ABC anchor DAn HArris talks meditation with sHAron sAlzBerg, JosepH golDstein & MArk epstein

Habitget off the wheel of

How to free yourself from habitual patterns of thinking, relating, and acting.

It’s the whole point of Buddhist meditation. (They don’t call it the Wheel of Life for nothing.)

Helpful teachings & techniques from:

tHiCH nHAt HAnHsylviA Boorsteintsoknyi rinpoCHe

B u d d h i s m c u lt u r e m e d i tat i o n l i f e n o v e m B e r 2 0 1 4

shambhala sun

Al l o f u s h av e t h e c a pac i t y to be happy. We have seeds of

compassion, understanding, and love in us. We all have many good

seeds of happi ness and joy. Yet we also have the habit of running

in us. This restless energy of dissatisfaction and struggle separates

us from the present moment and from ourselves.

In part, we’re running toward something. We think happiness isn’t possible in

the here and now, so we try to run ahead into the future. We think if we can just

get enough power, fame, wealth, or admiration from others, then we’ll finally be

happy. We hope that if we run toward these things faster and harder, we will get

to happiness.

At the same time that we’re running toward one thing, we’re running away

from something else. Every one of us has suffering, despair, anger, and loneliness

inside of us. If we don’t know how to be with these strong emotions, we want to

get as far away from them as fast as possible.

Because we’re always running, we’re not there for ourselves. We’re too busy trying

to get somewhere else to be with the self we have right now. And if we’re not able to

take care of ourselves, we can’t be there for our loved ones. So not only are we run-

ning away from ourselves, we’re also running away from our family and friends.

Zen master Thich NhaT haNh

is one of the world's preeminent

Buddhist leaders. His teachings are

practiced by hundreds of groups

throughout North America. Thich

Nhat Hanh lives in Plum Village,

his monastery in France, where he

gardens, writes, and teaches the art

of mindful living.

Not all habits are bad. Happiness is a habit too,

says Zen master thich Nhat haNh.

Here’s how you can make it grow.

us and those around us. We carry these

energies in our consciousness as fifty-one

different mental formations preserved in

the form of seeds, or bija in Sanskrit. These

seeds of love, happiness, compassion, fear,

hatred, anxiety, etc. are in every one of us.

Buddhist psychology divides conscious-

ness into two parts. One part is mind con-

sciousness and the other is store conscious-

ness. Mind consciousness, which Western

psychology calls “the conscious mind,” is

our active awareness. Underlying it is the

store consciousness, which contains the

seeds of the fifty-one mental formations.

The first five are called the universal

mental formations, because they are pres-

ent in every other mental formation.

Contact, the first universal mental for-

mation, happens when a sense organ and

an object come together.

Next the mental formation attention has

the function of drawing you to a particu-

lar object. When you hear a sound, your

attention is drawn to that sound. There is

appropriate and inappropriate attention,

and with mindfulness, you can choose to

focus your attention on something that is

wholesome and beneficial.

The third universal mental formation,

feeling, may be pleasant, unpleasant, or

neutral. With mindfulness, our unpleasant

feelings can be transformed into pleas-

All this running is a lot of work. It is

exhausting, and creates tension in our body

and mind. We do it because it has become a

habit, but with mindful attention and deep

looking, we can transform the painful habit

of running into a habit of happiness.

The Roots of Our Habit EnergyWhere does the energy pushing us to run

come from? We need to stop and look

deeply into the roots of our habit energy

in order to transform it.

Each of us carries the habit energies

of our ancestors. Our consciousness has

a strong capacity to receive and absorb

energies from those who have come before PH

OT

O B

Y S

Al

lY

AN

Sc

OM

BE

/ S

TO

ck

SY

UN

ITE

d

PH

OT

O B

Y v

El

cr

OW

rIP

PE

r

Get

Off

the Wheel of Habit

Watering the Seeds of Happiness

ant feelings, such as feelings of gratitude.

When the feeling is pleasant, you can stop

all thinking and just become aware of the

feeling. If you can let go of thinking of this

or that, you can be very happy just walk-

ing barefoot on the beach, feeling the sand

between your toes.

The fourth universal mental formation

is perception. When you see, taste, hear, or

feel something, it appears in your mind

as a sign that suggests a name. When we

see something with petals and a stem,

our mind gives it the name “flower.” If

we don’t bring our mindfulness to our

perception, we might not notice when it

is wrong. Then we might mistake a piece

SHAMBHALA SUN NoveMBer 2014 49

of rope for a snake. We might believe a

person is ignoring us when they are actu-

ally deaf, or we might see something and

think it causes us pain when actually it

could bring us joy. Wrong perception is

always possible and can bring about fear,

anger, and irritation.

The fifth universal mental formation is

intention, also known as volition. You have

contact with the object, your feeling, and

perception about it, and then you have

your relationship to that object. You decide

whether to possess it or to push it away.

