Sunday Meditation Group
February 2
-"The Rhythm of Your Life"
-the dharma student seeks to know moments of freedom. freedom from suffering & clinging. these moments may appear at different times, their arising is unpredictable. therefore, we have to be alert. this knowing, of course, is felt. we know freedom as a felt experience, in the body, in the heart. these moments are deathless, they transcended birth & death, past and future. they are timeless. as dharma students we seek to live from here. instead of living from the place of craving/desire. we strive for our actions to issue from the heart. from the silence. from the place of emptiness. the form our lives/actions take will be determined by our karma. for everyone the expression of the heart's sure release will take a different form. we each have a path, a particular journey. it is up to us to find our way. to make of our lives a work of art. to find the rhythm of our lives. there is great joy in making this effort, in taking this journey.
-some things to to remember as you make an effort to find "the rhythm of your life"...
1-it is essential to remember our goodness....
-we should make an effort regularly to remember our goodness....
-our merit...
-generosity....
-virtue....
-effort we make to train the mind & heart....
-remembering our goodness, we incline to knowing moments of freedom....
2-it is our task as dharma students to know moments of freedom....
-we seek, as per the duties the Buddha puts forth in the noble truths, to know freedom from suffering/clinging....
-this awareness, as we begin, takes the shape of moments of freedom....
-since we do not know when we'll be able to access these moments, we have to be alert...
-knowing is felt....
-we have a felt sense of this freedom....
3-we seek take action in our lives from this place of non-clinging......
-this awakened action, the opposite of action, informed by craving, begins with intention....
-we develop the intention to take awakened action....
-action from the heart.....
-action aligned with our goodness
4-the form that our actions take is determined by our karma.....
-the Buddha's karma led him to be a teacher....
-for each of us, we have a particular karma that will determine actions we take that are an expression of the heart's sure release....
-our task is to find our path....
-or we could say, to find our rhythm....
5-we should begin immediately to find our path.....
-we might begin by having the intention, as described above, to live from the timeless place....
-to live in tune with our truth.....
-we might, in setting intention, seek to live in the questions....
-to reflect: what can I do that is an expression of my goodness ... my heart...?
-what can i do today...?
-what can i do right now...?
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: "This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me."
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching what only with difficulty I reached. This Dhamma is not easily realized by those overcome with aversion & passion. What is abstruse, subtle, deep, hard to see, going against the flow — those delighting in passion, cloaked in the mass of darkness, won't see.As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness, thought: "The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Rightly Self-awakened One inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!" Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahma Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
In the past there appeared among the Magadhans an impure Dhamma devised by the stained. Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One! Just as one standing on a rocky crag might see people all around below, So, O wise one, with all-around vision, ascend the palace fashioned of the Dhamma. Free from sorrow, behold the people submerged in sorrow, oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle! O Teacher, wander without debt in the world. Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One: There will be those who will understand.
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma's invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses — born and growing in the water — might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; while some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water — so too, surveying the world with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction. Perceiving trouble, O Brahma, I did not tell people the refined, sublime Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, "The Blessed One has given his consent to teach the Dhamma," bowed down to the Blessed One and, circling him on the right, disappeared right there.
(SN 6.1)
Archaic Torso of Apollo (Rilke)
We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,
gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.
Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur:
would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.
Wir kannten nicht sein unerhörtes Haupt,
darin die Augenäpfel reiften. Aber
sein Torso glüht noch wie ein Kandelaber,
in dem sein Schauen, nur zurückgeschraubt,
sich hält und glänzt. Sonst könnte nicht der Bug
der Brust dich blenden, und im leisen Drehen
der Lenden könnte nicht ein Lächeln gehen
zu jener Mitte, die die Zeugung trug.
Sonst stünde dieser Stein enstellt und kurz
unter der Shultern durchsichtigem Sturz
und flimmerte nicht so wie Raubtierfelle;
und brächte nicht aus allen seinen Rändern
aus wie ein Stern: denn da ist keine Stelle,
die dich nicht sieht. Du mußt dein Leben ändern.
