WWBD 02: What Would Buddha Do... to change the world?

From WWBD, the book, page 92:

Smoothing out the earth with leather sheets
Cannot be done for lack of so much hide.
Just put a bit of leather on you feet;
It's like you've covered the entire world!
-- Bodhicharyavatara 5.13

Upholstering the world!  I love the humor of this answer.  Shantideva sees our all too human ways with Buddha's eyes.  He knows we have this human tendency to want to change the world -- at the greatest cost and effort -- before even considering changing ourselves.  He doesn't berate us, though; he cheers us on to do the right thing.

When we want to make our lives easier, we have a choice like the one in this stanza.  We can change the world (heaven knows it needs it).  Or we can change perspective, and maybe transform ourselves (heaven knows we need it!).  Is your life hard because you need a bigger place or because you have too much junk?  Are things difficult because your job doesn't pay enough or because you spend too much?  Are things difficult because you you have no lover or because you feel you need one?  Think carefully before you decide.  The change what needs changing.

Glossary

Unless otherwise indicated entries below are borrowed from The Free Dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/:

Bodhicharyavatara:
The Bodhicharyāvatāra, sometimes translated into English as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, is a famous Mahāyāna Buddhist text written in Sanskrit by Shantideva (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at Nālandā Monastic University in India around 700 CE. It has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. Pāramitās).  The Bodhicaryavatara online: http://shantideva.net/guide_ch1.htm.  Source: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhicharyavatara

Shantideva:
Shantideva (sometimes Śantideva, Zh: 寂天) was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University and an adherent of the PrasangikaMadhyamaka philosophy.  Shantideva is particularly renowned as the author of the Bodhicaryavatara (sometimes also called the Bodhisattvacaryavatara). An English translation of the Sanskrit version of the Bodhicaryavatara is available online, as well as in print in a variety of translations, sometimes glossed as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life or Entering the Path of Enlightenment .  Source: Shantideva, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantideva.

up·hol·ster   (p-hlst r, -pl-)

tr.v. up·hol·stered, up·hol·ster·ing, up·hol·sters

To supply (furniture) with stuffing, springs, cushions, and covering fabric.

[Back-formation from upholsterer.]

ten·den·cy   (tndn-s )

n. pl. ten·den·cies

1. Movement or prevailing movement in a given direction: observed the tendency of the wind; the shoreward tendency of the current.

2. A characteristic likelihood: fabric that has a tendency to wrinkle.

3. A predisposition to think, act, behave, or proceed in a particular way.

4.

a. An implicit direction or purpose: not openly liberal, but that is the tendency of the book.

b. An implicit point of view in written or spoken matter; a bias.

[Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendns, tendent-, present participle of tendere, to tend; see tend¹.]

con·sid·er·ing   (kn-sd r-ng)

prep.

In view of; taking into consideration: You managed the project well, considering your inexperience. See Usage Note at participle.

adv. Informal

All things considered: We had a good trip, considering.

be·rate   (b-rt)

tr.v. be·rat·ed, be·rat·ing, be·rates

To rebuke or scold angrily and at length. See Synonyms at scold.

cheer   (chîr)

n.

1. Lightness of spirits or mood; gaiety or joy: a happy tune, full of cheer.

2. A source of joy or happiness; a comfort.

3.

a. A shout of approval, encouragement, or congratulation.

b. A short, rehearsed jingle or phrase, shouted in unison by a squad of cheerleaders.

4. Festive food and drink; refreshment.

v. cheered, cheer·ing, cheers

v.tr.

1. To make happier or more cheerful: a warm fire that cheered us.

2. To encourage with or as if with cheers; urge: The fans cheered the runners on. See Synonyms at encourage.

3. To salute or acclaim with cheers; applaud. See Synonyms at applaud.

stan·za   (stnz)

n.

One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.

[Italian; see stance.]  stan·zaic (-zk) adj.

heaven knows (idiom)
1. I don't know
Example: Heaven knows what he's trying to do.

2. certainly
Example: Heaven knows I've tried to help.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heaven%20knows

junk ¹   (jngk)

n.

