Kanzeon’s Contemplations
Lesson 5b. The Second Rank to End Suffering
Divided Man by FLY, 2019
The main teaching I was introduced to many years ago by my first teacher was from the Genjo Koan by Dogen, a 13 century Japanese Zen monk. It is simple and worth memorizing.
To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by the myriad things. When actualized by the myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization exists, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
It is a clear and reliable approach to finding the Buddha Way. But as most teachings, it is not easy. It requires a turn that very few are willing to make. Nevertheless, it is worth our attention. An elucidation of how this teaching relates to the Buddha’s promise to end suffering is priceless. Before I dive into this teaching, I want to remind us that all the high spiritual teachings in the world give us the same instruction. The never-ending Way of Eternal Truth is continuously flowing with immeasurable generosity for us to awaken.
It is never apart from one right where one is.
In the last lesson, Lesson 5 A we dipped into the first rank. Refer to it here. In summary, we looked at the relative in the absolute – sometimes described as the material in the eternal or the personal in the universal. I’d like to expand on the first training with a caution and further explanation.
First, a caution. Many get stuck in studying the self and end up polishing the self to look good, to become a good person, to do good. By itself, this does not lead to the end of suffering, but is a step to take and then overcome. It is not the end of the Way. It is a first step and must be remembered as such otherwise the spiritual practitioner risks getting an inflated ego that thinks itself as a goodee, goodee or a badee, badee.
Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one’s own enlightenment, glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things…one is making the initial, partial excursion…but is still somewhat deficient in the Way of total emancipation.
Fortunately, our glimpse into wisdom helps us to continue to practice. And since we are in the middle of it right here, right now we are in the midst of endless opportunity and potential to discover our unbounded self. But far too often, when things don’t go well for us, don’t go our way, we get stuck in it – isn’t this true? All sorts of fretting and worry rush in – but as long as things go smoothly, we are able to see the truth given in the first rank.
Here is how to work with the first rank of seeing the relative in the absolute. As mentioned before, the relative is that which changes. In order to understand this and to practice it, we need to see what in the self-construct changes. The simple answer is everything in the self-construct comes under the law of change. There is NOTHING in the relative world that lasts.
In brief, the body, the breath, the mind, the intellect and even the beguiling ego changes. All of it is empty of an eternal attribute. But don’t jump the gun. Knowing this intellectually is not enough. Ananda, Shakyamuni Buddha’s faithful companion knew all the teachings – many by heart – but he knew it intellectually which did not hold him on the path.
At some point, he faced a temptation that almost swamped him. Those around Buddha asked – what is happening to your faithful Ananda? Buddha’s reply was Ananda thinks his mind is real. Ananda was stuck in the first rank. After, Buddha dies, however, Ananda does awaken.
Let’s now add the next step. Remember, first step is to study the self (body, breath, mind, intellect, ego; earth, water, fire, air, ether) and to realize all of it changes.
The second step is to forget the self. Here is where many adepts falter. We forget to forget the self and instead end up reifying it in some damnable way that makes us and others miserable.
The second rank requires we let go of our grip (belief in thinking the self is real) on the self-constructions. Step One and Two are simple and yet challenging. We like studying our self, but we do not like to let go of what we have studied. It is a precarious place where most of us need a teacher to help us travel across it without getting stuck in it. The main work of a teacher is to point out to us when we are heading towards the swamp and to encourage us to stop going there. The rest of the work is up to us.
To forget the self requires we see the absolute in the relative ( the second rank) – even a glimpse of the absolute is enough. This step is not a belief in the absolute – it is a realization. It is important to remember that the Truth is ever-present, we are never apart from it – but we miss it because we are looking at the self-attributions of the construction and not at the nature of them. Step One is necessary. We need to realize the self-construction is not lasting. It is unreliable in terms of the eternal.
To let go of the studied self is not a dictum or demand – it is a realization that comes from studying the self and discovering it does not hold. Not holding is the realized awareness that comes when the first rank is realized.
Step Two is taken when we see the self for its relative attribute. Forget the self follows and we see a glimpse into THAT which lasts. Again, it is not to use the intellect to fill in what lasts – but to know and discover what is always there.
Suffering, at this point, begins to lessen because suffering is connected to the constructed self. The self-construction is the holder of misery because it is the holder of all that passes – it is what gets blown around by the eight worldly winds. When we let go of it by forgetting the self we open to the realization of seeing what is always present. THAT which does not change. Our grip loosens, but we are not yet free. Our vision, however, shifts and we glimpse at what has not been seen before.
Here is a chant that reminds us of our work.
Life is precious.
Life is fragile.
Death is sudden and strikes without warning.
Cause and effect are inescapable.
Suffering in the conditioned world is inescapable.
Liberation is beneficial.
A teacher is helpful.
May all beings realize the emptiness (love) of the three wheels,
giver, receiver and gift.
May this benefit all beings everywhere.
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
Image credits: Fly, 2019
A Single Thread is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching,
please contact editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
Lesson 5a. The End of Suffering
LESSONS. Lesson 5. Part A.
The end of suffering – when things of the world get tough to bear.
Make friends with the problems in your life. Sarah Young
Everything comes to awaken you – but don’t take any of it personally.
Don’t claim it as yours.
Let’s begin by shouting Hallelujah! Praise – the Dharma of the True Being. I am, as you truly are, the Dharma as heat and light are the Sun. It is the mysterious Truth of the Tathagata. Whether it is mysterious or not, it is true.
Our common human nature is to think and believe we are somebody other than the true Dharma. Sometimes we think and believe we are a miserable bum or a jealous friend or an envious boor – sometimes we think and believe we are a know-it-all or a better-than-everybody, or smart-as-a-whip or a hungry ghost. When we look in a mirror, we believe we are that face whether beautiful or ugly, plain or outstanding. We have forgotten who we are – the True Being – conscious and capable of giving, receiving and being a gift. The list of mistaken identity is endless, but forgetting our true nature is our universal condition.
