Tannishblog

I begin my day in meditation. Or at least that is my intention. Most days, my hour of practice is spent chasing my mind like a dog and his tail. This itself can be interesting when an effort is made to note all the places the minds wants to go that day.

This morning, while I follow my thoughts, I find my mind wants to bash Christianity. This is an issue with me, one I try to keep off this blog: such is not the way to enlightenment.

Nonetheless, my thoughts travel to the core of my issue - values and actions. I ponder the Ten Commandments and how our Christian nation has abandoned them. Let’s look at them. As familiar as we are to the texts, I will not list them here. Its fascinating to me that they are open to interpretation, succinctly worded as they are…

 I note, for a prominent example, that our president, who ran a campaign openly professing his allegiance to Jesus, has promoted policies which violate many of the highest laws to which a Christian is supposed to be beholden. I will dispense from enumerating the wrongful actions of our administration. My point is to note how little the commandments factor into the lives of modern Christians

I mention this only in contrast to a Buddhist teaching that an outsider might liken to the Judeo-Christian commandments. These are the Ten Precepts that children and novice Buddhists learn, known as the Dasa-sikkapada.

1. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from killing.
2. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from stealing.
3. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from sexual misconduct.
4. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from lying.
5. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from liquor that causes intoxication and heedlessness.
6. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from untimely eating.
7. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from dancing, singing, music, and visiting unseemly shows.
8. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from the use of garlands, perfumes, cosmetics, and embellishments.
9. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from the use of high and luxurious beds.
10. I undertake to abide by the precept to abstain from accepting gold and silver.

Note the similarities: killing, stealing, lying and sexual misconduct are covered. Intoxicants are prohibited. Cultural moors defined proper times for monks to eat, usually in mornings. Since Buddhism is not hampered by a concept of a divine being, there is room for more directives of behavior. I would categorize these latter precepts into the realm of frivolous entertainments. One focus on enlightenment is to eschew materialism in favor of spiritualistic pursuits, to refrain from distractions of flesh and reduce influence of the many permutations of ego, such as pride, lust, greed and power.

These last points, I find, are completely absent from Christian teachings. At least my layman’s understanding has not uncovered such wisdom. While they are also culturally bound, and next to impossible to participate while in Western civilization, we can at least maintain awareness of their negative influence and abstain as much as we can.

Taken in whole, I find the Dasa-sikkapada more useful as a guide to life, a path to wisdom. To me, life is already too complicated to bother with improvable arguments of God. Let us instead concern ourselves with what we can master, what we have the power to address in this life to bring about positive change in ourselves and those around us. Thus we can change the world.

…and on a Friday the thirteenth, too. Go figure…

On these posts I like to quote Westerners. While the sages of the East have much to teach us, I feel a phrase has more poignancy when uttered by someone from a different philosophical tradition. This shows us the universality of Dharma. It is a human pursuit, and so it is open to all people, regardless of upbringing. The Dharma does not contradict religious traditions, nor does it negate philosophical perspectives. It reinforces and often unites the two.

One precept of Zen is often confusingly termed, due in part to the vagaries of translations, "No Self." This is quite the foreign concept to most Western thought. Essentially, the sages are saying that to get rid of our sense of "self as a central viewpoint." (my term) We can then open our minds to the inter-connectivity of all things, which leads to the peace of mind and wisdom thought to be the end result of Dharma practice. To put it bluntly: We are not the center of the universe. Understanding this leads to happiness.

What is troubling us is the tendency to believe that the mind is like a little man within.
– Ludwig Wittgenstein

The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.
– Albert Einstein

The sages would have us ask: Who is this that is thinking? Much thinking goes into this question. If we examine our concept of self, break it down to its constituent parts, we begin to see that most of what we call "Me" is fabrication, a conceptual framework that has no substance. The is no single "thing" we can point at and say "that is me."

Search back into your won vision — think back to the mind that thinks, Who is it?
– Wu-men

If I am not my body nor its parts, and I am not my mind - what am I?

The past week’s Big Story is the newest Congressional mishap starring Mark Foley. This brings to mind two teachings that, if taught in wider circles of influence, would go far to alleviate these types of problems.

First, teaching on the dangers of attachment. While it is natural and necessary for the mind to become attracted to ideas, concepts or objects, it is harmful to cling to our attractions too tightly. In the case of Mr. Foley, as well as many instances in our own lives, the very act of longing for something caused his undoing. His inability to distance himself from the objects of his desires, even those objects were only theoretical, caused human suffering. While all current evidence suggests that no child was hurt by his interests, the potential for damage was high. Regardless, Mr. Foley’s behavior hurt himself, his friends and members of his family.

