Excursus

Clarity Comes Forth

2008-03-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

When the world suddenly drops, and emptiness stretches out before a you that isn’t there. And all that you are, somehow, aware of is a coursing, incredibly omnipresent, charged and sparkling tumult. Then any previously held certainties about “permanence” quickly become irrelevant.

Canned Goods

2008-02-22T20:31:00.000-08:00

“Unless you realize substratum, one can't see oneself in everything and everything in oneself.”

To see oneself in everything is not the path of Buddha. To see everything in oneself is not the path of Buddha. To do such things might be an interesting adventure, but in Buddhism we practice the middle way; (not the integrate everything into one-grand-unity way).

This way is about seeing “that which is”, not as the self, but as “that which is”; about seeing all, not as self, but as all; about knowing self, not as a thing, no-thing, all, beyond all, other, personality great or small; nor about seeing self as none of those. And, instead about knowing self as just what it is itself, free from those measures and devices, ways and methods, extremes of this, that, or all-encompassment, or beyond.

Because if one sees self as other, they have lost it; if one sees self as no self, they have lost it, if one sees self as all, they have lost it; if one sees self as beyond, one has lost it.

“There is no self sustaining individual self, there is only the one immutable Self of all which is only apparently manifest as the inter-relations of causes and effects, and then again, there is no immutable essential Self of all, because there is no all. However, without a Self of the all, how can one see the union between I and other.”

This is not the Buddha path. Because Buddha does not teach that self is merely a manifestation of inter-relations of causes and effects. Nor does Buddha teach that self is “only the one immutable Self of all”. The Buddha path is not about seeing a union between I and other.

"The idea indeed is to refute oneself as a self at all. Then one truly knows the Self as the no-self."

This may be a common misunderstanding about Buddhism. But, to refute the self would be denial of self, not realization of self.

Video Blog

2008-01-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

Bodhimind Institute has begun a new blog, a video blog at http://yangtaijiquan.blogspot.com

A demonstration of Yang Family Hidden Tradition Tai Chi Chuan.

These are the forms of Tai Chi Chuan as developed by Yang Luchan (1799-1872). This style is referred to as the Hidden Tradition because it is the version of Tai Chi Chuan that was taught only to family members. Thanks to Wang Yen-nien this form is finally available to the public. The form demonstrated is the style as taught by Tsuei Wei.

We will continue to add posts to our blog here as time permits.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Winter Vacation

2007-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Bodhimind Institute blog will be on vacation until mid January. Thank you for your support.

Ocean for Two

2007-12-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

It is important to remember that this phenomenal world is the appearance of a reality that we can never quite grasp. As humans we need to live with distinctions to bring order to otherwise chaotic lives. So we personalize the concept of “mind” and attempt to frame it within our conceptual boundaries/notions. In other fields of participation in this cosmic game we call life, quite foreign modes of activity might be the order of the day. Activity that we would call mental. In the case of plant life, what might be appearing in the phenomenal world may just be the surface appearance, like seaweed appearing on the top of the ocean. While a deeper reality of the host may hold the greater part of its wisdom and knowledge.

I remember a story I heard once about highly evolved spiritual beings who were well past the need of human manifestation. But occasionally they wished to take a vacation from their exalted realms and so they would take on a life as a tree. This wasn’t your garden-variety street tree, but perhaps a hundred year plus type of tree. No wonder that some ancient trees were thought to be sacred. The columns in temples of ancient Greece and Egypt were stylized trees, and the first places where rites were carried out were in groves of scared trees.

I think that the human mind is a good development of the intellectual thinking mind. But beyond this one type of mind manifestation it would not surprise me to find many more possible verities.

On a more personal note, I find the common philosophical approach to the reality of the physical world to be at variance with what my own experience has indicated to me. In other words the philosophy that there is this one great solid physical world that is the reality our self is experiencing is rather simplistic and stifled.

My own experience has shown “me” that this so-called physical world is more like a projection that each person is making for themselves (a cooperative endeavor undertaken by all the participants “here”). Each of us projects for ourselves our own world, along with a body of senses to perceive this data, which we then earnestly take to be a solid physical world. And the relevant data is shared by all (“intuitively”) so that each of our versions of the projection agrees with another. The projections have no more actuality than a movie projected at the cinema.

The personality projecting this environment is far greater than the ego, which it develops within the projection as a “version” of itself in the physical embodiment. Ergo: since I do not believe that it is the physical body which “has the mind”, but the greater “mind” which has the physical body; then it is not quite correct to say that plants have a mind, because it is the greater reality manifesting itself as a plant.

However, the plant lacks the physical envelop which focuses the functions of the mind into an easily recognized form. And, as to whether this greater reality has what we could call mind, it is in this greater reality that that, which we would call the mind of the plant, has its abode.

All this should be taken in the context that I am not implying that these so called greater personalities are of the nature of permanent eternal souls. And please bear in mind that this is just a brief thumbnail sketch of what is taking place.

I would not be surprised if most of this sketch does not agree with accepted Buddhist philosophy. And it is not my purpose to convince anyone that my findings are the truth since I am far more interested in seeing others discover the truth for themselves.

Ten Companions

2007-12-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

How to do Kinhin:

1. watch the breath.
2. put out one foot, let the heal lightly touch the ground.
3. exhale, shift the body’s weight gently onto the forward foot.
4. eyes gaze softly downward. Not looking at the floor, just relaxed and down.
5. relax, feel the weight of the body as you move, feel the floor beneath your feet, your torso held erect, shoulders relaxed: these are just momentary sensations, don’t linger with the mind upon them.
6. aware of breath, inhale. Breath gently, from the lower belly.
7. feel the trailing foot lift off the floor behind you. The toes giving a last goodbye to the floor, and then it is momentarily free.
8. the trailing leg naturally comes forward, as balance surrenders onto itself.
9. let the heal gently touch the floor a little ahead of you. A half a step ahead is not too little.
10. exhale.
11. hear the creaking of the floorboards, the shift of garments, the roar of a passing car on the street, the bark of a dog.
12. momentary sensations, , shift the weight of the body forward onto the lead foot gently.
13. repeat as necessary.

A Hare in the Soup

2007-12-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

"Conditioned by attachment to duality as reality, action takes place. This is mind. A contracted form of Consciousness. So, though mind seems to be contracted, and locatable to an individual, it is still nothing but the omnipresent consciousness, it's true nature infinite to multiple finites appearing within the infinite… … Like water drops in the ocean."

Apparently in this system of beliefs, , one is unable to ever free themselves from bondage to this “omnipresent consciousness”. This is in contradiction to the Buddha’s teaching that liberation from such attachments is possible.

These ideas, from several thousand years ago, were not for realizing liberation, but were for union with a divine source of life, from which all was thought to have sprung. Obviously Buddhism pulled the rug out from under that conceptual framework then, and it continues to do so today.

Eating the Quick

2007-12-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

"What is abrasive is that my posts challenge comfort zones, that is all. They challenge conditioning and attachment to limitation. So yes, there is apparent conflict. There are many who see what I write and understand it, and in fact are inspired."

Oh dear, obviously some have no problem giving themselves a high-five for an achievement which is entirely in their own imagination.

The truth is this: Yes, some people do have the views that others profess. However, the reason there are responses to the brandishment of these views is to help people learn what Buddhism is and is not about.

Buddhism is not one of these “make it up as you go along” religions. If people want to follow the practices that others preach, as far as I’m concerned, they are welcome to. Go for it. But it won’t be Buddhism, at least not as it is found in so many of the Buddhist traditions.

To credit oneself with pushing people’s buttons seems quite a conceit, but it goes well with an attitude of superiority, if that is what those are trying to cultivate.

Vessel for an Offering

2007-12-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

Back in the early 90’s, I was on a rather tight budget. I kept my weekly expenses for dinners to $15.00 a week with the following recipe.

$15./week soup:

Go to the produce section of the local grocery store. Buy as many different vegetables as you can. My typical grocery bag would include all of the following:

1 lb dried lintels
1+ lb dried beans (black or red work well)
6-8 medium sized potatoes
1 medium sized acorn squash
3 good-sized rutabagas
1-2 turnips
1 med diakon radish
10 medium sized onions
1 large bunch celery
1 large bunch broccoli
1 small head cauliflower (if reasonably priced)
2 ears corn
1 medium eggplant
1 red/green pepper
1 large hand-full green beans
1 hand-full snap peas
4 large zucchini
2 crock neck squash
2 lbs white mushrooms
1 bunch kale (Red Kale if available)
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch chard or mustard greens
3 lbs tomatoes

Bring water to a boil in a very large soup pot/ stockpot
Add lintels and beans.
While those cook, chop and add to the pot the vegetables in the order they appear on this list.
Stir frequently.
By the time you finish chopping and adding the last of the vegetables, the beans will be tender.
After everything is added, let the pot come to a boil, then let it cool a bit.
Refrigerate the whole pot, or place the soup into smaller containers and refrigerate them.
As the week goes by, you can take a bit of this soup, put it into a small pot with some water and a bit of crumbled tofu and some crumbled noodles. Reheat, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Now that it’s a few years later, the cost of these ingredients may have gone up somewhat. But it’s still an inexpensive wholesome meal.

The Warmth of the Beast

2007-12-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

Obviously leisure is boring, however I think it is that people are trying to find meaning in their lives.

Since they have been “sold” on the idea that importance comes with having fashion, celebrity, and possessions, they use those means to try to fill the gaping hole that the seeming worthlessness of their lives holds.

Thus we have that mantra: more, more, more.

Conversely, when one looks into the heart of one’s life, we find that real fulfillment comes with honoring, nurturing, and witnessing.

And so we have moments of peace, release, and knowing.

A Veil Over the Deep

2007-11-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

The difference that is contemplated amongst the different religions on the time/space dimension is without the pain that uniformity brings. Within these differences are honored not one truth but many. When they do not point to the same ending then there is truth. If they all say the same thing, then there is lost the abundance of the truth.

If all is the same, then where does truth lie?

There is no truth when all truths are the same.

There is that which reveals.

And, to be not as one,

There are those ways which bring open the beauty of nothing.

This is the path of many truths,

Not the path of one highest knowledge or experience.

Then, in those many differences, which are illuminating,

There is the known.

When all is asunder, all is then known unencumbered in this the spacious.

The differences in religions are fundamental and profound

And so there is emptiness.

Serpent Inclosing Water

2007-11-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

I would like to try to elucidate the differences between Hinduism and Buddhism, which I very briefly touched upon earlier. First off, I should say that I am very happy for those of you who have had such deep meditations into ultimate Thusness. However, you have not been the only ones who has realized Thusness with deep and penetrating insight. It is from my own insight of Thusness, through my own realizations that I come to write this.

My insight into thusness has shown me that it is unknowable, empty, that which is beyond definition. And while I do not care for the term “consciousness”, I do acknowledge that “awareness” (or that which we would take to be such) is present.

And I have found, that if one looks deep into the constitution of personality (specifically one’s own personality), one does find “awareness” present at its most basic level. I have seen this: awarenesses aware of awarenesses, and that which is beyond awarenesses. And, this is at the very depths of ones personality.

And, free from predetermined conceptualizations, in deepest insight of this most basic “level” of personality, I have realized that as awarenesses are aware of awarenesses, some awarenesses harmonize with other awarenesses. And, in a manner, that harmonizing gives rise to a sort of association amongst them.

However, since all is interconnected to everything, awarenesses are “continuously” aware of further awarenesses. They are in a dynamic process, always connecting with more awarenesses, as awareness leads to more awareness. (Their “connections” are also unlimited, because there is no end to awareness being further and further aware.)

This association, which has emerged as the harmony developing amongst awarenesses, is also dynamic and unlimited. Here again, since all is interconnected to everything, and awareness is “continuously” aware of further awarenesses, the association is always changing as awareness leads to more awareness. (And, it too is unlimited, because there is no end to awareness being further and further aware.)

This association is not the same as the awarenesses from which it springs. And, it is not independent from those awarenesses, because it relies on those awarenesses as its innermost beingness. And, this association is not separate from the awarenesses, for the same reasons.

This association, or harmony, can grow and develop into more complex associations. And with the appropriate complexity, this association can become what we would call a human being. And yet, at its bases it is still the interacting awarenesses from which the harmony of association has emerged. And so, personality is also dynamic and unlimited.

In some ways, I would say that the association that springs from these awarenesses interacting is like a pattern. It can then be recognized. And, because this association is made of awareness, it can be aware of the association, itself.

So, present are both the underlying awarenesses (that are aware of awarenesses), and the association that arose (amongst these awarenesses). So then, where does the true self of the human personality lie?

The true self is not the underlying awarenesses. While the personality has arisen as an association of them, it is not the same as them. However, the true self is not that (arisen) association either.

The true self is actually the realization that occurs when the association, which is aware, realizes its own self. That realization is the true self, recognized in the harmonies of the association from which it has arisen. That realization continues as its own self-recognition. And, it is that self realization, self recognition, that is the true self.

That realization transcends the association itself, and yet it is not independent of it. And, while it is well beyond the underlying awarenesses, it is not disconnected from those same awarenesses. Still, because it is self-realized, it is not dependent upon the association either.

This true self is not established in any way, as it is beyond that which makes up the reality of either side of the one great truth. And yet this same self is not without the participation in either of these two realities, as it realizes itself in the context of the reality that it finds itself within.

It is easy to see that it is the underlying reality that gives rise to the associations that grow to make up that which we call samsara. And, while I have emphasized the awareness of the underlying truth, this is not to say that it is not empty. As for those who would like to call this underlying truth Brahman, or Big Kahuna, or great consciousness, etc, I have no problem with that.

But, I hope it is obvious from my exposition that Buddha nature, the middle way, is neither this underlying thusness, or that which arises from it, nor is it separate from the two. When the true self is realized, then it is realized as neither dependent upon either of these two “extremes”, nor separate from them. Thus self-identity is neither established as existent, as all is empty, nor as non-self, as it is evident.

And, this is where I find that the Buddha Way distinguishes itself from Hinduism. As some have pointed out, Hinduism is concerned with a path that leads to the realization of the one side, Brahman. While Buddhism, as I elaborate it here, is the middle way, where the truth of self-realization leads to refuge in neither one side nor the other; that which we call liberation.

A Second Firmament

2007-11-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

"I was wondering. When you sit to go meditate...do you meditate on the idea of "I am a Buddhist meditating"? Or do you go and meditate...experience some selfless freedom...then come out and pick up the idea, "I was just meditating as a Buddhist experiencing a selfless niceness.?"

The way of Buddhism is not about finding a refuge in selflessness. The path of the Buddha’s truth is not about knowing selflessness, or selfness for that matter. If you are enjoying a selfless freedom and are happy there, that is fine with me. I don’t have a problem with that.

However in my own experience of the Buddha way, the truth is that to look for this or that is merely another refuge to fall into, rather than realize the truth of reality that is behind such misconceptions.

"But one must integrate totally that which is beyond form with form and go beyond both form and formless...seeing them as non-dual. In Hinduism...or the path of the Siddha's, liberation is not a formless realization. It's free from both form and formlessness but end's just like it does with Buddha's. Having a perfected realm to hang out in."

In Zen, we have a saying: Not two, not one, not zero.

Nirvana is not a perfected realm to hang out in. It is not a realm at all.

Power Lunch

2007-11-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

In the midst of your ramblings do you ever consider that the highest truth is not “Oneness” or “a mass of consciousness”, or that an understanding of Buddhism may not be what Buddhism is about? That Buddhism may in fact be quite different from Hinduism?

Yes, we can see some similarities between the two schools of thought, but in being blinded by one’s own projections one does not see that their distinctions are miles apart in both their fundamental pathways and destinations.

The practice of Buddhism is not the same as the practices of Hinduism, though some may care to think so. The practices of Hinduism are to know the highest truth and in that knowing the devotee then realizes his oneness with the highest truth.

While in the practice of Buddhism the practitioner does not realize his oneness with some “super truth”, but rather lives the highest truth in the life one is engaged in. One is a spiritual destination and the other is a spiritual life.

And while the great Hindu teachers may encourage their disciples to live their physical lives, the truth is that their focus of salvation is upon realizing union with highest truth. These differences make the two systems irrevocably dissimilar in both content and function.

The truth of Buddhism is, in practice, not about ending in some “cosmic oneness”, as you call it. Without knowing this truth you will forever be lost in the depths of trying to join with what you think of as absolute truth, without the advantage of the knowledge of life.

Lost in this absolute oneness, you will never gain your freedom from its depths, as you will not be able to know the way it is without its timelessness. This is why the two paths are fundamentally different and why their goals will never overlap, but be forever dissimilar. Why one is about liberation, while the other is about union.

Gift Wrapping

2007-11-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Likewise, the supreme Reality, which is One,
Appears to be two.

Through Her,
The absolute Void became the primal Person;
And She derived Her existence from Her Lord.

Shiva formed His beloved Himself;
And without Her presence,
No person exists.

There is something missing in this poem. The thing that Buddhism emphasizes is not the no self, nor the self. This poem has nothing of this transcendence: First there is the supreme being, and now we have the no person.