No matter what name we use, we fill in the blank of who we are with some attribute, an identity that teeters up and down in praise, blame, pleasure, pain, fame, obscurity, gain and loss. In this identity ranking, we are caught in the swamp of the ego and not on the ground of being. We all have done it. Those times we feel sorry for ourselves, when we judge and blame, blow up incensed we have not been heard or understood. Those times when we feel righteous in our injury – when we look at our wounds and can’t seem to stop the licking. This swamp is suffering.
And this status is our usual ‘rank’ – what in Zen is called the first rank. Known commonly by many names ‘instinctual man, ‘ ‘material girl,’ ‘egotist,’ ‘selfie,’ ‘self-centered’ ‘full of pride’ – many names throughout history define this rank. Each depicting the universal nature of being caught in the ego and blown about by the worldly winds of suffering. (Praise/Blame, Pain/Pleasure, Fame/Obscurity, Gain/Loss). When we, for example, are not praised we blame – when we are acknowledged we look down, when we gain, we want to hang on – over and over it goes.
But don’t give up and fall into despair.
The first rank is not without wisdom. There is wisdom that is of the most obvious kind. The man on the street, meaning you and me, knows that everything changes. The fact that everything changes is the first suffering we experience in childhood. We lose a toy. It gets broken, We cry. We lost it. And then we want it back or at the very least a replacement. This is our human nature. It is where we all begin. And for many, it is where we remain.
But for those with dust in their eyes this knowing wisdom remains a shock throughout life – change surprises us. The knowledge is not used to awaken, instead we use it to complain. Someone leaves us, death comes as a thief in the night – our feeling sorry for ourselves breaks in our consciousness and we are swamped. A sudden tsunami sweeps our family away – we lose our eyesight – an accident leaves us crippled – a stroke cripples. Any number of changes torment us – we see change as unfair, personal and attacking. We react from our grip on what we want. We feel compensation is owed to us. We march in the parade of thinking we deserve “better.” All of these concoctions are attempts to protect the ego from change. Impossible to do. Change is a constant and an inevitable, true principle of this realm. IN knowing this – there is wisdom.
But…because the world follows a replacement system when it comes to change, we fight against the worldly winds with all sorts of schemes and plans and try-agains – because we only know the knowledge of the first rank – everything changes – as a threat to what we want. The ego is center stage.
We need to know this wisdom without making the mistake of schemes and try-agains. All our schemes and try-agains towards the world result in the same lesson being taught – the lesson of knowing everything changes in the material world along with knowing we cannot count on the worldly things for spiritual satisfaction. Impermanence is a mark of being – of existence. When we are unable or unwilling to know this wisdom – we suffer.
This knowledge is wisdom – but alone, it is not enough for us to get out of the swamp. And getting-out-of-the-swamp is how we end suffering. In order to end suffering as Buddha and all great spiritual teachings tell us, we must STOP sinking our claws into the world and the things of the world. We switch from trying to change the worldly things and look inward and pull our claws out. This teaching is a shock.
To study impermanence requires a war house – a meek and disciplined mind that is supple and strong – to see change as impermanent rather than personal. The wind blows where it will and no one can escape the wind. It is universal in nature – proceeds from the Source and comes to wake us up right where we are.
There is help. It requires a choice – a decision – a change of mind to receive the changes as the Truth of the Tathagata – the mysterious mystery that it is. It is a practice to receive the changes as they truly are – change comes to mutually assist us to awaken, empty of a personal attack, empty of a personal prize. IT comes and comes and comes giving us all a chance to listen, study and know to get out of the swamp.
Author: Fashi Lao Yue
If for some reason yon need elucidation on the teaching,
please contact the editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
Images by FLY
The Realization of Suffering is the Beginning of Wisdom
LESSONS
Lesson 3 – Part B
“…you can’t ever use a gift unless there is an atmosphere of confidence.”
Sr. W. Beckett
A Teaching of Adharma and Dharma
Two leaders, about to lead legions of men into war, a war where every man will be killed, are visited by a Divine messenger. The messenger goes to the first leader – to see if he can teach this leader the Way. When approached, the first leader tells the Divine messenger, ‘I know what is right from wrong, I don’t need to be taught what is right and wrong. I know what my problem is – I don’t want to do what is right. I know what I am doing is wrong, but I can’t stop myself. I cannot control myself. I don’t want to.’
This leader, let’s call him the Miscreant suffers from wanting whatever he wants. In other terms, he is a man, a human being, living at the instinct, material level of existence. There is little to no restraint.
Then, the Divine messenger goes to the other leader, let’s call this leader the Courageous. At first, the Courageous says the same thing as the Miscreant. He knows right from wrong, but there is a big difference between the Courageous and the Miscreant. The Miscreant, cries that he can’t help himself – the passions rule and he is unable to stop himself. AND he chooses not to stop them. He wants to continue on as he is. But…the Courageous confesses his situation – ‘this is what I do,’ followed by a question, ‘how can I stop?’ and then a plea. ‘Help me to change.’ Underlying the Courageous choice is humility – that virtue of a war horse; the meek, disciplined being who is willing to be trained in order to face the battles of the world.
The Miscreant confesses ‘this is who I am,’ but he identifies with the passions – frozen and stuck in this concocted identify he chooses the world of passions. He hides. Does not want to stop. Does not ask for help. Unable to ask a question or make a plea for help he stays entangled in the temporal things; satisfied in his concocted self.
The Courageous chooses to ask for help from the messenger of God – the Miscreant does not. The Courageous wants to STOP the passions from running the show – he prizes something more than the worldly passions- seeks help.
