As many (or at least some) of you know, I am moving forward with the process of “taking the precepts” at my zen center. The precepts are (sort-of/pretty much) the Buddhist equivalent of the Ten Commandments and Christian “confirmation” services.

I just wrote to my teacher and requested the text of the precepts as I would be saying them, and she sent me the text below. I wanted to share it with you so that we both can begin thinking about what these precepts might actually mean when you really get into the nitty-gritty, their actual lived application and practice. Please share your thoughts with me!  I will be taking the precepts sometime mid-Spring or early-Summer (if my precept reading list is taken up according to my always-ambitious plan!).

Love, Monica

Three Refuges:

I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha.

Three Pure Precepts:

I vow not to create harmful actions.
I vow to do good.
I vow to do good for others.

Ten Grave Precepts:

1. I vow to affirm life and practice non-killing.

2. I vow to be giving and practice non-stealing.

3. I vow to engage in loving sexuality and to turn from greedy, harmful sexuality.

4. I vow to be honest and practice not deceiving others.

5. I vow to proceed with a clear mind and to be aware of the ways in which I cloud my mind.

6. I vow to affirm the perfection of self and other and practice not speaking of others’ faults and errors.

7. I vow to see self and other as one and practice not putting self or other down.

8. I vow to be generous and practice not withholding from others.

9. I vow to live harmoniously and practice not indulging in self-centered anger.

10. I vow to be tolerant and practice not being arrogant about my practice or speaking ill of the teachings and those who follow them.



1. Minarets in Switzerland:

In an attempt to do a war reenactment of the Crusades (this time through zoning and design review), Switzerland just voted on officially banning the construction of minarets in the country (57.5% of voters supported it).

Neutral my ass. They don’t mind holding Nazi money for safe-keeping but an architectural feature that symbolizes Islam is no good? Thanks Switzerland, I am no longer going to mistake a Swede for a Swiss or Switzerland for Sweden anymore cause Swedes don’t hate Muslims like your impartial asses do:

Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, described the vote as “an expression of quite a bit of prejudice and maybe even fear.”

(via Goatmilk)

2. If You’re a Brown Kid Gone Missing, You’re S.O.L.:

Francisco Hernandez, a NYC boy with Asperger’s syndrome, went missing for 11 days in the subway system.  The boy’s mother feels the NYPD were negligent on the case because she is a Mexican immigrant (sadly, this would fit into a long history of lack of priority and media coverage for missing brown children), and asked how her son went unnoticed for so long despite surveillance cameras and a police search. Francisco rode the trains and survived on water and snacks — someone get this kid a spot on “Survivor”!

Thanks Sherdizz!

3. Black Actors Disappear:

When the film Couples Retreat was marketed in the UK, the actors playing the African American couple – Kali Hawk and Faizon Love- were cut out of the promo posters. True, maybe these actors have the least “star power” in Britain, and the studio was trying to make the poster appear less cluttered. Nonetheless this move resulted in a PR disaster after Universal was flooded with complaint letters and negative UK press coverage for this racial slight. US and UK versions:

Thanks SherDizz!

4. If The Buddha Was A Fundraiser

OK, maybe this article by a consultant at Management Assistance Group isn’t outright overt racism, but it’s at least highly annoying/mildly offensive. I actually got this forwarded to me at work.

Now, I realize there’s a whole “WWJD” market out there….but would it be deemed appropriate to send out an article entitled:  “If Our Lord and Savior Jeebus Kryst Was a Fundraiser?” Or, “If the Pope Was a Fundraiser?” Or Yahweh?

Yes, I realize this intentions of the author are good and the article is about generosity and raising resources in the nonprofit sector blah de blah, but still. Our religion and Buddha’s image have been so commodified that apparently he can be invoked by non-Buddhists to help them with their workplace conundrums. Is nothing sacred? Guess not, as long as it’s not your religion (and if you picked it up in college during World Theologies 101 or from a weekend meditational retreat, that doesn’t count). If we can’t talk about God in the workplace, then Buddha should be off-limits too…or is he not enuf of a heavy-hitter in the holy who’s who for white people to treat Buddhism with true respect, rather than with flippant hokeyness or convenience?

Chogyam Trungpa

Dragon Thunder is a significant book on many counts. The book not only gives us a close-up, no-holds-barred view of the extraordinary life and work of Chögyam Trungpa, one of the great spiritual teachers of the 20th century, but it also shows, without equivocation, some of the many both serious and humorous complexities and paradoxes and challenges involved in Trungpa’s “crazy wisdom,” and his relentless efforts to bring Buddhism to the West.

Diana Mukpo’s intimate revelations as lover, wife, friend, and student of this remarkable human being and teacher are not only lovingly and courageously expressed, but, perhaps just as important, they are also balanced and far more objective than one might imagine.

You don’t have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the wisdom that permeates this book; you only have to be willing to see beyond the framework of your habitual self-image and your belief in “spiritual correctness,” and open to the miracle and mystery of your own being. Of course, that’s a big “only,” which will perhaps be difficult for those who would rather dwell on Trungpa’s so-called scandalous behavior (of which there are many possible examples in this book). At the very least, Trungpa’s life was unconventional, and for many, especially those who haven’t yet seen into or discovered their own dark sides, that can be threatening. As Diana Mukpo writes, “Rinpoche lived his life without the conventional reference points that most of us cling to as the anchors of our sanity.”

Though I was never a student of Trungpa’s (I was deeply involved in another teaching at the time or I might well have been), I was fortunate to hear him speak on many occasions in San Francisco and Boulder, and even asked him questions important to me at the time. No matter what his apparent state (drunk, sober, in pain, or whatever), his answers always helped open me to myself in a new and more-honest way; he was one of the most insightful human beings I have ever met. Above all, as this marvelous book so clearly shows, he never hid from or tried to bypass the messiness and uncertainty of being alive on this planet, but rather faced it with full vulnerability and awareness. And, so far as I can tell, he demanded the same from his students in the many often difficult and seemingly “crazy” conditions that he created for inner and outer work.

I remember seeing Diana (though I didn’t learn who she was until after the meeting) once in Berkeley CA (sometime in the 1970s), when she got up from her seat in the front row of the meeting room while Trungpa was speaking and walked slowly over to a nearby cold drink vending machine off to the side of the room. As I continued listening to Trungpa speak I heard the very loud sounds of the coins being deposited and the beverage container hitting the floor of the open compartment at the bottom of the machine. I watched and listened as she withdrew the drink, opened it, and returned to her seat. And I saw how quickly and easily I got lost in the judgmental thoughts that went racing through my mind: “How dare she interrupt the meeting in that way; she must be totally unconscious of what is happening here tonight; even I know that one should remain quiet while the master is speaking”; and so on. Of course, Trungpa simply kept speaking, seemingly undisturbed by her actions. I must say that I learned a huge lesson about inner freedom (and especially my lack of it) that night.

Chogyam Trungpa & Diana Mukpo

Toward the end of the book, the author gives us a direct insight into her own heart and the transformative influence that Trungpa had on her: “I know that for me, I will continue to long for him, as long as I have breath. I am left, however, not only with a broken heart but with a tremendous appreciation of life. I remember one evening sitting with him in a restaurant by the water, and he said to me, ‘You know, you should appreciate this. This is our life. This is our marriage. It won’t be like this forever.’ I laughed him off a little bit. Now, in retrospect, I realize that he was saying something profound about impermanence and the importance of appreciating one’s life. I learned from him to appreciate the world as sacred.”

Tanzan and the Girl on the Road

(This the first in a series of occasional posts I’m calling “Now and Zen.”  These will be short Zen sayings and koans for your enjoyment and enlightenment—and sometimes, puzzlement!)

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

“Come on, girl” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”

“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Muju

“Transformations“, an exhibition scheduled for March 2010, will examine artists who work between 2-D and 3-D media. Today’s post is a preview of Ken Takashi Horii’s thought provoking works which explore the idea of opposites both in terms of his engagement with materials and subject matter. Horii is a Professor in Spatial Dynamics at the Rhode Island School of Design in the Division of Foundation Studies.  Below you can read his artist statement.

For over thirty years my work has been concerned with the reconciliation of opposites. The objective of resolving dualities is a conceptual framework that permeates my process and all related outcomes by informing my choice of materials, techniques, forms, and historical references.

