If you have some time to spare, here’s an episode of NOVA I really enjoyed about restoring the art work in some of the old and damaged monasteries in Mustang (moo-stahng). Mustang is also known as a “Tibet outside the Tibetan Border” for it survived the Chinese invasion of 1951 and hence it fosters the original Tibetan culture, although now politically in Nepal.
This has been a long overdue post. My apologies. This is part two to Philip G. McLemore’s previous article titled Mormon Mantras: A Journey of Spiritual Transformation from Sunstone Magazine.
Like the last one, this is a long read, about 16 pages, but again, well worth it. In this one he goes more in depth about how the teachings of Christ really are like Yoga, and how you can use Yoga to live the teachings of Christ and to commune with God through them.
As his tagline reads: “Is it possible that the teachings of Jesus are so comprehensive they encompass the core spiritual principles of both East and West?”
Click the link below to download a PDF copy of the article:
As a Buddhist teacher, author and founder of the Upaya Zen Centre, Roshi Joan Halifax has dedicated her life to service. Christopher Mccann listens to her stories.
Photo by: Meridel Rubenstein
I am sitting with Roshi Joan Halifax. She is propped up on pillows, her eyes steady and deep despite the pain in her body. She has slipped on a wet bathroom floor and broken her hip in four different places. She emerged from surgery with a certain equanimity, coming back to do her work in the world with the new addition of a steel plate and screws in her hip.
It’s been close to two years since we’ve seen each other, and we are happy and easy in each other’s presence. I have brought her a picture of her dog, Dominga, which she raised to her forehead like a picture of a saint before placing it on the table beside her. After spending thirty hours strapped to a gurney in an emergency room, she was moved to a private room, where we are sitting when she tells me this story:
“Imagine you’re flying in an airplane, with the wide, shimmering expanse of the sea below you. You rest comfortably in your seat, watching sunlight glint off the waves.
“Out the window you see a smaller plane come into view, flying parallel to yours and just below. There is a moment’s pause, and then the smaller plane begins to throttle back and forth, dipping and diving. And then suddenly, from the side of the plane hidden from your view, a man falls out and starts hurtling, end over end, toward the sea.
“You gasp, pressing your face closer to the glass, feeling a flash of fear course through your body. Entering into the man’s fall with him, you feel it from his body, see the ocean rushing toward you through his terrified eyes. Then with a violent splash the man plunges headfirst into the water.
“And you are still strapped in your seat, hundreds of feet above him, hardly able to breathe.”
I lean forward in my chair toward her. Where is this story going? It’s shocking and strange to me to imagine a man falling to his death, but then Roshi Joan reveals one vital detail.
Sunday October 19, 2008 was a very special day for me. On this day Lopon Barbara of the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Prescott, AZ came to town for a day of Dharma. Our little Sangha had more attendance on this day than it has in awhile, which is not surprising when the teacher comes to town, which is only once a year.
The reason this day was most special for me was that I took my refuge vows, and officially entered the Buddhist fold. I was even given a Dharma name, which is “Glorious Awakening of the Three Jewels”. With this as well, I may actually call myself a true Buddhist, and not just someone who follows Buddhist philosophy. I know what you’re thinking and yes, it’s only a label, but you know what, I’m happy about it and it means alot to me. On top of taking the refuge vows, I ALSO took the Bodhisattva vows on the same day, which I will talk about more in detail in another post.
When I decided to formally commit myself to the Buddhist path, it was a big deal for me. I’m a habitual fence sitter and rarely make decisions to which I’m fully committed. I always tend to go the passive-aggressive route and half-commit, yet never forgetting to leave me an out (I never ACTUALLY said I could make it on Tuesday, I just said I’d try). I hate this habit, and I vow to change it, right here and now. This was the first big step towards that change for me.
Buddhism has been a touchy topic with my Wife and I as her level of understanding isn’t where mine is, nor does she understand my draw towards formal commitment. After engaging in some healthy conflict, she said that she felt she understood and gave me her blessing to take the vows, which is what I was truly looking for. I don’t want my Buddhist half to be a thorn in our marriage, even though it has been at many times so far.
I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful I feel right now. I truly feel reborn and ready to work. I haven’t had any supernatural experiences, nor did anything descend from the clouds in the form of a dove, but I feel a new fire within, and it feels great.
If you want me to post the details of how the overall process of taking the vows was, I would be happy to do so, just leave a comment and let me know.
I look forward to my weekly podcasts with The ID project – Ethan Nicturne’s unique and modern interpretation of Buddhism is educational, honest, and entertaining. This week the topic was Cynicism and the 3 pillars of zen. As a religious refugee, his talk hit upon a lot of thoughts I’ve had lately and he put it so eloquently: (Keep in mind that he was speaking – not writing!)