Most of us face such a spiritual crisis – we hear the Dharma and face a choice between the Divine message or the worldly one. The world is powerful and pulls on the mind all the time, even if we do not know it. Moment by moment we choose between the Divine message and the world. And for many of us, we feel caught up in the flow of not being able to stop ourselves from doing what is wrong. We see the world as all there is – material, concrete and a place to go after the things of the world. But – there are those of us who are more like the Courageous – we see where we are and recognize we are stuck and need assistance. Spiritual help.
The power of choice is given to all of us. We are making a choice in every moment. We, too, have the power to choose NOT to give way to the passions of the mind and body – pleasure, fame, gain, praise, notoriety and so forth. But we, like the Courageous, need to recognize where we are, confess our resistance and seek help. To ask what must we do? To ask in all sincerity – what must we do?
Imagine confidence (faith) in this truth as a spiritual gift – an atmosphere where we confidently stand upon it as a spiritual principle worth trusting. We choose to stand and remain standing in confidence on the gift that everything is a moment of choice between ignorance and awakening. We practice to meet with gratitude, moment by moment another chance to practice the Divine message. And when we wander off – we make it difficult for ourselves and others, but we can stop, turn around and choose to return to the path.
It requires hearing, listening and knowing the teachings. Once we know the teachings, we are able to choose to renounce self-interest, to choose to let go of the obstacles in the Way and to meet what comes as a gift to do the work of a spiritual adept.
All of us face this challenge – of being taken captive by the passions – from anger and greed, to stinginess and vanity and the many iterations the passions take. Without confidence (faith) we cannot use the gifts of the moment, without confidence and awareness we risk getting entangled in the world.
The Cloud of Unknowing makes it clear and simple. How will you follow the Divine message offered? The answer is choice – choose to get free of the ignorance of the concocted self – and…
“Do not get entangled in things that are temporal and created. Let created things be.
Fix your mind and feelings on things above.” (The Divine messenger)
How do you do that?
Study the self – the self that is an entangler extraordinaire – the one that wants what it wants when it wants it – the self that is undisciplined, reckless and unable to control the desire of the passions (sense doors). The one that believes that the grass is greener in the temporal world is a troublemaker who pulls us, time and again, into the worldly affairs as the place of salvation, when in reality it may be pleasurable, but it is the way of the Miscreant.
Remember, in order to do the work, we realize suffering as the beginning of wisdom, we pay attention to what comes into our life, meet it with attention and awareness and respond to it with the power of choice. The choice between following the entangler’s message of self-interest (what’s in it for me) and the Divine messenger (don’t get entangled in the temporal things).
Most of us need help to do this – teachings and practice – it’s a choice to seek help – a choice of confidence in the teachings (which are many) a choice to practice with everything that comes into our life as a Divine message. We are given this choice over and over until we take out last breath.
May all beings realize the emptiness of the three wheels, giver, receiver and gift.
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
Image credits: Fly, 2019
A Single Thread is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching,
please contact editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
Lesson 4. The Causes of Suffering
I am the Dharma
Just as Light & Heat are the Sun
How can it be otherwise? We are inseparable from the Truth and yet we seem to be fumbling around in something unreal and not true. We seem to get caught in our ignorance (stupidity), in scattered distractions and in our self-interest. Each one of these traps keeps us from knowing that we, you and me, are the Dharma – the Truth.
How can it be otherwise? Let’s take a look at each one.
Ignorance, the blindfold over our being. In the Wheel of Birth & Death, the very first link of causation is a blind man heading for a cliff. In this case, we are ignorant children about to get caught in the web of desire. These are clear images of how spiritually threatening ignorance is. As long as we have the pot of ignorance over our vision we will spin on the Wheel of birth and death – creating all sorts of things that result in the end as death. This spinning is suffering, the first Noble Truth of our situation. The cause is ignorance. But what you ask, are we ignorant of – we are ignorant of knowing the Truth – knowing that we are the Dharma just as light and heat are to the Sun – the Truth.
If this is true, why do we bother with the second Noble Truth which says the cause of suffering is desire? A very good question – we bother with this cause because desire is the demon of distraction. Distraction comes when we desire something, anything at all that is other than what is – what is right in front of us. Desire distracts us and our mind scatters and runs after some thing. It is a trap door in the form of pleasure which we all have in our lives. There are desires that we refuse to renounce and relinquish. When we are unwilling to renounce our trap doors we fall into a scattered mind. Following after desire of things in the apparent world interferes with concentration and meditation.
In summary.
Just as light and heat are the Sun, I am the Dharma, we are the Dharma. Ignorance, our blindfolded mind prevents us from knowing this to be so. Realizing it. Because our mind is distracted and confused by the desire for the things of the world – things that come and go – things that are full of suffering when we cling to them. And finally, all this desire for the things the self wants blocks us from unconditioned love. Self-interest causes us to pick and choose what we ignorantly pick and choose as the path – what we want and how we want to satisfy our longing with the things of the world. This nonsense takes us round and round the Wheel of birth and death.
The medicine for ignorance is knowledge, the medicine for a scattered, confused mind is concentration and meditation, the medicine for self-interest, is renunciation and surrender to what is without attaching to it. This takes guts. the spiritual kind.
I refer those who want to know more, to the excellent essay by our late Ming Zhen Shakya. Here’s her explanation of detachment and attachment.
