BUDDHA: The Super-Scientist of Peace - by S. N. Goenka

The following is the concluding part of an address that was delivered by the great Vipassana meditation teacher, S. N. Goenka, at the United Nations on Vesākha, the full moon day of May, which is celebrated each year as the day marking the birth, the enlightenment and the passing away of Gotama the Buddha. Mr. Goenka explains the great discovery of the Buddha and the teaching's relevance in today's world.

To live the life of morality is the teaching of every religion. It is the quintessence, the inner core of every spiritual teaching. However, the Buddha was not interested in merely giving sermons to live a moral life. He taught us to take the next important step of "samādhi" – mastery over the mind. For this one needs an object of concentration.

There are many objects by which one can train the mind. The Buddha himself gave many objects, and of these, one of the most popular was one’s own respiration. He called this Ānāpānassati – developing the faculty of awareness of inhalation and exhalation. Respiration is common to all human beings belonging to any community. Nobody can have an objection to the practice of awareness of respiration. How can one label breath as Muslim or Hindu, Christian or Jewish, Buddhist or Jain, Sikh or Farsi, Caucasian or African or Asian, male or female? Ānāpānassati requires us to remain aware of the breath on the area below the nostrils and above the upper lip. It is one-pointed concentration at the middle of the upper lip – uttarotthassa vemajjhappadese. As the mind gets concentrated on this small area, it becomes more and more sharp, more and more sensitive. After just three days of practice, one starts feeling physical sensations on this part of the body.

And then, one turns to the next training of paññā, that is, wisdom or insight. One observes sensations throughout the physical structure, from the top of the head to the tips of the toes. In doing so, one notices that the sensations are closely related to what happens in the mind. It becomes clear that every time one performs an unwholesome action, one has to generate some impurity or other in the mind. Before one kills, one has to generate immense hatred. Before one steals, one generates greed. To indulge in sexual misconduct, one has to generate immense passion. One cannot do any harm to others without first harming oneself – Pubbe hanati attānan, pacchā hanati so pare. Negativities such as anger, hatred, greed, ill will, jealousy, egotism and fear make a person unhappy, miserable and violent. One becomes agitated. When one is agitated, one doesn’t keep this agitation to oneself: one starts distributing it to others, one starts harming others in society. One realizes this law of nature within the framework of one’s own mind and body.

Someone may seem outwardly happy while performing unwholesome actions but their real situation is like burning charcoal covered with a thick layer of ash – bhasmacchannova pāvako. One is burning inside because of the mental negativities, and yet one is totally ignorant of what is happening inside.This is avijjā, moha – ignorance. For the Buddha, ignorance is not lack of knowledge of some philosophical belief. It is lack of knowledge of what is happening within oneself. One doesn’t understand how one becomes miserable because of this veil of ignorance. No one wants to remain miserable and yet one continues to be miserable because one continues to generate tanhā – craving and aversion – all the time; one keeps on reacting to the sensations. When ignorance is removed, as one starts looking inside one realizes, “Look, I am generating misery for myself by generating tanhā in response to these sensations. When they are pleasant, I generate craving and when they are unpleasant, I generate aversion. Both make me miserable. And look, I have the solution now.

When I understand the impermanent nature of sensations and maintain equanimity, there is no tanhā, no craving and no aversion. The old habit pattern of the mind starts changing and I start coming out of misery.”This is vijjā or wisdom according to the Buddha. It has nothing to do with any philosophical or sectarian belief. It is the truth about one’s happiness and misery, which all people can experience within if they take steps on the path. The Four Noble Truths are not philosophical dogma. They are actual realities pertaining to myself that I start realizing within myself. They are Noble Truths only when one experiences them, and thus, starts becoming a noble person.

When one is working with sensations, one is working at the depth of the mind. Whatever arises in the mind is accompanied by sensations within the body – vedanā-samosaranā sabbe dhammā. Even the most transient thought that arises within the mind is accompanied by a sensation within the body – vedanā-samosaranā sankappavitakkā. This was a great discovery of the Buddha.

Another great discovery of the Buddha was that we generate tanhā in response to the sensations. This was not known to the other teachers before the time of the Buddha, at the time of Buddha or after the Buddha. The teachers before the Buddha and at the time of the Buddha kept advising people not to react to the sensory objects that come in contact with the sense doors-eyes with visual object, nose with smell, ears with sound, and so on. They taught, “When sensory objects come in contact with your senses, don’t react by judging them as good or bad; don’t react with craving or aversion.”

This teaching was already in existence. But the Buddha said that, actually, you are not reacting to these objects. He gave the example of a black bull and a white bull (one representing the sense doors and the other the sense objects) tied together with a rope. Neither the black nor the white bull is the bondage; the rope is the bondage. The Buddha said that the rope of tanhā is the bondage, and that one generates tanhā (craving or aversion) in response to vedanā (sensations) – vedanā paccayā tanhā. This was the great discovery of the Enlightened One. He became an enlightened person because of this discovery.There were many other people saying that one should not react to the objects of the senses. But they didn’t become Buddhas.

There were teachers who taught that one should not generate lobha (craving) and dosa (aversion). The Buddha explained that lobha and dosa would last as long as there was moha. He, therefore, advised us to come out of moha. And what is moha? Moha is ignorance. Moha is avijjā. You don’t know what is happening inside. You don’t know the real cause of lobha and dosa. You are ignorant.

How will you come out of ignorance? Strike at the root of the problem and come out of misery by working with sensations. As long as you are not aware of sensations, you keep fighting with outside objects, thinking, “This is ugly” or “This is not ugly.” You keep working on the surface. You are thinking of the black bull or the white bull as the cause of the bondage. In fact, the bondage is the craving and aversion that one generates in response to sensations. An alcoholic thinks that he is addicted to alcohol. He is actually addicted to the sensations he feels when he drinks alcohol.

When one observes sensations objectively, one starts coming out of ignorance. By understanding the impermanent nature of sensations, one generates paññā in response to vedanā. This is the law of nature. Dhamma niyāmatā is the law behind the natural order of phenomena. Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, Dhamma niyāmatā remains eternal. The Buddha said: “Uppādā vā tathāgatānam anuppādā vā tathāgatānam, thitāva sā dhātu dhammatthitatā dhammaniyāmatā idappaccayatā. Tam tathāgato abhisambujjhati abhisameti. Abhisambujjhitvā abhisametvā ācikkhati deseti paññāpeti patthapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti. ‘Passathā’ti cāha.” He said, “I have experienced this law of nature, the Law of Dependent Origination, within myself; and having experienced and understood it I declare it, teach it, clarify it, establish it and show it to others. Only after having seen it for myself, I declare it.” This is the bold declaration of a supreme scientist. Just as whether there is a Newton or no Newton, the law of gravity remains true. Newton discovered it and explained it to the world. Similarly, Galileo or no Galileo, the fact that the earth revolves around the sun remains true.

The feeling of sensation is the crucial junction from where one can take two paths going in opposite directions. If one keeps on reacting blindly to pleasant and unpleasant sensations, one multiplies one’s misery. If one learns to maintain equanimity in the face of pleasant and unpleasant sensations, one starts changing the habit pattern at the deepest level and starts coming out of misery. The sensations are the root. As long as one neglects the root, the poisonous tree will grow again even if the trunk is cut. The Buddha said: “Yathāpi mūle anupaddave dalhe, chinnopi rukkho punareva rūhati. Evampi tanhānusaye anūhate, nibbattati dukkhamidam punappunam.” – “Just as a tree with roots intact and secure, though cut down, sprouts again; even so, while latent craving is not rooted out, misery springs up again and again.”Thus, this super-scientist discovered that to become fully liberated from mental defilements, one has to work at the root of the mind. Each individual must cut asunder the roots of tanhānusaya. When the entire forest is withered, each tree has to be nurtured, its roots cleared of disease, and then watered. Then, the entire forest will bloom again.

Similarly, for the betterment of society, each individual has to improve. For society to become peaceful, each individual has to become peaceful. The individual is the key. For the world to become peaceful, each country or society has to become peaceful. Here, I would again like to quote a very important exhortation from the Buddha to the Vajjian republic of Licchavis.