“One of the things that I’ve always like about the Buddhist tradition is that you are required to be skeptical. Now that’s a strong statement. I did not just say it’s unlike some other spiritual traditions because they let you ask questions, or if you’re a somewhat disbelieving son of a bitch like myself they’ll allow you to stay in the room, right - but they really want you to come around to their perspective. The Buddhist tradition is a method of investigation and inquiry that requires disbelief to function. Do you see the difference? It’s different than saying if you have any questions, sure, and we’ll enlighten you, and then eventually you’ll get it, and become a Buddhist and we’ll humor you through that process. You need to not believe - to get anything out of this. So that really fascinated me, Because of that I think it’s the perfect method of life inquiry for our post-modern, democratic society. “
Ethan hits it on the head for me. This method of inquiry is so refreshing because it is ego-less in it’s approach. We get to approach the teachings with a skeptical mind, and through application we see if they actually work. The Buddhist teachers are the first to say, “hey, if it doesn’t work, don’t use it. No problem.” This way of approaching spiritual life is all about truth, not about belief. The tradition is about using what literally works, not about defending a set of beliefs. There is nobody trying to convert anybody. The basic premise of the tradition is to sit, be still and pay attention. If you pay attention, truth will be illuminated. Religion goes the opposite way and says, “Here’s a list of things that are true – live this way. Take this list and through belief that these things are true, they’ll be true. If you want to ask God yourself - good! Ask him. But if you get a different answer than we believe in, just keep asking until you get the right answer.” I know this is provocative to say, but it seems to me that religion asks us to believe in things with no burden of proof. This later approach is similar to using the scientific method in reverse - taking an assumption and finding the proof to justify the belief. In the Buddhist tradition, it’s the other way around. It’s about keeping a completely fearless, open mind and noticing what pieces of truth I can find along the path. The burden of proof is on the teaching itself - the awareness of reality, rather than on the practitioner or the rigid belief. It’s so beautifully said in my favorite quote by Thich Nhat Hanh: “Your own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth.”
Greenfrog sent me the following story while back, knowing it would make me smile.
August 31, 2008
Tricycle’s Daily Dharma
What Happens to Most Pieces of Truth
One day Mara, the Buddhist god of ignorance and evil, was traveling through the villages of India with his attendants. He saw a man doing walking meditation whose face was lit up in wonder. The man had just discovered something on the ground in front of him. Mara’s attendants asked what that was and Mara replied, “A piece of truth.” “Doesn’t this bother you when someone finds a piece of the truth, O evil one?” his attendants asked. “No,” Mara replied. “Right after this they usually make a belief out of it.”
-Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, in Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
Interestingly enough, faith is a big part of Buddhism. I’ll continue this post and jump into the 3 pillars and how contemplative study actually illuminates the truths within religion. In the meantime, take a listen to Ethan’s dharma talk - it’s a good one. (It’s on I-tunes under ID Project)
Nourishing Awareness
Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk and poet born in central Vietnam, is a Leader of the social action movement known as Engaged Buddhism. He was nominated for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Peace Is Every Step,” he presents a meditation which helps North Americans and Europeans to be mindful of Third World children who do not have enough to eat.
We who live in North America and Europe are accustomed to eating grains and other foods imported from the Third Worlds, such as coffee from Colombia, chocolate from Ghana, or fragrant rice from Thailand. We must be aware that children in these countries, except those from rich families, never see such fine products. They eat inferior foods, while the finer products are put aside for export in order to bring in foreign exchange. There are even some parents who, because they do not have the means to feed their children, resort to selling their children to be servants to families who have enough to eat.
Before each meal, we can join our palms in mindfulness and think about the children who do not have enough to eat. Doing so will help us maintain mindfulness of our good fortune, and perhaps one day we will find ways to do something to help change the system of injustice that exists in the world. In many refugee families, before each meal, a child holds up his bowl of rice an says something like this: “Today, on the table, there are many delicious foods. I am grateful to be here with my family enjoying these wonderful dishes. I know there are many children less fortunate, who are very hungry.” Being a refugee he knows, for example, that most Thai children never see the kind of fine rice grown in Thailand that he is about to eat. It is difficult to explain to children in the “overdeveloped” nations that not all children in the world have such beautiful and nourishing food. Awareness of this fact alone can help us overcome many of our own psychological pains. Eventually our contemplation can help us see how to assist those who need our help so much.
Thich Nhat Hanh, excerpt from “Nourishing Awareness” from Peace Is Every Step. Copyright © 1991 by . Reprinted with the permission of Bantam Books, a division of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Guest post by Justin Self:
http://www.myspace.com/machinefaultred
I have this very new feeling that life is like a dream, or an illusion.
