Coming in January

New Series: Releasing Emotional Reactions by Ken McLeod
Listen in on a week-long retreat and learn three different intense, valuable methods for dealing with the immediacy of emotional reactions in the moment. We meet every Friday night in January except New Years.

Jan. 23, 1:00-3:00: An Afternoon with Mike Snider
If you missed his talk recently at One Dharma -- or even if you didn't -- here's a chance to listen to Mike's story of discovering the nondual view in everyday life. There will be time for asking questions in a casual atmosphere. A long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry, Mike might even bring his banjo and share a tune or two.

New Years Eve Celebration

December 31, 7:00 p.m. to ???

This New Years Eve is a blue moon (second full moon of the month), which is very rare, and it also coincides with a lunar eclipse, making it a rarified atmosphere in which to practice. Guests and newcomers are welcome. The evening will include:

• Mantra and Meditation - Energize your subtle energy system with chanting of Sanskrit seed syllables for the seven chakras, introduced earlier this year by John Casey, PhD. We'll also do Kuntuzangpo practice in English, a practice which is recommended at the changing of the year according to esoteric Buddhism, as well as other mantra recitation.

• Potluck - We'll break in the middle for a potluck dinner so those who are joining us from other places have time to get here. I'm providing traditional hopping john (black-eyed peas and rice with cheese on the side), sausage rolls, caramel cake, cookies, and tea. Bring whatever you'd like to share, vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

• Burning Bowl Ceremony - For years we have done this ceremony and have found it to be a meaningful way of making a transition into the new year. Using our indoor fireplace, we'll bring completion to the past and create aspirations that call us forth into the future, while staying nice and toasty at the same time! If you'd like to get started making your lists, see below.

• General Revelry with champagne at midnight! More snacks and sweets. Bring a sleeping bag and spend the night if you'd like.

Location: Home of Rita Frizzell in the Belmont/Hillsboro neighborhood, 1716A Linden Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. 615-463-2374. See website for map.


Fire Bowl Preparation

Make lists on four separate sheets of paper:

1. Purify
List anything you would like to let go of so that you're not carrying old baggage into the new year. These may be attitudes, regrets, resentments, etc.

2. Rejoice
List blessings that you are grateful for from 2009.

3. Honor
Write down the names of any beloved ones who are no longer with us that you'd like to honor.

4. Aspire
Formulate intentions and aspirations for the coming year.

Bring your lists with you to the New Years Eve celebration, making sure each list is on a separate piece of paper.

Homework, Week Two -- Perfect Just As You Are

Part One: Make a list of those for whom you naturally feel compassion. In other words, someone who is suffering, and your heart opens to them. It can be categories of people or animals, such as laboratory animals.

Part Two: Each day do the lovingkindness practice in two steps: for the person whom you naturally already feel love toward, and for yourself. Start with a short sit to calm the mind, then do the practice for 10 or 15 minutes. You can do it on the spot as well. The essential instruction is to wish, "May they have happiness and the root of happiness." There are four stages of this:

• Contact with the lovingkindness you already feel.
• Encourage it by saying the aspiration.
• Notice what arises.
• Expand to a larger and larger circle of beings.

Part Three: Choose two days this week in which you intentionally do something kind. It can be just one kind thing. On that same day, notice kindness coming toward you.

Homework, Week One -- Perfect Just As You Are

This week's homework for our Four Immeasurables class has two parts:

1. Make a list of people or animals who, when you think of them, you spontaneously feel a sense of openness, tenderness, expansion... in other words, love. It can be only one person or animal, and they may be living or dead.

2. At some point during your daily sit, take at least two minutes and experience receiving love. You may think of a particular situation or experience in the past when you felt complete, unconditional love. Bring it to mind and sit in the experience of receiving love.

Pema Chodron mentioned that if you're visually oriented, you might want to see light rays coming from that person and absorbing into you. You may also consider adding Dr. Martinez' biocognitive technique of including a physical sensation. He recommends crossing your arms and caressing your arms with a gentle stroke of your hands. Another method that works well for me is to apply the palms of my hands -- one to the heart chakra and one to the throat chakra.

When I tried Dr. Martinez' method yesterday, the memory arose of lying down with my head in my mother's lap as she caressed my head. It was a vivid sensory and emotional experience, so it gave me plenty to work with. This morning, I tried the chakra method and a different experience arose. The important note is to make it a felt experience, not conceptual.

Then notice what arises for you in the experience of receiving love. Do you open? Shut down? Expand? Resist? Are there reactive emotions that arise? If so, bring them into your attention and breathe with them. Feel yourself supported in your chair, feel your back to the wall or chair, relax your jaw, and continue in the experience of receiving love.

And if you'd like, come Friday night ready to share what you're noticing. We'll receive the practice on cultivating lovingkindness at the next class. Have a great week!

Perfect Just As You Are: New class with Luminous Mind

Perfect Just As You Are
Buddhist Practices on the Four Limitless Ones:
Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity

An 8-week series beginning Friday, October 23, 2009

Fridays, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
1716A Linden Avenue in the Belmont/Hillsboro
neighborhood of Nashvile | Click here for map

Following on the heels of our special event with Dr. Mario Martinez, our next series will focus on embodying the Four Immeasurables in our direct experience.

Our study will center around audio teachings by Pema Chodron in her brand-new series, "Perfect Just As You Are." We will listen to the teaching, discuss it together, and integrate the practice through meditation, with relevant books available for reference. Dr. Martinez will stay in touch to help us with any questions of how to integrate the practice using biocognitive techniques.

This series gives practical methods for integrating love, compassion, joy, and equanimity in our immediate experience. It is appropriate for anyone, no matter what spiritual path or lack thereof. Since the series is so accessible, new people can get something out of coming, even one time.

Description of "Perfect Just As You Are"

Spiritual practice, Pema Chödrön teaches, has nothing to do with self-improvement, since, as the course's title claims, you're already perfect right now. The limitless qualities of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity are your deep-down, ultimate reality, and those are qualities that can't be improved upon.

If you're not feeling particularly kind, compassionate, joyful, or equanimous at the moment, take heart: the Four Limitless Ones are there like seeds, waiting to be cultivated through practice-and, being limitless, they're rich enough to be worked with for a lifetime. This intensive program of study and practice provides the tools you need to access these radiant states and to nurture their growth for sake of all beings, including yourself. Here's some of what you'll learn:

• How cultivating the Four Limitless Ones is the antidote to depression, irritation, and isolation
• Basic meditation instructions to get you started in the foundational practice
• A wealth of guided meditations for generating these radiant qualities to yourself, others, and the world
• Writing and reflection exercises to bring the Four Limitless Ones powerfully into real life
• A simple chant you can use to create love and good will around yourself
• Powerful on-the-spot practices you can use throughout the day, even when there's "no time to practice"

The program fits perfectly with any other kind of meditation you're doing or with other spiritual practices. And since no previous knowledge of Buddhism is required, it's also ideal for those new to spiritual practice.

