For and against

"If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease".

(Sent-ts'an, c. 700CE)

... more

Evolutionary psychology is concerned with the adaptive problems early humans faced in ancestral human environments, the nature of the psychological mechanisms natural selection shaped to deal with those ancient problems, and the ability of the resulting evolved psychological mechanisms to deal with the problems people face in the modern world.



Evolutionary psychology is currently advancing our understanding of altruism, moral behavior, family violence, sexual aggression, warfare, aesthetics, the nature of language, and gender differences in mate choice and perception. It is helping us understand the relationships between cognitive science, developmental psychology, behavior genetics, personality, and social psychology.

... more

... wikipedia

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow | Video on TED.com

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow | Video on TED.com

22. Wilderness. Sandburg, Carl. 1918. Cornhuskers

22. Wilderness. Sandburg, Carl. 1918. Cornhuskers: "Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918.

22. Wilderness"

Wes Nisker


Dharma Teacher and stand up comic (biology flavour)

Audio talks at http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/191/

Rational unpicked

George G Clark, 20 November 2009

I get the jitters at the idea of not being ‘rational’. This needs unpicking.

I am assuming that:

conscious = rational and
unconscious = irrational.

But we have the option of thinking of ‘causes and conditions’. These undercut ‘rationality’.

We need not assume ‘magic’ in terms of brain functioning: there are causes for all mental processes - and they are usually more multi-faced than conscious rationality supposes.

There is thus the possibility of unpicking as follows:

conscious = linear processing (bracketed reductionist) (the single bottom line) and
unconscious = parallel processing (integrated holistic) (the multiple lines of interaction)

But I still get the jitters!

long-lie

In part praise of the long lie -

The invisible labour of mystical eschatologists

George G Clark, 16 November 2009

‘Flatbacking’ involves meditation in the horizontal position before getting out of bed. Whilst so engaged this morning there was a passing feeling to write a one-pager in praise of the long lie.

The long lie gets a bad press from most workaholic sources - “the devil finds work for idle hands to do”. But there are few absolutes in this life. In trying to muster arguments for and against the long lie it becomes clear that context is everything.

I Googled “in praise of the long lie” and came quickly to the blog^[1] of a high-ranking Anglican priest - James Woodward. He confesses that, “I like lots of pillows and, surrounded by books, there is nothing better than a large jug of coffee tucked in under the sheets and ignoring the world outside. Retreat and escape from the noise and demands of the world.” He concludes by saying, “A long lie in – we all need and deserve one!!”

Elsewhere on his blog Father Woodward mentions modernity’s eschatological crisis. So I looked up “eschatology”. It is the branch of theology that is concerned with the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. Theologians reckon that all people need an eschatology so as to feel as if they exist in a ‘sensible’ space and time.

Most of the ancient eschatologies deal with the end of the world and of time itself. They are often taken literally as physical and material catastrophes and thus as a source of much fear and trembling. It is thus heartening to note that, in mysticism, the phrase refers metaphorically to (a) the end of ordinary reality and (b) reunion with the Divine.

In light of the above it is perhaps useful to view flatbacking meditation as a particular variety of long lie. Variations can be arranged on a continuum ranging between the sensuous and self indulgent at the secular end (sybaritic) and the psychological and ‘self’ observant at the spiritual end (mystical).

In both cases attention is grabbed by thoughts, feelings and emotions that emerge mostly from the unconscious and under their own steam. In the sybaritic case most of the mental stuff is related to the past and future and the task is to embrace the pleasant daydreams and to reject the unpleasant nightmares.

In the mystical case the task, at least initially, is to focus attention on the present moment (eg by being aware of the body and the breathing) such that the peace that underlies the mental chatter might be apprehended. This is the legendary ‘peace that passes all understanding’. By taking thought we can end ordinary reality and be reunited with the divine. Still the chatter, know the peace.

