of our necessary funds for bills. I was able to borrow the $800, with the promise of paying back $200/month for the next four months. The day I deposited the borrowed funds, a cheque for $600, written to us by someone who borrowed that money a month earlier for his own rent, bounced, and in so doing, triggered $225 in additional bounced cheque charges. At the end of that day, the account was $125 overdrawn, and the entire $800 I borrowed to pay these bills was eaten by the irresponsibility of that individual.

For the past two weeks, we've gone without any food in the house. Our sole source of sustenance has been a protein shake every other day, which has created medical issues for both of us. It's difficult taking medications on an empty stomach, but it's not impossible.

My point is not to illicit pity at all, because through it all, we are not suffering. Our discomfort, aggravation, frustration and concern over covering the bills continues to be present, but we do not allow it to cause suffering. Instead, we've chosen to see it as a learning experience. We look at the irresponsibility of the young man, who intentionally wrote a cheque on a closed account, as a reflection of the times we might try to get out of our own responsibilities: maybe sleeping in, when others are counting on us... or saying we cannot help a friend, just because we're "not in the mood for their drama". We look at the situation as evidence of the fact that when you help those in need, sometimes you get burned, and that cannot cause you to regret helping them, or prevent you from helping someone else again.

Some have emailed me and suggested that I look at their "get rich quick" deals, or MLM programs. They know in their hearts that the simple idea that anyone would logically spend hundreds of dollars to join a program, and commit to spending $100-$300/month thereafter (for overpriced products I don't really want anyway) is irresponsible; and to further suggest that one will get rich by doing something so stupid is insulting. Oh, don't get me wrong... I was a top income-earner in the field of network marketing for close to 29 years... there are one or two companies out there, which offer legitimate opportunities to get started for nearly nothing, and operate a real business. But most of these deals are patently absurd.

Am I hungry? Yes. Was that a bad experience. No. The past two weeks have been an amazing opportunity for me to begin the observance of the Great Lent with a more acute awareness of the way the homeless, poor and hungry feel every single day... for decades at a time! Might we end up homeless? Absolutely. The landlord is probably going to evict us, and is right for doing so, therefore, how is that situation bad? It's all simply cause and effect.

I will continue to meet my obligation to pay that $800 back... $200/month. And by meeting my obligation, I will accumulate the merit for knowing that this too shall pass.

If the Dharma is truly about awakening, then at times of apparent crisis, we need to wake up! If I apply myself to the current situation, and do all I can, then what need have I for feeling bad? "Throw away your pitiful apathy," we read in the Jatakamala (14.11), "and act boldly in this crisis! A wise person shows energy and resolve; success is in one's power, no matter what."

This is not a time for useless emotions and thoughts, such as the delusion of hope. In fact, it is a time when we can learn to become friends with hopelessness or groundlessness, and learn the key to non-judgment of circumstances, events, people... phenomena. In the face of hopelessness, most people become fearful and paralysed. The Dharma tells us that we must act... and then let go.

I'm doing all I can to resolve my circumstances. How about you? What circumstances are challenging you right now? What are you doing about them? Have you allowed fear or frustration to immobilise you? If so, it's OK... just decide right NOW to choose action.

In the Epistle of James, in the Christian scriptures, we are reminded to "(D)raw near the Sacred, and the sacred will draw near you." In other words, by aligning oneself with compassion and truth, we realise our oneness with compassion and truth. Or as Dr. Ernest Holmes writes, in The Science of Mind, "New thoughts create new conditions."

Whatever you might now be facing... choose wisely. Act with resolve. And then let go of the idea of labelling such experiences as "good" or "bad"... they're all lessons... and they're all neutral. We simply have to let them be so.

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

Follow me on Twitter  |  Visit DharmadudeUnplugged

Copyright ©2008, Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission. Photograph copyright SmallRaffaela - http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallraffaela/