Being open to the insights of your sacred tradition and avoiding self-limitation

I recently suggested that when it comes to the stories, images, concepts, vows, creeds, etc that outline and highlight the insights of sacred traditions:  

These terms and the creeds and stories in which we hear about them can have different meanings for us depending on where we are in our lives. This doesn't mean we get to make up what we want -- in fact it means we have to be honest about how we are reacting to such stories, not how we ought to feel. Nor does this mean we can skip things just because they seem fantastic or miraculous because we are comfortable believing in our own version of what is acceptably possible while others are just so primitive in their thinking. How many modern thinkers do you think have been shocked and even disgusted or frightened to find that their encounter with such a story was not the sterile, logical and mundane account that had no "supernatural mumbo jumbo" but rather one filled with a power and mystery that defied their expectations? 

[To paraphrase the end to make it more approachable outside of its original context: How many modern thinkers have heard or read a sacred story and were upset to find that where they had already decided on a particular significance for it, perhaps a thoroughly dissected interpretation that had left it lifeless and acceptable as a lesson or conclusion that could be safely removed from its cultural and historical wrappings, they now found that the story had become real to them in a visceral way. It reached out an grabbed them and said, "Not so fast, there's more me to than some theological or philosophical observation." It broke open their preconceptions and forced them to beyond their predefined limits of the truth or value of the story.]

In the original context I was discussing specific beliefs peculiar to Christianity, but I wanted to take that thought and expand it to encompass other sacred traditions as well, such as Buddhism.  Not all of the stories in sacred text and oral traditions, not all of the experiences of ritual and practice, are going to "give us" what we expect, let alone what we want.  By pre-determining what is or isn't acceptable as an insight or revelation, we effectively neuter the experience --we make ourselves blind, deaf, and numb to what we might otherwise encounter. For example, I remember when someone sent me a link to a portion of the Lotus Sutra.  At the time, I was a self-described secular seeker, someone who thought strictly like a contemporary atheist but who dissatisfied with atheism.  Yes, I thought, there might be wisdom of some kind here but it is buried under all this other garbage about heavenly beings and other fantastic creatures. 

Addressing tragedy and trauma

What one might consider a tragedy occurs daily in places all over the world, often silently and anonymously and typically outside of the consciousness of those not directly involved in such events. Sacred traditions and their scriptures and prayers offer a medium and a language to express what cannot be adequately expressed in other terms. They reflect our limitations and our triumphs - they follow us to our heights and to our depths.

While the following selections are dedicated to those who touched by the recent events at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, it is offered for all who may be swallowed by confusion and despair. I don't presume they will be a magic bullet for deep pain, but rather an indication that there are those who are willing to join the hurting in their misery.

A selection from The Book of Lamentations (portions of chapter 3)...

He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.

Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.

Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.

He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver...

He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall. He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.

I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD."

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

And the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi...

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

The release and deliverance of the heart

The Blessed One said: 'Whatever grounds there be for good works done in this world, all of them are not worth one-sixteenth part of that love which is the heart's release. Love alone, which is the heart's release, shines and burns and flashes forth in surpassing them.'
Itivuttaka, I. 3, 7, Pali Canon

The purpose of the holy life does not consist in acquiring support, honour or fame; nor in gaining virtue, concentration, or the eye of knowledge. But that unshakable deliverance of the heart--that indeed is the object of the holy life: that is its essence, that is its goal.
Majjhima Nikaya, I. 204, Pali Canon


Translations take from the The Oxford Book of Prayer, edited by George Appleton, Oxford University Press, 1989 printing

Poem: "I am"

I found the following poem on the web. The author is listed as unknown. First, I do realize this is almost certainly an allusion to the Abrahamic religious view of God as "I AM". However, this concept, of the universal subjective referring to the ground of existence, is not limited to Biblical traditions. Taken in either a mystical context within those traditions or in a Buddhist context, it is a statement of non-duality. Ironically, the title of respect for the Buddha is sometimes translated into English as "Lord". Given such a context, the following poem can be viewed as a valuable insight into realizing our own fundamental nature...