When we look at the implications of these statements, then we see the nature of the two systems. This poem is about “knowing”, this is true, but it does not bring the fullness of the implications of what this means to beinghood.

First we have formless, and no person, then absolute void. But again, there is the shifting to one side and then the other. But, neither side will contain the truth. This is what is lacking.

I suppose that we could pretend, that the truth does not require this examination of selfhood from the implications of dependent origination. Or, that somehow these implications are visible within the words of this poem. But, that would be a fair amount of pretending, which I find unwarranted as this poem stands.

When you begin to see beyond the limitations of an experience of the absolute truth, into what its meaning and implications are toward daily living, then perhaps you will begin to understand the inner depth of the meaning to which to Buddha address himself.

Striking Fire

2007-11-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

I practice Tai Chi Chuan. While I am certainly no expert by any means, I have come upon a few interesting pieces of information over the years.

I understand that at one time there was a tradition in China that if a Tai Chi Master hurt an opponent in a fight, the winner would be responsible for bringing the injured loser back to health. This goes right in line with the school where I studied Tai Chi Chuan – many of the advanced students studied acupuncture; the Sifu was a certified acupuncturist and he had a school of acupuncture, as well as the Tai Chi Chuan Academy that the students attended.

In case you’re not familiar with Tai Chi Chuan, it is known as an “internal fighting form”, meaning that one engages the (inner) energy while exploiting a weakness in the opponent. The various movements that you see in the Tai Chi Chuan form are frequently practice movements at striking an opponents energy points (acupuncture points). Ideally, a true Master of Tai Chi Chuan, I imagine, would know exactly where the right point to strike an opponent would be, and with just the right amount of energy in order to inflict the degree of effect intended for the opponent.

There are stories that tell of how one could merely be touched by a Master, and perhaps 2 hours later (unknowing that it was connected with that particular touch) suffer a sudden feeling in an organ.

If I am not mistaken, Shaolin monks studied internal martial arts forms as part of their practices. Perhaps there is a connection to the medical abilities through this avenue.

Portent of the Eagle

2007-11-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

The truth is that none of our hands are clean. We all are guilty. We are a part of the culture that breeds corporate oligarchs and the consumers who relish their products. I think that if we lose sight of our complicity then we will become self-righteous. But if we realize that we all play a part in this culture then we can have compassion for those who might be more formidably held in its grip.

For me, Buddhism strikes a nice balance between indulgence and withdrawal. Just as in our practice, we are aware of moments that rise and pass on, acknowledging them and then letting them work themselves away.

So too in the public sphere, it is important to acknowledge wrongs and questionable activities in the public eye. In this way the public is made aware of where their actions are leading, and as a whole our society can debate the issues and realize the consequences as the learning experiences that they are. In this way we know what we are doing, can evaluate the activities against the supposed merits and try new options if necessary.

However if that public scrutiny link is broken, as it seems to be in this culture, then the process I outlined above does not act. If instead we are more informed about entertainments, sports, and celebrities by our media information outlets, then the whole of society loses the real picture of here and now.

In my opinion, the situation has become so lopsided that an honest expose of all our current indebtedness to the wrongs that we ignorantly inflict upon our fellow citizens of the world (and the planet itself) would be too much for our society to bear at once. So perhaps a catharsis will be generated in another way.

Horn of Plenty

2007-11-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

"Buddha mind is totally immersed in the state of all things being interbeing and empty of inherent existence in and of themselves so this transcends being the Self of the cosmos because this transcends cosmos and Selfhood. So one is seeing all particulars from the standpoint of essential nature as well as conventional nature at the same time."

Yes, this is the “fun” part, but I would say that it’s a little more “subtle” than that. When you flip-flop into that which you might call cosmos, that’s when you realize that the self is neither these awarenesses, that realize themselves in ever more awareness.

Nor the dimensionless that expresses itself as “cosmos,” all thus.

That’s when you realize the truth of self, that in knowing itself, realizing itself, it realizes that it transcends the configuring of awarenesses.

That’s when you realize the truth of self: as the identity, the recognition of itself through the endless “configurationing” of awareness awarenessing, that realizes itself continually.

When the self is realized thus, the whole of reality is not other. The expression of that which is seen as reality.

The Stillness of the Wind

2007-11-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

"After realizing emptiness deeply, the fact that everything is a mere illusion, you will start to drop everything, your hopes, fears, anger, desires, thoughts and your memories, because you don't need the thought-mind any longer…."

You also realize that you don’t any longer need to drop everything, hopes, fears, anger, desires, thoughts and your memories.

The wisdom of all that is also in the thusness of this: “human being”.

Thus we honor illusion, and mind.

A Small Day

2007-11-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

What I would like to stress first is that these are just my views that I am presenting here. I have not studied the state of Zen in Japan, nor have I been to Japan. But as a practicing Zen Buddhist for over 3 decades I have noticed a few clues emerging. These are what my views are based upon.

Zen, in Japan, is one of the society’s major religions. Just as so many people in this country would identify with being Christian, so do people in Japan identify with being Buddhist. But just what did these people identify with when they thought of themselves as Buddhists? It was not the monk who spent several hours a day practicing on the cushion, just as when we think of being a Christian one does not immediately identify oneself with a monk in his monastery.

When one thinks of being a Christian, frequently it is that one goes to Church and listens to the sermon. Being a Buddhist in that kind of culture does not mean that you are striving to attain enlightenment any more than your average Christian is trying to have a vision of God. In these kinds of cultural situations, one just tries to go along with what the religious leaders tell you to do in order to be a “good” Buddhist (or Christian).

The next point to mention is that the Zen Temples in Japan have been around for hundreds of years. But, even with the most highly enlightened Zen Master, there is no guarantee that the students will also be highly enlightened. And yet when a Zen Master passes on, he names a successor, even among the less enlightened students if need be. While it is true that one could refuse to name a successor, who would choose to forsake ones students so, or choose to end the line of linage there. Such are the ways of people. And such are the ways that good Buddhists are named as Zen Master, even though they not be what one might think of as truly being the ultimate, a Zen Master.

Perhaps more than one Temple might have had a not-so-accomplished student succeeding as Zen Master because the choice of closing the Temple and thus cutting off the lay practitioners would have been a worse choice. So, over the course of time it is easy to see that the quality of Zen teachers could have degraded in some locals. Therefore, some “Zen Masters” may have played a quite necessary functionary role in the community (as the Christian priest plays a role in the Christian community), but it wasn’t necessary for them to be a Buddha to play that role.

I’m not saying that there are no real Zen Masters in Japan, its just that we should not assume that the head of a temple (someone who might be called Zen Master in title) is truly a Zen Master as we commonly would like to think the term means, a fully enlightened personage.

Consider some of these comments made by an American visiting Japan a few years ago:
“All Zen monasteries still practice Zazen at around 4-am and around 6-8pm. This means that most of the Working Japanese people can not participate in that Zazen sitting periods.” And “Sundays and Sesshin are currently the only times laymen can practice in most places. Some places host one or two meeting a month for sitting Zazen.” And “It is very fine and nice if you want to experience the unique spiritual and cultural atmosphere of the Zen monasteries, but if you want to find true teacher, you must distinguish between Zen priests and Zen teachers. Most of the priests are not Zen teachers. Even if they are the abbots of their temples.”

Beyond the Fireworks

2007-10-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

There are those who would like to highlight what I sometimes refer to as carnival-ride Buddhism. Practicing Buddhism in order to have some “mystical experience” or Enlightenment. In other words, for the thrills or special knowledge that such an experience might bring.

This is why I emphasize the eightfold path, where right enlightenment is just one of the particulars. For me this path is not a path to enlightenment. It is putting into practice the truth of the way into one’s daily life. It is realizing enlightenment in one’s daily life, to whatever degree or recognition one has of “it”, that allows the deep meaningfulness of life to shine forth, while aware of the emptiness of all that is.

The Burden of Evidence

2007-10-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

The first time one is at the “doorstep” of the unknowable, the concerns that some experience of death, madness, etc. are not uncommon. Yes, you can’t fall out of the universe, but then, where is there a universe to fall out of?

Nevertheless, “right enlightenment” is only one item on the eightfold path.

So, how does one plan to incorporate an experience of truth into the way that one’s life is lived? And, into one’s understanding of life and of us, your fellow participants on this journey? First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is a mountain. What kind of mountain do you see, and what have you “brought back” from your experience?

Casting Lots

2007-10-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

Being in love with someone is really just another form of practice.

Yes you will probably experience purity, lust, caring, friendship. But also hatred, doubt, despair, and envy. Often, several of these feelings will happen at the same time.

Entering the cauldron of life, one comes face to face with that which one longs for, and that which one fears. And this is at the heart of practice: to recognize ourselves in these, and to realize the truth of one’s self lies “beyond” these precious moments to which we are privy.

The taste of the fullness of life is bittersweet. And yet in its revelation we become evermore that which we are. And in that moment of reflection, the wisdom of that which is onto all things, gives meaning and life to the presence to which we are graced. Respect your blessings of love, as you would your practice.

The Forth Quarter

2007-10-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

Frankly, I think that the practice of Buddhism does have an American exponent. And this may spill over into the Western hemisphere in general, but I wouldn’t know as I’ve only lived in the USA.

I would say that the practice of American Buddhism, or Buddhism in America, has caused me to reevaluate American culture, standards, and expectations in a very deep manner.

What I am trying to get at here is that we here as Americans have a commonly held culture, a way of living: TV, cars, supermarkets and malls, cell phones and instant meals: a life centered upon entertainment.

When I practice Buddhism in America, to me it is not about going to the Zendo to sit and to listen to the Dharma talk on Saturday morning. It isn’t about participating in the rituals that have been imported from another country that nestle the practice of Zen within a comfortable time honored context of practice. Those things are fine; I’m not trying to suggest that they are unnecessary.

But when Buddhism is brought to America and we practice it, then for me at least, I have had to look back at the culture that I am participating in. I look at it with compassion, with awareness, hopefully with clarity, and as a Zen Buddhist, with simplicity and reverence in mind.

Therefore, I look upon the earth with compassion as it is suffering under the burden of too many automobiles and industries polluting the planet in order to support this way of American life. And so I choose to ride a bicycle around town instead of a car. I don’t buy the latest gadget, just because its there. I try to minimize the impact of my need for clothing that industry burdens the earth with by purchasing organic or minimally processed clothing.

Along the way I have discovered recycling, composting, even just drying the clothes on the line is another way that compassion for our environment can be undertaken.

I envision a balance to life: the middle way. That throughout our lives we take from the planet in order to support our life here. By the time we reach the end of our life we will have been able to give something back. We give our bodies up to the insects and plants that grow in the soil. We have given carbon dioxide to nourish the plants through the air. We have taken from our culture its entertainments and pleasures, and given back our ideas, morals and our own creativity (even if its just in the paycheck we have earned that pays for the movie we watch).

And so, rather than just sitting around bored with nothing to do, I get going and work on something I care about – painting a picture, witting, helping others. (I don’t imagine that I will ever really balance what I’ve taken from the planet with what I have given, but I am aware of this coincidence.)

This is what Buddhism in America is about: not what we can take from America and add to Buddhism, but how I can let Buddhism reawaken my participation in America. And this is what is unique to practicing Buddhism in America.

Nourishment

2007-10-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

The formless state does have a relationship to the wisdom. It is, in a sense, formless because it is wise.

The qualities of wisdom are not knowing, they are freedom. The free is indeterminate, so it is not known. Uncontained and without limits, its eminence is boundless, so there is not that is unknown.

Formlessness does not depend upon wisdom. Because it is empty, it has no basis. As the known is unknowable, its wisdom is formless.

Without form, wisdom is unlimited.

In the unknowable, wisdom does not become known, it is without form. The formless does not contain wisdom, it is unfathomable. Without limit, the known has no form. Formless, without knowing, the unknowable is not without the knowable.

Unlimited, the knowable is not limited in its wisdom. Without limits in its wisdom, the unknowable is unlimited in the wisdom that it knows. Without form to its wisdom, the unknowable without form, knows wisdom.

The formless is not without wisdom. Wisdom is without form.

Innocence Emerges

2007-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is not about which precepts one may follow and which ones you might wish to ignore. This is about the way that one approaches others in one’s life and community. Do you want to approach them thinking I know what is right, and I know what is wrong, and they must follow my path or be lost, and not a Buddhist.

Or, does one approach them with the openness of learning that they are also Buddha in their own way, in their own life; and it is the truth of their Buddha that they are revealing to you. For the Buddha does not just live through the original teacher, but through the many teachers and students that have gone since.

Now the topic that is in front of us is the behavior of everyday people, not the behavior of monks and nuns. This is important to remember because the outlook in life, and the way that they are supposed to lead their lives are different.

And, since the topic is one for the general Buddhist, we have to consider what behavior is correct for them. It is given in the precepts, which they take refuge in, that one refrains from wrong behavior in regard to sense pleasure.

This precept is undertaken to help the refugee to focus upon the teachings of the Buddha in a mindful manner. No to be lost in the usual idle thoughts that so occupy those who are not caring of the mind and its contents. It is intended to help focus the mind in the correct direction for the Buddhist follower, to further their progress upon the noble eightfold path with less obstruction.

It is not meant to be proscription, but to lead a direction. This is important to understand because there is no punishment, that is why the phrase is “to refrain from” this activity. Not to make this elimination, but a consideration of the intent that we approach practice with.

If this is instead taken as a proscription, then the effect may not be to instill this as a direction of practice, but a wall that prevents one from living ones life in a realistic manner. The noble eightfold path is not about unobtainable ideals, it is about approaching other folk in a realistic manner, and living in a way that supports that direction.

As a direction that one undertakes, rather than a proscription, than one sees this as not a reason to condemn others, whose lives may be different than our own, but as a way to help us deal with our own lives more effectively. Therefore, these directions may not be suited for everyone, as there may be some who partake of sense pleasure in an automatically decent amount. Rather than getting lost in sense pleasure, or its various side issues. For those who are extremely indulgent, this refrain would be more of a direction for them to undertake.

To turn these directions on their head, and make them the master of one’s life could hardly be what the Buddha intended, because the Tathagata intended for his followers to achieve liberation, not rule followers. The prejudice that I spoke of earlier was about those who hold up a moral yardstick unto others, insisting that they live by their proclaimed rules, judging them to be the standard because they have found some wise man somewhere who, at a surface reading, seems to embrace these idealistic rules. Whereupon, a deeper reading of the meaning that is to be conveyed in the wisdom of these teachers, finds not so much rules to entrap one’s life, but instead the intentions that go into a wise life.

With this in mind then, we can view this precept as one that makes intimate relationships not an abomination, but the expression of love that humans do. The Buddha did not forbid intimate relationships, and he did not encourage any specific posture as far as I know.

If he had some special rules for monks and nuns that some would like to apply to everyone’s life then that is their interpretation. But, it is not that one could say that the Buddha declared that all should live by the rules for monks and nuns.

It is hoped that one is able to see these ideals that the Buddha leads us to consider to be of value, not in the light of keeping others under control, but in giving one’s practice a clear path to lead it to a better place. Some might wish to review the precept on refraining from speaking evil about others, should they wish to continue some other ideas to consider.

In the Midst of the Heart

2007-10-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

There are homophobics and homophobic attitudes in almost every culture. But they are not conservative, nor liberal, nor Buddhist, they are prejudices - views that lead to suffering and away from wisdom and enlightenment.

When the Buddha way is lived, then the merits between one relationship orientation and its alternative are rendered indistinguishable. With a clear and open heart, loving another becomes not a matter of determining which gender the partner is blessed with, but a matter of honoring and keeping faith with them.

Discovering the one who blesses your heart in a deeply committed relationship is not like choosing a name out of the phone book, but one of the deepest mysteries of life. Honoring that love and joyous union, in whatever form it is given to you, is the challenge that we all must take.

Checking to make sure that some pre-made rulebook approves of that partner is not only a false and unnatural love, but also a mark of ignorance upon the holder of that love. Honoring the mate to whom you are joined with is the highest morality and the truest.

The way of love that one is blessed with is not for others to declare to be right or wrong. To do so, is not to follow the Middle Way, but to follow the way of prejudice, censure, and ridicule. If this is the Dharma that some teachers preach, then I wonder what kind of way they are following?

A Sovereign For Your Thoughts

2007-10-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is really a very deep subject that you have taken this discussion into, and it touches upon the whole unique thrust that Buddhism presents us with. I am not going to labor upon the point that “your beliefs create your reality”. What is more important to me is the philosophy that you have expressed that follows that point.

That philosophy is the notion that since we create our own reality we should then choose which reality that we are going to create. In short, if you don’t like something about yourself, well then, just believe instead in the reality that you would prefer is true. After all this seems perfectly logical: want to be taller, believe you are taller; need more hair, just believe in it and it will be there. Nothing harmful in any of this.

However, when I read the fine print, I am not so enamored of this path. This is because beliefs are not like socks that you just change when you get tired of them. Beliefs are part of the you of you, the part of you that makes you human and unique. Your beliefs are more like your hands or legs than they are your socks. And it is something far more serious to change your hands than it is to change your socks. Your beliefs are a part of you and your personality, and if you change your beliefs you will be changing yourself into a different person.

