71 posts tagged “buddhism”
Thich Nhat Hanh’s 2003 book No Death, No Fear is another in a long series of spiritual classics by the Buddhist monk. I have nothing negative to say about this book and can only offer four passages that show the essence of this book.
There’s a very funny story in the sutras. A woman left a saucepan of milk with her neighbor, saying: “Please keep it for me; I shall come back in two or three days.” There was no refrigeration, so the milk curdled and became a kind of cheese. When the woman came back she said: “Where’s my milk? I left milk behind, not cheese, so this is not my milk here.” The Buddha said that this person had not understood impermanence. Milk will become yogurt or cheese if you leave it for a few days. The person wanted only the milk of five days ago and refused to take the cheese. Do you think that milk and cheese are the same or different? They are neither the same nor different, but it takes several days for the milk to become cheese. With the insight if impermanence we can see the truth about the universe and all phenomena, the true nature of being neither the same nor different. (76)
The impermanence of all things is a critical understanding on one’s spiritual journey. Once a person learns how to look deeply and see the impermanence in everything, the fear and sorrow often associated with death dissipates. Seeing this impermanence also shows one how everything is both real and not real.
When the Buddha was asked, “What is the cause of everything?” he answered with simple words. He said, “This is, because that is.” It means that everything relies on everything else in order to manifest. A flower has to rely on non-flower elements in order to manifest. If you look deeply into the flower, you can recognize non-flower elements. Looking into the flower, you recognize the element sunshine; that is a non-flower element. Without sunshine, a flower cannot manifest. Other elements are essential, such as minerals, soil, the farmer and so on; a multitude of non-flower elements has come together in order to help the flower manifest. (35-36)
Hanh prefers to use the word manifestation instead of creation. Manifestation implies a transition from one form to another, whereas creation indicates something coming from nothing. Mindfulness involves looking at how everything manifests, including issues in both the physical and psychological realms. For example, people who suffer from a victim mentality can often work through their suffering when they realize how their issues are manifested in part by the decisions and choices they make.
Sooner or later the cloud will change into rain or snow or ice. If you look deeply into the rain, you can see the cloud. The cloud is not lost; it is transformed into rain, and the rain is transformed into grass and the grass into cows and then to milk and then into the ice cream you eat. Today if you eat an ice cream, give yourself time to look at the ice cream and say: “Hello, cloud! I recognize you.” By doing that, you have insight and understanding into the real nature of the ice cream and the cloud. You can also see the ocean, the river, the heat, the sun, the grass and the cow in the ice cream. (25-26)
This is an example of how to look mindfully into something. This practice can be done for anything.
We can use an example that is easy to understand, of a tangerine or a durian fruit. If there is a person who has never eaten a tangerine or durian fruit, however many images or metaphors you give him, you cannot describe to him the reality of those fruits. You can only do one thing: give him a direct experience. You cannot say: “Well, the durian is a little like the jackfruit or like a papaya.” You cannot say anything that will describe the experience of a durian fruit. The durian fruit goes beyond all ideas and notions. The same is true of a tangerine. If you have never eaten a tangerine, however much the other person loves you and wants to help you understand what a tangerine tastes like, they will never succeed by describing it. The reality of the tangerine goes beyond ideas. Nirvana is the same; it is the reality that goes beyond ideas. It is because we have ideas about nirvana that we suffer. Direct experience is the only way. (16)
Those of us that have had spiritual and mystical experiences know how difficult it is to describe them to non-spiritual people. Heck, it is hard for even spiritual people to convey the experience to other spiritual people. Spiritual and mystical encounters go beyond ideas and notions, including logic. This is why arguing about spirituality with a logician is fruitless and is often only an exercise in stroking egos.
However, this talk of direct experience goes beyond religion and spirituality. For example, my son and I can sit next to each other on the couch and look at the same cup sitting on a table and be looking at both the same cup and a different cup. This is because our experiences, although the same regarding the general viewing of a cup, are also different. Not only do we see the cup from different angles, but we also bring different biological, psychological, social, and spiritual frameworks to the cup viewing. We can also consider the properties of the cup itself: how the light hitting the cup is constantly changing, how the material that the cup itself is made from is slowly changing, the changing properties of the table it is sitting on, etc. It is impossible for him to see the cup as I do and vice-versa. It is also impossible for either one of us to see the cup the same as the moment in the time that just passed. Since we are constantly seeing different cups, it is impossible to either prove or disprove our experience or the existence of the cup itself.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s books constantly earn my coveted 5-Star Rating because they cultivate this type of thought and reflection.
Conviction is a person's highest wealth.
Dhamma, when well-practiced, brings bliss.
Truth is the highest of savors.
Living with discernment, one's life is called best.Sutta Nipāta 1.184
What is the stupidest thing you have ever done?
Submitted by Southernbelle.
I have done many things that one could label stupid. Rather than view them as merely stupid, I instead view them as learning experiences. I pull whatever lessons and teachings from these experiences, apply them to my being, and let go of any negative emotions associated with these experiences. Doing so allows me to let them go to the past, which breaks any attachments I once had with them. Thus, I free myself from the past and all of the pain I once assigned to it.
They do not lament over the past,
they yearn not for what is to come,
they maintain themselves in the present,
thus their complexion is serene.Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.10
Whose mind is like rock, steady, unmoved,
dispassionate for things that spark passion,
unangered by things that spark anger:
When one's mind is developed like this,
from where can there come suffering & stress?Udāna 4.34
Mindfulness achieved through study and meditation has helped me develop a mind like this.
Thoroughly understanding the Dhamma
and freed from longing through insight,
the wise one rid of all desire
is calm as a pool unstirred by wind.Itivuttaka 3.92
Through study and meditation one can see things for what they are, thus removing the grip and suffering caused by desire.