I was regretting the past and fearing the futures,
Suddenly my Lord was speaking,
"My name is I am".
He paused, I waited, He continued.

"When you live in the past,
With its mistakes and regrets,
It is hard; I am not there.
My name is not "I was".

When you live in the future,
With its problems and fears,
It's hard; I'm not there.
My name is not "I will be".

When you live in this moment,
It is not hard; I am here.
My name is I am."

What is your name?

Verse for contemplation on 07-26-07

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.

Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16

Fiery Impulse

There is a fiery impulse
at the heart of prayer,
not saying prayers,
but primal prayer
the self's radical
turning toward God
in Whose incendiary gaze
ego's dross is consumed.

The essence left
after the conflagration
wears only the garb of light,
a radiance that passes
from soul to soul.
Glimpsed, not taught,
it illuminates a dark world
with a searing love
that beckons, burns,
ignites the fiery impulse.

-Bonnie Thurston

I ran across this poem on the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID) website. It seems to fit well with the theme of recent entries here, especially this one on answering the call and that one on religious language.

Psalm 91 and the Benedictines for Peace

Sometimes you find the most interesting things unintentionally.

I was looking for something in a search engine when I came across the Benedictines For Peace (BFP) website. They are a charism (recognized formal organization) within the Catholic Church who are among the many religious groups working for peace. Among the prayers and scriptures they recommend for inspiration in these efforts is Psalm 91. Since it is Memorial Day today in the United States, and we are still engaged in the military occupation of Iraq, it seemed particularly fitting to dedicate today's entry to peace.

Before we get to the Psalm, just a little context for those who are new to reading my perspective or who have forgotten my approach to things like "God", "religion", etc [you can get a brief and expanded summary of these views by clicking here]. I see scriptures and sacred texts as revelations of the heart, so rather than taking the following images literally, try seeing them as representing elements of your heart and your relationship to Being (hence "the LORD" would represent your conception of Ultimate Nature).

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

God, religion, sacred texts and such things

What do I think about God, Jesus, religion, etc?

I am not suggesting you should necessarily care, but when in course of writing entries for a blog one finds oneself feeling like repeating the same information over and over, it is probably time to make a basic post outlining the issue for convenient future reference via web link. In this case I have written about some of this stuff before so this a more recent summary entry, a place I can redirect people to save us all time, and it may in the future be included as a reference for a newer summary. It's a bit long and you may find it boring in some places, so only go through what you find necessary or helpful or interesting. With that caution in mind, let's get going...

Sacred Texts

I see scriptures and sacred texts as revelations of the heart. So, there will be factual errors, historical and cultural biases, and conflicting perspectives. These writing are poems, parables, and personal narratives mixed with history and cultural values. If one strictly evaluates such writings on the basis of verifiable historical accuracy, one is missing out on quite a bit. Ahistorical truth refers to lessons which do not required the account in which they are embedded to be historically verifiable and accurate (for example, one doesn't have to show that the race between the tortoise and the hare actually happened to understand the value of the tale). So, given historical, cultural, and societal biases and looking at certain stories from this frame, there is a great deal of wisdom contained in many of the sacred texts of the world regardless of one's view about God or whether one belongs to a particular religion. But I have no time personally for claims of inerrancy, especially the literal variety.

For more on this search the entries for terms such as "ahistorical".

God

I also consider my position to be post-theism. That is, I do not require nor arbitrarily reject God language. The closest thing to established Western views of God I hold are akin to Tillich's object of ultimate concern, or what some may refer to as apophatic mysticism. In Eastern terms the closest references are non-personified and found in expressions such as Tao or Shunyata. So as far as some Super Creator from a particular human-made mythology - no, I do not believe in that. But neither do I embrace scientism, ontological naturalism/reductionism, nihilism, or the "absurdity of existence" schools of existentialism. To me, Being (notice the capped 'B') is beyond conventional conceptualization or descriptions, for example living/nonliving, finite/infinite, transcendent/immanent. That's why one employs terms like apophatic or ineffable.

