moments

The Italian poet Cesare Pavese wrote in his journal that we never remember days, we remember only moments.

nature nurture options

Nature v nurture – the options
George Clark, 16 July 2008

The nature v nurture debate is likely to be around for some time. The following table might help to inform discussion by injecting shades of grey into what is often a polarised, black v white confrontation.

There are causes and conditions for our nature and our nurture and in both cases these can be thought of as good, neutral or bad. By plotting these options on a table we can generate nine viewpoints.

Viewpoint 1 is of rosy optimism while viewpoint 9 is of gloomy pessimism. The other viewpoints take intermediary positions. People choose their ‘facts’ and argue accordingly.

I tend to viewpoint 1 but with reservations. Our natural hard wiring suits as to live harmoniously in tribal society and many patterns of nurturing have evolved to fit us intimately to our particular social and physical environments. But, in our modern globalized world, our natures are having a hard time keeping up with our novel patterns of nurture.

The good news is that there are those among us who begin to understand what is going on in a holistic, multi-disciplinary and systematic way. With a better understanding of our natures we can tweak our nurturing forces so as to better adapt us to the many aspects of the modern world with which we have to deal – Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, Legal and Spiritual (STEEPLeS).

All seven factors interact but it is perhaps useful to note that the ‘spiritual’ factor has been largely ignored in recent times. This factor can be seen as linked to mindfulness meditation and thus to a new psychology of perception. This takes it out of the shadow of ‘religion’ and, arguably, helps give practitioners the experience of human nature being in essence good – we evolved to live in harmony with each other and with our physical environment.

fuzzy churn

I have a reconditioned mind. I will hang around at the keyboard to see what it turns up. I now have total faith in ‘my’ ability to create something to occupy the attention centre. There is thus no need to fear boredom. The mind’s ability to lock on to issues and activities is totally dependable.

The mind conjures up topics for attention - endlessly. If the external environment (as internally interpreted) does not appear to have much to offer, then the internal environment (as if there was anything else!) is a bottomless pit of images, emotions and story lines.

Daydreaming is like channel hopping on the telly except that (a) there is no telly and (b) there are no channels. The rational brain tries to set up dualities and construct categories and preferences but, in reality, one thing slides into another in that great, fuzzy churn which is the flux as interpreted by my reconditioned mind.

(Clark, Nov 2002)

walk it yourself

The task is to switch off the conditioned automatic pilot that has been guiding you since infancy and to take control of your own life; to live intentionally rather than robotically. The task is to become mind-full rather than mind-less. Doctor heal yourself.

The good news is that all you need is already within. The bad news is that the automatic pilot is rigged so that you rarely glimpse the underlying mechanisms and, when you do, you are conditioned to ignore them.

The further good news is that, through the centuries, there have been heroes and heroines who managed to re-condition themselves and leave guidebooks. These are readily available and, in these uncertain terms, are in increasing demand.

The road has been charted and remains in excellent condition. All you need is an increasing awareness of its existence and a growing urge to travel along it. As Woody Guthrie said, "Nobody here can walk it for you, you gotta walk it by yourself."

(Clark, Nov 2002)

large TV

"The word ‘God’ is a label for a state of mind. There are unusual states of mind – the muse, being in flow, being awestruck and/or entranced etc. In contrast there is the ‘ordinary mind’. 

The ordinary mind is a guest at the inn of the non-ordinary mind which is the host. All human suffering results from the guest having usurped the host and locked him/her in the basement. Peace of mind and the wisdom which results will appear once a seemly balance between host and guest has been re-established.

How to re-establish the balance? 

The guest is like a large television set playing at full volume in the corner of a small room in an infinitely large mansion. The task is to switch off the telly and pay attention to the small room. 