The Truth About Gossip

I just ran across a great article from the 2006 Tricycle by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron, "The Truth About Gossip." You can read it or download a pdf here:

http://www.tricycle.com/20september2009

Here's an excerpt:

Seven Tips for Giving Up Gossip

1. Recognize that gossip doesn’t undo the situation you’re talking about. It only puts in motion another situation based on negative feelings.

2. Know that comparing yourself to others is useless. Everyone has his or her own talents. In this way, give up jealousy and the wish to put others down.

3. Be aware of and transform your own thoughts, words, and deeds rather than commenting on those of others.

4. Train your mind to see others’ positive qualities and discuss them. This will make you much happier than gossiping ever could.

5. Forgive, knowing that people do harmful things because they are unhappy. If you don’t make someone into an enemy, you won’t want to gossip about him.

6. Have a sense of humor about what you think, say, and do, and be able to laugh at all of the silly things we sentient beings carry out in our attempt to be happy. If you see the humor in our human predicament, you’ll be more patient.

7. Practice saying something kind to someone every day. Do this especially with people you don’t like. It gets easier with practice and bears surprisingly good results.

Stop all the labeling already

"Learn to look without imagination, to listen without distortion: that is all. Stop attributing names and shapes to the essentially nameless and formless, realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelled, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear."

– Nisargadatta Maharaj

Class 4a – The Middle Way Philosophy, Madhyamaka

Middle Way School Teachings on Emptiness

This view comes from the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, the cycle of teachings known as the Prajnaparamita teachings (the perfection of wisdom), which are the teachings that Buddha gave at Vulture Peak Mountain. This was known as the second historic teaching of the Buddha. The first was the four noble truths. The second was the Prajnaparamita, the main topic of which is emptiness.

Nagarjuna was born in India 500 years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. This cycle later on came to be known as Madhyamaka, the teachings of the Middle Way.

The word “madhyamaka” in Sanskrit -- one way of reading it is “middle way,” the perfect balance between not falling into the two extremes of eternalism and nihilism, existence and nonexistence. Also, it means “not even the middle.” “Madhya” means middle; “maka” here is taken as a negation. If there are no extremes, how can there be a middle? If you remove the four walls, how can there be a middle of the room? You go even beyond that.

Emptiness -- shunyata

The Heart Sutra says, “Seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature,” or in a literal way, one should clearly and genuinely see that the five skandhas are empty of an inherent nature. The main statement being made in Madhyamaka is that all phenomena are in and of themselves empty of an inherent nature.

It’s not the case that we’re starting out with truly existent phenomena, then relying on an antidote, then later discovering the emptiness. Rather, from the very beginning, things are empty by nature.

This nature being emptiness is known as “the natural nirvana.” The basic state is free, right from the beginning. Free from existence, nonexistence, suffering, and causes of suffering. The nature of the world is in this nature of nirvana right from the beginning according to the Madhyamaka view. This is what we call the absolute truth.

Let’s look at that emptinesss from the middle way point of view.

Imputation and the basis of imputation

When we look at any phenomena, we usually experience things appearing in certain form, such as the skandha of form... body, flower, table, etc. But when you look at what we call a flower, it’s not really a “flower,” it is the basis of what we are labeling or naming. You have to separate the basis of imputation from the imputation itself.

One of the coarsest forms of ignorance we have is that we confuse the imputation with the basis of imputation. For example, with the flower, we take the basis of imputation which is the object and we think it is the same thing as the color, shape, smell, etc. of the flower. By mistaking all these things as being one thing, we give rise to clinging onto this object as being real in a particular way. Beautiful, pleasant, and so on.

We also view ourselves as individuals in the same way. We start with out skandhas, say our form skandha, and confuse our form skandha with the label. We look at all these qualities and think they are the same thing as ourselves. We might have a basis of imputation for which we give the word “John” and we confuse the person and the label as being the same thing. We see how we do this in everyday life… we see someone and immediately think of their name. On the basis of this, we have a lot of clinging to things as being real. Same for the label “friend” or “enemy.”

We call this object a table, yet there is no true correlation between the object and the table. You can label something anything. If everyone called it the same thing, you would understand. But the object itself has no inherent “tableness.” It’s like giving different names to children or dogs or cats.

Since there is no real relationship between the object and the label, we could call it anything. So we come to the conclusion that there is no real correlation between an object and its name, table. So “table” and “flower” do not exist; they are mere concepts.

So what do we have left? The label is a mere concept, so we’re left with the basis for imputation and we have to analyze that and see if it’s truly existent.

Beyond One and Many

When analyzing the basis of imputation, there are many ways of doing this in the Madhyamaka tradition. One of them is “beyond one and many.” This is a reasoning that analyzes the basis of objects.

If we look at the basis of imputation for “body,” we see that it breaks down to particles, then further particles. Ostensibly, we should be able to break down to a final “partless particle,” a very subtle particle. But if we get down to even that and analyze it, we won’t be able to find anything in the end. Even the smallest particles would have sides -- up and down, left and right, and so on. And if you kept getting smaller and smaller, you wouldn’t be able to find any stopping point. This non-finding is emptiness in the Madhyamaka analysis.

When you look at detail in subtle nature, you find no such existence of one single entity in the basis for imputation. It goes down to atomic, then subatomic, and finally not even the smallest particle exists. This is called the absence of a true unit.

It’s important to first come to certainty that there is no single unit existing. Having established that, you can establish that there is no group of existant units. If something doesn’t exist as a single, it can’t exist as a group.

It is clearly an illusion that we are experiencing. If you go to the smallest breakdown, everything is a beautiful illusion like a mirage. On a sunny day when you drive you can see a mirage. Sometimes you can see the reflection of another car, or colors, or trees. But as you get closer, there is no water. How did I see that reflection?

Similarly, we are experiencing the existence of relative reality. When the causes and conditions come together, we can have the experience of existence. Like the mirage, in the same way we can experience this existence here.

Mind Moments

So when you analyze according to the reasoning of “beyond one and many” we can find the nonexistence of the basis of all these labels. But if you try to analyze something like mind, you can’t do that in the same way as matter. We have to look at “moments of mind” and break them down into subtler and subtler moments.

If we look at our mind, we can see that thoughts appear and disappear moment by moment. In analyzing, we find that there is no thing that exists as a single thing that abides for a long time. We won’t even be able to find the most subtle instant of mind that is truly existent.

So even if we analyze the most subtle instant of mind, we’ll see they have three parts... the part that is arising, abiding, and ceasing. Past, present, and future. And these can each be broken down into these three categories. We can’t look for mind and say that it is abiding here. Analyzing this way, we discover that all perceiving subjects and all objects perceived are emptiness.

Class 3b – The Chittamatra (Mind-Only) Philosophical School, part 2

Continuing the series, Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness

Notes from the DVD Teaching by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

We continue our series with instuction on how to meditate on this stage of emptiness.

