We're all imprisoned - E-Book

Evelyn Haferkorn-Müller

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 216

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

This book isn’t actually a book as such; instead, it’s a compilation of lectures given to a group of prison inmates with an interest in Buddhism. The lectures describe a journey of self- (and other!) discovery. The Buddha also has something to say to those of us who aren’t in prison. You’ll find Buddha images wherever peace, relaxation and wellbeing are evoked, be it in display windows, as garden ornaments or as decorative tealights. Written with a light touch and with plenty of humour, these talks offer a general overview of the Buddha’s teachings. Whether you’re “inside” or “outside”, if you’d like to know how to approach yourself and the world in a more relaxed way, why not come with me on this journey to the emergency exit from the prison of your own mind? Their informal style means that these lectures are suitable for anyone who enjoys a chuckle or two while reading.

Leseprobe

Evelyn Haferkorn-Müller has been interested in Buddhism for over 30 years and completed a 7-year course of Buddhist studies at the Tibetisches Zentrum e.V., of which H.H. the Dalai Lama is patron. She is currently taking part in further distance learning courses. She has attended many lectures given by great Buddhist masters and herself often given talks and held courses on Buddhist teachings, including in a prison in the Tegel district of Berlin. This book arose out of the desire of the inmates there to have copies of the prepared lectures. Evelyn Haferkorn-Müller has been working with prisoners in a voluntary capacity for over 15 years. She follows the non-sectarian approach (rime) within Tibetan Buddhism and, because she is also a Christian, supports interreligious dialogue. Her interest in science and travel has also given her additional food for thought and experiences.

May all beings be happy and have the causes of happiness.

May all beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all beings never be separated from the happiness that is free of suffering.

May all beings dwell in equanimity, free from attachment to those near to them and aversion to those who are far away.

.

Evelyn Haferkorn-Müller

We’re all imprisoned -

finding the emergency exit with the Buddha

© 2025 Evelyn Haferkorn-Müller

Title of the original German Edition:

“Gefangene sind wir alle – mit dem Buddha zum Notausgang“ (2024 tredition)

ISBN

Softcover

978-3-384-65643-8

Hardcover

978-3-384-65644-5

e-Book

978-3-384-65645-2

Printing and distribution on behalf of the author:

tredition GmbH, Heinz-Beusen-Stieg 5, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany

This work, including all parts thereof, is protected by copyright. The author is responsible for the content. Any use without her consent is prohibited.

Publication and distribution are carried out on behalf of the author, who can be reached at: tredition GmbH, “Impressumservice” department, Heinz-Beusen-Stieg 5, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany.

Contact address in accordance with the EU Product Safety Regulation: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

01 Where Do We Want to Go in the First Place, Exactly?

02 Luxury, Asceticism and Milk Rice: the Life of the Buddha

03 Get Yourself to the Emergency Exit!

04 Made It! I’Ve Been Born a Human Being!

05 How Practical: I Breathe!

06 All’S Well, That Ends Well – or What Happens to Me When I Die?

07 the Hells in My Mind

08 Pure Luxury – the Alternative, or a Dead End?

09 Mosquito or Grandpa? – the Fundamental Rules of Karma

10 Buddhist Practice: Philosophy or Religion?

11 Excel and Illusions – Our Mind’S Box of Tricks

12 What Trap Have I Fallen Into? the 12 Links of Dependent Arising

13 the Buddha and Us: is There a Connection? the Benefits of Buddha Nature

14 How Important Am I Really? My Precious Ego, and Everyone Else.

15 the Best Medicine: Loving Affection

16 Patience! Patience! – One of the Practices of the Bodhisattva

17 Concentration and Wisdom

18 Tantra: Tips for Better Sex or the Dharma in the Fast Lane?

19 Loving Wrathfulness – the Many Faces of the Buddha

20 the Perspective: Peace

Bonus: My Favourite Text

We're all imprisoned -

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Preface

Bonus: My Favourite Text

We're all imprisoned -

Cover

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Preface

This book is the result of a series of talks on Buddhism that were given in a prison. The inmates asked me to give them copies of my written notes. This in turn prompted me to consider that other people might also enjoy learning about Buddhism in simple and modern words.

These days, the Buddha is everywhere: in garden centres, furniture stores, pharmacies and many shop windows; in brief, wherever the intention is to give expression to a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. This book is intended to offer a little insight into how the Buddha’s teachings can help us to find peace.

Even though those of us who are not behind bars can move around freely, there isn’t that much difference between us and prison inmates: all of us are held captive by a supposed ego. Far from being only found in the outside world and topped with barbed wire, the walls that keep us captive are in our own mind.