I have studied the way the “change your beliefs” philosophy is supposed to work. When you change your beliefs, then you put yourself into that “new” reality where the preferred belief is the active one. Along the way, the personality makes the inner adjustments to accommodate the new beliefs: solutions to vexing problems are discovered; insights are gained where things are seen in a new light. All so that you can move away from the old beliefs and into the new preferred beliefs which form the preferred reality.

This can really be a great thing if for instance you are suffering from a serious illness that has few treatments. I’m not saying that to follow this philosophy is always a bad thing. But the implication behind this whole philosophy is that you will find happiness by changing the things that you don’t like about yourself into those that you think you will. (And yes, you could have control over every aspect of your life, I guess.)

However what I have learned from my experience of practice is a different story. My experience has “shown” me that basically there is, what we can concede to call, “awareness”. As awareness is aware of awareness, affinities come into play, making connections, harmonies.

These affinities lead to yet more affinities, connections, awarenesses. Awareness aware of these connections recognizes / identifies patterns of awarenesses in affinity. Thus identities emerge from the primal soup of awareness. As they recognize and gain more affinities, they grow in complexity. This is all spontaneous, however, and unlimited.

Philosophically, we could say that all is potential, but within this potentiality, connections of likeness form, some potential is a little more like some other potential. So spontaneous patterns emerge but never establish themselves firmly because there is always more potential affinities that the “patterns” are connected to, thus changing them into further developed patterns that they recognize.

Through this maelstrom of awarenesses, identities emerge, recognizing themselves in the patterns of affinities that awarenessses connect into. However the identity is not the pattern itself, that pattern is always changing. The identity is the awareness that recognizes itself, a recognition that has come from that pattern but now is not dependent upon it. An identity within awareness itself, and so not separated from awareness and not independent of that pattern, an ever changing identity.

These patterns of ever-changing affinities rest at the heart of the identity. Though it is not these patterns of affinities, they are inculcated into its recognition of itself. At least in my meager understanding this is how it seems to me.

And, this is my understanding; that these patterns of affinities come and go. Perhaps some of these affinities make us happy. Perhaps some of these affinities will lead to difficulty, like a sour note in the orchestration of one’s life. Because all is connected.

To the Core

2007-10-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

When you realize the true “I”, it is no longer an I, it is thus.

Six of One, and Zero of the Other

2007-10-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

My experience has been that the mental verbalization of thoughts actually creates a small amount of stress within the head. This stress interferes with the direct perception of reality. Like a closed fist, things have a difficult time flowing through a tense head. For instance, the stress will cause the ear passages to be less responsive to the incoming sounds, so hearing is not as acute or deep as it could naturally be. You may be unable to hear the great abiding peace of stillness that is continually present in the world around you.

This stress does not automatically stop the moment that you stop making the mental noise if you have been spending most of your time in stress. The head is too stressed up to immediately calm down. But with repeated practice of calmness, the stress grows less and less, and so when you do stop the mental noise it will tend to stay calm more easily, and you begin to perceive reality more directly.

The ongoing mental dialog is like hypnotic suggestions, mesmerizing you to believe they are true, that there is a physical being: I. You may end up paying more attention to the dialog than to the reality before your senses. It is not as though this were a superstructure laid on top of reality, but more like a noisy television playing in the same room as your reality, distracting you from paying attention to the actual place. (And of course we all want to be the star of our own show, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth watching. Oh well.)

Attitudes and beliefs are stresses held in the whole body. When these are let go of, the body is awakened to a natural grace and poise. A very peaceful continence will be yours.

I am familiar with the Joko Beck quote. She does not think that anyone can attain 100% and move onto stage six. She goes on to say that she thinks that it is an idealized state, and that the ancients did not reach stage six – it’s just our mythology that says they did.

Well, I want to say that you can go on to stage six. That after discontinuing the internal dialog enough (or whatever your practice is), that having the interference turned off will become your normal state. And after that, you will have a very difficult time starting up the interference again. The ancients did achieve the next stage and did abide there completely 100%, it is not a myth.

Inside the Circle

2007-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

First, I want to say that the experience that some describe (“when everything seemed to 'light up', everything looked multi-dimensional, vivid, alive, REAL and at the same time 'dream like'”) is every bit as wonderful and blissful as it implies. It is indeed as though you are truly awake, and reality seems so real, with this transcendent kind of subtle glow, or light. You see the emptiness of the form you call your body and realize there is no self there.

The beauty, joy, and transcendence of this experience is so meaningful and great that proselytizing about it, to share it with others, to tell them how simple and easy it is, is a quite natural reaction. Believe me, the experience is not “dulling”, it is instead very aware.

Perhaps it will help to clarify matters if I share some of my own experience. My situation differs a little from some in that I went all the way. Instead of going back and forth between two modes of living, I continued to live the Way as my regular daily, full time mode of living. And, I lived this way for several months.

My experience then was that ideas, thoughts, concepts still existed. However, they no longer did arise within the form of physical presence.

The experience was that there was the reality of the world that was occurring. And the here of it was this empty spaciousness in which calm awareness took place. With this calm, being so wonderfully peaceful, right and natural, there was no longer any compelling to disturb it.

Thoughts then, no longer arose within the form one calls one’s body as they do in the “other mode” of living – through the gross manifestation of mental activity known as internal (or mental) dialog. Emotions/feelings also dwelt in this same calm manner – not arising. Beliefs and opinions were also not held onto.

However thoughts and concepts did exist. And, since at the time I was a freshman university student, I was required to write papers, read books, attend lectures and produce projects for the courses I was taking. But, instead of thoughts being experienced in the gross manifestation of the form I called my body, they were merely realized. It was as though they were taking place outside of time and space, transcendentally.

The experience was that thoughts came and went, at once, before they could take place in physical reality. So it seemed that they did not occur, one just knew what they were, like one knows how to play a note of music without thinking about it. One had the sense that thoughts were being realized even though they did not quite exist. And since clam and peace prevailed, the thoughts did not arise within one’s experience (of physical reality).

In the typical paradoxical tradition of Buddhism, they did not exist and they did (somehow) exist. (By the way, I was an honors student that term, so my academic performance did not suffer from living this way.)

Branches Upward

2007-10-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

My suggestion would be to let experiences come and go of their own accord. While aware of your breath, you can witness the experience without trying to figure it out. It may be far more beneficial in the long run to gain your understanding of an experience through the process of just letting it happen and letting it reveal its “truth” in its own way, as it were, as your learn about it from your repeated experience of it.

Meditation can be like learning to ride a bike – you learn it by doing it. Nevertheless I think it is safe to assure you that you are not about to ride headlong into traffic.

That said, it is not that unusual for the “self” to “disappear” while practicing. At such times the body seems to be empty, you may even be aware of the emptiness of the space around your body. The mind may seem so calm that no thoughts in it arise; no emotions carry you along in their fervorance.

Living continuously as this no-self, one experiences life as though having awoken. And, that one’s previous way of living was like being asleep.

But it is better to let this unfold naturally rather than to try to force it. For it is the self learning to ride the bicycle of the eightfold path in its own good time and its own good way.

Of course, the abode of emptiness can “grow” and you may experience a little more than you expected. But here again, just let whatever you experience “come and go”. This is the wisdom of the way.

On the other hand, if it just feels like your body is disappearing into an ocean of experience or joy, then you might just be exploring the byways and avenues of consciousness. Like a child walks around the neighborhood for the first time, in wonder at all she finds. You might be going for a stroll around the “inside” of reality, just to see what’s there. There’s nothing harmful in itself in this.

But, part of the path of meditation is right concentration, and this can be done by continuing to be aware of one’s breath. Then, if your consciousness goes exploring a little, it will still realize where home is and return to the breath. Again, this is just letting the experiences come and go.

The Eye of the Dog

2007-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

As clarity increases, frameworks shift.
As stillness grows, the burden of certainty falls from your grasp.
Is it illusion, is it stillness?
The unknowable becoming just so.
Time and space, here and now: mythologies of a once fragile mind.

Children of the Maize People

2007-09-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is really an interesting topic to bring up. I live in the States, and we have a similar opportunity here. Unbeknownst to many in the U.S., our own ancient Native American culture underlies much of our civilization. Not only did they bring us the gifts of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, (and yes tobacco too), but also such ideas as fertilization of crops, many of our countries place names, and even the U.S. constitution was patterned after a Native American constitution.

We have one recurrent Native American figure who would fit the role of the Bodhisattva very well. This is Kokopelli. As an actual person, he first appeared in Central America long ago as a light skinned bearded man who came from across the ocean. He taught peace and compassion, among other things, and significantly changed those early societies for the better. He was known as the Feathered Serpent (however, why this name was chosen for him escapes my memory right now). As his teachings migrated northward, he became known as Kokopelli.

While I’m not suggesting that the Native American pantheon could be transferred into Buddhist iconography, it would not surprise me to find instances where personalities overlap between the two. And in a way, it might be interesting to see some of our country’s Native American influence mingle into what may eventually come to be known as American Buddhism. Certainly though, such fancies take a back seat to thrust and importance of Buddhism itself.

Sorting Things Out

2007-09-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

I would like to share a little bit of my experience with you, if I may. At one time in my life I had some very deep and interesting experiences while practicing Zen. These experiences galvanized my understanding and gave me a clear and potent vision of Buddhism, Zen in particular, and Practice in general. In short, I was ready to take on the world and baptize everyone with my true understanding of the Way. Unfortunately, my manuscript and articles were, I was told, “very interesting, but not what the publisher was looking for at this time.”

Many years later, I decided that it wasn’t so important that I awaken people to the truth that I knew myself. I decided that it was more important and useful if I could help people to awaken to their way of truth. And rather than get them to see my vision and practice my way, I would help them to see their own vision, and to practice their way. In short, rather than be a master, I would just be of service.

Thus, for people to believe what I know to be true isn’t as important as helping them to travel on their path, at least a little further. I had to see that each person has their own way of seeing life, what was important to them, and what was attuned to their path. After that, it didn’t become a question of whether they could see the way that was my way, but that perhaps they could realize the Way that was right with their path. Therefore, helping them, if I possibly could, became more meaningful for me than getting them to realize my way.

This is not to say that you should do the same as I. But, I can see that you too are galvanized with a vision and understanding that others may not be privy to. And, I can understand that you have done a great deal of research and study to validate your vision. This is great!

I can also understand what it is like to go up against the status quo, only to see your vision and understanding supplanted by lesser but more common views. So I will not tell you what to do, but hope that in some way I have shown you something meaningful to you.

The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;
The next best are loved and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:
They have no faith in their people,
And their people become unfaithful to them.

When the best rulers achieve their purpose
Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.

- Tao Te Ching

Digging Deeper

2007-09-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

“Gaze at the wall until it reappears.”

If the wall reappears, do you understand?

“The one who has not mastered self can never master not-self…”

In mastering self, what do you gain? A lump of flesh?

“I and not-I --- Words of no concern to the man who would enjoy the county fair in all its samsaric holiness.”

The holy man, when having concern has concern, when not having concern has no concern. I or not I; as he meets it. Is this not the Way?

In the bright stillness of your presence, what passes for life, passes for life. There is the truth, the way is known. Mountains, mountains. Ways, ways. All knowing, all unknowable. Put some tofu on the barbecue.

An Offering

2007-09-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

A brief look at the basic realization of physical reality.

This whole subject is one of the more interesting ones for me. And over the decades I have enjoyed, through meditation, “studying” some of the underlying processes involved in this subject.

The mechanics are not too difficult to explain in brief, but to do an exhaustive description would be a meaty subject. Therefore, I will try to be general, but informative. And the first thing that I would like to say is that you will have a very difficult time understanding these concepts if you cling to the typical philosophical viewpoint that there is an actual solidly physical world upon which these bags of flesh dwell.

Instead you must understand that the situation is completely different. The world that you experience is created by you, on the fly, in “real-time.” (And when I say “you” here, I am not referring to the physical body that you call you, but to that non-physical personality that exists outside of time and space) You do this by projecting out, with your imagination, the elements that will make up your so-called physical world. Creating (what is in reality) an imaginary world for your self to dwell in. Then, you perceive these outward imaginings with the physical senses (part of the physical body, another object that you are projecting with your imagination), believing that these elements are physically real. And your body/brain processes these sensations, so they take on even more seeming validity (as it reacts to the sensations it perceives). Presto a world is born.

Each person that is participating in our particular world, does this for themselves; creating their own version of our world, which only they themselves truly perceive. Each person, in effect, creates their own “mini” world/universe in which they experience their life. There is no real physical planet existing in some vacuum somewhere, upon which we come to dwell.
The elements that we are projecting with our imaginations (to make our world) are very specific ones. They are taken from a vast group of “ideas” about the particular world that we are choosing to participate in. I describe them as ideas, but you could also think of these as bits of information. Information about every aspect of the world that we share. Just as an example: This group of “ideas” includes information about every rock and all its characteristics, including every spot on each rock and the shape and color of each of those spots, and the location of each rock in relation to everything else on this planet. These are “ideas” that are, in effect, about every element of our world, the world that we are all sharing now.

All of this information is constantly available to us, but we only use from it those “ideas” that are relevant to our immediate situation. And obviously this information is extremely detailed and dense. I would almost describe it as a field of ideas. And it is attracted to us because it is connected to the life that we are involved in. This is also quite an active field as well, because it is constantly bringing forth more relevant data, giving vitality to the world that we imagine. And this field not only includes information about the more static types of objects, such as rocks, but it also includes information about objects that seem to be in motion, as well. Everything from speeding jets to human voices.

This field of ideas, as I like to call it, is obviously far below the level of the human senses, because it is what they are based upon. It is also beneath the level of conscious thought, though I suspect that this might not be so strictly true for a gifted psychic. I would venture to speculate that it is even below the level of what is called the subconscious; I suppose it depends upon where one chooses to draw the lines of the psyche. It is with this field of ideas that we receive constant communication about every detail of the world that we are experiencing, both in our immediate environment, as well as the world at large. The communication is instantaneous and direct. It is only the physical senses that must wait for the phone to ring.

In effect, during every moment, we are creating a whole new world for ourselves to realize, as the underlying information continually updates to include different circumstances. It is through this constant interaction and exchange of information that our world is made to work. It is truly a collaborative effort. It is through agreeing amongst ourselves about how all of its different parts shall operate, how they shall appear, sound, etc that it all works and comes out as seeming to be one whole world.

The material that I have written above is what I have learned from my own direct experience (through meditation) of the processes that I have outlined. These findings have led me to surmise the following ideas as being the most likely understanding of how we enter into this collaborative illusion.

It is through the pregnancy period that the, as yet nonhuman, personality begins to familiarize itself with the “stream” of information that it will have to be oriented in (to be a part of the particular world that it has chosen to enter). The mother supports a fetus in her own version of the world, giving the newly incarnating personality a version of a fetus for it refer to. Therefore, it does not have to struggle to maintain all of the new and possibly overwhelming information by itself. The newly incarnating personality then has the opportunity to acquaint itself to the new sensations that it will begin to deal with, when it begins to continuously create its own “imaginary” version of the world for itself. It works with the information bit by bit, while the mother continues to maintain an overall structure of the fetus that the new personality can then learn about. The continued process of birth and growing up, is really more of a process of the underlying personality learning to identify which bits of the (underlying) information belongs to our world, so that it is materializing the correct data that is appropriate for the world that it has chosen to participate in. While the fetus is being maintained for it, for example, it can slowly identify the group of ideas that is the underlying information about the fetus, and learn to “imagine” these ideas as its own body.

As the personality pays more and more attention to the imaginings that it is projecting, it must turn its attention away from the nonphysical realm enraptured, as it were, by the seemingly physical processes that are taking place before it. This might be considered to be the establishment of the “ego self.” The side of the self that is present in our world.

It is important to understand that in the underlying reality, all of the information of all the worlds exists simultaneously. All of the worlds past, present, and future; all of the worlds parallel, probably, and possible. All of this information co-exists simultaneously together. There is no space or time “there”; those are locally produced phenomena, relevant only to physical life. It is through the process of pregnancy, birth, and growth that the personality learns to orient itself to the appropriate field of ideas that belong to the current world that it is participating in.

Therefore, when a personality incarnates into what seems to be successively different times or lands, it does not go to some place, or to some different time zone. Instead, it tunes into another of the streams of information that are the basis of another world, another seeming time and place. This is not done lightly, or willy-nilly, because it involves so much work to go through the birth/life process.

To understand the personality that is at the source of all these processes is, unfortunately, an even bigger topic to cover. But briefly, it has been my experience that at the center of this great activity is a personality that cannot define itself in terms of what is or what is not, because it can see that all is connected. Endlessly, each “awareness” leads to another, without a beginning to be found. Because there is no demarcation, it is unstoppable. Because there is no idea that can be pointed to as separate, there is never a starting point. To fathom the depths of this incredibly “beingness” is what it means to awaken to the true self. Not a being, it is the realization of the transcendently aware, self-realizing identity, found among the recognitions that know themselves in the all Truth revelation of endless knowledge, wisdom, presence, and light.