This leads to the Buddhist teaching of the "three poisons", which are essentially the judgments we make against all things: like it; hate it; indifference. The judgments themselves aren’t problematic, but our attachments to them are. If we like something too much, we suffer because of it. Common examples of too much attachment include various addictions people are subject to, like drugs and alcohol, gambling, greed and gluttony. All these expressions of liking things too much cause suffering of self and others.

Likewise, over-avoidance leads to problems as well. We see what hate can do to people everyday in expressions of anger, murder and warfare. All the myriad shades of negative emotions cause suffering. Even if the hatred is kept at bay, secreted in ones’ heart, health issues can occur so that, the very act of feeling hatred, although not openly acted out, can cause great suffering to the person harboring such feelings.

Even the decision to ignore or be indifferent to a person or idea can cause suffering. Although this is the hardest of the three to quantify, the very act of turning one’s back to an issue can have indirect negative ramifications. The current political strife in Darfur, while not obviously connected to any in the West, is affected by our collective indifference to the plight of this poor nation. The longer we ignore the horrors in Africa, the more innocent lives are lost and ruined. Likely, if we continue to do nothing, the perpetrators will become emboldened to advance such tactics elsewhere on the continent or in the world. Thus, indifference can be as dangerous as hatred itself.

As for Mr. Foley, he could benefit by understanding of the three poisons, and by a concerted effort to wrest control of his life from the choices he’s made. Making value judgments is a necessary part of functioning in our world, but letting those judgments control us is backward. Instead, we should understand how we feel, accept our decisions, and strive to keep an emotional distance from them - a buffer zone, if you will, from which we can keep our perspective and a clear understanding of the benefit or detriment of acting on our impulses. If Mark Foley has such a internal check in place, perhaps he and his family wouldn’t be hurting now.

I would share two quotes from The Little Zen Companion that dovetail nicely. Both intimate the importance of awareness - a key activity in all Buddhist traditions:

A monk asked master Haryo, "What is the way?" Haryo said, "An open-eyed man falling into a well."

Zen Koan      

[…]

If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.

St. John of the Cross     

None of us have the discipline of mindfulness to the point where we can recall every detail of our day. For most, much of our day is lost to the mundane business of our modern lives. In the Zen tradition, a state of sharp awareness comes from the clarity of mind found after a strong meditative practice, like the crisp scent of the air after an Autumn rain: all the contaminants are gone and the clarity is exquisite.

 Quick: what color are the clouds right now? If you have to go to the window to look, your practice of mindful awareness needs work.

Tonight is Rosh Hashanah. This week also marks the beginning of the celebration of Ramadan. These things I remained ignorant of until recently.  Zen, of course, was unheard of. Having been a recipient of the typical white, Christian upbringing in the sixties and seventies, knowledge of other peoples and their cultures was ignored. I feel the loss.

There is much in life denied those who keep to their own set of ideals. Insular communities lose much in their solitude by not sharing in the joys of others, the wider expressions of humanity available through intimacy with other cultures. Sometimes, even individuals, focused on their aspirations or troubles miss the bounty of earthly life, as is depicted in this Zen parable:

A man walking across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger chasing him. coming to a cliff, he caught hold of a wild vine and swung himself over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Terrified, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger had come, waiting to eat him. Two mice, one white and one black, began little by little to nibble away at the vine. The man was a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

Zen reminds us of the necessity of tasting that strawberry in every moment, to savor life no matter what it brings. One way we can do this is to open our houses and our hearts to people of differing cultures, learning about differences and sharing similarities. As hatred and fear are bourn of ignorance, so love and acceptance are bourn of knowledge. Celebrate the holidays of others, maybe they’ll help you celebrate yours with you.

From my observations in life, from the news, from personal experience, I find most people in America seem to be miserable. I spent much of my formative years in such a state, and I think perhaps many others may as well. It's not that they cannot be happy, it's just they don't know how.

If one is raised by well-meaning parents who themselves have little experience in personal happiness, how is one likely to understand the mental mechanisms involved in joy, happiness, peace of mind? Without a roll model, a child lacks such knowledge. If, for example, a daughter lives in a family where much arguing, complaining, or instability occur, what can she be expected to take into her adult life from such an upbringing? To say nothing of the myriad ways children are abused or damaged, just the "little things" like verbal cruelty or consistent bullying by siblings is damaging to a fragile spirit.

