Random Dharma

"Paradise is right here, right now, in all directions." - Ven. Tong Songchol, Korean Zen master, 1912-1993

Like waves, all the activities of this life have rolled endless on, yet they have left us empty-handed. Myriads of thoughts have run through our minds, but all they have done is increase our confusion and dissatisfaction.

Normally we operate under the deluded assumption that everything has some sort of true, substantial reality. But when we look more carefully, we find that the phenomenal world is like a rainbow — vivid and colorful, but without any tangible existence.

When a rainbow appears we see many beautiful colors — yet a rainbow is not something we can clothe ourselves with, or wear as an ornament; it simply appears through the conjunction of various conditions. Thoughts arise in the mind in just the same way. They have no tangible reality or intrinsic existence at all. There is therefore no logical reason why thoughts should have so much power over us, nor any reason why we should be enslaved by them.

– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Was recently reading the second volume of Peter Coyote's memoirs, The Rainman's Third Cure. It goes deep into his Zen practice, and has many insightful passages:

"Conversations at Zen Center had an unsettling quality of simply allowing silence to descend when someone had finished speaking. There appeared to be no compulsion to keep conversations afloat. If you had something to say, you said it, then simply sat with others in silence until someone else chose to speak. That silence was unnerving to me. I found myself rushing in to pick up conversational threads so that the speaker would not be embarrassed. When I observed that I was the only person doing that, it led me to wonder why. What if the conversation did die? How did I know that the speaker would be uncomfortable? Was I uncomfortable? Suppose they were uncomfortable, was that my problem or theirs? Each thought initiated a thread of inquiry and zazen offered the perfect spaciousness in which to track such questions to ground. I mentioned my reaction to the Abbot one day, who asked me innocently, “What’s wrong with being uncomfortable?”

What was it with these guys? Isn’t it natural to avoid what you don’t enjoy, and chase what you do? The teacher’s query suggested that living with and observing discomfort without reacting to it could be an opportunity to learn more about myself and smothering that opportunity under nervous chatter denied me self-knowledge.

Oh."

and

“An awakening is not to be understood as a foolproof antidote for natural disasters, or the vagaries of an ever-changing world. It is not a fence to be vaulted so that on the other side one can glide through life on spiritual autopilot. Such misunderstanding makes us vulnerable to charlatans and sociopaths.

Awakening is not the “goal” of Buddhist practice. In some manner it can be considered a type of beginning. Suzuki Roshi once said, “To be enlightened may not be so difficult. To renew that enlightenment moment after moment is what is difficult.” That understanding returns us, moment after moment, to “behavior.”

Well-written and enjoyable.

Love it.

Style is about the choices you make to create the aspects of civilization that you wish to uphold.
-David Bowie

As a more than averagely nerdy Bowie fan, I've been really moved, saddened and uplifted by his passing. He had an ongoing interest in Buddhism and the occult which I think very much comes through - some people were sharing article about his time/interaction with Trungpa although I didn't actually read it. The new album is amazing too.

I vaguely remember an interesting quote from Bowie, I remember reading it when I was in my teens in the early 1980's. He said something along the lines that he thought that to be true person he had to become a monk, (maybe this was Trungpa), but he realized that what he was doing could also do the same thing... basically loosening, unknotting peoples minds. It would be interesting to hear that quote again now!

www.jamesdekorne.com/GBCh/hex36.htm

"When, at length, they have practiced themselves for some time in the journey of virtue, persevering in meditation and prayer, wherein, with the suavity and relish they have found, they have become detached from worldly things, and acquired some spiritual strength in God, so as to be able to curb the creature appetites and in some small degree suffer for God some slight load and dryness, without turning back at the crucial moment; when, to their thinking, they are proceeding in these spiritual exercises to their entire satisfaction and delight; and when the Sun of Divine favors seems to them to shine most radiantly upon them, God darkens all this light, and shuts the door and fountain of the sweet spiritual water, which they were wont to drink in God as often and as long as they chose ... and thus, he leaves them in darkness so profound that they know not whither to direct the sense of the imagination and speculations of the mind."
St. John of the Cross

The Dark Night of the Soul is the universal experience of everyone who follows the way beyond the tried and true paths of the spiritual dilettante. It is an archetypal filter for determining the survival of the fittest in psychic evolution. For those who have entered this phase of the Work, it is good to remember that no one is given a test that they can't pass if they sincerely want to.

