Quotable Friday – Jed McKenna on the Group Lie

It’s not often I find a quote as remarkable as this one…

“We’re all afloat in a boundless sea, and the way we cope is by massing together in groups and pretending in unison that the situation is other than it is. We reinforce the illusion for each other. That’s what a society really is, a little band of humanity huddled together against the specter of a pitch black sea. Everyone is treading water to keep their heads above the surface even though they have no reason to believe that the life they’re preserving is better than the alternative they’re avoiding. It’s just that one is known and one is not. Fear of the unknown is what keeps everyone busily treading water. All fear is fear of the unknown. If someone in such a group of water-treaders betrays the group lie by speaking the truth of their situation, that person is called a heretic and society reserves its most awful punishments for heretics. If someone decides to stop struggling and just sink or float away, every possible effort is made to stop him, not for the benefit of the individual, but for the benefit of the group. To deny at all costs the truth of the situation.”

-From Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, by Jed McKenna

Overcoming “Fight or Flight” in Meditation

We humans, over the span of millions of years, have evolved partly due to our ability to recognize harmful situations and either flee from them or eliminate them. Psychologists call this our “Fight or Flight” response. And while this is quite useful for staying alive and propagating our species, it has an adverse effect on making progress in meditation.

Running away from less than pleasurable experiences is precisely what NOT to do in meditation. Responding in such a way to feelings of aversion is part of what got us in to this mess of suffering in the first place*. It’s not that we should be like some unbalanced ascetic who goes looking for pain in order to purify our karma. That’s just as unskillful as running away from unsatisfactory experiences or chasing after pleasure. Rather, what we should learn to do is allow such experiences to come into our awareness and pay attention to what happens. In my experience, when an unsatisfactory thought or sensation arises there are three outcomes that may follow:

1. It could go away. 
2. It could persist.
3. It could change.

Now, these three outcomes are true regardless of what I desire to occur. That is, unless I decide to change positions, or get up and stop meditating altogether. But then I’m right back where I started, running away from suffering as if in a game of cat and mouse (and of course, I’m the unlucky mouse). But if I resolve to infuse each and every unsatisfactory experience with mindfulness, I will make progress.

After coming to know this simple truth for myself, I made note of it in the form of a “rule” of meditation. The rule is: whatever is presenting itself in the present is exactly what needs my attention in order to make progress. If I ignore the discomfort and try to dwell on something else (e.g. what enlightenment will be like, or what stage comes next, what I want for lunch tomorrow, etc.), progress gets stunted.

My advice to you, oh reader, is to commit yourself to diving in to whatever experience arises in the moment. If you feel edgy, or tired, or angry, or painful, or anxious, or depressed, or lusty, or whatever else, you must continue to pay close attention to the experience in order to make progress. I know it seems counterintuitive to most every other situation you’ve ever found yourself in. Nonetheless, I sincerely encourage you to give it a try. Do not fight. Do not take flight. Stay right where you are give your fullest attention to what is actually occurring in the present and you will surely make progress.

*According to Buddhism, the three primary causes of suffering are greed, aversion, and delusion.

Meditative Progress is Within Reach

I am providing the follow excerpt as encouragement for those of us who meditate not as ordained monks, but as householders…

Though a monastic lifestyle might be more conducive to enlightenment than a busy life within the world, when it comes to individuals rather than models all fixed preconceptions collapse. Some lay people with heavy family and social commitments manage to make such rapid progress that they can give guidance in meditation to earnest monks, and it is not rare at all to find sincere monks deeply committed to the practice who advance slowly and with difficulty. While the monastic life, lived according to the original ideal, may provide the optimal outer conditions for spiritual progress, the actual rate of progress depends on personal effort and on the store of qualities one brings over from previous lives, and often it seems individuals deeply enmeshed in the world are better endowed in both respects than those who enter the Sangha.

 Lifestyles and Spiritual Progress, by Bhikkhu Bodhi

This is not to suggest that the monastic training is irrelevant to the practice of meditation. The monastic setting may provide an optimal setting for progress on the spiritual path. However, as the familiar disclaimer states, individual results may vary. The particular setting of spiritual practice matters less than the traits of the individual, just as with music, or dance, or any other discipline worth developing.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: don’t think you are unable to make progress in your meditation practice simply because you are unable to devote yourself to extended periods of monastic style training. If you wait to begin a practice until the optimal setting becomes available, you will more than likely never begin at all. So, learn to make the most of what you have, and know that real progress is within reach.

