Buddhism began with Siddhārtha Gautama Shakyamuni. History tells us he was
born a prince 2500 years ago, son of the King Śuddhodana. His father wished him to be
shielded from religion and human suffering to become a great king. He married at
sixteen and had a son himself. The story goes that at twenty nine he ventured
beyond the palace walls and came upon old age, sickness, death, and asceticism.
He wished to know more, so left his family and future to study with meditation
masters. Unsatisfied with their teachings, he and friends gave up all
possessions and pleasures to find inner satisfaction.
At
thirty five he nearly starved himself to death through personal deprivation in
search of enlightenment. Siddhartha is said to have taken milk and rice pudding
from a village girl and realized that neither extreme of sensual pleasures nor
deprivation was the path he sought. I prefer the story in which he saw a
musician playing an instrument and realized that we must follow the middle
path, as the string cannot be either too loose or too tight to function
properly. This was the basis of his enlightenment as he saw into the depth of
suffering and realized that attachment to desires was the cause and letting go of the attachment
and leading a virtuous life was the solution.
He wandered
India teaching for forty five years. The Buddha's final words are reported to
have been: "All composite thing are perishable (impermanent). Strive for
your own liberation with diligence." According to tradition, the Buddha
emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned everyday notions of
divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind
and the divine; gods are subjected to karma themselves and the Buddha is only a guide and teacher for
beings who must tread the path of enlightenment themselves to attain the
spiritual awakening and
understand reality.
The Buddhist
system of insight and meditation practice is not claimed to have
been divinely revealed, but to spring from an understanding of the true nature
of the mind, which must be discovered by following the path guided by the
Buddha's teachings. What follows is my personal understanding of Buddhist
wisdom culled from my years of study from books, videos, teachers, meetings,
and my own personal experience of life.
A note on Theism:
Buddhism has no God. Although many Buddhists pray, there is no entity that is
all power, knowledge and presence. Such
a higher power could easily be seen as refuge, or savior to rescue us from our
troubles we may come to be dependent upon. Without this, we are somewhat naked
and forced to relate to ourselves as is, on our own personal experience.
Buddhists do take refuge, but it is in the Buddhas (enlightened ones or teachers),
the dharma (teachings) and the sangha (community), The closest things
to a god I have found is alaya, which
translates to home, as in Himalaya; the home of snow, and the yidam deities of Vajrayana. These
deities are "personifications of your particular nature."
I find the most
important and foundational problem of life to be a lack of understanding of our
own personal experience. I call this "PPPS.". We tend to think what
happens in our life is personal, permanent, pervasive (our whole life), and
serious. This entity that is self is the root of most of our problems. A favorite Zen saying of mine is "I am -
the cause of all misery." The Buddhist solution that I find very effective
is dismantling this small and scared self and realigning with greater good and
higher law, the "One Self." My favorite way of achieving this is
through the five aggregates.
First,
dismantling the small self. This is very important because many people fear
anything that is an "ism," especially if they are followers of
another "ism." But Buddhism is simply about understanding the self,
the egoic or false self in particular, that we may find the "True
Self." We simply seek to understand the self that we may abandon this
small and think and do what is best for all. The Buddhist self is called
"atman," and the goal: "non-self," is called
"anatman."." Perhaps the "three prisons" are me,
myself, and mine.
The Five
Aggregates or Heaps:
1. Form or
Matter. Externally this is the world and all creation, personally it is our
bodies and sense organs in particular.
2. Sensations,
Feelings, or Emotions. We experience these as pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant.
3. Perceptions,
Distinctions, Discriminating Awareness. Occurs when something is recognized
just as it is prior to thinking such as the sight of a tree, the sound of a
bell, or the taste of sugar.
4. Thoughts,
Ideas, Opinions, Beliefs, etc. "Mental Formations" we have created to
understand ourselves, our lives, and our world.
5.
Consciousness, Cognizance, or Discernment. The over-riding system that
processes and organizes all of the information of our thinking and experience.
The great
importance and value of the aggregates is a much better understanding of how we
operate on so many levels. When we have a good understanding of how we work,
how we make an identity of the "PPPS" experience of life we can disassemble
it and let it go. Life really isn't PPPS, we just thought it was! A modern example
is the computer: if you unhook the monitor, the processor, the keyboard, the
mouse, the wi-fi, and the printer, where is the computer? The wi-fi, keyboard,
and mouse are the sense organs that collect information (input), the monitor
images (imagines) the information and the processor processes information
(thinks) like the mind, and the wi-fi and printer communicate the information
to others either through words or actions like the body. Like us, the computer
is an entity that consists of the sum of its parts, so is lost when
disassembled.