Such atmospheres are common in family dynamics. Damaged people, who otherwise function well in society, give rise to damaged children. There are, of course, examples of the cycle breaking upon occasion, yet mostly things perpetuate, or get worse through time. It's a shame.

My experience was along those lines. That's why, while working the backroom in a bookstore, I was attracted to a tome entitled "The Art of Happiness." The cover is graced by a smiling man in maroon robes and glasses, for whom I have since developed a great respect: the Dalai Lama. Written by Howard C Cutler, a psychologist from Arizona, from teachings and stories gathered during a series of interviews, the book takes a fresh perspective of Buddhist wisdom by reinforcing it with modern psychological thought. This book literally changed my life for the better.

Chapter one, "The Right to Happiness," starts thusly:

"I believe the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we are all seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…"

With these words, spoken beofre a large audience in Arizona, the Dalai Lama cut to the heart of his message…

This outlook was foreign to my experience. Most people I knew, while indeed determined to better themselves, were miserable and stuck that way. They simply don't know how to change. I believe it's reasonable to say most people don't know how to be truly happy.

"But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us?" I asked. "Is is really possible?"

"Yes. I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind."

Training the mind… Another new concept. That is definitely not taught in the Lutheran tradition I inherited. While I vaguely knew of athletes training the mind to over come fear, manage pain, and improve concentration, nowhere did I hear previously that the mind could be trained for happiness - or that it should be. This intrigued me.

In the Dhammapada, the Buddha said:

The mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind, suffering follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart

The mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows,
As surely as one's shadow.

As for the Art of Happiness - if you feel you might need a primer on the subject, or for a good beginning into Buddhist thought without all the religious trappings, then this is a great place to start. You'll be glad you did!

I missed this week's Friday Night Zen for the first time since its inception. No excuses (although I've thought of some), I'll compensate for the oversight here.As gleaned from the MSN Buddhist community, a poignant poem on duality, life and an acknowledgement of the pervasive suffering of lives lived short of enlightenment - like yours or mine.

PLEASE CALL ME BY MY TRUE NAMES

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow -
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am a frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve year old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up
and the door of my heart
could be left open,
the door of compassion.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I'm reminded that my suffering is just an echo of the suffering of others; it is not unique. Each of us carried a burden of pain, commensurate to our strength, with which we utilize to gain compassion, to end suffering in others. Without a full knowledge of what hurts us, we cannot move toward its opposite. Our minds must understand what to avoid in order to cultivate its antithesis. Through our pain arises our compassion.

Anyone who looks out from his or her sanctuary occasionally can see our world is full of hate in all it’s manifestations. I sometimes think the negativity, the aggression is getting worse as we age, but it could be that I’m just paying more attention. As a child, one is blessed with ignorance of worldly affairs and politics, perhaps with reason. As one ages, the nastiness of our world encroaches. By the teen years, one makes a conscious decision either to become involved in bettering our world or to look away.

I took the second path. I believe many teens today do the same for the same reason: it’s easier to ignore than to battle global insanity, easier to focus on ourselves than on others. It is possible to live most of one’s live in self-imposed ignorance. Eventually, I believe, one necessarily must become involved. For me, it took a convergence of two factors: raising a child (something I used to be adamant against) and George W. Bush.

No joke. Until the 2000 election cycle, I never bothered to vote. I’m not proud of it, but there it is; I still clung to my aversion of global affairs and the habit of ignorance right into middle-age. Then I saw GWB’s infamous smirk for the first time, and something snapped inside my head. I hated this man more than I hated politics. He must not be president, I thought. I signed on to vote.

There’s another lesson in that, perhaps better saved for another day.

This story brings us to today’s Zen posting about how to see through all the negative expressions of this world to its core of goodness and love, as is taught in Buddhist traditions. First, we must realize what we are fed by media is a lopsided picture of our world. So much is edited out for the sake of sales and profit. Little is heard about compassionate acts and heroic expressions of charity. If one embroils oneself in headlines, the world indeed looks un-savable.

From a book by HH the Dalai Lama, Live in a Better Way, a compilation of his words from several interviews and teachings, comes a query on this topic presented in question-and-answer format:

How can one continue to believe in inherent human goodness when one sees the suffering man inflicts on his fellow man?