I continue to prefer working in thematic series. Recent exhibited series include: Biformities (2003) and  Vestigium (2005). Biformities, is a series of thirty-four painted wall sculptures related to the “Jatakamala” (4^th century parables of Buddhist incarnation). Vestigium, is a series of twelve painted wall sculptures each representing a dialog between presence and absence. In an exhibition in 2006 I included a series of wall sculptures using solid, liquid, and atmospheric landscape references within panels that contrasted shaped surface and cut opening, with reflected light and cast shadows.

Work exhibited in September, 2008 at the Chazan Gallery at The Wheeler School in Providence Rhode Island,  is collectively titled “Of Mind And Matter”.  This series of sculptures and drawings incorporate three-dimensional forms and pictorial formats of two branches of Tantric Buddhism, and reference ink-blot psychological profile tests, for an inquiry into allusion and illusion in Eastern and Western concepts of perception.

Nate, at the Precious Metal blog, had the great idea of an article swap in which Buddhist bloggers would appear as guest writers on other Buddhist blogs. So today on ‘Sweep the dust, Push the dirt’ you’ve got me, Marcus from ‘Marcus’ Journal’, writing about a topic suggested by John – Buddhism as self-help. Meanwhile I asked Shane from ‘Zenfant‘ to write about a favourite sutra as a guest on my blog.

In setting the theme of this post John was very generous, making clear it was just a suggestion and inviting me even to vent if the need arose. What he was interested in, he said, were my opinions on “the current movement of Buddhist practice in the west towards a secular or ’self-help” approach… Anything from being a more compassionate individual to “living the mindful life” or the 12-steps.”

However, having lived in the west for only two out of the last fourteen years, and not being particularly interested in Buddhism when I first left, I can’t say I’ve had much direct experience of self-help Buddhism except for seeing, and sometimes reading, the odd blog post now and then. In fact, I think there was one on this very blog not so long ago.

What I do know, however, is that many new to Buddhism often pick up the wrong idea that the Buddha taught there is no such thing as a self. Perhaps this is why some would be against ideas of self-help, self-development, or self-reliance, perhaps they think that such programmes run counter to the Buddha’s teachings. Far from it. The Buddha taught self-help.

What the Buddha denied was the Atman, the concept of a permanent, solid, unchanging self. He also warned against Vibhavaditthi, the view that you have no self. What he said is that what we think of as self is subject to change and is interconnected with everything else. The idea, often voiced I think in western Buddhism, that we must destroy the self, is nihilistic nonsense.

I heard Venerable U Vamsarakkhita speak in Bangkok recently on this very issue. What the Buddha did not teach, he said, was detachment. The Buddha did not tell people to cast aside their bodies and thoughts and feelings. Rather, the Buddha taught people to examine them. And then, through this investigation, they will be better able to live in the moment, experiencing a richer more fulfilling life.

My own root teacher, Seon Master Daehaeng Sunim, writes “There is no substance to the I that people have thought of as themselves. However, it is said that I has no substance, not because such a reality does not exist, but because what is called I always changes from moment to moment.” And thank goodness for that. It is this constant change that makes self-development possible.

And so the Buddha developed one of the very first 12-step self-help programmes, only he called his the Noble Eightfold Path. And he talked about developing skillful states such as morality, generosity, and wisdom, and breaking free of greed and anger and delusion. Right Effort was an integral part of his 8-step programme; and he encouraged people to support each other in this programme.

So if self-help practitioners draw from the abundant storehouse of Buddhism, making use of the teachings and practices, that is entirely wonderful and I don’t think anyone in the Buddhist world will do anything other than celebrate. My only concern would be only if those parts of Buddhism most readily useful to a western therapeutic approach were presented as the entire Buddhist story.

This could be a problem if western self-help Buddhists came to believe that theirs was in some way better than the Buddhisms found in Asia, or if they had no access to the fullest teachings. Because self-help is not the final goal of the Buddha’s programme. Liberation is. But, like John himself said recently here on this very blog, “We need to work with the small first and move the rest of the way up as time and ability permits.”

Thank you John and to all the readers of ‘Sweep the dust, Push the dirt’ for having me here today as a guest. May all beings everywhere be safe, well, happy, and free.

Thanks Marcus!  Love to open the doors for you over here!  I appreciate your input and insight. Cheers!  For everyone else, I have listed the participants of the blog swap.  I will update the posts as they come out and I notice them.

*Deep Bow*

There are a lot of things I could write about at this point, but only one topic has really been on our minds every day…and now, nights, too. Snort’s eczema. The second we stop using steroids (okay, a day or so after) it flares up again.

Yesterday I tried the cream I’d been saving, my big hitter. It is from Country A, so I superstitiously believed that would somehow make it more healing, more effective, more…um….good. After six hours of using that cream, he looked like he’s been sunbathing in hell. Every single part of his face was a flaming red. The skin had thickened, those dreaded bumps that ooze were everywhere, and it was all hot to the touch. Back to cream #3, and thank god he’s going to the doctor this afternoon.

Last night he refused to sleep. He would scream and scream unless being held, and of course rubbing and scratching his face. TMD ended up sleeping sitting upright on the couch while holding him. Poor chuck.

And his sister? She’s got a few teeny tiny patches of eczema. Thank god she isn’t the one with this, because while his skin may make him look like a stunt double in a horror flick, hers is actually more sensitive. I put a dab of cream #3 on my finger today and swiped it across her dry patch, ending on her cheek. She immediately screamed like I had plunged a knife into her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut, kept screaming, wouldn’t be comforted. Then I saw it: a perfect, single finger swipe of deep, angry pink/purple on her cheek.  Her instant reaction to the cream has gone down now, but lesson learned.

TMD cancelled Coconut’s doctor appointment today because most of her tummy rash and other things had gone away. Snort is still, well, Snort. The eczema is on face (including eyelids!), neck, scalp, chest, tummy, arms, legs, even the his ankle creases. Nowhere is as angry or terrible as his face, though.

At first I think it bothered me more than him, because it just looked so sore and, well, ugly. But now he spends all of his awake time rubbing and scratching. I have put cream #3 on so heavily that it is a white spread of stuff on his face (think: cream cheese). The second it soaks in, I reapply so it is thick and white again.  TMD did this constantly overnight, and his forehead is looking better.

I know the doctor is going to give us more steroids. I don’t want to use them on his face. If it would calm this massive flare up, and then the eczema would be manageable with some cream, fine. Fact is, we haven’t found our magic cream yet. I spent hours last night online, looking at very expensive organic and homeopathic shit we would have to import. I don’t mind paying for it if it will help, but jesus is it a lot of money to spend when chances are it won’t. Argh. We also have no idea what is triggering this, though I am wondering about dairy as cream #4 apparently has milk protein in it.

I suppose the good news is that this has all sparked my Buddhist practice again, and I’ve been doing gongyo in the morning with the babies, and we did it as a family last night.

ANYONE with any cream recommendations specific to babies and eczema, let me know. Sorry this is a dull subject to read, and congrats if you got this far. I am just so worried about him, and last night I was crying and feeling guilty because everything got so much worse after I applied the cream I just HAD to use.

•

•

Under the darkness of a rather cold night, I wonder just how much of the world I see when my eyes are open, and what are the things that I usually focus on? Do I have a natural proclivity to just look at the same objects and sites that come into my awareness, do I follow conditioned patterns, do my eyes have visual rail tracks that it normally runs on, or blinders to things on the periphery? It’s impossible to observe everything with two eyes, or perhaps that just happens when the eyes are closed? How blind am I really, and is that the reason I like to walk around with a camera, challenging myself to see things differently, framing the world to the size of a viewfinder, allowing myself to look in new directions, searching for the visual that usually gets passed by. Perhaps that’s why I keep shooting images, obsessively observing, letting attention flow free, allowing light into the unconsciousness blindness that often inhabits my sight. In many ways, the camera has become my guide dog to the everyday visual world I inhabit, leading me down roads that I would naturally not take, like water cascading down a hilly incline, always taking the path of least resistance.

When I see the blind, I wonder just how much of the world they are missing, yet perhaps the other senses compensate and allow sounds, smells and temperatures to form internal visuals that no camera will ever be able to capture. We need camera’s of the mind, image processors for the brain, ways of seeing the unseen … or is that simply what we call art?

•

There are these lovely people scattered throughout the world who are apparently here for the sole purpose of pointing out the obvious.