 

The Open Enlightenment Project — OpenEnlightenment.org

Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford are of couple of Western Magick practitioners from the UK who have created a website worth mentioning — OpenEnlightenment.org

As their About page states, “Open Enlightenment Project is a project dedicated to the honest and down-to-earth discussion of the very real and natural human phenomenon known as enlightenment.” I have been reading the articles that Alan and Duncan publish on the site since it was first launched. When you visit the site, keep in mind that you won’t find any flowery, hippy-dippy, fluffy, or otherwise new agey spiritual teachings. What you will find, as with Daniel Ingram’s work, are some pretty hard hitting and insanely practical articles that work to quickly enhance the view and practice of those who wish to truly and sincerely “wake up” in this very life.

I invite you to visit OpenEnlightenment.org and let me know what you think. Better yet, let Alan and Duncan know what you think by leaving a comment on their site. But, before you leave a comment, you may want to read their FAQ for Critics.

Karma is not “getting what you deserve.”

“[I]n the Buddha’s teaching, there’s no question of a person’s ‘deserving’ happiness or ‘deserving’ pain. The Buddha simply says that there are actions leading to pleasure and actions leading to pain. Karma is not a respecter of persons; it’s simply an issue of actions and results. Good people may have some bad actions squirreled away in their past. People who seem horrible may have done some wonderful things. You never know. So there’s no question of a person’s deserving or not deserving pleasure or pain. There’s simply the principle that actions have results and that your present experience of pleasure or pain is the combined result of past and present actions. You may have some very unskillful actions in your past, but if you learn to think skillfully when those actions bear fruit in the present, you don’t have to suffer.”

-Thanissaro Bhikkhu, from Head & Heart Together: Bringing Wisdom to the Brahma-viharas.

The Three Characteristics: A Practical Introduction

[I wrote the following article as a submission to the Guest Writings section of the Kenneth Folk Dharma site. Kenneth teaches a model of meditation practice which he calls The Three Speed Transmission, and this article was written to fit that model (hence the references to various “Gears”).]

The Three Characteristics: A Practical Introduction

“Monks, [all phenomena are] impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.” ~The Buddha, from the Pali Canon*

The purpose of the Vipassana (Insight) side of the 1^st Gear of the Three Speed Transmission is to directly apprehend the Three Characteristics of phenomena via one’s direct moment-to-moment experience. The Three Characteristics are Impermanence (Pali: anicca), Suffering (dukkha), and Nonself (anatta). It is easy to contemplate these characteristics in an intellectual way, but experiencing them directly is another thing entirely. The direct apprehension of these characteristics is what leads to swift progress along the path of insight.

What follows are some basic ways in which one may directly apprehend each of the Three Characteristics through the practice of Vipassana meditation:

Impermanence: When one looks at a candle flame, it appears as though it is a separate thing. In actuality, it is constantly burning itself away. There is not one flame that exists from moment to moment. The same is true of the sensations that make up the totality one’s phenomenal experience.

If we pay attention to the activity of breathing, we notice that one moment the belly is rising, and the next it is falling. If we pay close attention to our hands and feet, we notice the quick rise and fall of each tingling sensation (i.e. vibrations). Each pulse, flicker, itch, and subtle movement will be seen to arise and vanish completely many times during each second of observation. Thoughts and mental images suddenly appear, and then vanish as quickly as they came. Everything that can be observed will be seen to arise and then vanish. This is perhaps the simplest way to observe any of the Three Characteristics, so it’s a good place to start.

Suffering: Tere are two simple ways to observe the Suffering characteristic. First, Suffering is said to be concealed by changing in to different postures. For example, if one decides to sit for a long period, they will eventually have to use the bathroom. The discomfort of a full bladder causes one to get up. When we examine our experience we see that we are always changing position to relieve discomfort of some kind. Realizing this, we realize the Suffering Characteristic.