Just as rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,
so passion penetrates an undeveloped mind.Dhammapada 1.13
Long ago, I learned the dangers of passion running rampant on one's being. I used to think controlling the passion was the answer. However, this route only led to internal conflict. What I have learned is to meditate on the passion to recognize and understand it. The meditation tempers the heat of passion, allowing the coolness of logic and reason to create a warm balance.
When things become manifest
To the ardent meditating brahmin,
All one's doubts then vanish since one understands
Each thing along with its cause.Udāna 1.1
One has to look and see before one can understand. However, one has to learn how to look and seek first. Meditation and study help a person learn to look and see.
Once you have understanding, you can see things in their actuality. This does away with all kinds of calamities: fear, confusion, and doubt are just a few.
Deepak Chopra’s 2007 book Buddha is a fictional account of the historical Buddha’s personal formation. Chopra sectioned Buddha’s life into three phases: Siddhartha the prince, Gautama the monk, and finally the enlightened Buddha. Chopra wanted to write a book to help counteract all of the miracles and wonders attached throughout the ages to Buddha’s story. The essence of who the awakened one (the meaning of the word Buddha) was is the Chopra wanted to show in this book.
Before we could even begin to see the awakened one, a history of Buddha’s formation as Siddhartha had to be understood. Comprising over 50% of the book, this history took us from Buddha’s birth to his decision to leave his father’s palace as a young married prince. This section was grueling to read because much of it involved scheming and fighting involving Siddhartha, his father the king, a lower caste friend, and a rival cousin. It was interesting to see the formation in this stage, however, because of examples like Chopra’s description of Siddhartha’s first experience of suffering: witnessing the mutilation of earthworms underneath a plow.
The power in Chopra’s account of Buddha’s formation came during the Gautama phase. A young prince left the comfort of home and began the harsh life of asceticism. Gautama wandered in the forest looking for teachers and dharmas. His mind was a sponge and soaked up any teaching he could find. This asceticism also led to zealotry, as Gautama went to the extremes to avoid attachments.
At first Gautama was worried that he was indulging himself, because no matter how austere the conditions, he love the life of austerity. Perhaps too much. He tried sitting in the snow for hours to see if he could make his body hurt so much that it would give up all hopes for pleasure. Day after day he repeated this, and then a miracle happened. Through the heavy falling snow he saw a stranger walking toward him. At first he was only a blurred dark shadow against the whiteness, but as came nearer, Gautama saw that it was not a man who had braved the storm but the god Krishna. He had the most serene and beautiful face; his skin was deep blue-purple that was all but black. (203)
This life of harsh self-denial brought Gautama to the brink of death, where he was discovered by a small girl who helped him back to health. Gautama the monk was transformed into the compassionate one known as Buddha. At this point, Buddha was able to begin a life of teaching how we all can live peacefully and mindfully with both our neighbors and ourselves.
Chopra’s fictional account of Buddha’s formation was, in my opinion, a significant contribution to his legacy. Some would say this book is not as good as Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. I would say that Chopra’s book explored different angles of Buddha’s life and teaching and it should not be compared on the same plane as Siddhartha.
Minneapolis’ own Steve Hagen wrote Buddhism Plain & Simple in 1997 to provide an overview of the religion that was free of “the fetters and cultural trappings that have accumulated over twenty-five centuries” (5). Buddhism Plain & Simple did live up to its name. Throughout the book, Hagen made it evident that Buddhism is about being awake in the present moment. Hagen said, “Our journey must be two awaken here and now, to awaken to here and now. To be fully alive, we must be fully present” (19). To do this, Hagen examined the human situation of suffering, gave ways to wake up, and showed the benefits of having a free mind.
To be awake is to see reality as a whole in the present sense. Seeing the wholeness of reality releases us from living by in the bondage of duality. Here is an example of this thinking:
Just as we conceive of a self and counter this notion with a non-self, so also are we taken in by another set of opposing concepts—existence and non-existence. We get repeatedly caught in this duality, unwilling to see that, like self and not-self, both are phantoms created by consciousness. These concepts (like any concept) simply don’t capture Reality. (135)
When we are caught up in concepts, we end up not seeing reality. Instead, we cling to our notions of what we think is truth. This clinging is a source of suffering.
This picture, similar to one like it on page 144, is a visual lesson in clinging to notions. Is the line concave or convex? As drawn, someone may believe he or she is justified in saying it is concave. However, if you flip the drawing 180°, it is then convex. If we endorse one position, we are leaving out the other.
The awakened person sees it as neither concave nor convex. This position may be uncomfortable because it takes one out of the seemingly comfortable realm of duality and into the ambiguous world of wholeness. At first, it may seem unsettling to live in a world of gray, a place where you cannot categorize and analyze. However, to be awake in the present moment’s reality is to see the world mindfully. After living mindfully, one experiences both enlightenment and peace.
Speaking of mindfulness brings us to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, to which Hagen referenced a few times in this book. Here is an example of mindfully looking at the very book I am writing about in this review.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the prominent Vietnamese Zen master, would remind us that this book is not merely this book, it is the sun as well. After all, if not for the sun, trees would not grow to produce the pulp to make paper. And we cannot forget Ts’ai Lun, who invented paper in the second century, or Johann Gutenberg, who found a way to apply movable type to a printing press in the fifteenth century, or the teams of people who invented and programmed my computer, or the people who taught their teachers.
And intermixed with the trees and the sun and creative human minds are other things. We cannot ignore language, time, soil, plants, animals, emotions, or thoughts. We cannot forget the rain, or even the stars, or the galaxies of stars. Indeed, there is nothing we can point to, or even imagine, that does not find its way into this book either by thought or material.
So, what is what we call “book”? (72-73)