I went to Japan for a week back in ‘05 and there was a guy with us named Galo (pronounced like the place where people are hung, or is it hanged?).  Galo’s a great travel companion and an absolute hoot to be around.  Funny as hell, too.  Great guy!  So Galo’s job the entire trip was to point out the obvious to the others in our group.  Nobody anointed him with this job.  He just kind of anointed himself.  I’m sure you’ve been with this guy in different skin, but he (or she) is the one who reads all the signs out loud and makes sure everyone around him knows that he knows what things are.  There was this strange pizza joint there called Pizza-La that was scattered about the landscape.  Pizza-La is a funny name for a people who don’t have “L”s in their vocabulary.  I never heard a Japanese say Pizza-La, but now that I think about it I think it would be fun.  Anyway every time we rode by one of those stores Galo would say, “Pizza-La”.  Thanks Galo.

7-11’s are very prolific over there, which I thought was the funniest thing.  The biggest convenience stores in Japan are 7-11’s!  Too funny.  Well whaddya think Galo said when we rode by one of those?  Yup!  ”7-11″.  They have dried fish, and dried squid in bags like you would see candy orange slices in here in the States.  The Japanese guy who was with us would always say that the dried seafood was “good for beer”.  Oh, and there were beer machines there like Coke machines here.  The first time we saw one, whaddya think Galo said?  Right.

After a while it was funny.  We’d wait for Galo to give us another snippet of enlightenment along our journey, and it was fun.  We came up with a cool nickname for Galo – Galomoto (pronounce the “l” as an “r”).  It actually stood for something: Galo, Master Of The Obvious.  I have no copyright on that “moto” bit, so you can plug it in at the end of anybody’s name.  Mine would be Mikomoto.  (I must offer my apologies if any of you that frequent the nonduality blogs automatically think of Minamoto, as in Takuin.  Sorry Takuin.  Next time I’m in Tokyo you can crack me on the head with a cane pole )

Anyway, I was thinking about these kind, patient (for the most part) people who continuously point the “obvious” out to us unenlightened dolts who are still using a broad sword to turn the lights on with in a pitch black dinner hall.  The “cartoon” above is sort of a poke at that.  The thing that the pointer is pointing to is so enormous and obvious (isn’t it?), and still the dolt can’t see it.  The cat?  ”Nee…ow”… get it?  Now.  OK, well I’m no cartoonist, and I sure as hell ain’t no comedian either.

Peace be unto you brothers and sisters of the seek.  And to you as well, oh pointy-headed ones.  Ones… get it?  Ah nevermind.

A couple nights ago I went to a meditation class led by my new psychiatrist, something he calls psycho-dharma.  It was pretty awesome, in retrospect, although at the time, I was a little at a loss.  Sitting Indian-style, eyes closed, legs falling asleep and lower back increasingly aching in a room with twenty other strangers for forty-five minutes is really weird at first.

I’ve had several meager attempts at meditating in the past — consulted with a Japanese-Zen master (told me to start out staring at a white wall for an hour a day), been to a meditation class at a Thai Buddhist monastery (incomprehensible chanting, prayer, incense, and trance-like “walking meditation”), spoke with a yogi in India (gave me some books on role of yoga and meditation in love, family life, and everything up to world peace) — but nothing specific ever clicked. As interesting as it was, I found the process quite frustrating and with various people thrusting more religious beliefs on me, often intolerable.

But seriously, what’s the point of meditation?  Every religion, spiritual path, faith, etc, seems to advocate reaching some higher plain of consciousness. There have been these medical  studies on the power of prayer, and they’ve proven that the brains of a Buddhist monk and a Catholic nun (in the program I watched) have significantly altered brain waves and blood pressure when they are meditating or praying.

So…if this process, some process, alters our brain function for the better, puts us in a healthier more peaceful place, yeah, attempting to get there can only be good.  Right? Right.

Especially for people with chronic psychiatric issues?  Hopefully.

After we meditated (after I tried to focus, fidgeted, panicked, became overwhelmed with emotion, and then tried to focus again), we spoke about the experience (a too-long discussion comparing human meditation to our pet cats’ and dogs’ here-and-now existence and what the difference is), and then read a text.  The Heart Sutra (full text; Wikipedia page).  It’s supposedly a very important Buddhist text, as well as one of the shortest.  And it’s far out.  Here’s an excerpt:

“See first all five heaps—all five parts to a person—as being empty of any essence of their own. Your body is empty; emptiness is your body. Emptiness is nothing but your body, and your body is nothing but emptiness. The same is true of your feelings, and your ability to discriminate between things, and the other factors that make you up, and all the different kinds of awareness that you possess: all of them are empty. And thus we can say that every existing thing is emptiness.”

It’s my homework to contemplate this text this week.  You know, it never ceases to amaze me how advanced and (if I can even say) ahead-of-its-time ancient Eastern thought was.  While most of us were still illiterate pagans, living in mud huts, eating muddy roots, and just getting by, all of this was happening in India.  Everything that exists is emptiness.  Well, golly gee.

Whether this works or not, it’s nice to be putting together a schedule.  Meditation on Sundays, Scrabble Club on Mondays, Yoga on Tuesdays (or Wed or Thurs, haven’t figured that out yet).

Have a great day folks!  I’m trying…

Buddha said many times in ancient text that “I teach suffering, and the way out of suffering.”

I have never been a religious person, but i finally decided to start something new. I am tired of doctors telling me it’s all in my head because they can’t find anything wrong. I have been crippled by anxiety, depression and many other ailments for 2 years now. I have decided it is time to become proactive and make a change that is hopefully for the better. In this blog i plan on studying Buddhism to try and see if there really is a higher power out there that can help me. I’m tired of medications and people picking and pulling through my past when these problems came out of no where. A very good friend of mine studies Buddhism heavily and has found that it really can change lives of people. So i am making a change. I hope to get something very special out of this blog and get my life back. I hope anyone who reading finds it educational and helpful as well.

As the season change, so does my mood.  Sure there are sweet little pills that promise to take away the pain but that’s not all they take away.  While you may feel no lows you don’t feel the highs either.  So I trudge on with the notion that I am the master of my mind and with this, some days are better than others.  But I’ve finally figured out a way to truly master this devilish function that has plagued my life for so many years – Prayer & Faith Study!  It may sound cliché, but my faith has truly seen me through it all.  Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism is essential to combating that dark terrain that dips and curves with no notice.

I woke this morning, with a heavy heart but I still had a tiny voice whispering a little hope that helped to get me out of my warm, cozy bed and in front of my altar.  I chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for an hour then while enjoying my morning tea, I read the World Tribune (a weekly Buddhist newspaper).  Instantly, the sun started shining in my heart & I felt that I could surmount anything that came my way.  This warm feeling isn’t foreign to me but I didn’t understand where it had been these last couple of days.

Last week I was at my lowest – I wasn’t chanting as frequently as I normally do nor was I engaged in faith study. To add insult to injury I began keeping time, a little too much time with my ex.  Yes the time with him was great, better than it had been when we were together but I see now that the more time I spent with him the less time I was giving to my spiritual side; the side that keeps me grounded.  A-B+C=Depression.

Life is about balance and often I find that I give myself complete to a man without leaving anything for myself. This has always ended badly and yet I haven’t learned my lesson.  Now that I’m in my 30s, I hope to put an end to this bad behavior and to take a firm hold of my life. I will put my complete trust in the Gohonzon and absolute faith in myself.  “If you are stuck, pray to release the chains of doubt and fear clouding your mind of faith. Pray for unbounded confidence and courage to win over your past and step joyfully into your future.” (World Tribune April 12, 2002 page 2)

The first time I saw one of these I was mesmerized.  A genetic mutant?  A lemon gone bad? 

It’s a Buddha’s Hand Citron (although this is a quite stubby one – they usually have long “fingers” that reach up into the sky, like a cupped hand reaching to the heavens, ready to catch rainwater in its palm).  Last year I bought one and let it rest on my counter, filling the entire kitchen and house with its unbelievable citrus scents, a natural potpourri of lemony-limeyness.  It eventually rotted, and I threw it out, never having used it in any dishes.

However, the fruit can be used as lemon rind would be, and you can use the pith as well, as it’s not as bitter as a regular lemon’s.

