In the Laps of those Blessed Ones...

In the laps of those blessed ones dwelling in mountain caves with their minds fixed on the highest light, reposing birds drink fearlessly the water of tears of joy; but our life is spent in the enjoyment of the delights of play in the pleasure groves on shores of reservoirs of mansions fashioned in flights of our imagination.

-Bhartṛhari, Vairāgyaśatakam 15

Thanks to Sean for sharing!

On the Lake

And fresh nourishment, new blood
I suck from a world so free;
Nature, how gracious and how good,
Her breast she gives to me.
The ripples buoying up our boat
Keep rhythm to the oars,
And mountains up to heaven float
In cloud to meet our course.

Eyes, my eyes why abject now?
Golden dreams, are you returning?
Dream, though gold, away with you:
Life is here and loving too.

Over the ripples the twinkling
Star on hovering star,
Soft mists drink the circled
Towering world afar;
Dawn wind fans the shaded
Inlet with its wing,
And in the water mirrored
The fruit is ripening.

"On the Lake" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from "Selected Poems", edited by Christopher Middleton

¡The Heart Sutra...en Español!

Adventures in the Divyavadana - Part II

First, let me apologize for the long delay...

Part I

The first thing which confronted me when opening this book was Andy Rotman's thorough introduction. As with all translation jobs, there's often a fine line to be walked between a more literal (and scholarly) presentation and more free flowing and"looser" one. Rotman manages to deal with this in the form of VERY extensive notes and annotations. For the hardcore Sanskrit students and scholars, many of the notes include the original passages from the Sanskrit. Many of the explanatory notes, however, are invaluable for navigating some of the trickier parts of the text.

And now for the stories themselves. The first volume contains the first 17 stories in the collection. While the content of the stories varies, there are a few unifying themes, the most prominent of which is the law of karma:

Meritorious deeds are to be performed.
Not performing meritorious deeds brings suffering.
Those who perform meritorious deeds
can rejoice in this world and the next.

The Divyavadana is filled with many such simple injunctions to do good and avoid unskillful actions. But in the realm of the Divyavadana even something simple can morph into something far beyond imagination. One example, is story no. 8, "The Story of Supriya" (Supriya-avadāna - सुप्रिय अवदान). This tale begins with a group of robbers and bandits that confront the Buddha and his disciples. In the midst of this, the Buddha (himself a master story teller!) tells the story of a fellow named Supriya. Supriya also found himself confronted with bandits who wished to rob him but makes a deal to secure his release. He promises to find the world's ultimate treasures, thereby satisfying everyone's desires. Thus begins an epic quest involving journeys to far off lands, trysts with divine beings, escapes from fearsome monsters, and travels through time and space.

At this point I should note that I've always loved a good adventure story. While all the other kids were reading Dr. Seuss, I was delving into kiddie versions of The Odyssey and Jason and the Argonauts. Even now, one of my favorite TV shows is the new Doctor Who series.

But the story of Supriya is not simply an adventure story, it's a Buddhist adventure story, with Dharmic themes running throughout. When celestial Kinnara women try to seduce Supriya, he maintains his cool, deeply impressing them:

"The kinnara girls were pleased and said, "It's amazing! You're so young and yet your passion is the dharma. You aren't attached or bound up with desires!" They presented him with many jewels. Drawn in, as they were, by his discourse on the dharma, they gave him a very special jewel as a reward for his noble words".

It wasn't until I finished the Supriya story that I began to realize just why these stories were/are so popular all over the Buddhist world: they work on many, many levels. Profound spiritual teachings are eloquently wrapped in great stories. Some are epic and some are subtle but they all leave a lasting impression on the mind-stream.

One of the shortest but certainly one of the most memorable is story no. 14, "The Story of a Wretched Pig" (Sūkarika-avadāna, सूकरिक अवदान). Here, an inhabitant of a heavenly realm at the end of his life has a vision...of his future rebirth as a pig! As he is about to die, the terrified god struggles to find something that will prevent this unfortunate birth. I won't give away the story but I will say that he resorts to something very simple as a way to try and "escape" his impending destination.

Another tale that left a lasting impression on me is story no. 17, the Story of Māndhātā (Māndhātā-avadāna, मन्धाता अवदान). In this story, the great and powerful king Māndhātā conquers the earth and many heavenly realms with his invincible army. Māndhātā however, doesn't establish control through force or violence, by rather by sheer powerful of his merit. All those who initially oppose him quickly join his ranks, again by the power of Māndhātā 's merit:

Then King Māndhātā arrived at that place and said "Who blocked the army?"
"My lord," they said, "it's the Sadāmatta gods."
"Then the Sadāmatta gods shall become my attendants as well!" the king said. And so the Sadāmatta gods along with the other gods and nāgas began to march in front of him.

Far from being a belligerent tyrant, King Māndhātā actually embodies the idea of the Wheel-Turning King. He also uses his vast, merit-fueled powers to (literally) shower his subjects with the finest of foods, fragrances, jewels, and clothes. Māndhātā's march to the heavens ultimately culminates with his meeting Śhakra, the king of the gods. Śhakra and the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven give King Māndhātā and his retinue a warm welcome and Śhakra even offers to share half of his seat with Māndhātā. In an single moment however, something happens which instantly leads to Māndhātā's downfall. Most interestingly, his defeat, like his conquests, involves no force. Again, I won't spoil it, but let's say it's the kind of story that powerfully illustrates the opening line of the Dhammapada:

All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.
-Dhp Ch. 1. v. 1, trans. by Gil Fronsdal

Reading the Divyavadana was a very wonderful and very different experience from so many of the other Buddhist books I've read. It's quickly earned a high spot on my favorite books list and I'm eagerly awaiting Rotman's translation of the second half. I can easily understand why these stories have been around for so long and why they've been so influential. It is my hope that they will continue to enrich, entertain, teach, and inspire practitioners of the Buddha's Dharma for generations to come.