Now, some people find this kind of description frustrating, like it is some way to put Being beyond scrutiny, or worse, when some people make very "effable" (cataphatic) statements about God or what not then retreat to " it's ineffable" when the questions get hard. In my view many constructions of "God" or "ultimate concern" are attempts to familiarize it and make it easier to discuss (and in some systems to predict or even control). Then there is the idea that to really open one's heart to the possibilities of our Being, it's hard for most, at least initially, to do so with a seemingly impersonal "force". Hence some personified construction may be useful initially as a place-holder. It is of course very easy to take such images and put them into service as symbols of power and control. I am opposed to such usage and the oppression which it can engender, as well as the fact that such placeholders tend to be shaped by the social psychology, cultural ecology, and political history of the people's making such imagery (polytheism versus montheism, for example).

If you want to get more specific examples, how my views have changed, or read more general discussion of the topic, search the entries here for terms such as "God" and "Ultimate Reality".

Religion

So, given what is written above about sacred texts and God, what about religion? A working personal definition I have for the term is "A mediation of spiritual insight and conventional cultural knowledge through traditions employing myth and ritual." In order to understand it better it helps to know my working definition for spirituality - "Being connected to something in a sense of transcending our own personal limitations, a dedication to something greater than ourselves offering a sense of purpose or fulfillment." I have written quite a bit about how I use the term religion, including in the entry that talks about the goals and perspective of this blog. I think this entry and that entry might also be helpful for further clarification.


Jesus & Christianity

So, taking Jesus as an example of how this works in my perspective, this entry is very helpful! If you are still curious, then this one and that one are also helpful expansions on that foundation. And even more helpful might be this one here - from it one can get a glimpse of what Christianity might look like adopting the kinds of definitions and concepts that I am discussing here (I think it resembles the Christianity called for by Bishop Spong)...

1. "God" is a controversial term because of the place it holds in our language and the deeply personal nature of the experiences and stories in which it is relevant. In this context it represents the endless potential from/in which which all existence/universes spring, known in various cultures and traditions as I AM, as the Tao, as the essence of shunyata and tathata expressed as the dharmakaya, and other hopeless attempts to name the ineffable, which is simultaneously transcendent and immanent.


2. In an attempt to grasp and make this Source familiar, myths arose using metaphorical and poetic language in which God was fashioned in our own image as an anthropomorphic Supreme Being, that is, a Creator God who is more or less like a human being without all the faults and with unlimited knowledge and power. Yet all traditions have elements, in particular revelations from mystic seekers, which speak of Being beyond human labels such as "personal" or "impersonal".


3. Creation, rather than viewed as a singular event, can be seen as a perpetual act of the Divine of which all of existence is composed and in which all of existence participates, arising and dissolving in a continuous flow of what can be and what is.


4. Sin in this scenario is separation from direct union with the mind/will of the Source; rather than a literal view of sin as a blood curse inherited from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, it is a description of how certain actions, speech, and thoughts lead one away from the truth of the fundamental inter-connection of all things. In this ignorance we forget our own inherent completeness as an individual within a greater whole.


5. Original sin is the story (interpreted figuratively) of how humanity became separated from God, that is, how they came to neglect an inherent awareness of the Divine, or again, our interrelated to all that is. This is a personal story that is replayed over and over in the life of every human being, not simply and event that occurred in an actual garden.


6. The story of the Gospels is the story of how God became manifest in the human world as Jesus Christ in order to bridge the gulf that came to separate humanity from the Divine; in this view it is an ahistorical (its value goes beyond its historical reality) story providing an exemplar of the the proper relationship of humanity and the Divine. That is, to be "crucified and resurrected with Christ" is to follow his example of spiritual maturity and realize the same uncompromising love for all of humanity. In remembering our inherent union with the Source, we are reconciled to it and completed by it.


7. The story of Jesus being crucified, being laid to rest in a tomb, and experiencing a bodily resurrection after three days, is a part of the larger ahistorical teaching; the truth of the story lies in the heart, not in what cannot be verified or rejected empirically. In this sense Christ is met in opening our hearts to all people in service and love, not simply by reading a book, saying the proper spell or prayer, or belonging to the right religion or denomination.