Tonight, I minced a slight slice (about two tablespoons) and mixed it with some other ingredients to make a sort of raita: half Greek yogurt, half sour cream (full fat, both), two tablespoons crumbled Bulgarian feta, two cloves crushed garlic, a teaspoon of minced red onion, two tablespoons minced cucumber, a teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley that I had frozen from the garden, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  I served it with a salad of Tokyo bekana (an Asian green from Smallwood’s Veggieporium), sliced red onion and avocado, quinoa and a spicy Hungarian lamb sausage made by Lothar Erbe, a master artisan butcher from Germany who uses local ingredients whenever possible.  Lothar sells at the Smart Market in Purcellville, VA, on Saturdays, entertaining everyone with his “Hanz and Franz” accent and pleasing those who purchase his meats.  This variety is a lamb bratwurst that is called (phonetically) “chibopchichi.”  It is one of my favorites.

The Buddha’s Hand, which likely originated in Northeastern India or China, can also be sliced and used on salads or inserted under the skin of a roaster chicken.  In season in the U.S. from November through January, the fruit in other areas of the world often is given as a religious offering in Buddhist temples.  I have been a student of Buddhism for the past three years, therefore I know that food is diminished in light of nourishing your soul through meditation, in hopes of finding inner strength and enlightenment.  However, searching for these qualities in sources provided by Mother Nature has to be in line with these beliefs.  Expand your horizons and try something new.  You might just discover that peace can be found in the most unpredictable of places.

I’ve taken part in my fair share of mainstream and far left religions, and the one thing that always bugs me is when people start talking shop, ie. language that only ‘those in the know’ will understand.  I’m forever trying to figure out ways to communicate spiritual stuff in everyday language, in my own words, and especially make it demonstrable, if possible, through my limited understanding of science and physics.  I figure if a concept can’t be explained by the mechanics of every discipline, then maybe it isn’t so valid.  That’s what I think, anyhow.  Personally, I think it all comes from the same source (math, music, physics, food, philosophy), whatever that source might be, so I think a belief or a rigidly held dogma should be explainable by any terminology.  But that’s just what I think.

So I’ve thought for a long time about reincarnation, and for me, in layman’s terms, it boils down to electricity  (This is where you get to school me, because, like I said, I don’t know much about science except my own ragged bits of learnin’).  I figure, our brains are animated by electrical impulses, right?  (remember Buddhists, I’m talking about science here, not Buddhism.)  When we have a thought, it shows up as a zap of juice.  Our thoughts create our picture of the world, and also flavor the world we experience.  That same electrical energy animates our bodies down to a cellular level.  Perhaps even the soul is electric.  (Here’s another interesting random thought about electricity I found while writing this) And… if nothing is ever created or destroyed, where do those electrical impulses go when we die?  Do they just re-aggregate– or reincarnate- in  another form?  Are they attracted to similar forms (ie. human to human or animal to animal, etc.)?  What about rocks, though?  Can our ‘consciousness’ get stuck in a rock?  Hell if I know.  That’s why I ended the title of this thing with a question mark.

Do you have your own wacky theories about reincarnation (or any other wayward science)?  I would love to hear about it!  Cheers!

A contemplation on sexism, andocentrism, and misogyny, by Bhante Sujato, with some interesting comments by readers.

Below are two paragraphs of an article on the Karmapa controversy website that have been published in the book A Great Deception – The Ruling Lama’s Policies in the section entitled The Assassination of Gungthang Tsultrim.

‘In 1964, the government-in-exile of the Dalai Lama wanted to introduce social, economic and religious reforms to the recently evicted Tibetans. Gyalo Thondrub, the Dalai Lama’s audacious brother, decided that the best answer to Mao’s invasion and destruction of their country was to adapt Tibet and Tibetan policy in exile to the new Communist realities. He boldly proposed to abolish the old Buddhist schools, to do away with the rich, religious show, and thus bring the high lamas to the ground. “No more thrones, rituals, or gold brocades,” he was rumoured to have uttered. The spiritual hierarchies of the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and the corollary sub-orders fell victim to slander and reproach. His words struck fear into the lamas’ hearts. As more details of the elaborate plan began to emerge, it became clear that a coup against three of the schools was being hatched. The new religious body that would replace the traditional lineages was to be controlled by the Gelugpa hierarchy. The worried lamas rushed to Karmapa for help.’

‘When in 1976, Gungthang Tsultrim, the political head of the alliance, was murdered and the assassin confessed to operate on orders from the Tibetan cabinet. Hired for the job, he was paid rupees three hundred thousand by the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala. The Tibetan government-in-exile had also offered him more money for eliminating the 16th Karmapa, he confessed.’

There is something interesting that happens in the holding back.

restrained petals

There is a teaching by the Italian Master Giovanni Battista Lamperti.

“To sustain a given note the air should be expelled slowly; to attain this end, the respiratory (inspiratory) muscles, by continuing their action, strive to retain air in the lungs, and oppose their action to that of the expiratory muscles, which is called lotta vocale, or vocal struggle. On the retention of this equilibrium depends the just emission of the voice, and by which means of it alone can true expression be given to the sound produced.”

(A Treatise on the Art of Singing. London, 1877)

So, there is definitely benefit in not letting it all out. It is in the holding back of the energy that the tone finds its full blossoming!

Now, why this thought did not occur to me before, I’m not quite sure, but when it finally made sense, there were certain things that began to work that had never worked before.

You might want to explore the beauty that comes in the struggle!  Have you ever thought what happens when two things that apparantly oppose each other began to work in balance?  It’s almost as if the struggle ceases, and you are left there standing in silence.

Try it out, and see what happens!

tenor Giacomo LAURI-VOLPI “Meco all’alter” Bellini NORMA

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

ขณะที่ผมขับรถกลับบ้าน ผมมักจะเปิดวิทยุธรรมะฟัง คลื่นที่ฟังบ่อยเป็นพิเศษก็ได้แก่ คลื่น 89.25 ของวัดสังฆทาน ซึ่งมีรายการธรรมะดีๆอยู่มากมาย และรับฟังได้ค่อนข้างชัดเมื่อเปรียบกับวิทยุธรรมะ หรือวิทยุชุมชนอื่นๆ ช่วงที่ขับรถกลับเวลาราวๆสี่โมงครึ่งถึงห้าโมงครั่ง สถานีวิทยุจะเปิดรายการ “เสียงหนังสือ” ซึ่งในขณะนี้เป็นการอ่านพระไตรปิฎกทั้งชุด คิดว่าคงอ่านมานานมากพอดู (และคงจะอีกนานต่อไป) ขณะที่ฟังอยู่นั้นกำลังเป็นพระไตรปิฎกเล่มที่ ๙ ซึ่งเป็นพระสูตรในหมวด “สังยุตตนิกาย”

สังยุตตนิกายเป็นกลุ่มพระสูตรที่น่าสนใจมากกลุ่มหนึ่ง ประกอบไปด้วยพระสูตรเล็กๆ สั้นๆ ที่มาเนื้อหาร้อยเรียงกันเป็นหมวดหมู่ (จึงทำให้ได้ชื่อว่า “สังยุตต” หรือมาร้อยเรียงกัน) เนื้อหาส่วนใหญ่จะเกี่ยวกับคำสอนของพระพุทธเจ้าเกี่ยวกับตัวตนและขันธ์ห้า ซึ่งเป็นแก่นคำสอนของพระพุทธศาสนา พระพุทธเจ้าจะตรัสสอนพระสาวกด้วยการให้พิจารณาขันธ์ห้าแต่ละอย่างว่ามีลักษณะอย่างไร และเมื่อมีลักษณะเช่นนั้นแล้ว ก็ควรหรือที่จะยึดถือว่าเป็นตัวเป็นตน ลักษณะทั่วๆไปของคำถามของพระพุทธเจ้าเป็นดังนี้:

พระผู้มีพระภาคตรัสว่า
ดูกรอานนท์ เธอจะสำคัญความข้อนั้นเป็นไฉน รูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง?
อา. ไม่เที่ยง พระเจ้าข้า.
พ. ก็สิ่งใดไม่เที่ยง สิ่งนั้นเป็นทุกข์หรือเป็นสุขเล่า?
อา. เป็นทุกข์ พระเจ้าข้า.
พ. ก็สิ่งใดไม่เที่ยง เป็นทุกข์ มีความแปรปรวนเป็นธรรมดา ควรหรือหนอที่จะตามเห็นสิ่งนั้นว่า
นั่นของเรา นั่นเป็นเรา นั่นเป็นตัวตนของเรา?
อา. ไม่ควรเห็นอย่างนั้น พระเจ้าข้า.
พ. เวทนา … สัญญา … สังขาร … วิญญาณ เที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง?
อา. ไม่เที่ยง พระเจ้าข้า.
พ. ก็สิ่งใดไม่เที่ยง สิ่งนั้นเป็นทุกข์หรือเป็นสุขเล่า?
อา. เป็นทุกข์ พระเจ้าข้า.
พ. ก็สิ่งใดไม่เที่ยง เป็นทุกข์ มีความแปรปรวนเป็นธรรมดา ควรหรือหนอที่จะตามเห็นสิ่งนั้นว่า นั่นของเรา นั่นเป็นเรา นั่นเป็นตัวตนของเรา?
อา. ไม่ควรเห็นอย่างนั้น พระเจ้าข้า.