I am attracted to an insight from Victor Hugo, “A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labour and there is an invisible labour.”  The sybaritic long lie involves a holiday from labour and a wallowing in illusory dreams of the past and future - it involves invisible escapism. On the other hand mystical flatbacking involves the toughest work there is - to turn your mind around and know the illusory nature of the ego - it involves invisible labour.

So let us raise our glasses

In praise of flatbacking and

the invisible labour of mystical eschatologists

 

---

^[1] http://jameswoodward.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/in-praise-of-the-long-lie-in/

 

eschatology:

from Gk. eskhatos "last, furthest, remote" (from ex "out of") + -logia "a speaking" (in a certain manner). In theology, the study of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell.

http://tinyurl.com/2cwhy6

"Approximately 4,126,000,000 people have died during this century from all causes. If man-made megadeaths account for 185 million of them, then one out of every 22 (or 4.5%) human deaths during the 20th Century have been caused by fellow humans." http://tiny.cc/deaths

Enculturation and the colonised mind.

The essence of elegant power and hegemony is to channel the mind set of the masses (and their sub groups) along ‘acceptable’ lines. (eg the brutal rules that governed the lives of officers, midshipmen and seamen in Nelson’s navy - complete with press gangs and flogging).

Change is inevitable

George G Clark, 09 November 2009

Change is inevitable. The issue is the extent to which human agency can ensure change for the better at local through to global level.

Change for the better. Better in what way, for whom, and who decides?

Change can be in terms of many factors eg social, technological, environmental, economic, political, legal and spiritual.

Change can be best directed when the leadership, management and administration (bureaucracy) is informed by strategy, tactics and operations (policies, programmes, plans and processes) that ensure the efficient and effective use of resources and of science and technology in economic ways that are both socially just and environmentally friendly.

Change inevitably involves differences of opinion and thus schisms. Agents of change (shakers and movers at all levels) need conflict resolution skills and the ability and willingness to see a bigger picture and to talk to each other as part of a multi-stakeholder process!

 

causes and conditions.

Mental stuff has its causes and conditions. They are rooted in nature, nurture and chance.

There are no unembodied truths, just the hegemonic ranting of silvertongue devils. Discuss!

Life stages and motivations

George G Clark, 4 November 2009

As I move from cradle to grave my motivations change. I assume it is the same with most other people. The following matrix offers a map that helps me (and thus perhaps you) to make sense of what is going on.

The matrix draws loosely on Hindu typologies with the four life stages crossed with the four main types of motivations. The typologies are more or less self-evident but they are described elsewhere.

Note that the axes have a very loose time dimension with a shift from (1) students motivated by pleasure through (2) householders motivated by success (wealth, fame and power), and (3) retirees motivated by duty (to your community and to your higher Self) and then to (4) saints motivated by liberation (and the fearless peace that passes all rational understanding).

		Motivations
		Pleasure	Success	Duty	Liberation
Life stages	student	1
	householder		2
	retiree			3
	saint				4

 

·         In the modern, materialist world few people advance beyond seeking pleasure and success as householders.

·         The path of desire for pleasure and success is mainly for the student and the householder.

·         The path of renunciation involves duty and liberation and is mainly for the retiree and the saint.

·         In the Hindu tradition the retiree is also called a forest dweller. For such people pleasure and success are seen as too trivial to satisfy their total nature. They thus rest in silence and solitude so as to dutifully make the inward journey and thus turn their minds around.

·         The saints have turned their minds around. They neither hate nor love anything. Time and place have lost their hold. “The mere presence of these (people) in a society to which they no longer belong, by its affirmation of ultimate values, affects all values … the super-social and anonymous life of the truly poor person who voluntarily relinquishes all obligations and all rights, represents (Hindu society’s) quintessence.” Coomaraswami (1957)

 

The sixteen boxes make divisions and edges that are sharper and clearer than my experience of life to date. I have been a lifelong student and never married or had children. I have lived in seven different countries where hedonism and workaholism were close companions and a source of much pleasure and success. I am now 60 years old and have been semi-retired for ten years. These days I reckon myself to be world weary but reasonably motivated to dutifully seek liberation by treading the path of renunciation.