Another
way out of the small self is Dependant
Origination (Oneness/Interbeing), or how everything is connected. From Thic
Nhat Hanh: "For a table to exist, we need wood, a carpenter, time,
skillfulness, and many other causes. Each of these causes needs other causes to
be. The wood needs the forest, the sunshine, the rain, and so on. The carpenter
needs his parents, breakfast, fresh air, and so on. Each of those things, in
turn, has to be brought about by other causes and conditions. If we continue to
look in this way, we'll see that nothing has been left out. Everything in the
cosmos has come together to bring us this table. Looking deeply at the
sunshine, the leaves of the tree, and the clouds, we can see the table. The one
can be seen in the all, and the all can be seen in the one."
This
is good reason to let go of our small and scared self and connect with the big
picture of greater good and higher law. It allows a peace, quiet, and calmness
to come into our lives as we connect to all creation through-out all time and
space in true at-one-ment. This practice
and awareness leads to the possibility of breaking the chains of suffering and
finding the total freedom of Nirvana
which translates as "to blow out". What are we blowing out? All
preconceived notions of this personal, permanent, serious ME binding us to
limiting opinions, ideas, and beliefs that keep us trapped in a hell of our own
making.
I find this to
be of great value and comfort. Life is not really all about me. Through this
liberating new awareness or "enlightenment" our world is turned
upside down unto "we." Only then can we be truly of service in the
world. Next we will explore in depth "The Three Poisons" that cause
us so much suffering when we are caught in their grip.
The Three
Poisons:
1. Attachment
(Desire/Passion/Greed): is often translated as desire, but the problem isn't
wanting something, rather an extreme attachment to that desire. If we translate "de" to "of,"
and "sire" to "father" then desires become God given, and
so virtuous. Trouble ensues when we become self righteous about them and make
other people and things wrong. I want to get eight hours sleep, but if I don't
it is much wiser to accept that reality and do the best I can rather than
become upset.
2. Aversion
(Anger/Aggression/Hatred): is the "don't want" side. I like to finish
work on time, but if I get angry because I'm stuck later it is poisonous for me. I have kicked and
thrown things in a fit of rage, hating my company, bosses, and job at times. A
very illuminating aspect of this problem is becoming aware of aversion at the
low level of annoyance, irritation, and aggravation before it escalates. This
level is so common we consider it normal and justified, but it is a slippery
slope and fast slide into a living hell of our own making.
3. Ignorance
(Confusion/Bewilderment/Delusion): is 1. When we just don't care, and so ignore
opportunities or suffering in ourselves, others, and the world. 2. We don't
quite know what we are thinking or feeling so just spin around uselessly in our
heads and life dazed and confused. 3. We "mistake a rope for a snake"
or similar delusions where we are making decisions based on wrong information
or misunderstandings.
Together these
three cause a multitude of problems. Understanding and identifying how they
work in our lives and world is HUGE. They also play into the next topic and
foundational principle of the "Four Noble Truths" where we look into
our personal suffering in order to come out the other side a fully functioning,
virtuous person, ready to do our very important part in the world.
The Four Noble
Truths:
1. The problem of life is it has suffering.
This is usually stated as life is
suffering, but that statement tends to skew life towards suffering, inferring
there is little else. It is true, life is suffering, but life is love, joy, and
well being as well. Therefore, I don't take suffering or well being as seriously
as I used to so now enjoy the Buddhist quotes: "Stand up in praise of your
misery!" and "suffering is not enough!" The point is that we
can't eliminate problems, difficulties, and unpleasantness from our lives
completely or have things the way we want all the time.
This is why it
is said: "there is no cure for hot and cold." Extreme heat or cold
can be unpleasant, even deadly, but it isn't personal. This is also why we hear
"pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." We too often
consider the facts of life such as pain, hot, cold, and other situations as
negative when they are in fact neutral. It is our own beliefs and opinions of
these facts that overlays suffering onto them. This is just as true for
"positive" things like good health, prosperity, and others, as
attachment to these can be just as painful when lost.
2. The cause
of suffering is excess concern for self, or ego. Ego
in this sense is selfish, meaning deeply personal. This is manifested through "the three
poisons" or unwholesome roots of attachment, aversion, and ignorance.