Detachment requires us to get our emotional teeth and claws out of the people and things of the material world and to get their teeth and claws out of us. For so long as we derive our sense of self, our identity, in terms of our relationships to other persons or things, we bind ourselves to the future and to the past. We attach our ego, like an umbilical cord, to whatever is “other”‘ and we reduce ourselves to fetal creatures who are dependent on those “others” for our sustenance. Attachment, therefore, is to possess or be possessed by someone or something outside ourselves. Ming Zhen Shakya
Author: Fashi Lao Yue
If for some reason yon need elucidation on the teaching,
please contact the editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
Images by FLY
Quote: Ming Zhen Shakya
The Mandukya Karika
Lesson 3 – PART A. I Always Want It to Be Different
LESSONS
Lesson 3 – PART A. I Always Want It to Be Different
The First Noble Truth
Attachment in the Head by Fly & Ldz
A woman aspirant, a wanderer, traveling alone – in foreign territory – needed a place to sleep. A flower shopkeeper took pity on her and invited her in and offered her a small cot in his flower shop for the night. As she settled down for the night, she noticed the air was filled with a magnificent fragrance of all the flowers – but the fragrance soon became disturbing – she could not fall asleep. In her disturbance, she got up and found a barrel of rotting trash outside and dragged it in next to her bed and fell sound asleep. S. Ramakrishna
Missing the worldly smells of garbage – which is in her mind – she gets up in the middle of a bouquet of flowering fragrance and drags the familiar smells of habit, the way she wanted it, next to her bed and falls asleep attached to the world. She wanted it to be different according to her attachment. An example of limited discrimination.
The rooted attachment in and to the world rule her decision. When she chooses something other than what is, in this case, garbage over flowers, her self-interest outweighs her discriminating mind. She looks to the world for solace – for relief. Specifically, she looks to her habit.
Unlike Basho, a 17th century Japanese haiku master, who was also a wanderer – in foreign territory – needing a place to sleep. He is offered a horse stable for the night. As he settled down to sleep on a pile of hay a horse nearby urinates. Instead of wanting it to be different he writes a haiku.
“fleas and lice / now a horse pisses / by my pillow.” Basho
A third example. Many years ago, I was on retreat in a large, 18th century building. The building, although renovated, was not the usual comforts of home. As night came and I settled down to sleep the radiator in the room began to clang and hiss followed by an intermittent rattle. My first response was to get up and go over and lay down on the floor next to the radiator. I stayed there practicing being with the suffering for hours. Awake. Exhausted. Much like the radiator intermittently rattled by the disturbance. The next morning, I asked for a different room.
A final example. A Buddhist monk was brought to the US. He spoke no English but had a translator with him. He was the main teacher of the retreat. His particular lineage required that he not ask for anything – that he would accept whatever was offered. On the first night of the retreat he was given a room. The staff, however, failed to give him blankets and left the window open. During the night the temperature dropped and snow blew into the room through the open window. In the morning, the staff felt terrible. Ajahn Happy, however, laughed and laughed – he slept like a log.
The first Noble Truth is – there is suffering.
In the first example, the woman saw the world as the place to go to end her suffering. She does not yet know that what shows up in life is the manifestation of the mysterious truth of the Tathagata – it, like all things, comes to awaken. Her actions suggest she thinks peace and liberation rest in the things of the world; specifically, she wants it her way and drags garbage to her bedside. Most of us are like this woman – our first reaction is to seek help from the world of temporal things.
Basho, the great haiku master, is coming from a very different place. He, too, wandered. But he knows something the woman wanderer does not know. His response is not a reaction to the horse pissing near his head – it is an opportunity to meet what shows up as the mystery that it is. Being aware, he doesn’t try to get what he wants; he meets the myriad things of the world without wishing for something different. Able to write a haiku.
My experience shows a student effort. I laid by the radiator and off and on was frustrated and sometimes accepting. I was not awake. It was practice.
The last example, shows a disciplined monk – disciplined to the marrow. He remained obedient to his vows – he did not request another room – he did not get up and shut the window – he accepted what showed up in his life as the Way. His discipline, in part, awakened him to meet what comes in his life with equanimity. The environment did not taint his True Self which he intimately identified as his true identity.
Too difficult, we say? Are we able to face the death of attachments moment by moment that show up in our life? If we look carefully at the examples, we are able to see attachment. Not holding an attachment is central to how we respond to our life.
We, however, get entangled in the stuff of the world, the stuff that is time-limited and unreliable. Most of us are the woman wanderer – we place our faith, our confidence on the familiar things of the world which includes others and the myriad things all around us. Time and time again we go to an unreliable source for succor. Instead of the student, Basho and Ajahn Happy respond and meet what shows up.
We, in our ignorance somehow believe that the Truth is outside of us when the Truth is actually on our doorstep. Our confusion leads us to go at the temporal things – to arrange them according to our likes and dislikes. We want things to be different than they are. It is so pervasive that we have difficulty even imagining there is another way – another direction.
The best starting point is to practice the Four Noble Truths. Do you know them? If you don’t know them by heart, please keep reading.
- There is suffering
- There is a cause of suffering
- There is an end to suffering
- There is a way to practice towards an end to suffering
Understanding suffering is a big deal. If one doesn’t understand this deeply, we risk false moves over and over again. Let’s look closer at the first Noble Truth.
- There is suffering.
Most of us know on some level this truth because each one of us, has one time or another experienced suffering. It can vary in degree – from frustration in a long line at a grocery store to a sudden diagnosis of cancer. Most of us, however, do not consider the frustration in a grocery store to be suffering but if we just react to it, we miss an opportunity to see the suffering in it and follow with practice. We are encouraged to look at what arises and shows up moment to moment not from our wanting it our way perspective, but as steps on the Path. Steps, that if examined, illustrate suffering in all things. When we see experience in terms of suffering, we make a turn to see the roots of it. It is easier to practice with a scratch than it is when we have been gouged in the chest.
We must see the experience in terms of suffering and not in terms of wanting to get rid of it – or fix it – or repair it – or complain about it. After all, the Buddha was asking us to awaken to where we are – and we are in a body-mind complex that suffers. If we are not awake, we suffer every day from scratches and bruises of all sorts. Unfortunately, we practice reacting to the scratches rather than going deeper with them. We also fail to see that, in fact, everything around us suffers.