 

So there are rough edges but the map helps me to make some sense of what goes on in my head as I move from cradle to grave. How about you?

 

 

 

 

What people want

George G Clark, 04 November 2009

Different people want different things, and patterns change with age and experience. By mapping the most usual patterns we can figure our own present and possible future patterns^[1].

So what do people want? Hinduism recognises four great aims - pleasure, worldly success (wealth, fame and power), dutifulness to society, and liberation. The first two involve satisfying selfish desires and the second two involve moving beyond selfish desire.

There is nothing ‘wrong’ with any of these and it is possible (if unusual) to be a selfish pleasure seeker who dies happy and content. Many people, however, eventually weary of chasing fleeting pleasures and worldly success. They feel, often in mid life, as if there must be more to being human than this. There can then be despair (the legendary existential crisis!) and a change of direction from the path of desire to the path of renunciation.

Note that the path of renunciation has two variations - (a) a push away from ‘lesser’ things (the legendary world weariness) and (b) a pull towards ‘higher’ things. And there are two paths on the road to higher things - (a) selfless service to the community (duty beyond the call of the selfish ego) and (b) retreat from attachment to worldy stuff and thus, through stillness, to spiritual liberation.

 

“Pleasure is not wicked but it is too trivial to satisfy one’s total nature.” Smith (p14)

“The glamour of yesterday I have come to see as tinsel.” Anon

“ Wealth, fame and power - you can’t take it with you.” Anon

“The guiding principle is not to turn from desire until desire turns from you.” Smith (p17)

“When they find themselves crying ‘Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!’ it may occur to them that the problem stems from the smallness of the self they have been scrambling to serve.” Smith (p18)

“There comes a time when one asks even of Shakespeare, even of Beethoven, is this all?” Aldous Huxley

“What if the interests of the self were expanded to the point of approximating a God’s eye view of humanity?” Smith (p23)

“Detachment from the finite self or attachment to the whole of things - we can state the phenomenon either positively or negatively. When it occurs, life is lifted above the possibility of frustration and above ennui.” Smith (p240

“Such power as I possess for working in the political field has derived from my experiments in the spiritual field.” Gandhi

 

So - where would you pinpoint yourself on the map?

What do you want?

 

---

^[1] This note draws heavily on Huston Smith (1991) “The World Religions - Our Great Wisdom Traditions.” ISBN 0062508113

Rise out of the bog

George G Clark, 2 November 2009

Today there is a feeling of being bogged down, of not seeing the big picture. But the big picture has at least two dimensions - intellectual (objective knowing) and intuitive (subjective feeling).

Think of biogeochemical cycles[1] - eg for water, carbon, nitrogen, etc. These restless flows of stuff can be intellectually studied but they can also be emotionally appreciated. They can be talked about using the cold 'it' language of science but they can also resonate numinously with 'intimations of immortality' and thus infuse the soul with the hallowed sense of Oneness. The 'interconnectedness' of Ecology sits easily with the 'interbeing' of Buddhism.

The other day, while passing some robustly healthy potato stems and leaves, there was a sudden, if brief, burst of numinous wonder. There was a sense of awe at the plant process of sucking in air, water and dung and using the energy of sunlight to transform them into roots, stems, and leaves; and then into flowers and fruits with seeds. And all around were other plants working their variations on the theme. Restless, dynamic churn in a constantly evolving complex system that had no boss or blueprint. An impression was made and it stuck.

Recalling the insight helps me rise out of the bog.