Heart it is, not a brick or stone

Heart it is, not a brick or stone
Why shouldn't it feel the pain?
Let none tyrannize this heart
Or I shall cry again and again
Neither the temple, nor the mosque
Nor on someone's door or porch
I await on the path where He will tread
Why others should compel me to go?
The illumined grace that lights up the heart
And glows like the midday sun
That Self that annihilates all sights
When then it hides in the mysterious net?
The amorous glance is the deadly dagger
And the arrows of emotions are fatal
Your image may be equally powerful
Why should it appear before you?
The rules of life and bonds of sorrow
In reality are the one manifestation
Before realizing the ultimate truth
How can then one attain liberation?
Love is laden with noble thoughts
Yet what remains is the carnal shame
Trust conscience the still little voice
Why do you want test the rival?
There the pride of modesty resides
Here dwells the social morality
How shall we meet, on which road
Why should he invite me to the abode?
True he is an atheist
Unfaithful and unchaste
Dear to who is faith and heart
Why should he then venture there?
Without the wretched "Ghalib"
Has any activity come to a halt?
What then is the need to cry?
What then is the need to brood?

-Mirza Ghalib (مرزا غالب)

Descending the Mountain

On Friday, Oct. 9th, 2009, John Daido Loori, Roshi, passed away after a long struggle with cancer. Aside from being an accomplished photographer, Daido Roshi will be most remembered for establishing the Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism.

Though I've personally not practiced much with the MRO Sangha, Daido Roshi's influence is recent but very profound. It wasn't so long ago that I picked up a copy of his now classic work, "The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training". What struck me most about Daido Roshi's approach was his commitment to a no-nonsense, traditional Zen practice in the midst of working to craft a uniquely Western/American form of the practice. Whereas many 'American Zen' teachers espoused a very flippant, if negligent attitude toward The Precepts, Daido Roshi placed them at the forefront of his teachings and practice (where they belong!). Many American Zen instructors teach meditation as "calm down, feel good" method of practice but Daido Roshi was also keen to emphasize that tranquility and insight cannot and should not be limited to the meditation cushion. His commitment to engagement is evident from the creation of the Zen Environmental Studies Institute as well as the MRO's involvement with the National Buddhist Prison Sangha. His "radical conservative" stance remains an inspiration to me for me own practice and serves as an illuminating example for all those engaged in bring and adapting the Buddhadharma to the West.

This lotus is for you Daido Roshi, a buddha to be.

That's the Sound of the Men...

At various points in our lives, we’ve all been nagged at to do some work. When we’re children, our parents nag us about doings tasks like cleaning our rooms, setting the table, laundry, etc. As adults, we get nagged by our co-workers, friends, spouses, and children. All of this complaining implies that there’s a lot of work to be done. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially since leading a “busy and hectic life” is the standard for our modern society. If we want anything to be done, we have to do some work; ‘Sine Labore Nihil’ (There’s nothing without work), as the old Latin saying goes (1). We do, however, make a distinction between work we like (e.g. planning for a vacation) and work that don’t like but have to do anyway, like shoveling snow. The term for the latter is “chore”, defined as “A small piece of domestic work, a little job, and a piece of (time-consuming) drudgery” (2). The word ‘chore’ is almost a dirty word but the tasks we usually consider chores are absolutely vital. Try seeing what happens when trash isn’t disposed of (3).

When we hear words like, ‘meditation’, ‘nirvana’, and ‘bliss’ we usually associate them with images of meditating hermits in flowing robes or mystical beings floating in the air with enraptured facial expressions and golden halos. What we don’t normally associate the image of a yogi with are words like ‘mopping’, ‘sweeping’, or ‘polishing’. There is often a disconnection between what we do in our “spiritual lives” (like sitting meditation on a cushion) and the everyday, mundane world that involves activities like washing dishes. In a sutta from the Pali Canon, the Buddha tells us that enlightenment is not to be found out there in the farthest reaches of the cosmos but “it is just within this fathom-long body, with its perception and intellect” (4). If this is true then, ultimately, there is no division between our “worldly” and “spiritual” lives. Think about it: what use is twenty minutes of bliss on the meditation cushion if we go through the rest of the day upset and bothered by what we think are useless chores? It is very easy to set up an artificial separation between the sacred and the mundane but one method to prevent this involves using our “chores” as the object of meditation. Our work becomes our practice.

The idea of work practice is especially emphasized in the Ch’an/Zen tradition of China and Japan. One of the most famous sayings on this subject comes from the famous Tang Dynasty master, Layman Pang (龐居士). When he was asked by his teacher, Shitou (石頭希遷), what he had been doing since they last saw each other Layman Pang said (5):

How miraculous and wondrous,
Hauling water and carrying firewood.

A widely quoted restatement of the above phrase is:

Before enlightenment: chop wood and carry water.
After enlightenment: chop wood and carry water.

