GLOSSARY

Here you will find the definitions -explanations really- of some of the more significant words used on the blog. The explanations here are not always cast in a traditional light, but then, neither am I. Still though, everything you read here is soundly Buddhist in meaning and context and is "vetted" through my decades of practice and study within two major schools of traditional Buddhism - those being Zen and Tibetan.

BUDDHA = a mind (an 'experiencing') imbued with clarity and certainty beyond all doubt, in it's knowing that the nature of all reality (of all experience) is nothing but 'interdependence-emptiness' (aka voidness). Simply put, a mind that sees and knows things 'the way they are'.

In addition, within the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, it is described that a (complete and full) Buddha is: a complete BEING (with a body, voice and mind) endowed with both absolute 'wisdom' (knowing voidness as explained above) and with spontaneous and skilfully applied helpfulness (aka 'absolute compassion') in regards to bringing all other beings to the same realization of reality.

Your Buddha within (ie your Buddha nature), is merely the un-noticed potential within your experience (within your mind-body process) to become a Buddha.

The path/practice of Buddhism then is the process of actualizing your innate potential to overcome all limited views and activities with regard to true happiness (aka release and benefit).

In fact, this (a Buddha) is who and what we really are (in our true nature as conscious beings) - although we most obviously neither know nor believe that this is so - due to erroneous perceptual factors and a continuum of reinforced habits of erroneous behavior.

INTER DEPENDENCE = the fundamental way that all 'things' are. 'Things' only exist (or appear as an experience) in relation to (or as the relationship of) the parts that make them up.

Therefore, what we call a "thing" (any phenomenon, something appearing in or as any experience) is completely DEPENDENT upon this INTERplay between an infinite set of factors (ie it's parts) which serve as the basis (or cause) of the thing to appear as 'something' at all.

A car is a good example. A car is nothing but a collection of parts. What we call a "car" ONLY appears to our mind because of it's parts and the interplay of those parts. Without those factors, there is NO appearance of a car in our experience.

Without the parts, without the makers of the parts, without the parents of the makers, without the earth to support the parents, without any one of the infinite factors that go into the car's appearing, then the car ceases to appear!

In simple terms, this expresses the concept of causality; "when this becomes, that arises, with the arising of that, this becomes".

This cannot be without that, nor can that be, without this.

A more direct way to express the meaning is to simply say "things exist totally dependent upon their parts and their causes".

So because of interdependence, no thing, no appearance, no experience, at any time, anywhere, in any form what so ever, can ever be isolated or defined as an independent 'thing' in reality. Boundaries appear, but are not tenable in an ultimate sense.

In the highest, most subtle and most sublime sense, 'interdependence' is exactly the same as voidness - when expressed in conceptual terms. When you experience it directly, interdependence is completely ineffable (beyond explanation) and is utterly non conceptual.

MEDITATION = (on this blog) the simple but not easy PRACTICE of relaxing, allowing, and watching. In it's most subtle form, this can be labeled "natural presence".

Meditation in classical Buddhism is considered to be one of the 3 divisions of the 8 fold path to enlightenment. The 3 being "right view", "right meditation" and "right action".

In it's most matured and evolved teachings however, the practice of meditation encompasses all aspects of the path and goal in one actualized expression. This then, is the practice of 'taking the goal as the method'.

Ultimately, we don't meditate to attain something, we meditate because meditation is Truth as expressed by a human-Buddha being. In fact, there really is no "because.." That is not to say that nothing is attained however.

At the beginning, meditation involves a little effort- ie "holding". There is no way around this because we are starting out from a position of 'something in need of correcting'. The Buddha expressed this in his first declaration (the First Nobel Truth) regarding his insights when he pointed to the fact that life is encompassed by dissatisfaction and suffering.

This is the karma that we have to deal with, and karma (cause and effect) is how things appear to us, how we experience life. They (things, life) appear to need a path, a way to correct and attain the goal. Meditation in this context is that path to correcting.

Ultimately speaking though, there is no thing that is effort, no thing that is needed to be corrected, we're just not quiet ready to accept that yet however. Thus, we do have appearing a "goal" so-to-speak, and thus a "path" as well.

How meditation is done

Relaxing really means settling (both body and mind) right here and now, wherever (and whenever) you find yourself - sitting upright in a quiet place is highly recommended.

Allowing really means there is no thing and no thought anywhere in your experience which is capable of being an object of either attraction or aversion. Thoughts (THINGS) are void in their nature - allow them to come and go.

Watching (or observing) really means a pure awareness of (at first "noticing") THIS as THIS IS - which is ineffable (unspeakable and non conceptual) voidness-interdependence. At first and for some time, just watch your thoughts, your feelings, arise, abide and cease.

In time, notice their non-arising, non-abiding, non-ceasing. All phenomena have causes and are without essence, therefore, how can they arise as anything? And yet there is appearance.

The practice of Natural Presence meditation is the practice/activity of Buddhas.

"Natural" means things have always been this way, primordially, and that trying to attain something that has always been this way (with, as us) is unrealistic, painful, unsustainable. We can relax, we can rest here.

"Presence" means we come to SEE THIS anew in each moment, without conceptual baggage, without stopping anywhere conceptually, without making THIS into a THING. Knowing THIS, we are completely free in this unbounded, ever-changing moment.

NOTE: Mahayana Buddhism would also describe the 'presence' of a complete and full Buddha in the sense of always taking appropriate actions for the benefit of all other beings.

NO THING or NO-THINGNESS = the complete lack of essence and total lack of independent, isolated, definability within any and all phenomena.

This really is the way things are (although NOT how they appear) because all things (all experiences) are always only made of other "things".

What we call "things" APPEAR to us almost always as individual "things" or as individual events. But in reality, they do not exist in-and of-themselves, as something "from their own side". They are not "inherently" existent "things". In this way, "things" are actually "no-things".

The term "NO-THINGNESS" is synonymous with "voidness" or "emptiness-interdependence" and is conceptually opposite of "THING" or "THINGNESS".

THING or THINGNESS = the common perception we all usually have that certain experiences or appearances stand on their own as absolutely definable isolated and independent 'objects' or 'events'.

An example would be the perception that "I" (a subject - also a type of "thing") am "here" in a world of "objects" that exist out there.

Each of these notions is mentally imbued with "THINGNESS".

"I" is a thing. "AM" is a thing. "HERE" is a thing. "OBJECTS" are things. "OUT THERE" is a thing. Etc....

For us usually, we find "meaning" only in this aspect of "thingness" in our experience - which causes pain and frustration because "THINGS" never last, are insubstantial. This is our usual experience when we do not know the way things really are.

In meditation, or in Buddhist practice, this is the known as the "object to be refuted", to be rejected, to be removed, renounced and or abandon.

VOID or VOIDNESS (aka "emptiness") = the lack of a substantial, independent, isolatable, essential or 'self-unique' quality within any object that appears in our experience. The lack of "THINGNESS" within all things.

Not limited to "objects" per se as normally understood, voidness also applies to the nature of all experiences which we can ever have. All things are void is the ultimate truth of all things.

Knowing (fully experiencing) voidness as exactly identical with interdependence in the exact same moment, is said according to Buddhism to be the highest knowing possible.

This is because although all things are in fact void in their nature, they still appear (interdependently) in our experience as void things that we experience. Their appearing is their voidness, their voidness is their appearing. Aside from voidness there is no appearing, aside from appearing there is no voidness.

Knowing the void nature of all our experiences allows us to utterly 'let go' of these experiences in the way that sand flows through your hands when you pick it up.

Thus it is possible to attain a more realistic and sustainable way of being.

SANITY - vs our usual way

It's insane that we humans destroy so much, so many of each other. We have no clue about how to respect those and what is around us. Now we are killing a whole ocean. Sad, pathetic, painful. It doesn't have to be this way.

Although I know I get "preachy like", it's really not that I'm trying to convert you to a "religion". I'm not even sure if Buddhism qualifies as a "religion". It has been called a "science of the mind" by the Dalai Lama. But I have to admit that it also addresses some of the same points that "religion" addresses, some of the same questions.

So in a way it is NOT a religion, and in a way it IS. But really, the important question that it addresses is "does it help?"

Yes, it does. And you should NOT be satisfied with it until it helps YOU.

How does it help?

It benefits [you and me] by releasing us from the need to grab onto things that don't exist.

Grabbing onto things that don't exist is tat amount to insanity and that is the world we live in...usually. It's painful and frankly, it often sucks.

Usually, when we say something "exists" we also understand that to mean a thing is "real", also and more importantly, that the thing has a quality of permanence aka an "essence" to it. This is almost always how we look at the world and how we look at our own lives.

When we learn the alphabet we learn that the letter "A" exists, but does it?

/ is a line. And \ is a line. Also - is another line as well. Put them together and we get a shape that looks like A. But do these lines or does this shape contain some THING really there that we can call the letter "A"? Is there an "essence" in this THING we call the letter "A"?

If things really do have this "essence" to them [in them] then we really SHOULD be grabbing onto them. Then it aught to really be a big deal when we lose them.

In fact, if things really had this aspect of "realness" in them, we should just accept that life is filled with sheer agony because we can never really possess this sort of "permanence" within anything.