Some 2500 years ago (around 500 BCE), Buddha Shakyamuni taught us how to liberate ourselves from the prison of our delusions and passions. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a precise date, since there is no unanimous agreement between the historians. But that has little bearing on what concerns us here. Even though he lived a very long time ago, the path is still a useful one. Over the centuries, the traditional teachings have been handed down without interruption from teachers to their students, which means that we can still benefit from authentic instruction today. My talks are based on the instructions of great masters and texts from Tibetan Buddhism, which is just one of many Buddhist traditions.

30 years ago, I had the great good fortune to be able to travel to Tibet. The impressions I gained left me with the desire to find out more about the country and its religion, which is why I decided to enrol in a 7-year course at the Tibetisches Zentrum e.V. in Hamburg, of which H.H. the XIV Dalai Lama is patron. It was on the basis of these studies and hundreds of other teachings given by great masters that I compiled this series of talks. Classifications, short stories and quotations are taken from the course or a teaching; other sources will be identified in the text itself.

In the Gelugpa school of which H.H. the Dalai Lama is the head, there has for many centuries been a “graduated path to Enlightenment” (Tib. Lam rim), which offers a neatly summarised and logically constructed set of tools which one needs on the path to Buddhahood. It was on this wideranging set of teachings that I based my selection of topics.

The Buddha taught that you shouldn’t simply believe what he said but test his words out for yourself. His words and those of the commentaries have been vigorously debated for centuries, as they still are today, but every one of us is called upon to question the content of the teachings we have received. In the same way, what I present in this book is what I have understood with my mind, and as I am only on the path but have not yet arrived at the goal, I would ask you to forgive me for any errors which may have crept in as a result.

Many of the findings of modern physics, especially quantum physics, but also brain research, the neurosciences and psychology confirm what the Buddha taught 2500 years ago. This made it particularly easy for me personally to get involved with Buddhism: for me, Buddhist philosophy is also applied physics.

There’s nothing in Buddhism that you’re actually required to believe – but you do have to do everything for yourself. No Buddha can do the necessary work on our mind for us, absolve us of our transgressions or give us the gift of Enlightenment. He showed us the way, and it’s now up to us to follow it.

In a nutshell, the Buddha’s teachings can be summarised as follows:

Avoid negative actions, do positive actions and tame your mind.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done; if it were otherwise, we would all be Buddhas. Since all happiness and all suffering arise in our own mind, taming that same mind is a major undertaking.

Anyone who enjoys travelling, likes to understand the connections between things, is curious to find out who they actually are or what’s happening in their mind or would just like to get a taste of Buddhism is warmly invited to take a closer look at the subject and to understand the nature of our captivity and how we can free ourselves from it.

There’s a long journey ahead of us. We had a lot of fun during our group meetings held every fortnight in the prison. I wish everyone who picks up this compilation of talks, which form a logical sequence, happiness and joy on their journey to liberation!

I would like to thank the inmates for their interest and the opportunity they gave me to give talks to them. I must also thank my husband from the bottom of my heart for his support and the space he gave me to pursue this project.

My very special thanks go out to the Tibetisches Zentrum e.V. in Hamburg, which is currently helping inmates with the systematic study of Buddhism (as a distance learning course), and to the many great masters from all Tibetan traditions.0

01 Where do we want to go in the first place, exactly?

When we plan a journey, we usually expect it to be wonderful and experience a certain kind of anticipatory happiness when we start making plans: in other words, before we’ve even set out. First of all, we have to consider where we want to go, and those of us with jobs will then no doubt also have to think about how to squeeze the trip into their few days of annual leave. Then there’s the tricky question of finance, which leads us to think about which destination we can get to with what level of expenditure.

Why do we want to travel in the first place?

Perhaps our daily routine, with all its obligations and habitual patterns of behaviour, is wearing us down, and we just want to escape from it. Or maybe we just fancy experiencing something new.

When we get asked the question of where we would most like to go, I dare say we all have a few places which readily come to mind. But the thought also sneaks in, through the back door as it were, of what kind of experience we would like to have as a positive result in the long term.

We’d all ideally like lots of happiness and no suffering. Preferably right now, and with as little investment on our part as possible. There are some wonderful holiday destinations, but we’re often forced to admit that happiness isn’t to be found in a certain hotel complex in a given place; instead, whether or not we can relax and be happy in our hotel is largely down to our own mind.

In other words, if changing locations is no guarantee of constant, longterm happiness, even in the best-case scenario, we need instead to take a good long look at the mind which is responsible for that experience.

So, what do we want?