All is the never-failing manifestation of the mysterious truth of the Tathagata. Bodhisattva Vow
To repeat this mantra, we begin to drink in and soak in the first Noble Truth. What was once something that puts our nose out of joint becomes an opportunity to turn in search for the roots. The worldly mind divides the world into good for me, bad for me and all the machinations that come with this dividing. The discriminating mind of an aspirant learns to trust – to have confidence in the first Noble Truth of suffering. In other words, everything worldly carries suffering to your door – to everyone’s door – to the great earth itself.
We, as spiritual aspirants either go after something in the world of our attachments to relieve our situation or we respond to what comes as the mysterious truth of the Tathagata – which leads to liberation. We may turn to repair or fix or change or tidy up – but we do it without seeking a reward for ourselves (for our ego). Our aim is liberation.
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
A Single Thread is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching,
please contact editor at : yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
LESSONS Lesson 2. AIM – Boots and Feet
Lessons
Lesson 2. Aim – Boots and Feet
Boots and Feet by FLY 2019
It was a hard day – like most. The ground felt as though it was on an uphill incline no matter where he placed his old toes. The leather boots helped steady his frail legs and arthritic bones. Convinced he’d fall on his back without them, he kept the pair close by his bed for his night time trail walk to the cramped but utilitarian bathroom only a few feet away. E.M. Cairn
We are responsible for the direction we take – even though we may not get there. Our destination, it seems, is done in small steps towards some aim. The old man getting out of bed reminds me of the Zen Master who gathers a crowd around as he is about to display his archery skills. Dressed in his regalia he prepares himself. Marks off the distance and sets a large target at one end of the field. He selects an arrow and checks the wind direction. Right before he releases the arrow there is a silence of expectation – with drawn bow he steadies his gaze, looks upward and lets the arrow fly into the sky. The crowd dumbfounded. He never intended to hit the target down field – his intention was higher. The arrow shot into the sky is to remind us the target of Zen is every-where, all around us – the Master showed us that nothing is to be left out of our aim.
“When we leave nothing out, we insure success at hitting the mark.”
There is an old memory I have of a New Testament passage about being faithful in little things. I looked it up.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much…Luke 16:10
The same message in different words.
Every little thing is the target of our practice, of our aim. Every little thing needs to be included in our intention and attention. But it takes a fair amount of practice to draw back our aim and let the arrow fly upward into everywhere – it is not a capricious exhibition. Years of practicing with a clear intention is required – otherwise we risk injury and failure.
The high aim of the Dharma is right in front of our left eye – a pinpointed direction. Right there. Everywhere. But we often miss it, because we often think it is somewhere else. We have forgotten that …all ingredients are the same….and then our attitude is blown about by the eight worldly winds of selfish interest (pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame, and fame and disrepute) and NOT the wind of refined practice (grace).
When the winds blow us around, we act wild and think crazy thoughts that we have found the Truth. If we are lucky, we get hold of our senses and see firsthand we are confused, yet again, by the self-centered winds. The result being – we overshoot the target or come up short. Our intention did not hold and we squandered our attention. At this point we need to STOP. Examine our intention. Otherwise we remain blind to the path and miss meeting the Buddha on the Road. And meeting God? Let me quote from The Cloud of Unknowing –
How will you get to God? Do not get entangled in things that are temporary and created.
It’s a paradox. But the old man shows us how to look after the visible things of the world.
…the old man beginning his hard day – considered early his situation and took care of what he needed to make the climb – in his case, he kept his boots by his bed.
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
ZATMA is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching, please contact editor at : yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
LESSONS Where Do I Begin
WHERE DO I BEGIN?
This question is layered in that it refers to both the material realm as well as the spiritual. In this instance, I will address a method of knowing where to begin and how. In other words, the question where do I begin is the method used to find the aim of the question. The aim in this case is …a spiritual practice.
Where do I begin a spiritual practice?
The question is determined by the object – a spiritual practice. Now I think it is worthwhile to take some time to examine whether we ever asked ourselves such a question. Or did we wily-nilly, without a plan, haphazardly stumble into one.
It may seem a bit laboring to examine our tracks – but don’t skip this exam. It is beneficial and eye-opening.
As an example, many of us began a spiritual or for many, a religious practice in childhood. Our families for generations were Lutheran, Jewish, Catholic, Agnostic or a number of other traditions and we were trained-up in our family’s tradition to go in one direction or another. Not having a family habit is just another tradition. But at some point – hopefully, at some mature point – we come to the question on our own.
Where do I begin a spiritual practice of my own?
Something happens and we ask that question from a very different perspective – from the place of our self in circumstance – and we ask it alone. This shift is essential for an adept – in order to get anywhere on a spiritual path, we must see where we are (alone) and we must know our aim (purpose, intention, aspiration). It does not matter whether we live alone, are married, live in a group – the question is asked alone. It is not a community question. It is not like the migratory Lemming that from instinct commits mass suicide. It is a solitary event.
Where do I begin a spiritual practice?
Even if we think we have asked this question and answered it, it is beneficial to examine it further.
In asking this question we might see that we stumbled into a spiritual practice – some of us were pushed, shoved and dragged by circumstance; others may know something that most of us don’t know and yes, there are many who have never asked this question at all. Suffering or a sense of lack is often at the root of our beginning a spiritual search.
But it is fruitful to take the time to ask for ourselves.
If you read the historical account of sages and adepts, you might see how many sages or adepts have zig-zagged and many outstanding sages have benefited from a variety of spiritual practices.
In the Zen Buddhist tradition, this zig-zag is particularly true. Zen Buddhism does not have a set of doctrines or dogmas foisted on. If asked what does a Zen Buddhist believe, the response is either silence or a response along the lines of I have no beliefs. To have beliefs means you believe the mind, which is impermanent, and always changing, as the storehouse of truth, it may know many ideas but may not be the realization of truth.