The Buddha gave the following practical instructions, which would make the Licchavis unassailable:

*As long as they maintain their unity and meet regularly, they will remain invincible.

*As long as they meet together in unity, rise in unity and perform their duties in unity, they will remain invincible.

• As long as they do not transgress their ancient principles of good governance and their system of justice, they will remain invincible.

• As long as they revere, respect, venerate, and honor their elders and pay regard to their words, they will remain invincible.

• As long as they protect their women and children, they will remain invincible.

• As long as they venerate the objects of worship inside and outside their republic, and maintain monetary support for them, they will remain invincible.

Wisdom lies in keeping all people happy and satisfied. They should not be subjected to harassment, which compels them to become enemies of the state. Their places of worship should receive adequate protection and respect. As long as the rulers provide protection and support to saintly people, they will remain invincible.

This wise counsel of the Buddha is also applicable today to maintain peace and harmony in the world. We cannot ignore issues related to religion if we are to be successful in bringing peace to the world. It is the duty of every government to protect its people from external attacks, to do everything possible to make its people and territory secure. While this is done, it must be borne in mind that such measures give only short-term benefits. Goodwill and compassion alone can remove the hatred that lies at the root of all such acts performed by anyone belonging to any sect. In India, the United States and other countries where Vipassana courses are held in prisons, we already see how people change. The roots of terrorism lie in the minds of terrorists.

We have seen how some hardened, violent criminals have been transformed in our prison courses. Anger, fear, vengefulness and hatred start dissolving, creating a peaceful and compassionate mind. We first ask some members of the prison staff to learn Vipassana and only then give courses for the inmates. This gives wonderful results.

In the Buddha’s teaching, we will find a bridge that can connect various sects. The three fundamental divisions of the Buddha’s teachings – morality, concentration of mind and purification of mind – are the essence of every religion and spiritual path. Sīla, samādhi and paññā are the common denominators of all religions. There can be no conflict over these three basic factors necessary for living a beneficial life. The whole emphasis of the Buddha’s teaching is on the practice of these three in order to apply Dhamma in real life. This is the inner core of every religion. Instead of giving importance to this core, we keep on quarreling about the outer shell, which may be different in different religions.

History has proved that whenever the universal, non-sectarian teaching of the Buddha has gone to any place or community, it has never clashed with the traditional culture. Instead, like sugar dissolving in milk, the teachings have been gently assimilated to sweeten and enhance society. We all know how much the sweetness of peace and tranquillity is needed in the bitter world today. May the teaching of the Enlightened One bring peace and happiness to more and more individuals, thus making more and more societies around the world peaceful and happy.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be liberated.

California Vipassana Center
P.O. Box 1167North Fork, CA 93643
Phone: 559.877.4386
Fax: 559.877.4387

Suffering: Understanding Gets at the Root of The Problem

Suffering: Understanding Gets at the Root of The Problem

In order to become free from suffering we must first have some understanding of its causes. Suffering exists from the very beginning of life. We have no conscious recollection of existence within the confines of the womb, but the common experience is that we emerge from it crying. Birth is a great trauma.

Having started life, we are all bound to encounter sufferings of sickness and old age. Yet no matter how sick we may be, no matter how decayed and decrepit, none of us wants to die, because death is a great misery.

Every living creature must face all these sufferings. And as we pass through life, we are bound to encounter other sufferings, various types of physical or mental pain. We become involved with the unpleasant and separated from the pleasant. We fail to get what we want; instead we get what we do not want. All these situations are suffering.

These instances of suffering are readily apparent to anyone who thinks about it. But if we look at a very deep level, we will see that suffering is the inordinate attachment that each one of us has developed toward this body and toward this mind, with its cognition, perceptions, sensations, and reactions. People cling strongly to their identity—their mental and physical being—when ultimately there are only evolving processes. Clinging to an unreal idea of oneself, to something that is, in fact constantly changing, is suffering.