8. The message of Christ is one of reconciliation with God and the abundance of undifferentiated grace; the plight of the unsaved is a depiction of the suffering of those who have not been reconciled to God, whether it be through religion or not.

What is there to seek?

The prayer flows out of the trees
It is the trees, into the trees
The bark, the branches, the veins of the leaf
It soaks into the sky, and sinks into earth
Alms, alms, the offering manifests in all, to all, as all
It echoes in me through the name
Lifted by my breath to accompany creation
What is there to seek?

May the Buddha find refuge in me

From the historical perspective, we are born, we live and we die. From the ultimate perspective, we have been born, we are being born, and we have yet to be born;, we have lived, we are being living, and we have yet to live; and we have died, we are dying, and we have yet to be born.

Many are familiar with taking refuge in Triple Gem:

I take refuge in the Buddha -
I respect his role a teacher and my own potential for awakening to Buddha-nature.
I take refuge in the Dharma -
I open myself to the truth the Buddha taught and experience it for myself.
I take refuge in the Sangha -
I support and am supported by the monastic and lay Buddhist community and the larger community of sentient beings.


This is an amazing commitment. It is easy to read it from the historical perspective, since that is how we think. There's nothing wrong with thinking that way - it doesn't pay in many cases to do otherwise. Yet it can also seem like we are just little links in a chain or small strands in the web, and following conventional thinking, have an attitude that this makes our role and hence our vows of some lesser consequence. The Buddha did so much and we are just following along and making the best of our lesser role. So in whom or what did/does/will the Buddha take refuge? It can be a little more challenging for some of us to consider the same vows from a different perspective...

May the Buddha find refuge in me -
may I sincerely offer myself to all who seek my help.
May the Buddha find refuge in the dharma -
may that which I share and affirm be beneficial to all sentient beings.
May the Buddha find refuge in the sangha -
may I graciously accept my ever-unfolding role in the web of interdependence.

What a wonderful world/Everybody wants to rule the world/Mad world

Today's selection was inspired by a recent discussion of a socially conscious political group brought together by Rabbi Michael Lerner and the subsequent reading of that group's concerns/a video of a talk given by Lerner on the issues behind the forming of the Network of Social Progressives, particularly the problems they wish to address. But don't try to read to deeply into any symbolism or connection, just enjoy.

What a Wonderful World


I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Everybody Wants to Rule The World


Welcome to your life
Theres no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

Its my own design
Its my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

Theres a room where the light wont find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do Ill be right behind you

So glad weve almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

I cant stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you'll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it ?
Everybody wants to rule the world

All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world


Mad World


All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world ... world
Enlarge your world
Mad world

Verses for contemplation on 10-23-06

The myriad dharmas return to one. To what does the One return?

-variation on a popular Zen koan


When you have seen God
You meditate on Him,
Saying to yourself, "I am He."

But when you are without thought
And you understand there is only one,
Without a second,
On whom can you meditate?

-Ashtavakra Gita 18:16


Let thy soul be de-spirited of
all spirit; let it be spiritless.
Love God as he is: a not-God, a
not-spirit, a not-Person, a not-image,
as sheer, pure, limpid unity, alien
from all duality.

-Meister Eckhart, Sermon XCIX

Don't neglect the subtle nuances

Consider the following examples:

"Life is suffering." - "Life is marked by suffering."

"Reality is in the mind." - "Reality is determined by mind."

"There is no individuality or identity." - "There is no intrinsic (isolated/enduring) individuality or identity."

"Ego is the barrier to enlightenment." - "Attachment to ego is the barrier to enlightenment."

Now, if you would, think about the differences in perspective that arise from a system of beliefs and attitudes based on the initial statements and a system of beliefs and attitudes based on the latter.**

"Life is suffering."

