Showing posts with label samsara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samsara. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Ego Death

From time to time, I’ve written about “ego death” or “allowing the self to die.” In Jungian psychology, ego death is synonymous with psychic death, which refers to a fundamental transformation of the psyche.


Our mind is an amazing biological fabrication composed of different cells and neurons located in different parts of our brain, which function differently, yet results in a seamless view of the world and ourselves. In a balanced way, our right and left hemispheres function to bring together very different modalities to form a balanced world view, which is both analytical and compassionate. Unfortunately, most of us are not balanced due to various reasons and tend to be either overly analytic or overly affectively sensitive. For the most part, our left brain rules the day, and this hemisphere is the home of our ego (sense of self).


Our ego-mind perceives the world in a possessive/resistant way, which creates attachments, clinging, and judgments. If we like (a judgment) something, our ego attaches favorably. If we dislike (a judgment) something, our ego attaches unfavorably. This clinging to conditions results in a brittle, judgmental, and inflexible perspective of ourselves, others, and life in general. Whereas a balanced mind recognizes our interdependent union with all life, our ego-mind denies this and treasures exclusivity and independence.


The three poisons (e.g., greed, ignorance, and hatred) manifest out of this imbalanced ego exclusivity. As we grow and mature, these poisons create strife for ourselves and others we come in contact with. We respond to this strife in one of two ways: Blame and denial or learning. The first response just exacerbates the poisons, whereas the latter choice moves us to realize they are rooted in our out of balance ego-mind.


Life, in essence, is structured so that we either awaken or we continue to suffer. This alternative set (in Buddhist terminology) is referred to as Nirvana vs. Saṃsāra—Bliss vs. Suffering. If we live long enough and are open-minded, we will eventually come to see the truth, and when this transformation happens, our ego (as the exclusive judge) dies—so to speak. The fact is this sense of self never dies but is transformed.


This transformation can be facilitated through Zen meditation. We learn to quiet the constant left-brain chatter that emanates from our ego with its judgments and critique, which normally overshadows our compassionate nature (e.g., dominates). This chatter is so loud and relentless that we could easily go through life with very little, if any, understanding of our pure and true nature, which makes life worth living. It is unfortunate that few follow this path toward breakthrough and remain ignorant of our complete human potential.


Breaking through occurs when our left-brain chatter comes to a halt, and we become aware of our deepest nature, which is always present. This is a matter of subtraction—a sort of shedding—rather than adding or seeking. Lao Tzu put it this way...“Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.” And this...“In the pursuit of learning, every day, something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day, something is dropped. Less and less is done until non-action is achieved (e.g., non-action=Wu Wei). When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.”

Thursday, January 3, 2008

The Second Step

Nothing in return.

The second step along the Eight-fold Path is Right Intentions. The principle of selflessness among religious traditions is universal but has special significance within Buddhism, given the central focus on the non-self/Self paradigm arising from interdependent origination. Throughout Buddhist sutras, there is a continuous thread contrasting manifestations of the ego with acts of charity arising from the purity of unobstructed manifestations from the Self/Buddha-Nature.


Defilements, delusions, and obscurations are seen as impediments to charity's free-flow. It is one thing to imagine doing good works from a moral correctness perspective. It is a very different thing to act in charity through interdependence. Love is not what you say. Love is what you do. It is the ego’s nature to talk a good deal but not follow through unconditionally. One functions as the “keeper” of one’s brother in the first case. In the second case, one functions “as one’s brother.” The ego takes great pride in performing for the crowd and expects a responsive reward. A purely selfless act has a built-in reward. There is no genuine love when emanating from the ego. I discovered the following (anonymous), which sums this up nicely: 


When you give and expect a return, that’s an investment. But when you give and expect nothing in return, thats pure, unattached love.


The difference between these two views was expressed by the eighth-century Buddhist monk Shantideva, author of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life—a nine-hundred-verse poem credited to Nagarjuna. He said:


“When I act for the sake of others,

No amazement or conceit arises.

Just like feeding myself,

I hope for nothing in return.”


This view was echoed by the Golden Rule spoken by Jesus in the 7th chapter of Matthew, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...” The distinction lies in the perspective that there is a difference between oneself and others, disputed in Buddhism.


When Bodhidharma went from India to China, Emperor Liang was welcomed. The emperor asked him, “What merit have I gained since I built so many temples, erected so many pagodas, made so many offerings to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and did numerous other virtuous deeds?” 