Thankfully, this is not the case.

I remember one moment when this became clear to me. One Halloween, my daughter and I had carved a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. After a couple days it was time to get rid of the rotting jack-o-lantern. I went out into the back of our apartment where there was a creek and some woods to "recycle" the rotting gourd. I began to break up the jack-o-lantern into smaller pieces and toss them around.

Then it hit me really strongly.

If this thing REALLY existed as it SEEMED to exist, then how come it is now becoming non-existent? How could this THING which we called a "jack-o-lantern" [or pumpkin or anything what-so-ever] "exist" as a real THING with it's own independent THINGNESS in one moment, and then in the next moment NOT exist that way???

It couldn't!

It NEVER existed in the way it SEEMED to exist - as some THING with it's own being, it's own essence, it's own realness. In fact, that is exactly why I COULD see it one moment, and then not see it. That is exactly why I could touch it, and then not touch it.

THE ONLY WAY SOMETHING CAN EXIST IS IF IT HAS NO PERMANENCE TO IT AT ALL, NO ESSENCE, NO "THINGNESS".

If that pumpkin existed the way we all usually THINK it exists, then it could not be destroyed, it could not change, it could never rot.

Yet, THAT is precisely how we look at the world - as though there is some-THING there that has an essence, a center, a "permanence" quality.

Because we look at the world this way, we suffer. We cause harm to the world, to everybody in it. And we cause ourselves to be full of stress, anxiety, ambition, greed, hate, ignorance.

If we could only learn to see, learn to understand, to calm down, to relax, allow, observe. If we could do that much we might be able to live another way - a way that's not so insane.

We are greedy for THINGS that don't exist, that don't have any essence to them.

We fear THINGS that are not real, that are impermanent and cannot be described accurately as some THING existing.

We are ignorant because usually, all we see and try to deal with is the surface appearance of things and events which are only appearing as one thing but are actually not that way at all.

If you say, "What about death, we should at least fear that!"

I'd ask you to analyze that. What is "death"?

Is it some THING you can separate from life? Can you distinguish it completely from anything else? Really? Not even science can explain death in any meaningful way.

Are there mountains? What are mountains? Do they exist as some individual THING completely distinct from the sky around them, from my observing them?

So you may have an impulse to fear death - I sure do - but what is that impulse based on? What is any greed or fear based on? What is our deep ignorance in dealing with reality based on?

Not much as it turns out.

When you see that every "THING" is actually "everything", when you see that this really means no "THING" exists as a "THING" and that this applies to every aspect of your experience, then and only then do you find that there is nothing to be greedy about, nothing really to base our fear on.

Then we are no longer so ignorant in how we approach others and the environment.

When you know THIS as a reality in a very robust way, you can then make use of that knowing by just chilling out a bit.

Just be here, let go of all THINGNESS and just be present with the no-THING that is everything.

That is releasing. That is sanity. That is respect. That is meditation.

That is the benefit of Buddhism.

KNOWING - the grounds for your 'happy'

Have you ever tried
To grab the sky?

I tried to look at the sky
But I couldn't see it

Instead, I saw just sky
Then, every where I looked
Only sky

So, I grabbed for it
And when I opened my hand
There was nothing there

Only sky



Seeing nothing to see
Being nothing to be
You can't have genuine freedom
By grabbing for it
The more you grab for it
The farther away it gets


Buddhism is about so called "release" and the "benefit of release".

To say this another way, there is peace when you let go, when you no longer grab at "THING" (THING-NESS).

But to truly and completely "let go" we have to KNOW that there is really NO-THING in the least to grab onto.

In fact, we have to KNOW that there was never any THING really to grab onto in the first place.

In other words, we have to have a grounds for releasing, we have to have a real, tangible and robust basis for releasing.

Without such a grounds, to just "let go" won't work!

On what "grounds" then do we release?

On the grounds of emptiness-interdependence.

On the grounds of VOIDNESS.

Buddhism says that grabbing and hanging onto THINGS (which is our usual way of relating to and expressing our life) is an unrealistic and painful way to relate to this experience.

It's unrealistic and painful because it contradicts reality "as it is". In other words, our usual way is "unsustainable".

To change this, you really need to undermine the CAUSE.

This is why it is essential to understand and realize "emptiness-interdependence" or what is also called "voidness".

Realizing emptiness-interdependence or "voidness" is what undermines the cause of our existential suffering.

There are no THINGS to hold onto.

But, because we so deeply THINK there are, we have to cut as deeply as possible into that thought in order to undermine it as a cause.

However, we can't just "change our thoughts" by sheer force alone - especially our impulsive and deeply ingrained assumptions and beliefs. We have to get to the root cause - we have to remove the "cause of" or the "grounds for" grabbing and replace that with the "grounds" for release.

To will ourselves to enlightenment is not tenable - especially in the long run. Mind is not only composed of will, there is also a "knowing" aspect.

If the knowing aspect of your mind (whether correctly or incorrectly) conflicts with your will, then no matter how "willful" you are the "knowing" aspect will undermine that.

So what then, is the basis of our "impulse to attach" or to grab onto THINGS? What is the basis of our distress?

Not knowing is the cause.

IT IS AN IGNORANCE OF THE WAY THINGS ARE
THAT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF OUR INABILITY TO RELEASE

TO RELEASE, WE HAVE TO UNDERMINE THE BASIS FOR GRABBING

TO RELEASE WE HAVE TO REPLACE IGNORANCE WITH KNOWING

We can't just declare that "I will let go of my attachments" and be done with it. We can't just declare "I believe all things are emptiness" and simply see them in this way.

We have to develop the insight, the "KNOWING" that releases our minds from the very impulse to attach.

We have to undermine the cause of attachment in order to truly "let go". In other words, we have to replace the "not knowing" with KNOWING.

KNOWING IS THE REMEDY

This is why the Buddha came to the profound understanding that THIS VERY MOMENT is where we need to be, because experiencing THIS VERY MOMENT is what undermines the basis for attaching.

And understand as well, it's not that we need to "stop our thinking" in order to stop attaching, that alone won't do either. Thought's are no THING in and of themselves which are inherently good or inherently bad. In fact, THIS VERY MOMENT (whether the thought is there or not) is where knowing is found and KNOWING IS THE REMEDY.

THIS VERY MOMENT IS WHAT WE SEEK

AWAY FROM THIS, WE ATTACH ONLY TO THINGS

TO BE TRULY PRESENT IS TO BE WITHOUT THINGS

TO BE TRULY WITHOUT THINGS IS TO *KNOW* THERE ARE NO THINGS

ANYWHERE BUT HERE, AND THERE IS THINGNESS

ANYTIME BUT NOW, AND THERE IS THINGNESS

TO BE PRESENT IS TO *KNOW* THERE ARE NO THINGS

Enlightenment is not just a "quiet and stable" mind. Nirvana requires the complete honesty of KNOWING that there are no THINGS to attach to - KNOWING that there is NO basis for attachment of any kind.

Without this KNOWLEDGE, what ever you get from meditation, what ever you get from Buddhism will be just a temporary fix.

This is also why it is so important to study, to try to understand reality, to pay attention to your experience with curiosity, with an open and "seeking" mind that isn't afraid to be challenged in it's beliefs and assumptions.

This very mind that SEEKS to know truth is the very mind that KNOWS truth.

Buddhism, unlike many other religions, does not ask for your "blind faith". It rather demands that you do the intellectual work that a deeper and truer faith will naturally arise out of.

But why "THIS VERY MOMENT"? Why PRESENCE?

If you really understand "voidness" you also understand that it is the same as "interdependence".

If you understand "interdependence" then you understand that what ever experience you're having right now is completely beyond any definable explanation of it as a THING in any way what so ever.

To define something is to "contain" or isolate it. Reality can never be isolated! Reality can never be contained in an explanation. Reality is empty of THINGNESS.

The thing you try to isolate (what ever you point to) or explain, is in reality, all things all at once.

This is also that, that is also this, past is also future, present is also past, you are also me, effects cannot arise without a cause and causes cannot be without effects. THIS is interdependence. And interdependence is exactly voidness or emptiness.

We cannot attach to any THING because there are no THINGS in isolation that exist. There are no isolatable (DEFINABLE) THINGS.

But we can't STOP there either! Why?

Because to "stop" is to create another THING where none really is.

Presence, or NOWNESS is always undefinable because it is dynamic, always moving, always changing, and most importantly, all inclusive.

THIS, HERE, NOW is where interdependence reveals itself - as what is sometimes called "totality". This is where knowing is found.

So in Buddhism the essential teaching is to simply "be here", where no-THING is, where there is no individual THING to attach to. THIS is total presence. THIS is knowing.

When you are truly here, emptiness or "voidness" reveals itself as the grounds of or basis of "totality".

There is release because each moment is -in reality- already completely free from being anything to attach to. Your job is to KNOW THIS.

Images of the Buddha - actual pics!

I took some photos of Buddha today and they came out quite clear IMHO.

Here is one..



Do you see the Buddha?