Four Convictions

The main point is to rest in dharmata, the true nature of phenomena, which is in the state of being totally free from duality. Resting in the nondual nature. But how do we get to that stage of nonduality resting? We go through four contemplations to develop four convictions.

1. To contemplate on all appearances and see them as mistaken appearances.

We view all appearances as being mistaken appearances. To understand that, we reflect on karma. Because of karmic seeds, we have appearances of dualism. This is not how things are, but they are how they appear to our mind. Subject, object, action.

In order to gain certainty that all appearances are mistaken, it is helpful to contemplate on the dream example. In a dream, appearances of duality arise but they do not exist in any kind of real duality. There is a perceived subject and object in the dream, but we can see that none of these truly exist. If right in the middle of the dream we recognize we’re dreaming, it changes everything. The object that appears may still be there and you still perceive it, but you recognize, “This is a dream.” So there is not a snake “out there,” so the fear you’re having isn’t really necessary.

In this stage of contemplation, we should reflect on the dream analogy. Looking at the present appearances from tomorrow’s point of view, and looking at yesterday’s experiences from today’s point of view, and comparing them with dream appearances. Things appear outside but they are not really that far outside.

I always enjoy the message on the side mirror of the car, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” Like that. Objects that we experience are closer than they appear. They’re not that far outside of our mind.

So all appearances are mistaken appearances... they arise from dualistic mind.

When one has gained stable certainty in this, one moves to the next contemplation:

2. These objects, therefore, do not exist externally. They are all simply appearances of mind.

From the perspective of how things appear to oneself, there is nothing there appearing externally. But this isn’t really an investigation of whether something is there or not. It is only relating to experience. Our experience is mind only.

A person appears as a friend. But when our mind changes, they may appear as an enemy. But all along, it has been the same appearance; it has not changed.

All seemingly external objects do not exist in the way they seem to appear. They are appearances for oneself.

3. Contemplation of the perceiving subject

The subject that is perceiving the object does not solidly exist either. The mind that perceives does not exist in the way it appears. Is there a consciousness looking at these nonexistent objects? No, there is not. So the consciousness that apprehends mistaken appearances is a mistaken consciousness and is not truly existent.

4. Rest evenly (in equipoise) in suchness, the true nature of phenomena that is free of perceiver and perceived.

Through the preceding three stages we discovered that neither outer or inner objects exist, so we can rest free of duality. Sometimes this is likened to water being poured into water.

These four stages were taught by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche in Distinguishing True Phenomena from their Nature.

Khenpo Rinpoche composed a verse:

“When you gain certainty in the absence of duality of perceiver and perceived,

this is called dharmata, empty of duality.

When you know how to relax within this state,

this is called meditation on the emptiness of duality.”

[Meditation]

Group Outing – Shakespeare in the Park

Unfortunately, I'll still be out of town this Saturday, so I can't join the group for watching The Taming of the Shrew. If anyone wants to connect wth others going, use the Comments below to hook up. There is a small possibility I might make it back in town for Sunday evening's performance.

The Taming of the Shrew

(performed by the Byron & Beth Smith Apprentice Company)

How about Saturday night the 22nd?

Full run: August 13 - 23, 2009

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

(performed by local professional actors)

By Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield

Full run: August 27 - September 13, 2009

Thursdays through Sundays

and Labor Day Monday

At Centennial Park Bandshell

6:30PM Pre-show entertainment

7:30PM Show

Food & drink available on-site

$5 Suggested Donation

Dr. Mario Martinez to Speak for Luminous Mind

Breaking news... Luminous Mind will host a special event in early October featuring Mario Martinez, PsyD, bringing a cutting edge fusion of Buddhism and psychoneuroimmunology. The topic:

“Embodying the Four Immeasurables:

A Biocognitive Approach to Buddhism”

In this presentation Dr. Mario Martinez teaches how to apply Western mind-body science to Buddhist concepts of the exalted emotions. Based on how cognition and emotions affect the immune system, biocognitive techniques offer an added dimension to resolve the fear-based emotions that can block the health benefits of the Four Immeasurables.

Dr. Martinez is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of biocognitive science. He is the author of the psychological novel “The Man from Autumn” (Llumina Press) and the CD learning series “The Mind-Body Code” (Sounds True). For more information on Mario’s work visit biocognitive.com

The event will be a fundraiser for Luminous Mind for bringing in more teachers in the future. Exact date and location to be announced soon. We are looking at October 9 or 10, depending on venue availability. Watch this blog for more details!

Meditation Link

Last night's session felt truly remarkable, combining highlights of the Buddhist mind-only teachings with a 40-minute meditation led by Ken McLeod via podcast. It was a perfect combination of working with the material conceptually and then opening to our own experience directly in meditation. This is how material goes from being conceptual knowledge to certainty wisdom.

Here is a link to the talk from which the meditation was excerpted:

http://www.unfetteredmind.org/audio/podclass.php?code=IAW#here

It's from the first session of Ken McLeod's workshop, "Ideology and Wisdom," IAW01, beginning at counter 23:30.

Ken McLeod's background is both Kagyu and Nyingma in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, having completed two three-year retreats under Kalu Rinpoche. He's been teaching for many years in the Los Angeles area and all of his classes, workshops, and retreats are available completely free on podcast. I've met him in person and received counseling by phone and am now participating in his monthly "Never Ending Journey" class, an online teacher training program. I recommend him very highly.

Class 3a – The Chittamatra (Mind-Only) Philosophical School

Continuing the series, Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness

Notes from the DVD Teaching by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

We have looked at the nature of individual self and contemplated the selfless nature of persons, the clinging to oneself as “I” or “me.” This is very basic and common to all Buddhist schools, such meditations of selflessness, egolessness, and emptiness.

Clinging to oneself as “I” or “me” becomes the root of samsara — the cause of samsaric existence from which we experience karmic cause and effect — and the infinite elements of suffering in samsara. In order to free oneself from samsara, realizing such selflessness becomes the most important of all.

Clinging to oneself as “I” or “me” is the root of the tree. If you try to cut only branches and leaves, they will grow back again. If you try to overcome suffering here and there, you are cutting branches. You’re not really working with the root of the problem. So meditations that calm our thoughts only are like cutting the branches. There is a temporary sense of peace and calm, but when that meets with condition, boom, there you go... thoughts all over, emotions arising. The minute you think you’re calm, trying to maintain that in the moment, your emotions go wild.

Why? Because the root of all of this is still there, the ego clinging. If you uproot the tree, then the leaves and branches won’t grow anymore. You get complete freedom. In a similar way, if you uproot the basic ego clinging, then you uproot the cause of suffering and there is a total sense of freedom from samsara.

This realization of egolessness is the cause for nirvana, the transcendence of samsaric misery.

Reflecting on the ego from the beginning is a very necessary part of our path. And now the second phase is the selflessness of phenomena.