The second way the Suffering Characteristic is observed is to notice how nothing can be held on to. A pleasant mind state arises, and we think, “Yes, this is it! I could stay like this forever.” But the state changes, even if we don’t want it to. In each moment one is either visited by unpleasant circumstances or watching the pleasant circumstances fall away. As painful and frustrating this is to experience, directly apprehending the Suffering Characteristic in this way brings insight.

Nonself: There are two basic ways to observe the characteristic of Nonself. First, as one observes the characteristics of Impermanence and Suffering, the meditator will understand that there is no one in control of what occurs. Thoughts just come and go. Pains and discomforts just happen, without any prior authorization from an “I.” Even the recognition of these processes seems to arise naturally without any prompting. With the realization that no one is running the show, we observe the Nonself Characteristic.

The second way to observe the characteristic of Nonself is through the practice of self-inquiry** (one of my all-time favorite practices). After noticing that no observable phenomena seem to be controlled by a separate observer, the meditator may ask, “Then who/what am I?” By asking, “Who am I?” the meditator begins the active search for a self essence. But s/he will quickly discover that anything that can be observed is by definition NOT an observer. When the sensations of experience that lie previously hidden are revealed, the meditator will continue to apprehend thus: “This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.” The Nonself Characteristic is perhaps the most of important of all three. In the words of the Burmese meditation teacher Sayadaw U Silananda, “No realization of Truth can occur without the knowledge of the anatta (no-soul) nature of things.”***

Conclusion: Working with the Three Characteristics involves more than just thinking about them. Rather, it is by direct apprehending these characteristics that one begins to gain insight into the Ultimate truth of things. In so doing, the meditator working on the 1^st Gear of the Three Speed Transmission will make their way through the stages of the Progress of Insight**** which leads to the attainment of stream entry (sotapanna): the first stage of enlightenment in the Theravada tradition.

* (SN 22:45; III 44-45)

** Self-inquiry is also the practice of the 2^nd Gear (Dwell as the “Witness.”).

*** Sayadaw U Silanadna, No Inner Core: An Introduction to the Doctrine of ANATTA (full PDF download).

**** For more information, see Kenneth’s pages on the Progress of Insight (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five).

No Inner Core

This morning I read a short book by Sayadaw U Silananda called No Inner Core: An Introduction to the Doctrine of ANATTA (available for free in PDF format here). Anatta (e.g. no-self or no-soul) is a teaching of the Buddha that is often misunderstood, and U Silananda does a spectacular job clearing up some common misconceptions. The book is a quick read, and I highly recommend it.

U Silananda teaches the Burmese Theravada style of Buddhism, so his views differ from some of the more well known forms of Buddhism in American (i.e. Zen/Ch’an, Tibetan). He in no way attempts to refute or belittle any other Buddhist traditions, so I think this book is accessible for the general Buddhist community, not just those of the Theravada tradition.

Enjoy!

Staying in the Game, for Better or for Worse.

The common myths about enlightenment/awaking lead us to believe that it happens all at once, in one grand event. We imagine that one day we’ll be sitting full lotus and enlightenment will come upon us like strike of lightning. We may think that after such an experience we will no longer have any problems in our relationships, that our emotions will be perfectly balanced, that we’ll get a brand new “enlightened personality”, and that our existential angst will be completely lifted.

Unfortunately, if this is what you’re expecting you’ll be sorely disappointed. There are moments of deep insight, profound calm, spacious awareness, and a complete lack of suffering… but only moments. You may be wondering how it is I claim to “know” this. For, I’m not a fully enlightened Buddha. I’ve never been on a meditation retreat, and I’m not an authorized dharma teacher. What I do know, however, is that such a mythological enlightenment doesn’t fit within the fundamental View of Buddhism, which is summed up in The Four Seals of the View:

All compounded things are impermanent.
All phenomena are empty, without inherent existence.
All dualistic experience is intrinsically painful.
Nirvana alone is peace, and is beyond concept. [1]

The third seal states that all dualistic experience is intrinsically painful, which may also be read as “all dualistic experience is characteristic of suffering.” What, then, constitutes a dualistic experience? The answer: anything that is not a non-dual experience (more on this a bit later). Basically, every experience or state of consciousness is fleeting (see the first seal). Moments of profound insight and clarity may soon be followed by moments of confusion and disease. In fact, they usually are. All compounded things being impermanent, if it is arising (as in, it’s a change from another kind of experience), it will soon pass away. So, while superlative experiences do occur on the spiritual path, they are only small part of it for most of us. For the majority of people, average every day perception will be the norm, and it would be to our benefit to learn how best to work with it.

