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i get razzed sometimes from my zenny friends asking me if i’ve accumulated merit recently. that tibetan way of talking about karmic action makes them laugh. so for them i offer this more abstract definition of the tibetan buddhist concept, thanks to his eminence tai situ rinpoche in the book The Life of Tilopa on page 22:
the work of accumulation/purification brings about a gradual disappearance of mental definition-habits which formerly created artificial subject-object polarities; all the arbitrary splitting of mental experience into ‘me’ and ‘it’, ’self’ and ‘other’, ‘me’ and ‘my mind’ and so on. When these frozen standpoints go, all the ensuing rigidity they normally create goes too. Realisation of the inseparability of subject and object reveals their one essence or the ‘great union’. It is fresh and fluid.
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a buddhist teaching you may encounter is called the six realms (or sometimes the three realms). this is when taken literally a description of different planes of heavenly and earthly existence not unlike many religious traditions. but when taken more as a description of psychological states i find it generally helpful on a day to day basis.
click here if you’d like my quick summary. Read more »
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The New York Times had an interesting review two years ago about the movie Groundhog Day and its religious undertones.
Since its debut a decade ago, the film has become a curious favorite of religious leaders of many faiths, who all see in “Groundhog Day” a reflection of their own spiritual messages… Harold Ramis, the director of the film and one of its writers, said last week that since it came out he has heard from Jesuit priests, rabbis and Buddhists, and that the letters keep coming.
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the last few weeks, after spending so much time in meditation retreats, i’ve been really curious what the lasting effect will be on me. how all that effort has paid off.
i haven’t been able to articulate it easily. at a picnic this afternoon many people asked what it is like to be back. to some i talked about the contrast of pace and speed and distraction. with others i talked about my experience of people and social interactions feeling different.
one thing i’ve noticed is that people *look* different too. more three dimensional almost. i guess i used to see people in a more two dimensional way, not noticing all the details. now i find people, if i know them or not, more interesting looking and with much more detail and emotional texture. it feels like each person is a surprise. maybe i’m just noticing more textures in facial expressions, or maybe i’m labeling and pigeonholing people less.
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What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.
- Thomas Merton
someone posted a painting by magr1tte that i think described this well (thanks spot)
i think the painting and the quote resonate for me because i see the abyss that merton describes depicted in magr1tte’s painting. that abyss to me is the difference between seeing the actual reality and seeing our own mental representation of that reality - what i see represented by the painting within the painting. and since we’re looking at a painting of a painting and talking about it, there is another level of metaphor here. even this conversation is a conceptual layer on top of direct experience.
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i’ve probably blogged about this before, but wanted to point out a nice article about the recent Boston study showing measurable brain growth for even modest meditation practitioners.
then also of note is the book by daniel goleman titled
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i have to credit the book way of the peaceful warrior by dan millman as one of the pivotal pieces of my past. i read that book when i was searching for a different way of relating to the world, when i was fourteen. it made my previous reading about zen and buddhism more practical, more ordinary and presently relevant, something that might impact every moment. it then lead me to another book sacred path of the warrior by chogyam trungpa rinpoche who brought the stream of tibetan buddhism i practice now to this country.
dan’s book is coming out soon as a movie, on june 2nd, titled simply peaceful warrior. an indie release, nick nolte plays the mentor character socrates. some quotes of nick’s in the trailer: “a warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does” and “i call myself a peaceful warrior, because the battles we fight are on the inside.” and “this moment is all that matters.”
that book changed my life. i’m looking forward to seeing the movie, and very happy to spread the word about it. it’s going to be a small run, independent release. if you have a chance to see it on the opening weekend please do. i think you’ll appreciate the ideas presented no matter how the story connects for you.
UPDATE: for a list of theaters and when it will be near you, click on the “Theater Listings” link in the middle of the page near the bottom at their main site.
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i was surprised to learn that there is a very small but officially buddhist state in europe, called Kalmykia which borders the Caspian Sea. the history of this small country and its ethnic population was a fascinating read.
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i found my little red refuge contemplation book while unpacking; i had completely misplaced it. the contemplations in that book, which you receive when you ‘take refuge’ in my buddhist lineage, are really well written. the whole idea of taking refuge was on my mind this morning.
what does taking refuge mean? i guess it’s what we go toward: for protection, for support, for happiness. so normally i take refuge in breakfast, in a hot shower; i take refuge in my friends, in my family, in having a job that doesn’t suck. so the idea of taking refuge in a buddhist sense means contemplating what we take refuge in normally, and how we expect happiness to come from the things we normally take refuge in. then in that contemplation we’re asked to consider what might be more effective to take refuge in.
the little red contemplation book includes contemplations of the traditional buddhist refuge in the three jewels; this morning in addition to those i was thinking about three other things to consider taking refuge in:
1. in a path, in that whatever we do to improve ourselves and our situation, is a path and doesn’t happen overnight. it’s a process and we can be easy on ourselves and appreciate that progressive quality about it. we don’t need to get discouraged when we fail to meet our own expectations, but can just keep moving along in a good direction.
2. in kindness, to ourselves and to everyone we meet. most of the aggression we hold toward ourselves and others is a tactic, a scheme, to manage situations and manage ourselves but it has a really nasty hangover. we can learn to be more skillful in encouraging ourselves and others in all of our paths and we can do so without the hangover of aggression.
3. in cheerfulness, we can just cheer up. our situation really is pretty good in a lot of ways. if we forget that it’s because we’re ignoring all the good fortune we’ve had already, and all the little things that are going smoothly. we have five senses and we can communicate with our world, and it’s a pretty interesting place, so we can appreciate that and cheer up some.
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it’s been good and bad. being back in silicon valley is bringing up a lot of familiar trains of thought for me, but a lot of it is getting really annoying. the way i relate to my environment, my stuff, and my friends. a lot of inner drama basically, commentary, and judgement. from all the meditation practice it’s been more vivid to watch, but also easier to just drop and not buy into. but i’m worried that as i get more integrated with work and friends again i’ll get swept up in the inner dialog and believe more of it to be real and meaningful than i should.
so this is motivating me to keep up my regular meditation practice, to keep the gained awareness of the inner dialog and ability to catch it in the act, cut it’s momentum before i actually believe the trains of thought to be real. it’s also leaving me pretty tender all day long. watching the push and pull within my own mind around ordinary situations is sobering.
sitting monkey is place where