It seems to me that this gives rise to a nihilist philosophy in which life itself is a curse and nirvana is both salvation and literal oblivion. Rather than seeing annihilation of the self as an end to a deeply-rooted belief in an intrinsic identity (and extensions of this belief such as an "eternal soul"), existence per se is a horrible dream. Hence nothingness is preferable.

This is opposed to seeing "emptiness" as potential, the well-spring of/another aspect of existence, rather than a perpetual and final state of non-existence. A corollary of the thinking arising from the idea that life is suffering is a reintroduction of a sense of dualism, in contradiction to the oft-cited (Buddhist) teaching that "form is emptiness, emptiness is form"/"samsara and nirvana are one not two". Hence you can "get away" from suffering (in "this" world) by "getting away" from life. How sad.

"Reality is in the mind."

This can be read in different ways. I am addressing the idea that our subjective, personal mind is the basis of reality - this is an extreme mentalist position in which reality in any form or sense is a delusion. To be clear about what I am talking about, this isn't the same as saying that the subjective can influence our shared reality (as in debates about the effect of an observer on the observed). Nor is it the same as saying that for all intents and purposes our "worlds" are the result of perceptions and thought and therefore "my" view of reality is going to be biased and constructed differently than "your" view of reality. The idea that reality is all in one's own mind is, in fact, saying that there IS nothing else other than our biases and delusions, and this fits well with the idea about life/existence=suffering and nirvana=true oblivion/non-existence. Hence when you escape delusion, reality ceases, and presto, oblivion. Taken to a logical extreme, it also raises the troubling specter then of whether other people are even "real".

(Now, technically speaking, there is another way to read the phrase even unmodified, but it tends to get into the idea of Universal Mind, and I am not addressing that view or the ramifications of it here, so this is not a critique of all forms of what is sometimes referred to in Buddhism as the "Mind-Only" school of thought.)

"There is no individuality or identity."

This is a little cultish if you ask me, as one goal of cults is to erase a sense of identity or individuality and produce a pliable mind which only acts on the desires of the leader(s) in unquestioning group-think. This I think fits in well with the nihilistic tendencies of the notion that life is suffering and the idea that everything is just a delusion which can result from the extreme notion that reality is all in the mind.

"Ego is the barrier to enlightenment."

Seeing the ego as a "foe" to be "defeated" is a bit like making enemies so that you can conquer them and have peace. Why not just be at peace from the start? Nothing is going to feed attachment to the ego like giving it the mission of combating "the ego". Your thoughts, feelings, and memories do not need to be "conquered" or "overcome". They are just as much an aspect of the greater whole to which all things are connected as anything else, another part of the fabric of dependent co-arising (or interbeing for the Thay fans out there). The ego doesn't need to be defeated, just brought into the proper perspective. Different traditions and schools are better at explaining or expressing certain teachings, which is why I cite so many varied sources. I think that Shin Buddhism does a good job in this case by talking about the fact that Other Power does not dissolve or dilute Self Power, but rather Other Power contains and completes/is completed by Self-Power. Another way I have seen this expressed is not dependent, not independent, but rather inderdependent.

I am not saying that any tradition, school, or sect actually advocates any of the (misguided?) translations/interpretations I am discussing here. But I have heard or read people saying them, and I also know that there are those with a superficial knowledge of Buddhism who follow the logic of such "slightly off" teachings to come to some really unfortunate yet oddly coherent views about what Buddhism has to offer, that is, what Buddhist teachings advocate and what Buddhist practice is supposed to accomplish.



**As always, this is not a sermon on dharma talk, it's just me dealing with or pondering things, so caveat emptor if you are looking for wisdom.

More of that Dharma Talk via Beliefnet

More that Dharma Talk via Beliefnet which built on some teaching I have quoted numerous times...

The teachings I have been fond of:

"Affliction is Bodhi and the cycle of birth and death is Nirvana"
-Platform Sutra of Hui Neng

"Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form; form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form"
-Heart Sutra

"The Way does not require cultivation, just don't pollute it."
-Chan ancestor Mazu

Recent quotes from Beliefnet:

"Although you may understand the explanations, if you are still suffering because of problems, you clearly do not understand the true nature of your mind, your body, and your senses."
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

"You have always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend you can ATTAIN to this oneness by various practices."
-Huang Po

"Just understand that birth-and-death is itself nirvana. There is nothing such as birth and death to be avoided; there is nothing such as nirvana to be sought. Only when you realize this are you free from birth and death."
-Dogen

"Hear me, future disciples!
Your time will have been badly wasted if you neglect to put this teaching into practice."