So what of this “non-dual” experience? Well, on the one hand, the experience of non-duality is tricky to describe. People tend to think it means an experience of unity, as if one were to merge with or become fully identified with an external object like a tree or sculpture. This is off the mark. Rather, there may come the time where one wake up to the inherent empty wakefulness that is timeless, impersonal (empty in essence), cognizant by nature, and all-pervasive in its capacity. This primordial awareness is our deepest and truest nature, and waking up to this brings a profound certainty of our interconnection with all of life and the universe, as well as the momentary alleviation of the suffering conditioned by duality. There is no subject-object split when this is realized, just pure awareness. This is what Dzogchen teachers call rigpa (meaning “awareness”), what Kagyu teachers refer to as Original Mind, and what is referred to as Buddha Mind by many other Buddhist schools/teachers.

One may ask, “then why not simply wake up to primordial, non-dual awareness and just stay there?” That is easier said than done. Even those who do embark on the path of continuous non-dual awareness teach that no one ever finishes the practice [2]. That’s not to say that the practice cannot be mastered, as it has been by some. I admire the diligence of those practitioners who are able to pull off such a feat. In all honesty, I do not believe that many of us are willing to embark on a journey that takes such unwavering commitment. Even more honestly, I’d be willing to bet that not many of us have actually had true non-dual awakenings.

For those who have directly realized their true nature, however fleeting the experience, there’s an important application waiting to be discovered. Whether one is able to remain in continuous non-dual awareness or not, retreating from life has never been the goal. As my friend Hokai Sobol recently posted at the Dharma Overground:

“Awakening to primordial awareness seems like a good starting point, and finding out that this awareness was never about staying out of the game is the realization.” [3]

In other words, regardless of one’s level of insight, Buddhist practice is first and foremost about staying in the game – for better or for worse.

[1] from Fundamental View by Hokai Sobol, at the Dharma Overground

[2] from Quintessential Dzogchen by Urgyen, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Erik Pema Kunsang, Marcia Binder Schmidt. See the chapters titled Dzogchen Key Points by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and Maintenance by Tsoknyi Rinpoche.

[3] from the thread Dances With No-Wolves: Questions & Comments at Dharma Overground.

Impermanence is a relief!

“Some people think that Buddhists are pessimistic, always talking about death, impermanence and aging. But that is not necessarily true. Impermanence is a relief! I don’t have a BMW today and it is thanks to the impermanence of that fact that I might have one tomorrow. Without impermanence, I am stuck with the non-possession of a BMW, and I can never have one. I might feel severely depressed today and, thanks to impermanence, I might feel great tomorrow. Impermanence is not necessarily bad news; it depends on the way you understand it. Even if today your BMW gets scratched by a vandal, or your best friend lets you down, if you have a view of impermanence, you won’t be so worried.”

~Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche from Buddhism In a Nutshell: The Four Seals of Dharma (Shambhala Sun)

The Raw and Exposed Heart

“Where are you, who are you, where is your heart? If you really look, you won’t find anything tangible and solid. Of course, you might find something very solid if you have a grudge against someone or you have fallen possessively in love. But that is not awakened heart. If you search for awakened heart, if you put your hand through your rib cage and feel for it, there is nothing there except for tenderness. You feel sore and soft, and if you open your eyes to the rest of the world, you feel tremendous sadness. This kind of sadness doesn’t come from being mistreated. You don’t feel sad because someone has insulted you or because you feel impoverished. Rather, this experience of sadness is unconditioned. It occurs because your heart is completely exposed. There is no skin or tissue covering it; it is pure raw meat. Even if a tiny mosquito lands on it, you feel so touched. Your experience is raw and tender and so personal.” ~Chogyam Trungpa, from Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (Shambhala Publications)