บทที่ยกมานี้มาจาก “อานนทสูตร” มีเนื้อหาเกี่ยวกับคำสอนของพระพุทธเจ้าแก่พระอานนท์ เมื่อพระอานนท์ทุลขอคำสอนที่จะนำไปปฏิบัติเพียงคนเดียวเพื่อให้บรรลุธรรม ซึ่งพระพุทธเจ้าก็ได้ประทานคำสอนที่ปรากฏอยู่ ซึ่งคำสอนลักษณะนี้ปรากฏอยู่แทบจะทุกสูตรในสังยุตตนิกายนี้ จะมีต่างกันบ้างก็เพียงรายละเอียดปลีกย่อยในแต่ละสูตรเท่านั้น คือทรงให้พิจารณาว่า “รูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง?” “เวทนาเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง?” แล้วก็ไปเรื่อยๆจนครบขันธ์ทั้งห้า เมื่อพอว่าขันธ์ห้าต่างก็ไม่เที่ยงหมดแล้ว ก็ทรงถามว่าควรหรือที่เราไปยึดว่าขันธ์ห้าเป็นตัวเราหรือของๆเรา เพราะเมื่อมันไม่เที่ยง ก็ย่อมไม่ใช่อะไรที่เราจะไปยึดถือให้เป็นอย่างโน้นอย่างนี้ได้

การไม่ยึดถือแบบที่ว่านี้แหละ ที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงย้ำในพระสูตรจำนวนมากในสังยุตตนิกายนี้ว่า เป็นหนทางสู่การพ้นทุกข์อย่างแท้จริง ที่สำคัญก็คือว่า การพิจารณาขันธ์ห้านี้ใช้ได้กับการพิจารณาความคิดเห็นต่างๆว่าถูกต้องหรือไม่ได้ทั้งหมด มีกลุ่มพระสูตรหนึ่งซึ่งอยู่ในหมวด “โสดาปัตติวรรค” ซึ่งอยู่ใน “ทิฏฐิสังยุตต์” ซึ่งมีเนื้อหาเกี่ยวกับความเป็นไปได้ทั้งหมดของการที่สัตว์โลกเมื่อตายไปแล้วจะเกิด หรือจะไม่ไปเกิด (หรือเป็นเช่นนั้นทั้งคู่ หรือไม่เป็นเช่นนั้นทั้งคู่) พระสูตรทั้งสี่นี้ได้แก่ ๑. “โหตุตถาคตสูตร” ซึ่งก็สรุปว่าหากมีความคิดเห็นที่ถูกต้องว่า รูปไม่เที่ยง เวทนาไม่เที่ยง ก็สามารถแก้ความเห็นผิดเรื่องสัตว์โลกตายแล้วไปเกิดหรือไม่ ๒. “นโหตุตถาคตสูตร” ซึ่งก็เสนอทิฏฐิว่า สัตว์โลกตายแล้วไม่ไปเกิด แต่พระพุทธเจ้ากับให้พิจารณาเรื่องรูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง เวทนาเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง ฯลฯ นอกจากนี้ก็มี ๓. “โหติจนโหติตถาคตสูตร” ซึ่งเสนอทิฏฐิว่า สัตว์โลกทั้งตายแล้วไปเกิด และตายแล้วไม่ไปเกิด” ส่วน ๔. ได้แก่ “เนวโหตินนโหติตถาคตสูตร” ซึ่งหมายถึงการที่สัตว์โลกตายแล้วไปเกิดก็ไม่ใช่ สัตว์โลกตายแล้วไม่ไปเกิดก็ไม่ใช่ ในทั้งสี่พระสูตรนี้ท่าทีที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอนก็คือว่า ทรงสอนให้พระภิกษุไม่รับแม้ข้อใดข้อหนึ่งในสี่ทางเหล่านี้ แต่หากทรงให้พิจารณาทางเลือกต่างๆอย่างถี่ถ้วนว่าเป็น “ทิฏฐิ” หรือความเห็นที่ควรเชื่อได้หรือไม่ วิธีการก็คือให้พิจารณาเรื่องขันธืห้าว่า “รูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง” ดังที่ได้กล่าวไปแล้ว เมื่อพิจารณาเช่นนี้คำถามสำคัญก็คือว่า เมื่ขันธ์ห้าไม่เที่ยงเช่นนี้ ก็ยังจะมีอะไรที่ให้มีทิฏฐิได้ว่า เมื่อสัตว์ตายไปแล้วจะไปเกิด จะไม่ไปเกิด จะทั้งไปเกิดและไม่ไปเกิด หรือจะไปเกิดก็ไม่ใช่ จะไม่ไปเกิดก็ไม่ใช่?

คำตอบที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอนให้เราเข้าใจก็คือว่า การมีความเห็นว่าอย่างใดอย่างหนึ่งในสี่อย่างนี้ ไม่ใช่ความเห็นที่ถูกต้องทั้งสิ้น ความเห็นที่ถูกต้องก็คือการพิจารณาว่าขันธ์ห้าไม่เที่ยง ไม่ใช่อัตตาตัวตน ไม่มีสาระอะไรที่จะไปเห็นหลักให้แก่ความเห็นเรื่องต่างๆเช่นเรื่องสัตว์ตายแล้วจะไปเกิดหรือไม่ได้ ทีนี้คำถามก็คือว่า แล้วการพิจารณาว่าขันธ์ห้าไม่เที่ยงเกี่ยวอย่างไรกับการไม่มีทิฏฐิเรื่องเหล่านี้? คำตอบก็คือว่า การพิจารณาว่าขันธ์ห้าไม่เที่ยง (เช่นที่พระพุทธเจ้าตรัสถามว่า “รูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง?” ฯลฯ และ “ก็สิ่งใดไม่เที่ยง เป็นทุกข์ มีความแปรปรวนเป็นธรรมดา ควรหรือหนอที่จะตามเห็นสิ่งนั้นว่า นั่นของเรา นั่นเป็นเรา นั่นเป็นตัวตนของเรา?”) ทำให้เรเข้าใจสรรพสิ่งทั้งหลายทั้งปวงล้วนไม่อยู่สถานะที่จะเป็นบาทฐาน หรือเป็นอะไรที่เราจะยึดมั่นให้เกิดความเห็นหรือทิฏฐิต่างๆได้เลย