Interestingly, I read at some time that this is a symptom of some depression or disorder. I think there is problem with this though, and that lies in the interpretation of illusion - first, a standard interpretation, then the Buddhist interpretation, which is often misunderstood (Western thought process):
Standard interpretation of “illusion”: you see water in the distance of the desert, but it is just a heat mirage - the water does not exist, though you may believe it to
Buddhism/Hinduism interpretation of “illusion”, as far as I understand it to be: our bodies and all that which surrounds us - whether physical matter, mental idea or thought, and emotions of love or suffering - are impermanent. They do not last forever. Things fade, things die. Things are temporary.
The fault with us as human beings is that, many of us grasp onto these things in our life, that we believe will always be there. You could say it is taking something for granted. The feeling of love with another is true, the house you own is true, the mental processes in your brain are true (on a physiological level, at least). So to say that such things are illusions inherently - yes, it’s hard to believe, and not easy to grasp.
However, what is illusionary of the above examples is this: that they last forever, or are perpetual. Within that concept, they are illusions. When we die, we will not have such things. Even though they may remain on this earth, they are no longer ours, whatever the possession may be. Again, it is temporary.
I think a big mistake which seems to be again, a very Western mistake, is assuming that “forever”, means one’s lifetime. “I will love you forever, I will always have this or that, I will never forget you”. So, within the scope of one’s lifetime - could you say any of the above examples in truth? Perhaps, but we know that sometimes things change, and that affects our feelings, thoughts and attachments. Now, within the scope of beyond your life, beyond your death - could you say any of the above examples in truth? No.
Then, from this perspective… is the thought of life being an illusion, or feeling illusionary - a mark of depression or disorder? I wholeheartedly believe no, if you accept the second interpretation of illusion, which again, is:
our bodies and all that which surrounds us - whether physical matter, mental idea or thought, and emotions of love or suffering - are impermanent. They do not last forever. Things fade, things die.
This can only mean one thing: I’ve come to a true realization and acceptance of mortality. I’ve come, to grasp the bigger picture of life - and able to understand the trivial from the significant. Though, that ability isn’t so new. For many years I realized what life in general, or my life - could suffice without. But I think that lately there is an extension of that ability. It’s grasping the impermanence of life as a whole, and how things fit therein.
For example, at some point we are going to cease living. It is something I never chose to accept, though I knew it to be true. Mentally perhaps emotionally I remained stubborn about it. Naturally, I still wouldn’t wish my life or another’s to end “before their time”. However, grasping the bigger picture and accepting the outcome, it makes you re-evaluate what really matters. I think this has manifested itself in how I interpret and react to things. For instance, I’m a very humble person - I won’t accept money or even food if offered if you are not family, sometimes even friend. Another example would be, caring what others think - whether it’s the music I’m listening to, what I’m writing about, what I have to say in a heated and open moment, or in a completely open expression of true feelings, of love.
Those examples, within the bigger picture that I have now, would be different now. Is it so bad to accept a kind offer once in awhile, am I so undeserving? No. Does it really matter what you think of me based upon the lyrics born of someone else’s heart, accompanied by music I enjoy? No. Does it matter that you might cast assumption at a glance of what I’m writing? No. Does it matter enough for me to become vulnerable and admit my feelings? No.
Why? Because any of those little bothers or moments of discomfort do not last forever. They are inherent to the moment at hand. Just as the bite of an honest few words, or the pain of a lost loved one, is impermanent in itself. It is how you react and carry yourself forward that determines how you feel from that point forward. Whether you want to grab that thorny branch of feelings, and pull it with you all your life - is your choice. But it doesn’t have to last forever, because - it doesn’t.
“On the basis of this misconception which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life’s illusions and thinks in terms of ‘I and mine.”
Bhagavat Purana 5.5.8
http://hinduism.iskcon.com/concepts/105.htm
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My own suffering came through depression. I’ve learned to live with my own internal world in harmony - most of the time. Yesterday and the day before? Not so much. I cannot fully explain how the sister teachings of yoga and buddhism have changed my life. Only to say that working from the inside out is the only way I’ve been able to find peace, to create real transformation within. I sit here and I can feel myself climb out of two days of depression, amazed that it’s ready to move on so quickly. But that is what I’ve learned - almost everything is impermanent. The only steady in life is God. My old definition of God doesn’t resonate for me anymore, and through openness I’m rebuilding my concept of God. Maybe as I learn more, I’ll add to my definition, but so far the only truth I’ve really been able to fully accept is Katie’s: God is reality. Whatever is right in front me - that’s God. How can it be any other way? If God is the only unchanging thing, and God is reality, then I have to look really deep underneath all of the constructs of the mind to find something eternal. And, somewhere at the root of it all, lingering under everything - God is love.