Attachment
There are several types of attachment. First there is the attachment to the habit of seeking sensual gratification. An addict takes a drug because he or she wishes to experience the pleasurable sensation that the drug produces, even though he or she knows that by taking the drug it reinforces the addiction. In the same way we are addicted to the condition of craving. As soon as a desire is satisfied, we generate another. The object is secondary; the fact is that we seek to maintain the state of craving continually, because this very craving produces in us a pleasurable sensation that we wish to prolong. Craving becomes a habit that we cannot break, an addiction. And just as an addict gradually develops tolerance toward the chosen drug and requires ever larger doses in order to achieve intoxication, our cravings steadily become stronger the more we seek to fulfill them. In this way we can never come to the end of craving. And so long as we crave, we can never be happy.

Another great attachment is to the “I,” the ego, the image we have of ourselves. For each of us, the “I” is the most important person in the world. We behave like a magnet surrounded by iron fillings: it will automatically arrange the filings in a pattern centered on itself, and with just as little reflection we all instinctively try to arrange the world according to our liking, seeking to attract the pleasant and to repel the unpleasant. But none of us is alone in the world; one “I” is bound to come into conflict with another. The pattern each seeks to create is disturbed by the magnetic fields of others, and we ourselves become subject to attraction or repulsion. The result can only be unhappiness, suffering.

Nor do we limit attachment to the “I”: we extend it to “mine,” whatever belongs to us. We each develop great attachment to what we posses, because it is associated with us, it supports the image of “I.” This attachment would cause no problem if what one called “mine” were eternal, and the “I” remained to enjoy it eternally. But the fact is that sooner or later the “I” is separated from the “mine.” The parting time is bound to come. When it arrives, the greater the clinging to “mine,” the greater the suffering will be.

And attachment extends still further—to our views and our beliefs. No matter what their actual content may be, no matter whether they are right or wrong, if we are attached to them they will certainly make us unhappy. We are each convinced that our own views and traditions are the best and become very upset whenever we hear them criticized. If we try to explain our views and others do not accept them, again we become upset. We fail to recognize that each person has his or her own beliefs. It is futile to argue about which view is correct; more beneficial would be to set aside any preconceived notions and to try to see reality. But our attachment to views prevents us from doing so, keeping us unhappy.

Finally, for most people there is attachment to religious forms and ceremonies. We tend to emphasize the external expressions of religion more than their underlying meaning and to feel that anyone who does not perform such ceremonies cannot be a truly religious person. We forget that without its essence, the formal aspect of religion is an empty shell. Piety in reciting prayers or performing ceremonies is valueless if the mind remains filled with anger, passion, and ill will. To be truly religious we must develop the religious attitude: purity of heart, love, and compassion for all. But our attachment to the external forms of religion leads us to give more importance to the letter of it than to the spirit of it. We miss the essence of religion and therefore remain miserable.
All our sufferings, whatever they may be, are connected to one or another of these attachments. Attachment and suffering are always found together.

Conditioned Arising: The Chain of Cause and Effect by Which Suffering Originates
What causes attachment? How does it arise? Analyzing our own nature will show us that it develops because of the momentary mental reactions liking and disliking. The brief, unconscious reactions of the mind are repeated and intensified moment after moment, growing into powerful attractions and repulsions, into all our attachments. Attachment is merely a developed form of the fleeting reaction. This is the immediate cause of suffering.

What causes reactions of liking and disliking? Looking deeper within ourselves we will see that they occur because of sensation. We feel a pleasant sensation and start liking it; we feel an unpleasant sensation and start disliking it.

Now why these sensations? What causes them? Examining still further within our selves we see that they arise because of contact: contact of the eye with a vision, contact of the ear with a sound, contact of the nose with an odor, contact of the tongue with a taste, contact of the body with something tangible, contact of the mind with any thought, emotion, idea, imagination, or memory. Through the five physical senses and the mind we experience the world. Whenever an object or phenomenon contacts any of these six bases of experience, a sensation is produced, pleasant or unpleasant.

These six sensory bases are essential aspects of the flow of mind and matter. These processes arise because of consciousness, the act of cognition which separates the world into the knower and the known, subject and object, “I” and “other.” From this separation results identity. Every moment consciousness arises and assumes a specific mental and physical form. In the next moment, again, consciousness takes a slightly different form. Throughout one’s existence, consciousness flows and changes.