Back in high school I was pretty stressed out. Everything was so raw, so deep and intense - as it usually is for most teenagers I guess. Back then, I was beginning to practice meditation even before I had ever really heard of Buddhism. I would get out of school [sometimes skip school before eventually dropping out altogether] and head for my "space". This was of coarse not "myspace" but my "space" - way, way before personal computers.

My "space" was a small, grassy, tree lined hill in a park not far from my home. I would lay down on the side of the hill which had the most open view of the sky.

Then, I would turn my head off, no thinking allowed. In fact though, I was still sort of thinking. I would just imagine that there was only me and the sky with no earth below. I would just fly through the sky as far and as fast as I wanted to go in any direction. Nothing could impede my flying or falling. I would just turn everything loose and fly, feeling the wind, feeling the sun and the occasional cloud. I was completely free for a while and my stress was really gone while this lasted.

"Sky Gazing" is a kind of meditation that comes from the Tibetan tradition called Dzogchen ("ZO chen"). Dzogchen means "great complete" or "great perfection". This tradition - like Zen Buddhism - puts an emphasis on your 'innate enlightenment'. Your "innate" enlightenment is also called your "Buddha nature" or your innate "natural nirvana".

What is natural nirvana?

Things are complete. Some might say it as things are "perfect", but to me that implies a sort of "goodness" within things and I think that what we're really talking about goes beyond goodness or "badness".

This "completeness" is an innate (natural) quality of all phenomena, of all experiences, but we miss it in our usual way of thinking.

When we "miss" the natural completeness of our experience we create this un-natural world of THING-NESS and THINGS to grab onto and in Buddhism this world is given the name of "samsara"

THINGS don't exist!

A "THING" is an isolation.

"Isolation" is impossible.

"Interdependence" is reality, but not as a THING called "interdependence".

Things appear, but they appear based on their emptiness. In other words, they appear as interdependence-emptiness. They are without THING-NESS. This is the concealed truth of all things and when this truth is no longer concealed, or when it is "cognized" the cognition is called "attained nirvana".

So natural nirvana (aka "your Buddha nature") is just (or exactly) the truth of phenomena that is concealed within our 'samsaric" experience of the world. It is a potential experience when we miss it. It is a realized truth when we see it.

We have to undo that "missing it".

This is where meditation as a "path" or a "practice" comes in.

Meditation as a "path" is the process of uncovering the innate truth that is exactly THE TRUTH precisely because things have ALWAYS or primordially been this way.

The unique path of Buddhist meditation is to take this truth, this innate state of THIS as THIS is, and use that potential as the path to realize the goal.

Meditation changes nothing.

The path IS the goal.

Meditation changes everything.

When we look at the world it looks like a pile of shit. But when a fly looks at a pile of shit that pile of shit is a feast.

The world is a pile of shit that has within it the potential to be a feast!

There is an innate completeness to things but it is only a potential until we actualize the potential as our truth. That is what Buddhism is about.

The world is a pile of shit.

Actualizing means ridding our experience of the THINGS that block the realization of the completeness.

The world is a feast.

Here is another shot of Buddha I took in the bus yard at work today..



Please go get you some "attained nirvana".

The "sky gazing" that I do has very few rules.

Find a place with a view

A viewless view is best, but anywhere will do

Look up, look out

Endless, boundless, infinite

Space, freedom, uninhibited

Not nothingness, which is something

Awareness is present

Nothing to be aware of

Emptiness is presence

Complete as it is

Nothing to add to or take away

Not future, not past, not even now

Just emptiness, awareness, emptiness

Just sky

Please feel free to use the photos you find here for your 'sky gazing' practice on your computer - it works well in lieu of the real thing.

"Rules" for sky gazing are as follows:

Don't become enthralled by the beauty of the sky, but don't suppress the beauty either.

Don't focus on one particular aspect of the sky, but don't look around and become distracted either.

The best sky's have some clouds, but clouds can't hinder the vast sky.

Don't think about the sky when sky gazing, but don't suppress your thoughts either.

Don't analyze your sky gazing, but do notice the emptiness and awareness that is present.

When you breath out when sky gazing sometimes say AHHHHhhh..., but most of the time don't.

Just sky gaze, let it all go and sky gaze.

Here are a couple more pics I found of the Buddha - these were already online so I guess I ripped them off.. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM FULL SIZE!





PS - Ive added one more image of the Buddha that I took to help you with your "sky gazing" meditation. Don't forget to CLICK ON THE PHOTOS (all of them) to see the FULL version:

Problems, Peace and Ecstasy

Buddhism says on one level, look, this situation, this experience here is unsatisfactory, and more than that, it cannot possibly be satisfactory when experience is on this level.

But then, on another level, it says, the nature of any experience is neither inherently satisfactory nor unsatisfactory, on this level it is 'what it is' without being definable as any-THING. On this level there is neither satisfaction nor non-satisfaction.

Finally, Buddhism goes on to say that this experience, right now, is completely, totally and purely satisfactory. In fact, on this level there is nothing but pure satisfaction itself.

How is this possible? How can we reconcile these three seemingly opposing views of reality?

Each of these "descriptions" are utterly true at their particular level of experience. When we cling to any of these three levels of truth we create a cognitive dissonance, a mental conflict - a kind of suffering.

We do have to recognize that in our usual way of life we have these problems - the fist teaching of Buddha was to point out the suffering or unsatisfactoriness in life.

But when we begin to look into this we discover something deeper.

Looking into the cause of these problems reveals that their source is groundless, their basis is baseless, their nature is emptiness. THING-NESS is something that comes from within. THING-NESS does not abide 'out there'. THING-NESS is the cause. There are no THINGS so let go of that.

We might be tempted then to leave it at that, to stay at that level, and why not, why shouldn't we? It is utterly the truth and it sounds pretty peaceful so why not just view it all as no-THING?

Because truth is not a THING, it can't abide as anyTHING, even as the profound truth of emptiness or interdependence.

In meditation, we can approach our thoughts as though they are obstacles to the object of our meditation. Thoughts arise, distraction, you notice this and correct, you return to meditation. That is like seeing life as a problem. This is good on one level.

Then, in meditation, we can also see these thoughts as empty, as relative, as nothing to be concerned about. Here you just sit with whatever appears knowing no THING is inherently there to be an obstacle. This also is good on one level.

But even this level of meditation gives way to something deeper.

Life is not just problems.
Life is not just peace.

Life is also ecstasy.

THIS as 'THIS IS' is more than something that needs to be corrected. THIS as 'THIS IS' is more than something that needs to be recognized.

THIS as 'THIS IS' is also pure being.

Whether you correct your experience or not (in meditation), whether you recognize the nature of your experience or not (in meditation), your experience is more than (beyond) correcting or recognizing in meditation.

Pure being is who we are in truth.

In Buddhism this is called our Buddha Nature.

THAT is exactly who we really are.

It doesn't need correcting. It doesn't need recognition. We are THAT whether or not we correct our experience or recognize our experience for what it is.

When we experience life as problem then we are problem Buddha. When we experience life as peace and clarity, we are peace and clarity Buddha.

This however is like making the body and mind of a Buddha, but without the feelings and without the speech.

Speech is expression, communication, feeling. Release and benefit always have to do with that, with the whole of our experience, not just correcting and not just recognizing.

Expressing pure being 'as it is' is actualizing who you are right now in totality.

When you take this experience of interdependence, of relativity and subtract the illusory need or desire to correct it, you arrive at the ecstasy of pure being - in other words bliss/emptiness. Bliss minus "bliss" as any THING to cling to.

This is our complete experience 'as it is' NOW.

It's not a matter of correcting, although you can make good use of correcting.

It's not a matter of recognizing, although you have to recognize this - "recognizing" is still removed slightly from this 'as it is'.

Reality goes beyond both body and mind. It is so present, so complete and total that you simply miss it in any attempt to 'attain' it. Buddhism helps, but you have to be ready to (have to develop the confidence to) ditch the raft you used to cross the river or it will weigh you down carrying it everywhere.

Pure Being is THIS, and THIS has always been the case.

Enjoy it.

The Intimacy of Death - practicing your life

Thing is, this is not bullshit. Not really bullshit at all.

It may seem like that, but any bullshit is all secondary. The bullshit is the "ism" in Buddhism.

The "Buddh" part is just to be awake, just to be fully alive in your experience - whatever shape it takes.

When we say "Im alive" that is a shape, a THING, a form. When we say "my death" that is a shape, a THING, a form.

Both of these are just elaboration on a theme.

The essence of the theme though, is not anything speakable, completely beyond words. In Buddhism they still try to express this though with words like "thus" or THIS.

You start to notice "thus" (THIS) when the doctor tells you that you only have weeks to live. THEN you pay attention to thus.

Mostly, we're not fully alive. We even die before we live usually. But then death puts this all into the proper perspective.

You and I are dying right now. We have terminal life disease.

Because we are born we get to die, we get to experience this great loss of utterly every aspect of our experience. Nothing really is analogous to what we will go through.

But this is right now how all this is.

How long do you have to live?

When are you going to die?

We fill our experience up with distractions, but the very nature of all this is itself un-distractedness. The very nature of this experience we are having right now is awakeness. We don't notice.