{These stages are presented in this teaching as they are approached in meditation practice, as opposed to the way they would be approached if studying from a strictly philosophical view. If looking from philosophy, we start with selflessness of other first.)

Once we have gained some sense of certainty of selflessness of person, we work on selflessness of phenomena.

In Mahayana, we add selflesnness of phenomena to the not-self view already found in basic Buddhism. There are two stages of Mahayana view:

Chittamatra (Mind Only)

Madhyamaka

This teaching is on the Mahayana school of Mind-Only; Madhyamaka will come next.

The Buddha said, “Oh, children of the victorious ones, these three realms are mind only.” This statement became the basis for this analysis of selflessness.

Three realms of samsara referred to in the quote:

1. Desire – Includes many types of sentient beings, such as human beings, animal beings, hell realms, hungry ghost. Most of the six realms of the Buddhist teachings are included here.

Then two celestial realms, the realms of the gods [not like gods as known in western religion]:

2. Form

3. Formless

All appearances of samsara are simply appearances to one’s mind, simply “mere appearances” of mind only.

When we look at mere appearances, there are two types:

1. Appearances for oneself

2. Appearances for others

Appearances for oneself are what appears to oneself. How phenomena appear to others is “appearances for others.”

When you look at this reality, the way that things appear to oneself is very individual. The way things appear to me do not appear to you. It is not something I experience. That exact precise experience of samsara is very individual. Therefore, if you look at that aspect of appearances, it is really just mind only. The way things appear only exist in your mind only. The way things appear to others only exist in others’ mind only.

The very notion that this table exists outside comes from our own mind, and we have many reasons and logic why. All of these things, if you really look, it is happening in your mind. The scientific clues are appearing in our mind. Who is really saying this is ultimately our mind. Mind is proving the existence of outside phenomena. It is all one’s own experience, and everyone is experiencing differently. All these things are appearing in our mind only.

The mind that experiences such things is known as the deluded mind or mistaken consciouseness. To our deluded mind, things arise as subject and object, as action taking place. Things that are appearing to such deluded mind are known as mistaken appearances.

The subject and object in this case are the mistaken consciousness (subject) and mistaken appearances (object).

The deluded mind is confused about appearances and their true nature. We are not seeing how things ARE, that is why it is deluded; we are only seeing how things appear. In such a deluded mind, they appear as two: subject and object, and this is called duality. We see some things as object outside and see some things as subject within us, and this becomes dualistic activity.

So from the Mind-Only school point of view, everything is taking place in one’s mind.

Example of Dream: When we’re having a dream, we experience mistaken appearances very clearly. They seem to be outside, real – for instance, solid, high Himalayan mountains... how can they fit on your little bed? Not only that, how can they fit in our little brain?!

Not only that, we go through tremendous struggle in that dream... seeing subject/object interaction... climbing, altitude sickness, struggling, pain, just as we go through in our ordinary lives. The difference is when we wake up from a dream, we say, “Ohhhh... that was just a dream.” And when we go on and on through our life, then we wake up from that, that is what we call enlightenment.

So everything that appears to our mind are like dream objects. Everything we experience in dualistic action are like the actions we experience in a dream. In dream appearances, there is nothing outside the mind. Chittamatra says, the world that we experience is not different, it is like a dream.

I use this technique: When we look back on yesterday’s experience and last night’s dream, and compare these two, there is not much difference. But we cling onto one as more real than the other. But from today’s point of view, there is not much difference. In the same way, we should look at today’s experience from tomorrow’s point of view. It is very dream-like.

From the Mind-Only point of view, they say everything is like a dream. Everything appears, manifests, and is experienced in our mind only. Not just one individual’s mind but in each person’s mind only.

Eight Consciousnesses

The abhidharma (metaphysical teachings) of basic Buddhism teaches six consciousnesses. The theory of eight consciousnesses arises in Chittamatra by adding the 7th and 8th consciousnessses.

The seventh consciousness (klesha or “afflicted emotion” consciousness) stirs up the habitual seeds of the eighth consciousness (alaya or “storehouse consciousness” and brings them to manifest with conditions coming together.

The alaya is the basis for planting habitual seeds and the basis for the arising of all mistaken appearances.

It is called the “base of all” for two reasons.

1. It is the base of planting habitual tendencies

2. It is the base for the arising of all appearances.

To illustrate this, the example of an ocean is used. The klesha consciousness is like the wind; the alays is like the ocean. When the afflicted mind moves, it stirs up the alaya and brings appearances of perceived subjects and objects (waves).

Due to the appearances of subject and object, more habitual tendencies are created, and because of this, more karma is deposited in the alaya. So habitual tendencies get planted in a limitless manner.

For this reason, the all-base consciousness is given two names:

1. The appropriating consciousness – continually taking on the seeds of habitual tendencies

2. The conditioning consciousness – causing confused appearances to arise

Whatever karma we accumulate – virtuous or nonvirtuous, subtle or large – all are stored as seeds of habitual tendencies in the alaya. Not even the smallest of actions gets left behind. No matter what kind of action we engage in, it will never be wasted. This is good news… or bad, depending on the action. So it is very important to be vigilant about the karma we’re accumulating.

It is very subtle. Even if we have a thought arise, this thought will plant a seed of habitual tendencies.

So the first aspect of alaya is like storage or a hard disk or blank tape in which you can record everything.

The second type is conditioning consciousness, which is the property of the alaya which causes confused appearances to arise. In order for the confused appearances to manifest, the movement of the afflicted mind is required. Like when we’ve recorded something, we have to press buttons to bring it back.

The real condition that makes it manifest is the alaya itself. So the alaya has two different abilities: the seed-like ability and the ripening ability. Once a seed has been planted, it is not wasted. It will stay there no matter how long it takes to ripen – 100 years, 1,000 years, a million years. The seed still remains there without any damage and it will ripen when the conditions come together.

In the Buddhist tradition, this is called the infallible law of karma – cause and result.

So what can overcome this process of planting and ripening of habitual tendencies? Only one thing, the realization of selflessness.

When we realize the selfless, egoless nature of our mind, then all these seeds of habitual tendencies get exhausted. The example is a dark cave underground which has been in complete darkness millions of years, but if someone goes there with a torch, in that one instant of lighting the torch can dispel the darkness of millions of years. It does not take millions of years to dispel the darkness. One instance can light up the whole room.

In the same way, when one realizes shunyata, the light of emptiness can dispel ignorance. The reason for this is that the appearances of karma and habitual tendencies arise due to fixating on a self, which is ignorance. If we remove the ignorance of clinging to a self, there is no way karma and habitual tendencies can accumulate.

If there is no notion of a self, then there can be no notion of others.

If there is no duality of self and others, there is no way to create karma.

If there is no karma, there is no way confused appearances can arise.

If one conquers one’s fixation on a self, one will have conquered everything.

Therefore, this view of the realization of selflessness is a very important one. If one realizes selflessness, this will sever the continuum of rebirth in samsara. There is no continuation of samsaric birth and confusion arising continuously. This is also known as cessation.