Ignorance (Confusion/Bewilderment/Delusion) is the foundational principle as we
take our thinking, bodies, others, and the world much to concretely and
seriously (see Aggregates above). This sucks us into extreme desire for what we
want and hatred for what we don't want (i.e. attachment and aversion).
A
classic example is the monkey trap. If you tether a jar with a small opening to
a tree and put a piece of fruit inside a monkey will grab hold of the fruit but
can't get it's hand out because the opening is too small. The monkey will allow
itself to be captured rather than let go of one small piece of food. Like the
monkey we become attached to comfort, possessions, ideas, and other things,
clinging to them even unto death.
3.
The cure is awareness and surrender.
We can let go. This is called "cessation of suffering." When we
realize the origin of suffering as our own beliefs, we create an opening or
opportunity for freedom and choice. This is usually done through meditation by
taming, training, and transforming the mind, more about that further on. Here
is where we learn that "loss/gain, shame/fame, praise/blame,
pleasure/pain, all same."
4.
The Eightfold Path:
1.
Right View (Perspective/Outlook/Understanding): is seeing life and the world as
it really is, not through rose colored glasses, or a glass darkly. Either one
is overlaying our belief systems and opinions over the true and neutral nature
of life. Right view is clarity, is wisdom, and an understanding of life that
colors all the other paths leading to a full, rich, and virtuous life. Thic
Nhat Hnah also advises refraining from a closed mind, rather, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce
fanaticism and narrow-mindedness, and do
not avoid looking at suffering.
2. Right Intention (Thought/Resolve/Aspiration):
is renouncing worldly things and ill
will in favor of greater good, non-violence, and harmlessness. It seems an
intention, dedication, and commitment we
resolve towards prior to setting out. A predisposition towards what is right,
right from the start. Thic Nhat Hnah advises not to maintain anger or
hatred, rather to transform them into compassion.
3.
Right Speech: is refraining from false, abusive, divisive speaking and idle
chatter. Speaking what is factual, true, beneficial, uniting, endearing,
agreeable, and timely. Thic Nhat Hanh calls it "loving speech," a
truly fitting addition as love entails compassion, forgiveness, kindness,
authentic presence, and caring for others. Hanh also advises not to criticize
or condemn what you are unsure of.
4.
Right Actions or Conduct: are refraining from warring, killing, stealing, and
sexual abuse. Also working to end social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice. Thic Nhat Hanh also advises
to: avoid controlling others, not to seek fame, wealth, or sensual pleasures,
rather to live simply and share time, energy, and resources. Be in touch with
what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and
understanding. Make every effort to resolve all conflicts. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it
with respect. Do not look on your body only as an instrument. Preserve vital
energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. And lastly, sexual
expression should not take place without love and commitment.
5. Right Livelihood: means not to engage in
trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm for
others, all life, and our mother earth. Also being honest and ethical in
business, not to lie, cheat, or steal.
6.
Right Effort (Endeavors, Diligence): is efforts to abandon all wrong and
harmful thoughts, words, and deeds. Instead persisting to give rise to what is
good and useful to ourselves and others in thoughts, words, and deeds, without
concern for the difficulty involved.
7.
Right Mindfulness (Awareness/Attention): Do not lose yourself in
distractions, rather, be aware of the present moment. Constantly keeping our
minds alert to phenomena that affect the body and mind, making sure not to act
or speak due to inattention or forgetfulness.
8.
Right Concentration or Meditation: can
be developed through mindfulness, visual objects, and through recalling or
repeating phrases (mantras) until every everyday experience is meditation.
The Four
Immeasurables: I mention these because many people are enmeshed in anger,
negativity, shaming, blaming, and violence. To counteract these poisons it may
be helpful to meditate on these virtues instead. I must caution however, that
suffering must be meditated upon as well, brought to light and resolved (pull
the weeds) for these to take root and flourish well.
1. Loving-Kindness: the hope and
wish that all persons and beings, without exception, be happy.
4. Equanimity: learning to
accept loss and gain, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and shame. All with equal detachment, for oneself
and for friend, enemy, or stranger.
Three Seals or Marks of Existence: These are here because they are just so darn important and
will come up in reading and conversations, so it may be helpful to have an
understanding of them.