-"The Rhythm of Your Life"
-the dharma student seeks to know moments of freedom. freedom from suffering & clinging. these moments may appear at different times, their arising is unpredictable. therefore, we have to be alert. this knowing, of course, is felt. we know freedom as a felt experience, in the body, in the heart. these moments are deathless, they transcended birth & death, past and future. they are timeless. as dharma students we seek to live from here. instead of living from the place of craving/desire. we strive for our actions to issue from the heart. from the silence. from the place of emptiness. the form our lives/actions take will be determined by our karma. for everyone the expression of the heart's sure release will take a different form. we each have a path, a particular journey. it is up to us to find our way. to make of our lives a work of art. to find the rhythm of our lives. there is great joy in making this effort, in taking this journey.
-some things to to remember as you make an effort to find "the rhythm of your life"...
1-it is essential to remember our goodness....
-we should make an effort regularly to remember our goodness....
-our merit...
-generosity....
-virtue....
-effort we make to train the mind & heart....
-remembering our goodness, we incline to knowing moments of freedom....
2-it is our task as dharma students to know moments of freedom....
-we seek, as per the duties the Buddha puts forth in the noble truths, to know freedom from suffering/clinging....
-this awareness, as we begin, takes the shape of moments of freedom....
-since we do not know when we'll be able to access these moments, we have to be alert...
-knowing is felt....
-we have a felt sense of this freedom....
3-we seek take action in our lives from this place of non-clinging......
-this awakened action, the opposite of action, informed by craving, begins with intention....
-we develop the intention to take awakened action....
-action from the heart.....
-action aligned with our goodness
4-the form that our actions take is determined by our karma.....
-the Buddha's karma led him to be a teacher....
-for each of us, we have a particular karma that will determine actions we take that are an expression of the heart's sure release....
-our task is to find our path....
-or we could say, to find our rhythm....
5-we should begin immediately to find our path.....
-we might begin by having the intention, as described above, to live from the timeless place....
-to live in tune with our truth.....
-we might, in setting intention, seek to live in the questions....
-to reflect: what can I do that is an expression of my goodness ... my heart...?
-what can i do today...?
-what can i do right now...?
-reading.....
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: "This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me."
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching what only with difficulty I reached. This Dhamma is not easily realized by those overcome with aversion & passion. What is abstruse, subtle, deep, hard to see, going against the flow — those delighting in passion, cloaked in the mass of darkness, won't see.As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness, thought: "The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Rightly Self-awakened One inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!" Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahma Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
In the past there appeared among the Magadhans an impure Dhamma devised by the stained. Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One! Just as one standing on a rocky crag might see people all around below, So, O wise one, with all-around vision, ascend the palace fashioned of the Dhamma. Free from sorrow, behold the people submerged in sorrow, oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle! O Teacher, wander without debt in the world. Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One: There will be those who will understand.
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma's invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses — born and growing in the water — might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; while some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water — so too, surveying the world with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction. Perceiving trouble, O Brahma, I did not tell people the refined, sublime Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, "The Blessed One has given his consent to teach the Dhamma," bowed down to the Blessed One and, circling him on the right, disappeared right there.
(SN 6.1)
Archaic Torso of Apollo (Rilke)
We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,
gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.
Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur:
would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.
Wir kannten nicht sein unerhörtes Haupt,
darin die Augenäpfel reiften. Aber
sein Torso glüht noch wie ein Kandelaber,
in dem sein Schauen, nur zurückgeschraubt,
sich hält und glänzt. Sonst könnte nicht der Bug
der Brust dich blenden, und im leisen Drehen
der Lenden könnte nicht ein Lächeln gehen
zu jener Mitte, die die Zeugung trug.
