The Power of Hope- P is for Perseverance

Part 4 of a series. The third part of HOPE is P for perseverance. Any pleasure that we might receive by the anticipation of success in ordinary hope is modified by fear. There is a heaviness of vacillation with a finer energetic oscillation, between hope and fear, which creates a different state of mind called worry. It is an absolute method used to harm your ability to get the desired outcome. The negative energy of worry gives the additional ammunition brought into hope creating even further doubts that the outcome will be successful. This is where we need to get out our own big six-shooter.

Worry weakens positive outcome. In its best form, hope is pretty sure that you are going to get the desired outcome with only a small amount of doubt. However, fear is a big doubt so we need to reduce and eventually eliminate doubt. Now, here is where we affirm and strengthen the mind of auspiciousness. The mind of auspiciousness holds space for the best outcome to arise without wavering and we cannot permit doubt to enter into this space. This is where we find out what kind of yogis and yoginis you really are!

You may not indulge in doubt because it will damage your mind of auspiciousness while you are very tender and learning how to do it. So, I would suggest, if you are going to practice this, do not do it with any kind of scary objective for your hope practice. Maybe we should take an object that we are pretty sure of, like will the sun come up tomorrow morning. You can practice destroying the obstacles toward that. You know, I think the Mayans did this, or the Aztecs. When they had the end of a cycle and they had a big doubt that their sun would come up the next morning at the end of their calendar, they would do a tremendous amount of ritual. They might even do sacrifices so the sun would come up the next morning but that is certainly not very kind or a Buddhist method.

Therefore, it is not going to be so hard to practice the mind of auspiciousness when you are fairly certain of the outcome. In that way, your doubt that the sun will come up in the morning will be very small to begin with. Use a practice model for which you are capable of eliminating the doubt definitively. A doubt comes up, “How could it possibly? It is always darkest before the dawn.” I do not know what kinds of doubts might arise for you regarding the sun coming up tomorrow morning, but you can dispel them without too much difficulty.

In that way, you practice. You might even invent something, “What if an asteroid came and hit the whole world tonight? Could it mean that the sun would not come up tomorrow morning?” It is not likely. It has not happened in a million billion years. Whatever you tell yourself, you practice dispelling doubts before they arrive in the center of your space which holds the mind of auspiciousness. This is how yogis become strong. They begin with examples that are certain that they can win to give a sense of success.

Like this, the mind of auspiciousness is holding a place in your mind, which becomes filled with the atmosphere of success. It is actually a very internal place, not an outer mental function, but literally within an inner mind. Now, should you be able to place your mind in the clear unobstructed state of reality, that would be the place. These are part of the skillful practices that the bodhisattvas train in and do for the benefit of living beings.

For your purpose, though, I have created another kind of visualization. Close your eyes, and look at the obstacle in its clarified form, which is now like a crystal ball. This is what it now looks like after it has been suffused and the obstacles destroyed. What used to be a stone, now has become like a crystal. Lift that up to eye level in your right hand, and look carefully at this crystal ball turning it as you view it, peering into it carefully. This is your mind of auspiciousness. Turn that crystal ball, and look at it until some inner sign tells you to put it down, which means at that point, it is okay, and you have done everything that you could. If you do not get an inner signal, do not do for more than a minute. If you are starting to feel slightly uncomfortable, it meant that you went past the time that the sign told you to put it down.

Keeping your eyes closed tell yourself, “I did well. Now I am going to put this ball down.” Putting it down, it disappears. This is not psychic enhancement or play and I do not approve of the misuse of this knowledge. This technique is to be used carefully. Do not play with this crystal ball. If you felt compelled to continue looking, be careful. You may have an obstacle in you that wants to play with psychic, and that will harm you.

How beautiful and careful our techniques in Tibet were, allowing people to have skillful activities performed for them, for their benefit. It would be very wrong to learn these techniques so that one could harm others. We never used it that way. It is deluded to want “magic” to become powerful and controlling. This is a peaceful yoga, not to be used for personal unwholesome gain. To be continued…