At the same time, the bodhisattvas take birth in samsara with great delight to benefit sentient beings. They do not enjoy personal, individual liberation freedom alone. They feel the connection with others’ suffering and want to free others’ suffering in samsara, so they take birth in samsara intentionally. They do not give up the seed of taking birth in samsara.

In other words, bodhisattvas love samsara! That’s why they say, no matter how bad samsara looks, bodhisattvas would enter it with great joy, like a swan entering a lake.

So therefore, from this perspective of the chittamatra view, you can see how everything arises from one’s own mind.

When Buddha said:

“Oh, children of the Victorious Ones, all three realms are mind only”

he is saying that all three realms are the creation of one’s own mind. The appearances of samsara and the way we experience them are the creation of our own habitual mind and its many tendencies.

These all arise, are created by, one’s own habitual tendencies.

When we look at that statement of the Buddha, he is saying there is no other agent than one’s own mind. The one that created samsara is our own minds; no outer agent or creator which made these samsaric appearances for us. So we are the agent.

From this perspective, samsara appears from the karmic seeds. Accumulation of karma is classified into two: individual and common.

From the individual karmic seeds we experience the individual samsara (cycle of suffering).

From the common samsaric seeds, we experience common appearances. We all see some basic world outside together: mountain, sky trees. Otherwise we would not be able to communicate. This is coming from common karmic seeds.

This is broad scale, such as the common karma of being human or animal. For example, with humans, all of us will see this glass of water and we will see it as water, and this is the result of our common karma. Nevertheless, even though we have these common appearances, each of us will have a different way of perceiving them, which is our individual karma.

To illustrate individual karma, we can see how one person is perceived in different ways. One man may be seen by different people as their father, son, teacher, student, and so on. He is the same person but seen in different ways by different people. This is resulting from individual karma.

For example, if one were to look at a tree, for some this would produce an experience of joy. For others, of sadness or suffering. The response arises due to our individual karma. But the common experience is the tree itself. Within that appearance there is no happiness or suffering.

The same for people. The common experience is the people we see, and within that, there is no distinction we might make: mother, father, brother, sister.

Therefore, due to accumulating these two kinds of karma we experience two kinds of karmic result:

The result of common experiences

The result of individual experiences

So all beings arise due to karma and all appearances arise due to karma, and this arises due to mind. So karma is something that is accumulated in one’s mind.

It has accumulated due to a mind of fixating on a self and clinging to duality.

Therefore, from the chittamatra point of view, everything basically arises from mind.

The Four Doctrines of a Spiritual Ascetic

1. Not to hate others despite being the object of their hatred.

2. Not to retaliate in anger, even when angry.

3. Not to injure others, even when injured.

4. Not to beat others, even when one is beaten by them.

~ Gyurme Dorje & Matthew Kapstein, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 2: Reference Material, Wisdom Publications, 1991

(Thanks to Ogmin for Tweeting this.)

Religious beliefs can coexist

One of my Twitter pals turned me on to an interesting article about the intersection between eastern and western paths and how they can be held together without conflict. The author points out how each can strengthen one's experience of the other. "This path isn’t for everyone. But if Eastern traditions and practices can deepen our Western faith, that seems like something to encourage rather than condemn."

The editor of Tricycle wrote a comment about this article:

I was surprised to find that people do not know that many Christians have taken up Buddhist practice. Meditation is a useful tool for those wishing to look more deeply into their own traditions. Father Robert Kennedy, for instance, earned the Zen honorific "roshi" while remaining a Catholic.

From where I sit, this is obvious, but I live in New York and publish a Buddhist magazine. We've found it illuminating to interview Christians who have an affinity for Buddhist practice, among them scholar Elaine Pagels, sociologist Robert Bellah (UC Berkeley) and Anglican priest Don Cupitt (Cambridge). Not one of them is Buddhist but all are sympathetic to—and some have engaged in—Buddhist meditation. One of our editors, Clark Strand, teaches "koans of the Bible" and has recently written a book called "How to Believe in God." Clark is both a Christian and a Buddhist and this does not appear strange to most of us.

Many thanks again,

James Shaheen

Editor & Publisher

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

All of this is much in the same flavor as the urge behind Luminous Mind, for people to find benefit to their spiritual experience, no matter what their background affiliation may be. We all have this light inside, whatever we may choose to call it. Let's make it burn brightly.

DVD Class 2b Notes

Continuing with the emptiness of the skandhas / no-self.

The 4th Skandha: Mental formations

Mental formation relates to movement of mind. For example:

the movement of attached mind

the movement of averse mind

the movement of jealous mind

the movement of virtuous mind

From such movement, we accumulate karma. We engage in karmic actions of positive and negative actions. Positive actions are those that are beneficial to oneself and others. Negative actions are those which are harmful to oneself and others. These actions are called the fourth skandha.

Feeling and Perception, the second and third skandhas, are also mental events. In a detailed analysis, you could refer to a total of 51 mental events. Of these:

There are the 6 root afflictions

20 secondary afflictions

11 virtuous mental events

4 changeable

and so on, there are many of them.

We focus on these as being a self, fixate on them as being an “I.”

For instance, when we have a strong emotion or a virtuous thought, we think of it as “I”. Are these the self of individual? The self of person? Actually, we should examine all these mental formations one by one as they arise. If we have a virtuous thought that arises, we can ask, “Is this virtuous thought the self or is it not the self?” We have a strong fixation on both virtuous and nonvirtuous mental events.

In relative truth, there are virtuous and nonvirtuous actions. But from the ultimate point of reality, the true nature, you don’t find any true, existent self as virtuous or nonvirtous in any of these mental formations.

So we should look and see...

Is this one with the self?

Is it permanent?

Is it singular?

Is it independent?

The aggregate of formations is the accumulation of karma. Due to all of these various movement, we accumulate different sorts of karma, positive and negative.

The 5th Skandha: Consciousness

We have six collections of consciousness:

eye, ear, nose, tongue, body

mental

Which of these is a self? The eye consciousness? The ear consciousness? The mental consciousness?

From the Cittamatra school, they speak of two more:

Seventh consciousness: klesha mana

Eighth: Alaya or all-base consciousness

From the Mahayana point of view, the all-base consciousness is the basic continuum of consciousness. The manifestation of the all-base consciousness is unclarity or vagueness. The essence of the alaya-vijnana is that it is neutral in character, neither virtuous nor non-virtuous.

It is the basis for the implantation of all habitual tendencies. It is the warehouse, the place where we record/store all our habitual seeds. When it meets with the proper conditions in the future, the seeds ripen and manifest out. Then we experience suffering, joy, good, bad, all these worlds.

The 7th consciousness – klesha – afflicted mind -- looks at the 8th consciousness and misperceives that as an I or me. The afflicted mind mistakenly views the all-base consciousness and thinks of it as an I or me.