Dying brings this message home if we pay attention to our dying - which is right now.

There is no right way or wrong way to die.

I knew this guy who died of AIDS and he was extremely scared and angry almost to the point of insanity right up to the end. I felt sad for him because he couldn't accept his condition at all but then I also thought maybe I might be crazy like that as well someday.

I didn't however, think he was dying in a "wrong" way. He had the right to die in what ever way he needed to. We all do.

I witnessed a murder one time on the streets of Seattle. This man was stabbed (randomly by a crazy homeless person) in his heart and he basically died in my arms. He even looked in my eyes as he went. I felt that with him, in his case, there was some acceptance, some sense of "resignation" [as my old zen teacher once put it] as he went.

He earned his right to die in that way, but it wasn't right or wrong. Some people are quietly resigned, others fight as much as they can, who are we to interfere in such a moment with our judgments.

When will you die?

Is that a long time away?

Buddhism has a lot to do with death because death is completely intimate, completely sacred, completely personal, completely unyielding, completely real, and completely now.

There is a Tibetan saying that partially goes, "We are born alone, we will die alone". That hits home.

Just think about that for a second. Not about the philosophy behind it, because Buddhism also says that we are never alone. But just contemplate these words for a bit, not whether or not it is correct from a philosophical perspective, just let it sink in as it is..

We are born alone
We will die alone

Death is touching truth. Life is too, we just don't notice it. We need to find a realistic way to relate to this most intimate of experiences.

I new this other guy who died. While on his death bed his friend kept telling him to "follow the light, let go and follow the light..."
That really IS just bullshit! No one should "command" someone to do something while they are dying! The process of dying is too serious and too intimate for that. The dying guy finally yelled at him to shut up at one point.

Reading to someone who is dying or suggesting something yeah, that's ok in my book, simply listening to them is best of coarse, but trying to impose your phony beliefs on someone as they are going through the purest moment of their experience is a crime.

When you study Buddhism you study your death. Practicing Buddhism is practicing your death. Switch the word "death" to "life" and you see what I mean from a different perspective. Regardless of the words, either perspective is true.

WE ARE DYING

You think this is not the case but it is.

Buddhism is not bullshit because life-death is not bullshit. We make it bullshit by wasting it.

YOU ARE DYING

I read this story on line about the Dalai Lama:

"When the Dalai Lama turned 58 years old, a reporter asked him what he was going to do next with his life. He answered that he was going to prepare for death. The interviewer inquired about his health, and the Dalai Lama replied that he wasn’t sick, but that his body was impermanent."

It really is amazing that humans have come up with Buddhism.

Each moment of our experience includes every other moment. We just don't notice this! Meditating on our death removes the bullshit from our experience and replaces it with the "notice" part.

You don't have to necessarily "visualize" your dying process to meditate on death. Really, any Buddhist meditation, any Buddhist method is a meditation on death because Buddhism points toward truth - no matter what you name it.

Death is truth because it's opposite is usually avoidance, distraction, pre-occupation. Death rips this all away, or it removes it in a control manner if we face this moment as it is now by paying attention to our dying-living. Either way, truth gets revealed.

And because truth gets revealed this is why we almost universally, intuitively respect death as being so intimate, so sacred - at least we should.

Shutting down, letting go of, seeing thru, eliminating the cognitive distractions we so cling to is what Buddhism is about. Don't be fooled by the appearance of it as "just another religion", this is not bullshit unless we make it into bullshit.

WE ARE DYING NOW

What are you going to distract yourself with?

I know you don't want to face this (life-death), neither do I, but here we are, right now, what should we do with this? What should we do with our experience?

Life is suffering. Life is stressful and unsatisfying. Life is fleeting and ever changing. Life is loss. Life is death.

But because it is all these things it is precious too.

Life is that tree, that cloud, that smile, that taste, that joke, that comb by the sink in the bathroom.

WE ARE BORN ALONE
WE WILL DIE ALONE

We die each and every moment. We live each and every moment. We die each and every moment.

Right there
Right there exactly

Natural Being - a deeper meditation

Because words are conceptual assertion, they always fail to directly communicate reality.

As they say in the Madhyamaka as well as in Zen, "to assert anything about the nature of reality is to miss the mark".

Both the beautiful Madhyamaka reasoning which is full of insight, ideas and concept, and which ultimately yields a non conceptual fruit, as well as the beautiful art of Buddhist meditation which is filled with calm stability and realization, necessarily meet us at some point "in real time".

You will never be satisfied with philosophy.

If you see meditation as a means you will practice quietude as a drug.

And poetry, I will add, is quite the subjective medium.


Buddhism is about relationship.

If there are philosophies and poems connected to Buddhism they are all expressing the necessary step of returning to relationship. Relationship is our Buddha in action. This is called our "Sambhogakaya" Buddha.

We can "appear" like a Buddha, we can realize or "think" like a Buddha too, these are important and are given a rightful place in Buddhism. But the best Buddha is the one practice/realization of relating, of communicating our experience the way it is, as who we are, as what we do (what ever that is), as our life.

We are not in isolation. Nothing is that way. Everything is in flow and every moment brings the next experience. We have to relate to that.

Meditation might look like sitting sometimes, enlightenment might sound like a lot of big words and high ideals, but things are still in flow, the world is not still, beings are interacting.

We work with what we got.

I can't put the words below into any kind of context really so get what you can from them or just disregard them.

In the midst of what ever is

Just this

Without directing the mind

Without distraction

Just this

Neither meditation

Nor non-meditation

Just this

Without searching

Without confusion

Just this

Without setting up

Without neglecting

Just this

Letting it be

With no effort

Just this

Whether me

Or you

Just this

However the body

However the mind

Just this

Whether grasping

Or rejecting

Just this

Without enduring

Primordially present

Just this

Unobtainable

Indistinguishable

Just this

Neither this

Nor not this

Just this


I hope you can see that you're Buddha.

The World in a Grain of Sand - being a communication buddha

THINGS appear but THINGS are empty

What does it mean that things are empty?

Reality is really our experiencing of it. Outside of our experiencing of it, it is incoherent and abstract. A universe that lacks experience is meaningless.

Buddhism is about our experiencing of.

The significance is in HOW this experience is - not in the "what it is" aspect.

When we say "what" we reveal a certain way that we approach our experience. We take the "how" and turn it into a "what" or a "that". This shows clearly that for us, this experience is filled with THINGS, subjects, objects, events, moments, memories etc..

But look again at your experience, is this how it really is?

We can deconstruct this assumption - as Ive shown in other posts - and see that in actuality no matter where you turn there is not a single THING that exists.

Of coarse, this also means nor is there a single THING that does NOT exist as well.

If things existed, then they could not be produced (they would always have been) and they would never change. And in so far as "not existing" is the dependent co-relational opposite of "existing", because things don't exist, they don't "not exist" as well.

THINGS appear but THINGS are empty

Go ahead and point to something, anything. THAT is empty. Empty of what? Empty of it's own THING-NESS, it's own self. And this even applies to "emptiness" itself as a THING. Even emptiness is dependent upon THINGS to be empty of their THING-NESS - that is what emptiness means.

So where does this leave us?

The nature of experience is ineffable.

When you look at any experience you are looking at all experience.

"To see the world in a grain of sand.."

Take time for example;

Every moment of what we THINK of as time expresses every other moment of time - stretching forever back and forever forward. "NOW" is not an incalculably small amount of time, NOW is every moment, is ALL moments of time.

When do we experience the past? NOW.

When do we experience the future? NOW.

NOW is ALL time.

NOW IS EMPTINESS

Emptiness (voidness) is our experience as it really is. Although you cannot THINK of this conceptually. Why?

Because concepts are limited in both time and space. Concepts define, they are mental boundaries. Your experience is unbounded. Your experience is too close, too sudden for concepts.

It's important to understand that concepts are a language - or perhaps more accurately, language is concept. Conceptual language is assertion and this is also communication.

To say anything about the way this all is is to assert something conceptually. But because the way this all is is completely ineffable, completely non-conceptual (un-bounded) it seems that we cannot possibly communicate or make sense out of it - even to ourselves.

That's because we try to communicate THINGS, we try to relate to THINGS.

THINGS DON'T EXIST

Relationship exists, communication exists.
Or better yet, these appear.

It's all in the HOW of it.

When you meditate, there should be no THING called meditation. Meditation should be THING-LESS. It is pure relationship whether youre sitting or doing other than sitting. It is how you communicate, how you relate to every experience.

Sitting is a good practice, but you shouldn't sit too much

Everywhere is truth. Every experience is nothing but communication of truth. In zen they say "take care" a lot. This is why.

A Buddha is just a mind that sees this as truth, directly, non-conceptually. A Buddha is a mind that knows emptiness directly, non-conceptually.

You already know this, you just have to notice that you know this to give expression to your Buddha-self.

Your Great Perfection - who you are

When you take the THING-NESS out of all your experience you are not left with nothingess (which is still a THING) you are left with THIS as THIS IS.

This is not a mere play on words.

This experience right now is utterly pure - it is purity itself.