That’s easy: reliable happiness without suffering, as quickly as possible. But as quickly as possible will only work if we know where we’re going and don’t get lost on the way. That takes up an unnecessary amount of time and money. You may, of course, also have heard the proverb: “The path is the goal”. That’s all well and good, but it’s also nice to finally arrive at our holiday destination. The path can enrich us, but it’s no substitute for the goal. So, is there a path which will take us unswervingly to the goal and a navigation device that will keep us clear of possible dead ends? Yes, and yes!

What do I have to do to get onto that path?

Observe your mind. Well, OK, but that doesn’t help much if you don’t know what that means in practice. For this case, Buddha Shakyamuni has put together a toolbox complete with user instructions and made it available to support those who are also following the path. Before you start thinking that I’m speaking in riddles, here’s the key:

Just imagine this: You’re sitting behind the wheel of your car; to help you, you have the Buddha with you, in the form of a qualified teacher, as your “satnav”, and tools in the shape of the Buddhist teachings (“Dharma”); and your fellow travellers are those who, just like you, have set out on the path (the spiritual community, or “Sangha” in Sanskrit). All of these can help you if your car breaks down on the journey and needs a push, for example. For the sake of simplicity, I’ve chosen a car as the means of transport. It goes without saying that the choice is yours: If you’d rather choose a bike, train or aircraft, those are all completely OK. How fast you go is entirely up to you. You just need to make sure you actually set out. As Laozi once said: “Even the longest march begins with the first step.” The most important thing is that setting out on the path should be fun.

Great, now we’ve done some good preparation for our journey. But where do we actually want to go, and what does the path that will take us there look like?

The goal is a relaxed and happy state without suffering. In the Buddhist teachings, the movement is from suffering to happiness. I have to admit that, had I not taken an interest in Buddhism, I would never have known that there could even be such a state. Here’s a question for the sceptics: are you running any kind of risk when you set out on the path and experience doubts? Only that you might not get to your destination at all or somewhat later than planned. As far as the path you’ve already covered is concerned, there are no downsides. And if you can overcome your doubts, you can also make progress more quickly.

What kind of path awaits us?

First of all, we’ll be glad simply to be able as a human to make a conscious decision to go on a journey. We will find that, regardless of whether we’re driving a small car along a dirt track or sitting in a luxury model as we roll along on a good road, we will keep finding ourselves racing towards a cliff edge or that an obstacle will suddenly appear in front of us. So, we will try to spare ourselves the pain of such experiences; and, as it gathers more experience, our mind will drive us safely down the road. We will recognise in our mind why we suffer and what we can do to guide it towards ease and happiness.

The important thing is to enjoy the journey, take breaks and enjoy the view - to be happy that we have decided to take this path. And we don’t need to give ourselves a hard time. If all that doesn’t work perfectly from the get-go, or we need more time for the climb or a longer break, there’s no need to make a fuss. Apart from we ourselves, no one can reproach us with anything – and criticism is one thing we really can do without.

Other people also want to be happy and not to suffer, and this will lead us to understand how we can contribute to bringing about peace and do good for others. All this will only happen if we learn to tame our own mind and are no longer in thrall to its delusions. Then, our imprisonment will be at an end.

We’ve now started to dream about our destination, but what is actually our starting point?

To recognise what kind of tricks and games our mind plays on us, it’s worth taking a look at our daily life. While each of us will have their own personal living situation, we will all have a few things in common:

- We don’t always get what we want

- We have to deal with people and/or situations that we don’t want to be associated with.

- There is no certainty (the only certainty is the certainty that everything changes)

- We don’t even know if we will still be alive tomorrow

And something else connects us: our minds are caught up in the “eight worldly dharmas” virtually all the time:

Praise and blame: we feel great and puff ourselves up when we are praised and feel bad or unfairly treated when we get criticised

Gain and loss: there are a lot of things that we’d like to have, and we fear the loss of our partner, our money or our social status

Happiness and sorrow: being healthy and prosperous will amplify our feelings of happiness

Fame and infamy: our ego delights in fame, but when something doesn’t go quite according to plan, we’re reluctant to admit it

We are constantly preoccupied with getting praise, gain, happiness and fame and not having to experience blame, loss, sorrow and infamy. Each of these eight experiences can flip over into the other in a heartbeat. This is either positive (suffering ends, and things can get better) or negative (e.g. my fantastic position suddenly evaporates), but in all cases, these situations are impermanent, and, no matter how hard we try, we can never rely on them. And yet, we let them hold sway over us and dedicate time and energy to them.