Sonst stünde dieser Stein enstellt und kurz
unter der Shultern durchsichtigem Sturz
und flimmerte nicht so wie Raubtierfelle;
und brächte nicht aus allen seinen Rändern
aus wie ein Stern: denn da ist keine Stelle,
die dich nicht sieht. Du mußt dein Leben ändern.
The Spiritual Path
An Evening Talk with Peter Doobinin
Friday, February 7
New York Insight, 115 W 29 St, 12th Fl, NYC
6:30pm to 8:30pm
To find out more details and register, visit the New York Insight website.
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January 26
-"True Dhamma"
-the tendency we may have is to want to follow a new path or teaching or way of doing things. but the truths of the heart, the dhamma, are timeless and deathless. the dharma has always been there and will always be there. the Buddha didn't invent the dharma. he found it. and, in turn, he taught a way, a path, by which we might find it. we find the dharma inside us. in the body. in the heart. we learn, as dharma students, in being true to the Buddha's path, to know the dharma. we may come to know it, moment by moment. in our meditation. and in the course of our days. our task is to follow the path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation, and, in turn, to be alert to the dhamma, that timeless quality. it is from this place, that we seek to live.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know the "true dhamma"...
1-the dhamma is timeless....
-it has always been here, it will always be here....
-it is, therefore, true...
2-the path the Buddha taught leads to the true dhamma....
-the spiritual path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, meditation....
-it is the path the Buddha followed....
-the dhamma, truth, that the Buddha came to know is the same dhamma, truth, that we seek to know....
-a question for us to ask is: is what we're doing, how we're practicing, how we're living, leading us to the true dhamma....?
-to that quality of rhythm....
-to the heart....
-to love
3-we find the dhamma inside......
-in the silence ... in the stillness ... in the simplicity of the present moment....
-we know the dhamma in the body....
-we know the dhamma in the heart the heart.....
4-in breath meditation, we may touch in to the dhamma.....
-in those moments, when concentration is developed, when there is "just breathing"....
-when we let go of "I am breathing" or "my breath"....
-in those moments, perhaps for a fingersnap, we know that timeless quality of dhamma....
-similarly, in walking meditation, when there is "just walking".....
-as the Buddha explains to Ven. Bahiya (see sutta), this kind of practice is a way in to the dhamma....
5-as we begin to know the timeless quality, we incline to it.....
-knowing the dhamma is, as Ajahn Chah said, a cause for its rearising....
-in turn, more and more, we live, take action, from this place....
-from the heart....
-this goodness we develop in knowing and living from the true dhamma is what we leave behind....
-reading.....
-"Tradition and the Individual Talent" (TS Eliot)
-"True Dhamma"
-the tendency we may have is to want to follow a new path or teaching or way of doing things. but the truths of the heart, the dhamma, are timeless and deathless. the dharma has always been there and will always be there. the Buddha didn't invent the dharma. he found it. and, in turn, he taught a way, a path, by which we might find it. we find the dharma inside us. in the body. in the heart. we learn, as dharma students, in being true to the Buddha's path, to know the dharma. we may come to know it, moment by moment. in our meditation. and in the course of our days. our task is to follow the path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation, and, in turn, to be alert to the dhamma, that timeless quality. it is from this place, that we seek to live.
-some things to to remember as you learn to know the "true dhamma"...
1-the dhamma is timeless....
-it has always been here, it will always be here....
-it is, therefore, true...
2-the path the Buddha taught leads to the true dhamma....
-the spiritual path of generosity, virtue, renunciation, meditation....
-it is the path the Buddha followed....
-the dhamma, truth, that the Buddha came to know is the same dhamma, truth, that we seek to know....
-a question for us to ask is: is what we're doing, how we're practicing, how we're living, leading us to the true dhamma....?
-to that quality of rhythm....
-to the heart....
-to love
3-we find the dhamma inside......
-in the silence ... in the stillness ... in the simplicity of the present moment....
-we know the dhamma in the body....
-we know the dhamma in the heart the heart.....
4-in breath meditation, we may touch in to the dhamma.....