In India, the standard monastic model involved wandering for alms but in China, the tradition of manual labor in the monastery gradually became the norm. Work practice became particularly prominent under the influence of the Tang Dynasty Master Baizhang Huaihai (百丈懷海). Master Baizhang (Hyakujo in Japanese) is widely known for his role in the koan, “Baizhang’s Fox” (6). Furry critters aside, Master Baizhang was also renowned for his emphasis on physical/manual labor as part of Ch’an practice. One famous story tells of how Master Baizhang continued to work in the fields into his 80’s. His students however, felt that an 80-something year old Ch’an master shouldn’t be working as strenuously as the young monks so one day they decided to hide his gardening tools. When Baizhang went searching for tools and couldn’t find them, he was unable to work and therefore didn’t. When it came time for the meal, all of the students were waiting for the elderly master to take his food first but instead of doing so, Baizhang said to the assembly, “A day without work is a day without food!” and went back to his room to meditate. The next day Baizhang, without having worked, refused to eat again. After a few days, his students finally got to message and left his working tools in their usual place. When asked of this, he said, “I’m unworthy, how can I allow others to work in my behalf?”(7)

Despite the insight that masters like Layman Pang and Baizhang have, many people still have a hard time (not) separating meditation from plain ‘ol work. Why focus on picking up trash when we could be meditating and entering the deepest meditative absorptions (Pali: jhana), known? A classic story between the very Ch’an-like Ajahn Chah and his student (and later Dharma Heir) Ajahn Sumedho touches on this point. This story, which shall this post, is taken from “Small Boat, Great Mountain: Theravadan Reflections on the Great Natural Perfection”, by Ajahn Amaro (8):

***

“Ajahn Sumedho was a recently arrived monk. He had been there a year or two by this time and was a very serious meditator. He hadn’t been keen to leave the settled life at the main monastery, Wat Nong Pah Pong, but he joined in and there he was—breaking rocks in the sun, pushing barrows of rubble around, and working hard with the rest of the community. After two or three days, he was getting hot, sweaty, and cranky. At the end of the day, after a 12-hour shift, everyone would sit down to meditate and would be reeling. Ajahn Sumedho thought, “This is useless. I’m wasting my time. My meditation has fallen apart completely. This is not helping the holy life at all.”

He carefully explained his concerns to Ajahn Chah: “I’m finding that all the work we are doing is harmful to my meditation. I really think it would be much better for me if I didn’t take part in it. I need to do more sitting and walking meditation, more formal practice. That would be very helpful for me and it’s what I think would be for the best.” Ajahn Chah said, “Okay, Sumedho. Yes, you can do that. But I’d better inform the Sangha so that everyone knows what’s happening.” He could be really wicked in this way.

At the Sangha meeting he said, “I want to make an announcement to everybody. Now, I know that we have all come up here to make this road. And I know that we are all working hard at breaking rocks and carrying gravel. I know this is important work for us to do, but the work of meditation is also very important. Tan (9) Sumedho has asked me if he can practice meditation while we build the road, and I have told him that this is absolutely all right. I do not want any of you to think any critical thoughts of him. It is absolutely all right with me. He can stay alone and meditate, and we will continue building the road.”

Ajahn Chah was out there from dawn until dusk. When he wasn’t working on the road, he was receiving guests and teaching Dharma. So he was really cranking it out. In the meantime,
Ajahn Sumedho stayed alone and meditated. He felt pretty bad on the first day and even worse on the second. By the third day, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He felt tortured and finally left
his solitude. He rejoined the monks, broke rocks, carried gravel, and really gave himself to the work. Ajahn Chah looked at the enthusiastic young monk with a foot-wide grin and asked, “You enjoying the work, Sumedho?”
“Yes, Luang Por.”(9)
“Isn’t it strange that your mind is happier now in the heat and the dust than it was when you were meditating alone?”
“Yes, Luang Por.”

The lesson? Ajahn Sumedho had created a false division about what meditation is and isn’t,
when in fact, there is no division at all. When we give our hearts to whatever we do, to whatever we experience, or to what is happening around us, without personal agendas or preferences taking over, the space of rigpa (10), the space of awareness, is exactly the same”.

***

(1) This phrase also happens to be the motto of my Alma mater, DeWitt Clinton High School :)
(2) Oxford English Dictionary Online, http://www.oed.com
(3) BBC News, “Life Amid the Trash Piles of Naples”:
(4) Rohitassa Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya Section 4, Sutta 45, from ‘Access to Insight’,
(5) Andrew Ferguson, “Zen’s Chinese Heritage”, pp. 94-95, Wisdom Publications, 2000
(6) Hyakujo’s Fox, from “Sacred Texts”:
(7) Andrew Ferguson, “Zen’s Chinese Heritage”, pp. 81-82, Wisdom Publications, 2000
(8) Amaro Bhikkhu, “Small Boat, Great Mountain: Theravadan Reflections on the Great Natural Perfection”, pp. 39-40 Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, 2003.
The entire book in .pdf form, along with a number of other Abhayagiri Publications, can be found here
(9) ‘Tan’ and ‘Luong Por’ are Thai terms for ‘venerable’ and ‘venerable father’ respective. The latter is used for addressing elder monastics and is roughly equivalent to the Chinese term ‘Shi Fu’ (師父)
(10) ‘Rigpa’ is a Tibetan term for awareness beyond dualism. It’s a translation of the Sanskrit word ‘vidya’ (विद्य). The concept of rigpa is prominent the in Dzogchen and Mahamudra methods of the Vajrayana tradition.

Seeing the Ultimate

Better than one hundred years lived
Without seeing the ultimate Dharma
Is one day lived
Seeing the ultimate Dharma.

-Dhammapada Ch. 8, v. 115, translated by Gil Fronsdal

Losing Eternity

How mankind defers from day to day the best it can do, and the most beautiful things it can enjoy, without thinking that every day may be the last one, and that lost time is lost eternity!