In Buddhism this is called various names such as enlightenment, nirvana, Buddhahood, Buddhaness etc....

These are just names for something that is really not nameable - although it is experience-able. This is your experience as it really is right now, YOU ARE BUDDHA!

I don't say that to be clever or sound important. Every experience you have reveals this to be the case but you (we) usually miss it.

We're entangled in our thought-THINGS, our concepts. Our mind is only partially aware of reality. We miss the significance of our experiencing.

And because of all that, we are completely given over to anxiety, to worry, to greed for some-THING that we can conceptualize into a "meaning" for our own existence.

Living like this is unrealistic and chaotic and we make a lot of unintended consequences from how we relate to others and to our environment.

All of this because we are only partially aware. In fact, we're partially aware Buddhas!

And we're pretty clever Buddhas at that.

Look at how science [specifically the field of particle physics] keeps chasing smaller and smaller particles (objects) as though they are examining real "THINGS" that are truly some existing objects "out there".

Im a big fan of science, so don't get me wrong here, I think we should be digging into the nature of objects.

But what do they keep finding? What are the patterns that emerge?

That each level of "fundamental-ness" is in fact not so fundamental after all. Every particle is arisen from other THINGS, from other particles, from other conditions.

As long as we keep developing the technical capability to dig deeper and deeper into the "objective" world, I will make the prediction that we will just keep finding more and more emptiness, more interdependence, more lack of fundamental-ness.

Reality is just this way. Our experience is just this way.

What Buddhism is telling you and me is just to..

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR EXPERIENCE

In your experience, THINGS are not found. Interdependence is found - which is what I call "voidness". You could also call it (your experience) "relationship".

But this is not the idea we might have of some kind of "nothingness" - like in the thought that all of this is meaningless. Buddhism is not existentialism, not nihilism.

PAY ATTENTION TO EXPERIENCE

All of life and death is just your experience, how could THAT not be sacred?

When we make up THINGS or a "THING-NESS" in this our ever changing experience we destroy the sacredness of our experience. Everything is sacred. you already have a sense of this. But don't grab onto it that way - as sacred - because you then destroy it by making it into a THING.

I found something online that struck me as conveying the essential point of all this - it's from a western teacher of Tibetan Buddhism named Lama Surya Das:

"This luminous View of the Natural Great Perfection transcends the dualism of perfect and imperfect. It implies that everything is primordially complete as is, and uninhibitedly, inexhaustibly, spontaneously manifesting. We don’t have to inhibit, alter, or adulterate anything in our experience; we can simply appreciate it as it as, and make more wise and informed decisions about how skillfully to work with things according to conditions and circumstances. We don’t have to try to become perfect or stop thinking and feeling--not to mention try to make others change according to our own notions of how they could or should be! The nature of the mind is primordially perfect as it is, and all its myriad manifestations are as well--thoughts, feelings, perceptions, memories, or whatever arises in the body-mind complex."

I'm not saying this all is easy, but I am saying it is profoundly simple.

What stops us from recognizing how all this is, from actualizing our potential is simply that we freeze our experience into THINGS. When we unfreeze our experience, when we release the THING-NESS, we can see that it has always been this way - from the very beginning.

You know, when you consider Buddhism, given all that we're up against, it's pretty amazing that people have actually realized this, don't you think?

Who Can Be Buddhist? no one really

I don't know what to write about today. That's good.

There is really nothing to write about.

Buddhism is not really anything.

We make it some THING, we give it rules and call it a "religion". But is it that?

Who can be a Buddhist?

I have had conversations with other Buddhists who have rather strong convictions regarding exactly "who" and "what" is a Buddhist.

I've also known committed Buddhists who have never used the terms "Buddha", "Buddhism" etc..
Pretty good if you can pull it off I think.

Can a killer be a Buddhist?

Does a killer have a mind?

How fast can the mind change?

How soon does enlightenment arrive?

Some people define Buddhism by certain standards that are easily recognizable - but in fairly vague terms.

Terms like "non-violence".

If I kill out of protecting my daughter will I still be a Buddhist? What if I hate the man who is trying to harm her and I then let the anger rise and rise to the point where I kill him? Am I still a Buddhist?

I think this notion is influenced by the Christian idealism of reward and punishment. It goes something like, "if I am good I get the reward of..." "If I am bad I get the punishment of..." That is not Buddhism.

WHEN THIS ARISES THAT BECOMES

This is Buddhism.

There are no exclusions here, Buddhism is not a club that you join. The vows that you take are practices, the meat of Buddhism in action, the vows are not rules.

WHEN THIS ARISES THAT BECOMES

When you view the world as filled with independent instances and events of THING-NESS then the world becomes an experience that is in need of rules and classifications.

In reality, all of this passes away much too fast for that sort of thinking. THIS moment is too quick and too precious for rules.

If we can notice this moment, all the rules are fulfilled. I once had a zen teacher who called this "living in vow". There are vows that you make as a Buddhist but they are not rules.

Life is too short for rules.

When you relate to your experience in a realistic way - minus all the THINGS in this experience - then you realize that just this being here right now, right at this moment is enough. It is perfect. It is not obstructed by THING-NESS.

Rules are just things.

Anyone can be a Buddhist. Everyone has a mind.

WHEN THIS ARISES THAT BECOMES

Whether you know this or not, life is undefinable as anyTHING. This is really just experience. Buddhism is simply a language like math for example. The numbers themselves are meaningless, abstractions.

Can you see this?

You can't get away from your experience however.

Because "when this arises, that becomes."

These are famous Buddhist words. Some people consider them "sacred" words. Really though, they are just pointing you back to this experience.

That is what this is about.

No one can really be a Buddhist. Buddhism disappears when you look at it - that is if you are doing it right.

You disappear if you are doing it right. Compassion or "relationship" appears if you are doing it right - but not as a THING.

So when you want to indulge in your "Buddha-ness" you should be careful there. Don't make this precious life into any THING like Buddhism. A Buddha is your mind completely free of Buddha.

To those who wish to make Buddhism into an exclusive club I would just say be careful of how you harm your experience, because when this becomes, that arises.

Two Truths - one reality

Traditionally in Buddhism, there is what is referred to as "the two truths" or two "levels" of so called reality. One is called "conventional truth" and the other is called "ultimate truth". These are described in various ways in different contexts, so it's kind of difficult to generalize these terms.

'Conventional truth' can be somewhat understood as being what we 'conventionally experience' in our everyday lives as an objectified reality.

'Ultimate truth' can be understood to mean the truest or deepest 'existential mode' (valid level of existing) of that conventional experience.

For example, we conventionally experience cars so cars are a conventional truth. But when we look deeply at this experience of "car" we find there is no such thing as "car". Why?

Because "car" is merely the name or label we give to a gathering of parts (conditions) that we conveniently refer to as "car". Car is not there, it is empty (void) of being a real THING that the name car actually refers to. This is the "ultimate truth" of the car.

But now I want to explain the 'two truths' in a more direct and hopefully more realistic way.

The two truths are in fact, one reality that is viewed from 2 different angles.

Voidness as emptiness
Voidness as interdependence

Both (each) of these views are (although functional from their unique perspectives) partial, incomplete, un-holistic and therefore flawed.

In our ordinary understanding of "emptiness" we almost always conceive of it as a negative space or empty hole of sorts, maybe a vast black, absolute nothingness. In what ever way it comes to mind, it seems to be unavoidably like an affirmed (asserted or 'put forth') negation of reality - a kind of nihilism.

In a way, there is a validity to this view in so far as THINGS are not as solid as they appear.

But also, in our ordinary understanding of the term "interdependence" (the fact that all things are based on their conditions) we almost always conceive of real THINGS existing but as being made up of other real THINGS. Yes they interact, but they seem like real THINGS interacting.

Both these views are one sided, dualistic and un-realistic.

In reality, emptiness is not a THING such as it appears to be as an affirmed, absolute "noTHINGness". Nor is interdependence the interactivity of truly existent THINGS.

If you can remove the "THINGNESS" of both emptiness AND interdependence you can then glimpse the true (realistic) reality of all this - your present experience.

Emptiness minus the THING-NESS of emptiness is correctly seen as exactly interdependence.

Interdependence without any THINGS that interact is correctly seen as exactly emptiness.

In a correct view (non-conceptual or "view-less" view), both of these terms are completely interchangeable.

Emptiness (what I call "voidness") is not absolute nothingness which is the opposite of existing. Voidness is reality without the THING-NESS of reality. This is exactly the same thing as interdependence.

When you take all the "THING-NESS" out of your experiences, out of your life, what are you left with?

Relationship.

Relationship without any THINGS that are relating with one another. All of THIS is emptiness-interdependence, all of it is relationship.

And here too is why compassion plays such a prominent role in Buddhism.

When you remove the non-existent THING-NESS from reality, you then relate to your experiences (what ever happens in your life) in the most realistic way possible.

In Buddhism, in particular in Zen Buddhism, you treat everything with the utmost care and even "compassion". Why?

Because their are no THINGS, there are only relationships and relationship is what is important - not some non-existent "THINGS" (or even non-existent "beings"-THINGS).

