On Being Fierce

2024, March, Issue 88

Those who help you most

appear as benign beings,

biding their time, waiting,

just waiting there in the dark,

the darkness of their own twisted thoughts,

their own pride and cleverness, and

they act with ferocity, waiting,

concealing that they are demons

of mind and delusional thought, they

stab you in the dark, or bite, they

attack when you least expect

such great fortune.

A poem from, The Frog: A Spiritual Autobiography, Spanning Many Lifetimes, pg. 237, found at the beginning of the Chapter called Millions of Demons, © 2021.

There is a little bit of irony with this poem.  At first it seems that something quite horrific has happened.  A friend, perhaps, has swiftly revealed their ill intent and viciously attacked when you did not expect that.  If that happens, I call it great fortune, because that is precisely what it is.  If we don’t look at it this way, if we aren’t ready to be completely fierce, then it might be horrific, as we would expect.  If we are Spiritual Practitioners, then we’re ready for anything.  We are ready to utilize anything as Dharma, letting go in an instant, dealing with any situation, utilizing great presence of mind and unwavering spontaneous skill.

Why is that?

It’s great good fortune to discover what was hidden, even though it hurts immensely.  To face anything, we need the great good fortune of first establishing Bodhicitta, so that our heart and mind will open further.  If we have done so, with an unwavering confidence, knowing that we must awaken or die trying, we can then face anything.  Bodhicitta makes us indestructible and unshakable.  With a strong foundation of Bodhicitta, we almost invite trouble.  We become fierce.  “Bring it on,” we might say.

My purpose in revealing so much is to give you confidence that a Spiritual Practice is possible for you, no matter what horrible demons you must face.  My purpose is to give you an unshakable confidence by telling you directly from my own experience, about what has worked for me.  And, I’m certainly not unique in such insight, as I see similar advice repeated by others.

It seems that, as Spiritual Practitioners, we find ourselves in numerous situations where we are excluded, diminished, ridiculed, attacked or ignored.  In this, we might find ourselves feeling demoralized, feeling smaller, getting very depressed or giving up entirely.  This is part of a dynamic that can create a great deal of angst and sadness in our lives.

Don’t worry about it!  That sort of giving up mentality is not for people who have cultivated Bodhicitta!  With Bodhicitta we are fierce!  Our awakening is imminent!

You, as a Spiritual Practitioner, always have the choice to deal with appearances in any way you want.  You are free.  You can either let others push you down, or you can decide to become fierce by not letting others get the better of you.  If you have sufficiently developed Bodhicitta, then there is no way anyone will be able to dissuade you from becoming a fully enlightened being.

It’s important to realize that anyone who discourages you from your Spiritual Path can only do so from a place of darkness, even if they seemed very nice before they attacked.  Such a person is not better than you, they are wallowing in their own filth of delusion and hate, as they reinforce their ego.  When we see that, we should feel something like compassion for them, along with a certain detachment from their goals.  Participating in such destructive karma is not what we should do.

To see just what is happening here, to see the energetic dynamics of the situation, it should really be something that makes you stronger, no matter how horrific the situation.  As soon as you detach, go right to your own heart center, your own bright awareness.  Learn how to tap into your own luminosity in an instant.  This is Ultimate Reality and your Ultimate Guru, as well as who you really are.  At your core, you are indestructible.  Feel sorry for anyone who has attacked you, because now you will become infinitely fierce in your own Spiritual Path, and they will find no joy in the furtherance of this karmic encounter.

What happens when someone tries to diminish you, or worse?  The first thing is that you will likely feel pain, that is if you are a genuine Spiritual Practitioner.  If you are genuine, then you are radiating light.  You have extreme love for who we really are in that light, and it might feel like that person is trying to harm the light that you know is true.  Someone who has a problem with that is blocking that light, that love and compassion.  Now, instantly, knowing this, we feel pity for them.  It’s best to keep it quiet about that, just let go and get stronger. 

Never give up!

So, I’m repeating myself here, and it is because it is so vitally important to know your own potentiality.  Being excluded, attacked or ignored, something obvious like that, is something that happens in every social setting—it hurts!  What do we do?  What we should do, as Spiritual Practitioners, is to remain present in our own awareness, being fierce with Bodhicitta.

Blessings in Light,               

Robert Aho