You will soon realise that the walls are illusions and that what at first appears to be a large mansion has no more substance than a passing cloud. The host is the everywhere and always that is the here and now. The Life Force is the ceaseless churn of birth and death. There is only an ongoing stream of creation and destruction as fleeting and fluid manifestations of the Oneness doing what the Oneness does." (Clark, Nov 2002)

passing clouds

"We rarely indulge in bare sensing of reality; we invariably make the raw 'thing' part of a story where it is linked to all manner of other thoughts and feelings." (Clark, 2008)





More on tethering clouds

on whims

"I now live mainly in retreat where I embrace stillness and sometimes know the peace that it brings. But the mind has a mind of its own - old habits flare up and die hard. Mindfulness illumines the dark side where demons lurk. Many that used to be hidden can now occupy the  foreground of attention. There is the uneasy transition to transcendence where mighty whims contend. It is a common pattern - " (Clark, 2008)


"Come to the path as humorously aware as possible of the baggage you will be bringing with you: your lacks, fantasies, failings and projections. Blend with a soaring awareness of what our true nature might be, a down-to-earth and level-headed humility, and a clear appreciation of where you are on your spiritual journey and what still remains to be understood and accomplished."
Sogyal Rinpoche (1992) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (p131)

More on the 'power of whims at http://dodclark.blogspot.com/2008/01/power-of-whims.html

true freedom

December 19, 2010; Tricycle Daily Dharma; http://www.tricycle.com/  

What is True Freedom?

"When I look for freedom today I find it not in fantasy or in dreams, but in my sitting practice. What kind of freedom is it that exists in doing nothing? 

It is the freedom not to interfere or react. It is the freedom to merely observe. I don’t have to judge the trauma that arises in mind. I don’t have to get involved with the hundred narratives that might try to occupy my mind during the day. 

In not clinging to thoughts and ideas, wants and desires, hatreds and resentments, the bondages of my most negative thoughts and emotions have faded into a haze that still arises but no longer dominates my life. I have found freedom: it is the freedom of nonattachment, the freedom to not cling and to not resist. It is the freedom to allow myself to be with myself."

- Ananda Baltrunas, "A Prison of Desire"

plus-minus

“By bringing about a certain inner discipline, we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living … one begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors that lead to suffering. Having done this, one sets about gradually eliminating those factors that lead to suffering and cultivating those that lead to happiness. That is the way.”
Dalai Lama (1998) “The Art of Happiness”

coffee ceremony

This morning I really noticed the coffee as I was drinking it. My attention was caught by the steam rising from the cup and I could smell the aroma. Then I sipped it and the warm, sweet liquid coated the front of my tongue before sliding to the back of my mouth and disappearing down the gullet. A mini coffee ceremony.

mind made

Reality is mind made and short lived.
One thought moment after another.

20 Amazing Examples of Co-dependence in Wild Animals

20 Amazing Examples of Co-dependence in Wild Animals - nature astonishes!

spiritual reading

Lectio Divina

"You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress."

-- from an Easter letter by Saint Athanasius.

Creative Quietude

Huston Smith (1958, 1991) The World’s Religions;
isbn 0062508113 (p207-209)

Creative quietude combines within a single individual two seemingly incompatible conditions - supreme activity and supreme relaxation. These seeming incompatibles can coexist because human beings are not self-enclosed entities. They ride an unbounded sea of Tao that sustains them, as we would say, through their subliminal minds.

One way to create is through following the calculated directives of the conscious mind. The results of this mode of action, however, are seldom impressive; they tend to smack more of sorting and arranging than of inspiration.

Genuine creation, as every artist knows, comes when the more abundant resources of the subliminal self are somehow tapped. But for this to happen a certain dissociation from the surface self is needed. The conscious mind must relax, stop standing in its own light, let go. Only so is it possible to break through the law of reversed effort in which the more we try the more our efforts boomerang.

“Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?”
Tao Teh Ching (ch 15)

My spiritual journey

George G Clark, 20 Oct 2010

At a recent meeting of my meditation group I was paired with Wendy to share thoughts and feelings about our spiritual journey. We quickly realised that neither of us had ever dealt with our spiritual journey as a story. This article thus offers a brief outline of my yarn.

I am over 60 and my spiritual journey is ongoing. The causes and conditions that guided it began with conception and will end in the coffin. I no longer remember the earliest steps but for the last 45 years I have kept a journal. I can therefore check for distortions that might appear on memory's faulty mirror.

I grew up in a fishing village in the north east of Scotland and was involved with archaeology while at school. This began an ongoing fascination for cultural evolution and thus for change and thus for the possibility of 'better ways to be human'. While at University I studied psychology and zoology and my interests drifted towards primate social behaviour, the social sciences, and the creative works of Jack Kerouac and Herman Hesse.

My teaching career began in Edinburgh where I befriended Andy who was an economist and had worked as a volunteer in Africa. We spent many long evenings putting the world to rights: and I began to read the wisdom literature (east and west) and to build my 'spiritual' library. I had the scent of 'the fearless peace that passes all understanding' - but my appreciation remained largely intellectual.