"What you should do is to know your own mind and realize your own buddha-nature, which neither rests nor moves, neither becomes nor ceases to be, neither comes nor goes, neither affirms nor denies, neither stays nor departs."
-The Sutra of Hui-Neng

The current quotes being added to the list:

"Happy is one who knows samsara and nirvana are not two."
-Milarepa, "Drinking the Mountain Stream"

"Enlightenment is a way of saying that all things are seen in their intrinsic empty nature, their Suchness, their ungraspable wonder. Names or words are merely incidental, but that state which sees no division, no duality, is enlightenment."
-Prajnaparamita

Amitabha! :o)

Laying down my heart's burdens

Laying down my heart's burdens
I find the strength to carry them
Dropping a swagger of arrogance
I pick up a confident stride
Surrendering my hard earned pride
I gain a sense of true self-esteem
Letting go of my programmed self
I find a sense of who I am
Seeing others as myself
my own worth is increased
With joy and suffering as teachers
compassion and wisdom blossom
Through acceptance
emptiness
form
nirvana

Verses for contemplation, 7-1-06

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time
It's easy.

There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

-Lennon/MacCartney, 'All You Need Is Love'

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Sounds of laughter shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

-Lennon/MacCartney, 'Across the Universe'

Differences

Consider the following quotes, both ancient and contemporary, from various Mahayana traditions...

Do you want to understand? The whole world is one of your eyes, the body produced by your parents is a cataract. All ordinary people ignore the indestructible, marvelously clear, unfailingly mirroring eye, and cling fast to the dust cataract produced by the relationship of their father and mother. Therefore they take illusions for realities, and grasp at reflections as the physical forms themselves.
-P'u-an

Ultimately, all phenomena are contained within one's life, down to the last particle of dust. The nine mountains and the eight seas are encompassed by one's body; the sun, moon and myriad stars are contained within one's mind.
-Nichiren

The Smaller Sutra is a highly imaginative portrayal of the realm of enlightenment in very concrete terms: bejeweled railings, nettings, trees; bathing pools lined with golden sands with steps of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal; pavilions covered with exquisite jewels built on the earth made of gold. The atmosphere is filled with celestial music, rare and exquisite birds, and a subtle breeze blowing through jeweled trees which produces a melodious chorus. This rich and colorful description is said to be a manifestation of emptiness (shunyata) that expresses itself freely in any way it chooses. Since reality is empty of permanent being and all things are in flux, it can take any form.
-Taitetsu Unno

Once you stop clinging and let things be, you'll be free, even of birth and death. You'll transform everything; you'll possess spiritual powers that can't be obstructed; and you'll be at peace wherever you are. If you doubt this, you'll never see through anything; you're better off doing nothing. Once you act, you can't avoid the cycle of birth and death, but once you see your nature, you're a Buddha even if you work as a butcher."
-Bodhidharma

(CONTINUE...)

When I was a young novice, I told my Master, 'If the Pure Land doesn't have lemon trees, then I don't want to go.' He shook his head and smiled. Maybe he thought I was a stubborn youngster. However, he did not say that I was right or wrong. Later when I realized that both the world and the Pure Land come from the mind, I was very happy. I was happy since I knew that lemon trees and star-fruit trees exist also in the Pure Land, with dirt roads and green grass on all sides.
-Thich Nhat Hahn

Each Buddha-Tathagata, as the body of the Dharmadhatu, pervades the mind of all sentient beings. This is why when your mind perceives the Buddha, it is your mind that possesses the thirty-two prominent features and the eighty secondary attributes. This mind that creates the Buddha is the mind that is the Buddha, and the wisdom of the Buddhas true, universal and ocean-like arises from this mind. This is why you should single-mindedly fix your thoughts and contemplatively examine that Buddha, that Tathagata, that Arhat, that Supremely Awakened One.
-The Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life

I could go on, but I haven't had a chance to collect more of these in one place. I may add more in the future as I find/remember them. Feel free to reply and suggest more if you see what they are all saying.