 

---

[1]  "Although the Earth constantly receives more light from the sun, it has only the chemicals from which it originally formed ... Because chemicals operate on a closed system and cannot be lost and replenished the way energy can, these chemicals must be recycled throughout all of Earth's processes that use those chemicals or elements. These cycles include both the living biosphere and the nonliving lithosphere (land), atmosphere (air), and hydrosphere (water)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogeochemical_cycles

Strategies of Conflict Resolution

Strategies of Conflict Resolution: "A popular way of describing conflict resolution strategies is in terms of winning and losing"

Donald Rothberg on KenWilber

Laing quotes

R. D. Laing - Scottish Zen Psychiatrist  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_D_Laing

 

"From the moment of birth, when the stone-age baby confronts the twentieth-century mother, the baby is subjected to these forces of violence, called love, as its mother and father have been, and their parents and their parents before them. These forces are mainly concerned with destroying most of its potentialities. This enterprise is on the whole successful."

 

"Insanity: a perfectly rational adjustment to the insane world."

 

"Normality highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps 100, 000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years."

 

"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds."

 

"A child born today in the United Kingdom stands a ten times greater chance of being admitted to a mental hospital than to a university ... This can be taken as an indication that we are driving our children mad more effectively than we are genuinely educating them. Perhaps it is our way of educating them that is driving them mad."

 

A crisis of perception

Dr Deepak Chopra explains how the environmental crisis directly challenges the way humanity perceives reality. Science has spent hundreds of years making distinctions that don’t really exist. As a result, we think of ourselves as separate from the environment. The reality, he explains, is that we humans are an integral part of the environment – and that the environment is part of us.

Watch the short video

Not making chutney

George G Clark, 30 September 2009

This morning there are no urgent calls on my time so I am free to do whatever 'I' want. But this can be viewed as problematic as there is presently a lack of clarity about who 'I' am let alone what 'I' want. The following thought train was set in motion by the quote at the bottom of the page.

Words and concepts are not subtle enough to capture the constant flow of nuances that are thought and felt; but, at the moment, the territory to be mapped links to 'world weary', 'burn out', 'depression' and 'low self esteem'[1]. Google and Wikipedia offer a broad range of wordy, conceptual unpackings that have their uses: but these lead to 'knowing about' rather than to 'first hand knowing' - to intellectuality rather than to intuition - to head stuff rather than to heart stuff.

The goal of first hand knowing is intuitive and subjective in-sight rather than what might be called objective, intellectual out-sight. Most of us are familiar with the intellectual out-sights that populate upfront consciousness and, at a push, we can 'explain' them in some quasi-reasonable manner. So how might we 'explain' intuitive insight? Is it possible to develop an objective, intellectual outsight regarding subjective, intuitive insight?

Yes. And there is no need to invoke mumbo jumbo or magic. The unconscious has its causes and conditions rooted in nature, nurture and chance. And there is constant flux. And there is some room for manoeuvre. By using the heart/mind (conscious and unconscious) this way rather than that your mental state will move in this direction rather than that.

The task is to move to non-egoic mental states that are beyond space and time. This will allow (a) moving beyond the suffering that links to egoic concerns that are rooted in the past and future, and thus (b) first hand knowing of the peace that passes all understanding.

Intuitive in-sight emerges from the practice of stillness such that there is intimate awareness of what the heart/mind gets up to. There is then (a) a letting go of the illusion of individuality and permanence and (b) a manifestation of the ever-present real reality of interconnected Oneness.

The issue has been alive for a long time:

What Really Matters The Buddha refused to deal with those things that don't lead to the extinction of dukkha (suffering). He didn't discuss them. Take the question of whether or not there is rebirth after death. What is reborn? How is it reborn? What is its "karmic inheritance"? These questions don't aim at the extinction of dukkha. That being so, they are not the Buddha's teaching nor are they connected with it. They don't lie within the range of Buddhism. Also, the one who asks about such matters has no choice but to believe indiscriminately any answer that's given, because the one who answers won't be able to produce any proofs and will just be speaking according to his own memory and feeling. The listener can't see for himself and consequently must blindly believe the other's words. Little by little the subject strays from dharma until it becomes something else altogether, unconnected with the extinction of dukkha. - Buddhadasa Bhikkhu[2] from "A Single Handful[3]," Tricycle Winter 1996

 

SO - I use my free time being objectively intellectual about subjective intuition. There is the option of making chutney!