Then there was a busy secular period. I served as teacher, curriculum developer, teacher trainer, examiner, inspector, education advisor and plain language editor in six tropical countries. But I also took time out for deep reflection while working towards two Master degrees, and making five lengthy 'retreats' back in the village.

Over the last 15 years I have been recording my thoughts about the spiritual path and making them publicly available. This began in Lesotho (95-98) where I wrote words of faith (eastern versions) for a local newspaper. I subsequently put the 16 short pieces online as "The Essence of Faiths - Whispers from Everywhere"[1]

The wheel of spiritual writing was then in motion. After Lesotho I web-enabled a set of 68 short pieces under the title "Let it begin with me - A rough guide to mind training and meditation"[2]. This includes four sections dealing with classic eastern, recent eastern, western, and home grown.

In 2002 I began an ongoing blog called "existential soft rock - mental re-construction through just sitting - be still and know"[3]. This is a mix of quotes and links with a sprinkling of more recent, home grown 'spiritual' articles (386 posts at 20 Oct 2010).

So what ground has my spiritual journey covered so far?

It cannot be cleanly separated from my overall journey as a facilitator of learning. But I now appreciate that there are two distinct modes of learning that should be in balance (a) the rational, objective mode (head) and (b) the intuitive, subjective mode (heart).

Spirituality need not involve 'religion'. It is best seen as a psychology of perception. The key task is to make time for stillness and thus to notice what you are thinking and feeling; and thus to be mindful (aware) of mental habits in the present moment; and thus to freely respond, rather than automatically react, to the stuff that enters the attention centre.

I am now adjusting to retirement. This includes a dis-eased feeling of world weariness and burn out - a downturn on the roller coaster ride through life. But I now appreciate the impermanence of all created things and it is thus possible to go peacefully with the ongoing flow while sitting with the meditation group or increasingly by myself. I draw inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh's thoughts on 'being the peace you seek'. The key, initial, spiritual recommendation for beginners is "Don't just do something - sit there!" Thus will be found fearless peace and better ways to be human.

---

[1] http://www.toonloon.bizland.com/whispers/

[2] http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/

[3] http://dodclark.blogspot.com/

three-lights

"We have not one Enlightenment project but three: a Western one based on rational thought, an Eastern one based on seeing through the illusion of the Self, and a Postmodern one based on the concept of socially constructed reality. And despite their many differences, they share the common goal of liberation." [Anderson] more ...

http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/third_light.htm

poo

Healthy dump - good size, colour and consistency.

Mindfulness of poo.

The other end of eating.

ranting-editing

Ranting - and editing the word of God

George G Clark, 21 September 2010

For our present purpose rants can be thought of as "high energy linguistic outbursts". These can be rational or emotional, and they can be written or spoken.

In rational written rant mode you begin with a brainstorm from which you develop an outline and then flesh it out. In emotional written rant mode you just write the story as it flows from the unconscious: it is as if there is an independent inner author, as if you are just channeling the outputs from the muse, as if you are taking dictation from the word of God (or the devil!)

Ideally the output from the muse would be flawless but, at least in my case, this rarely happens. Most often there is interplay between the rational and the emotional. When being rational there can be 'Aha' moments that greatly enliven the basic story. And, when being 'creative', the emotional outbursts can normally benefit from pruning and rearranging by a cool-headed editor.

Spoken ranting is similar to written ranting but is more immediate and is less susceptible to editing after the event.

Gifted spoken ranters are in essence high energy story tellers who have learned to marry the rational and the emotional. At the other end of the spectrum are those uncontrolled ranters of whom it might be said that 'they open their mouths and let their bellies rumble'. And in the middle position are those more balanced conversationalists who heed the request to 'please engage brain before opening mouth'.

Daily life offers an endless stream of more or less engaging rants from family and friends. And, if that is not enough to meet your need for animated communication, you can always top up on outputs from the media, and increasingly from ICT assisted social networks. Humanity is not short of ranters who are prone to high energy linguistic outbursts and to expressing the word of their God … This is a living example!

heart-sing

What makes your heart sing?