-in those moments, when concentration is developed, when there is "just breathing"....
-when we let go of "I am breathing" or "my breath"....
-in those moments, perhaps for a fingersnap, we know that timeless quality of dhamma....
-similarly, in walking meditation, when there is "just walking".....
-as the Buddha explains to Ven. Bahiya (see sutta), this kind of practice is a way in to the dhamma....
5-as we begin to know the timeless quality, we incline to it.....
-knowing the dhamma is, as Ajahn Chah said, a cause for its rearising....
-in turn, more and more, we live, take action, from this place....
-from the heart....
-this goodness we develop in knowing and living from the true dhamma is what we leave behind....
-reading.....
-"Tradition and the Individual Talent" (TS Eliot)
| eliot_tradition.pdf |
-"The Customs of the Noble Ones" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
“And how does a monk remain focused on the body in & of itself?
[1] “There is the case where a monk—having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building—sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and establishing mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
“Breathing in long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ Or breathing in short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing in short’; or breathing out short, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out short.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.’ He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’ Just as a dexterous turner or his apprentice, when making a long turn, discerns, ‘I am making a long turn,’ or when making a short turn discerns, ‘I am making a short turn’; in the same way the monk, when breathing in long, discerns, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, he discerns, ‘I am breathing out long.’ … He trains himself, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication’; he trains himself, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’
“In this way he remains focused internally on the body in & of itself, or externally on the body in & of itself, or both internally & externally on the body in & of itself. Or he remains focused on the phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination & passing away with regard to the body. Or his mindfulness that ‘There is a body’ is maintained to the extent of knowledge & remembrance. And he remains independent, unsustained by [not clinging to] anything in the world. This is how a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself."
(MN 10)
"Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress."
Through hearing this brief explanation of the Dhamma from the Blessed One, the mind of Bāhiya of the Bark-cloth right then and there was released from effluents through lack of clinging/sustenance. Having exhorted Bāhiya of the Bark-cloth with this brief explanation of the Dhamma, the Blessed One left.
(Ud 1.1)
Burnt Norton (Four Quartets) (TS Eliot)
I
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
January 19
-"The Path of the Heart"
-the Buddha's path is a spiritual path. the elements of this spiritual path include generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation. the spiritual path is a path of the the heart. as such, it is a path in which we learn to meet life with love. love is an action. when we take action in this life that is informed by the heart, by love, we know happiness.
-some things to to remember as you develop in your efforts to follow "the path of the heart"...
1-as dharma students we're asked to follow a spiritual path....
-it is by following a spiritual path that we are able to move beyond suffering and know true happiness....
-we seek to live along spiritual lines...
-to this end, we might reflect: what is my commitment to a spiritual path...?
2-there are certain basic elements to the spiritual path....
-the basic elements, as put forth by the Buddha, of the spiritual path....
-generosity....
-abandoning greediness.....
-virtue...
-following, to the best of our ability, the five precepts....
-including the tenets of skillful speech....
-to abandon false speech, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech....
-renunciation.....
-to limit or moderate our indulgence in sense pleasure and material gain.....
-to find remove and seclusion from the ways of the world....
-meditation....
-the training of the mind & heart....
-concentration....
-wisdom
3-the purpose of the practice of meditation is to bring us closer to the heart......
-in developing concentration, we come closer to the heart....
-we reside, more and more, in the body....
-we come closer to the heart.....
-in developing wisdom, we come closer to the heart....
-we abandon that which is blocking us from the heart.....
4-the spiritual path is a path of the heart.....
-the path of the heart is a path of love....
-love is not an emotion....
-love is the quality of the heart that informs awakened action....
-love is found in action ... subtle & blatant.....
-reading.....
-"Nobel Peace Prize Lecture" (Dr. Martin Luther King)
This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.
Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: “Improved means to an unimproved end”. This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual “lag” must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the “without” of man’s nature subjugates the “within”, dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.
********
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.
Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.” We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.
-from Nobel Lecture (Dr. Martin Luther King)
"Now, Cunda, there are three ways in which one is made pure by bodily action, four ways in which one is made pure by verbal action, and three ways in which one is made pure by mental action.
Skillful Bodily Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
Skillful Verbal Action
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action.
Skillful Mental Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the belongings of others, thinking, 'O, that what belongs to others would be mine!' He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!' He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how one is made pure in three ways by mental action.
"These, Cunda, are the ten courses of skillful action. When a person is endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, then even if he gets up at the proper time from his bed and touches the earth, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch the earth, he is still pure. If he touches wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he touches green grass... If he doesn't touch green grass... If he worships a fire... If he doesn't worship a fire... If he pays homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he doesn't pay homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he goes down into the water three times by nightfall... If he doesn't go down into the water three times by nightfall, he is still pure. Why is that? Because these ten courses of skillful action are pure and cause purity. Furthermore, as a result of being endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, [rebirth among] the devas is declared, [rebirth among] human beings is declared — that or any other good destination."
When this was said, Cunda the silversmith said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, lord! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has the Blessed One — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.
(AN 10.176)
Choices
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.
You too shall pass away.
Knowing this,
how can you quarrel?
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
Temptation cannot touch the man
Who is awake, strong and humble,
Who masters himself and minds the dharma.
If a man's thoughts are muddy,
If he is reckless and full of deceit,
How can he wear the yellow robe?
Whoever is master of his own nature,
Bright, clear and true,
He may indeed wear the yellow robe.
Mistaking the false for the true,
And the true for the false,
You overlook the heart
And fill yourself with desire.
See the false as false,
The true as true.
Look into your heart.
Follow your nature.
An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
Passion, like the rain, floods the house.
But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.
Whoever follows impure thoughts
Suffers in this world and the next.
In both worlds he suffers
And how greatly
When he sees the wrong he has done.
But whoever follows the dharma Is joyful here and joyful there.
In both worlds he rejoices
And how greatly
When he sees the good he has done.
For great is the harvest in this world,
And greater still in the next.
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you If you do not act upon them?
Are you a shepherd
Who counts another man's sheep,
Never sharing the way?
Read as few words as you like,
And speak fewer.
But act upon the dharma.
Give up the old ways –
Passion, enmity, folly.
Know the truth and find peace.
Share the way.
(Dhp 1)
-"The Path of the Heart"
-the Buddha's path is a spiritual path. the elements of this spiritual path include generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation. the spiritual path is a path of the the heart. as such, it is a path in which we learn to meet life with love. love is an action. when we take action in this life that is informed by the heart, by love, we know happiness.
-some things to to remember as you develop in your efforts to follow "the path of the heart"...
1-as dharma students we're asked to follow a spiritual path....
-it is by following a spiritual path that we are able to move beyond suffering and know true happiness....
-we seek to live along spiritual lines...
-to this end, we might reflect: what is my commitment to a spiritual path...?
2-there are certain basic elements to the spiritual path....
-the basic elements, as put forth by the Buddha, of the spiritual path....
-generosity....
-abandoning greediness.....
-virtue...
-following, to the best of our ability, the five precepts....
-including the tenets of skillful speech....
-to abandon false speech, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech....
-renunciation.....
-to limit or moderate our indulgence in sense pleasure and material gain.....
-to find remove and seclusion from the ways of the world....
-meditation....
-the training of the mind & heart....
-concentration....
-wisdom
3-the purpose of the practice of meditation is to bring us closer to the heart......
-in developing concentration, we come closer to the heart....
-we reside, more and more, in the body....
-we come closer to the heart.....
-in developing wisdom, we come closer to the heart....
-we abandon that which is blocking us from the heart.....
4-the spiritual path is a path of the heart.....
-the path of the heart is a path of love....
-love is not an emotion....
-love is the quality of the heart that informs awakened action....
-love is found in action ... subtle & blatant.....