1. Impermanence: refers to the fact that all conditioned thing are in a
constant state of flux. In reality there is nothing that ultimately ceases to
exist; only the appearance of a thing ceases as it changes from one form to
another. water, sun, and earth react with seeds to become trees to grow and die
and become water, dust, and earth. So too with life situations, as all arise,
display, and dissolve.
2. Suffering or Unsatisfactoriness: Nothing found in
the physical world or even the psychological realm can bring lasting deep
satisfaction. Please remember though,
life "has" suffering and dissatisfaction, not "is"
suffering and dissatisfaction. The only way I can deal with this sad truth is to say that the game is worth it
with all its ups and downs. The "playing field" of life is going to
see victories and failures, triumph and tragedy. I consider it much better to
"get in the game" than sit on the side lines, playing it safe,
watching, as others enjoy plying whether they win or lose.
3. Non-self: I started out with
this (see five aggregates above) as I find it the most basic, problematic, and
transformational of all Buddhist teachings. Even our bodies were built to
create separation as we differentiate between this and that with our
"stereoscopic" senses of two eyes and ears. We see and hear things as
separate and it starts a pattern that colors everything we think and believe.
The most foundational being me as different and separate from you and
everything else.
There are actually two
antidotes. The first is disassembling the self as in the five aggregates, and
the other is in dependant origination or emptiness. Emptiness can also be
thought of as "empty of any separate self," that everything is
connected intimately and infinitely in an intricate and all encompassing web of
oneness (Indras web). You also saw that above in Tich Nhat Hanh's description
of dependant origination. I could go on but it all comes together as you will
see.
Next up, Karma, the "cosmic
cashier." Perhaps cosmic accountant
is more precise, as karma supposedly keeps an account of all our deeds, mental
and physical. This is how karma is generally regarded, as something we have, as a baggage of sorts. I prefer to
think of karma as something we do,
"instant karma" as John Lennon sang. This applies to my view of
rebirth also, moment to moment, rather than lifetime to lifetime.
With this view, what we do is
very important, as our "states" (also mental or physical) become
"traits," as actions become habitual. The ripples of our actions then
spread out to others and the world ripples from a stone tossed into a pond.
These ripples come not only from us, but to us, also from others and the world.
Should we poison our world or relationships, these too will come around to
haunt us one way or another, as it is sometimes said; "time wounds all
heals."
Next we will cover the three main schools, or
Yanas (vehicles) of Buddhist
practice and some of their terms: Hinyana; the older or lower school, Mahayana;
the newer or higher school, and Vajrayana; the indestructible vehicle. We begin
with what is: our basic goodness as well as our addictions and dysfunction. All
quotes are from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche unless noted.
1. The Hinayana path: provides the framework practices of Shila discipline,
Samadhi meditation, and Prajna wisdom:
Shila:
"That which cools off neurotic heat" translates as discipline or
ethics. Here one stabilizes one's self. For example with sitting meditation we
visualize ourselves as a tree or mountain solid and serene. "We follow the
Buddha's example so that our state of mind becomes workable."
Samadhi: With a
foundation of shila discipline, we practice samadhi
(meditation). There are two basic types of meditation. We first practice
Shamathha calming, stillness, tranquility meditation, then Vipasyana insight or
clear seeing meditation. Meditation acts to slow and simplify our lives,
learning to "be" rather than always doing or having (acquiring).
The most basic style of meditation is to focus our
perception (not thinking) of the breath while sitting or walking quietly to
bring us out of thinking and into perceiving the body. This has the quality of
stabilizing or restraining our emotions, addictions, etc. This helps build
emotional and meditative health as we become kinder, gentler, friendlier and
more accepting and authentic.
With practice we eventually relax our anxieties and drama to
find peace and calm. This Trungpa calls "cool boredom" as we become
"in tune with the power of the practice." Here we also develop
empathy for ourselves, forgiveness for our transgressions, caring for our inner
child, and enjoyment of ourselves as we are.
Prajna: With a
solid foundation of shamatha, prajna discriminating awareness (transcendent
knowledge, or wisdom) arises. This is the power and presence needed to cut
through ego and the suffering it causes.
2. The Mahayana path of Bodhicitta: "Bodhi" translates as
awakened and "citta" as heart or mind, so bodhicitta is the enlightened heart and mind of awakening and
compassion. Persons who follow this path whole heartedly are known as bodhisattvas.