Compassion works as a two way street in that it is both the result of a correct view of reality and also is a path to help get you to the correct view in as much as it helps remove selfish instincts and impulses.

You could view the Buddhist principle of "karma" as being synonymous with "relationship" as well.

'Karma' is behavior based cause and effect. In other words, the world we now experience is both the cause and result of our karma (HOW we actualize our intent, HOW we relate to our experiences). That is to say, the world we experience is one of relationship.

When you see this level of truth, the focus is completely altered!

On the one hand you have a view of the world where by it is made of these individual experiences of THINGS and BEINGS - that is one "truth".

But that "truth" leaves you with a lot of stress because all those THINGS are set to expire at some point. Then what?

On the other hand, you have this other more realistic truth.

THERE ARE NO THINGS

THERE ARE ONLY RELATIONSHIPS

And that calls for the utmost attention and care - what is called "the union of wisdom and compassion" in Buddhism.

In climbing it's not just that you climb a mountain, it's HOW you climb it that becomes important. You could take all the challenge out of it completely, maybe get lowered onto a summit by a helicopter or carried by someone up to the top, but what would be significant about that in your life?

We focus so much on the THING-NESS of things that we forget about the quality of the experience. We forget about the only really important aspect which is the relationship we have to our experiences.

Seeing this reality is the wisdom part. Actualizing it is compassion. They go hand in hand really.

THINGS or THING-NESS is one (level of) truth.

Relationship is another.

But be careful here, there is no THING-NESS to this kind of relationship (there are no THINGS or BEINGS to relate to), rather, there is simply 'relationship-emptiness'.

You don't have to react to every-THING-ness that happens in your life, you just have to RELATE to them. If you relate to them in an unrealistic way, by valuing them as THINGS, by picking and choosing some THINGS over others you create (via karma) that kind of experience where by THINGS are what matters to you. Where by, THINGS let you down, or give you a fix and then let you down.

In this context, THINGS are not just inanimate objects, they are the THING-NESS of any experience you have. If you are attached to a person, THAT is a THING or THING-NESS. If you are attached to your relatively good health at the moment THAT is a THING-NESS.

THINGS dissolve

THINGS perish

THINGS disintegrate

THINGS disperse

THINGS are void of reality

RELATIONSHIP IS REALITY

Just don't make it a thing.

The Unlimited Lightness of Being

I'm near the eve of making a slightly deeper commitment to this (Buddhist) path. In case you're wondering, this DOES involve some commitment. There is risk. Like anything else, nothing changes without risk.

Mountain climbing can be risky, in fact it's essential - to a point. And you'd better hope that you suffer a little, because that is essential too. If you risk nothing you gain nothing.

You have to also give up something.

You have to lose yourself to the mountain to get a return. That's why it MUST be difficult, MUST be challenging - at least somewhat.

Not to be overly dramatic, but when you climb a mountain you are trying to have a new experience, you're trying to learn something about who you really are.

None of this happens unless you go (at least a little bit) beyond what you know of yourself, beyond what you thought you were capable of.

We view ourselves in extremely limited ways.

We see our selves as some-THING that is "alive". This is what we mean when we say "I" or "me". There is this being-THING that is "me" and it is trapped by physical boundary, physical limitation.

This is why death scares the hell out of us.

"If I am only this THING then death will be the end of me!"

Has anything ever exited the universe?

Elsewhere on the blog Ive tried to show that our experience of "me-ness" cannot be defined by partial aspects of experience. We are not our thoughts, we are not our bodies, we are not our emotions, etc..

But rather then 'freaking out' on some strange notion that this means we don't exist at all, or that we are somehow not experiencing this at all, lets try to understand what this experience actually is - or at least appreciate it AS it is.

Some people have an idea that when Buddhism negates the existence of a self it actually destroys some real THING that is there. This is not the case. What Buddhism does is release the limitations that we put on our experience of all this. "THINGS" or "BEINGS" as THINGS are -simply put- nothing but limitation.

The difference between things is not a difference between THINGS

(there are no THINGS)

It is a difference between THING-NESS and No-THING-ness

We complain (maybe internally) about the possibility of dying, yet we don't complain so much anymore about being born. Whatever our experience was prior to this, one might ask, is this an improvement to that beyond all doubt?

I'm not asserting that "you existed" before you were born, I'm just saying you can't exit your own experience - no matter what that experience entails.

But you CAN remove at least SOME of the limitations on this experience.

Our "usual experience" [as my zen teacher used to call it] is fraught with self limitations and fraught with all the distress and suffering that accompany those limitations.

'Experience' happens in the mind

Mind is 'experiencing'

When our mind darts from one thought to another it is actually darting from one THING-NESS to another. The flow of thoughts in our experience is overwhelmingly continuous. The flow of THINGS in our experience is overwhelmingly continuous.

But what we don't always notice is that THING-NESS is not the whole picture.

"THINGS" don't exist!

If you continue to study and meditate you are almost guaranteed of seeing this. You will notice where all this THING-NESS hides in all aspects of your experience - emotional, physical, and of coarse mental as well.

It's subtle. But it's arisen bad results are not.

We really have to stop our craziness at some point, stop our fears, stop killing ourselves with anxiety and neurotic self obsession. Your life is too precious not to. And generally speaking, the planet is too precious not to.

Buddhism uses a lot of tools to remove the limitations you put on yourself. Zen tends to approach this by dealing with your directed intellect and your perseverance. Tantra (Tibetan Vajrayana) approaches it with those to, but mostly emphasizes creativity, emotion even unpredictability.

Eventually all aspects of your being have to get involved no matter what approach you take. It's serious business.

Changing ourselves in the Buddhist sense is not changing a single atom of any THING. The difference between the world of suffering (samsara) and the world of liberation (nirvana) is utterly no THING.

The difference between things is not a difference between THINGS

(there are no THINGS)

It is a difference between THING-NESS and No-THING-ness

It's all how you look at it, all HOW you experience it - it's all about your mind.

But we don't know what that means in it's true sense. We don't know what an unlimited mind is capable of. We don't really understand that all of this, all this entire experience is foremost an experience of quality not of "objects".

There is no "me" here and a "death" waiting somewhere over there.

I AM DEATH!

In fact, remove the "I" and remove the "death".

What do you have?

What do you fear?

What is there to fear?

Who is there to fear?

How many deaths have you gone through? Why do you THINK only one birth? How limiting the mind is when it thinks such thoughts! Maybe we can go beyond such limitations.

What if you didn't think of time in terms of days, weeks, months and years? What if instead you thought of time in a context of eons, millennia, ages?

What if you didn't just consider your family and friends as valuable, what if you saw all people that way, even all life?

What if you didn't just think of space/time in 3 dimensions, what if you thought of it in 5 or 6 or infinite dimensions?

If our minds were actually limited, were actually nothing more than merely 'a reactive process to environmental stimuli', then how can you explain creativity? How can you explain the self transcendence of love or compassion? How can you explain art? How can you explain our curiosity about this, our experience?

How can you explain Buddhism?

Sit right now, right here and just let it be. Thoughts are self liberated voidness.
Fear is the same.

Don't make THING-NESS and there are no THINGS to fear. Take every experience as the truth of no-THING-NESS, as PROOF of no-THING-NESS.

Or just watch you're thoughts come and go, there are no particular THINGS there. THINGS are made of every other THING which in essence is no-THING.

Sounds crazy I know, but what's really crazy? Look around you, just notice the distress, notice the pain in everyone. Begin to feel a different possibility is at hand. Begin to feel a little sympathy.

Next, just meditate some more, just let all this settle right into this present experience. You don't have to pick out anything in particular, you are not searching for some-THING [that's just more of the same].

You're just noticing the tiny perfection that is self revealing in each moment of your experience. This is what we so often overlook to our own detriment.

Buddhism is Weird - embracing disorientation

Alarm goes off..

We get up in the morning and fight through that little bit of confusion, that little bit of fog that is left over, that's still there as the remnants of sleep. If you notice, there is usually a little bit of anxiety there as well, a little bit of doubt too.

Then, we put it all together. We have to. We organize our thoughts and plans for the day and we begin to move. The "confusion" [that is really an openness or an opportunity] has to be relegated and ignored in order to function, to not appear "weird".

You solidify your identity and your mission. You have to.

"This [you tell yourself somewhere inside] is life. This THING is what it all is, and this THING is the meaning behind it. These THINGS are my beliefs. This THING is my purpose."

It's not like it takes much time for this to all go through your mind, it all comes to pass in a second or two of habit. That openness, that doubt, that question? You'll deal with that later, maybe when you're old.

Buddhism seems weird to us mostly. It seems unrealistic and detached from reality - from what we THINK is reality. Buddhists seem weird. My daughter thinks I'm weird. I'm sure my family in general probably thinks I'm a little odd. Even I see some of the Buddhist teachers Ive known as kind of strange in their behavior.

When it comes down to it, when we compare the profoundness of life to it's more mundane appearances I think it's fair to say that yes, it is weird. The ultimate truth looks very weird to a conventional gaze.

But what is truly weird [to me anyway] is that we would take something so profound, something so precious and so filled with absolute meaning, that we would take THIS [our present experience] so for granted, that we would form it into little idea packets of psuedo-meaning as for instance in the pursuit of wealth, control, ideology and short sighted achievements for the sake of status.