Then what causes this flow of consciousness? Consciousness arises because of reaction. The mind is constantly reacting, and every reaction gives impetus to the flow of consciousness so that it continues to the next moment. The stronger a reaction, the greater the impetus that it gives. The slight reaction of one moment sustains the flow of consciousness only for a moment. But if that momentary reaction of liking and disliking intensifies into craving or aversion, it gains in strength and sustains the flow of consciousness for many moments, for minutes, for hours. And if the reaction of craving and aversion intensifies still further, it sustains the flow for days, for months, perhaps for years or a lifetime.

And what causes these reactions? Observing at the deepest level of reality, we begin to understand that reaction occurs because of ignorance. We are unaware of the fact that we react, and unaware of the real nature of what we react to. We are ignorant of the impermanent, impersonal nature of our existence and ignorant that attachment to it brings nothing but suffering. Not knowing our real nature, we react blindly. Not even knowing that we have reacted, we persist in our blind reactions and allow them to intensify. Thus we become imprisoned in the habit of reacting, because of ignorance.

By this chain of cause and effect—conditioned arising—we have been brought into our present state of existence and face a future of suffering.

The truth is clear: suffering begins with ignorance about the reality of our true nature, about the phenomenon labeled “I.” And the next cause of suffering is the mental habit of reaction. Blinded by ignorance, we generate reactions of craving and aversions, which develop into attachment, leading to all types of unhappiness. The habit of reacting is the karma, the shaper of our future. And the reaction arises only because of ignorance about our real nature. Ignorance, craving, and aversion are the three roots from which grows all our suffering in life.

Transcendental Wisdom and Quantum Field Theory

 

My sincere thanks to Dutch artist Herman Smorenburg for his permission to use this image of his beautiful oil painting “The Silence Beyond.” The painting represents transcendental wisdom, the wisdom characterized by the direct experience of Emptiness (Sunyata). In the painting the artist places the female bodhisattva in the center of the universe, the void of the cosmos in which worlds are born. This refers to the Void beyond and present in the endless play of forms, words, and thoughts. The mystic path, symbolized by the great mountain peak towering behind the goddess, leads us to the experience of this divine Void. Her hands form the mudra of teaching and invites us to follow the meditative path of Silence and Emptiness. Visit the artists web site at: http://www.hermansmorenburg.com/home.html

 

 Transcentental Wisdom and Quantum Field Theory

 

The Heart Sutra, an ancient Buddhist scripture, provides insight into the nature of ultimate reality through intuitive wisdom. In its spaciousness, this insight allows the heart to rise beyond ideological arguments and human disputes. In our modern world, quantum physics has found some interesting parallels to the Heart Sutra opening the possibility that the intellectual and the intuitive can meet in a new paradigm.

In his book, The Tao of Physics, Frithjof Capra defines all physical things and phenomena as “transient manifestations of an underlying fundamental entity.” This is not only a basic element of quantum field theory, but it is also a basic element of the Buddhist world view. The intuition behind the physicist’s understanding of the subatomic world, in terms of the quantum field, is quite similar to that of the Buddhist meditator who also understands the world in terms of an ultimate underlying reality.

Buddhists express this idea when they call ultimate reality Sunyatta or “emptiness” or “the void.” It is a “living” Void which gives birth to all forms in the world of phenomena. The quantum field, like Sunyatta, gives birth to an infinite variety of forms which is sustained for a while and eventually reabsorbs. Of course, translations of Sanskrit or Pali words into the languages of the west can be problematic. Words like “void” or “emptiness,” carries a nihilistic undertone for most westerners. But with a deeper understanding of Buddhist meditative experience we begin to see that sunyata is not nihilistic at all.

A contemporary teacher of Buddhist meditation, Jack Kornfield, sees a parallel between the behavior of subatomic particles and meditative states. He points out that when the mind becomes very still, one can clearly see that everything in existence are but brief moments of consciousness arising together with the six sense objects. The Buddha taught that there is only sight and the knowing of sight, sound and the knowing of sound, smell, taste and the knowing of them, and thoughts and the knowing of thoughts. In the practice of Vipassana meditation, when the mind becomes concentrated, we can see that the body, consciousness, and indeed, the whole world dissolves and breaks down into particles and subtle vibrations. On an even deeper level of meditation, when the mind is very still, we begin to see consciousness as waves, like an ocean. The particles dissolve and every sight and sound is contained in this ocean of consciousness, and from this perspective there is no sense of particles at all. Whether wave or particle, the core of the universe is not static but in a state of constant and dynamic change and infuses each and every form in the universe at the cellular level. Not a single form exists without being infused by this universal energy.