---

[1] A neurotic nihilist living in an existential vacuum!

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhadasa

[3] http://www.tricycle.com/30september2009

Money-rich, time-poor

George G Clark, 25 September 2009

There has been much in the news about big time bankers with their bounteous bonuses. Many are said to be 'money-rich but time-poor'. The phrase suggests a thought provoking set of four categories related to the work-life balance. Some initial, gut-reaction thoughts are listed below:

Money-rich, time-poor - Workaholic control freak bosses and factory line workers who are dedicated to work to support their doing and having: they are wage slaves operating in institutionalised hierarchies.

"The devil finds work for idle hands to do."

Money-poor, time-rich - Lazy, work-shy hippies and artists and craftsmen who appreciate leisure and just being: they are usually autonomous, self-employed and a bit anarchic. This group also includes the underemployed and the unemployed.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Money-rich, time rich - Those with inherited wealth and those in well funded retirement. Also those who win the lottery and give up their jobs.

The idle rich.

Money-poor, time-poor - Those in cheap-labour sweatshops.

The working poor.

Some related articles on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_ethic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workaholic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_aversion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work-life_balance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money-rich,_time-poor

let-slip-from-mind

let slip from mind

George G Clark, 14 September 2009

If there is a real ten-ton truck careering down the hill then step out of its way. If you are imagining a ten-ton truck careering down the hill then you can safely ignore it and let it slip from mind.

To change the metaphor, think of a flight simulator and a real plane. The real plane has to be carefully returned to earth before you can safely switch it off: but you can switch off the simulator at any time and walk away - you can let it slip from mind.

So - there are real ten-ton trucks; but less than we commonly suppose! Most often we have the option to withdraw attention from the imagined past and future and to be at peace in the reality of the present moment.  So why do we routinely ignore the option?

Is it because between birth and death we are (a) obliged to meet our essential basic needs and (b) urged to indulge in many extra fads and fashions? To most of us the extremes are undesirable ie joyless, ascetic renunciation at one end, and rampant, frivolous consumerism at the other. So how do we decide where to strike the balance?

It has a lot to do with social programming - but this is not carved in stone! It is an ongoing process that drives and is driven by internal and external forces. And there is some freedom to thoughtfully choose this rather than that.

So do you feel called to let slip from mind the imaginary ten-ton trucks that appear in your fad and fashion simulator? What matters in your life - to what should you give mind space - what is really real?

We don't have to let go, we simply have to not hold on.
Joseph Goldstein

entrepreneurs rejuvenate the human condition?

George G Clark, 11 September 2009

A BBC video clip[1] suggests that the further development of the planet might be driven in part by fire in the bellies of young entrepreneurs[2]. These are the shakers and movers with the get up and go that is needed to promote change for the better. But there is always the danger that there will not be enough of them and that many will burn out. So - what sparks the fires, what fuels them, and how brightly should they burn?

The simple answer is that there is no simple answer! Entrepreneurial priorities vary with context and that is constantly changing. And appreciation of context depends on the breadth and depth of the appreciator's point of view. Gloriously expansive viewpoints now exist[3] - they range from quantum to cosmic levels and attempt to deal in an integrated way with issues in themes such as the social, technological, environmental, economic, political, legal and spiritual[4].

From my own point of view the raging fire in the belly that drove my early multi-tasking as a social entrepreneur[5] is now a mild, mature glow in the unconscious. I prefer doing only one thing at a time - and with regular intervals for time out. Should this be viewed as (a) pathological and regressive or (b) a natural evolution towards a long-established pattern of social and spiritual entrepreneurship that embraces the transpersonal and the transcendent?[6] What place therefore for older heads in the grander scheme of things? In rejuvenating the economy and the human condition what might be the optimal mix for youthful, raging fires as against mature, relaxed glows?

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change[7].

A spiritual entrepreneur is someone who recognises and seeks to address a spiritual challenge (personal or cultural): they use entrepreneurial principles to mobilise growth in the breadth and depth of spiritual knowledge, speech and action that increases happiness, peace, and compassionate justice.