-reading.....
-"Nobel Peace Prize Lecture" (Dr. Martin Luther King)
This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.
Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: “Improved means to an unimproved end”. This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual “lag” must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the “without” of man’s nature subjugates the “within”, dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.
********
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.
Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.” We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.
-from Nobel Lecture (Dr. Martin Luther King)
"Now, Cunda, there are three ways in which one is made pure by bodily action, four ways in which one is made pure by verbal action, and three ways in which one is made pure by mental action.
Skillful Bodily Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action.
Skillful Verbal Action
"And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world. Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action.
Skillful Mental Action
"And how is one made pure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the belongings of others, thinking, 'O, that what belongs to others would be mine!' He bears no ill will and is not corrupt in the resolves of his heart. [He thinks,] 'May these beings be free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble, and may they look after themselves with ease!' He has right view and is not warped in the way he sees things: 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is how one is made pure in three ways by mental action.
"These, Cunda, are the ten courses of skillful action. When a person is endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, then even if he gets up at the proper time from his bed and touches the earth, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch the earth, he is still pure. If he touches wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he doesn't touch wet cow dung, he is still pure. If he touches green grass... If he doesn't touch green grass... If he worships a fire... If he doesn't worship a fire... If he pays homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he doesn't pay homage to the sun with clasped hands... If he goes down into the water three times by nightfall... If he doesn't go down into the water three times by nightfall, he is still pure. Why is that? Because these ten courses of skillful action are pure and cause purity. Furthermore, as a result of being endowed with these ten courses of skillful action, [rebirth among] the devas is declared, [rebirth among] human beings is declared — that or any other good destination."
When this was said, Cunda the silversmith said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, lord! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has the Blessed One — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the community of monks. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.
(AN 10.176)
Choices
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.
You too shall pass away.
Knowing this,
how can you quarrel?
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
Temptation cannot touch the man
Who is awake, strong and humble,
Who masters himself and minds the dharma.
If a man's thoughts are muddy,
If he is reckless and full of deceit,
How can he wear the yellow robe?
Whoever is master of his own nature,
Bright, clear and true,
He may indeed wear the yellow robe.
Mistaking the false for the true,
And the true for the false,
You overlook the heart
And fill yourself with desire.
See the false as false,
The true as true.
Look into your heart.
Follow your nature.
An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
Passion, like the rain, floods the house.
But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.
Whoever follows impure thoughts
Suffers in this world and the next.
In both worlds he suffers
And how greatly
When he sees the wrong he has done.
But whoever follows the dharma Is joyful here and joyful there.
In both worlds he rejoices
And how greatly
When he sees the good he has done.
For great is the harvest in this world,
And greater still in the next.
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you If you do not act upon them?
Are you a shepherd
Who counts another man's sheep,
Never sharing the way?
Read as few words as you like,
And speak fewer.
But act upon the dharma.
Give up the old ways –
Passion, enmity, folly.
Know the truth and find peace.
Share the way.
(Dhp 1)
January 12
-"Moving Beyond Emotions"
-emotions, including painful emotions, are part of life. as conditioned phenomena, they have an "unsatisfactory" nature. which is to say, they can't offer us a reliable happiness and, if we cling to, they conduce to suffering/dukkha. as dharma students, we're asked to understand the impermanent, conditioned, unreliable, unsatisfactory nature of emotions. we learn, as we bring awareness to emotions, to become less invested in them, to give them less weight. we learn, in turn, to put more emphasis on the qualities of the heart. we learn that we can choose, and we learn to choose love.
-some things to to remember as you explore your efforts in "moving beyond emotions"...
1-stressful emotions are unavoidable conditions of life....
-as human beings, we will experience difficult, painful emotions....
-but if we are able to refrain from clinging, our heart will remain open...
-if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha/suffering....
2-in our practice, we learn to be aware of emotions according to reality....
-we learn to be mindful of emotions, seeing that they are....
-impermanent....