These quotes demonstrate an appreciation of the constancy of rebirth as the manifestation of emptiness, that through the teachings of no-self and nirvana Buddhism is not espousing some abysmal fatalistic escapism ('life is so bad let’s hope we don’t get reincarnated any more and simply cease to exist because being nothing is better than being alive'), and also that perspective is crucial. My oft-quoted favorite passage from the Platform Sutra of Hui Neng, 'affliction is Bodhi and the cycle of birth and death is Nirvana', as I have suggested before, is actually saying the same exact thing as 'form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form'. It just phrased differently to fit a different context. To me other teachings or phrases seemed to echo this as well, such as ichinen sanzen within Namo Myoho Renge Kyo (3,000 realms in a single thought-moment) and Namu Dai Bosa (manifestation of Bodhi in all things), and Ichinen tanen mon'i in Namu Amida Butsu (Ultimate Reality manifested/calling from/to/in Limited Beings). I have heard that in traditional Pure Land writings there is a phrase along the lines of 'Amitabha is no other than the regular person and the Pure Land is the ordinary world'.

Which is why it is so interesting to me to read critiques of Zen from Nichiren Buddhism or Pure Land, or critiques of Pure Land from Zen from Nichiren sources, etc. I am sure that there are many people in various sects and traditions within these schools who really do cling to tenets and doctrines and don't go beyond the constructs of their tradition to what I would personally see as a greater understanding of Buddhist teaching, but I think there are many who do. It's the same with the fact that people always want to put supernaturalism and superstition into their sacred beliefs, creating a duality between the sacred and the ordinary and perpetuating perceived dicohtomies like life and afterlife, heaven(s) and hells(s), etc. Every religion has some version of indulgences (paying off a loved ones time in an afterlife realm of pain), or potions or rituals for 'faith'-healing. It's just a human quirk. So, I am not going to say that 'a true Nichiren Buddhist should think this' or 'a sincere Pure Lander would recognize this teaching as'. However, I do think that often times when a Shin Buddhist talks about comparing 'The Path of Sages' versus 'The Path of Amida Buddha', or when someone in Nichiren Shoshu talks about the 'teaching of the one-vehicle' versus the 'provisional teaching', they are really perpetuating contextual differences born from the doctrinization of teachings coupled with cultural and historical circumstance.

That is not to trivialize the differences in terms of that historical significance or to deny that they exist as these schools are often taught, or to call for a uniform syncretism and total blending/merging of the various Mahayana schools. Instead, I wish to put them in their place, at least in my practice/study of Buddhism, as fingers pointing to the (same) moon. Now when I write on topics such as this, some Pure Landers may congratulate me on beginning to hear the call of Amitabha/Amida, some Chan/Zen folks may silently approve of my rudimentary grasp of sunyata and tathata, and a few in the Nichiren crowd may suggest I have begun to appreciate the teaching of ichinen sanzen (or they may all think I am a clueless wonder who over-intellectualizes everything..could go either way).

If you listened to those MP3s of Dharma talks by the Venerable Shih Ying-Fa I linked to recently, you may recall in the 'Over-Under-Sideways' talk he says something akin to 'Screw the Ox-Herding pictures...the Ox-Herding pictures should be burned if they are an impediment to our practice.' I suppose that's how I react to so many of the exclusionary-sounding (or at least implying) positions that sometimes creep up within the various schools of the Mahayana. I have had the experience before of pointing out to someone that something in their school is also taught in a different form in another school, and they were very surprised, believing it was a break-though in Buddhist thought from the founder of that person's particular school that made it somehow superior to the others. So, while I don't suggest that we should erase the tools and heritage that have developed in different schools, perhaps it would help if we 'got to know each other better'.