---

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8249760.stm

[2] the video relates to business entrepreneurs, but there are social and spiritual variations on the theme

[3] see for example the works of Fritjof Capra and of Ken Wilber

[4] STEEPLeS

[5] the youthful urge was to discover better ways to be human

[6] most cultural traditions recognise stages on the path from cradle to grave

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneur

Target Essay: Robert A.F. Thurman Professor of Buddhism, Columbia University

heart/mind horticulturists

George G Clark, 04 September 2009

Some people are more concerned than others about the inner workings of their hearts and minds. The concern can take many forms: we can think of heart/mind horticulturists, farmers, engineers, doctors and even policemen. Note that the images transform radically when concern shifts from one's own heart/mind to those of other people.

It is useful to split heart/mind concerns into secular and sacred varieties. There are overlaps between them (notably transpersonal psychology) but they help to map the territory.

On the secular side are the so-called neutral observers. These include psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychologists, the less formal counselors, and the informal, everyday, wise friends. Here the main concern is with having a 'normal' and 'well adjusted' heart/mind such that you do not rock too many boats and thus disturb the status quo. Being normal is thought to be good for you personally and for society at large; it involves having a secure sense of self.

On the sacred side there are two main branches, the religious and the spiritual. The religious branch is often ritualised and bureaucratised and closely linked to the secular concept of being a normal and good citizen who knows their place and who is willing to stay in it. The spiritual branch, by way of contrast, embraces the abnormal and transcendent.

The spiritual branch is radical in pointing to uncommon sense and to counterintuitive appreciations of the heart/mind. Being radical in this way involves mind training through discipline and meditation. In its extreme form it might involve enclosure in a monastic setting or seclusion in ascetic retreat; in its everyday form it might involve belonging to a community of like-minded souls. Being abnormal in this way is thought to be excellent for you personally and for society at large. It involves cultivating stillness such that the chatterbox mind is calmed and clarity and peace of heart/mind results. It involves seeing through the illusion of an individuated and abiding 'self'.

The sacred and secular varieties of concern might thus be seen as irreconcilable. But there are common features. Both are based on the idea that 'reality' is not what it seems. An individual's reality is heart/mind-made and is due to a unique set of causes and conditions that come in part from nature and in part from nurture. By paying attention to what goes on in your heart/mind it becomes possible to transform reality as you know it. It is never too late to change your mind!

But, as we noted above, some people are more concerned than others about the inner workings of their hearts and minds. What chance (a) that the key global opinion leaders and decision makers are among the concerned, (b) that they might change their view of reality, and thus (c) that we move towards a more socially just, peaceful and environmentally sustainable future? In short, what chance of heart/mind horticulturists having the upper hand?

"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed."
From the preamble of UNESCO's Constitution

 

 

dumbstruck dharma dabbling dilettante

George G Clark, 31 August 2009

Passing thought - dharma teachers, at least some of the time, will be playing a role rather than being totally genuine. Does this matter?

I extrapolate from my own experience of snapping into being Mr Clark the Science Teacher when stepping into school after a long summer holiday. After many years playing the part it came easily - but I knew it was not the real me. My self-image was as an aspiring, spiritual seeker rather than as an established, reductionist  brainwasher.

But there are many tales[1] of dharma teachers finding enlightenment and then losing it again. It would appear that there are no existential safe havens - other perhaps than those that embrace change and impermanence. But the embracing has to be heartfelt. Intellectual understanding is not enough.

I have 'known' for many years that the only constant thing is change and the only certainty is doubt but this did not prevent me seeking a solid viewpoint and worldview. As a spiritual seeker I was a dabbling dilettante.

It is thus perhaps worth noting that I have recently become acutely aware of the parallels between scientific and spiritual ways of knowing. Especially about particular flowers in the garden. Botanically I note their sepals, petals and reproductive bits and I appreciate how these ensure the pollination that is but one stage in a vast life cycle. But, beyond the botany, I am also dumbstruck by the notion that each species is a vibrant example of the life force converting air, sunshine and dung into impossibly lush vegetation, stunning floral displays, and emanating oxygen as a by product! It is awe-full and wonder-full.