When we look at the details, the sixth consciousness is the one that plants the seed in alaya. All the five sensory perceptions perceives things, but they are taken by the sixth concsiousness to the alaya and plant the seeds there.

In any case, what we are doing here is to look at the skandha of consciousness. It is quite a large group of consciousnesses coming together. This is a big mental operation.

When you look at all that, you have to ask, “Where is the self?”

We should look into this and ask,

Is the eye consciousness the self? ear, body, nose, etc?

We should also ask whether the aggregate of consciousness is the same thing or different from the self. Are these consciousnesses and the self the same or different?

We should also analyze consciousness from the perspective of the three ignorances.

We have this general sense that consciousness is a stable, permanent thing. Singular and doesn’t depend on other things (autonomous).

So we must analyze and see if any aspect of consciousness actually does possess these qualities.

What has been explained so far is the meditation on the selflessness of persons. When we cling to ourselves as “I” or “self” we are clinging on to the skandhas. So when we take them apart and analyze them, we see there is no solidly existing self there. This is the first stage of meditation on emptiness.

Khenpo Gyamso Rinpoche:

When one does not mistake the skandhas for the self, this is asserted to be the realization of the selflessness of persons.

If you know how to rest and relax in that, this is meditation on the selflessness of persons.

Sometimes in the meditation lineage it is known as the key instructions on searching the mind, asking yourself questions such as, “What is mind? Where is mind?” and so on. So we look at each of the skandhas and look for mind. Mind interchangeable with self in this usage. So we could call it searching for mind or searching for self.

When we don’t look and analyze, the self and mind seem to exist quite well. But when we look into its nature further and penetrate the essence more, we come to this point of finding nothing really existing there.

So how do we meditate on such selfless nature? It is taught by Jamgon Kongtrul in Treasury of Knowledge:

As for the way to meditate, analyze with prajna (knowledge) the reality of selflessness. And after that, rest evenly in freedom from elaborations.

So the meditation on selflessness is first to analyze the meaning of selflessness with one’s discriminating intelligence, and then to rest evenly, in equipoise.

We analyze the self with reasoning and so forth, and after our analysis when we realize the non-existence of self, we rest within that state.

So as was said before, it is important to alternate analytical meditation with resting meditation.

First do the resting with breathing, calm your mind.

Then analyze

and when you get to discursive, come back to resting

then analyze again.

If your analytical mediation becomes too much and makes you disturbed, you should switch to resting. If your mind becomes lethargic or torpid, you should switch to analytical.

Song:

Friends

Friends are empty forms like a water moon

To think of them as being truly real

Will only make your many sufferings increase.

To know they’re empty forms like a water moon

Will make illusion-like samadhi increase

Compassion free of clinging will increase

And non-referential view will also increase

And meditation that’s fixation-free

And conduct free of doer deed increase

Of all the many marvels, this by far the most marvelous

Of all the many wonders, this by far the most wonderful.

--Khenpo Gyamtso Rinpoche

Harmless Speech Agreement

It's a new month and a good time to assess how we're doing with the Harmless Speech Agreement as we strengthen our commitment to cultivate speech that is true, kind, and helpful, avoiding slander, lying, gossip, and harsh speech.

If you are new to this blog, you can read more about the agreement here, and you're welcome to register your participation by clicking in the poll at the top of the page.

Then scan through the archives or come back from time to time... there are often thoughts and reflections here on cultivating a habit of harmless speech.

Welcome!

Notes from Friday, June 26, DVD

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

This week's DVD teaching finished up the form skandha by giving tips for off-the-cushion contemplation, then moved ahead to cover the skandhas of feeling and perception. Here are the notes:

........................................

We’ve been working with the skandha of form, trying to discover whether there is a truly existent self in the skandha of form. In this practice, we also work with the mindfulness of body. The actual practice of the mindfulness of body is realizing the selfless, egoless nature of this aggregate, the skandha of form. In order to achieve that realization of egolessness of that skandha, we also use other techniques of meditation during our everyday life, post-meditation states.

One is being mindful of all physical actions. Watching our body and mind together. In order to do such practice, we use various reminders of mindfulness in everyday life. One such reminder can be set with our digital watch. When it goes off, look at your thought and action. A moment of awareness, of mindfulness.

These days, we can set it with many things... cell phone ringing. Even other peoples’ cell phones, they are all around us. When we hear a phone ringing, we can say, “That is a reminder for my mindfulness. We look at our mind, body, and action.

Another mindfulness of body practice is a car horn honk. When someone honks at you, set that as a reminder. But you have to remember your reminder!

These kinds of reminders can help us contemplate throughout the day, which will lead us to realizing the selfless nature of our form.

SKANDHA OF FEELING

This is sensation. We identify feeling skandha as a self, as I or me. When you feel joyous, bright, pleasure, then you say, “Oh, I am feeling happy.” The feeling becomes the “I.” “I” becomes a feeling.

Just as we analyzed the skandha of form, we will analyze feeling.

How does a feeling arise? It arises from contact of consciousness and the object of that consciousness. There are three things: the object, the consciousness, and the contact.

With the example of visible objects, say, a flower coming together with the eye sense faculty produces an eye consciousness. When that comes together, that is contact. When that contact happens, various thoughts happen, such as this is a beautiful flower or this is an ugly flower. And from that we experience pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings.

These feelings then become our object of fixation. Clinging onto these things as real, as solid, as existent. Not only that, but based on these feelings, we have fixation on these feelings as a self. “I” arises from that. It becomes a strong ground for fixation onto oneself as “I” or “me.”

There are three feelings at this level:

happiness

suffering

indifference

Once again, you should look at these feelings from the point of view of the three ignorances.

We cling onto them as being permanent.

Then as being singular: good, bad, etc.

We feel that feelings are independent.

The truth is, feelings are impermanent. This may be good or bad news, depending on if you’re having a good or terrible feeling!

Feeling is always changing. Nothing is permanent or solid as we cling onto them.

Our feeling of someone as being a good person, for example... someone who is our ally, a friend. It changes suddenly and that person “becomes a monster.” Feelings are changing, nothing is solid. Not long ago, you felt this guy was the best person in the world. And the next moment our feelings change.

We have many teachings from the Buddhist instructions related to this. Examples are often given such as the cases where enemies in the early part of one’s life become friends later on, and vice versa. So we can see that feelings by their very nature change into something else. If feelings were actually permanent, we would always have to experience the same feeling from the same object. If pleasant feelings arose from contact with an object, then we could never feel anything but pleasure from that object. But that’s not the case, is it?

For instance, when we first fall in love vs. a few weeks or months down the road. Why the difference? It’s a similar object, similar person, etc., but now we’re ready to punch them!

Feelings change all the time, so we can’t find any solid, real self there. No matter how you feel, there is no need to fixate on that feeling. No matter how bad or how pleasurable.

When we don’t see the momentary nature of changing, we create suffering for ourselves. The main suffering is coming from such fixation as clinging onto things as real and solid... clinging onto these feelings as real.