Why do we do that? To satisfy our ego and demarcate ourselves from other people. Why do we need our ego? That’s a fascinating question, which we will return to later. As you may have noticed, the journey is only just beginning…

Summary

We are at A. Each of us will of course think of their home town, but this is nothing other than the momentary state of our mind. The first thing we need to do is to consider where we really are.

There is a popular misconception that Buddhists are only preoccupied with suffering. But that’s just our starting point. And we’re going to have to look it in the eye. Don’t be afraid, I won’t lay this theme on you too thickly, but the fact is that we can neither put a positive spin on it nor ignore it.

Otherwise, we will never understand why we are in prison (and that’s all of us – except for the Buddhas!) and how to escape. Most of those people who have contributed to this misconception have probably ended up turning back on the path, which means that they have never discovered that Buddhism has much more to do with joy and happiness than with suffering. After all, everyone looks forward to reaching their destination. And our goal is long-term, dependable happiness (destination/state B). This is what we align ourselves with.

What kind of provisions will we need for the journey?

The Buddhist teachings talk about three ways of making progress on the path.

Hearing, reflecting and meditating.

Starting with hearing, there are already three pitfalls – the “three defects of a vessel”, which one should avoid:

1. The vessel is upside-down: it can’t be filled up (with wine, knowledge or blessings)

2. The vessel is dirty: what’s in it tastes bad (the hearer hasn’t understood something correctly)

3. There’s a hole in the vessel: the water flows out (meaning forgetfulness in this case)

In a sutra (discourse), the Buddha taught us the antidote: “Listen closely as best you can, and remember what you hear or read”

The “or read” comes from me. When the Buddha was teaching, his discourses were not written down right away. At that time, everything was handed down orally from the teacher to his students. These days, it’s not quite like that. It’s also easier for those of us who are prone to forgetfulness: all it often takes is a quick look online…

We’ll only make proper progress when we also think about what we’ve heard and meditate on it (we’ll find out later how that works).

So, if you’re up for it, let’s set out on our journey together. We will be travelling to India in the period around 500 BCE, and I will start by telling you how the Buddha attained Enlightenment.

02 Luxury, asceticism and milk rice: the life of the Buddha

So, let’s now travel to India and start our journey by seeing where the Buddha lived.

From the historical point of view, much of the story is shrouded in vagueness, and different interpretations are possible, but there’s one point of agreement: there are four important places in the life of the Buddha. His disciple Ananda stressed their importance and recommended visiting them.

1. The Buddha’s birth in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal)

2. His Enlightenment in Bodhgaya

3. The first Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma in Sarnath

4. His last breath in Kushinagar

The dilemmas begin with the Buddha’s birth year, which has been differently calculated by various historians: frequently posited dates are 568, 563, 536 and 558 BCE. Whatever the case, Prince Siddhartha was born to King Suddhodana and his first wife Maya in the month of Vaishaka (April/May). He was born into the Gotama family, which is why he is given the “surname” of Gotama/Gautama. Not until he attained Enlightenment was he first called the Buddha (the Awakened One) Shakyamuni, which means the Muni, ascetic or sage, from the Shakyan clan. The Shakyas were an aristocratic clan whose kingdom (now located in southern Nepal) with its capital city of Kapilavastu was initially a vassal state of the kingdom of Kosala and was destroyed by that same kingdom during the Buddha’s lifetime.

And here we come to the second dilemma: the only definitive statements in the Pali Canon tell us that Prince Siddhartha was born into a wealthy aristocratic family of the warrior caste. So, whether Suddhodana was indeed a king and Siddhartha a prince is not fully clear.

We are told that Queen Maya had subjected herself to a strict regime of asceticism and, even after 32 months of marriage, was still a virgin. In a dream, a white elephant appeared to her and injured her hip. 10 months later, Prince Siddhartha (who went on to become the Buddha) was born out of her side while she was standing and holding onto the branches of a sala tree. This tree was in a grove in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal). It is said that, directly after being born, Prince Siddhartha took seven steps, and lotus flowers blossomed in his footsteps.

His mother Maya died seven days after giving birth to him. Prince Siddhartha was raised by Suddhodana’s second wife, Mahaprajapati, who was the deceased Queen’s sister.

The king took him to see the sage Asita, who predicted that he would become either a mighty ruler or an ascetic. The king was of course not in the least bit interested in seeing the prince renounce his title to the throne. For this reason, he ordered the building of high walls around the palace and saw that the prince was provided with every luxury in a protected environment. The king gave him three palaces and four gardens, in which he whiled away his time without a care.

He married Gopa Yashodhara once he had bested her other suitors in an archery contest. When he was 29 years old, his wife gave birth to a son, Rahula.