We've had several conversations around the central premise of Saints and Psychopaths, viz., that awakeness and altruism are two separate axes of development.

Here is Nisargadatta making the same point. This is from dialogue #58 of I AM THAT.

A questioner (Q) wants to know how to find an effective guru. Nisargadatta Maharaj (M) says that the character or personality of the guru has nothing to do with it.

Q: Must I not examine the teacher before I put myself entirely into his hands?

M: By all means examine! But what can you find out? Only as he appears to you on your own level.

Q: I shall watch whether he is consistent, whether there is harmony between his life and his teaching.

M: You may find plenty of disharmony -- so what? It proves nothing. Only motives matter. How will
you know his motives?

Q: I should at least expect him to be a man of self-control who lives a righteous life.

M: Such you will find many -- and of no use to you. A Guru can show the way back home, to your real self. What has this to do with the character, or temperament of the person he appears to be? Does he not clearly tell you that he is not the person? The only way you can judge is by the change in yourself when you are in his company. If you feel more at peace and happy, if you understand yourself with more than usual clarity and depth, it means you have met the right man.

Alternatively, as we say in Twelve Step fellowship, find someone who's got what you want. Someone who doesn't behave in a reasonably moral way (which doesn't mean some kind of inhumanly perfect saint) may or may not be awake but they sure don't got what I want

In my experience reading about people who got involved with dodgy gurus and cults, it began precisely because they felt a certain positive way around the guru, and essentially (on my reading) became addicted to that feeling.

"Only by seeking the truth within will you find the love you can never lose." - Byron Katie

From a recent article she posted entitled " Not Seeking Approval ."

From a beautiful piece Rob Burbea wrote - highly recommend you read it all on his update page (25 January update):

'...Now I linger there and sense something further: that this soul includes also both the universal and the intimately personal dimension of being – me and my unique personality and expression, all that comes through me and all that I have shaped and that has shaped me. None of that is separate from God, from this Buddha Nature, this timeless dimension that is both transcendent and immanent.

And it includes too my death, and the duration of my life; the timespan of my life, whether that turns out to be ‘long’ or ‘short’, is itself an aspect of my soul. It is not other than my soul, which is not separate and not wholly other than the depths and the timeless heart of the divine. I would love to live; I want to keep playing, experimenting, creating, discovering; to keep giving, receiving, loving, and praising. And at the same time I see, in a way which does not involve thought, that the timing of life and death is perfect, is ‘me’, is my soul, is divine. Peace and awe and a deep bowing of my being as I remain with this tuning of the perception. I suppose I could stay awake here; there is plenty of energy and brightness now, and it is very lovely. But the body needs to rest, so at last I lie down again, in this peace and awe and bowing, and after a while give myself, successfully and gratefully, to sleep...'

www.robburbea.com/

Sorry, didn't think of that!

batgap.com/robert-thurman/

I love how Robert Thurman talks about activism as an expression of joy, humor, optimism and play. My practice now is centered around enhancing these qualities to the max, so I'm starting to see how they are just as Buddhist-to-the-core as insight into emptiness. I feel that people can sometimes associate intelligence, sobriety and reason with pessimism. Thurman provides a good counterpoint. This is a good access point to activism for me, as I hate the attitude of being very serious and doubting about the world.

"I noticed that I lost all my habitual certainties. Earlier I was sure of so many things, now I am sure of nothing. But I feel that I have lost nothing by not knowing, because all my knowledge was false. My not knowing was in itself knowledge of the fact that all knowledge is ignorance, that 'I do not know' is the only true statement the mind can make." (Nisargadatta Maharaj)

Sounds like Socrates! The oracle of Delphi told him something to the effect that he was the wisest man alive. So Socrates wonders greatly at this, because, as he said, he himself knew nothing. But finally he recognized that no one else knows anything either; the difference is he realizes he knows nothing, whereas everyone else seems to think they do know something. They mistake their opinions for knowledge.

Just listened to this. What a hoot! The funniest thing I've heard in eons.

(courtesy of FaceBook and Ruth Levy)


Sayings of a Jewish Buddha

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.

There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.

The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.

Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

(From the book ZEN JUDAISM by David M Bader)

Kate Gowen wrote: Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

...oh but they are, they are

Thanissaro Bhikkhu spells out issues around selecting a dhamma-teacher:
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/than...wer_of_judgment.html

Impermanence - Bloom County - Berkeley Breathed


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