If we can see our feelings as an illusion or a dream, then that feeling will bring us joy, space, wisdom.

One of the main analyses we should do in terms of selflessness is, where is the self in the skandha of feeling?

Is the aggregate of feeling self or not?

The skandha of feeling is not just one.

It has three main parts: happiness, suffering, and indifference.

Which of these three is the self?

We can examine the individual feelings as well. Even within pleasant feelings there are many different varieties. For example, if we took pleasant feelings to be the self, what kind of characteristics would we be looking for? We would want it to be permanent, singular, and independent if it existed.

So if feelings of pleasure were the self, then feelings of suffering would not be the self. So if suffering arose, why would we have a problem with it, because it’s not the self?

And in the same way, if we took feelings of suffering to be the self, then there couldn’t be any pleasant feelings with the self, because the self would be this one thing.

So if we analyze in this way, we cannot find any feeling that is the self.

Is the skandha of feelings self or not?

Is it different or the same?

If we continue analyzing in this way, then feeling does not truly exist.

We cannot find a true entity of feeling that exists as solid, real, as we ordinarily think they are.

Ordinarily, we take many things for granted and don’t analyze and see the details. Things just appear to be real. Suffering appears to be quite scary, so we don’t analyze it. If we analyze it, we don’t find the normal entity that we normally fixate on.

So we have to go by our own pace, in our own timing, trying to find a feeling and whether they exist or not and how they are existing.

This is the second skandha and its meditation on selflessness.

SKANDHA OF DISCRIMINATION

(AKA PERCEPTION or DISCERNMENT)

This skandha is referring to our conceptual mind. Our thoughts that make distinctions, that separates out things from other things, that brings divisions between phenomena. Clean, dirty, good, bad. Mainly a lot of judgmental thoughts. This skandha is referring to a particular object and fixating on it and seeing things as real truly in one way or another.

This is called the aggregate of discrimination. Clinging onto their existence as real becomes very surface level, conceptual level. What is clean, dirty, pure, impure? It’s very conceptual. When you look at that level of skandha, there is no true existence of such nature in reality.

So these latter two skandhas, of feelings and discriminations, are both in the list of 51 mental events that are discussed in the abhidharma of Buddhist psychology. The text: Classifications of mental states, available from Nitartha Institute.

The Buddha taught that these two aggregates are the source of a lot of conflict and disharmony in both a mundane sense and in philosophical debate. Buddha said that the aggregate of feelings is responsible for disharmony between worldly people. The aggregate of discrimination is responsible for disharmony among philosophers.

Skandha of discernment is also analyzed in the way we analyze the earlier skandhas. To see how such a concept exists, such as clean, dirty, pure, impure. Do they have true existence? How do they exist when you analyze them?

And also to analyze the clinging onto self and ask ourselves if this is one with the aggregate of discriminations, or are they two different things?

In the same way as in the other skandhas, we ask whether it is permanent, singular or independent.

Usually we cling onto these concepts very strongly. If you cling onto the view of emptiness or impermanence, what do you have? All these clingings we have to transform. So we contemplate on the skandha of discrimination and discover the selfless nature of such conceptual mind, of fixation onto things as pure or impure.

All of these clingings we have to transform.

If we cling to that which is impure as the self, then that which is pure could not be the self.

This is all being spoken from the perspective of ultimate truth.

From the point of view of mere appearance, yes there is relative clean and dirty.

Water, for instance, if you don’t discriminate that, you get sick.

But when you analyze from the ultimate point of view, there is no such concept.

Meditation on the Skandha of Feeling

First, begin with shamatha (calm abiding meditation). Once you have attained non-distraction, rest evenly in that space.

From within this state of calm mind, give rise to a thought that clearly recalls the feeling of suffering. An unpleasant feeling. You probably won’t have too many problems remembering an unpleasant feeling.

So look into what difference there might be between this feeling of suffering and the self. Is there a difference between this feeling of suffering and the feeling of fixating on a self?

As an antidote to clinging to this feeling as being permanent, contemplate the impermanence of this feeling. The momentariness of this feeling changing from instant to instant.

Through contemplating the momentariness of the feeling, we also transcend the clinging to feelings as being singular. If the feeling is composed of countless instances and moments, then it is impossible for it to be one thing.

As an antidote to our clinging onto the feeling as being independent, we meditate on its being interdependent. In order to feelings to arise, abide, and cease, they need to depend on various causes and conditions.

.......

This Friday we'll review the Feeling and Perception Skandhas, especially using material from the book. Then we're off the following week, July 10.

Zen Retreat with the Cumberland River Sangha

Zen Retreat with Sanchi Reta Lawler

and the Cumberland River Sangha

JULY 10-12, 2009 | Nashville, Tennessee

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ANCESTORS

or another way of putting it:

