ARE YOU HAPPY?
IS YOUR HAPPINESS "CONDITIONED" BY EXTERNAL EVENTS?
MEET A MAN WHOSE RIGHT WORK IS TEACHING "UNCONDITIONAL" HAPPINESS!
MEET ORGYEN CHOWANG
- Author of "Our Pristine Mind: A Practical Guide to Unconditional Happiness"
- Accomplished Buddhist Meditation Master
- Teacher of Pristine Mind Meditation
- Teacher of Unconditional Happiness
If yes, read on!
What about mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being taught in businesses, schools, prisons, and private gatherings; it's spreading like wildfire.
Mindfulness practice creates increased awareness of the present moment, peace of mind and happiness.
Orgyen Chowang, who mastered advanced meditation techniques and Buddhist teachings in Tibet over many years of study and practice, and who has been my meditation teacher in California for the last fifteen years, would say that Mindfulness is definitely a step in the right direction!
He would say that practicing Mindfulness is walking on the right path towards unconditional happiness.
Despite all of its benefits, Mindfulness by itself does not provide unconditional happiness - happiness that never depends on external conditions and circumstances. There are very few of us whose experience of happiness is lasting and consistent, no matter what is going on. Why is this?
Pristine Mind, Are you already happy inside?
Orgyen Chowang teaches that truly unconditional happiness comes from deeper and sustained access to our own "Pristine Mind" which lies dormant at the center of each and every one of us. Not many of us here in the US have been taught that at the core of us is a powerful source of energy and love. Many of us live lives as Thoreau said, "of quiet desperation", believing that our thoughts, emotions, habits and beliefs, often neurotic and fearful - what Orgyen Chowang calls our "mental events" - are who we really are. Our lack of access to this inner state in turn, keeps us at the mercy of outside events where we are like a reed moving whichever way the wind blows. He teaches that external experiences, and our mental reactions to them, are not a reliable source of enduring happiness. The only source of unconditional happiness is accessed through a form of meditation that connects us with what Orgyen Chowang calls our "Pristine Mind".
Several years ago, I wrote a book called "Finding Right Work, The Five Steps to A Life You Love."
http://www.findingrightwork.com
In my own book, I featured people such as Robert Mondavi, who was one of the first Americans to make great wine in the US. He educated Americans about what it was like to drink great wine. Robert Mondavi was definitely in "right work." Robert's priorities, values and strongest talents and skills were all aligned with the work he was doing.
I have seen that when people are in their right work, they make a bigger impact on others as a byproduct of their efforts. They often find their work to feel more effortless than other people do, and they tend to trust and listen to their own inner guidance more than to other peoples' opinions.
After fifteen years of studying with Orgyen Chowang and after 30 years as a recruiter, interviewing many candidates who were often in wrong work, I can say without any hesitation whatsoever, that I have met few people so completely in right work as is Orgyen Chowang.
Orgyen Chowang came to the US 20 years ago with a dream of teaching Americans and others in the Western world. When he arrived, he spoke no English. He had no idea exactly where he was going or what he would do. He began teaching through translators, but he sensed that the filter of translation prevented the true, pure meaning of the teachings from being received by Americans in a way they could really integrate into their living. He didn't know what was next or where he would go. He had a goal, but he did not know his right work, or the way to get there. He only knew a few things:.
He had to learn English. He knew he had to understand and learn the American culture in order to teach effectively. He knew he wanted to teach Americans how to become happy and stay happy.
His current top priority is to help people know how to access unconditional happiness. His core values are based on the desire to help others live more richly and happily. His strongest talents and skills are in teaching and learning more and more how to teach.
So - he let go of needing to know exactly what his right work was and trusted that he would know what he needed to know when he needed to know it.
"The more you explore what you like, the more you discover. It takes being willing to not quite know where you are going and then one day, you know that you have a plan." Orgyen Chowang has said.
Could he ever have imagined he'd write a book? I doubt it. He couldn't read or write English when he arrived here. Could he have ever imagined he would start a meditation center and organization? I don't think so. Could he have ever known that his specialized teaching would be called Pristine Mind and he would introduce an entire new culture to the ancient teachings of Buddhism in Tibet?
I doubt that he could have imagined any of this, but he did trust that his right work was being created as he went along.
When I am asked what Orgyen Chowang's biggest contribution to me personally has been, I answer:
"I have learned how to be happy most the time."
Rinpoche's gift is the ability to translate and teach complex spiritual insights to the western mind. He taught me Pristine Mind meditation and that meditation has supported an abiding happiness for me."
Can you transform your own mind? Yes!
Can you experience unconditional happiness in your own life? Yes!
Listen to the wisdom of a Tibetan Buddhist Master!
The true nature of our mind is brilliant, clear, and joyful. But we don't experience this reality amid the swirl of stresses, thoughts, and emotions of day-to-day life. Our Pristine Mind is a practical guide to uncovering our naturally comfortable state of mind and reconnecting with the unconditional happiness that is already within us. Using straightforward, accessible language, Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche leads us through the path of Pristine Mind meditation, a practice from the profound teachings known as Dzogchen. This book presents the entire journey of meditation, from the very beginning all the way to the complete happiness of enlightenment. It is a realistic, natural process that can be practiced and experienced by anyone.
Rich Hanson, PhD, New York Times best-selling author of Hardwiring Happiness and Buddha's Brain wrote:
"This beautiful book feels like a life-changing conversation with a dear friend who happens to be a wise and compassionate Tibetan teacher. Always clear and encouraging, Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche helps us experience the inherently spacious and peaceful nature of the mind-like being the sky, untroubled and undamaged by whatever storm clouds pass through it. He is plain spoken, practical, and profound. A gem of a book."