-inconstant.....
-not-self....
-conditioned....
-unreliable....
-unpredictable....
-out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-they conduce to clinging ... and dukkha/suffering.....
3-as we see into the truth of what emotions are, we cultivate disenchantment......
-we recognize the drawbacks of emotions....
-we don't give so much weight to emotions....
-we become more and more disinclined to grasp on to.....
-we understand that emotions are merely sensations, in the body....
-they are "empty" ... without substance.....
4-it's useful to see how we react to emotions.....
-do we engage in forms of reactivity...?
-disliking the emotion....
-not wanting the emotion....
-despair/anguish about the emotion.....
5- in our practice we learn to move beyond emotions....
-we understand that we're better off, in this life, if we invest in the qualities of the heart....
-compassion....
-love....
-joy.....
-we learn to see that the qualities of the heart are more beneficial....
-reliable....
-true....
-conduce to happiness....
6- we assert the qualities of the heart through intention....
-we choose to abandon emotional states ... and to cultivate the heart....
-we choose the heart through intention.....
-we assert "skillful intention".....
-reading.....
-"Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion" (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."
(SN 56.11)
"It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting. HIs particular emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life. One error, in fact, of eccentricity in poetry is to seek for new human emotions to express; and in this search for novelty in the wrong place it discovers the perverse. The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all.
***********
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.
-TS Eliot ("Tradition and the Individual Talent")
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?"
(SN 22.95)
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-"Moving Beyond Emotions"
-emotions, including painful emotions, are part of life. as conditioned phenomena, they have an "unsatisfactory" nature. which is to say, they can't offer us a reliable happiness and, if we cling to, they conduce to suffering/dukkha. as dharma students, we're asked to understand the impermanent, conditioned, unreliable, unsatisfactory nature of emotions. we learn, as we bring awareness to emotions, to become less invested in them, to give them less weight. we learn, in turn, to put more emphasis on the qualities of the heart. we learn that we can choose, and we learn to choose love.
-some things to to remember as you explore your efforts in "moving beyond emotions"...
1-stressful emotions are unavoidable conditions of life....
-as human beings, we will experience difficult, painful emotions....
-but if we are able to refrain from clinging, our heart will remain open...
-if we don't cling, we won't experience dukkha/suffering....
2-in our practice, we learn to be aware of emotions according to reality....
-we learn to be mindful of emotions, seeing that they are....
-impermanent....
-inconstant.....
-not-self....
-conditioned....
-unreliable....
-unpredictable....
-out of our control.....
-unsatisfactory.....
-they conduce to clinging ... and dukkha/suffering.....
3-as we see into the truth of what emotions are, we cultivate disenchantment......
-we recognize the drawbacks of emotions....
-we don't give so much weight to emotions....
-we become more and more disinclined to grasp on to.....
-we understand that emotions are merely sensations, in the body....
-they are "empty" ... without substance.....
4-it's useful to see how we react to emotions.....
-do we engage in forms of reactivity...?
-disliking the emotion....
-not wanting the emotion....
-despair/anguish about the emotion.....
5- in our practice we learn to move beyond emotions....
-we understand that we're better off, in this life, if we invest in the qualities of the heart....
-compassion....
-love....
-joy.....
-we learn to see that the qualities of the heart are more beneficial....
-reliable....
-true....
-conduce to happiness....
6- we assert the qualities of the heart through intention....
-we choose to abandon emotional states ... and to cultivate the heart....
-we choose the heart through intention.....
-we assert "skillful intention".....
-reading.....
-"Setting the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion" (SN 56.11)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."
(SN 56.11)
"It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting. HIs particular emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life. One error, in fact, of eccentricity in poetry is to seek for new human emotions to express; and in this search for novelty in the wrong place it discovers the perverse. The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all.
***********
Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.
-TS Eliot ("Tradition and the Individual Talent")
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Ayojjhans on the banks of the Ganges River. There he addressed the monks: "Monks, suppose that a large glob of foam were floating down this Ganges River, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a glob of foam? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any form that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in form?"