Although in this article I have made only the briefest of outlines of this area of cosmology, I hope that this will be, at least a little bit, helpful in understanding some of the basic processes involved.

Final note: It is been part of the focus of my work to help make Buddhism more accessible to a western (specifically American) audience. With this intention, I have tried to refrain from using ancient and/or obscure foreign words that only a few will understand, and have instead tried to put these ideas into plain English. And I would like to thank the more scholarly oriented participants for their open-minded approach to my work even though it may not be couched in the philosophical terms that they are so conversant with.

A more full article on this subject, entitled “The Formation of Physical Reality”, can be found at Bodhimind Institute:
click here.

Four the Road

2007-09-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

I would first like to applaud you for your honesty and bravery. In both exploring your reality, and in letting the chips fall where they may – whether or not they agree with what “so called Zen” purports to entail.

After several decades of practice, I have discovered that the makeup of what we call “the self” is far more complicated and interesting than any of the usual models that we are currently given do justice to. I think I understand what your talking about, that “lake of self”, that part of you “that moves when listening to music”.

The true personality that we call our self is far deeper and more rich than these little physical lives that we play out our dramas of reality in. However, this greater personality, though it’s one’s self, is yet not the truth of the self.

In knowing this “self” though, in witnessing its thusness, one is stepping off the terrain into the unknownness of the truth of self. And in that which is known as emptiness, the revelation of the Way is “seen” bare. It is in this revelation that the thusness of the self, that we take for granted as our lives and being, is tempered by the illumination of truth that is the Way.

So in Zen, we watch the “lake”, watch the heart, watch the stirrings of self; aware with breathing. And in this open honest discovery of that which is, our self is revealed. Its not quite searching, or examination, per se. It is “seeing”.

Sharing the Wealth

2007-09-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

This is a fundamental flaw that creeps into some Buddhist intellectualization. My experience has been that one does not give up or away the “self”. But rather that “self” is realized as it truly is.

And while that realization, that true “self,” may be beyond the breadth and scope of one’s previous understandings and philosophies of “self”, it is still not an elimination of self.

It has been my experience that it is seeing into the very nature of self itself, and in that unfathomable understanding of truth, one is able to realize the manifestation of the self that we live and breath as, to be.

One’s realization of the self that we live and breath as is tempered with this profound realized view.

And in this view the cares and troubles, the joys and pleasures of the physical self that we must endure as physical beings, is seen as the precious flowers that spring up from the manure of life – not one’s true self, but the experience of reality that one finds while one is steeped in the truth of it.

Duty

2007-09-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

"So, how can one manage to meditate for some years/months without a break? Any ideas?"

I understand the difficulties that you’ve outlined here. My own solution has been to work at part time jobs, save my earnings as much as I can, and then when I have enough saved I quit the job and just practice for several months until I run out of money. I have done this over the course of 25 years, working part time in the design industry.

I have taken several sabbaticals from work, the longest being a year and a half, the shortest being 10 months. I live alone in a little cottage without a television and telephone. My part time employment schedule means I have several days a week in which to practice meditation. And the solitude of my little cottage means that I don’t have distracting housemate issues to deal with (but then of course, if the bathroom doesn’t get cleaned, I’m the only one to blame :-).

I’m not saying that it’s been easy. Forget about buying toys, fashion, and entertainment. (I have been on food stamps once, and I know the places around town where they give food away to the indigent.) And it takes a lot of discipline. You must keep yourself physically fit by exercising regularly. You have to be very committed to practice, because there isn’t going to be anyone else there to insure that you do. And you have to continue on through countless failures, doubts, frustrations, fears and lost hopes. But, ah well, just another day on planet Earth.

Hope this gives you some encouragement,

Lizards Eating Maize

2007-09-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

I hate to have to tell you this, but life is not about having the answers or about knowing what to do in a given situation. Having either of those are just more to attach yourself to. Learning to travel light – without the burden of attachments – means that openness to the wisdom of each situation develops in the attention that your presence in the situation brings.

Learn to be comfortable in “not knowing” and you will have a friend in seeing the inner grace and beauty that each situation and person brings to life. And in not having the answers, you will have no ego (built on the certainty of self assurance) to defend from indignity.

Although there are many wonderful precepts to guide your life, your presence in the moment, with awareness and attention, will guide you in knowing reality as it reveals itself in each precious instant. And in that revelation, the Truth whispers its Way of being that brings the quickness of life into the fullness of realization as its own answer to the moment’s welfare.

Lighting the Path

2007-09-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

The problem here is that one cannot equate emptiness with selflessness. While it might be convenient to try to do so to bolster ones opinion, this is still not what is being said.

The eight-fold path is like breathing; I do it because it feels right.

Ah… but isn’t courage always laced up by fear?

Riding the water buffalo, he turns and exclaims: “Where is it?”

Wisdom or folly?

We may lament our fate. But, in truth, the unnamable is.

First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.

Foolishly riding the water buffalo, we look around and ask: “Where is it?”

I’m not so sure that it’s who you are, but what you do once you know.

Still looking for it? / Still trying to find it?

I can see the obit. now:

Famous Zen Master gored by water buffalo.

In a shock to the online cyber Sangha it was learned today that a famous Zen Master was gored by his own water buffalo. Apparently the water buffalo was a constant companion to the Zen Master and went with him everywhere.

In an exclusive interview with his neighbor Mrs. Edith Friendly, this journal has learned the truth about the water buffalo and the Zen Master’s friendship.

Mrs. Friendly said: “Well yes, he and that water buffalo were inseparable, ‘went with him everywhere he went. They were quite a pair. It always reminded he of that movie with Jimmy Stewart. Remember the one “Harvey”? Where he saw the Pooka, but no one else did?

“Well with the Master, it was just the opposite. Everyone saw this water buffalo that went with him, but he never acknowledged it. At least he never let on that he knew it was there.

“If you asked him about it, he would turn this fierce gaze upon you and ask: 'Who sees the water buffalo?' Strangest thing.

The Zen Master is succeeded by his adult children, now all successful millionaires who many times offered to help their father see this water buffalo, but he refused.

A Small Sacrifice

2007-09-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

You’re understandably in a difficult time right now, a transition point. You are preparing to begin to make your way through life under your own power. This is both scary and intimidating, to be sure. And the accompanying uncertainty easily brings alive every misgiving you may have ever had about this admittedly messy world we call life.

It’s good to hear that you choose to challenge yourself with some difficult schoolwork. It’s been obvious that school is not providing enough stimuli to invoke much interest in work. What was unfortunate was that while a program may be set up to challenge one’s physical and mental resources, they are not set up to challenge one’s imagination and creativity – thus it is boring.

Nevertheless, I think, it is a great experience. To have to draw upon your resources of discipline, not only so that you know that you are capable of using them – and therefore more confident in yourself – but also so that you realize there is a price to pay in doing so, and thus learn that it is wise to evaluate the value of doing so before making such a commitment.

Unfortunately, you will still have to endure some more tedious and boring life requirements. So put a smile on your face and face them with joy. However, in the near future, if it hasn’t happened already, you will fall into some very interesting field. Perhaps quite by accident. Which will engage you and your interests so much that you will gladly work until way past 12:00 and not even notice the time. (You may choose to call it a “career” if you like.)

And you may just find that it is not whether life has meaning, it’s that you have given it meaning. And it’s certainly ok to bitch about stuff too.

Serpent Energy

2007-08-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

In my 35+ years of practice I have found out, as I’ve matured, that others who I might have once thought were not practicing the dharma correctly, were just passing through one of the other 84,000 Dharma gates. And I have learned more by listening to them tell their story in their own way, instead of merely dismissing them out of hand. And, in that listening, my Dharma Gate has opened all the wider.

And so I would like to very politely ask us here to have free access to all the voices of the Buddhist community. Even those with whom they might have deep disagreements. I, for one, am here to share dialog with others, not to play watchdog over what is allowed to be shared, and what is not to be allowed.

I would have very uncomfortable feelings about telling a fellow Buddhist that they were not welcome. I would not feel comfortable about telling a fellow Buddhist that their views were not allowed. And I would not feel comfortable about making a fellow Buddhist feel that they were unwelcome. And I am afraid that if we single out one practitioner’s tradition to be banned, then this is what would be done: making them feel unwelcome.

It is relatively easy to exercise compassion towards those you know who have fallen upon difficult times. But the real thrust of compassion is wrought when you have compassion for those with whom you have sharp disagreements with, or who threaten you, or who have done you harm.

This does not mean that you have to agree with them, or that you must confront them with debate. It means that you exercise tolerance and forbearance of practice. Needless to say, if there were no dialog, but merely spamming, trolling, and flaming, then that would be a situation in which we are not able to carry on our practice in an unthreatening environment. And appropriate actions should be addressed at that time.

All I am asking of my respected fellow Buddhist community members is that they allow other traditions to be allowed the same rights and courtesies that they would want for themselves.

Flight at Midnight

2007-08-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

While practicing mindfulness, it is also possible to use an aid. There are many kinds of aids that you can use; each branch of Buddhism seems to have their preferred kind. One of the easiest to use is awareness of breathing.

In this practice you do not try to edit the content of your thoughts (restricting them to only that which is happening in the present, and avoiding those about the future or past). Instead let whatever thoughts happen just arise and fall of their own accord. However, while you are letting this happen, keep a little of your attention upon your breathing.

Just watch/feel your breath go in and out. You don’t need to concentrate upon the breathing maniacally – to the exclusion of all else - just along with everything else. It’s a bit like learning to ride a bicycle.

As you practice this, your attention will continue to have awareness of the present. So while your thoughts may seem endlessly running on, you don’t completely lose your focus of reality.

And as you practice more and more, you will find that your thoughts sometimes take a break from their ceaseless chatter. You will be more aware of these breaks and able to appreciate the quiet that accompanies these. As you become able to appreciate this peacefulness more and more, you will lose some of your incentive to mentally chatter on and on.

Yet, even in continuous stillness of mind, you will be able to practice awareness of breathing. So, it is a practice that is a part of the way of right living.

Path Upward

2007-08-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

True there may be many answers to a prayer, so which is the right one and how do you follow it?

It has been my experience that an answer to a prayer is one that is deeply significant to you. So significant and meaningful to you, in fact, that it engenders action. It galvanizes your attention to focus in the direction that it points.

These kind of answers are not wishy-washy responses like “maybe you could…,” these are answers that lead you onward. And oftentimes these answers are those that give you the courage to go on with the path that you are on. Or, to have a vision of what a possible different life might be like.

As you say, perhaps the follow up action does not take place on the part of the person who receives the advice. But this is really ok, because we can only grow at the rate that we are able to.

When it seems that person does not follow the advice that they receive in a prayer, it is not necessarily because they are lazy or just want to indulge in play. It may very well be that they have many problems that they are faced with. They may not be able to change very easily because they are locked into so many difficulties that it is very hard for them to change without the whole house of cards crashing down.

Such a person might have to change incrementally and may have so many difficult decisions to make that it would be a truly difficult task. As I say we grow when we are ready, and one day they will be ready for that task that they face.

Until then it is best, I think, to have compassion for those with difficulties, and encourage them to have faith in themselves, their abilities and their choices, knowing that they can work through them and grow beyond them.

Climbing the Stairs

2007-08-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have memories of ancient Egypt. It seems that I was at that time a High Priestess of the Goddess Isis. And I remember some things about the culture in general – magic was a large part of everyday life (both protecting from, and giving, misfortune and for health, wealth, etc.). I also have memories of my death in that life. Meeting the boatman who rowed me across the river to the next world.

Apparently I spent a good deal of my lives in the Far East. I have brief memories of several short lives as a pretty wild swordsman (a bit like the old west), and then being an old man and then a “geisha” (a prostitute in the little town that I lived in, where I also remember that I was stabbed to death by one of my clients).

From there I have memories of being a monk in the French Alps. We were very poor at the monastery, but I was quite plump. The head Abbott considered me a troublemaker because I was so interested in spirituality. I remember blessing peasants on the road as I roamed through the countryside. I think that I also had a life in sophisticated Paris as a young woman trying to be an artist (I was pretty bad.) But I don’t have any strong memories of that time.

I also have some general feelings about some lives I had as a Native American before the invasion of the white man. And also a life in ancient Grecian times in some no-name small town where we suffered an “inferiority complex,” being so far out of the way as it were. No clear memories, but just a kind of knowledge that I was there. These types of memories are more like the kinds of memories that one has of ones childhood - you might not be able to picture an actual event but yet you know it happened and what the situation was.

I don’t consider it to be my job to make people believe me or in reincarnation in general. I have memories, so the reality of the situation is evident to me. But if anything, perhaps a few people who would have dismissed it out of hand might not be so ready to ditch the whole idea of reincarnation if some of us speak out occasionally.

Part of Life

2007-08-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

My, what a comfortable life you must have. I somehow don’t think you would wax so abstractly were you in such circumstances that demanded you find meaning in life or lose it.

If the aches were gripping your belly, the homeboy’s bullet piercing your chest, the car slamming into your side, your home and work threatened; when going out would be that much easier. Then, you can bet, you’d know that you had a reason for staying – that something was important enough to make living the Way, one more day here, worthwhile.

And that would be what was meaningful to you.

The Evolving Truth

2007-08-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

In my “deepest” meditation, what I have experienced of the truth, has led me to conclude that It is supportive – nurturing, accepting, joyous - supporting It’s own brilliance of which we find form and transcendence.

It’s grace, beauty and wisdom are so profound that they are far beyond our comprehension. And yet they are evident, manifest in the depth of infinite harmonies with which we share the impressions of our own ceaseless truth that shines through each one of us.

It is with the anthropocentric conceit of “time” that we theorize that we are evolving It, rather than that It is evolving us. For in It’s grace of revelation, it is we who find ourselves, not lost but revealed with the boundless eminence of It’s joyous and aware fruition of potential thusness. And it is in our revealed evolution that It’s wisdom and clarity is manifest.

Postcard from Home

2007-08-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

From my own experiences I would say that the truth is that the vision that one has of one’s surroundings, at any one given moment, is made up of information (light, if you prefer to call it that) that is scattered and discontinuous, much more than we seem to notice. It is more like we are seeing a loosely structured framework that has the incipient information to be organized into a whole that we then can believe is the world of reality that we so think we are ensconced within.

Then, upon this loosely organized “framework” we use our imagination to fill in the details, completing the picture to give it that sense of reality. I have seen that this is done in a more concentrated area in the center of the field of vision, and then progressively further away from this concentration the details are filled in less and less.

I have observed, in fact, that there is a point in front of the eyes, a couple of feet away from the head where this concentration of focus seems to be most clearly sharp, where the imagination is providing the most concentration of detail. As one shifts ones head or gaze, this “point” then shifts to wherever one is looking, so that there is always that center of focus around which we fill in our view of the world that we see.

Because we are so spellbound by our concentration upon our world, we don’t really notice, or take the time to notice, how disparate our vision is at its fringes.

What you might be seeing in Meditation., I would not venture to guess. It could be visual anomalies, energies, or who knows. But, I would suggest than instead of labeling them as chi or life energy, etc, you might let these effects reveal themselves for what they are in their own good time, if they should do so. It might be much more rewarding for you in the long run to let the understanding of these phenomena develop on their own, through your personal experience. This will give you a far more insightful view of them than if you just try to conveniently explain them away. After all, what is life energy? Only your personal experience will be able to tell you that.

Nevertheless, don’t try to concentrate on these effects any more than what you are normally aware of. Things reveal themselves of their own accord, I have found.

Reckoning with the Great Monkey

2007-08-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

You might also care to consider moving to another planet. People here are a lot more relaxed about other people with unusual features.

For example, just yesterday a young man came into the store where I work. He was obviously in a severe fire as a youngster. His arms appeared to have all the hair permanently burned off of them, and his face was a maze of once melted flesh. I can’t explain to you why, but he was still a very cute young guy. He came in with his girl friend to just look around.

No surprise that he would be snatched up by some nice gal. Frequently in this town, an interesting or different appearance makes you seem like a more interesting or different person. Someone new to know and learn about.

I think a big part of it is the “vibes” that you put out. The young man, for instance didn’t put out an attitude of shame, fear, or a wish for pity. He was just the self he was. And in being himself, he was beautiful.

I understand from my own first hand experiences what some mean when they talk about the humiliation and taunting that they have endured. And I know that it’s not easy to live in that kind of environment. Nor am I not trying to imply that they have not accepted or come to terms with their challenges.

I guess that for me it becomes a part of the Way of Buddha to live within the framework of our lives (whether they are filled with challenges or joys). And at once to know the breath of truth that permeates experience in its unfolding. As it is this eminently greater reality that resounds throughout the many twists and turns of our lives, but from which our “spirits” soar.

At times it’s challenging to have compassion and understanding for those who inflict pain upon us, I know. But these people, you probably have already realized, are in just as much, or more, pain than you are. (And, they think, more able to refrain from facing their inadequacies, failures, lost hopes and self-hatred, because they look more “normal”.) Really, in their pain, they need all of the compassion that we can give them. And in recognizing our own struggle in them, we do not seem so all alone.