There are no set doctrines – beliefs – dogma. To practice Zen Buddhism is not a matter of belief – it is a matter of realization. Take for instance, Hui Neng the 6th Patriarch of our Chan lineage. It is said he was illiterate, a poor peasant who by chance happened to hear the recitation of the Diamond Sutra. It awakened him.
Whatever circumstance awakens, practice occurs. In Zen, form takes the place of belief, but even so, realization is central. Form is useful to a point but it is not carved in stone. To ask a Zen Buddhist, “Do you believe in God?” is an ignorant question. If a Zen Buddhist answers, it is an ignorant answer. How is it possible to put into words the indescribable and unutterable?
And finally. Enlightenment in the simplest terms is not holding. Think about it. Often it is stated as letting go but not holding does not presuppose grasping as letting go does. It is safe to say that letting go is a practice and not yet enlightenment.
Where do I begin a spiritual practice I will commit to following?
To summarize – consider the question – Where do I begin a spiritual practice? Examine how you got to where you are – the tracks that led to where you are. Be honest in your review. Is where you are, a practice that you commit to – a practice embraced with confidence? It’s a question only you can answer.
Imagine the commitment of Hui Neng – he heard the Dharma from a street preacher of the Diamond Sutra – struck, he turned and followed it with a sureness in the face of whatever followed. A fearless commitment.
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
ZATMA is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching, please contact editor at :
..sayings used in a nation, mark its character….William Blake And so it is with us. America First. Me First.
The Tree Buddha FLY 2018
The world is quiet, my darling. In waiting. Waiting for the rainy words to stop drenching the airy wind and muddy earth. The Sun to rise comes to the bench to dry the lichen; those harmless, slow growers. A standstill time when flowers drop petals and trees set free the leaves. The winds lift and slip through bushy branches waiting.
The big tumult, the loud noise goes; darkness follows. Crawls off the stage and under cover, weeps.
This Common Occurrence Leads to Freedom and Vigor
As old age and solitude express themselves I am clearer on the wanting and suffering in the saying, ME First. There is a clear crystal behind this veil, my darling. This veil of ME FIRST is the agony of mankind. Of me. Of you.
Anytime I am caught in moods and mind states, I realize the root energy comes when I put ME first. It comes dressed in shabby, distorted memories, ideas and images of drab colors. A starving sorry doll, handmaiden of the mind. I wander and slip into the fullness of the big tumultuous tease and the loud noisy lack. The sorrow goes ‘round the world.
ME first comes full of fantasy and imaginings disguised as trying to figure something out or wanting to repair something that is gone wrong or congratulations on being right. No quiet. No rest comes from ME first. The sorry doll, a waste and a drain.
I know the Way – and the Way is the Truth. But I forget these truths –
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
Drive your cart over the bones of the dead. Blake
The bones of my dead conditions, our dead conditions arise from the cemetery of memory, fantasy and imaginings. These Ghosts haunt and freeze us in fear. When I know where I am, when I know I am in danger of the haunting ghosts in the mind I drive my cart over the dead bones by steering the wheels towards what is right in front of me; putting my mind on where I am in things eternal.
When I go for a walk and am blocked by a menacing neighbor, when a crippled baby squirrel, mauled by cats, struggles up a tree in fear, and when meeting a guy with a flat tire. All coming from emptiness, all immanence of eternity.
Each moment a demanding eternity.
The death of a tree, hot water running over my cold fingers, a clap of thunder, the painful moan of an old dog, the smell of rain, the fog, a white cloud bulging overhead, the sound of the furnace, a shiver, making a bed, putting on my shoes, spring, summer, winter, fall, night, day, the sun, the moon, the stars.
I stop the spinning of the wheels in the mind. I stop looking at ME. I see when I feel lack and want more of something I make up fantasies and imaginings and project them upon the world. I cast the dead bones that veil the realization of the emptiness and immanence of giver, receiver and gift. Knowing this – knowing the emptiness, knowing the immanence of giver, receiver and gift I stop blame and guilt. I stop the pathetic ME first.
It is as William Blake points out. If my perception was cleaned up from these made up images, everything would appear as it is – infinite. And it does. But I must be willing to look beyond the veil of the material world. To drop body and mind and meet what shows up without attachment; without my finger prints. I must be willing to let go of the memories…the blame…the guilt…the shame…the unnumbered wounds. Then, I see the truth of being linked into the network of eternal life.
If the doors of perception were cleansed,
Everything would appear to man as it is,
Infinite. Blake
Renunciation of these ME images is the practice. Realization of knowing and seeing the mind turning towards a ME First brings sinkhole moods. A place of perishing for the spiritual adept; and for a nation.
The America First, Me First propaganda is equivalent to a brute force that veils our psyche into thinking this here, this material realm is all there is. We think we are sovereign. And when this happens we suffer. And we become willing to fight for AMERICA FIRST, ME FIRST. We fail to see this suffering comes from a stained and cruddy perception.
Imagine that!
It deludes. Propaganda deludes us. We end up perishing behind its veil. We enter a perishing selfie; paralyzing divisive moods of fear and worry. Isn’t this what is going on? We exclude. Divide. Fight.
America First, just like Me First will never bring true satisfaction and inner peace; which can only be won by renunciation.
Imagine that!
Imagine letting go of the propaganda. ME images, ME fantasies and ME ghosts.
“Letting go” is the key word of the Buddhist path, the fading away of desire. Ayya Khema
We get caught because we are taken in by a sense of lack which makes us worry about ME. In order to let go, I fight my way through the jungle of imaginings to realize “more” is not “better.” You see, my darling, I must realize that these fantasies and imaginings are making promises of how things should be or should have been or were. They are full of glitter and gold, worry and fear. And I must let them go. But letting them go comes from a realization of knowing I am complete – not the ego, not the mind, not the intellect, not the body – no, but who I am is complete, right in the moment.