There is a little bit of all those, all those "inclinations toward THING-NESS" in our morning wake-up routine and yet we don't notice the weirdness in that. We don't notice the weirdness of ignoring the very basis of our experience.

Im not saying that we should be without goals - far from it. But how weird is it to spend a lifetime [or even a single moment] trying to ignore the openness, the unlimitedness of THIS very moment? Yet that is what we almost always do. We make reality, we make experience into a THING.

THINGS are limited!

The experience of taking reality and making it into a conceptual THING is an experience of limitation.

If you notice what is NOW you don't need Buddhism.

If you are here in YOUR life, fully, presently, you don't need a THING called Buddhism.

Buddhism is just a name for the path back to your present experience. If you take this path you are a Buddhist.

But to others, you might look a little weird.

Why? Why do we think Buddhists are weird? Why do we think of those who look into THIS as "weird"?

We fear openness. We fear voidness. We fear reality. It's weird to us.

Remember, "reality" is not a THING, it is undefinable as a THING. All THINGS are made of everything else except themselves. And when those THINGS are seen in their nature, they are also not there as THINGS. This can seem disorienting from a certain angle.

In order to deal with that disorientation [which we could also label as weirdness] we orient our experience around THINGS, around idea-THINGS, material-THINGS, principle-THINGS, emotion-THINGS, meaning-THINGS, people-THINGS, relationship-THINGS. This makes THINGS "grabbable", not weird.

This THING-NESS gives us reprieve from the openness, reprieve from ineffable voidness-interdependence. But it also smashes the very preciousness of this moment.

To a certain extent, that's unavoidable because we are still a work in progress. But if we don't stop and notice what this all really is in it's most profound sense, if we don't at least occasionally notice the true nature of this experience we are having right NOW and not just the surface appearance of it that becomes our ideas 'about' it, then in that case you have to wonder, who really is weird?

Are Buddhist practitioners weird when they give up material pursuits to live fifteen years in a cave or is it weird that us ordinary scientifically minded folk once considered the possibility of building a 'doomsday bomb' to destroy all life as we know it?

Is it weird that people follow the Dalai Lama around listening to him talk about the importance of compassion or is it weird that we normal people casually give support to wars that slaughter whole innocent families?

Is it weird to look at this situation and try to understand the nature of THIS present experience or is it weird to go about our lives and ignore this question as much as we can?

Weirdness is relative - like anything else. I embrace my weirdness.

This reminds me a little of climbing [there are a lot of things about climbing that correlate to Buddhism BTW]. Many people don't understand climbers or mountain climbing in general. Climbers are weird at best to non-climbers and they are even selfish, risk-taking dirt-bags to others.

But there is something really deeply precious in climbing. Climbing inspires. Climbers inspire. They inspire themselves and through themselves others around them as well.

There is something pretty deep that sometimes happens when you complete a difficult climb and there is a view at the top that is often described as a religious experience by many climbers. But to many non-climbers, climbing will always be just something weird.

Yes I am weird. Sometimes I spend my time writing this blog or reading Buddhist texts that I could other wise spend making more money or building shelters for the homeless. That makes me weird by normal standards.

But reality is actually kind of weird also, if you look at it.

How weird is it to see THINGS when things do not exist? "Experience is" now THAT is a weird statement! And yet, it more closely describes something that is not a THING.

And yet, if you were to stand somewhere with a big view, you might also describe the experience using weird terms.

Just go to that big view, you don't have to climb a mountain to get to an overlook with a view. Just have that viewless view, that openness.

I embrace my weirdness.

Please embrace yours.

Life is too short not to.

Emotional Intelligence - a necessary step

I'll make this one comparatively brief.

We are screwed up emotionally. Somewhere along the line we got the idea that emotion somehow "doesn't count". We're supposed to "fight through" emotion as if it wasn't there.

This attitude is prevalent to society in general and is even prevalent [to one degree or another] in Buddhism itself. For many Buddhist practitioners, insight means merely an 'intellectual' insight minus the emotion. Or so they THINK.

Fairly or unfairly, this apparent aspect is even [ironically] what attracts some people to the Buddhist path in the first place. Maybe it's a sense that they can some how "get beyond" all emotion or rid themselves of all of it.

Emotion is experience

Experience is our reality

Emotions can be negative, some are clearly that. These are called "afflictive" emotions. But not all emotions are afflictions or something to be done away with.

What would the world do without "love" for example? Would we care for our young?

And what about sadness?

I unfortunately know an extremely large number of people that are on antidepressant drugs - some of them are certainly helped by this.

But curiously, there are also some [perhaps many] who have somehow gotten the idea that they should NEVER experience a single moment of sadness. They believe that sadness is an "abnormal" experience. One person who is very close to me personally has even labeled themselves as an "abnormal person" based on this attitude.

This kind of thinking is like beating up a beating victim simply because they are crying for being beaten in the first place. Maybe it's the psychiatrists that should be on the drugs because that approach seems insane on the face of it.

While Buddhism is also mainly concerned with bringing the 'benefit of happiness' it would never take the approach of identifying a merely appearing emotion as being inherently "bad". And it is certainly not about making you feel "abnormal" for being "afflicted" by any emotion. Buddhism takes a more realistic approach [than simply prescribing a drug].

Of all Buddhist divisions it is Tibetan Buddhism [in particular "vajrayana" or "tantra"] that delves into and utilizes the emotional realms of experience the most - and the most realistically.

We cannot be here without love, without emotion, these are factors of experience. So if you decide some day to practice Buddhism as your path you should prepare yourself to reflect on your emotional experiences as much as your intellectual experiences. These two go hand in hand and are really inseparable.

Take some time to sit with your feelings, get to know them. Try to develop a more subtle sensitivity to all your emotions.

Take some time each day, to sit quietly as in meditation and just experience your feelings. You can do this within your normal meditation sessions OR you can decide to separately focus for a time on just your emotions.

Let them come up.

"Look" at them.

Feel them.

Notice them.

At first maybe just watch them come and go.

Then after a time you can analyze them to some extent if you want - but this can quickly turn into judgment so notice that as well.

The point of "emotional meditation" is just basically to develop your sensitivity to your feelings.

They don't exist in isolation. There is always a dependence on a thought or other mental appearances or images etc..

In practical terms, don't judge your emotions, acknowledge them. Don't suppress them, listen to them. That anger, that sadness is a language. It is communication from your more subtle mind to your more coarse conscious mind. What is it saying? If you listen you will learn.

Eventually, especially if you practice the Tibetan Buddhist path you will make good use of your emotional intelligence.

When the Dalai Lama talks about compassion he means the real FEELING of compassion. This is not just a head trip.

But even in regard to any path, paying attention to your emotional factors of experience greatly contributes to a more realistic approach to relationships of all kinds. This is incredibly vital to your well being.

I felt that this aspect of 'emotion' was missing from the blog and so I just wanted to mention it briefly for now. I'll post more about this later on.

I Me Mine - a longer discourse on the origin of distress

I almost wrote the "organ" of distress - may have been more catchy if I had.

Buddhism has certain basic principles within it that are universally recognized and accepted by all Buddhist schools, sects and sub sects.

Although the interpretation and explanations can sometimes differ, the teaching of "anatta" or "no-self" is one of those common principles. It is also one of the defining marks that makes Buddhism stand out from the crowd of religions in general.

In our ordinary experiencing of the world we have this emotional and cognitive separation or categorization of what we call "reality" into a distinct "me" that is here, and a distinct "not-me" that is over there or that is other than me.

This separation seems absolute, and it even appears to us that this "duality" really and truly exists as a THING because to us, there are THINGS apparently existing as independent THINGS, and there is this "me-THING" apparently existing as an independent "being" or me-"THING".

One of the ways to deconstruct and test this hypothesis is to use logic. We have already used logic to deconstruct [to some extent] the "other", the "objects" that appear in this experience of duality as being object-THINGS. Now we turn to the "subject" side or the "me-THING" to see if it can be similarly deconstructed.


What are we saying when we use these terms like "I", "me", or "mine"? What do these terms refer to? Is there something truly there (here) that is my actual being? Am I a soul? If such a thing did exist it should be ultimately findable by ultimate analysis, and so, we will use that analysis. But first, we have to identify what it is we're looking for.

Ordinarily then, we have this experience of "I" as being an unchanged, enduring un-dividable, independent, self standing THING (a being) we refer to as "I" or "me" or my "self". We view this "me", this "self" as an actual solid THING that exists just as it appears to -or is assumed to- exist.

We say for example "my body" as though it were owned by something perhaps within the mind. We say "my mind" as though it were owned by something perhaps within the body. But is there an owner? And if so, where is he/she?


What if, one day you woke up and discovered that what (who) you thought you were was not really THAT at all? That this "self" that you THINK you are (or thought you were), that you THINK exists as a THING is not that at all, that in fact, what you THINK you perceive as this THING (hint, please note the similarities between those two words) was instead almost the complete opposite of what you thought? What if you discovered that your "self" was in fact every other "thing" except what you had been THINKING of as your "self"?