-Max Müller

On a Good Day

"Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand new hours to live."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Nourishment and Healing

Intro.

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to
cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family,
and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I
will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of
Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and
consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs,
or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites,
electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and
conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be
in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and
around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor
letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I
am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other
suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing
and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body
and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my
family, my society and the Earth.

A What in the Where?!

I recently came across two interesting stories about Thomas Dyer, a US Army National Guardsman from Tennessee who also serves as a Buddhist chaplain. Yes, Buddhist chaplain. Dyer's spiritual journey from Bible Belt Baptist to Buddhism is fascinating in itself but his story also raises very interesting points regarding Buddhists in the military, especially the US military. The first story looks at Dyer's background. The second story is an interview he gave to NPR recently. Both are thought provoking, to say the least. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

MARTIN (NPR): Now, your story is interesting, I think, for many reasons. Not only are you the military's first Buddhist chaplain; before that, you were a Southern Baptist minister, which turns out to be important to your current post - we'll get to that. Can you just tell us what drew you to Buddhism, recognizing that, of course, it's complicated and a complicated journey for anyone, but can you help us understand what drew you to the faith?

Mr. DYER: I think the journey begins with meditation. The idea of meditation is not to talk or interact with words but to just sit with God or Christ. In my pastorate as a Southern Baptist pastor, in my office, I would sit and meditate in this manner. As I began to interact with Zen Buddhism itself, pretty much like a homecoming, so to speak.

MARTIN (NPR): You know, it's a remarkable coming together of all your various lives, if I can put it that way. I mean, your family, your wife and your children have not embraced the same path as you. How is that working, if you don't mind my asking?

Mr. DYER: My wife and family are very committed Christians, and I support that. But you can imagine with great compassion how they would feel. But I've decided that this Buddhism is an individual path. So I support my family, my wife's Christian faith, and I help support raising our children in the Christian faith, as well.

Liberation in a Cup

This cup of tea in my two hands,
mindfulness perfectly held.
My body and mind dwell
in the very here and now.

-'Tea Gatha', composed by Thich Nhat Hanh

A Bird on a Tree

ON this tree is a bird: it dances in the joy of life.
None knows where it is: and who knows what the burden of its music may be?
Where the branches throw a deep shade, there does it have its nest: and it comes in the evening and flies away in the morning, and says not a word of that which it means.
None tell me of this bird that sings within me.
It is neither coloured nor colourless: it has neither form nor outline:
It sits in the shadow of love.
It dwells within the Unattainable, the Infinite, and the Eternal; and no one marks when it comes and goes.
Kabîr says: "O brother Sadhu! deep is the mystery. Let wise men seek to know where rests that bird."

-The Songs of Kabir, song 30, translated by Rabindranath Tagore

The Fourth Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to
listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and
compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote
reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and
religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness
or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that
inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am
determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking
in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the
roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of
understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will
speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to
transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am
determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to
utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right
Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and
inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie
deep in my consciousness.

Adventures in the Divyavadana- Part I

Many of the great and influential works of Buddhist literature have already been translated into English (but we're still nowhere close to translating ALL of it...). Most of these works have been scriptures, like large chunks of the Pali Canon, the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, and the voluminous Avatamsaka Sutra. Other non-canonical works have also been translated including many other influential compositions, tantras, and poetry collections.

Interestingly, (or perhaps not so interestingly), many of the works translated thus far have been texts that resonate strongly with Western practitioners. These works, like many of the texts mentioned above, focus on things like meditation practice and elaborate psychological and phenomenological analysis in various forms. Many (but certainly not all!) of these texts also tend to shy from things that are generally off-putting to the average Westerner interested in Buddhism, namely faith and devotional practices. This emphasis partly explains, for example, the relative unpopularity of the Pure Land tradition in the West. This in spite of the fact that Pure Land is, by far, the most popular and widespread form of Mahayana Buddhism practiced in Asia.

Let me be blunt; I'm a geek, a nerd, and a techno-wonk. As a scientist by training, I get my jollies from studying really complex systems and figuring out complicated stuff. I'm always looking for some way to give myself a good mental workout, whether it's designing elaborate experiments in the lab or trying to learn ludicrously complicated languages. When it comes to my spiritual practice however, I prefer NOT to delve into such convoluted complexity. I enjoy and respond much better to simple and direct approaches to the Dharma. This 'simple and direct approach' explains my affinities for Theravada and Ch'an/Zen.

It is said there are 84,000 ways to practice Dharma (84,000 being the ancient Indian equivalent of 'a zillion') and while its true that many people take a highly intricate and analytical approach to their practice, I'll argue that the majority of people who follow the Dharma (including myself) whether ancient, modern, Eastern, or Western, are probably more concerned with the ordinary, day to day struggles and don't necessarily view any and all interactions through the lens of dense Abhidharma analysis, for example.

There's so much Buddhist literature out that's been focused on highly abstract and intricate topics, that I was pleasantly surprised to learn of a collection of stories which are, for the most part, the antithesis of 'typical Buddhist' books you'd find in a bookstore. This book does something uncommon in that it places emphasis on the emotional and inspirational dimensions of practice. This collection is known as the 'Divyavadana (दिव्यावदान)' and is usually translated as 'Divine Stories' or 'Heavenly Exploits'. Both of the titles, 'Divine Stories' in particular, may sound like an extravaganza of medieval European hagiography but this collection of stories from ancient Indian sources has influenced Buddhists, ancient and modern, from Gandhara to Nara.