Faith Shaken

2007-08-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

I would like to add another side to this discussion:

America is at a crossroads. Historically there has always been a strand of “spiritualism” (direct experience of truth) that has run through the fabric of American life – the Thoreau and Blativatski crowd for example. Whilst mainstream religions have been there for the masses (who have historically participated in their support); those people who did not have the kind of lives that sought direct experience of truth. Buddhism, at least up till now, has played the role of the minority religion which emphasized direct experience (through for many ancestral Japanese Americans, their tradition of Buddhist practice may have been more like the western version of church. So I shall try to exempt them from the point I am trying to make).

Now however, it seems that the great masses of the middle class have lost faith in their churches and their practices. Economic development has replaced spiritual reference. (I am being very general here.) Will economy replace spiritually in the heart of Americans? I guess we will have to wait to see if it is successful at that, but it does not seem like it would be the kind of place that I would feel much at home in.

Perhaps I should say at this point that it is probably certain people in leadership roles who would like to see the masses of people concentrating on buying things (that their businesses produce), rather that concentrating on their spiritual development (which they can’t profit much from anyway). But, I suppose that until people are put in the position of looking at what is truly in their hearts, they will continue to back the social organization that promises to make them fulfilled through products.

Whether society shifts one way or the other is one question. The next question then is will Buddhism go from being the religion of the minority that seeks direct experience of the truth to the religion of the masses who need something deeper to believe in than they have had before? I somehow don’t think it is realistic to imagine the vast majority of middle class Americans turning off their televisions at night and sitting cross legged on their living room floors trying to attain a glimpse of emptiness. But, I could see them turning off the TV and being with their families, because here in the present is the essence of what is important in their lives.

To be frank, I think that there are currently several strains of Buddhism that work well for the direct knowing minority. But for the majority of Americans, there seems to be few candidates that would fill their needs at this time. Pure Land is probably the most likely candidate currently. Or would Americans adopt the model of the community supporting the deeply experienced practitioner, who then advises community members on religious matters? It’s a scenario that works in parts of Asia, but relies upon decades of traditional society behind it. There isn’t that kind of framework in Buddhism here in America as yet.

Nevertheless, if Americans were suddenly to veer to a new direction of increased awareness of spirituality, then it would be an open question as to which faith they would turn to – I would not automatically assume that it would be Christianity, it could just as well be some morph of Buddhism for all we now.

Auspicious Movement

2007-08-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Since the Buddha Gotama is not here for us to ask anymore, I guess we shall have to find out for ourselves. What has your experience of physical reality been, illusion, revealed truth, or ?

It is the Way of Buddha not to confirm what is truth or is not truth by consulting with others or by reading books. The Way of Buddha is to know truth through direct experience of the truth. With the knowledge of the truth garnered through direct experience then we can truly know what is incorrect or correct.

Until then we are just moving the chess pieces around the board.

Leaving the Last of the Day

2007-08-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Buddhism does not say that you are nothing, nor does it say that the self is nothing, nor does it say that the self is a conglomerate of nothing. What it is saying is that there is no thing that can be identified as the self, no eternally unchanging core, no permanent object that makes up the self.

To extrapolate from that philosophy to the conclusion that you are nothing, I realize, is an easy step to take. However, it is going one step too far. The first hand realization of what the self is (if it is not a thing, nor nothing) is one of the points of Buddhist practice.

And it is the realization of this truth about the self that enables us to have the clarity to see the choices we are making, tempers our wishes and longings with wisdom, and reminds us that the illusions of the self that we identify with, and which entrances our attention so, is in reality, not the self that we truly are.

A Drink of Honey

2007-08-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

As a long time recluse, I can understand in a very real way what you are going through.

Rather than the word surrender, however, I think more appropriate words would be compassion and respect. Compassion and respect for yourself, to be accurate.

Although I don’t know you, I would bet that one of the reasons that you’re as successful as you are in your business is because you are able to soberly and accurately gauge a situation and develop a response using the tools and people/talents available to you. When it comes to business you don’t fool yourself with fanciful dreams about having ideal business associates or employers. You just get the job done given the material you have to work with.

I would ask you to at least try to have respect for your self, for the person that you are. Look at you as the person that you have become. Look at your talents, your skills, your strengths, and the things that you spend your time involved with. Try to look at this person using a bit of objectivity – the same skills you use in your daily business life – and you will meet a person whom you have probably lived with for a very long time, perhaps without really knowing. Meet “You”, the real “You”. And for a few moments at least, respect her, her accomplishments and her predilections – she is living a life that is very important to her. And only she, as a whole person, can say why this life, the life that she is actually living, is so important to her, so fulfilling and meaningful to her.

Sure we can criticize her if we compare her to some idealized version that we might fancifully dream up. But this would not be fair to the real you. It would not show very much respect, or compassion, to the real person that she is, with all her particular interests and proclivities, with her wealth of skills. It would be like trying to put a star shaped peg into a square hole.

And when we realize that the real you is fulfilling a life that is very deeply important to her whole self, expressing her self truly and honestly as she is, then we honor her for her courage and determination and for the gifts of beauty and life that she contributes to reality.

Sure, each of us can spend our time with dreams of meeting Mr. Right and having a wonderful relationship. But let’s be honest, if that were really the most important thing to you then you would have quit that job at 25 y.o. and gone on the dating circuit in earnest.

As it is, in another few years many of your H.S. and College girlfriends will be going through divorces, and their families will be breaking up (not a pleasant experience to dream about). They will be entering a job market as single moms, with little experience in business and few developed talents to put on their resumes. Whereas you, with your wealth of experience in dealing with so many parts of your business, will be an honorable, established, and valued woman in your field.

Please don’t lose your dreams of love and family, because having those dreams is also what makes up you. Its one of the qualities that makes you all the more human and sensitive to life.

But one day, if we suddenly discover that we have become something other than what we hoped for and dreamed about becoming all our lives, we have to wake up and see that person that we are and try to cherish them for what they are. Realizing the road that we have traveled is the one that’s important to us, the one that’s the most meaningful for us to discover.

Eagle's Approach

2007-08-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

The illusions of conclusions and relationships are not only dependent upon the entities involved, but also upon the manifestation of the existence of the elemental truths, which have illusory existence as well. When these illusory elemental truths are revealed to be their own manifestations, then awakening to the highest truth can occur. Until then, the chess pieces are merely being moved around the board.

In focusing on relationships and conclusions alone, one is just manipulating some of the chess pieces. The highest truth is, whether or not chess pieces are being manipulated, because it does not need to play the game of illusion.

When the highest truth reveals itself through an awakening, then the relationships and conclusions are not merely the chess pieces, but the revelation of highest truth “embodied” in actuality.

If you are going to see “behind” the game, then in the course of becoming the realization of truth there is an acknowledgment of that which was once seen as illusion, now revealing itself as truth.

One Degree Further

2007-08-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Perhaps there is too much silliness going on here to warrant a serious discussion of the topic. But, if anyone’s interested, I will try to explain a little bit more what I am trying to say.

As the illusion of food nourishes the illusory body, so the illusory ego facilitates our journey through what appears to be our lives.

Irrelevant? No.

I rarely take notice of the blood coursing through my veins. It too is silent and, hopefully, well behaved in its operation. But it is certainly not irrelevant.

In the dynamics of personality, the ego weaves its way through experience, helping to organize the moments of experience into a reality that makes sense to us. Not only affirming what makes sense to our particular personality – our likes and dislikes for example, but also more general information about out environment - such as a knowledge that the carpet on the floor is soft and warm to walk on.

In this way all the scattered information that we meet with takes shape into an apparently whole form. The personality that we have through life seems whole and, at least to us, reasonable. The ego is more like “where the rubber meets the road”. The interface that helps give things a sense of reality. It is more than just the word game that repeats in your thinking-mind telling you what it is that you want.

However, if the ego is left to run rampant, and that word game in the mind leads us willy-nilly through life, if we have no sense of greater self to balance off this relentless jabbering, then the role of the ego has been shifted.

Sometimes when a person is able to eliminate the incessant internal dialog of the mind, they have a shift in awareness that is so startling different that they are open, at least temporarily, to realize some degree of awareness of the true dimensions of the self – which are limitless. Thus the loud jabbering of the ego in the mind gets blamed for standing in the way of deeper knowing.

However, whether it is the ego standing in your way of realizing the full dimensions of the true self, or it is some fear, concern, or other suddenly arising notion that grips your attention, there will always be some excuse for limiting one’s self realization. Nevertheless, as we plod our way into the depths of truth, we need to be able to reconcile those suddenly arising ideas that grasp our attention so. Learning to go on, when we are entranced, is what it is about, I believe. Rather than blaming this or that pop-scapegoat concept.

Therefore, living with all of the various mental enticements that we come upon, we learn to recognize that our personality is far more than just the jabbering that once may have ruled our life. And in realizing the greater dimensions of the true self, one does not rely upon the ego as the identity of the personality, seeing instead that it is part of the greater identity that it exists within.

The ego then goes through a catharsis where it returns to a more quiescent role, not to irrelevancy, but to be the servant of our greater purpose. Then, we are not hung up on it, but using it as the tool of living that it functions so well as.

The Direction of One's Course

2007-07-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

In my humble opinion, the ego does not need to be eliminated.

Buddha’s Path is a way of living within the “context” of what is happening, it is not intended to be an escape from what is going on.

To live in the context of a human life does not require the elimination of the ego. However, what is actualized, when living the Buddha Way, is the “transformation” of the ego so that it is incorporated into one’s daily life in a balanced role.

In this balanced role, the ego is like a tool that the self uses to realize the currents and eddies of life as a reasonable whole. It has its appropriate and necessary place in functioning within the whole of the self that is living its human life.

Just as on a ship, it is the navigator that informs where the ship is and where it is going, but it is the captain that chooses the course. So it is that in living the Buddha Way, it is the ego that aids us in the process of living, but it must be balanced with the awareness of the “whole” true self. The ego is like the book that you are reading, but it is you that chooses which book to open.

An ego in balance, I have found, is silent in its work. When the self-view of one’s identity does not depend upon the ego (but instead “identifies” with that which it is aware of the true self), the ego is seen as the facilitator of the realization of the fabric of life that one is enmeshed in, rather than the leash around the neck that leads you from one sensory experience to another.

Rainforest

2007-07-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Right now you are having trouble understanding this material because perhaps, all your life you have been taught only one possible explanation of what the self is. I want to applaud your efforts now to try to learn a new understanding. I realize that this is not easy and you have come up with some good questions.

Let me use this analogy to try to paint an alternative picture for you: you probably know what a rainforest is. You can look on a map and see the location of a rainforest in some tropical local if you wish to. But what is a rain forest? Yes, for literary convenience we have a definition of what a rain forest is, but this doesn’t truly explain it.

If you look into the rain forest you will find an almost infinite amount of life there. Not just an incredible number of plants and animals each contributing their parts to the “creation” and maintenance of the rainforest, but also microscopic life and climatic elements each playing their specialized role that makes that forest a living thing.

The snake in the forest can choose to chase the mouse or the hair when it is confronted with the possibility of having either one for its dinner. And the parrot can choose to build its nest in one tree instead of another. So we know that freedom for choice exists in this forest.

If we try to actually define what this forest is, however, the task would impossible. To try to generate an inventory and categorization of all the different species within that forest that make it up; to quantify their populations; to identify all the different microorganisms; to understand how changes in birth and death and evolution would affect this vast catalog of data; all this would be an impossibility. Our definition would have to be reworked moment to moment. It could not be static, but an ever-changing system.

And yet the rainforest does exist. Generally speaking, its borders can be identified and an approximation of its size estimated fairly well. And if you were to go into this tropical rainforest, you would find that it has a personality different from a forest of redwoods in northern California or from the Black Forest in Germany.

With this analogy I have been trying to show you an example of a system, a living system, which is a conglomeration of many constantly changing elements, which exhibits freedom to choose when the opportunity for choice arises. A system whose very existence depends on the reality that it is ever-changing, for it is the activity within it (and outside it) that keeps it going.

Nevertheless, if we were to look at what is deep inside the plants and rocks and living creatures we would find the same game going on within each of them. They are all composed of matter, atoms made up of charges of energy rotating around other charges of energy. And incidentally these bits of energy are not solid objects either. In other words, each atom has a lot of emptiness within it.

A Sacred Forest

2007-07-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

The moment that you quit your Zen practice was the moment when you truly began your Zen practice. It took quite a while for you to get around to it, I know it must seem. But then, all things come into fruition in their own time. And yours is now. You cannot accept or reject the truth, for you are already in its center of actualization.

Now that you have realized that there is nothing to gain, as well as nothing to lose, the inner truth that consumes your presence has, at last, found the awareness of its thusness that you have so long sought.

If you choose now to call it Bobo (or Frankenstein for that matter), it really makes no difference to anyone else. With your awareness, this knowing remains present. Just as it already dwells in the now of which it is becoming.

The truth is that since you never left the “primal state”, you had to learn to let go of searching for it to notice its presence in your life.

Pointing to the Heart

2007-07-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

Only you can fill that hole in your heart. And that is what you’ve come here to do: to learn how to fill that hole. And you can only do it through love. Not love from another, but from the love that you attend to in your living.

If you live within the way that seems like the path of your heart, then the revelations that come with living that path bring to one’s heart the fullness of its own presence, and its deepest meaning and joy.

That is why there is a hole there, to show you that you still need to attend to your heart’s life as the most vital thing in your current situation. And in that message, you can grow into the heart’s fullness and its fulfillment.

Vacation

2007-07-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

The Bodhimind Institute blog will be on vacation for approximately 2 weeks.

Thank you to all of our readers for your continuing support of our blog.

A Draught of Home

2007-07-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

To me, it seems as though you have some stereotypes about what Buddhists are suppose to act like: calm and serene. But to me, Buddhism is more about awareness and equanimity than it is about maintaining some plastic immobile front.

Awareness and equanimity are really some of the most valuable practices that a writer could have, I should think. You are engaged in hearing the stories of others. Whether we are engaged in the awareness of our own stories, as they play through our heads, or the awareness of the stories of others as they relate them to us, it is still awareness, it is still presence that we must bring to the moment.

And when hearing the stories of others, it is a writer who must hear them clearly, without judgment, honestly as they are told, caringly as we would listen to our own doubts and fears, and openly without turning away.

This is revelation, and to abide in its midst is transformative. If it seems that you are listening to someone else, try listening deeper. You might find it’s really your own self talking. Because, when you listen in that place that knows, you will realize that we are all wise and fools alike.

A Flight Upward

2007-07-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

I understand, however pointing the finger of blame around doesn’t help the person who is suffering. If anything, it only increases their sense of quilt and throws up more defenses.

In Zen parlance, the way to deal with a situation would be to sit with it. Aware of it, feeling it, breathing, while the situation unfolds before the presence of one’s mind. Not analyzing it, or blaming oneself or others.

And yet, seeing where responsibilities lie reveals itself: Seeing responsibility and everything else involved unfold before one’s mind, breathing, and feeling all the anguish, reasons, fears, and doubts that weave through any life situation, and which have brought one to this point that one is at.

And doing this, silently, as a witness to one’s life path – inner and outer. This may seem to be a rather useless practice if one has already spent decades doing various Buddhist disciplines, but the situation of facing the reality of the moment never changes.

Again in Zen practice, this situation would rightly be a Koan. Unlike the “twinkies” that are suppose to be Koans, which are given out to Zen students nowadays, this situation would truly be what a great Koan is suppose to do: light a fire in you that will not die till you fully plumbs its truth; and puts a question in your throat that you can not spit out or swallow. This kind of practice is very difficult to do, takes a lot of dedication and years of gut wrenching self-facing.

The Eight Legged Friend

2007-06-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

I understand how difficult “identity” is to deal with. And I don’t fault you. I think that you have been doing a pretty good job. And I admire the resolution and courage that you have shown.

It may be worth noting here, though, that there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal. And in the case of the human animal, it is the desperate person who is the most violent, the most insecure person who has to control everything and have it their way, the disillusioned person who tries to destroy the sanctity of others.

It does not help such people to confront them, because they only fight all the harder. I think that we can try to offer them help, warmth, friendship and compassion. But ultimately, they can only help themselves, by finding in themselves the inextinguishable truth that threads its way through all that is.

It is not at all uncommon for those who are approaching the 50-year-old mark, and who haven’t fulfilled their dreams and aspirations in the measure that they had hoped, to feel that their life has been wasted and that they have been duped. Some will react to this situation by just buying a new red sports car and start dating a partner 25 years younger then they. Others just take a new job, etc. And some, in their despair, may lapse into extreme disillusionment.

Not everyone, sadly, makes it through this transition. They become bitter, cynical, angry, frightened people. And, not much that anyone has to say will be of much help to these people. I think that, at best, we can show them patience and kindness, while understanding the inestimable burden of failure (in their minds) that they carry on their shoulders. And, when dealing with such people, we need to bear in mind that their anger is not really about us, it is about themselves and their inability to forgive themselves.

And, there are others who, like the phoenix, will rise again from the ashes of their burned out lives, tempered by the crucible that they have been forged in.

Although I don’t know what the future holds for some, I know that they have many friends who are waiting patiently, hopefully, that they will find their way again.