The fifth mental formation is your decision

whether to accept or reject an object.

Transforming Habit EnergyOur habit energy comes from these men-

tal formations. Their seeds form neural

pathways that lead to either suffering or

happiness.

Any seed that manifests in your mind

consciousness returns to your store con-

sciousness stronger than ever. For exam-

ple, when you come in contact with some-

thing that triggers the feeling of anger in

you, your frequent traveling on that neural

pathway turns anger into a habit. But with

the intervention of mindfulness, you can

erase the negative neural pathway and

open up another pathway that leads to

understanding and happiness.

Your depression, fear, jealousy, despair,

and the conflicts within you are all nega-

tive mental formations that contribute

to your habit of running away. don’t be

afraid of them. If they want to come up,

allow them to come up, recognize them,

and embrace them.

We can’t transform habit energy just

with our intelligence and our desire to

do so. We need some insight, and insight

comes from deep looking. The only way to

transform habit energy is to recognize it,

embrace it with mindfulness, and practice

inviting positive seeds to create positive

habit energies.

Mindfulness helps us to recognize the

habit energy of running. When we notice

its presence, we smile to it and we are

free from it. When we recognize the habit

energy of running, it loses its power and

can’t push us to run anymore. Then we

can easily release the tension in our body.

Some habit energies are very difficult

to transform. If you crumple a sheet of

paper, it’s difficult to make it flat again. It

has the habit energy of being crumpled.

We are the same. But happiness can also

be a habit energy. The practice of mind-

fulness allows us to create new, more

functional habit energies.

Suppose that you grimace when you

hear a certain phrase. It’s not because you

want to make a face; it just happens auto-

matically. To replace this old habit energy

with a new one, every time you hear that

phrase you can breathe with awareness.

At first, conscious breathing may require

effort, because it doesn’t yet come natu-

rally. If you continue to practice, how-

ever, conscious breathing will become a

new and positive habit energy.

Non-Thinking and New Neural PathwaysThe practice of non-thinking is the secret

to creating new habits. When thinking

settles in, you lose the immediate experi-

ence of contact and move on to the other

mental formations. You do not have

much chance to be in the here and the

now, to be in touch with what is in your

body and around you. So just become

aware of contact and feelings. In this way

you can be in touch with the elements

of nourishment and healing available in

your body and in the environment, both

physical and mental.

With the intervention of mindfulness,

you can erase a negative neural pathway

and open another pathway that leads to

understanding and happiness.

Suppose that every time you are wor-

ried or anxious or irritated, you reach for

a big piece of cake to cover up that feeling

in you. This is a habit, because a neural

pathway in your brain has been created for

it. But if you allow yourself to stop before

you reach for the cake, you can recognize

PH

OT

O B

Y k

AA

T Z

OE

TE

kO

UW

/ S

TO

ck

SY

UN

ITE

d

Ob s e r v e t h e c h a N g e s that take place

in your mind under the light of awareness.

Even your breathing has changed and become

“not-two” (I don’t want to say “one”) with your observ-

ing self. This is true of all your thoughts, feelings and

habits, which, together with their effects, are suddenly

transformed.

From time to time you may become restless, and the

restlessness will not go away. At such times, just sit qui-

etly, follow your breathing, smile a half-smile, and shine

your awareness on the restlessness. don’t judge it or try

to destroy it, because this restlessness is you yourself. It

is born, has some period of existence, and fades away,

quite naturally. don’t be in too big a hurry to find its

source. don’t try too hard to make it disappear. Just il-

luminate it. You will see that little by little it will change,

merge, become connected with you, the observer. Any

psychological state that you subject to this illumination

will eventually soften and acquire the same nature as the

observing mind.

Throughout your meditation, keep the sun of your

awareness shining. like the physical sun, which lights ev-

ery leaf and every blade of grass, our awareness lights our

every thought and feeling, allowing us to recognize them,

be aware of their birth, duration, and dissolution, without

judging or evaluating, welcoming or banishing them.

It is important that you do not consider awareness to

be your “ally,” called on to suppress the “enemies” that

are your unruly thoughts. do not turn your mind into

a battlefield. Opposition between good and bad is often

compared to light and dark, but if we look at it in a differ-

ent way, we will see that when light shines, darkness does

not disappear. It doesn’t leave; it merges with the light. It

becomes the light.

To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem. To

meditate means to observe. Your smile proves it. It proves

that you are being gentle with yourself, that the sun of aware-

ness is shining in you, that you have control of your situa-

tion. You are yourself, and you have acquired some peace. It

is this peace that makes a child love to be near you. ♦

Adapted from The Sun, My Heart: reflections on Mindfulness, concentration and Insight, published by Parallax Press.