Admittedly, I never even heard of the Divyavadana until recently. Like many of the books on my shelf, I came across a copy of Andy Rotman's recent translation in Moe's Books (The Greatest Used Bookstore in the Known Universe). It seemed interesting enough and also seemed like something I should be familiar with, given its far reaching historical influence. My motivation in reading this was simply to 'check it out for the heck of it' but little did I know that I'd be spirited away to a realm far beyond anything Miyzazki could dream up...

This Morning I Came From the Expanse of Reality

Namo Guru

When the precious lord when to see the Lord of Great Compassion at Gyirong, one of the women pulling weeds in the valley of Gün asked, "Yogi, where did you come from this morning? Where will you go tonight? Who do you have for a friend when you're sad? What do you spread out as a seat? What do you wear for clothing? What do you use for a pillow? Who are you friendly with as a close companion? What do you eat for food? What do you drink for a drink?

In reply to her, the precious lord said this:

This morning I came from the expanse of reality.
Tonight I'll go into the expanse of reality.
I have the master's oral instructions for a friend when I'm sad.
I spread out great bliss as a seat.
I wear the natural warmth of the primordial for clothing.
I use great equanimity as a pillow.
I'm friendly with intrinsic self-awareness as a close companion.
I eat pure meditative concentration for food.
I drink continuity for a drink.
The food is eaten in nonduality,
the taste experienced as great bliss.
The actualization of the three true buddha bodies is achieved.

When he said this, they gained faith in both him and the brother Lama Khandro and served them much food.

-"The Songs of the Adept Godrakpa Who is Peerless in the Three Realms, Song 32" from 'Hermit of Go Cliffs' translated by Cryus Stearns

The Third Minfulness Training: True Love

Intro.

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.

A Sonnet to Orpheus

Be ahead of all parting, as though it already were
behind you, like the winter that has just gone by.
For among these winters there is just one so endlessly winter
that only be wintering through it will your heart survive.

Be forever dead in Eurydice - more gladly arise
into the seamless life proclaimed in your song.
Here, in the realm of decline, among momentary days,
be the crystal cup that shattered even as it rang.

Be-and yet know the great void were all things begin,
the infinite source of your own most intense vibration,
so that, this once, you may give your perfect assent.

To all that is used-up, and to all the muffled and dumb
creatures in the world's full reserve, the unsayable sums,
joyfully add yourself, and cancel the count.

The Second Mindfulness Training: True Happiness

Intro.

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not topossess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.

Fighting the Good Fight

Even if exiled, an enemy may acquire a residence and followers
in another country whence he returns with his full strength. But
there is no such course for the enemy, mental afflictions.

Once the affliction that dwells in my mind has been expelled,
where would it go, and where would it rest and attempt to destroy
me? Feeble in spirit, I am lacking in perseverance. Mental
afflictions are frail and conquerable with the eye of wisdom.

-Shantideva in 'A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life' Ch. 4 v. 45-46,
trans. by Vesna A. & B. Alan Wallace.

The First Mindfulnes Training: Reverence For Life

Intro.

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed
to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways
to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am
determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any
act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life.
Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and
intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative
thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and
non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and
dogmatism in myself and in the world.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings

The other evening at the Berkeley Monastery, Ven. Heng Sure said something he's said many times before in different ways:

The amazing thing about the Buddhadharma is that even though it's gone through so many cultures, so many countries, and so many languages, all practitioners say the same thing: purify your mind.

He makes a great point about the Dharma traversing so far. Wherever it has gone, it has been adapted to suit the propensities, predilections, and sensibilities of the local people without losing the essential meaning. This wholly pragmatic approach was championed by the Buddha himself, who always taught to people on their level. Never too high or too, but just in the middle.

Right now as I'm writing this (and hopefully as you're reading this) the Dharma is adapting yet again, this time to The West. Buddhism has been in the West for barely a century but it is slowly making inroads and we're just beginning to see the embryonic development of Western Buddhist traditions.

If I were asked what teacher/tradition has, to date, been most successful at adapting the Asian Buddhist traditions to Western ones, my answer would be clear and immediate: Thich Nhat Hanh and The Order of Interbeing. Before I continue, let me be clear about what exactly I don't mean by 'adapting'. I do not mean stripping away any and all things that resemble of "cultural baggage" or "organized religion". Nor do I mean forcing Westerners to practice in the exact same way as Asian practitioners have done for the past thousands of years. What I do mean by 'adapting' is striking a balance between these two extremes: a middle path, if you will.

One subtly powerful point that illustrates this is translation. Take the word sila for example. It's almost always translated as 'precept', a word which the OED defines as, among other things:

1) A general command or injunction; a rule for action or conduct, esp. a rule for moral conduct, a maxim; spec. a divine command.
2) A rule or instruction on the practical aspects of a subject; any of the guidelines relating to the performance of a technical operation.
4) A written order, usually from a sheriff to a returning officer, to make arrangements for an election.

I suppose it's not a completely awful translation, particularly for a Victorian audience but if one studies the meaning of sila for just a little bit, one will quickly find that sila is NOT list of 'do's and don'ts'. Sila is a way of life and a practice that we continuously work to refine. The vast majority of teachings/traditions use 'precept' despite the mismatch in meaning but a few have found a way around this by simply not translating the word. Thay, however, has translated sila to better reflect the true meaning of the term. Instead of 'precept' he uses the term 'Mindfulness Training'. Why is this better than 'precept'? Well, because Mindfulness Training is precisely what sila is; a course in the training of mindfulness.