นักปรัชญามักคิดกันว่า ตนเองอยากจะเข้าใจความจริง อยากรู้ว่าจริงๆแล้วโลกเป็นอย่างไร จริงๆแล้วสัตว์ตายแล้วไปเกิดหรือไม่ไปเกิด จิตกับกาย (หรือพูดแบบภาษาในพระไตรปิฎกว่า ชีวะกับสรีระ) เป็นหนึ่งเดียวกัน หรือแยกกันเป็นคนละสิ่ง โลกมีที่สิ้นสุดหรือไม่ ฯลฯ พระสูตรต่างๆในสังยุตตนิกายนี้มุ่งที่จะชี้ให้เราเห็นถึงข้อผิดพลาดในการมีความคิดเห็นเหล่านี้ ประเด็นก็คือ ไม่ว่าเราจะคิดเกี่ยวกับเรื่องเหล่านี้ว่าอย่างไร (เช่นคิดว่าโลกเที่ยง หรือโลกไม่เที่ยง หรือโลกทั้งเที่ยงและไม่เที่ยง หรือโลกจะเที่ยงก็ไม่ใช่ จะไม่เที่ยงก็ไม่ใช่) ก็มารากฐานมาจากการยึดมั่นในการปรุงแต่ง คิดไปว่าภาษากำหนดความจริงให้แก่เราทั้งสิ้น การพิจารณาขันธ์ห้าที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงเริ่มจากการถามว่า “รูปเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยง” นั้น ซึ่งมีคำตอบจากพระภิกษุที่ฟังคำสอนอยู่ที่บอกว่า “ไม่เที่ยงพระเจ้าข้า” (หรือในกรณีแบบเดียวกันในเรื่องสัตว์ตายแล้วไปเกิดหรือไม่ไปเกิด) นั้น หากไม่ได้พิจารณาอย่างละเอียดก็อาจจะพาให้คิดไปได้ว่า พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอนว่ารูปไม่เที่ยง แต่นั่นเป็นความเข้าใจในระดับผิวเผินเบื้องต้นเท่านั้น อันที่จริง พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอนว่า การคิดว่ารูปเที่ยง หรือรูปไม่เที่ยง หรือรูปทั้งเที่ยงและไม่เที่ยง หรือรูปจะเที่ยงก็ไม่ใช่ จะไม่เที่ยงก็ไม่ใช่ ล้วนเป็น “มิจฉาทิฏฐิ” ทั้งสิ้น เพราะมีจุดตั้งต้นมาจากการคิดว่ามีสิ่งที่เรียกว่า “รูป” ที่จะให้กำหนดได้ว่าเที่ยงหรือไม่เที่ยงตั้งแต่ต้น เนื่องจากการกำหนดว่ามี “รูป” นั้นเป็นการปรุงแต่ง คือกำหนดให้มีคำว่า “รูป” มาใช้ในความหมายว่าอย่างนั้นๆชื่อว่า “รูป” ทั้งๆที่จริงๆแล้วความเป็นจริงไม่ได้แบ่งออกเป็นรูปตั้งแต่ต้น ก็ทำให้เกิดความเข้าใจผิดพลาด เกิดเป็น “ทิฏฐิ” หนึ่งในสี่อย่างนี้ขึ้นมา

ประเด็นเรื่อง โลกไม่เที่ยงนี้มีใน “อสัสสตทิฏฐิสูตร” ซึ่งมีเนื้อหาว่าการพิจารณาว่ารูปไม่เที่ยง ฯลฯ นั้นทำให้ถอนทิฏฐิที่ว่า “โลกไม่เที่ยง” ออกได้ ปัญหาก็คือว่า เหตุใดการคิดว่ารูปไม่เที่ยงเป็นผลให้เข้าใจว่าการคิดว่า “โลกไม่เที่ยง” เป็นความเห็นที่ไม่ถูกต้อง? หากจะคิดว่ารูปกับโลกเป็นคนละอย่างกันก็ไม่น่าจะเป็นเช่นนั้น เพราะการบอกว่าโลกไม่เที่ยงนั้นหมายความรวมเอาทุกอย่าง คือความเห็นนี้บอกว่า ไม่มีอะไรที่เที่ยงเลย รวมทั้งรูปด้วยเพราะรูปเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของโลก อย่างไรก็ตามสิ่งที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอนไม่ใช่ว่า รูปกับโลกเป็นคนละอย่างโดยที่รูปนั้นไท้เที่ยงแต่โลกไม่เที่ยง (หรือเที่ยง หรือ … ) แต่อยู่ที่ว่า การปรุงแต่งให้เกิดมีอะไรขึ้นก็ตาม เช่น “โลก” หรือ​ “รูป” ยังผลให้เกิดทิฏฐิเหล่านี้ขึ้น และเป็นเหตุแห่งความทุกข์ทั้งสิ้น

เรื่องนี้ค่อนข้างยาก แต่ก็คงไม่เกินความสามารถของเราที่จะเข้าใจ พระพุทธเจ้าทรงแนะนำให้เราเอาข้อธรรมข้อนี้ไปพินิจพิจารณาอย่างละเอียดด้วยการปลีกวิเวก ทุ่มเวลาแรงกายแรงใจในการพิจารณาอย่างเต็มที่ เราศิษย์ของพระพุทธเจ้าก็ควรจะพยายามทำตาม

As the scientific revolution took hold in Europe, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, some people were horrified by what seemed to be the destruction of the Nature’s spirit at the hands of mechanical forces.  The Romantic poet, John Keats, memorably wrote in his poem “Lamina”:

Do not all charms fly

At the mere touch of cold philosophy? …

Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,

Conquer all mysteries by rule and line…

Unweave a rainbow.[1]

Does the scientific method unweave the beauty of the rainbow?

Since then, we’ve had two hundred more years of unweaving.  Laws of nature have been formulated and reformulated.  Mysteries of nature have given up their secrets.  And the split between the scientific and the spiritual view of the universe has become a chasm.  A poignant modern expression of this can be seen in an Amazon review of Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, a book that posits a reductionist view of evolution where each of us is seen to exist for no reason other than to act as replication vehicles for our genes:

Fascinating, but at times I wish I could unread it… On one level, I can share in the sense of wonder Dawkins so evidently sees in the workings out of such complex processes… But at the same time, I largely blame The Selfish Gene for a series of bouts of depression I suffered from for more than a decade… Never sure of my spiritual outlook on life, but trying to find something deeper – trying to believe, but not quite being able to – I found that this book just about blew away any vague ideas I had along these lines, and prevented them from coalescing any further.  This created quite a strong personal crisis for me some years ago.[2]

This blog, Finding the Li, will explore ways in which that beautiful rainbow of Nature’s mystery can be rewoven by a confluence of science and spirituality.  My underlying proposition is that there is no necessary disconnect between the two.  There are, no doubt, scientific belief systems that are incompatible with the search for meaning; and there are spiritual belief systems incompatible with scientific rigor.  These are all grist for the Science vs. Theology debate that has endured for too long, trotting out old truisms in new clothing.

My interest in this blog is, instead, to explore the ways in which rigorous science can expand its project to access the mysteries of nature, and to engage the perspectives offered by some of the world’s great spiritual traditions that remain compatible with the findings of science.  My hope is that, in this exploration, people like the reviewer of Dawkins’ book may find “something deeper” while remaining committed to the intellectual rigor of the scientific method.

There’s a companion blog to this one, called Tyranny of the Prefrontal Cortex, which is dedicated to analyzing how the uniquely human capabilities of the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex (“pfc”) – our ability to create abstractions, symbols, value systems, and to live by them – have created an imbalance in our human consciousness, which I’ve characterized as a “tyranny”.  While that blog diagnoses what’s happened to our society and our collective consciousness, this blog explores ways to potentially remedy this imbalance, and move towards what I call a “democracy of consciousness.”

One way to think about what this means is to consider the difference between the notions of “control” and “coordination.”  Traditional approaches in our Western culture view the role of the pfc-mediated part of our being – variously referred to through our history as the “soul,” “reason,” or “will” – as one of control.  The pfc’s faculties are meant to control the demands of our bodies and emotions, and by doing so, enable us to transcend to a higher spiritual or intellectual plane.  However, to the extent that our living beings are viewed as complex, self-organized systems, then the role of the pfc can begin to be seen instead as one of coordination.

In a 2004 paper, systems biologist Mihajilo Mesarovic and colleagues write about the difference between control and coordination:

There is a critical distinction between control and coordination.  Control is ‘dictating what is to be done’.  Coordination is providing ‘motivation’ for the controllers (regulators, modules, subsystems) to act so as to advance the overall system’s objective while the subsystems are performing their own functions, modified by coordination…

In a multilevel, hierarchical system… the task of the higher-level regulators is not to control but to coordinate, i.e. harmonise the functions of the first level regulators under changing conditions.[3]

Mesarovic et. al. are discussing complex biological systems in general.  My proposal is that we humans are complex biological systems par excellence, but that in our Western culture, we’ve learned to view our pfc’s function as controlling rather than coordinating this system.  When I describe moving towards a “democracy of consciousness,” I’m talking about learning how to devolve power back to those other aspects of our being, and develop our pfc’s faculties for coordination rather than control.

Does the conductor coordinate or control the orchestra?

One of my favorite metaphors on this subject is that of music.  I’m going to propose in this blog that music offers a more powerful metaphor for how our minds really work than the common cliché of “brain as computer”.  Think of the conductor of an orchestra… what’s he doing?  Controlling or coordinating?  Or a mixture of both?  How does an improvisational jazz band keep it together?  Who’s in charge?

