What makes a gifted teacher? Is it possessing deep and brilliant insight into what he’s teaching, so that he can expertly guide you on your path? Knowing how to present teachings, so that they’ll illuminate exactly what you’re seeking to have explained at that moment? Leading a life so in concert with what he’s teaching, that he serves as an inspiring role model for you at all times? Or working with you with unflagging patience and love? According to the Lam Rim, the Tibetan Buddhist teaching on how to make your way to Buddhahood, a teacher must possess all of these qualities if he is to lead you along the path of transforming your life and moving from suffering to true happiness. You can search for entire lifetimes without finding such a person. If you do manage to encounter a brilliant and gifted guide, what does it feel like to be in his presence? You will be able to answer that question for yourself as you read through The Moment of Freedom, because Jeffrey Brooks is, simply put, such a teacher. The essays in this collection are unlike any dharma talks you’ve ever read or heard. Rather than resembling quiet epistles from a serene, distant monastery, Jeff’s pieces are like dazzling lightning bolts, infused with insights gained from a night on patrol, conversations with karate students, or reflection on days spent in the chaotic world that surrounds us. Jeff’s vision is razor sharp and clear, and bright as a diamond, and steeped in compassion, and he addresses us with urgency, because he sees that we desperately need an alternative to the suffering served up by today’s declining society:
When there is not enough money, when our status falls, when the orgiastic disregard for family looks vain instead of appealing, when intoxication through drugs and alcohol and the internet seems to be a dead end, then it is possible to discover what really matters, what will really nourish us and protect us. (“This Magic Moment”)
And what really matters is living a purposeful life devoted to doing right and being of service to others; to gaining the strength and stability necessary to make our way along our chosen path, and the kindness to help others make their way, too. In these inspiring essays, Jeff shows us how understanding Buddhist principles and integrating them into our chosen practice can help us be strong, good, purposeful people in the midst of everything that threatens to throw us off balance as we make our way through our daily lives. These are the most important skills we can learn as human beings, and yet, no one else is teaching them to us. And no one else is teaching Buddhism this way. That was obvious to me the very first time I visited Jeff’s zendo for Monday night meditation and a dharma talk. A friend had invited me, and his description of Jeff piqued my interest: not only was he an amazing teacher of both Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, who had taken Bodhisattva vows and was ordained in Zen; he was also a life-long karate practitioner who ran a dojo. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but from the moment I walked into the dojo/zendo, I felt right at the home. Jeff welcomed me briefly — he’d just finished teaching a karate class and went to change out of his gi before sitting — and in his greeting, I felt strength and confidence and genuine warmth. I don’t recall what his topic was that first evening, but I recognized that in this teacher I had found a great treasure. Although at that point I grasped very little about Buddhism, I understood that Jeff possessed the insight, depth of knowledge, and compassion that the Lam Rim says a teacher must have, if he is to guide you along the path to liberation. What drew me so immediately and powerfully to Jeff’s teachings? At the beginning, it was that in each of his dharma talks, he somehow managed to speak to precisely what was on my mind, to present an explanation and application of some dharma point that was perfectly relevant to me right at that moment. Each time, I would leave inspired, and with a valuable new insight. In speaking with others in the group, I learned that they often felt this, too. His knowledge and understanding of both classical Indian Buddhist scriptures and Zen teachings astounded me. He has an unparalleled ability to teach the dharma so that seemingly impenetrable points — ones you’ve read about, but couldn’t begin to grasp — suddenly become crystal clear. He never oversimplifies the concepts. He just illuminates them so that they seem simple. And he brings the teachings to life. To our lives. Jeff’s brilliance — because I see him as the most brilliant teacher of practical Buddhism today — lies in his gift for using his insight to reveal Buddhism’s connection to the experiences of everyday life and to teach us how to live Buddhism. The examples he uses when explaining karma or emptiness or the three poisons help us see these key points through our own world:
The
Niagara River looks powerful as it flows slowly, mile after mile. In an
instant, without any hint of what is coming, it reaches the falls and explodes
into thundering torrents and sprays as it crashes into the rocks below. It
roils and spins and settles down, forming a slow, deep river once again.
When we’d hear Jeff approach Buddhism this way during his weekly dharma talks, we not only understood the gist of the teachings, but couldn’t help but see how they related to our own lives and experience. In this way, every dharma talk helped us understand that we could extend our Buddhist practice beyond something we did once a week on Monday evenings at the zendo: we could bring Buddhist principles to bear in all of our activities. As Jeff constantly reminded us,
There is no moment which is not a practice moment. We are all practicing something all the time. We can choose. We can prepare. We can condition our body and hearts and minds to use our lives for training. We can live our lives in the company of the Buddhas and ancestors. (“Ceaseless Practice.”)