But it's not simply the translation of the term that impresses me; it's the explanation and presentation as well. In the next five weeks, I'll be posting each of Thay's take on the Five Mindfulness trainings, beginning with the first: not to take the life of any living thing or he puts it "Reverence for Life".

Lotuses for you all, buddhas to be.

A Zen Conversation Through the Ages

Song of the first Patriarch, Master Bodhidharma:
The reason I came to the land of T'ang
was to teach and save deluded beings
to be a flower that unfolds five petals
from which a fruit ripens naturally.

***

Master Hui-Neng said, "Listen to two verses I've composed about the meaning of Bodhidharma's song. If the deluded among you practice in accordance with them, you are sure to see your nature.

A false flower grows from the ground of the mind
five petals unfold from its stem
together committing ignorant deeds
blown apart by karmic winds.

A true flower grows from the ground of the mind
five petals unfold from its stem
together cultivating prajna wisdom
the enlightenment of buddhas to come.

-From "The Platform Sutra, The Zen Teaching of Hui-Neng". Translation and commentary by Bill Porter (Red Pine)

Dharma Dictionary: Bhikkhu - भिक्खु

Introduction

If someone asked you to summarize an
average life, what would say? For many people, an average life
consists of the following; being born, growing into a little kid,
going to school, finding a job and working, often getting married and
raising a family, retirement, and finally death. Most wouldn't argue
with this outline of an average life but compressing so many years,
memories, and experiences into just a few lines can be very unsettling
for some. Why is this so? Perhaps it's because we don't normally
think about "the big questions" in life on a regular basis.

When we experience the arrival of a baby, it's natural for us to
reflect on the miracle of life. When we experience the loss of
someone close to us, we contemplate the sorrow of death. Maybe when
we're on a stroll, alone with our thoughts or watching the sun set
with someone special to us, we think about our place in the universe.
But what about when you're at a friend's house screaming for a bases-
loaded hit because you've got 20 bucks on the Yanks?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with not always thinking about "the
big questions", in fact its quite normal. The overwhelming majority
of us live fairly hectic lives, having to deal with the stress of work/
school, commuting problems, kids, spouses, bills, etc. In the midst
of all this, pondering the origin of suffering becomes very low on the
priority list. But let's suppose that things were different and we
set all of our "worldly obligations" aside. What if we relied on the
kindness of others for the basics like food, shelter, and clothing?
What if we didn't have a job to earn money, didn't have material
possessions, didn't have a home, didn't have a household to look
after, didn't have bills to pay, etc.? What if we used all of our
newly acquired "free time" to completely dedicate ourselves to living
a spiritually based life that focused on investigating the big
questions in life? What if we shared the knowledge and insights we
gained with others to help them improve their own lives? For the past
twenty-five centuries, there have been people who choose to lead such
a life. Someone who completely dedicates every fiber of their being
to living according to the teachings of the Buddha is known as a
bhikkhu.

The word bhikkhu, comes from the Pali. It means "almsman, mendicant,
Buddhist monk" (1). The Sanskrit cognate is Bhikṣu and has the same
meanings as the Pali although it is derived from the root, "bhiksh"
meaning "to wish to share or partake" (2). The female equivalent is
'bhikkhuni' (Bhikṣuni in Sanskrit). From here on, the words
'bhikkhu' and 'bhikkhuni' will be used interchangeably.

The view towards monasticism varies greatly in the world's religions.
In some traditions, like Christianity, monastic practice occupies a
peripheral place relative to the "mainstream" practice of
householders. Other religions such as Judaism and Islam frown upon
the notion of a monk/nun while others (e.g. Sikhism) flat out forbid
it. It may seem strange then, that the monastic tradition
established by the Buddha has often been called the "heart and soul"
of the Sangha. Indeed, one definition of the word 'Sangha' refers
exclusively to the monastic order of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.

One might argue that the central role of the monastic community is
"cultural baggage" from the ancient Indian society that the Buddha
came from. Back then, renouncing worldly endeavors in pursuit of
spiritual practice was quite normal. However, this kind of
renunciation was something that old, retired men would partake in.
For someone in the prime of their youth to pursue spiritual practice
as a bhikkhu (or even to have the opportunity to do so) was quite a
spiritual revolution in the Buddha's time.

In a sense, we could think of the bhikkunis as "professional"
practitioners because of their choice to focus and dedicate their
lives to spiritual practice but this doesn't mean lay followers are
"amateurs". Non-monastics are fully capable of the highest levels of
practice and realization that bhikkhus are; in fact some of the most
famous sages in history have been householders. So what's the point
of a monastic tradition and why make it "the heart and soul" of the
Sangha? It is because practicing as a householder is hard. Really
hard. It's hard for all the reasons mentioned at the beginning of
this thread. To become a bhikkhuni represents an especially precious
opportunity for cultivation and practice. Living a life that is
solely focused on studying and practicing the Buddha's teachings
provides a unique path to freedom from suffering. This idea is
reflected in the very name of the monastic code by which bhikkhus live
by. It is called the 'Pratimokṣa' in Sanskrit (Patimokkha in Pali)
and literally means "guaranteed liberation".

