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!