Bodhidharma’s reply greatly disappointed Emperor Liang. Bodhidharma said, “Your Majesty, there is none whatsoever. You have gained no merit. What you have done produces only worldly rewards, that is, good fortune, great power, or great wealth in your future lives, but you will still be wandering around in samsara.”


On the other side of the world, another such teaching was established—“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” 


This second teaching was conveyed by Jesus and is found in the 6th chapter of Matthew. The message is the same—True charity is selfless. On the other hand, phony charity expects a return or some gain to accrue from works, and this is a subtle form of attachment linking action with results that keeps the giver locked in the vise of karma, which, like everything else, has no intrinsic nature. 


It, too, must link to action, and action, in turn, is linked to one who acts. When there is no “one/self,” nor “other/self,” action has no meaning, thus no karma. A Buddha has no self and is thus free from all karmic attachments, in which case selfless charity becomes a completely pure expression of giving and receiving. At the level of our True Nature, we are all Buddhas.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Monday, December 31, 2007

The Soil Beneath our feet

Before taking our first step down the Eightfold Path, it will be worth considering the soil beneath our feet, upon which this path lies. According to Ch’an Master Han-shan Te-ching (1546-1623), “All Buddhas come from prajna (wisdom).” 


That is a statement of source. The question is what, or where, is that source? It is obviously in our minds but not the divided mind we with which we are accustomed. The source lies in our transformed, integrated and balanced mind. Master Te-ching was one of the pre-eminent commentators on the Diamond Sutra, which is perhaps the most important Buddhist sutra on Wisdom, thus the name: “The Diamond Sutra-The Perfection of Wisdom.”


If nothing else, this sutra is a manual for Bodhisattvas to follow in honoring their vow. That vow is to strive for as long as saṃsāra endures to emancipate all sentient beings from saṃsāra and deliver them into Nirvana—The incomparable state of bliss. The Bodhisattva does not seek bodhi (awakening) solely for him/herself, but chiefly for the sake of freeing all other beings and aiding them into the bliss of Nirvana. 


Members of a Mahayana sangha recite this vow as a pledge, unfortunately often times without understanding how such a mission can be approached and realized. The Diamond Sutra is the manual for understanding the ground of wisdom upon which their path lies.


Bodhisattvas maintain prajnaparamita
Then their heart is without hindrance
And since without hindrance, without fear
Escaping upside-down, dream-like thinking
And completely realizing nirvana
All buddhas of all times maintain prajnaparamita Thus attaining anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (incomparable awakening).


In the eighth chapter of the sutra, The Buddha says to Subhūti that grasping and teaching a four-line gāthā from this sutra will result in merit greater than billions of worlds filled with the most precious of jewels. The four-line gāthā referred to is, “no perception of self, no perception of being, no perception of life and no perception of the soul,” and the meaning of that gāthā lies at the very heart of Buddhism. Until that gāthā is fully grasped (and taught) the mission of the Bodhisattva is doomed.


This gāthā is fundamental but not complete. The meaning is that every aspect of life and beyond from internal (self) to external (beings), in this time frame (life) and beyond the grave (soul) are empty of independent and intrinsic substance. These aspects: self, being, life and soul—do not exist separate and apart from context. All four aspects are forms, and every aspect of form depends upon corresponding aspects of emptiness. Dependent origination is the foundation of wisdom upon which the Eightfold Path lies.There is just one hair left that transforms this premise into majesty and converts this observation into the power of wisdom, and that hair is using the premise of dependent origination to destroy itself. What is the balance point upon which dependent origination depends? 


That “nothing”—absolutely nothing (including dependent origination itself)—has independent status. Wisdom that lies mired in a fixed status, while life itself is constantly in motion, is not wisdom. Such fixed wisdom is dead on arrival and the same must be said for the dharma of interdependent origination: it too can’t be a fixed teaching.


Yes, this juncture can get confusing. A dharma is supposed to be a truth-teaching of The Buddha. But this sutra says that while prajñā gives rise to Buddhas and their teachings, prajñā itself is not a dharma. In fact it goes further (and this can be very confusing) and says that Buddha dharmas are no Buddha dharmas. Dependent origination is the premier Buddhist dharma, but this sutra says that even this dharma is no dharma.


To fathom this conundrum we must move the discussion to the matter of attachment and clinging. At the center of the human dilemma, which produces suffering, lies attachment, which is a manifestation of the ego desiring stability. We resist change and aspire to stability. The problem is that, as this four-line gāthā points out, every aspect of life and beyond is moving and de-constructing. 


The illusions (which we create in our minds) is in one of two directions. Either we see total impermanence and conclude with nihilism (full of despair—nothing exists substantially) or the opposite of permanence, (full of denial—everything exists substantially). Neither of these two extremes exists independently. They too are subject to dependent origination. While it is true that one aspect of life is impermanent (self, being, life and soul) this aspect doesn’t exist independently any more than anything else. To cling to this realization will just continue saṃsāra and strip the bodhisattva of essential power. Neither aspect is real (by itself) but both aspects are real (interdependently) and to acknowledge this is to travel the Middle Way—The Eightfold Path.


What can it mean to use dependent origination to destroy itself? It means empty-emptiness or the fusion of opposites—total and complete destruction of discrimination and opposition. Dependent origination says that “this” arises with “that”—“is” arises with “is not”—nothing exists by itself. Thus to push the point, it means that dependent origination arises with non-dependent origination. If the premise has validity (any validity at all) the rule must apply to everything, one aspect of which is dependent origination. 


Form is not independent. Emptiness is not independent. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. The separation of these into discrete divisions of dualism is a delusion which we create in our minds, which in turn produces irresponsibility, isolation, estrangement, opposition, blame, anger, frustration and bad karma. And the only place where this delusion can be undone is where it originated: “in our minds.” A dharma is a manifestation in our minds. A dharma is a teaching of The Buddha which The Diamond Sutra says is not a dharma. If it is not a dharma/teaching, what can be learned and how is it possible to use a non-teaching to teach?


The answer is incredibly simple yet incredibly profound! And the answer must begin in faith—faith that Buddha-Nature and prajñā are ubiquitous and ever-present. A Buddha is forever an already fully realized (awakened) being. Prajñā is likewise ubiquitous and ever-present. A Buddha does not need a dharma, nor wisdom since a Buddha is already perfect and complete. Either we accept the ubiquitous and ever-present dimension of Buddha-Nature and prajñā or we don’t. It is a matter of faith. If it is true, then nothing is lacking in us (self), others (being) life (this life) or beyond (soul). It is not a matter of becoming enlightened or attaining some transcendent state since such is ever-present. The task is to begin with this understanding and proceed with the task of removing obscurations, defilements and delusions which block this inherent wisdom. The removal will reveal what is already there—enlightenment is not created, it is realized. As it says in the Heart Sutra...


Because nothing is attained


The question is (in today’s terms)—What’s the bottom-line? In other words, what difference does it make? Five points:


Wisdom can’t be taught. It can only be intuited. There are no hard and fast rules, regulations nor precepts which will cover all circumstances with the blanket of justice since life is ever-changing. True wisdom: prajnaparamita—is a continuous unfolding that perfectly reflects change. Removing obscurations that block access is like removing clouds that obscure the sun. The sun is always present, just as prajñā is.

Trying to attain what is ever-present is like trying to catch your horse while riding on the back of your horse.

Choosing one-side against another side is just trading one delusion for another delusion. Life is not divided into discrete, dualistic mutually exclusive, independent states. It is our mind which creates such divisions. We say, “form” and “emptiness” but these are not two things with independent status. They are obviously different and just as obviously the same. One can’t be separated from the other.

Integration (dependent origination) is the prevailing wisdom of life (but not an independent rule). We are inexorably linked with all sentient life, thus interdependent. To avoid that linkage is to live a lie and invite bad karma.

Non-dependent origination is the necessary condition to validate dependent origination. We use this non-dharma dharma to aid ourselves and others in the quest to gain emancipation and then we lose it. It too can become a source of clinging. True wisdom: prajnaparamita—is the same thing as emancipation.


Surrendering from all clinging sets us free. Wisdom, dharmas, The Buddha, self, beings, life, soul—All are fabrications of the mind. By removing all fabrications and living by the ever-present body of Buddha-Nature and wisdom, as it emerges and unfolds—is the supreme act of faith, and there is no greater bliss!


Having thus laid out the soil upon which the Eightfold Path lies, we’ll now begin to trod the path. Buddhas say emptiness is relinquishing opinions. Believers in emptiness are incurable. Nagarjuna

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]