Note: In 2018, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche became the subject of a number of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct and stepped back from the community he led, Shambhala. While Lion's Roar does not endorse him as a Buddhist teacher, we understand that some may want to access his past teachings in light of recent events, and so we are continuing to make this article from our archive of past issues available for those who wish to do so.
Through the practice of meditation, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, we discover an unconditional confidence that transforms our lives and benefits others.
Photo by Conner Baker.
We are all leaders. We have no choice. Each of us is leading our own life. We are making decisions every moment, even if it’s just whether to butter our toast. To lead our lives well, we need to be intimately involved with our own journey.
Practicing meditation is a way to lead our lives with vision. We take the proper posture, let ourselves be, and get in touch with the unconditional health of the mind. That is meditation.
Even in the beginning, as we struggle with thoughts, emotions, and sense perceptions, we experience a glimmer of inherent nonaggression that allows us to be at peace. Meditating is an unbiased way to strengthen our confidence in this feeling of space and accommodation.
Confidence in our inherent nonaggression cannot be acquired, only uncovered. If you feel that you have to create it, you are experiencing a tinge of aggression, which manifests as a feeling of disharmony and uneasiness. It is a dualistic root that requires us to struggle. We are not content with what we are experiencing.
The notion of gentleness in the Shambhala tradition is that we do not have to manufacture an aggressive state of confidence. In this case, confidence is something we already have. The Tibetan word is ziji. Zi means “glory, brilliance”; ji is “splendour.” This word describes the inherent radiance of the human heart. Although having confidence in yourself can be helpful, ziji is different. This confidence embodies our natural radiance and naturally extends to others.
Ziji is a sign that we trust our own being, which allows us to embrace life fully. This means we’re willing to put our nose a little bit further into the wind of complete nonknowing. The Shambhala teachings call this “living in the challenge.” People who are comfortable with that sense of not-knowing are able to do heroic things. When they look at challenges, solutions arise.
From the Buddhist point of view, nirvana is attained through working with suffering, but for that to happen, we have to develop our minds and we have to connect with others. Both are challenging for different reasons.
It’s challenging to connect to our own emotions because they can be destabilizing. The mind is a vast place, easy to get lost in. Relating with others provokes us, and sometimes people are difficult. We have to connect with how they feel. In order to do that,
we have to know how we feel. Suffering is unavoidable, but it is hard to lead when you’re trying not to get hurt. Great lives are led fearlessly by applying the loving-kindness of an open heart and mind. That’s how we can be both resilient and helpful.
Living in the challenge means that it is easier to accept making relative mistakes. If we are able to keep a little bit of psychological distance and accept mistakes as a healthy part of our journey, we are able to learn and move on. Those mistakes are like the sharpening stone of the sword. If we want the sword to be sharp, we always need a sense of what it’s rubbing against.
That’s where self-reflection comes in. We use it to establish our intention. When you awaken, you take time to reflect on areas in your life you need to develop or improve, including relationships with friends and family. You ask, how will I lead my life today? The more you can appreciate your fortunate existence, the fresher each day will be.
Confidence in our forward movement infuses life with curiosity, wonder, and play. Such splendidness comes from a mind that has no doubts about its inherent peace and strength. This trust transforms selfish tendencies into selflessness, which is naturally expressed through a light-hearted attitude, an open mind, and a spacious and gentle environment in which we can see more clearly. That is the meaning of the word enlightenment “full illumination.” When something is fully illuminated, we see everything. Partial illumination is essentially ignorance.
When our confidence is obscured, engaging in life is a process of hope and fear. If we can release ourselves from this claustrophobic trap, we have vision. We can imagine success. We become fearless warriors who see where they are going. When we believe in human dignity, we can imagine a good human existence. Imagining success, we are riding the tip of the arrow for all humanity. Not only do we lead our own life in an uplifted way but we also uplift the lives of others.
This is windhorse—inherent trust in the fundamental goodness of what’s happening, as opposed to the attitude that things are only going to get worse. It is hard to have vision when we’re afraid to look up. In that case, instead of radiating confidence, we tend to spread anxiety, hesitation, and fear.
In order for fearless vision to occur, we are not afraid to acknowledge space. In meditation, we experience a sense of complete fathomlessness that is always available. This space in which everything can be accommodated is saturated with nonaggression, which is a natural part of our being. When we accommodate everything, we appreciate everything; no detail is inconsequential. Familiarity with that space gives us precision and power in leading our life.
Sometimes we become too myopic to experience our own vastness. That is how we create prefabricated tunnels through which we run endlessly. These psychological tunnels are what we call habitual patterns, and they have no jail keeper but ourselves. When we “think vast,” they disintegrate in the face of compassion and brilliance.
Our space and radiance are happening all the time, but habitual patterns are obscuring them. Meditation and self-reflection are the keys to revealing them. Whether you feel inspired, uplifted, or in the dumps, just look at the quality of your mind and heart. Recall the moment when someone inspired your decision not to escape from life but to lead it genuinely. Then relax and allow your brilliance to occur.
As meditators, we cannot simply hide away in our own realization. That inward personal experience is sacred, but we have a responsibility to lead. Whatever the phase of our life and practice, we can always develop our leadership skills and genuinely engage with our lives and inspire others. If we open our minds, we open up to what is happening right in front of us. That’s how we gain knowledge and realization.
As genuine leaders of life, we are able to uplift any environment by connecting to our own magnanimity and letting other people into our field of experience. We need to be humble and bite off what we can, but at the same time allow ourselves to think bigger. Whenever we are able to contact our own confidence, we are also creating a sense of community; we are touching that timeless quality in everyone.