Most of what comes up in the mind is junk. Just junk. I need to junk it. It includes much of what is being said in the nation. Most of it is junk. The nation needs to see it for what it is and junk it. Not judge it. Condemn it. Debate it. Change it. NO! Just junk it; a great swooshing sound of letting go.
When we realize we are perfect – when we see for our self that the Way is about letting go of the self, the ego-body-mind complex we begin to see clearly. This Way is similar to what Christ said to his disciples – “Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
In other words, you, my darling are perfect; complete this moment just as birth is complete this moment, death is complete this moment, life is complete this moment. Dump the muck that tells you otherwise. Dump it all. Don’t believe it.
Be complete by letting go of attachment to the mind, the body, the ego. Take care of them, but do not think for one minute that the mind, the body and ego are real. You know already they don’t last. They grow, age, wither and die. Don’t get snookered by the mirage, but be complete in the sovereign being that goes beyond body and mind. No material trinket will add one fathom. Relax all the striving. Labor without seeking reward; meet what shows up, engage directly without a shadow of ME.
Take the attitude of nothing in it for ME.
A compelling attitude. Different than one might expect; different from our cultural conditioning. There is an arc from this material brinkmanship to a mystical path — a discovery made with oneself, requiring a no-matter-what practice and training of attention and self-discipline. At the very least an inclusive attitude, open to what comes as an awakening moment; as an immanent arising.
Remain open; do not draw a conclusion or set up a new category. Don’t believe this as gospel. Armed with strength, vitality and contemplation, practice letting go.
Good luck, my darling. Good, good luck.
May this encourage all beings to discover what is always there; the dearest freshness deep down things. Hopkins
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
A Single Thread is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching, please contact the editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com
With a lot of help from Ming Zhen Shakya, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ayya Khema, William Blake, Evelyn Underhill, Seamus Heaney, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī.
REMIXED – Who Are You?
Sinner – Emerging Buddha?
OK. You’ve Made Mistakes. You Feel Like a Failure. You’re not alone; small comfort!
Who are you?
I can’t say for certain, but maybe the religious leaders of the world find themselves wondering how to respond when they face the question, “Who are you?” Oftentimes we answer this question from the perspective of the material world using role labels. Mother. Father. Wife. Husband. Woman. Man. Doctor. Lawyer. Carpenter. Student. The list goes on.
In Zen, however, the question “who are you?’ is a profound koan used to burst the balloon of self-delusion. To ask the question in a serious manner can take a spiritual adept to sudden awakening. You see, the question demands the practitioner to doubt all the self-constructed identities in order to see clearly who they really are.
Who are you?
According to the BBC there are 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide; a sizable number of adherents. When the then new leader of this prodigious religion, which claims 18% of the world’s population was asked in an interview: Who are you?
He responded.
“I do not know what might be the most fitting description…. I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” Pope Francis, 2013
Pope Francis’ announcement to the world is a proclamation of a disciple of Jesus Christ, the redeemer of sinners. The word ‘sin’ however, often brings chills down our spine leaving us with an impulse to shake off the term. Most of us would not respond to this universal question announcing to the world, “I am a sinner.” But all spiritual adepts know that the mud covering our life from the harm we have done is the first stage of spiritual work. It can’t be skipped. And yes, it risks getting caught in guilt and shame. If you go with “I am a sinner” – Hallelujah. It takes a fair bit of spiritual strength to know this about oneself and openly admit it.
Pope Francis understands the depth and spiritual poignancy of such a personal and public admission. It is unlikely it was said with any sense of regret but rather a piercing sense of personal recognition that accompanies those who realize the resolve and commitment of a disciple on a spiritual quest. Perhaps Pope Francis is saying to the world ‘I, Jorge Mario Bergolio need to work on virtue in order to resist the illusions and lures of the world.’ His simple admission of his spiritual place.
Yet, in the 21st century which is a predominantly, scientific and technological zeitgeist, the word “Sinner” does not easily find a place in our personal lexicon; it is not understood and is often misunderstood. It renders an indictment against us that leads to a feeling of fearful condemnation: ‘Man the sinner is no good and will go to hell unless he is saved.’ The word “sinner” brings to mind images such as a pointed finger jutting out of the heavens scolding us. It tends to carry with it the old dogma of a moralistic cabal. Understood as such, it gives limited help and drives us away from the essential shake-up of realizing the ego of man is unable to make it to the peaks of spiritual awakening. We feel queasy with the guilt, shame and blame which accompanies the word “sin.” The ego latches on and is wounded by these subsequent mind states giving birth to the identity of a ‘victim.’ We don’t see it as a condition, a stage if you like, and like all conditions and stages it is subject to change.
The ego, time and time again, overtly and covertly wants self-gratification (pleasure) and claiming the role of ‘victim’ is as much self-seeking pleasure as any other identity The ego doesn’t care since it is both surreptitious and blatant in the pursuit of personal gain and comforts. The ego self-centered position remains predominant.
And yet, this profession of “sinner” does have an aim, doesn’t it?
Pope Francis does not suggest he is a “victim” or that he is riddled with guilt, shame or blame. He is confessing some interior reality of suffering which he describes with language from his tradition. Using the word “sin” is rooted in the historical context of his membership in the Roman Catholic enclave.
Sin is a reality, however, even for an emerging Buddha. It is not a label of the ego-self but a motivation – a drive to be and get something somewhere. A label merely irritates as a small stone does when it is stuck in our shoe. A declaration of “I am a sinner” is a recognition of a spiritual condition as well as a motivation to change without guilt, shame and blame. Motivation, as a necessary requisite for a spiritual awakening, is a matter of life and death.