(Naturally, this can be extended to other avenues of Mahayana and beyond)

Give a hoot, don't pollute

If you've been following this blog chances are you have seen me use the following teachings again and again (and again)...

'Affliction is Bodhi and the cycle of birth and death is Nirvana'
-Platform Sutra of Hui Neng

'Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form; form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form'
-Heart Sutra

In very few words, brief phrases such as these convey core observations of (not-exclusively) Buddhist wisdom, so they crop up again and again at different times in my writing, helping to take different contexts and levels of meaning of grand discourses and long theses on 'Buddhist' philosophy or insight and show that they in fact simply point them back to the basics. Such mindful elegance is rare, and it is both a check to the ego and a boost to our confidence when we see that such gems continually reflect through myriad musings and silent illumination. Another to add to the list of phrases which gets repeated enough and keeps revealing more and more the longer I ponder:

'The Way does not require cultivation, just don't pollute it.'
-Chan ancestor Mazu
(if you like, you can substitute 'Tao' for 'Way' and 'Zen Patriarch' for 'Chan ancestor', it makes no difference).

I originally used the phrase to cap the post Mountains and Rivers. In that context, the emphasis was on the first part of the sentence. Obviously, that's only half of the story.

(CONTINUE...)

'The Way does not need cultivaton' - Buddhanature is always there. Reality-as-it-is. Suchness and Thatness. Emptiness and form. You don't need to cultivate what is, just dismantle the delusion of self-made barriers built up in your mind that keep you from accepting/realizing what's there. This is an important lesson to keep in mind in our practice. But what about the rest of the teaching?

'Just don't pollute it' - At first, this seems to be equating concepts such as delusion with pollution. This connection may tempt us into thinking that we need to declare our mind a kind of karmic superfund site. How many lifetimes of generating merit through diligent cultivation of the Dharma will it take to purify our mind?

*pause*

*rewind*

Umm...'diligent cultivation'??? Didn't we just read that 'The Way does not require cultivation'? And, if we really equate delusion with pollution, then doesn't that mean that pollution is delusion? Only as real as we make it? After all, the Way is not created or destroyed, no tainted or pure, not increasing or decreasing - so then how can it possibly be polluted? It can't. Hence 'Just don't pollute it' isn't an admonition to not pollute per se but a reminder that we create our own fictitious obstacles - in a sense, it's reminding us 'Don't let your ego get in the Way.'

Sorry, but I couldn't pass up a good Chan pun, and it does help clarify the teaching ;o)

Verses for contemplation on 6-10-06

Here is God's purpose -
for God to me, it seems,
is a verb
not a noun,
proper or improper;
is the articulation
not the art, objective or subjective;
is loving,
not the abstraction "love" commanded or entreated;
is knowledge dynamic,
not legislative code,
not proclamation law,
not academic dogma, nor ecclesiastic canon.

R. Buckminster Fuller, No More Secondhand God


Let thy soul be de-spirited of
all spirit; let it be spiritless.
Love God as he is: a not-God, a
not-spirit, a not-Person, a not-image,
as sheer, pure, limpid unity, alien
from all duality."

Meister Eckhart, Sermon XCIX


Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!

Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.

(CONTINUE...)

Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.

Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.

Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.

The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.

These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:

Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.

Rumi, Discourses of Rumi

Prayers for contemplation on 3-25-06

Be praised, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
Especially Brother Sun,
By whom You bring us the day and who brings us the light;
Fair is he and shines with a very great splendor...
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars, which you have set clear and lovely in heaven.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind, and for air and cloud, calms and all weather...
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and clean.
Be praised my Lord for Brother Fire, through whom You give us light in darkness, and he is bright and pleasant and very mighty and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and keep us, and brings forth fruits and flowers of many colors and leaves...
Praise and bless my Lord, and thank Him,
And serve Him with great humility.

--St. Francis of Assisi


Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth Teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep in the rain.

--Native American (Ute) prayer

Courtesy of a website known as Interlude. Have a site to share that offers great inspiration quotes or prayers (particularly interfaith/universal material)?