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.