In both the paradigms of quantum physics and Buddhist wisdom, there is ceaseless change at the core of the universe. It is difficult for the human mind to accept the existence of sunyatta or the quantum randomness of the universe. Evident reality tells us that the body and all material objects that we experience with the senses are solid and separate from other individuals. And yet, whether one views the universe in deep meditation or at the end of the microscope, this illusion dissolves and a very different reality is found; that the object of consciousness is embedded in the observing consciousness and that the two are fused together by the energy or sunyatta out of which both emerge. In his book The Silent Pulse, humanities scholar George Burr Leonard writes:

At the heart of each of us, whatever our imperfections, there exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm, a complex of wave forms and resonances, which is absolutely individual and unique, and yet which connects us to everything in the universe. The act of getting in touch with this pulse can transform our personal experience and in some way alter the world around us.

It is in this sense, the realization of a dynamic, universal energy that connects each of us to everything in existence that ancient Buddhism used the term sunyatta.

Almost every human being longs for a sense of peace and happiness in life. But as long as we allow the illusion that we are all separate from each other, from our environment, and from the Divine, we can never end suffering, find peace or find our way home. Peace requires transformation deep within the hearts of individuals. Although quantum physics and ancient Buddhist wisdom work from two entirely different orders of reality, they are beginning to converge. Perhaps the best hope for humanity and a more just and peaceful world, is a new paradigm in which the intellectual and the intuitive meet, one that is rooted in the wisdom of our own spiritual and meditative experiences.

Tags: Heart Sutra, quantum physics, ultimate truth, new paradigm, wisdom, meditation, intellectual and intuitive, peace,

Frendship At Day's End

 

 

 

As a Hospice volunteer working with death and dying, my life has been greatly enriched through my interactions with my patients and their families. It is an honor and privilege to serve people in the final days of their lives. So many of them openly share life stories, their spiritual beliefs and/or end-of-life spiritual questions, their fears about their illness and the dying process, their love and hopes for their families, and sometimes, their regrets in life. For some it is a time of profound healing. I always feel blessed when they trust me enough to share their most intimate thoughts.

     A recent patient with whom I had shared a great deal of time during the final four months of his life, touched my life deeply. This frail man of eighty-six, who was suffering from the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and a heart condition, told me wonderful stories of his life and openly expressed his deep love for his family and friends. His profound love and respect of nature, and his understanding of his connection with of all of it, was evident in both his words and his activist work with environmental organizations. His life was one dedicated to teaching and reaching out to those less fortunate than himself. Although it took great effort and concentration for him to speak, he always articulated his conversations with me in a remarkably lucid, logical, and interesting manner. He spoke with a skillful balance of directness, humor, and wisdom. The courage he demonstrated in dealing with the great pain and debilitating effects of his illness, and facing the inevitability of his death, was an inspiration to me and taught me a great deal about living life to its fullest. The following poem was written in memory of Merile; a talented artist, educator, intellectual, husband, father, and friend.

 

 

FRIENDSHIP AT DAY'S END

 

Your hand shaking meets mine

          Across the table of your life

 

Your smile greets me like an old friend

          But your eyes ask questions

As direct as the words you struggle to speak

                   Questions for the stranger

Who in his helping must earn your trust

Be worthy of the thoughts that may fall

Upon your mind at times

Your hopes and dreams

Your pain or sorrow

          The treasures of your intellect

And all that a stranger like me

May – by chance discover

 

Tired but satisfied

Your trembling hand takes mine again

          And with your walker you rattle softly

Down the hall to your rest

Leaving me behind in the comfort

Of your wit and your humor

And that warm smile that lingered

Long after you left the room

 