George G Clark, 20 September 2010

When your heart is singing you enjoy what you are doing and willingly go the extra mile. You are kindly disposed towards everybody and everything. You act with grace rather than with a grudge. You are happy and smile a lot. So what is the root of that hallowed state of coronary operatics?

It varies from person to person but there are some underlying principles. Your ‘personality’ and general attitude to life will have their causes and conditions. These are rooted in (a) nature (your genes), (b) nurture (your culture, sub culture, community and family), and (c) chance (whether the lightning strikes you or your neighbour).

You cannot do much about nature and chance but the nurture door is wide open. Like most people you will be driven by habitual ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’. By taking thought you can recognise and transform these and be born again. You can unleash the muse that lies waiting in us all and then move effortlessly with the natural flow of things in your new world.

The key is to set aside some quiet time to be a witness to what goes on in your head. You notice what you are noticing and feeling and you think about what you are thinking. This allows you to respond thoughtfully rather than react automatically. Such freedom and control is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

But there is more. Mystics of all times and places tell us that ‘witnessing’ leads to appreciation of (a) the illusory nature of the self, and (b) the churning vital force that is the Oneness. From this point of view we are each integral parts of an immense, timeless and benign universal process. Is it any wonder that such realisations set the mind free and make the heart sing.

wild elephant

"Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it sinks through his skull that he can't get away, and he settles down. At this point you can begin to feed him and to handle him with some measure of safety. Eventually you can dispense with the rope and post altogether, and train your elephant for various tasks. Now you've got a tamed elephant that can be put to useful work.

In this analogy the wild elephant is your wildly active mind, the rope is mindfulness, and the post is our object of meditation -- breathing. The tamed elephant who emerges from this process is a well trained, concentrated mind that can then be used for the exceedingly tough job of piercing the layers of illusion that obscure reality. Meditation tames the mind."

Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english_9.php

deconditioning

"Deeply habituated cultural, social, religious, familial, and personal karmic conditionings dominate the untrained mind. Awareness practice brings these forces into view for observation."

- Steve Armstrong
- http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/got-attitude?offer=dharma

in praise of solitude

“In praise of solitude”. Lots of people have written about it. The following list begins with four individual impressions then moves on through Thoreau and official psychology to a couple of Buddhism sources. The transpersonal dimension is not always appreciated. Contemplatives unite - yoh!

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/garrison_keillor/2009/06/24/solitude
http://zenhabits.net/creative-habit/
http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2009/02/16/in-praise-of-solitude/
http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org/library/in-praise-solitude

http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden05.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199802/the-call-solitude

Shantideva
http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/cutting-ties-the-fruits-solitude
Wander alone like a rhinoceros
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.03.than.html

secular acorn to spiritual oak

To be an acorn is to have a taste for being an oak tree.
(Thomas Merton)

calm

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life."
(Socrates)

time is a changing

FAST TIMES, SLOW TIMES - An Interview with Moussa Ag Assarid

http://www.limglobal.net/readings/110.html

puddle drunk

“The ordinary person is like a drunkard lying in a mud puddle. Someone arouses him and says, “This puddle is no place to be lying down in.” The drunkard glares angrily and says, “I have never drunk alcohol - why do you slander me?” These days the whole world suffers from the drunkard’s illness. How can I find one who isn’t drunk to talk with?” (Zibo (1543-1604))

discourse

Post-modern discourse - utterances need hyperlinks that lead to other utterances that need hyperlinks … and so on - till silence takes over.

Language and Freeedom: Meaning in Zen - Book Review by John Crook

Language and Freeedom: Meaning in Zen - Book Review by John Crook: "

What is the place of Zen in contemporary thought, the relation of Buddhist metaphysics to philosophy and the value of ancient texts to thinking people today? These and related questions form the subject matter of this intelligent, subtle and provoking book. Dale S. Wright, Professor of Religious Studies, Occidental College, Los Angeles, provides a thought provoking read especially for those of us concerned with problems of representing Buddhism, and Zen in particular, within Western culture today."

The Sound Of Stillness

The Sound Of Stillness: "The Sound Of Stillness -
Exploring darkness and light at an eight-day silent retreat"

dharma gravity

Gravity is present for all people in all places - whether or not there is an articulated law. The same is true of the dharma. Thus there might well be ordinary western people who are enlightened in the Buddhist sense although they know nothing about Buddhism.

idleness good

"I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.

First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given. Usually two opposite kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this is called politics. The skill required for this kind of work is not knowledge of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising ...The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery."

