Power Lunch

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

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

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

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

"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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.