We should always keep sight of the fact that the order of bhikkhus and
bhikkunis exists to benefit EVERYONE, not only the monastic tradition
itself. Bhikkhus are often referred to as a "field of blessings for
the world". Why? Let's let the Buddha answer this:

Monks, brahmins and householders are very helpful to you. They
provide you with the requisites of robes, almsfoods, lodging, and
medicine in times of sickness. And you monks, are very helpful to
brahmins and householders, as you teach them the Dhamma that is good
in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with the
correct meaning and wording, and you proclaim the spiritual life in
its fulfillment and complete purity. Thus monks, this spiritual life,
is lived with mutual support for the purpose of crossing the flood and
making a complete end of suffering. (3)

The establishment of the monastic community was one of the Buddha's
great gifts to the world. Aside from providing people with the
opportunity for practice, the bhikkhus are also the "guardians of
Dharma". It is they who have passed down, preserved, and recorded the
teachings. They have kept the light of the Buddha's word alive. It
is they who have traveled far beyond the Buddha's neighborhood,
encountering vastly different people and societies and yet still
sharing the precious teachings with strangers and welcoming them. For
these reasons, we can see just how the monastic community is the
"heart and soul" of the Buddha's Dharma.

Finally, there have been many, many people throughout the ages that
have seen bhikkhus as drop-outs, leeches on society, destroyers of
families, and/or people running away from the "real" problems of the
world. Nowadays, there are many who feel that the monastic tradition
is obsolete or even part of the "cultural trappings" that have
accumulated over the centuries. The closing passage is a response to
these criticisms. It is taken from the Therigatha (Verses from the
Elder Nuns), a selection of ancient poetry and verses composed by the
earliest enlightened bhikkunis. In this passage, a woman named Rohini
is being grilled by her father about the monastic community
(contemplatives):

[Rohini's father:]
You go to sleep saying,
"Contemplatives."
You wake up,
"Contemplatives."
You praise only
contemplatives.
No doubt you will be
a contemplative.

Abundant food & drink
you give to contemplatives.
Now, Rohini, I ask you:
Why do you hold
contemplatives dear?

They don't like to work,
they're lazy,
living off what's given by others,
full of hankerings,
wanting delicious things:
Why do you hold
contemplatives dear?

[Rohini:]
For a long time, father,
you've quizzed me
about contemplatives.
I'll praise to you
their discernment,
virtue,
endeavor.

They do like to work,
they're not lazy.
They do the best work:
They abandon
passion & anger.
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

They rid themselves
of the three evil roots,
doing pure actions.
All their evil's
abandoned.
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Clean their bodily action,
so is their verbal action.
Clean their mental action:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Spotless, like mother of pearl,
pure within & without,
perfect in clear qualities:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Learned, maintaining the Dhamma,
noble, living the Dhamma,
they teach the goal
& the Dhamma:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Learned, maintaining the Dhamma,
noble, living the Dhamma,
with unified minds
& mindful:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Traveling far, mindful,
giving counsel unruffled,
they discern the end
of suffering:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

When they leave any village
they don't turn to look back
at anything.
How free from concern
they go!
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

They don't store in a granary,
pot,
or basket.
They hunt [only]
for what's already cooked:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

They take neither silver,
nor gold,
nor money.
They live off whatever is present:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

Having gone forth
from different families
& from different countries,
still they hold
one another dear:
That's why I hold
contemplatives dear.

[Rohini's father:]
Rohini, truly for our well-being
were you born in our family.
You have conviction
in the Buddha & Dhamma,
and strong respect
for the Sangha.

You truly discern
this field of merit
unexcelled.
These contemplatives will receive
our offering, too,
for here we'll set up
our abundant sacrifice.

[Rohini:]
If you're afraid of pain,
if you dislike pain,
go to the Buddha for refuge,
go to the Dhamma & Sangha.
Take on the precepts:
That will lead
to your well-being. (4)

***
(1) Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary Online p. 504. Accessed
via the "Digital Dictionaries of South Asia" Project.
(2)-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Motilal, 2005 reprint,
p. 756
(3)"In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali
Canon" p. 171, trans. & edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Wisdom Pubs, 2005.
(4) "Rohini - Therigatha 13.2", Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. From "Access to Insight"

Searching For A "Real" Buddhism

British journalist Barbara O'Brien (who writes for The Guardian), writes in her blog about the search for a "real Buddhism" amongst Westerners and how, too often, this search winds up just conforming to our own deeply held biases and prejudices rather than making us think beyond the views we take for granted. The entire piece is below:

Henry Steel Olcott, TW Rhys Davids, and other 19th century western "Buddhologists" arrived in Asia brimming with Orientalist idealism about the pure wisdom of the ancient east.

Then they looked around and concluded that the people of Asia were largely an ignorant lot who didn't appreciate "authentic" Buddhism as well as them. Olcott in particular made it his mission to explain Buddhism to the Sinhalese, publishing a Buddhist catechism and organising Buddhist Sunday schools.

Both Rhys Davids and Olcott made important contributions to the understanding of Buddhism in the west, and I understand the people of Sri Lanka still honour Olcott's memory. We might well dismiss 19th-century western attitudes toward "inauthentic" Asian Buddhism as typical Victorian-era white arrogance. However, westerners continue to want to save Buddhism from backward, superstition-ridden Buddhists, who (they believe) have contaminated the Buddha's authentic philosophy with rituals, altars, bowing, incense and other clutter of religion.

The imperialist spirit lives on today in best-selling author and atheist Sam Harris, for example. Harris wrote in an essay titled Killing the Buddha that "The wisdom of the Buddha is currently trapped within the religion of Buddhism." Like the Victorian Buddhologists, Harris seems besotted with his own ideal of an authentic Buddhism that no saffron-robed Asian monk could possibly appreciate.

As a Buddhist who writes about Buddhism, I encounter almost daily enthusiasts who declare with great confidence that Buddhism is a wonderful philosophy, or maybe even a science, but it's not a religion. And they know this because they've read lots of books about it. That most of those books were written by people who spent years immersed in rituals, altars, bowing, and incense tends to be overlooked.