One of my favorite reading combos is to read a section of the Dao, meditate on it, and then read the corresponding section of Byron Katie’s, A Thousand Names For Joy. When I read about those people who have had experiences of losing their ego, finding their true self, the description is always this unique way of looking at the world as LOVE. Love as a noun. Love as a verb. Love as the subject and the object. Love as everything. That resonates with me - I can feel it, I can understand that eternal part of myself as LOVE. Byron Katie gives an interesting interpretation of Dao 63, and a great story. It’s a story I’ve heard over and over by those who have had these experiences or glimpses at enlightenment. I wonder if the Buddha was here in our century, using modern terms, how he would recount his own story? (or would he?)
dao de ching 63
Act without doing;
work without effort
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.
The Master never reaches for the great;
thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
thus problems are no problem for her.
Here’s an excerpt of Katie’s story, part of her chapter on Dao 63
I fell in love with myself one morning in February of 1986. I had checked myself into a halfway house in Los Angeles after years of suicidal depression. A week or so later, as I lay on the floor of my attic room (I felt too unworthy to sleep in a bed), a cockroach crawled over my foot, and I opened my eyes. For the first time in my life, I was seeing without concepts, wihtout thoughts or an internal story. All my rage, all the thoughts that had been troubling me, my whole world, THE whole world, was gone. There was no me. It was as if something else had woken up. IT opened its eyes. IT was looking through Katie’s eyes. And it was crisp, it was bright, it was new, it had never been here before. Everything was unrecognizable. And it was so delighted! Laughter welled up from the depths and just poured out. It breathed and was ecstacy. It was intoxicated with joy: totally greedy for everything. There was nothing separate, nothing unacceptable to it. Everything was its very own self. For the first time ( - it - experienced the love of its own life. I-it-was amazed! -clip-
To say it again: As I was lying there in the awareness, AS the awareness, the thought arose: “It’s a foot.” And immediately I saw that it wasn’t true, and the delight of it. I saw that it was all backward. It’s not a foot; it’s not a cockroach. It wasn’t true, and yet there was a foot, there was a cockroach. But there was no name for any of these things. There were no separate words for wall or ceiling or face or cockroach or foot or any of it. So it was looking at its entire body, looking at itself, with no name. Nothing was separate from it, nothing was outside it, it was all pulsing iwth life and delight, and it was all unbroken experience. To separate that wholeness, to see anything as outside itself, wasn’t true. The foot was there, yet it wasn’t a separte thing, and to call it a foot, or an anything, felt absurd. And the laughter kept pouring out of me. I saw that cockroach and foot are names for joy, that there are a thousand names for joy, and yet thre is no name for what appears as real now. This was the birth of awareness: thoughts reflecting back as itself, seeing itself as everything, surrounded by the vast ocean of its own laughter.
Then it stood up, and that was amazing. There was no thinking, no plan. It just stood up and walked to the bathroom. IT walked to the mirror, and it locked onto the eyes of its own reflection, and it understood. And that was even deeper than the delight it had known before, when it first opened its eyes. It fell in love with that being in the mirror. It was as if the woman and the awareness of the woman had permanently merged. There were only the eyes, and a sense of abosolute vastness, with no knowledge in it. It was as if I - she - had been shot through with electricity. It was like God giving it-self life through the body of the woman - God so loving and bright, so vast-and yet she knew that it was herself. IT made such a deep connection with her eyes. There was no meaning to it, just a nameless recognition that consumed her.
Love was the best word I can find for it. It had been split apart, and now it was joined. There was it moving, and then it in the mirror, and then it joined as quickly as it had separated-it was all eyes. The eyes in the mirror were the eyes of it. And it gave itself back, as it met again. And that gave it its identity, which I call love. As it looked in the mirror, the eyes - the depth of them-were all that was real, all that existed. Prior to that, nothing-no eyes, no anything; even standing there, there was nothing. And then the eyes come out to give it what it is. People name things a wall, a ceiling a foot, a hand. But it had no name for these things, because it’s indivisible. And it’s invisible. Until the eyes. Until the eyes. I remember tears of gratitude pouring down the cheeks as it looked at its own reflection. It stood there staring for I don’t know how long.
These were the first moments after I was born as it, or it as me. There was nothing left of Katie. There was literally not even a shred of memory of her-no past, no future, not even a present. And in that openness, such joy. There’s nothing sweeter than this, I felt; there is nothing but this. If you loved yourself more than anything you could imagine, you would give yourself this. A face. A hand. Breath. But that’s not enough. A wall. A ceiling. A window. A bed. Lightbulbs. Ooh! And this too! And this too! And this too! I felt that if my joy were told, it would blow the roof off the halfway house-off the whole planet. I still feel this way.