It might not seem like a big change, but this shift in our awareness that I’m proposing involves a fundamental restructuring of our sense of ourselves and our values.  And, ultimately, I believe this is what’s necessary if our global society is going to truly resolve the great imbalances of today’s world, manifested in global climate change and the greatest extinction of species in 65 million years.

Here are some of the topics this blog will touch on, all of them interrelated.  I’ll add links to the topics below as I publish posts on each particular subject:

• How current approaches to self-organization add to our understanding of evolution, challenging the old reductionist “modern synthesis” developed in the early 20^th century.

• How Chinese traditions of the Tao and Neo-Confucianism can help illuminate modern theories of self-organization and evolution (this is where we’ll come across the “li” in the title of this blog)

• How Buddhist approaches to consciousness can help us transcend the pfc’s metaphor of the self.

• How neuroscience sheds light on the power of meditation to help us towards a democracy of consciousness.

• How “animate intelligence” contrasts with our more conventional understanding of “conceptual” intelligence.

• How we can reharmonize our own animate and conceptual consciousness, and in doing so, play our part in re-balancing the human impact on the environment.

• How all these findings can lead to a new set of global values for the 21^st century.

Enjoy the journey!  And please share your comments whenever you feel you have something to say.

[2] Cited by Dawkins, R. (2006). The Selfish Gene, New York: Oxford University Press, p. xiii

[3] Mesarovic, M. D., Sreenath, S. N., and Keene, J. D. (2004). “Search for organising principles: understanding in systems biology.” Systems Biology, 1(June 2004), 19-27.

Well the suitcase story is in the final stretch. Today I took a fistful of Macy’s coupons (anyone who has a Macy’s charge card knows their reputation for sending bundles of coupons with itty bitty print restrictions that only the sales staff can see or decipher), breathed and paced through the last moments of separation anxiety and bought a new suitcase. I bought the same brand, same size, in black.

The review of the story is that after years of looking for the perfect suitcase, I found an expensive, strangely colored green suitcase at Macy’s. I found the same suitcase, along with a matching carry on, at Overstock.com for a lovely and exciting price. I felt rewarded for my long wait, bought both and took the large one on one trip.

I loved, loved, loved both the suitcases and their strange color. I spent much time patting myself on the back for having found such fantastic quality at such a fantastic price—and no one else in baggage claim would have that color! The attachment increased with each expertly practiced back pat. I told my family and friends that I would have this beautiful and matching set of suitcases for the rest of my life. Then a cat peed in the big one. It was permanently stinked, and no one in the universe had another one in my beloved color.

I had been presented with the opportunity to work through attachment, major attachment. I took the opportunity, then I took it again, and I took it again. No matter how many times I declared the suffering over the suitcase over, the attachment gripped on for another round.

But now, even though I had to pace the suitcase section of Macy’s for one last painful hour of suffering and attachment, tonight I have peace and a new suitcase.

(Here is a secret—the green one is still in the bathroom. Garbage day is Wednesday.)

Digging Deeper-All About Change

[Every once in a while I’m going to post an article or talk I have been working with that has really challenged me or deepened my understanding of the Buddha’s dharma.  I’m going to call these kinds of posts “Digging Deeper.”  My hope it that they will prove beneficial and skillful for you as well.  Steve]

What did the Buddha really have to say about anicca—inconstancy and change? Does the fact of impermanence tell us (as some popular teachings claim) that we should just accept change and learn to embrace fully our good and bad experiences without clinging?  If “change makes all things possible”, do we then have the freedom to create whatever world we want to live in?

In fact, the Buddha’s teachings on anicca—inconstancy and change—offer something far more useful and profound.

All About Change

By Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Change is the focal point for Buddhist insight—a fact so well known that it has spawned a familiar sound bite: “Isn’t change what Buddhism is all about?” What’s less well known is that this focus has a frame—that change is neither where insight begins nor where it ends. Insight begins with a question that evaluates change in light of the desire for true happiness. It ends with a happiness that lies beyond change.

Two Common Views about Change

When this frame is forgotten, people create their own contexts for the teaching and often assume that the Buddha was operating within those same contexts. Two of the contexts commonly attributed to the Buddha at present are these:

Insight into change teaches us to embrace our experiences without clinging to them — to get the most out of them in the present moment by fully appreciating their intensity, in full knowledge that we will soon have to let them go to embrace whatever comes next.

Insight into change teaches us hope. Because change is built into the nature of things, nothing is inherently fixed, not even our own identity. No matter how bad the situation, anything is possible. We can do whatever we want to do, create whatever world we want to live in, and become whatever we want to be.

The Problem With These Views

The first of these interpretations offers wisdom on how to consume the pleasures of immediate, personal experience when you’d rather they not change; the second, on how to produce change when you want it.

Although sometimes presented as complementary insights, these interpretations contain a practical conflict: If experiences are so fleeting and changeable, are they worth the effort needed to produce them? How can we find genuine hope in the prospect of positive change if we can’t fully rest in the results when they arrive? Aren’t we just setting ourselves up for disappointment?

Or is this just one of the unavoidable paradoxes of life? Ancient folk wisdom from many cultures would suggest so, advising us that we should approach change with cautious joy and stoic equanimity: training ourselves to not to get attached to the results of our actions, and accepting without question the need to keep on producing fleeting pleasures as best we can, for the only alternative would be inaction and despair. This advice, too, is often attributed to the Buddha.

How the Buddha looked at the Problem of Change

But the Buddha was not the sort of person to accept things without question. His wisdom lay in realizing that the effort that goes into the production of happiness is worthwhile only if the processes of change can be skillfully managed to arrive at a happiness resistant to change. Otherwise, we’re life-long prisoners in a forced-labor camp, compelled to keep on producing pleasurable experiences to assuage our hunger, and yet finding them so empty of any real essence that they can never leave us full.

These realizations are implicit in the question that, according to the Buddha, lies at the beginning of insight:

“What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term well-being and happiness?”

A Heartfelt Question that Leads to Final Liberation from Change

This is a heartfelt question, motivated by the desire behind all conscious action: to attain levels of pleasure worthy of the effort that goes into them. It springs from the realization that life requires effort, and that if we aren’t careful whole lifetimes can be lived in vain. This question, together with the realizations and desires behind it, provides the context for the Buddha’s perspective on change. If we examine it closely, we find the seeds for all his insights into the production and consumption of change.

The first phrase in the question — “What, when I do it, will lead to….” — focuses on the issues of production, on the potential effects of human action. Prior to his Awakening, the Buddha had left home and gone into the wilderness to explore precisely this issue: to see how far human action could go, and whether it could lead to a dimension beyond the reach of change. His Awakening was confirmation that it could — if developed to the appropriate level of skillfulness.

He thus taught that there are four types of action, corresponding to four levels of skill: three that produce pleasant, unpleasant, and mixed experiences within the cycles of space and time; and a fourth that leads beyond action to a level of happiness transcending the dimensions of space and time, thus eliminating the need to produce any further happiness.

The Buddha’s Insight into Producing and Consuming—the Root Causes of Suffering

Because the activities of producing and consuming require space and time, a happiness transcending space and time, by its very nature, is neither produced nor consumed. Thus, when the Buddha reached that happiness and stepped outside the modes of producing and consuming, he was able to turn back and see exactly how pervasive a role these activities play in ordinary experience, and how imprisoning they normally are.

He saw that our experience of the present is an activity — something fabricated or produced, moment-to-moment, from the raw material provided by past actions. We even fabricate our identity, our sense of who we are. At the same time, we try to consume any pleasure that can be found in what we’ve produced — although in our desire to consume pleasure, we often gobble down pain. With every moment, production and consumption are intertwined: We consume experiences as we produce them, and produce them as we consume. The way we consume our pleasures or pains can produce further pleasures or pains, now and into the future, depending on how skillful we are.

The three parts of the latter phrase in the Buddha’s question — “my / long-term / well-being and happiness” — provide standards for gauging the level of our skill in approaching true pleasure or happiness. (The Pali word, here — sukha — can be translated as pleasure, happiness, ease, or bliss.) We apply these standards to the experiences we consume: if they aren’t long-term, then no matter how pleasant they might be, they aren’t true happiness. If they’re not true happiness, there’s no reason to claim them as “mine.”