Buddhist scriptures tell us of Bodhisattvas, beings who altruistically devote their entire lives to helping others end their suffering. The ultimate way to bring the Buddhist teachings into one’s life is through acting as a Bodhisattva, and this is precisely what Jeff does: every moment of his life becomes a manifestation of his dedication to living out Buddhism, through Buddhist practice, martial arts, and work in law enforcement. But these are not separate, unrelated, parts of his life; they are all inextricably bound together in one all-encompassing life of practice, all a blossoming of his commitment to working for others’ benefit. Although Jeff’s own Bodhisattva action includes both martial arts practice and protecting the innocent through law enforcement, he makes it clear that we can find our own purpose by transforming our life through devoting ourselves to a spiritual path, art, athletics, our professional life, or through selfless work in the healing arts or other areas of service. He’s not set on turning us all into martial artists or police officers. What he’s doing in these essays is helping us understand why adopting a life of practice infused with Buddhism is so necessary now, how we can do this, and how doing so can transform our lives. The motivation we bring to this task is key:
If you are practicing so that you can defend your precious life from harm: good. If you are motivated to make yourself strong and sharp so you can take care of the people who depend on you — family, friends, neighbors, innocent strangers everywhere — that motivation itself will be a great source of personal power and inspiration for your practice. (“The Duty of the Martial Artist”)
But we don’t need just good intentions. We need to actually do this practice we adopt, and Jeff helps us get started. Here’s how he talks about beginning a martial arts practice:
Start from where you are. Train. Teach. Learn. Work together with the people around you.
Sweep the floor. Pay the bills. Train consistently and sincerely. Fear nothing: not your opponent, not your limits, not old age, not death.
That is the beginning of your duty as an individual martial artist. That is the calling that, if you make it your own, will focus your practice and make it matter, for a lifetime and perhaps, beyond. (“The Duty of the Martial Artist”)
It is this approach to living that brings true and lasting happiness. This is the thread that runs through all of Jeff’s teaching, and through all of the pieces in this book: if we put our efforts into learning how to act so that we will create happiness rather than suffering (whether for ourselves or others,) and if we devote ourselves to a sincere, consistent practice that will allow us to gradually change our focus in life, then we can transform both our lives and others’. We will be calm and strong in the midst of difficult circumstances. Jeff puts it this way:
If our mind is pulled by likes and dislikes, anger and desire, jealousy and fear, continually disturbed by the inputs that cascade into our senses from the modern world, then that is the mind we are cultivating. If we take an hour or two a day to train, calmly, powerfully and clearly, if we train our minds to think clearly the rest of the time and deliberately make effort to detect when it is turbulent and to return it to a condition of clarity – even in the midst of action — then that is the life we cultivate. (“The Kingdom Within You”)
Jeff’s inspiring words introduce us to the Buddhist principles we can use to guide our actions and change our lives for the better; motivate us to make this effort; and provide encouragement for times when the going gets tough:
The point is not that we can succeed in permanently eradicating evil or weakness or vanity. The point is that we give our best effort to restrain them and combat them throughout our lives. To the degree that our skill, effort, energy, lifetime, is devoted to this in practice, we life a noble human life. (“What We Value”)
Jeff stresses that no one expect us to pull this off all alone: we need to encourage each other in this monumental and important work. His articles give us that support and serve as a model for how we can, in turn, help those around us who are also moving along this path. And through the example of his own life of practice, he both shows us that it can be done. This is one of the most powerful aspects of Jeff’s teaching: as his student, you never feel that he is preaching or issuing pronouncements from on high. You understand that he is telling it like it is because he himself has experienced all that you’re going through. A true Bodhisattva, he understands our suffering and feels it as his own, and his every moment is dedicated to helping us make our way out of it. And so, he is moving along the path with us, reminding us of the urgency of our task and encouraging us when we’re discouraged that although this is tough work, because it isn’t an easy job:
We are like paratroopers, dropped behind enemy lines, surrounded, with no option but to do our jobs as human beings, with complete commitment, and no thought other than rescuing all those who can be saved. (“Life Is a Journey! (Please remain in your seats and enjoy the movie.)”)
Indeed, when we “unite with others in common purpose,” not only is our common work easier, we all benefit, because “this is the source of true community and true happiness.” (“The Effects of Unison Movement.”) Jeff’s teachings have inspired countless students — martial artists and Buddhist practitioners alike. And like others who have worked with him, I have long wanted to make his teachings available to a larger audience. After all, studying with Jeff has utterly transformed my life: his priceless teaching gave me insight into my world and helped me learn how to live, so that I could experience true happiness and bring it to others, too, by devoting myself to a life of practice and service. I wanted to thank him for all the ways he has benefited all of us through his teachings and the example of his life. And so, I worked with him to put together this collection of essays that grew out of his dharma talks. It is a great honor for me to present these articles to you. Read them, use them, pass them on to everyone around you, both literally and in the form of your own purposeful life’s work. As Jeff has said to us many times, “Be Strong. Do Right. Take care of people.”
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