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.