Towards the easy life
George G Clark, 17 December 2007
The mildly blue feeling evaporated as I took the refuse bucket to the back gate and felt the frozen grass crackling beneath my feet. Then there was the low slung sun spreading its early redness around the garden. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive[1]. What was going on in my head?
What are the causes and conditions that promote peace of mind and a sense of ease?.
The key thing is freedom from ego. The I-Me-Mine thinking is dropped. Thoughts about the past and future are also dropped. And what is lost is the illusion of an individuated self located in a particular place and time.
This leads to a freedom from emotions (eg craving or aversion). When there is no self there is nothing for emotions to stick to. This also means that there is no restlessness or anxiety, no sloth or torpor, and no doubt[2]. This means that consciousness is unconstrained by cultural causes and conditions and functions naturally in its pure form.
And the good news is that pure consciousness is marked by Oneness, Interbeing and thus compassion. Where there is no self there is also no other – there is only the oneness which is everything. Everything is connected to everything else. Such at least is the testimony of the wise people from many times and places[3]. It is also the testimony of people gifted with the power of one-pointed concentration (eg top ranking scientists, athletes, creative artists) and even of ordinary housekeepers putting out the rubbish.
How might we win freedom from the self and its emotions?
The simple answer is by being aware of what is going on in the mind[4]. There are two sides to this.
On the one hand you can notice what goes on already in your life – those fleeting moments or peace and ease while you mindfully put out the rubbish or get absorbed in a beautiful sunrise. Notice, value and label such moments and they will grow.
On the other hand you can develop a formal meditation practice[5]. This involves making time to lay down your burdens and to sit in stillness. There are various 'schools' of meditation. The most cut back version comes from Dogen Zenji (1200-1253[6]) – "just sit" – everything follows from that – you learn to "drop off body and mind".
The options can run in parallel and feed each other– the task is to tame and train the mind[7]. When you have detoxified your own mind then you will inevitably be a force for true peace in the world. Novel forms of engagement and social activism appear[8]. With practice many things are possible.
[1] William Wordsworth http://www.bartleby.com/100/337.108.html
[2] The five hindrances to meditation as listed by the Buddha are – craving, aversion, anxiety and restlessness, sloth and torpor, and doubt. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel026.html
[3] See Aldous Huxley (1945) the Perennial Philosophy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perennial_Philosophy
[4] The practice is called Mindfulness (Vipassana) – for an easy intro see http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php
[5] Jon Kabat-Zinn offers instruction in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) suited to people of Western cultures. This has been taken up by mainstream medicine. http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php
[8] Thich Nhat Hahn, the Vietnamese Zen Master, has practiced and written extensively about Engaged Buddhism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Nhat_Hanh and poignantly at http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/engaged_buddhism.htm
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