(SN 22.95)
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January 5
-"Beginning to Live"
-as we move forward in life, our view of things often narrows. our view of the world, others, and of course ourselves. our way of looking at things become more and more narrow, the more we cling. in dharma practice, as we learn to abandon clinging, we begin, little by slowly, to widen our view of things. we begin to know the truth of things. we begin to realize the great potential that lies in every moment of life. the potential for unexcelled happiness. the happiness of heart.
-some things to to remember as you embrace the notion that you're "beginning to live"...
1-we may have lost that 'sense of possibility' that we felt when we were younger....
-in our younger days, as we set out in life, we may have been imbued with a sense of possibility....
-the world seemed open...
-life seem filled with possibilities....
-but as time went on, we may have gradually lost that sense of possibility.....
-our view of life, and its potential, may have come more and more limited.....
2-our view of things becomes more and more limited as we engage more and more in clinging....
-what changes, we come to learn, as dharma students, is our view of life, not life itself....
-our view of life becomes more limited as we engage in clinging....
-clinging to....
-sense pleasures.....
-views & opinions....
-social conventions....
-self image.....
3-as we abandon clinging, we come to recognize the truth of the dharma......
-we recognize the boundless potential in every moment....
-the potential for happiness of heart....
4-the happiness of heart is deathless....
-it is deathless ... boundless ... timeless...
-for this reason, life is imbued, by its nature with endless possibility for love, joy, happiness....
-reading.....
April 16. Away! Away!
The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone—come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.
April 26. Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
(James Joyce/The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down, and stone walls piled up on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If you are chosen town clerk, forsooth, you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer: but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless. The universe is wider than our views of it.
***********
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond–side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
***********
I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
-Thoreau (from Walden/Conclusion)
-"Beginning to Live"
-as we move forward in life, our view of things often narrows. our view of the world, others, and of course ourselves. our way of looking at things become more and more narrow, the more we cling. in dharma practice, as we learn to abandon clinging, we begin, little by slowly, to widen our view of things. we begin to know the truth of things. we begin to realize the great potential that lies in every moment of life. the potential for unexcelled happiness. the happiness of heart.
-some things to to remember as you embrace the notion that you're "beginning to live"...
1-we may have lost that 'sense of possibility' that we felt when we were younger....
-in our younger days, as we set out in life, we may have been imbued with a sense of possibility....
-the world seemed open...
-life seem filled with possibilities....
-but as time went on, we may have gradually lost that sense of possibility.....
-our view of life, and its potential, may have come more and more limited.....
2-our view of things becomes more and more limited as we engage more and more in clinging....
-what changes, we come to learn, as dharma students, is our view of life, not life itself....
-our view of life becomes more limited as we engage in clinging....
-clinging to....
-sense pleasures.....
-views & opinions....
-social conventions....
-self image.....
3-as we abandon clinging, we come to recognize the truth of the dharma......
-we recognize the boundless potential in every moment....
-the potential for happiness of heart....
4-the happiness of heart is deathless....
-it is deathless ... boundless ... timeless...
-for this reason, life is imbued, by its nature with endless possibility for love, joy, happiness....
-reading.....
April 16. Away! Away!
The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone—come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.
April 26. Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
April 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.
(James Joyce/The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here. The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps pace with the seasons cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail fences are pulled down, and stone walls piled up on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If you are chosen town clerk, forsooth, you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer: but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless. The universe is wider than our views of it.
***********
I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond–side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
***********
I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
-Thoreau (from Walden/Conclusion)
Teacher Support
Donations to support the teacher, Peter Doobinin, can be made via PayPal by using the address: [email protected]
(If using PayPal, this is the preferred method; please use the "personal/family & friends" function.)
Donations can also be made through Zelle using the email address: [email protected]
Information about making a donation using a credit card or by check are found on the Support page.
Thanks for your generosity!