Three Gifts

2007-06-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

It has been my experience that that which reveals the truth, is in harmony with the truth, promotes the truth, that is right speech. And conversely, that which obscures the truth, subverts the truth, changes the truth into something else, that is wrong speech.

The Buddha never avoided saying things because they were unpleasant, or made people feel uncomfortable. Nor did he try to preserve his dominion by excluding people or debate from consideration. That is why his words still ring true to this day. And why his life makes the truth a way worth living.

Right speech illuminates and makes the truth known to us. It is not something that hides the truth.

Meeting Our Dust

2007-06-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

I really know what you mean: life is toughest when we are called upon to act by the values that we espouse. And, I know that doing the “right thing” is difficult, because somehow we have to learn to temper our ideals and our passions with compassion and understanding.

I think that it helps to remember that we are all basically trying to reach that which we think is the ultimate good – each through their own way. And, to be ready with forgiveness and encouragement when we inevitably encounter our faults and human failings. All without losing sight of our cherished ideals and those things that make life meaningful to us.

Welcome to life!

Crossing the Heart

2007-06-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, there are still young people out there who are willing to take up the lance against the militant commercialism of our society; someone who values meaning over the mirage of style.

We may all have a little trouble at times differentiating the light of the Truth from the glare of our dreams. But, I hope that somehow we can see that while many might claim to have in their hearts the ideal of the realization of truth and perfection, not every ones actions will be in concert with these ideals.

Actions speak louder than words. And when we find those whose actions are of disservice, obfuscation, and disregard to these ideals and to the community that strives for these ideals, then we must come to terms with the reality that these are not the ideals such a person actually holds.

And while we need to give such people are hearts and our compassion, we need not give our allegiance and shelter to their self-serving agendas. I think that we just have to go on from there, to try to give life to these hopes using the abilities that we have in our lives, as best we can. And leave behind the self-serving to pursue their games without our participation.

I know that it is difficult to leave behind old comfortable relationships that we have developed. But sometimes the writing on the wall is pretty plain to see. And then you have to face the facts: that some people are not who you hoped they would be. Perhaps, if it is harder for some of us to face this than others, that is understandable.

The Formation of Physical Reality

2007-06-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

For those who are interested, a new article entitled “The Formation of Physical Reality” is now on the Bodhimind Institute website, http://www.bodhimindinstitute.org

Hopefully, the article will be inspiring to those are in their own process of learning to understand how reality is manifested, by showing that one can, in fact, see into these processes, and discern by themselves how they work. Because the article is written from the perspective of first hand experience, it has not been necessary to employ abstract Buddhist terminology.

Written from a Western perspective, the material in the article covers ground that may not be addressed in other Buddhist literature and may be entierly new to some. Nevertheless, the material should be understandable to most people, as it is plainly laid out and includes many examples of the processes that are being presented.

From the article:

This is one of the most interesting subjects of our time. Unfortunately, the explanations of both science and religion have largely left this subject with limited understandings. Nevertheless, the basic explanations of the workings of this are fairly easy to understand. The explanation that is presented here is one that is based upon the author’s direct observations while practicing Zen mediation.

In order to set the stage for further understanding the device of an analogy is being used to a limited extent. The concept of a group of writers will be used as an analogy to illustrate how this process works on a fundamental level. In addition, other concepts will be introduced along with the analogy, which are not analogies, but generalizations of processes at work.

Continue...

Thanks for your interest.

Now What?

2007-06-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

There are times when I have had very deep experiences of what seems to be the most ultimate truth.

Several years ago when a series of these very deep experiences began, right after one of these “direct encounters”, a question came into my mind that didn’t quite seem to come from myself. It asked: “Now that you know This, what do you want to do?”

My reply was that I wanted to enhance it. And, I had to explain to the questioner (a guardian perhaps?) that It was so beautiful, so exquisite, that I felt the only worthwhile thing to do was to add to its beauty, to its wonder. That is, by my activities, bring that to It which is going to make it more glorious and wonderful.

I am a painter, not a word-smith. So my deepest utterances are “spoken” in terms of color and brush stroke. Others, however, are blessed with the facility of communication with the written word. And for them, revelation is communicated through language. I don’t dismiss their glorification of Truth any more eagerly than my own meager attempts, just because they use words instead of paint.

Do you really want a Truth that does not have words, that does not have paintings, that does not have communication?

Or, would only some words, some paintings, some communication be acceptable?

Ten Ghosts

2007-06-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

In 1966 I began to practice meditation, just a few times a week. Then one day, early in 1973, I began to practice Zen in earnest. I began to practice continuously, moment to moment. After about five days of practicing like this, I awoke. I realized no-self, lived in emptiness, knew Buddha-mind and continual Samadhi. I lived this way, not just for a few brief moments, but as my daily life – from waking in the morning to sleep at night.

After about a week, I went “deeper” into realization and began to experience what some call “luminous emptiness”. I did this for only a few minutes. After that, I just continued to live as I described above, an “awakened one.” And, did so for several months more.

The joy of living this way was everything you’ve read about, and more. Not just the ending of suffering, but knowing an ever present bliss, realizing perfect posture at all moments, seeing the cause of any afflictions and the release from them, as well as the chain of probabilities resulting from different views; realizing the beautiful symphony of life as it expresses itself in spontaneous wonder in each moment.

As I met “normal” people, who to me seemed to be “asleep”, I realized that they were suffering, and I wanted to tell them that they didn’t need to. Life was simpler without suffering. I wanted to help them, but didn’t really know how. Just telling them about it didn’t seem like enough to help them live this way.

So in my wish to help others realize the Way that I knew, I began to experiment with myself to understand the underlying processes involved. Unfortunately, one of my experiments went awry and I acquired a bit of amnesia. This lasted for about six months, long enough for me to get out of the habit of living the Way. And, I became just another suffering person again.

After I regained my memory of how I had lived before, I once again began to practice as I remembered I had done. This time however, I choose to watch more closely what was happening to me so that I could understand the process better and thus help others learn how to do this. I practiced and practiced (and my practice was both incessant and diligent, because I knew the beauty that I was striving for, from my own first hand experience). But, I was not successful as I was before. I took a part time job after graduating from college so that I could continue with my practice devotedly.

As the years passed, I did not achieve the deeply hoped for results which I had in 1973. But, I did learn a lot about the process, and I learned about other’s practices throughout the ages and in many different religions. Several times I did regain the Way, but only for brief periods, never as my daily life. I began to do a kind of writing meditation, eventually filling up 5 or 6 file storage boxes with my muses, ideals and beliefs, and my reflections upon them. My meditation also took me deep into the roots of my own suffering – basically an unloved and unappreciated child – unraveling all of those threads until they fell from my grasp into nothingness.

In the mid 1980’s I was extremely fortunate to become an apprentice Creator. The Creators are non-physical beings who are responsible for bringing things into being. They do not work on the physical plane, but create that which may eventually find its way here. For instance, one of their creations has come down to us as what we call language.

The story of how I was invited to become an apprentice is too long to include here, unfortunately. My lessons were mainly given to me in the dream state, while I would realize them in waking reality, thinking about them, their implications, and truth, as one does with any lessons given in the classroom. Before I was allowed to use any of these great creative powers myself, I had to take a vow that I would not use my abilities to do harm to another. My creations so far have been rather crude beginner’s pieces – nothing to brag about. And, for the current time being I am not actively furthering my lessons, as I am concentrating on my other work here.

Then in the years following, in my meditation practice, I began to study the nature of the fabric of physical reality. I watched the processes of this very real illusion of reality unfold. This took several years, and was done bit by bit and from several viewpoints. Eventually I was able to understand how everything comes together to create this wonderful, and at times terrifying, experience we have that is called life. I related several of these processes on some of the threads at internet Buddhist community forums.

My meditation experiences have become deeper over the last several years. And, I finally got into studying the so-called “luminous emptiness” that I had first become acquainted with so may decades ago. I work slowly, giving myself time to reflect on an experience and its implications – thoroughly digesting it – before going onto the next deep experience.

Because I work for a living only part time, and live very reclusively, I have both the time and opportunity to do this. By dipping into the unknowable again and again, its ever-incessant beauty has become home to me. I have experienced to some small degree the fabric of its reality, its wisdom, and the joyful wealth that is its nature.

I have witnessed the transcendence of the self and also its dissolution into all. I have been very honored to have had the experiences that I have realized. While I am not a teacher, my current work is to help inspire those who are interested, to deepen their practice and to consider that there might indeed be truth worth realizing.

Needless to say, it’s been a very full life.

Words, Tears, Laughter

2007-06-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Any one that achieves non-duality has already lost it.

It has been my experience that deeper insight brings about greater awareness, not greater indifference.

But, it is like being a parent. When your toddler first learns to run, you must let them go. You cannot hold them, or they will never learn. And, you pray that they don’t fall and hurt themselves. And yet, if they do, you are there to help dry their tears, and remind them that it’s ok; they will be able to run just fine one day soon. To keep trying and not to give up.

And, so it is with what seem to be my own foibles, and the apparent foibles of others. By seeing the clear light of truth that shines through all these activities. In the light and calm of emptiness, the wisdom of the truth is realized in each momentary happenstance. It is in this great Buddha mind that both sorrow and joy are vessels of the Way. And, when you practice with this, you learn that in their own way, each leads to the Truth.

And so, words are the way, tears are the way, laughter is the way.

Up 10 Degrees

2007-06-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

I guess that I have a little different perspective on life from you. I am not trying to maintain a faith in the Buddha’s teaching or in the Four Nobel Truths. As far as I am concerned they can all be thrown in the trashcan.

What I am interested in is seeing things the way they truly are: If this confirms the Four Nobel Truths and the Buddha’s teachings, then great, I can joyously honor those teachings for the truth they reveal; But if truth informs me that matters are other than they have been expressed in the dharma, then I will have to go with truth.

Having said that, I must affirm that I have found a high degree of convergence with the way things are and that which the Buddha taught. However, I must add that my findings are not always congruent with some of the widely accepted interpretations of what the Buddha is thought to have meant when he said one thing or another.

Although it might seem to be a wonderful goal to attain freedom from suffering. To me it is so much more meaningful to realize the revelation of truth as it unfolds itself before us. And also with us, as we play our parts in the exploration of this unfathomable presence.

As far as when to leave the vehicle behind. In Zen we have a saying: “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.” (But since you are in a Theravada practice, I guess I’d better explain a little. When you are at that “point”, the vehicle is "just gone". But, when it is appropriate to do so (as in when teaching others), you can always point to it(the vehicle), because then it is seeming to be real. Thus we have the Four Nobel Truths.

The Third Oc

2007-06-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

What is ultimately possible (that is, sustained insight) is not the same as intellectual accomplishment (which your acquaintances may be relying on).

However, we must temper our idealistic values with the realities of life on the human sphere. That is, while we all have the possibility of attaining full Buddhahood, alas not all of us are cut out for that quite yet. In other words, these people with their half a loaf (which is better than none) may have gone as far in their development for now as they are ready to go. And that is fine for them: We travel this path one step at a time one foot in front of the other.

A flower does not open until it is ready to accept the full rays of the sun. But, the bud can be as handsome as the bloom. So I try to approach such people with warmth and generosity. Perhaps our “not good enough” is, for them, a momentous achievement. And, I try to honor their “spirit” with the appreciation of the work they are making (looking at the glass half full, rather than the glass half empty you might say).

You are very blessed, to have a life that is ready to take another step into the realization of the Way.

For me, I try to not lose sight of all the times I’ve been a foolish asshole in the past (and probably will be in the future) – it helps to keep things in perspective :-)

The Oc

2007-06-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

While I will not be surprised if people consider this commentary to be sheer lunacy, I offer it up at least as another point of view that you might care to consider.

There is a small group of people who “control” the world. Their control is not through political power per se, but through economic power. They are immensely wealthy people, but you will not see their names listed in Fortune 500, they have learned to keep out of the spotlight.

They exercise their method of control through investing is various corporations. They don’t do this directly, but through holding companies and mutual investment groups. But because they are wealthy enough to have a large chunk of investments in so many companies, they are able to influence, indirectly, the course of events in ways that are more favorable to their interests.

For instance, if they want to see a merger between two companies (HP and Compact would be an example) they would have one or more of their holding companies call up the mutual fund managers that they have invested with, and explain that if the managers don’t vote for the merger, then they might be forced to pull their investments out of the fund. Obviously, the managers would vote for the merger rather than lose some very important clients.

You will not see these people as the executives of major corporations, they will be working in the background through “friends” that they might have on the boards of directors, or through policy advisory groups that help determine institutional direction. These people are in it for the long run, they have far ranging plans and are willing to be patient in watching their plans come to fruition. They don’t want to exercise overt power because they know that figureheads eventually become scapegoats. And they don’t want absolute power because they realize that people are much more productive if they have at least the illusion of freedom.

They exercise political control only to the extent that they need to, and only indirectly. Their holding companies fund highly influential think tanks. These think tanks (policy making groups) are called upon by civic leaders to help decide on national agendas. Likewise, the wealthy corporations and groups which help fund the candidate’s elections also have a say in policy decisions. And when the candidate is elected, the people that he or she brings into his administration will naturally include those people from these corporations and groups, or be recommended by them.

These people are not going to call up some leader and tell them that they want such and such done. It is much more indirect than that. The people who work for those in control just make sure that the employees that are hired and eventually promoted up the ranks are the kind of people that think the way that these people would prefer them to think. These employees may not even know who is at the top of the food chain, they are just doing their job; making sure that their business makes the most profit possible for their investors. In other words, the leaders that these people support are going to be the ones that are already leaning their way.

Again, the agenda of these people is to maintain and increase their wealth. And they influence politics when it is convergent with this ideal.

Historically, these are not just some smart business executives that have grabbed a big piece of the pie through some stock deals. Instead these people are from very old families who have had and controlled a great deal of wealth over many centuries. They have always been involved in this kind of influence, but in the past it was more though the “old boy network”. It has been through the advent of the hugely successful system of the stock market that has given them the opportunity for even greater management of world affairs. With so many years of experience, they really know what they are doing: when and how to make their moves and when to stay their hand.

The situation in the Middle East threatens the economic interests of these people. They have substantial investments in the whole oil dependent economy. These investments are not only in the energy companies themselves, but also in automakers and the other vast industries, like shipping, which depend upon oil as the energy source. Lately, their influence in Middle East countries has been growing more tenuous. As Middle East countries swing more to the right in the fundamentalist sense, these people fear a scenario in which fundamentalist (anti-western) forces might gain control of the vast oil reserves of the region. Such control has the potential for the economic destabilization of the western societies, or at the very least severely impacting the profit margins of many of the companies they are invested in.

Their solution to this potential problem is to gain more control over a significant share of the oil resources in the region. That significant resource may be a country called Iraq. Unfortunately it may be really quite simple as far as some are concerned. Remove the current leader’s government and install the appropriate new government, which will be more favorable to western interests. But more importantly, assign the oil leases to western oil producers (out of the hands of the fundamentalist control).

Mind you, it is not that they need the oil in Iraq; there is still plenty of oil around elsewhere. What they need is the guarantee that if the region should shift politically, that the western economies will not be at the mercy of the radicals (and therefore, we would only be able to rely on oil from elsewhere). They will have an assured source of oil in the region as well as a western friendly government that they can count on there. So, all of this is just a strategic chess move on the big game board of the world that these oligarchs are playing. All the speeches about freeing a country from a tyrant and saving westerners from a menace is just window dressing to placate the public.

It is not the case that GW is one of these oligarchs. Nor is not the case that a Mr. Z calls up Geo. Jr. one day and says “I want you to invade a particular country next spring.” This all started years ago when GW was chosen as a political prospect, and coincidentally his views were in league with the overall agenda of these people. The advisors and the Washington think tanks were placed to affirm this strategic move as vital to the nations interests. It’s just been a matter of time till the current military action could be gotten around to.

Initiation, Guided, Trust

2007-06-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

This may be a little hard to explain, but let me try. I am being general here in these remarks just to give you an outline of what is going on.

There are many ways to practice, and they all can lead to direct realization. However, some practices are more intrinsic with the nature of the ultimate truth. Emptiness is one of these; it is a practice that you can realize locally and ultimately.

And then, there some practices that are more appropriate only to relevant truths. This accounts for the famous saying about leaving the raft behind once you have crossed the river. It is these later practices that can become “hindrances”, as you put it.

It is the former practices that are the more interesting ones to this discussion. In realizations of highest truth these practices still prevail, but in a strange way they morph into greater understandings, and become subsumed within this greater “framework” of the highest truth. Yet strains of their eminence can still be seen in the greater fabric of truth.

When one realizes one of these eminent truths as a continuous daily reality of their lives, then sitting-meditation becomes irrelevant because that person realizes the truth without that sitting-meditation formality. (We should all be so lucky).

It is not that they have given up sitting because it was a hindrance, but because direct awareness of the truth was a part of their daily lives whether they sat or not. Whether the people that some speak about have really attained this level of awareness, I can’t say.

On a final note, yes such a person could sit in meditation and go even deeper into knowing, however this is not the middle way. It is interesting, I think, to learn about the nature of truth through deep realization, but one can only do this so much.