Bertrand Russell (1932) 'In Praise of Idleness' http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html

flow - challenges and skills

in flow

How does it feel to be in flow?

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html 

1. Completely involved in what we are doing - focused, concentrated
2. A sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality
3. Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing
4. Knowing that the activity is doable - that our skills are adequate to the task
5. A sense of serenity - no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego
6. Timelessness - thoroughly focussed on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes
7. Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward

inward journey

"The longest journey is the journey inward" Dag Hammarskjold (Swedish diplomat (1905 - 1961)

wise talk

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" Plato (427-347 BC)

 

On being normal

George Clark, 16 January 2008

Normality is a political idea. It makes it possible to label people as sub-normal (bad), normal (good) or supra-normal (excellent). So how do we recognise a normal person? There are many possible ways but they boil down to the idea that, "me and us are normal, 'they' are not". In what follows we will look briefly at two broad views of 'enlightened' normality and at a possible merging at the level of supra-normals.

Reasonably enlightened normality

In Europe there has been the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment. These created a view of normality that favours rationality and materialism in a clockwork, Newtonian universe. The 'scientific method' rules the modern world.

Sub-normal people are hangovers from pre-modern times. They are traditionalists who are superstitious and believe in magic. Normal people are thoroughly 'modern' and look for evidence to guide their rational, systematic and selfish thought processes. Supra-normal people are the lions of philosophy, science and economics who embrace post-modernism with its deep-rooted, radical doubt and its existential uncertainty - anything goes.

In this view the social paradigm involves dualism and debate. There are winners and losers. Competition. Humanity is seen as having dominion over creation.

Integrally enlightened normality

In the east there have been thoughts of enlightenment and thus of liberation and release for more than 2000 years.

Sub-normal people believe in the abiding reality of self and things. This is the root of their suffering. They are in the majority. Normal people appreciate (a) the impermanence of all created things and (b) the wisdom of renunciation and stillness. This leads to the end of suffering. Supra-normal people are the transcendent sages and gurus who fully embody the highest ideals and act as a role model for others.

In this view the social paradigm involves monism, discussion and silent meditation. We are enmeshed in a web of multiple, complex and intertwining causes and conditions. Viewpoints are held lightly. Partnership. Everybody can win release from suffering by changing how they think.

The merging of the supra-normals

The above sketch is brutally over simple. It serves to polarise world views and to point to the possibility of a merging - at least at the level of the supra-normals. This might lead to a more systematic and compassionate stewardship of ourselves and the planet. Anderson (1996) noted the potential for humanity to wake up - 

"... we have not one Enlightenment project but three: a Western one based on rational thought, an Eastern one based on seeing through the illusion of the Self, and a Postmodern one based on the concept of socially constructed reality. And despite their many differences, they share the common goal of liberation.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau made the famous revolutionary pronouncement that "Men are born free, and everywhere are in chains." A couple of centuries later that still holds truth for us, but now we see that the strongest chains are symbolic ones, mind forged manacles." (p219)

Source: Walter Truett Anderson (ed) (1996) The Fontana Post-Modernism Reader; Fontana; ISBN 0006863701 see http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/third_light.htm

dukkha

Dukkha is:

Disturbance, irritation, dejection, worry, despair, fear, dread, anguish, anxiety; vulnerability, injury, inability, inferiority; sickness, aging, decay of body and faculties, senility; pain/pleasure; excitement/boredom; deprivation/excess; desire/frustration, suppression; longing/aimlessness; hope/hopelessness; effort, activity, striving/repression; loss, want, insufficiency/satiety; love/lovelessness, friendlessness; dislike, aversion/attraction; parenthood/childlessness; submission/rebellion; decision/indecisiveness, vacillation, uncertainty.

— Francis Story in Suffering, in Vol. II of The Three Basic Facts of Existence (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983)

Open Stillness | Tricycle Magazine

Open Stillness | Tricycle Magazine: "The state of not-knowing is a riveting place to be. And we don’t have to climb rocks to experience it. We encounter not-knowing when, for instance, we meet someone new, or when life offers up a surprise. These experiences remind us that change and unpredictability are the pulse of our very existence. No one really knows what will happen from one moment to the next: who will we be, what will we face, and how will we respond to what we encounter? We don’t know, but there’s a good chance we will encounter some rough, unwanted experiences, some surprises beyond our imaginings, and some expected things, too. And we can decide to stay present for all of it."