Inconstancy—the Key to Understanding The Three Characteristics

This insight forms the basis for the Three Characteristics that the Buddha taught for inducing a sense of dispassion for normal time-and space-bound experience. Anicca, the first of the three, is pivotal. Anicca applies to everything that changes. Often translated as “impermanent,” it’s actually the negative of nicca, which means constant or dependable. Everything that changes is inconstant.

Now, the difference between “impermanent” and “inconstant” may seem semantic, but it’s crucial to the way anicca functions in the Buddha’s teachings. As the early texts state repeatedly, if something is anicca then the other two characteristics automatically follow: it’s dukkha (stressful) and anatta (not-self), i.e., not worthy to be claimed as me or mine.

If we translate anicca as impermanent, the connection among these Three Characteristics might seem debatable. But if we translate it as inconstant, and consider the Three Characteristics in light of the Buddha’s original question, the connection is clear. If you’re seeking a dependable basis for long-term happiness and ease, anything inconstant is obviously a stressful place to pin your hopes — like trying to relax in an unstable chair whose legs are liable to break at any time.

Giving up “Me” and “My” to find the Path to Happiness

If you understand that your sense of self is something willed and fabricated — that you choose to create it — there’s no compelling reason to keep creating a “me” or “mine” around any experience that’s inconstant and stressful. You want something better. You don’t want to make that experience the goal of your practice.

So what do you do with experiences that are inconstant and stressful? You could treat them as worthless and throw them away, but that would be wasteful. After all, you went to the trouble to fabricate them in the first place; and, as it turns out, the only way you can reach the goal is by utilizing experiences of just this sort. So you can learn how to use them as means to the goal; and the role they can play in serving that purpose is determined by the type of activity that went into producing them: the type that produces a pleasure conducive to the goal, or the type that doesn’t. Those that do, the Buddha labeled the “path.”

These activities include acts of generosity, acts of virtue, and the practice of mental absorption, or concentration.  Even though they fall under the Three Characteristics, these activities produce a sense of pleasure relatively stable and secure, more deeply gratifying and nourishing than the act of producing and consuming ordinary sensual pleasures.

Skillful Qualities that Produce Enduring Happiness

So if you’re aiming at happiness within the cycles of change, you should look to generosity, virtue, and mental absorption to produce that happiness. But if you’d rather aim for a happiness going beyond change, these same activities can still help you by fostering the clarity of mind needed for Awakening. Either way, they’re worth mastering as skills. They’re your basic set of tools, so you want to keep them in good shape and ready to hand.

As for other pleasures and pains — such as those involved in sensual pursuits and in simply having a body and mind — these can serve as the objects you fashion with your tools, as raw materials for the discernment leading to Awakening. By carefully examining them in light of their Three Characteristics — to see exactly how they’re inconstant, stressful, and not-self — you become less inclined to keep on producing and consuming them.

You see that your addictive compulsion to fabricate them comes entirely from the hunger and ignorance embodied in states of passion, aversion, and delusion. When these realizations give rise to dispassion both for fabricated experiences and for the processes of fabrication, you enter the path of the fourth kind of kamma [karma], leading to the Deathless.

The Path to the Deathless

This path contains two important turns. The first comes when all passion and aversion for sensual pleasures and pains has been abandoned, and your only remaining attachment is to the pleasure of concentration. At this point, you turn and examine the pleasure of concentration in terms of the same Three Characteristics you used to contemplate sensual experiences

The difficulty here is that you’ve come to rely so strongly on the solidity of your concentration that you’d rather not look for its drawbacks. At the same time, the inconstancy of a concentrated mind is much more subtle than that of sensual experiences. But once you overcome your unwillingness to look for that inconstancy, the day is sure to come when you detect it. And then the mind can be inclined to the Deathless.

That’s where the second turn occurs. As the texts point out, when the mind encounters the Deathless it can treat it as a mind-object — a dhamma — and then produce a feeling of passion and delight for it. The fabricated sense of the self that’s producing and consuming this passion and delight thus gets in the way of full Awakening. So at this point the logic of the Three Characteristics has to take a new turn. Their original logic — “Whatever is inconstant is stressful; whatever is stressful is not-self” — leaves open the possibility that whatever is constant could be (1) easeful and (2) self.

When Attachment to a Fabricated Self Gets in the Way of Final Release

The first possibility is in fact the case: whatever is constant is easeful; the Deathless is actually the ultimate ease. But the second possibility isn’t a skillful way of regarding what’s constant: if you latch onto what’s constant as self, you’re stuck on your attachment. To go beyond space and time, you have to go beyond fabricating the producing and consuming self, which is why the concluding insight of the path is: “All dhammas” — constant or not — “are not-self.”

When this insight has done its work in overcoming any passion or delight for the Deathless, full Awakening occurs. And at that point, even the path is relinquished, and the Deathless remains, although no longer as an object of the mind. It’s simply there, radically prior to and separate from the fabrication of space and time. All consuming and producing for the sake of your own happiness comes to an end, for a timeless well-being has been found. And because all mind-objects are abandoned in this happiness, questions of constant or inconstant, stress or ease, self or not-self are no longer an issue.

This, then, is the context of Buddhist insight into change: an approach that takes seriously both the potential effects of human effort and the basic human desire that effort not go to waste, that change have the potential to lead to a happiness beyond the reach of change. This insight is focused on developing the skills that lead to the production of genuine happiness. It employs the Three Characteristics — of inconstancy, stress, and not-self — not as abstract statements about existence, but as inducement for mastering those skills and as guidelines for measuring your progress along the way. When used in this way, the Three Characteristics lead to a happiness transcending the Three Characteristics, the activities of producing and consuming, and space and time as a whole.

Another Look at Those Misconceptions about Change

When we understand this context for the Three Characteristics, we can clearly see the half-truths contained in the insights on the production and consumption of change that are commonly misattributed to the Buddha. With regard to production: Although it may be true that, with enough patience and persistence, we can produce just about anything, including an amazing array of self-identities, from the raw material of the present moment, the question is: what’s worth producing?

We’ve imprisoned ourselves with our obsession for producing and consuming changeable pleasures and changeable selves, and yet there’s the possibility of using change to escape from this prison to the freedom of a happiness transcending time and space. Do we want to take advantage of that possibility, or would we rather spend our spare time blowing bubbles in the sunlight coming through our prison windows and trying to derive happiness from their swirling patterns before they burst?

Using Pleasures and Pains as Tools for Awakening

This question ties in with wisdom on consumption: Getting the most out of our changing experiences doesn’t mean embracing them or milking them of their intensity. Instead it means learning to approach the pleasures and pains they offer, not as fleeting ends in themselves, but as tools for Awakening. With every moment we’re supplied with raw materials — some of them attractive, some of them not. Instead of embracing them in delight or throwing them away in disgust, we can learn how to use them to produce the keys that will unlock our prison doors.

And as for the wisdom of non-attachment to the results of our actions: in the Buddha’s context, this notion can make sense only if we care deeply about the results of our actions and want to master the processes of cause and effect that lead to genuine freedom. In other words, we don’t demand childishly that our actions — skillful or not — always result in immediate happiness, that everything we stick into the lock will automatically unlatch the door.

If what we have done has been unskillful and led to undesirable results, we want to admit our mistakes and find out why they were mistakes so that we can learn how to correct them the next time around. Only when we have the patience to look objectively at the results of our actions will we be able to learn, by studying the keys that don’t unlock the doors, how finally to make the right keys that do.

Final Release from Endless Producing and Consuming

With this attitude we can make the most of the processes of change to develop the skill that releases us from the prison of endless producing and consuming. With release, we plunge into the freedom of a happiness so true that it transcends the terms of the original question that led us there. There’s nothing further we have to do; our sense of “my” and “mine” is discarded; and even the “long-term,” which implies time, is erased by the timeless.

The happiness remaining lies radically beyond the range of our time- and space-bound conceptions of happiness. Totally independent of mind-objects, it’s unadulterated and unalterable, unlimited and pure. As the texts tell us, it even lies beyond the range of “totality” and “the All.”

And that’s what Buddhist practice is all about.

Copyright © 2004 Thanissaro Bhikkhu  For free distribution only.  You may print copies of this work for your personal use.  You may re-format and redistribute this work for use on computers and computer networks, provided that you charge no fees for its distribution or use.  Otherwise, all rights reserved.