Our dear and late Dharma brother, Da Shi Yin Zhao, captures the spiritual significance of motivation in his reflections on an Aesop fable. After reckoning with his suffering he wrote:
One day a hound, out hunting alone, flushed a hare from a thicket and gave chase. The frightened hare gave the dog a long run and then escaped. The hound was disappointed, but he held his head up as he trotted home. His attitude irritated a passing shepherd. “You’re supposed to be such a fine hunter,” he sneered. “And you couldn’t even run down a hare that’s a fraction of your size.”
“You forget,” replied the hound, “that I was only running for my supper. The hare was running for his life.”
Whether hare, hound, or human being motivation is everything. What is the goal… and how badly do we want it? The rabbit wanted to live more than the hound wanted to eat. The rabbit tried harder.
At this point another definition of “sin” is worth considering. Sin defined as an archer failing to hit the target, missing the mark. The archer draws back his bow, takes aim and releases the drawn bow only to see his arrow in flight fall short of the intended target. The archer, no doubt, feels a prick of disappointment when he sees his spent arrow lying on the ground before the target. He may be red-faced and embarrassed by his inability to strike the bull’s eye. Missing the mark (sin) does not send the archer into a place of self-damnation that drowns him in unworthiness. Blame and shame do not arise. It is not a dishonor or a disgrace to miss the target; it is a recollection, a reminder to the Zen archer of two spiritual requisites.
(1). A fallen arrow points to a need for discipline and training and (2) There is no mark to hit.
The first of these requisites is easy to understand. The archer who is sincere in his spiritual pursuits will keep going despite his fallen arrows. His missing the mark shows him he needs discipline. The arrow that misses is not a claim against the archer in terms of guilt, shame or blame it is merely spiritual feedback from a spiritual condition. It tells the archer, as any good messenger does, continue. This archer is a disciple and continues to train.
The second requisite points to the Truth of the illusionary world. There is nothing to get in the material realm that will satisfy the archer’s thirst. If the archer loses heart to train, if he thinks there is something to get he needs to seek help. Any Master worth his salt knows when a disciple is despondent from a fallen arrow he has not yet seen his true condition but continues to rub and buff the crest-fallen ego. The despondency is a messenger. This disciple needs to reflect on his commitment and resolve. Something continues to block his emerging Buddha self. It’s not a time to give up; it’s a time to reflect. I offer, first this reminder from Bonhoefer as well as a recommendation.
- REMINDER
…The person who hears the call to discipleship and wants to follow, but feels obliged to insist on his own terms…is no longer (in) discipleship but (in) a program of [his] own to be arranged to suit [himself]. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship
- RECOMMENDATION
Study renunciation and eternal life in Matthew 19:16-25
If the disciple is more interested in arranging things to suit his desires, he is not resolute about his conviction for spiritual ascendancy. He merely wants to be in charge. He’s a seeker with an ego-centered attitude. Seekers need training. Strong and fierce compassion must be offered to awaken those wanting to be in charge and wanting to be a so-called ‘disciple.’ Arrogance and pride are the main culprits prohibiting the seeker from entering the Dharma gates of an emerging Buddha Self.
The amount of time spent seeking spiritual heights does not matter a tittle when it comes to spiritual awakening. What matters is the conversion of the mind and heart. The disciple must be willing and able to see the death of the ego-self as essential to his spiritual awakening or he will spend his time polishing his illusionary ego-brick.
If we find we are in this predicament, don’t give up! Get ready to work; to drop the nonsense of the ego. We must remember we are an emerging Buddha despite the miserable sense of disappointment we may cling to in our ego identity. STOP!
We must stop going over and over the mistakes and sorrows as though it is a canker sore in the mouth. We need to clean-up our act. There is no shame in cleaning things up. It is a worthy and necessary spiritual activity. Don’t shun it.
Most of us know the story of Angulimala, who was known as the “Finger Necklace” monk. After killing a victim, he would remove a finger, thread it onto a string of other fingers and hang it around his neck. He allegedly killed close to a thousand villagers during the Buddha’s lifetime.
Angulimala’s great fortune was encountering the Buddha directly. With this meeting he stopped his murderous lifestyle, repented and became a devoted disciple. He didn’t quibble, complain or bargain with the Buddha. He didn’t whine. He stopped. He dropped his old ways. He gave up his criminal identity. His emerging Buddha arose within him.
He was struck by the Dharma. But it wasn’t easy for this former killer. He made lots of enemies. He faced the consequences of his unseemly conduct. We’d expect his previous crimes to catch up with him and they did. An angry mob of villagers who knew him before his noble birth of his Buddha Self found him and ostensibly stoned him to death. The Buddha reportedly explained that although Angulimala killed many and was killed violently himself he died a converted man, an emerged Buddha self.
He “cleaned-up” his act and faced the consequences of his dreadful actions. There was no shame, no pride, no “yes, buts” from Angulimala. He accepted willingly the Dharma gates of his life. He stopped the ego-finagling. It was for Angulimala, as it is for us, a matter of life and death.
Again Da Shi Yin Zhao, in his own words, sums up what needs to be done:
One day, with tears in my eyes, I sat on my pillow and prayed. I knew at that point that I couldn’t cope with the world without the Buddha’s help. I also realized that I had to help myself by approaching Zen with an honest effort, with a Right Effort, that in all ways I had to “live out the life of the Buddha Self.”
I picked a meditation method, worked hard to get the method right, and stuck with it. I changed my attitudes towards the material world. I began to see what was important and what wasn’t. So, finally, I began to approach Zen as the hare being chased by the hound; I approached Zen knowing that my life depended on it.
Whether we see our interior condition in terms such as I am a sinner, missing the mark, or as a hare being chased by a hound it is when we know it is a matter of life and death that we approach Zen with an honest effort to “live out the emerging Buddha Self” with no blame, shame or guilt.
Who are you?
Author: FaShi Lao Yue
A Single Thread is not a blog. If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching, please contact the editor at: yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com