YouTube - Tapping into the Transformative Power of Yoga

YouTube - Tapping into the Transformative Power of Yoga: "Tapping into the Transformative Power of Yoga"

this fleetingworld

Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world

A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,

A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,

A flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream.

(Diamond Sutra)

reality zig zag

http://twitter.com/dodclark/status/11263013898

what to think

• What do you think about xxx?
• Hang on, I will look it up on Wikipedia
• But I want to know what ‘you’ think
• What for? My thoughts are just a subjective, media-soaked mush wrapped in a Scottish Presbyterian flag.

simple and difficult

Practice implores us to do the simplest yet most difficult thing: to sit still and simply be present. In meditation, we let whatever comes up, come up. We invite it in. We welcome all of it, including the resistance, the boredom, the judgments, and the endless spinning. We let it all come up and just watch it.

- Ezra Bayda “Reflect, Without Thinking” (Winter 2009)

know-where-you-going

Know Where You're Going

The quality of your action depends on the quality of your being. Suppose you’re eager to offer happiness, to make someone happy. That’s a good thing to do. But if you’re not happy, then you can’t do that. In order to make another person happy, you have to be happy yourself. So there’s a link between doing and being. If you don’t succeed in being, you can’t succeed in doing. If you don’t feel that you’re on the right path, happiness isn’t possible. This is true for everyone; if you don’t know where you’re going, you suffer. It’s very important to realize your path and see your true way.

- Thich Nhat Hanh from "The Heart of The Matter" (Winter 2009)

higher than thought

"Is there anything higher than thought?
Yes, meditation is higher than thought."
(Chandogya Upanishad)

Oprah and Thich

Thich Nhat Hanh: I know that we do not know enough. We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality. When you climb a ladder and arrive on the sixth step and you think that is the highest, then you cannot come to the seventh. So the technique is to abandon the sixth in order for the seventh step to be possible. And this is our practice, to release our views. The practice of nonattachment to views is at the heart of the Buddhist practice of meditation. People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don't suffer anymore.

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/1

only one way

Wash out your brain waves, empty your mind
Flush out the bullshit, see what you find.

Go to the lyrics and sound track

thought tigers

Once upon a time there was an artist who lived in a cave.
One day he painted a ferocious tiger on the wall.
Now every time he sees it he feels afraid.
Our thoughts are like painted tigers in our mind.

the noble quest

The noble quest is about being rather than doing.
Being a cool dude and comfortable in your skin.
Being at peace in the present moment.

turn away

Turn Away
George G Clark - 1969 Lyrics

I was only 20 when I wrote this song. Five years later I began my first overseas job. I left ‘my safe and cosy niche among the petty nouveau riche’. I stopped turning my face to the wall. I began trying to do something. Then time passed. What I have now seen is huge, wrinkled, under-resourced, and not at all easy.

What the hell should I care if the whole wide world is wrong
I look out for myself
I leave upon the shelf
All the trouble, war and pain of starving children in the rain.
Shut my ears to the big bad bomb
I don’t care if the wogs go home
What I don’t know can’t cause me pain
I turn my face to the wall again
I know it like I’ve seen it
But what I’ve seen is small, is smooth, is well-fed and is easy.

So half the world is starving what difference does it make
I can’t do anything
Just shut my mind and sing
About my safe and cosy niche among the petty nouveau riche.
Pick up crumbs in the tyrant’s wake
Follow those who are on the make
All that I want will come in reach
I wear a smile let the boss man preach
Life smiles upon the two-faced
And hypocrit I am, I’m smooth, I’m well-fed and life’s easy

Energy on the ways

George G Clark, 12 February 2010

Being human we need not be driven by the blind forces of biology. Secular forces (biological and instinctive) may drive us downstream to this-world; but there are also sacred forces (also biological and instinctive) that allow us (if we so choose) to swim upstream to the other-world.

In terms of driven-ness, the following table recognises three energy levels and three ways of using the brain.