After you explore a bit and go “there” repeatedly, it gets to be a bit old hat because you’ve learned what it is about. And if you would like to continue in such deep realizations, then I believe that you will be opting out of the physical space-time continuum. Which is certainly all right, its just not life here.

Payables and Receivables

2007-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

They call me the Kid
An I wana make it clear
I dint come here
Jus to drink the beer

I heard bout the Way
When I was a young lad
Now I practice steady
An you know I’m bad

Some boys fall for money
Some boys fall for sex
Some boys fall for drama
Dem boys all be wrecks

I tried the white powder
I tried the dope
I even tried religion
But da all made me mope

Then I heard a Bubba
He said ya gotta know
Theres notin to this trip
So jus let go

The Dharma is a way
An the Way is a road
A road that you travel
To ease the load

It isn’t very long
It isn’t very short
Whenever you doin it
You goin full court

I heard bout the Way
When I was a young lad
Now I practice steady
An you know I’m bad

A Lamentation

2007-05-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Having participated in similar groups, in the Zen tradition, I have seen both their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the great rewards is that it strengthens both the participant’s practice and their commitment to practice, through mutual expectations and shared group activity (meaning you’re more likely to practice diligently when you’re with a bunch of other people who are also trying likewise).

I think the biggest disadvantage is in the discussion session, because without a clear authority, its just a bunch of people giving their opinions (some less informed, others more informed) but all opinions having equal weight. In other words, there is no authority to say Joe Blow is right and Donald is a bit off track – everyone’s opinion is as valid as the next persons within the context of the discussion, (though not in their understanding of the Dharma unfortunately).

Having said that, I agree that the discussion side of the event is sometimes a strong factor in what draws people to the event. They want to not just sit in meditation, but to talk about the Dharma with someone who can answer their questions. You may find that the 15 min quickly becomes 45 min or more.

Having a priest around can be a mixed blessing. The problem in the Zen community is that understanding is integral with direct experience, and unfortunately just because someone is wearing a robe doesn’t mean they have had direct experience, yet they would be looked up to as an authority (qualified or not). This may not be such a problem in the Theravada tradition where the teaching is a bit more structurally organized.

Perhaps instead of you trying to answer peoples questions about the Dharma you could act more as a clearinghouse – directing people with questions to where (on the web or in books, for instance) that they could find the answers they seek. Perhaps they could share with the group during a following meeting what they’ve learned.

I visited a Tibetan School recently and overheard another visitor chatting with the person manning the front desk. The visitor then asked how to do a particular meditation practice. The person at the desk responded without skipping a beat: she merely said that she wasn’t qualified to teach that practice (end of discussion).

On the other hand, one of the most boring groups I ever attended was at a local Zendo, where the Centers Zen student cut off every question with the phrase “again, this is something that you have to talk to the abbot about.”

The Source of Our Heritage

2007-05-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

It seems that as part of our community ages, its members begin to confront the inevitable. The days of worrying about jobs and partners are fewer. And as the body grows less agile, the inevitability of death comes into focus.

But for me, I have to say that it’s been a little different. Early in the 1980’s I began to spontaneous have memories of many of my past lives. Not names and dates, but general locations and time periods and fleeting glimpses of moments in those lives and a general remembrances of the shape and content of each particular life. In a few of these remembrances, I have had some of the most vivid memories of the moment of my death in that particular life.

For instance, I can still picture the look on the drunk truck driver’s face as his truck hit me when I stepped off the curb as a little old retired school teacher in my last life. And a few other death memories come back to me in the sharpest detail from other past lives.

Frankly, through realizing so many lives and so many deaths, I am not afraid of death. But what does temper me is the preciousness of my life. All of the time I have invested in it; the work I have done so that I could continue it and experience this moment. The great commitments and the sacrifices that I have made, I would not care to try to do this again.

Therefore, I would not throw this life away lightly, nor thoughtlessly.

Solo Landing

2007-05-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

If you look around your area, you are likely to find two different kinds of Zen gatherings: Meditation groups, and Zen Centers. Meditation groups, or sitting groups, are likely to be quite informal – often just a group of people that like to practice meditation and want to do it with others. They may not have a teacher present at the group, or one member may be shouldering the job as the most knowledgeable person.

They might, in all likelihood, be meeting in one of the member’s living rooms. Zen Centers, on the other hand, are more established institutions where you are likely to encounter ordained members and you are able to take vows yourself. They are more likely to have a teacher who is teaching Zen as their livelihood. And the center is funded through community support.

You are probably going to find that there are two different kinds of Zen traditions that have made it to these US shores: Rinzai and Soto. Rinzai tends to take a more strict approach to the methodology of practice. While, in general, us Soto people tend to be a more libertine crowd. Soto schools are in more abundance, so you are more likely to find those kinds of centers than the Rinzai schools.

Zen Centers in the Soto tradition usually have periods for Zazen, meditation, in the early morning and the late afternoon, most days of the week. And these sittings are usually open to the public. Then, one day of the week, they frequently have a more extensive agenda when sitting is followed by a service (some chanting and bows), and then a Dharma talk, followed by a period of socializing where you can meet and talk with the other members.

These Zen Centers will probably have a day of the week when they hold an orientation for newcomers. (And it is often on the day when the Dharma talk is given.) During the orientation they should give you some basic guidelines and they will show you how to practice meditation.

Even if you already know how to practice meditation, it is worthwhile to take the orientation because you will at least know what the others there are doing. Otherwise, just follow along with what others are doing in the Zendo, the meditation hall, and you will be just fine. Remember, everyone will be more than happy to help you, as you would be to a newcomer when it is your turn help. By the way, I would be surprised if you met any Asians at any of the Centers in the US. So don’t worry about the language barrier. But leave your iPod in your backpack. :-)

Guided

2007-05-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wandering without a home
No place to go to, no place to leave.
In the mementos of my heart I find meaning
Left again, in the emptiness of the moment.

One Volume, Many Vessels

2007-05-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

If you’re planning on offing your self, then you really have nothing to lose by sticking around and seeing what happens in your life. That is, if you’ve given up, then you have nothing else to look forward to. And since you have nothing to gain, you have nothing to lose either by going along for the ride and seeing what happens. And you don’t know for sure either, maybe by sticking around you might learn something immensely important to you – through just experiencing the mess of your life.

Frankly, there are times in my life when I could have written the exact same words that you have posted. But hey, I’m still here. Taking it one day at a time.

Sure there is unbearable pain and sorrow, a wealth of despair and hopelessness. But you need to learn to swim through the muck of life with a light in your heart. In Buddhism we do this through practice: Actively aware of the muck of our lives, exhausted of it, eventually we grow weary of it and let it drop from our cares. (We don’t try to solve the muck, or figure a way out of it.) And in that moment’s emptiness we are renewed by the greater perspective we get from the ever-present reality of truth that transcends all of our little cares.

And in this way we learn, albeit sometimes slowly, that all that muck in our lives is not as overwhelming or important to us. We begin to learn about the source of that muck by watching it arise time and time again. And then we begin to be able to question the premise which that muck is based upon, because we can see it more objectively, not caught so overwhelming in the weight of its grasp.

But all this is from a step-by-step practice (one foot in front of the other, one day to the next), slowly realizing the way things are at the speed that the self can learn and absorb information, and transform its patterns through the process of trial and error.

I guess I didn’t explain correctly about the painting that I posted earlier. It was not an escape, a way to take my mind off my troubles. It was a meditation. That is I used painting as a way to actively engage in the awareness of my troubles, a vehicle for realizing them moment-to-moment fully in the present. I painted as I realized my burdens, “objectifying” them in a sense on the canvas, as we do in our lives.

The joy that you long for in your life in not unattainable, but it is not yours to relish now because you have some work to do in setting yourself straight in your life. Remember that the work you do now will make it possible for you to be open enough for love and joy to enter your life, without your holding obsessively onto it.

And when you do realize the higher truth of your existence, then in the joys that you find, you will be able to see that they don’t depend upon the state of such and such a relationship being present. But that they are a natural part of the splendor of the truth as it unfolds within your life.

The Elephant's Graveyard

2007-05-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

The journey of the heart may not seem swift or straight, but it is deep and filled with meaning.

In plumbing its depths we are brought face to face with not only our highest aspirations, but with the muddy track of life we tread, as well.

No one else can tell you what is in your heart, at best they can give you some tools for you to look there.

Discovering what lies in your heart is the first step on your journey and it will probably be the last step on your journey as well.

Hope this is helpful.

Dough Mix

2007-05-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

First off, I see two things here. One that many people just don’t see is how deeply passionate that we artists can be. We can get a head of emotion brewing in us on an average day that would overwhelm most people. And if we don’t feel this way about our work and what we are doing, our lives, then we feel a big let down. (What’s the point?)

The second thing that I see is that you’re working with the readers digest version of Buddhism. And frankly the simple lessons that you can get from this version will not satisfactorily answer your profound questions. I think that it might be helpful for you to look at it this way: it is not that Buddhism teaches us to have no attachments; it teaches us to not confuse those attachments with our identity, our true self.

The point is that the mercurial stream of life, our thoughts, passions, dreams, and despairs are always coming forth. Revealing the fabric of truth and the presence of our reality. Nirvana is not about ditching our reality for some non-being status, it is about seeing the “source” of all that is. And in that realization, we see the dance of life as it comes forth, knowing it, and in knowing it realize our own truth, our thusness. And in realizing that truth, we live the lives we are here to experience. For this is the truth as it is revealed in the light of this reality. Paint this light, because it is your own profound realization of the truth within you. And then, you not only know yourself, you know the deeper thusness of the greater reality. To have the gift to do this, as you do, is a sacred honor. To live it deeply, and at time without reason, is a great blessing. Honor your troubles for they reveal that which you need to learn.

At times when I am in deep despair and anger, I paint.

Elvis Sightings

2007-05-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

It is my impression that the Mahayana forefathers developed the idea of the bodhisattva as a response to a decline of Buddhism. With fewer and fewer people attaining enlightenment (decades after the passing of the Master Teacher), they needed to give practitioners something to shoot for if it seemed to them that it was unlikely that they would attain actual Buddhahood.

With a more easily attainable goal in hand (being a bodhisattva, if you couldn’t become a Buddha, i.e. fully enlightened) it gave practical reasons for people to continue with their practice, and it also gave them a moral framework that they could follow. If they couldn’t live life as a full-fledged Buddha (instinctively knowing what to do), then they could live life with the guidance of the way of the bodhisattva. With a framework of morals filling in where inner guidance lacked.

I don’t think of the eightfold path as being provisional. They are embodiment of the virtues of the Buddha, of the Truth. Rather than being a path to “something”, I see them as a realization of that “something” within the space-time realm.

Ben's Heaven

2007-05-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

"At times when I encounter a part of the dominant Western society which clearly goes against the Dharma, I feel a sense of alienation from this society."

Yes, I feel like I’m from another planet sometimes, watching the machinations of some strange civilization. Consider this, however. This society has great faults and also great achievements.

The problems are institutionalized within the society. You can’t point to any one specific thing and say that this is the cause of the problem because everything is so intertwined. Therefore, no one is completely free from quilt. We are all in this together. And we each must do our part to do the right thing as best as we can.

People may be incarnating into this life stream from many different backgrounds and for many different reasons. We don’t come here because this is Heaven; we come here to try to make it a heaven.

Of course because of the wide diversity, everyone has their own view of what heaven is. So we are all learning. Both as individuals and as a whole group. And while I cannot solve another’s problem by giving them my version of heaven (because each person has their own version that they must work with), I can encourage them and perhaps be an example to which they can relate to in their quest for heaven. Thus we proclaim the Dharma.

For me, if I empathize with another’s pain and longing, then I can bring to my view of them compassion and understanding rather than easy condemnation.

And, by the way, the potato and our Constitution are both Native American in origin. And while Native Americans are from the west, I myself, don’t consider them to be classical Western culture.

Which Way to Turn

2007-04-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

I think that I understand the dilemma that you are in. It sounds like you want to accept yourself, while at the same time your not sure that you like the self that you see. I can offer these two paths for you to consider.

I think that first you need to ask yourself if you feel that being a big person is how you just feel right. That is, some people feel naturally like themselves carrying more weight than the Vogue fashion magazines depict. Such people would not feel normal if they were skinny.

In my own case, I paint, I make art. I can imagine a world where I don’t make art, where I have a full time high paying career, or where I live the life of a monastic who is dedicated to serving others. But when I imagine myself stopping painting to devote myself entirely to either of these two pursuits, I just can’t see doing it. Making art is very important to me for some reason that I don’t really understand. It’s just part of the way I am, and I respect this.

There are things about us that we can imagine that our lives might be better if things were a different way, but they are really just part of how we are. I have learned this over the years that this is how art is for me. If this is how “being a bit chubby” is for you, than I say embrace yourself, this is just how you are. And don’t worry about acceptance; I have known plenty of big people who have devoted partners who really are very attracted to big people.

If on the other hand that you don’t naturally see yourself as a big person, then you have the other consideration that I have to give to you. Maybe the self that you need to accept is a self that is a little more difficult for you to accept. Maybe you need to accept that you have the type of body that needs to be exercised regularly in order to burn off the calories that it takes in during the course of a normal day.

I read in a great book on fitness by Dr. Bob Arnot that the body must consume more calories each day than it needs in order to get a sufficient amount of the nutrients that it needs. In other words dieting is not a long-term solution to weight loss because your body needs the food that you are trying to deny yourself. Therefore, the only realistic option is to do enough physical activity to burn off those calories. Sometimes we just need to accept that this is how things are: that we have to do some exercise in order to maintain our health.

If this is the case with your body, as it is for me with mine, then I suggest that you find some kind of exercise practice that you enjoy doing. It is surprising that many people don’t know how wonderful exercise can make them feel. Perhaps their only experience with exercise was with some boring high school phys ed. class, so they have no experience with how much fun, exhilarating, refreshing and clearing that a pleasant workout can be.

If you don’t already have an exercise practice that you really enjoy doing, then I have this warning. Before you start doing an exercise program bear this in mind: first find an activity that interests you and that you could see yourself enjoy doing; two, start out slowly (at first only 5 minutes might be all that you can comfortably do – and that’s ok – you’ll do more and more as time goes along); three, find an activity to do that is an aerobic activity (that means it gets your heart and breath rate going), so some things that are slower activities might not be a good choice.

Be wary of borderline activities that are fun but don’t burn calories unless you really push at them (like cycling, swimming, walking). Lot’s of the women that I know either take fitness classes, dance classes (belly dancing), martial arts, rowing, jogging, or enjoying music while on the treadmill at the local gym.

If you’re too embarrassed to go to a fitness class, take the chance anyway, because I think that you will find a lot of support there for what you are doing. Remember you are not trying to be an athlete. You are going out to enjoy yourself, just as you did when you were a child running around the house.

Take that same spirit of freedom and joy and enjoy your body’s life.

A Dozen Ways to Say "I Love You"

2007-04-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

When you’re ready to accept that you’re not a perfect person, and realize that you are who you are (with all your faults), then you will not continue this incessant battle with your self-esteem.

You will not have to worry about having high or low self-esteem because you will just be who you are. So grounded, you will meet other people who also have their own “faults” and you will be able to accept them as well, just as they are.

You’re right; no one will be able to give you the acceptance that you deny yourself (although you are never separated from the Highest Truth).

When you accept yourself as you are, then you have nothing to lose (except your time and your heart) in participating with others.

Skullfully

2007-04-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Once, I had been sitting for several hours, outside, over at the nearby university. I was sitting on a low wall, and leaning against the side of the large building. A little bird flew down and landed in front of me. It asked if it could sit upon my shoulder. (Don’t ask me how I knew this – it certainly didn’t speak.) I told it that it could do so. (And in the same manner, I don’t know how I did this – I certainly didn’t speak.)

Then it flew over to land on my shoulder. Unfortunately, I was not used to birds landing on my shoulder, and when its wings got close to the side of my head I became concerned that they might brush against my eyes. So I ducked to the side. The poor birdie fluttered in mid air for a few seconds, its perch (my shoulder) suddenly gone, and then flew to the ground, then flew off. I’m afraid that I wasn’t a very good host.

A couple of years later, I was again sitting for some hours over at the campus. I sat in just the same place as before. This time a dragonfly landed in front of me. Remembering my previous encounter, I invited the dragonfly to sit upon the front of my shirt. (Don’t ask me how I did this – I certainly didn’t speak.) However, it only felt comfortable enough to fly over and sit upon my arm.

We looked at each other amazed. It was iridescent blue, with delicate lacy wings. Its eyes bulged huge above its head. After awhile, I suppose we each were becoming a little bored with our mutual examinations, and I wondered if it might bite me. And then, I sensed that it wondered if I might bite it. Just then he flew away – choosing the more cautious course of action.

These moments truly are precious.

The Seven Winds

2007-04-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

I think that it is important to recognize that Zen is not a path to enlightenment, but a path of enlightenment.

To practice Zen is to practice the way, and that way includes realizing enlightenment. It is not some prize that you get only after decades of struggle. Realizing enlightenment occurs just as we are, whenever there is the practice of Zen.