This situation is much closer to the truth than we might be willing to accept.

If we could find out that we are not actually bound by these ever recurring concepts of "me", that there is no real me-"THING" to be defensive about, to be offensive with, or to contain within any kind of "fence", if we could find this to be the case, the implications would be big!

Some of the implications that could follow such a discovery are things like, release of stress, contentment, a sense of peace, a sense of purpose, greater compassion and patience. In other words, what could follow from this kind of discovery is "release and benefit" - in Buddhist terms, "liberation" or "enlightenment".

Our biggest fears - and therefore our most fundamental source of anxiety - stem from our sense of self. Not just our merely experienced sense of self, but our sense of a self-THING that is "here" as OPPOSED to "there", that is "alive" as OPPOSED to "dead", that is "me" as OPPOSED to "you".

THAT, is a lot of 'opposition' to carry around, and THAT is the source of our most pervasive type of suffering.


Traditionally, in Buddhism there are 3 levels of unhappiness or what is called "suffering".

There is one kind of unhappiness that we all experience as pain - physical pain, emotional pain, experiences that we all can recognize as painful or distressful.

Another level of unhappiness or suffering is called the "suffering of change". Here, we find temporary relief from the first kind of suffering, but this will eventually revert to pain once again. We maybe can take drugs for example, or we win the lotto, or we can change what THINGS we are surrounded by - in other words, we 'move THINGS around' and this change gives us some temporary relief from our pain. This "relief" doesn't last, it changes back eventually to distress.

But the most basic level of suffering is called "all pervasive suffering". This is the basic level (foundation) of ALL our suffering because it is based in the mis-perception of experience as containing a "me" that is a real THING experiencing "THINGS" out there.

When we attach (or grab) at this mis-perception that "I am here" opposed to "everyTHING else", in other words, when we take this mere collection of conditions, of experiences, and we conceive this idea that "here" is a real, truly existing THING called "me", when that happens, the only long term outcome can be distress or suffering.

We get very protective of such an idea and this protectiveness contains extreme amounts of emotional energy.

So what if that "me" was not so solid after all? What if "I" did NOT stand in opposition to "other"?

What if also, this experience that we call "my life" was NOT even in opposition to some THING called "my death"?

We are so sure that there is this "me", that "I" exist, even that this "me" is in essence an eternal "soul" - and we only hope that "eternal" is the actual case.

We also fear death based on this because we think there is an actual "ending" that is coming at us.

Where is "me"? What is this THING that I mean when I use the term "I" or "me" or "mine"?

Is me these thoughts? If so, why not call my thoughts by my name?

Is me this body? If so, when I lose a limb there should be less "me" than before, and less "me" than others have (who have all their limbs).

Is me this brain? If so, we should be able to fall in love with some brain tissue.

Is me a ghost like presence hovering around my body, or maybe inside of it? If so, why can't we see it or measure it?


Lets look closer at the possibility of a "me" that is constantly existing as (or within) my mental process - Am I my mind?

We think that we have only one consciousness but this is not the actual case. Consciousness is constantly changing and is made up entirely of conscious experiences.

Lets say it this way, if you analyze your mind in meditation you can see that concepts for example or "thoughts" have an audible component, a visual component usually, an emotional aspect, a subtle or sub-conscious factor, even associated smells and happy or negative feelings associated with them. Consciousness is multifaceted, ever changing with every new experience and sensation. My consciousness could never be a constantly abiding "me".

Am I the feelings that are there in my experiencing of touch?

No. My touch consciousness changes with every new tactile sensation. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the odors that are there in my experiencing of smell?

No. My smell consciousness changes with every new olfactory sensation. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the flavors that are there in my experiencing of taste?

No. My taste consciousness changes with every new palatable sensation. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the sounds that are there in my experiencing of hearing?

No. My hearing consciousness changes with every new audible sensation. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the emotions that are there in my experiencing of moods?

No. My mood consciousness changes with every new emotional sensation. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the ideas that are there in my experiencing of thoughts?

No. My conceptual consciousness changes with every new thought. Can what changes be considered a constant being?

Am I the habitual impulses that are there in my experiencing of inclination and tendencies? Am I my sub-conscious?

No. My impulsive consciousness changes with every new experience. Can what changes be considered a constant being?


By this reasoning, we can see that the self, the "me", the "I" that we think is "there" as our mind, or as a THING in our mind, is in fact not there.

Does this mean we are nothing at all? No.

It means we are not a particular THING. We are cause and conditions. But even cause and conditions have an illusory appearance as THINGS. Not even cause and conditions exist as THINGS that we can conceptualize or capture as an idea. We are ineffable. We are experience - but not experience as a THING that you can point out.

And lest you jump to the conclusion that because we don't exist as "self-THINGS" its ok to kill or bring harm to other "no-self-beings" you should consider this:

Each being, each non-self being, is an entire universe unto themselves. Why? Because each being is a unique 'experiencing of' being, of reality. Each one has experience, each one has a mind, not a self, but a unique mental process of experience. You harm a single being and you harm an entire universe. Now carry THAT karma around with you for a while!


The analysis could go on and on all night, but in the final analysis, when you try to find a single THING that is the real, actual, truly existing THING we call "I" or "me", you can't find it!

So I ask again, does that mean I don't exist at all? Not really.

When we jump to the opposing conclusion that "I don't exist" we make the same mistake that we did when we thought that "I do exist". The mistake is that we conceptualize this experience that we are having right now into a THING called "existing". When you do that, you instantly make a THING called not-existing.

Can you see this?

Lets take this idea of death for example. Death is not an end - there are no endings.

But why? How could this be?

It's because there is no THING to be contrasted with death. There is no real THING called "life", no real THING called "existing". And also, there are no existing object or subject THINGS that could possibly end.

There are no beginnings, no birth, no life.

But why?

Because there are no THINGS that begin, and also, because there is no THING there that can be contrasted with some non existing "THING" called "beginning". If you don't have THINGS then you don't have beginnings or endings because these are merely qualities of THINGNESS.

What we experience ordinarily as "THINGS" are compound, made of "other", they completely lack this "THINGNESS" in their reality. This applies not just to certain "objects" but to every experience we have. In other words, to all phenomena.

No THINGS, no beginnings , no endings!

Like pointing to a mountain and claiming "THAT" is the mountain. What is the mountain? Height? Rock? Snow? Sky? Clouds? Steepness? Is there a being living inside of all this called the mountains "me"?

In the same way, you should see that there is no living. Because there are no THINGS that are living THINGS. And there is also no THING called living that is opposed to a THING called not-living.

Even in science, we cannot absolutely distinguish what is living from what is not living..is a virus alive or not alive?

There is just this.

What is "this"?

This is just this.

Experience this.

When you look out on all this, when this is your experience, what you see can be described as just change. Not THINGS changing - there are no THINGS - there is just change.

But you can get caught in the trap here of THINKing that this THING called change is a real THING that you can look at. It's not.

Change is not a THING!

Change is ineffable. Interdependence is ineffable. Change is voidness. Voidness is ineffable. These labels are all descriptive of the same experience and this experience can't be compared to any THING.

So this is release. Release and benefit.

This is the fact that you are not what you THINK you are. If you really want to point to your self, point to other.

"There" is the me! I am that, not this.

BTW, that is the basis of compassion.

But even this is not truly a THING.

I could tell you that according to the most subtle teachings of Buddhism 'you are Buddha' or you are 'your Buddha nature' but that instantly becomes a THING to you when it is meant to be everything EXCEPT that.

THINGS are limitation, containment

Ultimately, YOU are unlimited, uncontainable

So for now its best to leave it as an experience you must have.This is what Buddhism is telling you, have this experience, find out for yourself what "me" is.

The teaching of anatta (no-self) - when directly and non-conceptually realized - brings us to a realistic relationship with all of our experiences. This is described as release because the tension that is balled up as all that fear, as defensiveness and so forth, all that vanishes.

In actuality it becomes limitless love and compassion in the highest sense and that is what is meant by "benefit".

In fact, the deeper meaning of the term "release" is that your true nature is utterly without limit in any way. In Buddhism, the descriptions of what seems to be "supernatural" phenomena, all of this is based on the unlimited-ness that is voidness-interdependence, the fundamental ground of reality.

Those are some big words there which just mean that the mind is pretty powerful when it's potential is fully actualized.

So this experience of our self, our "I ME Mine" "exists" to the extent that "it" (like all experiences are) is conditional, made of everything else, interdependent with everything else. Conventionally, relatively, it is merely a name that we give to certain experiences that appear AS experiences.

Ultimately, the true self, the Buddhaness, the no-self, the NOT-self, the no-THING that is our uniqueness of experiencing, this is completely beyond any description.

It is truly not-self.
It is everything.
That is how it looks when realized.

How you get to that realization is -in part- by not making that (self or "me") into a THING.

Recognizing this (not an easy thing to do) frees the self-contained energy within from it's bounded state of anxiety associated with the reification and protection of it's appearance.

All this works because once you know the truth, once you recognize it, you can't go back, you can't UN-know it.

Sorry for all the words here.