1. Discarded material, such as glass, rags, paper, or metal, some of which may be reused in some form.

2. Informal

a. Articles that are worn-out or fit to be discarded: broken furniture and other junk in the attic.

b. Cheap or shoddy material.

c. Something meaningless, fatuous, or unbelievable: nothing but junk in the annual report.

3. Slang Heroin.

4. Hard salt beef for consumption on board a ship.

tr.v. junked, junk·ing, junks

To discard as useless or sell to be reused as parts; scrap.

adj.

1. Cheap, shoddy, or worthless: junk jewelry.

2. Having a superficial appeal or utility, but lacking substance: "the junk issues that have dominated this year's election" New Republic.

[Middle English jonk, an old cable or rope.]

WWBD 01: What Would Buddha Do... in the heat of an argument?

This is the first in a short series of extracts from a book called, "What Would Buddha Do?", by Franz Metcalf, PhD (University of Chicago), co-author of "Buddhist Spirituality". [Seastone press, 1999]

The question, "What Would Buddha Do?", has become an acronym, as "WWBD", which is now gaining popularity through Internet email and chat communications, mobile phone text messaging, day-to-day speech and even advertising.  See, for example, The Free Dictionary's Acronym database or the commercial website called WhatWouldBuddhaDo.net .

From WWBD, the book, page 84:

[Right speech] is well-said, not ill-said; sense, not nonsense;
pleasing, not displeasing; true, not untrue.

We all need to speak out.  Sometimes we even do it wisely and well, but usually we do it in the grip of anger, frustration or ignorance.  I cannot tell you how many times I've felt anger impelling me toward some cutting comment to my wife, known how foolish it would be to give in to this anger, and done it anyway, just for the twisted pleasure of it.  We are all like this.

Buddha suggests another way.  Monks are never to engage in such destructive speech; for them it is a rule to obey.  For us it is a precept to follow, but it is a good one.  Think back on your life and count the times you have changed someone or something for the better through insults and falsehoods.  I personally can't think of even one.  But I have changed persons and things for the better, even in the midst of fights, by following Buddha's advice.  Sometimes, when my wife and I can hold our tongues until our speech is pleasing, our fights turn to work and our our work to joy.

Glossary

All entries below are borrowed from The Free Dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/.  Definitions in bold indicate those used in the text above.

frus·tra·tion   (fr-strsh n)

n.

1.

a. The act of frustrating or an instance of being frustrated.

b. The state of being frustrated.

2. Something that serves to frustrate.

frus·trate   (frstrt )
tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates; n. frustrat er; adv. frustrating·ly

1.

a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: A persistent wind frustrated my attempt to rake the lawn.

b. To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement in.

2. To make ineffectual or invalid; nullify.

[Middle English frustraten, from Latin frstrr , frstrt-, from fr str, in vain.]

ig·no·rance   (gnr- ns)

n. The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

im·pel   (m-pl)

tr.v. im·pelled, im·pel·ling, im·pels

1. To urge to action through moral pressure; drive: I was impelled by events to take a stand.

2. To drive forward; propel.

[Middle English impellen, from Latin impellere : in-, against; see in-² + pellere, to drive; see pel-⁵ in Indo-European roots.]

cut·ting   (ktng)

adj.

1. Capable of or designed for incising, shearing, or severing: a cutting tool.

2. Sharply penetrating; piercing: a cutting wind.

3. Injuring or capable of injuring the feelings of others: a cutting remark. See Synonyms at incisive.

false·hood   (fôlshd)

n.

1. An untrue statement; a lie.

2. The practice of lying.

3. Lack of conformity to truth or fact; inaccuracy.

midst   (mdst, mtst)

n.

1. The middle position or part; the center: in the midst of the desert.

2. A position of proximity to others: a stranger in our midst.

3. The condition of being surrounded or beset by something: in the midst of all of our problems.

4. A period of time approximately in the middle of a continuing condition or act: in the midst of the war.

prep.

Among; amid.

[Middle English middes, middest : alteration of Old English midde, middle; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots.]

to hold one's tongue (old-fashioned, idiom)
to stop talking [or not talk - ADM]. George had learned to accept these little insults. He held his tongue.
[See also http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hold+(one's)+tongue]