22. Four practices are the best of methods.
The four practices are accumulating merit, laying down evil deeds, offering to the ghosts and offering to the protectors.
The first practice, accumulating merit, can be viewed in two ways. On the surface, it describes a traditional practice in eastern cultures of making financial and material contributions and donations to religious causes, which is considered a worthy and virtuous activity. Looking deeper, however, this practice also relates to cultivating generosity and the effects of giving on our own state of mind. As Pema Chödrön writes in No Time to Lose:
Giving enables us to let go of those attachments that increase our vulnerability and fear. In this way, the practice ventilates the claustrophobia of self-absorption and moves us closer to the generous mind of bodhicitta…Whatever moves us beyond self-centeredness sows positive seeds…[which] will blossom into fortunate circumstances. This good fortune is called “merit” and manifests as supportive outer conditions and mental states. The ultimate merit comes from connecting with the unbiased clarity of our mind.
The second practice, laying down evil deeds, is a powerful resource for trying something different. It consists of four steps (the Four R’s):
- Recognizing what I have done: This is essentially a restatement of the first difficulty; I can only work with the things I see.
- Refraining from continuing to do it: This bridges the first and second difficulties; once I notice myself acting habitually, I can immediately stop.
- Reconnecting with my inner wisdom and practice: This is the second difficulty; trying something new through meditation, awareness or some other practice.
- Resolving not to do this again: This is the third difficulty; making it a way of life by aspiring to continue doing something other than my habitual patterns.
The third and fourth practices, offering to the ghosts and offering to the protectors, can also be viewed on two levels. From one perspective, they describe traditional practices in Buddhist cultures related to offering little cakes to supernatural beings. Viewing the practices as related to my own inner experience, however, they encourage me to recognize the hidden parts of myself that either sabotage what I’m consciously doing or attempt to protect it. In either case, I can welcome the things that suddenly wake me up and then remain grounded in basic awareness.
11.2025