Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast.
Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.
Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.
The ancient teachings continue to positively impact my life, not because they are
otherworldly or lost in mystery, but because they are just as applicable today as
they were thousands of years ago.
Mental challenges and insecurities, voices in our heads, and internal conflict are
nothing new. That's why I'm as passionate now about sharing the messages as I was
when I started more than a decade ago.
The problem is, I've noticed a recurring theme in our one-on-one sessions, as well as
monthly group discussions, which is that people are tempted to give up their
spiritual practice altogether because they claim it doesn't work.
Well, I'm here to remind you that rituals and practice are not the same thing.
Meaning if you think spiritual practice is going to church every Sunday or meditating each
morning, you are mistaking ritual for practice.
I grew up surrounded by people who often participated in religious ceremonies.
Many of them, including my own parents, told me they only follow the rituals for the sake of
keeping old traditions alive, even though they don't believe in them.
"It's our heritage," they said. Literally meaning they inherited certain customs from
previous generations, and that's why they keep them going.
If you think it's annoying to have a kid who always asks, "Why?"
imagine raising one who asked, "Aren't you being hypocritical?"
Yup, that was me.
Who am I kidding? That is still me!
Three books encouraging people to be honest and authentic, to focus less on keeping
up appearances, saving face, or identifying as a Christian or a Buddhist, and focus more on
being Christ-like or Buddha-like.
Heck just be you-like; anything but pretending to be one thing while doing another.
Why? Because, as Gandhi said:
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are all in harmony.
The alternative is dis-harmony.
Spiritual practice is not what happens at church or on the meditation cushion,
it's how you behave throughout the day.
Even while living in monasteries, I've seen people going through the motions of chanting
and bowing in the meditation hall. But, as soon as they stepped outside,
all that peacefulness stayed behind.
I've spoken at churches and synagogues, spiritual retreats and seminars,
where people all over the world behave differently in attendance than they do in
the parking lot or on their way home.
I think it's because we are transactional in every other aspect of life,
but spirituality doesn't work that way. What I mean is: meditating for 20 minutes
in the morning doesn't "buy" you a peaceful afternoon, and three Hail Marys
don't give you a free pass to be a jerk for the rest of the day.
We don't meditate so we can pat ourselves on the back at the end of 20 minutes and say,
"Good job, you sat still for 20 minutes!"
We meditate so later in the day, when we feel an impulse to react
the way we felt an impulse to get up during meditation, we hold back The Hand of Doing,
and we practice just... being.
Once we are back at a peaceful state, we can respond peacefully, but not before.
That's the practice.
All the challenges in our lives are opportunities for spiritual practice, so don't
dismiss your troubles or gloss over them as misfortunes, embrace each challenge as an
opportunity to practice responding the way a calm and collected person would.
When people tell me meditation isn't working, what I hear is: I paid for a gym membership
and I bought the workout clothes, so why am I not losing weight?
Are you upset about results you aren't getting from work you refuse to do?
As my old teacher used to say, if you plan to meditate for 30 minutes on
relieving suffering in the world, only meditate for 15 minutes instead, and then roll up
your sleeves and spend the next 15 minutes actually relieving suffering in the world.
That's a better use of your time.
Is that harsh? Perhaps.
Is it necessary? Absolutely.
When people say they aren't happy, it's often because they haven't reached their goals in
life, but they fail to see that having a goal in the first place is the reason for their anguish.
Meaning they place their happiness at some distant point in the future rather than
right where they are.
We must let go of our attachment to winning and just be happy we get to play.
Because, let's face it, if you can't be grateful and happy with what you have,
you won't be grateful or happy for more.
Don't get me wrong,
meditation CAN help us let go, but it is not a substitution for actually letting go.
What I hear from people over and over again is: I know what I need to do,
I'm just not doing it.
So, here Is a trick I use to create the balance I want in my life:
For every episode of a show I watch on Netflix, I read a chapter in a book.
Go to my website and click on "Recommended Books," where you will find
a long and diverse list of novels, memoirs, encouragement, and motivation.
You will find the books are often more interesting than anything on TV.
Just go to BuddhistBootCamp.com and click on "Recommended Books" to get started.
But the important thing is to take the concepts beyond the books and actually
implement them into your daily life.
You can do this!
Infuse passion into every decision you make
so that whatever you do is for the Greater Good; your own and the world at large.
The chanting and the prayers are fine, but don't confuse rituals for practice.
What does spiritual practice look like?
As the Dalai Lama said, "Be kind whenever possible; it's always possible."
Namaste.
Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Buddhist Boot Camp, Faithfully Religionless,
and The Opposite of Namaste.
For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,
where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,
watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode
and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.
Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