Meanwhile, people debate whether western Buddhism is "authentic", or even if authentic Buddhism can exist in a western cultural context. I say the issue of "authentic" Buddhism in the west is not about robes versus blue jeans, or about culture at all. The issue is whether we can accept Buddhism on its terms and not ours.

Westerners no sooner realised that there was something of value in Buddhism than they co-opted it for their own agendas, from promoting human understanding to personal self-improvement. But the power of Buddhist practice comes from its ability to confound assumptions and break us out of limited, habitual thinking. If from the beginning we demand that Buddhism conform to our assumptions and habitual thinking, it hardly matters whether we wear jeans or robes. It won't be authentic.

Our very determination to shoehorn an ancient Asian discipline into 21st-century western definitions of "philosophy" or "religion" is a rejection of "authentic" Buddhism. This sort of conceptual packaging is one of the mental habits Buddhism warns us about. Without realising it we use prefabricated concepts about ourselves and the world around us to organise and interpret what we learn and experience. One of the functions of Buddhist practice is to sweep away all the artificial filing cabinets in our heads so that we see the world as-it-is.

About 2,000 years ago Buddhism hit another cultural speed bump as it made its way into China. The officially sanctioned monk's robe was wrapped around the body leaving the right shoulder and arm bare. But Chinese cultural sensibilities demanded that arms be covered in public. Eventually, with much grumbling about authenticity, Chinese monks took to wearing long-sleeved robes similar in style to the robes of Taoist scholars. They wrapped the one-shoulder kashaya over the sleeved robe for formal occasions, a practice found in China, Japan and Korea to this day.

Likewise, Buddhism will find ways to express itself authentically in western culture. But to encounter authentic Buddhism in any culture, first empty your cup of assumptions and expectations. And if you meet the Buddha on the road, really kill him – meaning, "kill" all ideas about him. Don't just replace one idea of Buddha with another idea you like better.

A Lotus For You, Erik Curren

Many joke that Barack Obama is 'the first Buddhist president' due to his calm demeanor and insightful ways of viewing problems but are there any prominent Buddhists in modern American politics? One interesting case is that of Erik Curren, an "openly Buddhist" candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates. Some controversy arose when his Buddhist beliefs surfaced (although he is also a practicing Methodist). A recent article by journalist Emily Breder looked into some of the controversy. The article eventually led to a very interesting interview between Breder and Curren, one where he discusses numerous topics, from reincarnation rituals in Tibetan Buddhism to trying to reconcile Buddhist ideas of detachment with his political aspirations. Here's an excerpt:

Breder: It definitely would be a new kind of politics from what we’ve been experiencing the last fifty years or so. Well… it’s also true that we can’t be extricated from our experiences. It’s those… it’s our experiences which gives us our set of personal ethics, and… one reader described you as an “unknown quantity”. They need a yardstick by which to measure your probable reactions, and… actions and re-actions. Can you describe how Buddhism has shaped your ethical values?

Curren: Sure! I follow the Bodhisattva ideal. I believe that the life that’s worth living is a life of service to the community, and that’s really what motivated me to run for political office. I have been trying to serve the community in various ways, I volunteer with different Boards and… service organizations and I felt like I could be more effective if I stepped up to the plate… to work on a state-wide level.

Breder: A reader also asked whether Buddhism conflicts or expands your Christian faith, in regards to the existence of a Creator/God.

Curren: You know, there’s a lot of terminology I think that people can get caught up on, and particularly religious faiths, and I think if you speak to some wise religious teachers from different traditions, what I’ve heard them say… people like Thich Nhat Hanh… or even the Pope… that various religious traditions are not all that different in concept. And so, for example, when you talk about… Creator/God in Christianity… in Buddhism, of course, you have the... you may have God, depending on your tradition, but that’s not really what Christians are talking about when they talk about God. I think when Christians talk about God, at least in my humble opinion, they’re talking about something that’s like Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Goodness, and to me that sounds an awful lot like Buddha Nature, and like Ultimate Reality. So, I think that if we can get over the differences in the terminology and some of the cultural things that are not really central to these faiths, we can get to the heart of the faiths, which do have an awful lot of things in common.

What People Do

Good can be easily done by the good;
Good is not easily done by the bad.
Evil is easily done by the bad;
Noble ones cannot do evil deeds.

-Udana Ch.5 Sutta 5

Buddhism "Wins" Best Religion

Beliefnet has a humorous spoof article that talks about the fictitious "International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality" has awarded the Buddhism the Best Religion in the World Award.

I find it hilarious that they 'can't find a Buddhist' to accept the award. Well, could we expect anything less from a spiritual philosophy that teaches 'no-self'?

The Doctor Is Within

In a New York Times blog, journalist and author Pico Iyer writes about the Dalai Lama's charm, not on a spiritual or religious level but on a realistic and thoroughly human one. Here's an exerpt:

Yet in 35 years of talking to the Dalai Lama, and covering him everywhere from Zurich to Hiroshima, as a non-Buddhist, skeptical journalist, I’ve found him to be as deeply confident, and therefore sunny, as anyone I’ve met. And I’ve begun to think that his almost visible glow does not come from any mysterious or unique source. Indeed, mysteries and rumors of his own uniqueness are two of the things that cause him most instantly to erupt into warm laughter. The Dalai Lama I’ve seen is a realist (which is what makes his optimism the more impressive and persuasive). And he’s as practical as the man he calls his “boss.

A Song Offering

Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust.

I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by.

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

-Rabindranath Tagore in 'Gitanjali'