If you take a wider perspective, all human beings as a people have survived due to the care of their mother or a mother figure for whom they have cared and have compassionate feelings. Without mutual care, compassion and feeling, one cannot survive. The survival of 5.7 billion people is proof of this fact. Another reason is our human body: negative emotions are very bad for health. Positive emotions or peace of mind are a positive influence on this body. This is the basis of my belief. This does not mean that we have no negative aspects to our nature. I think another explanation is that the most effective way to change others’ minds is with affection, and not anger. It is very difficult to survive without compassionate feeling. Without anger, not only is survival easier, life itself is much happier. However, without affection, one cannot survive. Therefore, I feel that affection is the dominant force in our lives.

How refreshing! As tough as it may seem, to keep this attitude in mind as you interact with whomever you come in contact, the concept proves itself. Simply by maintaining an open, respectful stance with coworkers, cashiers, other drivers, whomever, stress and negativity subsides. People act differently toward you, and life generally smoothes out. Try it. As the Buddha says: Don’t take my word for it.

I’m fortunate enough to have a friend at work with whom I can sometimes banter beliefs. One day, while we both rode extensively in the company truck, we meandered into a conversation about religion. We soon became enmeshed in a detail of whether Buddhism is in fact a religion. As with similar debates, the issue involves clarification of definitions.

"It seems to me," He said, "that Buddhism is a philosophy." This, in response to my declaration of not believing in a creator being, or to a clumsy attempt at enumerating core values while supporting an agnostic position. That’s when a definition of the term "religion" came into play. Clearly, his concept of the term needed little extrapolation. Mine, however, wandered aimlessly. I fear I failed to do it justice.

With that episode in mind, I submit this week’s tidbit, written by Stephen Batchelor in his concise rendering of Buddhist "philosophy" entitled: Buddhism Without Beliefs. Thus begins his chapter on Agnosticism:

Suppose… a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions brought a surgeon to treat him. the man would say, "I will not let the surgeon pull out the arrow until I know the name and clan of the man who wounded me, whether the bow that wounded me was a long bow or a crossbow, whether the arrow that wounded me was hoof-tipped or curved or barbed."

All this would still not be known to that man and meanwhile he would die. So too… if anyone should say, "I will not lead the noble life under the Buddha until the Buddha declares to me whether the world is eternal or not eternal, finite or infinite; whether the soul is the same as or is different from the body; whether or not an awakened one continues or ceases to exist after death," the would still remain undeclared by the Buddha and meanwhile that person would die.

– the Buddha

I wish I had this in mind during our discussion. The whole God thing, heaven and hell, the afterlife; all are, in the Buddhist view, vain pursuits and distractions of what really matters. How does one’s belief in a divine Creator-Being help in our daily life? How does a belief in eternal damnation work to reduce suffering in ourselves and others?

When asked what he was doing, the Buddha replied that he taught "anguish and the ending of anguish." When asked about metaphysics (the origin and end of the universe, the identity or difference of body and mind, his existence or non-existence after death), he remained silent. He said the Dharma was permeated by a single taste: freedom. He made no claims to uniqueness or divinity and did not have recourse to a term we would translate as "God."

While such metaphysical conundrums form a basis for interesting suppositions, while much is made of such theories in world religions, they are "beside the point" of awakening. They neither support nor contradict Buddhism. Believe if you want, but don’t let beliefs hinder mindfulness, compassion, and the clarity of vision to do what is right in the moment. Namaste.

A couple of week ago, I found myself trying to relate Buddhist thinking to a Methodist friend. Dodging hurdles of not alienating a theist when speaking of a non-theistic belief, relating (literally) foreign concepts into an American mind, and expressing what caused me to abandon Lutheranism without dissing Christianity in general should not be attempted while driving. I’m not sure I did well.

Regarding my personal experience, there is one point I wish I had made clear. What struck me most about Buddhism as a philosophy is an attitude of "See for yourself." I found missing in the churches I attended.

Do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjectures or with logical inferences or with weighing evidence or with liking for a view after pondering over it or with someone else’s ability or with the thought "The monk is our teacher," When you know in yourselves: "These things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect lead to welfare and happiness," then you should practice and abide in them…

- the Buddha
Kalama Sutra

Trust your judgment; I like that. It affirms a trust in the individual, a belief that all men are inherently good, want happiness, and wish to reduce suffering in self and others. It assumes any person alive capable to know the difference in the wholesome and the harmful, and allows the freedom to chose. When wise choices are made, all roads lead to the Dharma and the betterment of mankind. Any decision that benefits others benefits the self.