The Sunlight of Awareness Shine the warm light of awareness on your thoughts and feelings, says Thich NhaT haNh.

both the pattern and the other sensations

happening in your mind and body. You

may notice that you’re not really hungry,

that instead you’re sad or tired. The habit

of breathing and noticing your sadness

will ease that suffering more effectively

than cake, and you will not have the suf-

fering of being overfull and cranky.

With mindfulness and concentration

intervening in the process of perception,

a new neural pathway can be created that

does not lead to suffering. Instead it leads

to understanding, compassion, happiness,

and healing. Our brains have the power of

neuroplasticity; they can change.

Suppose someone says something that

angers you. Your old pathway wants to

say something to punish him. But that

makes you a victim of your habit energy.

Instead, you can stop, accept the anger

and irritation in you, and smile at it. With

mindfulness, you look at the other person

and become aware of the suffering in him.

He may have spoken like that to try to get

relief. He may think that speaking like that

will help him suffer less, although in fact it

will make him suffer more.

With just one or two seconds of look-

ing and seeing the suffering in the other

person, compassion is born. When com-

passion is born, you don’t suffer anymore,

and you may find something to say that

will help him. With practice, we can

always open new neural pathways like this.

When they become a habit, we call it the

habit of happiness.

When you develop the habit of being

happy, then everything you do, like serv-

ing yourself a cup of tea, you do in such a

way that it creates joy and happiness.

We practice mindfulness in order to

get in touch with appropriate attention,

stop our thinking, and enjoy the pleasant

feeling that is possible in the here and the

now. We recognize the many conditions

of happiness that are here, more than

we could possibly imagine. This is pos-

sible. While we are doing so, healing takes

place. We don’t have to make any effort,

because we have the habit of happiness. ♦

SHAMBHALA SUN NoveMBer 2014 SHAMBHALA SUN NoveMBer 2014 5150

We’re pleased to offer you this article from the new issue of Shambhala Sun magazine.

Like what you see? Then please consider subscribing.

$6.99 US / $7.99 Canada

Simple, powerful techniques for real relief

from what puts you on edge—at work, at home,

in relationships, and more. A special section

for living in a stressed-out world.

Always Beginner’s Mind

San Francisco Zen

Center at 50

The Novelist’s Path

Kim Stanley Robinson,

Susan Dunlap, Cary Groner

SHAMBHALA SUNB U D D H I S M C U LT U R E M E D I TAT I O N L I F E S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2

D I A N E A C K E R M A N • C H Ö G YA M T R U N G PA O N M A H A M U D R A • T H E V I R T U E S O F B O R E D O M • W A B I S A B I

Real Peacein Times of Stress

abacuswealth.com/shambhala888-422-2287

GRAND OPENING NEW YORK CITY SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA • LOS ANGELES • PHILADELPHIA

We’d like to think he would help people dedicate more time, money and energy to what matters most, and invest in a way that reduces suffering.

Our fi nancial advice is based on Nobel-prize winning research and the Buddhist practices of awareness, simplicity, equanimity, and non-harming.

Located at Rockefeller Center, our newest offi ce is close to Wall Street.

But not too close.

How WouldBuddhaOccupyWall St�eet?

$6.9

9 U

S /

$7.

99 C

anad

a

3 STEPS TO CREATIVE POWER • HOW TO LIVE IN OUR TOPSY-TURVY WORLD • NO-SELF 2.0

Pema Chödrön

Feminine PrincipalWomen teachers changing Buddhism

ICU for the SoulPico Iyer on the healing power of retreat

Don’t Go ThereA Jewish Buddhist in Germany

B U D D H I S M C U LT U R E M E D I TAT I O N L I F E N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2

A Greater HappinessThe compassionate life of the bodhisattva-warrior

B U D D H I S M C U LT U R E M E D I TAT I O N L I F E J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4

RAM DASS • HOW TO PRACTICE MET TA • ARE YOU TRULY L ISTENING? • ANYEN RINPOCHE

Joyful Giving’Tis always the seasonWhat Makes Us Free?Practical and profound guidance from

Jack Kornfield & Joseph GoldsteinBe a Lamp Unto Yourself Unpacking the Buddha’s famous exhortation

Thich Nhat HanhSit in on a transformational retreat—and exclusive interview—with this masterful teacher of Zen and mindfulness.

ABOUT USThe Shambhala Sun is more than today’s most popular Buddhist-inspired magazine. Practical, accessible, and yet profound, it’s for people like you, who want to lead a more meaningful, caring, and awakened life.

From psychology, health, and relationships to the arts, media, and politics; we explore all the ways that Buddhist practice and insight benefit our lives. The intersection between Buddhism and culture today is rich and innovative. And it’s happening in the pages of the Shambhala Sun.

JOIN US ONLINEShambhalaSun.com | Facebook | Twitter

CLICK HEREto subscribe and save 50% immediately.