So the dabbling dilettante is dumbstruck and begins to get real through appreciating that 'the reality that can be described is not the real reality'. There is a new humility and a sometimes heartfelt appreciation that knowledge (science) is about 'the best working hypothesis in the light of evidence presently available' ie it is not about a 'truth' that is out there.

The humility links to being dumbstruck. 'Those who know do not speak'. All the mystic traditions agree that reality is un-speakable but yet that it is 'knowable' by those minds that are suitably in tune. And this un-speakable knowing is beyond the grasp of linear language: it is all pervading and numinous; it is rooted in the Oneness. Words cannot do it justice.

So how might we do it justice? 'Be still and know.' Withdraw the tentacles that flail in second hand time. The chatterbox mind stirs up the mental mud - be still and let it settle.

For details on how, consult a dharma teacher. Even when flawed they can still offer assistance to spiritual seekers who would be more than dumbstruck dharma dabbling dilettantes!

"Times of great wisdom, deep compassion, and a real knowing of freedom alternate with periods of fear, confusion, neurosis and struggle. Most teachers will readily admit this truth." (Jack Kornfield (2000))

 

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[1] see Jack Kornfield (2000) "After the Ecstasy the Laundry"; isbn 0712606580

Meditation/Psychology - Jack Kornfield

Meditation/Psychology - Jack Kornfield: "Even the Best Meditators Have Old Wounds to Heal"

right speech

Right Speech - Samma Vacca
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
http://www.audiodharma.org/documents/paramis/RightSpeech.html

 

The Buddha divides right speech into four components: abstaining from false speech, abstaining from slanderous speech, abstaining from harsh speech, and abstaining from idle chatter.

 
Because the effects of speech are not as immediately evident as those of bodily action, its importance and potential is easily overlooked. But a little reflection will show that speech and its offshoot, the written word, can have enormous consequences for good or for harm.

 
In fact, whereas for beings such as animals who live at the preverbal level physical action is of dominant concern, for humans immersed in verbal communication speech gains the ascendancy. Speech can break lives, create enemies, and start wars, or it can give wisdom, heal divisions, and create peace. This has always been so, yet in the modern age the positive and negative potentials of speech have been vastly multiplied by the tremendous increase in the means, speed, and range of communications.

 
The capacity for verbal expression, oral and written, has often been regarded as the distinguishing mark of the human species. From this we can appreciate the need to make this capacity the means to human excellence rather than, as too often has been the case, the sign of human degradation.

six perfections

Those who are generous, moral and patient find it easier to make the effort needed for meditation and to be wise.

cool dude with good thoughts

Urge to change the mind frame. The idea relates to the witness that notices. This is the cool dude; the objective scientist who observes and who does not judge. Stuff turns up in mind - this is outwith conscious control. Let it come. Notice it and let it go.

I am attracted to the notion of being a cool dude but I am presently far from that ideal. Stray thoughts can really infest the attention centre where they are closely wound together with feelings and emotions that have roots in who knows what earlier causes and conditions. There could be a systematic list of the main topics that cause distress. But that would be too scientific and intellectual. Rather than conquer them one at a time there is the notion of getting behind the general principle and cutting off the process at its roots.

 
Thich Nhat Hahn has the notion of watering seeds. Do not water the bad ones but do water the good ones. There is a matrix - continue watering the good ones that are already present and encourage other good ones to arise. Stop watering the bad ones and take steps to prevent other bad ones from arising. This begs the question of good and bad - the key is the effect of a feeling/ thought. If it leads to equanimity it is good, if not it is bad. By their result shall ye know them.

Shambhala - Buddhism Basics

Shambhala - Buddhism Basics: "Mindfulness is pre-symbolic. It is not shackled to logic. Nevertheless, mindfulness can be experienced—rather easily—and it can be de�scribed, as long as you keep in mind that the words are only fingers pointing at the moon."