What are you waking from? The three poisons: passion,
aggression, and ignorance or delusion. It is the "natural state of
being awake, tender, and genuine. That which combines spaciousness, sympathy,
and intelligence; or shunyata
(emptiness) compassion and knowledge. The basis of being awake and open. In
order to be exposed to prajna (wisdom),
you have to understand that it is not worth struggling, that you have to give
up ego fixation.
In order to be exposed to empathy or compassion, you have to
give up territoriality, possess- iveness, and aggression." As we tame our
minds through the meditation practice and other disciplines in daily life
"the possibility of further learning is taking place." Our true
nature manifests as "some kind of gap, some discrepancy in our state of
being that allows basic sanity to shine through."
Bodhcitta: Has
two aspects; absolute and relative bodhicitta which are illuminated in the
lojong mind training slogans:
Absolute bodhicitta: 1.
Regard all life as a dream; although
experiences may seem solid, they are passing memories. 2. Examine the nature of
unborn awareness. 3. Self-liberate even the antidote. 4. Rest in
the nature of alaya, the
essence, the present moment. 5. In post meditation, be a child of illusion.
Relative bodhicitta: 1. Sending
and taking should be practiced alternately (practice Tonglen). These two should
ride the breath. 2. Three objects, three poisons, three roots of virtue -- The 3 objects are
friends, enemies and neutrals. The 3 poisons are craving, aversion and
indifference. The 3 roots of virtue are the remedies. 4. In all activities,
train with the lojong slogans. 4. Begin the sequence of sending and taking with
yourself.
Tonglin: In the practice, one visualizes
taking onto oneself the suffering of others on the in-breath, and on the
out-breath giving happiness and success to all sentient beings. As such it is a training in
altruism. One starts with oneself then extends out to loved ones, friends,
acquaintances, strangers, neutral persons, then enemies.
Basic
Goodness: "Exploring the reality of our mind further, we
discover that the basic state of our existence is fundamentally good, something
that we can rely on. It is the natural state of virtue or goodness of the
alaya-the level of consciousness that is the basis of all experience."
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche "There is room to relax, to open up. It is the
basis of the possibility of absolute bodhicitta."
3. The Vajrayana path:
is "the indestructible diamond path of sacred outlook".
"We learn how to respect our world. We realize that
this particular world we live in is not an evil world, but filled with
sacredness altogether. We learn to develop a sacred outlook... (That) stems
from the experience of mindfulness-awareness practice. Sacred outlook is not
only about thinking that everything is good; it is the absence of imprisonment.
You begin to experience freedom that is intrinsically good... unconditionally
free. The vajra world you are entering is basically good, unconditionally free,
fundamentally glorious and splendid."
The Vajrayana journey incorporates the other vehicles as it
focuses and gathers energy from Hinayana extending it out in Mahayana unto full
manifestation without hesitation. Through a solid, sacred outlook it is the
vehicle of Upaya skilful means to be
truly helpful and of service. The practice is expansive, fresh, sacred of
boundless space. It is luminous, vast, and empty of separa- tion (interdependent)
taking in all of phenomena.
Vajrayana meditation is of deities to invoke wisdom and
power within (manjushri, aloeskite- shavara, etc). It is naturally simple,
free, relaxed, carefree, confident, and non striving. Like water, it simply
flows with life, inhabiting the low places free of egoic ambitions. " In
order to become decent Vajrayana people, we need to establish a strong
foundation through Hinayana discipline and Mahayana benevolence... we
constantly go back and forth."
Vajrayana is based on
wisdom and compassion, rooted in mindfulness it becomes uncompromising,
radical, even severe. It's nature is
determination, fearlessness, and no bullshit. All sights, sounds, gestures are
portals to awakening. No limits or excuses.
"If you are treading on this path, it is very important
that you demolish the hidden corners of samsara, the devastating tricks that
exist and that you have been able to maintain for such a long time. All three
yanas vehicles are cyclical, as obstacles and breakthroughs can occur anywhere
along the path. X marks the spot on this treasure map. You are on it, you are it".
Beyond the three basic vehicles is maha ati, the ultimate vehicle, or "the yana of complete
transcendence." This is also known as Dzogchen, the great completion.
"'A' expresses awake, and 'ti' the ultimate or final thing. (One is)
continuously awake, utterly awake, ultimately awake all the time. The highest
level of cool boredom, which is very exciting. In the maha ati realm, the
journey itself is the goal."
Copyrights
11/17