I understand that it is easy to think that more is better. But this is not the way of Zen. It is better to know your true self, just as you are, than to search for some ideal that seems to be appealing, but after all, is not what you really are at one with.

The Emptiness of Zero

2007-04-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it might help if you realized that those “other people” are suffering just as much as you are. (Prejudice and intolerance are really just the outward faces of deep fear and insecurity.) Would you not offer them the same kindness, compassion, and understanding that you would want for yourself?

For me, the way of the Buddha is to follow the path of truth. And in the light of truth we see the emptiness of self. And in the emptiness of self, we see the emptiness of anger and fear (not that they don’t still grip you by the balls). But you go on one day at a time, and in practice (of the Buddha way) the ocean of emptiness washes over “you” again. And I find that in the Truth of the moment the way of understanding and compassion is realized.

Many years ago I did a bit of simple arithmetic. If I set out to “get even” with those who wronged me, then considering all the “wrongs” that modern society confronts us with, I would have to spend most of my life getting back at people. Since I could see little joy in a life filled with vindictiveness, I decided it would be better to just move on.

No Chance

2007-04-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

You have a choice to make. You can either have your questions answered or you can practice meditation. One or the other. If you choose to practice meditation, then you shall have to dump all of these questions into the trashcan: watch them come and watch them go – boom.

Secondly, if you try to have your questions answered you will be throwing away one of the greatest opportunities you can have: to learn about the truth with a fresh, unprogrammed mind. You would be giving up the chance to see the Truth as it presents itself, just as it is, learning about it, discovering it like another “world” just found. And this is the best way of seeing it – in fact, really the only way of knowing it.

No one can describe this to you because they would only be telling you their version of what they experienced, in words far removed from the actual experience itself.

And then, should you find what they told you, you would not be realizing the truth, you would be seeing just what someone told you was the truth. How could you know it was really the actual Truth or just the tale you had been told?

Knowing the highest truth is not like being a tourist with a travel brochure – be sure to catch the aurora borealis as you enter the infinite. It is a path of discovering yourself, your true self, and no one can tell you what that is like. That is something you will just have to find out.

Have patients and compassion for your self in your practice. It’s worth it.

Family Matters

2007-04-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Early in the 70’s, after I had had some profound experiences while practicing Zen, I sought out compatriots with whom I might take up residence – to find a mutually supportive group to practice with.

While I learned of, and visited several Zen Centers, they were all founded upon the protocol of the residents being under the dominion of the teacher. But, upon interview with said teacher, frankly there were several gaps in their understanding that even I could see (I’m trying to put this politely). Thus, I found no refuge in these sanghas.

Finally, Suziki-Roshi’s collected lectures were published. And, after reading them I felt that this would be someone in whose Center I might find refuge. Eagerly, I turned to the back of the book to see where he was located, only to learn that he had died a couple of years earlier. Although, I have dropped into the SFZC from time to time, I have somehow never had that same feeling about the place. I do have a lot of respect, though, for the place and what they are trying to do.

I’ve learned a lot from my successes. But, I’ve learned just as much, if not more, from my numerous failures.

The dharma reveals itself just as much on the path of the common man as it does the saint. Your only job is to witness its unfoldment while you traverse that path. Loving kindness, compassion, these must include your own self.

The Buddha Way is not something that we attach ourselves to, like it was a rock. It’s really more like a way to remind ourselves of our true nature. And it’s in the truth of the self that Way is lived.

The Meaning of the Eternal

2007-04-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

My journey with art began about 40 years ago when, as a child, I received my first drawing set. My deep interest in practicing art, however, has been subsumed by an even greater interest in the path of my spiritual practice, which is Zen. Thus my life has been a mixture of these two, sometimes coinciding, sometimes colliding. Sometimes I manage to do one or the other, sometimes both, and sometimes neither.

My greatest joy is in working with oils. However, given the demands on my time, my production of pieces over the decades has not been numerous. It’s been more of a slow steady work. I use traditional painting techniques, but shun formalist stylings.

Owing to the very spiritual nature of my work, I prefer to begin my practice of art with an invocation. It goes something like this:

Dear Gods and Goddesses,
Angels and Muses,
Of Art and of Painting.
Please bless this work today.
Please bless this studio,
Please bless these tools and materials,
Please bless these pieces,
Please bless this Artist and this activity,
And please bless this website.
Bless us with talent and ability,
Bless us with strength and courage,
Bless us with wisdom and knowledge,
And all the other wonderful things that you so generously give.
Thank you for all that you have given in the past,
And for all that you will give in the future.
It is very appreciated.

Can Do

2007-04-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

I would just like to say that as we grow up we find that there are some things we can do and that there are some things that we are just not cut out to do.

Sometimes we are not cut out to do exceptional things like being a pro athlete, and while we might harbor a lingering dream throughout life about how great it would have been to be/do such and such, quietly within ourselves we know that it just wasn’t going to be and we learn to be ok with that, we’ve learned to accept ourselves as we are.

But, sometimes the thing that we are not cut out to do is something that almost everyone else does, something so commonplace that most people take it for granted as being a normal part of life. And yet, for whatever reason it’s something that we cannot do. And the sooner we face the reality of our situation, the better off we will be, because then we can get on to dealing with the parts of life that we are able to work with.

Happily for most people, they can have a few drinks and then say that’s enough. A few might frequently get shit faced, perhaps out of boredom or because they are disgusted with life or themselves. Let’s face it, facing the challenges and disappointments of life is not easy.

A Dozen Less One

2007-04-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Well I’m glad you got your priorities in order the message I hear is: Buy, buy, buy.
So much of today’s pop music reminds me of the backdrop for commercials, I don’t know if I’m hearing a song or a commercial.

Do you get to read Drogzen poetry on the air? Do you get to play your favorite Tibetan chants?

Yeah I know, entertainment: This is the entertained generation. I would bet that the only sensibilities that the artists you listed have, are no sensibilities.

There is no deeper guiding light in their lives that illuminates their direction in life. Thus they have no other recourse but to echo the same business line: Buy, buy, buy; have fun; don’t worry if your life seems empty and void of meaning; you can always get more stuff.

I just don’t see much difference in government (whether its Republicrate or Demorican) and big business. And frankly, I don’t get this “eco<-->dialog” thing (nor the “capitalist<-->commie” thing, for that matter). Do you sincerely believe that the majority of the media do not put out the basic message that business wants us to hear?

For me it’s about deep listening. Listening with compassion, hearing the pain that another may be in. Listening with patience, knowing that we cannot solve their problems for them. Listening with encouragement, that their greater reality will shine forth in their life in the way that they understand, in the way that they need.

I guess for some people religion is their path to the Highest Truth. For others, religion is the path that Highest Truth takes to enter our hearts, our lives.

As a younger man, I admit, I had dreams of saving people, helping the world. And I thought: if only people lived The (Buddha) Way, how much happier they would be. How foolish I was.

Now, not necessarily any wiser, I just try to treasure each person and their vision of life that they have for themselves. Prajna is a greater wisdom that I shall ever possess, but perhaps it’s in the beauty of our foibles that we are lead through its grace.

The Transformation

2007-04-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

A big part of your problem here is that you seem to be working with a number of people who have quite a few prejudices, about both life and people. Apparently, they have this idealized vision of what life and people are suppose to be like, and whatever doesn’t fit in with that vision is wrong.

Such people believe that we are all suppose to have a body that works a certain way, that we are all suppose to have productive lives – preferably with jobs, I imagine – and that we are all suppose to live to be a certain age. And whatever doesn’t meet their model of what life and people are “suppose” to be like is viewed as being less than normal.

Perhaps some think that not being normal is just a tough break, while others see it as being bad, or a punishment from God (because of sin) or from Karma (because of evil done in a past life). But, they all have the same vision in mind: this is not how a person is suppose to be. And, as I say, such a view is prejudiced, short sighted, and narrow-minded.

There are several different situations that I would like to talk about briefly. Some mention people born with handicaps and jump on the “punishment” bandwagon right away. Whereas I can think of many good reasons why someone might be born with a handicap. For instance, someone who is just embarking upon a series of human lives might be frightened of such a momentous undertaking, so they might prefer to watch life from the sidelines just to get the feel of it and to see how its done. They might choose to be just cared for, feeling that they are not ready yet to leap into action.

Or, another person in the similar disabled situation might have led a former life that was very active – perhaps having done many beneficial things – and may need to take a break and lead a much less active life. They might still want to be around but unable to do much – a sort of forced vacation.

Another person in the same situation may have spent a good part of a former life caring for others and may want a life where they are the one being cared for, for a change.

Another might have so much energy, ambition and drive that they need a handicap to slow them up.

I don’t see any of these situations involving punishments from a previous life. I see them as showing that people have free will to lead the lives that are important and meaningful for them. And unless you hold up an arbitrary ruler to them that says they must be this way or that, they seem like very acceptable, valid, worthwhile lives to me.

You see, when you have the option of having more than one life, you can choose to devote a life to a great and challenging learning experience because in the next life you can do something completely different.

Some inevitably mention the case of the little boy who died too young. Please understand that not everyone wants to grow up or grow old. Again, this may have been someone who is just getting the feel of what physical life is about. They may have just wanted to test the waters and then get out and evaluate things before going for a longer life.

This may have been someone who came to deliver a message, perhaps to the parents. Message having been delivered, the child may not have wanted to stay around, with all the great work that life requires. Who knows, it may have been a very important message for all that it involved.

This is my own story from when I was in a similar situation. (I have memories of several of my lives. A number of them were in the Far East.) After several lives in succession in which I was a samurai (really, little more than a poor gangster with a sword), I really wanted to have a life of wealth and position, so I arranged to be born to a rich nobleman.

My father dotted over me quite a bit, he loved me tremendously. While I had all the toys to play with that a child could want, as I went along I could see that I was being groomed to be in the position of a nobleman. I could see that I would be playing a role in life; in short I would have very little freedom, always having to curb my activities to conform to my position of nobility. True I would be wealthy, but I would not be free.

At about eleven years old I bailed, I couldn’t go through with it. My father had bought me a pony. I went out riding, got thrown, and my neck was broken, I died instantly. I did not consciously try to die; it was an accident that just happened. (Still, in this life I am uneasy about horses.) I was the heir and my father was utterly heartbroken to have lost me. I felt very bad about the whole thing, but I just couldn’t go through with it. I am truly sorry for the grief I caused him. But, so you see, there may be many reason why the young shall die when they do.

If you believe that we are only these egos that inhabit fleshy containers, then I don’t think you will able to appreciate a deeper truth. But, if you can allow that we are more than these little egos whose identity we assume temporally as we take on physical life, then you must allow that this greater personality may have greater purpose for its human life than just making its ego happy.

And this greater overall purpose might include accepting challenges that are difficult, unpleasant and undesirable. Situations that no ego would want to choose, but would grow from, to become a greater person through the experience. Rather than think we are being punished when bad things happen to us, I think that it is a call to look deeper into our lives.

Sometimes we are just stopped from going further on a particular life course because we may have lost the thread of what is important for us learn in our life. Sometimes we have drawn situations and events to us that cause us grief, and we need to reflect upon our actions to understand how we are causing our own misery. But we have to allow for pain that a greater good might flourish. Some us have to go through the winter in our life in order to find the spring. I think that if we would have faith, it would be that we can and will rise to the challenges that we face.

Some of us are working with superheroes. Those people who have taken on some of the most difficult challenges that one can take on in human life. And not only must they battle with the limitations of their physical condition. They must also battle with fear, regret, self-loathing and rejection. The realm of the mind. And this is where the true battleground is laid, because their own ideas are the ones they must face and win over.

This is the heart of Buddhist practice: to realize your karma, those ideals that you cling to, and to realize the truth of freedom that transcends your little ideas. And so, for your clients, the karma that they need to transcend is not their physical limitations, but the limitations in their minds. Those ideas of selfworthlessness that they are clinging to are what bring them so much pain.

I don’t means to explain all of the horrific situations that we find on this planet. I have just been trying to give you a few examples of the greater dimensions of reality that might contribute to a few particular situations. To show you that you mustn’t presume that someone’s past or future is due to any blind payback mechanism churning out punishment.

I would say from my own experience, that when you realize the Highest Truth, you don’t experience something menacing vengeful or cruelly /coldly metering out merit and demerit. Rather, if you are open, you realize that which is profoundly beautiful, wise, and supportive. Beyond comprehension as love is beyond comprehension. Nurturing in its outlook, and understanding in its grace. Our penchant to explore every aspect of our rightful freedom, and its loving acceptance of our choice to do so, does not test it, but only bestows greater wisdom and compassion to its beauty.

The Five Reappear

2007-04-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

I find the aspirations expressed by some authors congruent with the tradition of Theravada Buddhism view of anatta to be quite to the point as a response to the continual repetition of the “there is no self” message.

However, it has been my experience that what some are discovering is the phenomena of emptiness. And believe me, this is very powerful ju ju.

I would like to explain it this way, if you would indulge me. There is really no solid, tangible, physical world. What we perceive are atoms and molecules dancing around. Indeed are physical bodies are made of this stuff.

But really, atoms and molecules are made of even less tangible stuff, little sparks of electricity, if you will, with lots of empty space in between these little charges. In short, we are perceiving a physical reality which is really no more that a show of energy dancing on a stage of emptiness.

When, through meditation practices, the mind has been calmed sufficiently, and you let the dialog of thoughts drop away, to not rise again, then one begins to experience the physical realm as it really is. That is, you become aware of all this empty space within which the dance of the electricity of atoms occurs. The awareness of this emptiness is quite palpable. And you can be aware of it within your body as well as outside of it. One has the distinct awareness that their body is empty.

The other thing that occurs when the mind is this calm is a bit more like a psychological trick. As human beings we are very used to seeing ourselves, perceiving ourselves, as solid physical forms, not as emptiness. So when suddenly one is aware that their physical form is empty, then their ordinary view of their self is interrupted. In fact it seems as if there is nobody there.

That is, the body is perceived as being empty, as if there is nothing there at all. And the perception is then, that there is no self there. (This psychological trick is helped immensely by the mind being calmed. Because the normal flow of thoughts is interrupted, there is no longer an I/me dialog going on that one can relate to as being the self either.)

In Zen we talk about no-self and no-mind. And what we are doing in these instances is affirming this phenomenon, that there is this perception of no self and mind. And this is a very beautiful, free and wonderful way of living.

But then, we also talk about big self and big mind to affirm that there is more than meets the eye, as it were. And that is the other side of the story. Because the awareness of no-self doesn’t mean that there is no self, it just means that the self is not what you thought it was. And realizing this true self; ah!, there’s the rub.

Nine Protections

2007-04-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

“Are we discussing Buddhism or is this just a game of one-upmanship?”

I give this a 3 out of 10, but your enthusiasm is good. Please keep trying.

When you “know” Reality, it is no longer “knowing”. It becomes something else. It is, then, becoming.

“abstinence is one of the truest forms of sexual morality”

Buddhism is not a do-it-yourself kind of thing.

This is the Jack-in-Box of Buddhism. May I have your Koan please? Life reveals itself in due course, me’ bucko.

“based upon and mired in duality is a samsaric being trapped in samsara.”

Interesting, but how do you know all this. How can you be so certain that your not Buddha, and what you see are your projections upon him?

I do have a very simple type of temple bell hanging out in front of my little cottage. (I got it at a clearance sale for a great price.)

But, I can only think of how the neighbors would feel if I was out there ringing away, at midnight, one hundred and eight times. I don’t think that I would be on their best-friends list for awhile after that.

Awakening together would be an apt phrase.

I would like to add that yes, it is very important to my own practice to make uncertainty a byword with what I learn. That is, in the sense that: Yes I have experienced this, but perhaps there is more to learn about it, more to know, perhaps I am just seeing my own baggage. Thus I practice to know it. Open to whatever is revealed to me, yet thinking that it’s not the answer, but that which, for the moment, I realize.

Undifferentiated Terrain

2007-04-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

I guess our experience is a little bit different from one another. You are saying that your experience of true-self is that it is everything, and everything is it. This is frankly, not my experience. While I would not say that true-self is something separate from everything, I would not say that it is everything either.

In the emptiness of this no-self that you have found, what is there? Is it just awareness? Is it the everything that you mention?

In the midst of this nothing, is all that you find merely the awareness that is undifferentiated in its ceaseless knowing? In the precious moment of all, is there nothing that survives, and if something does what is it? You are a gifted, but is your vision only of the emptiness of concepts and the blackness of conception-less?

The true self that I write about is neither the self that is no-self, nor is it the self that seems to be that which is everything. Nor is it the self that comes with the knowing of pure awareness, nor is it other.

My gift to you then, is merely that which you may be aware of within the emptiness of the moment, the truth is not other, nor the same, nor is it hidden. That is the most I can say. And if this is already “apparent” to you, please then, excuse my presumption into the pristine-ness of your knowing.

When there is that which, known as true-self, is realized, the way floods forth into one’s life. And the emptiness of conception-less is illuminated by the light which appears with the knowledge of the unseeable. That which we know every day and every moment that manifests in this that we call life.