	Energy level
	Low	Medium	High
Secular ignoble	Lethargic	Engaged	Hell bent
Secular noble	Indolent	Life/work balance	Zealous
Sacred	Not convinced	Lay disciple	Monastic

Some secular ignoble types are totally egoic and hell-bent on power and fame. They indulge with enthusiasm in sex, drugs and rock and roll. Others are lethargic and wallow in sloth and torpor with short attention spans, weak wills and endless unfulfilled fantasies. Most ordinary people lie somewhere between these extremes; but all are oriented to this-world in which they selfishly lust after things that pass away. They are more or less mindless consumers.

Secular noble types are less common. They are mindful consumers who are concerned to some extent with the promotion of fair play, environmental stewardship, basic family values and respect for authority. The zealous types tend towards workaholism and the indolent types procrastinate regarding their good intentions. And there are many middle ranking types who manage a reasonable life/work balance. All are oriented to this-world of the senses and most are wary of the sacred types.

Sacred types are still uncommon. They pay attention to the other-world of the mind that is the foundation for this-world of the senses[1]. There are those who have glimpsed the sacred but who are not convinced enough to give time and energy to its pursuit. Monastics sacrifice their whole lives to the quest. Lay disciples walk the difficult middle way of changing their minds while in daily contact with the mindsets of their secular companions. The sacred types are inclined to frugality and selflessness as they try to swim upstream to the other-world.

This line of thought was inspired by the following quote:

“It seems that when consciousness evolves to a certain degree of conceptual self-awareness, we discover a curious freedom in which we are no longer driven by the blind forces of biology. We start asking questions like: “What is this existence?” “How can I lead a good life?” “Who am I?” As soon as we start exploring such questions … we find ourselves “going against the stream” of biological drives.”
Steven Batchelor - http://www.tricycle.com/essay/living-with-the-devil

Note that I take issue with the implied concept of a drive that is not biological. Where might it otherwise come from? The drive to ‘go against the stream’ has existed in a minority of people for most of human evolution as a ‘perennial philosophy’. Arguably the stage is now set for it to go mainstream. Are there enough people with the right kind of energy to have it evolve?

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[1] Note that there are ignoble sacred types who perform the religious rituals but who do not try to change their minds. These are secular wolves in sacred sheep’s clothing.

a meaningful life

finding silence

Finding Silence

I am busy from early in the morning until late at night. I am rarely alone. Where can I find a time and place to contemplate in silence?

Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence. There are moments when you think you’re silent and all around is silent, but talking is going on all the time inside your head. That’s not silence. The practice is how to find silence in all the activities you do.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, from "The Heart of the Matter" (Winter 2009)

moral foundations

Get out of your own Way

There’s your cushion: you sit on it, it’s quiet, and it’s all there. That’s all you need, and the rest of it’s gone—whether or not you eat rice or wheat, and whether or not you enjoy the chanting. I like it when it all goes away and it’s quiet.

We just have to notice. We just get out of the way and all the answers are already there. And so the more stripped down it can possibly be, the more I like it.

- Jim Gollin, from "Corporate Takeover " (Summer, 2005)

no easy believing

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."


As quoted in the Kalama Sutra, as translated in The American Buddhist Directory (1985) by Kevin O'Neill, p. 7

businessless person

“As I see it, there isn’t so much to do. Just be ordinary—put on your robes, eat your food, and pass the time doing nothing.” - Master Linji, Teaching 18

More ...

mental proliferation

A short and useful explanation of the concept of papanca (mental proliferation)


"The result of papañca is that the mental universe we inhabit is entirely constructed by our minds, and we can share little of that with others (most of whom are trapped in their own papañca)."

http://dharmastudy.com/papanca/

new paradigms

New Paradigm Thinking in Science and in Theology

Fritjof Capra and David Steindl-Rast, with Thomas Matus (1992)

Belonging to the Universe – new thinking about God and Nature

Penguin; ISBN 0140172394



3 page summary table


htm version

little things

Hang on to what you got

You aint got much but its all you got

Hang on to what you got

Little things mean a lot

[Clark 1970]

EO Wilson interviewed by Robert Wright

evolutionary psychology (aka sociobiology)

Edward O. Wilson

Edward O. Wilson video of the sociobiology man interviewed by Robert Wright

words

"With all their admitted uses, words have three limitations.



At worst they construct an artificial world wherein our actual feelings are camouflaged and people are reduced to stereotypes.



Second, even when their descriptions are reasonably accurate, descriptions are not the things described - menus are not the meal.



Finally, as mystics emphasize, our highest experiences elude words almost entirely,"
(Huston Smith)