At once you become 

An immortal element of blue in the sky

An ever flowing rich river

An intellect and mind sharp with contradiction

          To both age and affliction

 

I know who you are

And know well the moment

You became an unforgettable meaning

 

Now you are not at hand

But thoughts of you fill my heart

With gratitude and affection

For each moment I had the privilege

Of breathing with you

Became lessons for me

On how to live

                   And how to die

 

All around me the daily sessions

Of light and dark move on without you

But the rhythms and images

Of your soul’s ritual remain to remind me

That our so short friendship

          Was full enough to fill life times

 

In the shadow of your wisdom and charm

In a world made more beautiful

                   By the colors and textures

Of your creative mind and able hands

          In your example

Of how to live and love deeply

By the courage and grace

That became your final work of art

I know you understood and lived life – completely

Tags: death & dying, friendship, courage, love, educator, intellectual, friendship

You Are The Flower

One of my favorite books on the environment is Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism, edited by Stephenie Daza and Kenneth Kraft. It is a powerful book bringing together Buddhist writers from different ages. They each, in there own unique voice remind us of our connection with the natural world and of our obligation to care for and protect the planet. The  follwing poem from the book was written by an anoymous monk who expresses beautifully the truth that within each of us resides the entire universe.

FLOWERS
author, Unknown
From Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism
Edited By Stephanie Daza and Kenneth Kraft

Such a solemn world of flowers!
Such a spectacle,
this rich world of the flowers!
All beings are living brightness
fulfilled with brightness
on the earth, under the heavens.

There is no gap between matter and human beings,
between sentient and non-sentient being:
all are living, all are dancing--
slate and pebbles are whispering,
dust and trash are shouting,
trees and grasses speak, the land sings.

The world is a flower.
Gods are flowers.
Enlightened ones are flowers.
All phenomena are flowers.
Red flowers, white flowers, green
flowers, yellow flowers, purple flowers,
all of the different kinds
of the colors of flowers,
all of the different kinds
of love's shining-forth.
Life unfolds from life
and returns into life.

Such an immense universe!

Such exquisite Light shinning forth!
Oh, so many lives!
Flowers of gratitude, flowers of sorrow,
flowers of suffering, flowers of joy,
laughter's flowers, anger's flowers,
heaven's flowers, hell's flowers.
Each connected to the others
and each making the others grow.

When our real mind's eye
opens to this world of flowers,
all beings shine,
music echoes through mountains and oceans.
One's world becomes the world of
millions. The individual
becomes the human race.
All lives become the individual--
billions of mirrors
all reflecting each other.

There is no death and life,
there is no death, no life.
There is changing life,
there is unchanging life.
There is Nirvana, there is Samsara.
Clouds change into
multitudinous forms.
Water changes form as it wishes,
taking the shape of its container.
Flowers change color,
moment by moment.

Such a vivid world!
Such a bright you!
You were born out of these flowers,
you gave birth to these flowers.
You have no beginning and
no ending, you are bottomless and
limitless, even as also
infinitesimal dust..

You are the flower.
You become man and embrace
all women,
you become woman and embrace
all men.
You are love,
you are the flower.
All beings shine out of their uniqueness,
all melt into the oneness of colors.
You are one, you are many,
only one moment, only one
unique place, only the unique you.
Beside you there is nothing:
you dance, appearing in all.

Sitting in silence,
dancing in gratitude,
dancing like the huge waves,
moving like the white clouds,
you see you, you see the you
who sees you,
with gratitude you see,
with gratitude you are seen:
the world as you, you as you;
you as actor, you as audience;
you as subject, you as object.
You are free, you are not free.
From nowhere you came.
You go nowhere.
You stay nowhere.
You are nowhere attached.
You occupy everything,
you occupy nothing.
You are the becoming of indescribable change.
You are love. You are the flower.

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The Sutra Of Lovingkindness

The Goddess, Quan Yin, Represents the Embodiment of Love and Compassion. Pastel Painting by Thai artist Chakrabhand Posayakrit. Framed prints available at http://www.boondecor.com/. Proceeds from the sale of this print goes to the Children's Hospital Foundation in Bangkok, Thailand.

