Buddhism Aims to bring us to our immediate reality Pages

The Lotus The lotus flower only grows in mud. The mud represents suffering, disatisfaction. The lotus flower is beautiful, however. The theological import here is that the Buddha promises that we can attain enlightenment despite the brokenness of the world, of our own lives. From brokenness (mud) comes beauty (the lotus flower). The bodhicitta – the wise heart. Chuan is the Chinese concept of heart/mind. In the west we think that the heart and the mind are separate. In fact, this is not the case. One must see that one’s thoughts profoundly affect one’s feelings. There is co-existence between these two parts. They are shared according to Chinese thought.

Nirvana – the end Translates as “emptiness” No Self (no atman) is the goal. Christians say that this is in synch with pure union with God – when all that separates us from God is removed Purify the mind of three hurdles: ignorance, hatred and greed. Buddhism demonstrates the problem and solution to the human condition

Buddhist Thought The Buddha also sought to escape samsara, and he believed in karma, too. Less interested in doctrine, and more concerned with simply dealing with reality B – critical of the social restrictions of the caste and gender systems.

Buddhist Thought Suttas – teachings/sayings of the Buddha Dhammapada – the book of the Buddha’s teachings Our chief problems stem from this notion of a separate self. If we let go of this, then we can live more harmoniously. Clinging to the notion of the separate self (atman) causes an increase in aversions and attractions and thus less freedom.

More on Buddhist Thought We are imprisoned by a reactive mind. We do and say things in response to others’ actions or words. Instead, we should more freely speak and act according to a system that is anchored to peace, freedom, and truth. This takes extreme discipline and training of the mind to create balance and a wholesome condition. Key is to foster mindfulness: watch the mind, one’s actions, and the experience of reality. There must be a way imbetween extreme asceticism and hedonism.

Demonstration of no self “In a famous dialogue between the Buddhist monk Nagasena and King Melinda, Nagasena asks what a chariot is the king tells him it is an arrangement of an axle, wheels, a carriage, and so on. Nagasena presses him to identify its essence, and the king replies that the chariot has no essence. This is the same as the self, Nagasena argues; the self has no essence but self is the conventional term used to describe the collection of the 5 aggregates” (195).

Reality Life is impermanent. This we know for sure. Perhaps it’s the only thing we can know for certainty. Change is everywhere. Believing this can allow us to be less attached to things and people. Knowing their impermanence prepares us to be more free. Craving, by contrast, comes from believing that life and things are permanent. We cling to our experience and this causes, potentially, real suffering. When our girlfriend/boyfriend wants to break up with us, do we cling to them or do we gracefully let go so that they can pursue happiness. We don’t have a self.

Truths Conventional truths (2+2=4) Ultimate truths, which is what Buddhism is concerned with. With truth, you mustn’t grasp onto it. It’s like a raft: use it to cross to the other side, and then let it go. You don’t stay in the raft when you reach the beach. You go onward.

Meditation: the sina qua non Without it there is nothing One must “sit” in order to reach enlightenment. The Sangha helps, but cannot do it for the individual. We must rely on ourselves. You see the world as it is: Vippassana. Samadhi is the goal: sustained concentration. The results of meditation are internal: loving kindness (meta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity. This represents the ideal way to relate to others.

What’s gained? Insight is the fruit. If you are a poet, you will clearly see that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow… You cannot point out one thing that is not here – time, space, the Earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything coexists with this piece of paper… This sheet of paper is because everything else is. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step

Interconnectedness “By recognizing the delusion of a separate existence, one also sees that the suffering in the world is really one’s own suffering and that the release from suffering in the world is necessary for one’s own release” (198). Goal is to be like Avalokiteshvara – the boddhisattva/saint of compassion who has hundreds of arms that help others.

Buddhist Practices Religious activity – meditation, lighting candles, praying, offering food – is merit making, and cultivates one’s devotion to the path. Buddhists extensively utilize chanting as a form of prayer. Circumambulate temples, stupas, etc. Real use of the body, unlike Christians who typically go to service/mass and remain stationary. Buddhist meditation demands physical rigor with the full or half lotus position. Pilgrimages are also very popular. Tibetans will go on their hands and knees all the way to Lhasa, the capital.

Dialogue More fruitful if one looks at common virtues and spiritual compatibility, not doctrine which can create roadblocks. Buddhism is nontheistic. Truths come from one’s inner core via diligent spiritual cultivation. Like Hinduism, Buddhism focuses more on orthopraxy than orthodoxy.

Less hierarchy Buddhists are not told to believe truths, but to test them and discover them on their own. “Kalamas, when you know for yourselves that these qualities are skillful, that these qualities are blameless and these qualities are praised by the wise, moreover these qualities, when adopted and carried out, lead to welfare and to happiness, you should undertake them” (204).

From A PATH WITH HEART Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question. This question is one that only a very old person asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is: Does the path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn’t, it is of no use. ~Jack Kornfield

Spiritual goals The goal isn’t to reach divinity but spiritual awakening. These truths asserted in Buddhism are to be tested for oneself. Very little interest in adopting doctrine, but instead encouragement to personally discover the insights that the Buddha had. The path is inward; it is to transform ignorance into awareness.

The Buddha’s Vow “This is an impossible task; even so, I set my heart on accomplishing the impossible.” End all afflictions Save all sentient beings Master the Buddha’s way