Buddhism

Buddhism

“Are the mystics and sages insane? Because they all tell variations on the same story, don't they? The story of awakening one morning and discovering you are one with the All, in a timeless and eternal and infinite fashion. Yes, maybe they are crazy, these divine fools. Maybe they are mumbling idiots in the face of the Abyss. Maybe they need a nice, understanding therapist. Yes, I'm sure that would help. But then, I wonder.

Maybe the evolutionary sequence really is from matter to body to mind to soul to spirit, each transcending and including, each with a greater depth and greater consciousness and wider embrace. And in the highest reaches of evolution, maybe, just maybe, an individual's consciousness does indeed touch infinity—a total embrace of the entire Kosmos—a Kosmic consciousness that is Spirit awakened to its own true nature. It's at least plausible.

And tell me: is that story, sung by mystics and sages the world over, any crazier than the scientific materialism story, which is that the entire sequence is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing? Listen very carefully: just which of those two stories actually sounds totally insane?”

—Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything, 42–3

grist to the mill

Grist to the mill of mindfulness

George G Clark, 18 June 2009

 

This morning I noted that the phrase 'middle class wanker' was lurking in consciousness and that it linked to the phrases 'elders and betters' and 'the good and great'. I also noted an associated feeling of dis-ease that seemed to have roots in anger, shame and disappointment concerning recent shocking revelations about MP's expense claims in the UK.

Existential Jujitsu Whatever turns up in mind whether good, bad or indifferent can be used as fuel for mind training. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, the more powerful the thought and the stronger the emotion then the greater its potential as an aid to turning your mind around. http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/jujitsu.htm

Then I realized that these thoughts and feelings would make excellent grist to the mill of mindfulness. There could be a bout of existential jujitsu (see box).

Then I felt moved to dive beneath the shallow, intellectual understanding of things. This called for a matrix dealing with two main issues: (a) it is easy to be seduced by head stuff (thoughts) and thus to ignore the heart stuff (feelings) or vice-versa. But subjectively there cannot be one without the other - it is all mind stuff; and (b) there are causes and conditions for both conscious and unconscious aspects of mind stuff. But the dividing line between the two is sometimes misty and there is ongoing movement to and from the attention centre.

Grist to the mill of mindfulness
	Conscious - in the attention centre	Margin - on the misty edges of attention	Unconscious - not available for attention
Thought - Head stuff	1	4	7
Feeling - Heart stuff	2	5	8
Thought/ feeling - Mind stuff	3A & 3B	6	9

 

It would be tedious and not very enlightening to detail my ongoing story about 'hegemony' and 'elegant power' in terms of the nine boxes in the matrix. Some generalisations might, however, offer food for thought.

Those who are not involved with mindfulness and meditation are largely confined to the tip of the iceberg that is consciousness (1, 2 and 3). The concept of 'conditioned robot' springs to mind.

Those who are relatively new to mindfulness and meditation become increasingly aware of stuff at the misty margins of consciousness and of the influence it has on the conscious material. It soon becomes apparent that pure head and heart stuff do not exist and categories 4 and 5 enfold into mind stuff (6). The mind has a mind of its own!

Those who are well practiced in mindfulness and meditation intuitively grasp that 7 and 8 are non-categories and that there is an enormous amount of mind stuff that is not commonly available for attention (9). The goal of mindfulness and meditation is to still the mind such that the chatter of 3 and 6 is reduced and the promptings of 9 might be intuited.

We can think of mind stuff in the attention centre as having two forms - 3A and 3B. The former is the conditioned robot and the latter is what bears quiet witness to it. 3B can thus enable creativity and originality by heeding the intuitions from 9 - from your 'muse'.

SO - Will the greedy 'good and great' (1 & 2) take up existential jujitsu? Will they shift to wise and compassionate generosity by moving from 9 through 6 to 3B? Here's grist to their mill!