All the words of Buddha are beautiful gems, wonderful principles that when followed, will lead to a more skillful way of living and a happier more fulfilling life. One of my favorite Suttas (teachings) is the Buddha’s discourse on opening one’s heart to love and compassion for all beings. The Buddha instructs his disciples to end their daily sitting meditation with thoughts on ending the suffering in the world by sending vibrations of love and compassion to every being in creation.

THE METTASUTTA: Sutra on Lovingkindness

Translated from the Pali

This is the way of Lovingkindness, the way of those who are wise and seek the good of humankind. This is the way of those who know the meaning of the place of peace:

Be honest, be kind, and without conceit of self.

Be easily contented, joyous, and free of cares.

Be not attached to the things of the world.

Be not burdened with desire for worldly goods.

Be not controlled and led by the senses.

Be wise and be filled with compassion.

Compassion is the tender readiness of the heart to respond to one’s own or another’s pain, without resentment or aversion. Compassion embraces all who experience pain or sorrow and brings them into the heart. Let the heart open like the lotus unfolding its petals on the bright and sparkling surface of the pond to receive the sun. With an open and loving heart:

Wish for all beings to be happy and at their ease!

Wish that all beings be joyous and live with skill and in

safety.

Wish that all beings whether weak or strong—kind or

cruel—in high, middle, or low realms of existence—small

or great, visible or invisible, near or far—born or to be

born—may all beings be happy and at their ease!

Deceive not another, or despise any being.

Never by anger or ill-will wish harm to another!

As a mother watches over and protects her child,

with such boundless mind cherish all living beings,

radiating lovingkindness all over the world,

radiating peace and compassion without limit.

Cultivate a boundless goodwill free from all enmity!

Standing or walking, sitting or lying down, during every

waking hour, develop a vast mindfulness of good will,

for this is the highest state!

With pure compassion and clear vision,

free from craving and desire,

be perfect, be happy, and at Peace.

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Compassion

 

"Reflections of Compassion" by renowned Thai artist, Udawn Srihawong. See other original art by this artist at http://boonmee.com/wallart.html 

 

TRUE COMPASSION

 

         It is easy to feel compassion for  those we love or care about but it is not so easy to forgive or have compassion for those who have harmed us or have caused suffering to others by their words and actions. As long as we view our selves separate from other beings and objects in the material world, true compassion for all beings can never arise.

         Working at the deepest level of our mind to root out our own anger, hatred, ill-well, greed, and jealousy, we begin to clear the view, enabling us to experience our connection with all beings. Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, is a technique discovered and taught by the Buddha that helps one do the work that leads to an experiential understanding of the causes of all suffering and allows wisdom and compassion to arise. This leads to a life of skillful living and true happiness.

I am reminded of a poem by the Vietnamese Zen master and peace worker Thich Nhat Hanh where he expresses so beautifully the possibility of an all-embracing compassion and loving kindness, without boundary and without discrimination. There is a seeing that all of it, all of life, is in each of us, and that we can relate to it all with an open heart.

 

PLEASE CALL ME BY MY TRUE NAMES

                                                By Thich Nhat Hanh

Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow

because even today I still arrive.

 

Look deeply; I arrive in every second

to be the a bud on a spring branch,

to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile

          learning to sing in my new nest,

to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,

to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

 

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,

in order to fear and to hope,

the rhythm of my heart is the birth and death

of all that are alive.

 

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on

          the surface of the river,

and I am the bird which, when spring comes,

          arrives in time to eat the mayfly.

 

Iam a frog swimming happily in the clear

          water of a pond,

and I am the grass-snake, who, approaching

          in silence, feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,

my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,

and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons

to Uganda.

 

I am the twelve year old girl, refugee on a

          small boat,

who throws herself into the ocean

          after being raped by a sea pirate,

and I am the pirate, my heart not yet

          capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the Politburo with plenty

          of power in my hands,

and I am the man who has to pay his debt of

          blood to my people dying slowly in a

          forced labor camp.

 

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes

          flowers bloom in all walks of life.

My pain is like a river of tears, so full

          it fills all four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,

so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

 

Please call me by my true names

so I can wake up and let the door of my heart

          stay open,

the door of compassion.