Sipping Lemonade on a Hot Summer Day

~~~~~~~

Friday July 10 2-6

Saturday July 11 9-5

Sunday July 12 9-4

From Sanchi Reta as to this "Teaching Retreat" weekend....

"Inside these weekends, it is my effort to promote a living, breathing, dynamic contact with our sitting practice, to find the jewels as to how our practice segways into our daily lives.

It is both a time to clarify questions as to how we deepen this simple yet often challenging practice into 'WISDOM AND COMPASSION', and to support EACH OTHER through the cauldron of natural empowerment and release that is operative when we come together as sangha.

In my life, after many years of practice and contemplation, I am humbled as to the continuous need to create the time and situation to be WITH myself and others in a space of love and devotion to awakened living. A weekend retreat is often the impetus that I need to re-align, to re-commit, to re-connect with the Purity of "WHAT IS," without the endless distractions and interpretations that are operative in our life of speed and highly charged input through our senses. Without question, 'to drop out and tune in' in the expression of simple meditation practice, I come away refreshed, renewed, and inspired to FEEL life with more intuition, love, and mental clarity that is always available, yet often obscured.

The Cumberland River Sangha is a dedicated HEART for receiving practitioners of all levels, to support joy in our interconnectedness, and to create the space for the inner transformation that is available through silence and contemplative sharing. You are always welcome."

Fee: $265

For more information & registration (by June 30)

Contact Pamela Hunt – 615-942-9705

pamelitahunt@earthlink.net

* Sanchi Reta Lawler is fully ordained in the Zen Buddhist lineage, and has been a teacherand practitioner of transpersonal psychology for over 30 years. As well as offering her trademark learning opportunities, Coming Full Circle and Winds of Change, she continues her study and practice of Peruvian Shamanism in the Upper Amazon and High Andes. She is the founder of The Blue Morpho, a service organization which celebrates life with indigenous communities of Peru.

More complete bio

One Dharma Retreat

From One Dharma Nashville:

One Day Meditation Retreat July 25

You are invited to join us in a beautiful rural setting for a day of sitting and walking meditation. This day long silent retreat will focus on mindfulness meditation. We will awaken our minds to the present moment by bringing attention to the breath, the sensations in the body and the pleasant and unpleasant states that arise. This practice gradually awakens us to truth of the constantly changing nature of all phenomena, and we learn to respond openly and compassionately to all that arises.

The hours for this retreat are 8:30 – 4:30. The retreat, led by Lisa Ernst, is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators; it will include sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, optional interviews and dharma talk. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Please bring your own meditation cushion if you have one and two blankets . If you don’t have a cushion, we will have a few extras. Chairs are also available.

Cost: $25, plus dana to the teacher. Scholarships are available. A deposit of $25 is due by Monday July 20. You may bring your deposit to the center during one of our meditation sessions, or mail a check made out to One Dharma Nashville to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. The location of this retreat, in west Bellevue, is about 25 minutes from downtown Nashville. Directions to the retreat site and additional information will be provided upon receipt of your deposit. Please email lisa@lisaernst.com with any questions.

Mirror

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.

- Anais Nin

The Five Skandhas

Last Friday's dharma study was an intensive on the Five Skandhas, which are a portrait of the ego. We started with two YouTube videos by a western Nyingma teacher, Julian Feijoo, which were quite insightful:

Watch Part 1

Watch Part 2

Then we worked our way through the Skandhas, using as a resource book the wonderful book by Mipham Rinpoche, Gateway to Knowledge, Volume 1. His discussion of the 51 mental states brought many "ahas" and "ohhhhs" from the group. The book may be ordered by clicking the link below:

Gateway to Knowledge: A Condensation of the Tripitaka, Vol. 1

I've also added a Recommendations section to the website where all our resources may be found. If you use the links provided, a portion of the sale will be returned to Luminous Mind.

See you Friday night for more video by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche!

Harmless Speech, Harmless Mind

We're well into the second month of the Harmless Speech Agreement. Though it's still early, I'm wondering whether people are beginning to notice a difference in their mind activity.

Do you find that you're not taking others' inventory as much?

Do you find yourself less apt to think negatively?

Are you thinking less of what others are thinking?

Is your mind more peaceful?

Do you feel more loving?

Habitual patterns are deep and it can take awhile to break their hold. But the discipline of harmless speech can help speed up the process of developing a harmless mind.

The longer I go, the more I remember that it's really impossible to know what anyone else is thinking or experiencing. All I can know is my own experience. In fact, all I can know is that I am experiencing. To ponder others is pointless and to comment on them as if I knew their experience is ridiculous.

I learned the value of rigorous speech first from Landmark Education. When someone would say something as fact that was clearly just their perception, they might be asked, "Are you making that up?" At first it was a jolt to the system but it clearly pointed out that if we were saying something we didn't know for sure was true, it was a lie. We all learned to guard our speech so that when we spoke, it meant something. We were taught to keep our word and BE our word. If we said something, it would go down.

A good practice I learned is to catch myself in the midst of mis-speaking and say, "Oh, wait, I'm making that up. I don't know for sure and I could be wrong."

Powerful speech begins with powerful integrity. Can others count on your word? Can you?

Questions to ponder.

Summary of Video June 12, 2009

Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness

Second half of Talk #1: Emptiness of Self

The meditation begins with the selflessness of person; clinging onto oneself as “me, I.” And then we work on the meditation regarding outer reality. The reason why such a self of individual does not exist as permanent, singular, and autonomous is because the self of individual is made up of the five skandhas (aggregates) -- body and mind. Form skandha is body and the rest is mind: feeling, perception, mental formation, and consciousness. They are all different aspects of mind. Therefore we have to contemplate, when we say I, we are usually referring to one of these five.

Like when we have a strong, migraine headache, we say, “I don’t feel well.” The “I” has now become your head or your body, the form skandha. So we perceive the skandha as form as self of person.

When you cut your vegetables and accidentally cut your finger, you say, “I cut myself.” So “I” refers to your body, your fingers.

With the rest of the skandhas as well. When we feel well, we say, “I feel well today.”

Or seeing a flower, “I see a flower.” So I becomes perception or eye consciousness.

So we move around... "I" becomes one of the five, but we see it as one solid self of individual.

When you look at that, it has all five parts known as the five aggregates, five skandhas. When you look at these, say, the skandha of form, such as this body... it is changing all the time. It is momentarily changing. When you don’t see these moments of change clearly, we cling onto them as one. And we get the idea of clinging onto self as permanent. We feel, “I am the same person I was ten years ago.” Showing a picture, you may say, “This is me when I was two.” Mini-me.

This is a misconception of time. It is all individual moments. Everything exists no more than a moment.

We have plans like, when I retire, I will do thus and so, thinking it is the same me doing that, yet we are going through momentary changes all the time.

So we need to look at each skandha in light of the three forms of ignorance -- permanent, singular, and independent -- and meditate on them.

The third form of ignorance may be the hardest to understand, the notion that we cling onto ourselves as autonomous or independent entities.

It is easy to understand how we cling to our continuum as something permanent. We think there is something called a continuum, and on the basis of that we have clinging onto self as permanent. But if you look at each moment, you don’t find a continuum.

It’s also easy to see how we cling to ourselves as being singular. We don’t think of ourselves as five skandhas. This is the ignorance with respect to objects, clinging to singularity with respect to various objects. How do we mistakenly apprehend objects?

The object for our mind that conceives of a self is no other than the five skandhas. But the skandhas are five, they are not one thing. So the mistake is when the mind sees the five skandhas and takes them to be one.

As for the clinging to autonomy, this comes about because our five aggregates are subject to karma and kleshas (mental afflictions), so our aggregates are subsumed under karma and afflictions, but we have the mistaken notion that we are in control. Yet we are often under the sway of karma from previous times and from our own afflictive emotions.

So therefore we’ll look at the five skandhas in an abbreviated fashion.

FORM

In terms of self, the form skandha is the body. From the tips of the hairs of our head, to the soles of our feet, is the form skandha.

We should look into how it is that clinging to the idea of a self arises in relation to the form skandha.

The body itself does not exist as a singular entity; it is not one thing. It is something composed of multiple parts. We can start at the top of our body and see how many hairs there are, then go to our head and see how many parts, and so on throughout our whole body... limbs, organs, etc. So even to cling to the body as something singular is mistaken, because we cannot find any one thing that is the body.

So when you analyze the skandha of form and see, “Where is this sense of I?” Try to pinpoint. Is it in our head? The hair? We should ask ourselves questions like, “Is our brain ourself? Are the eyes ourself?” and so on. We should ask in this way, proceeding through each part of our body.

This is taught in the Bodhisatvacharyavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life) by Shantideva.

We should look for a self in our physical body, and when we don’t find, we should rest in the non-finding. Let go.

Shantideva advises that we first need to meditate using the notion of nonexistence as a tool for dismantling the notion we have of existence, because that is the strongest clinging we start off with. So we use the idea of nonexistence as a tool.

When you don’t find any solidly existing self anywhere in the body, rest in nonfinding.

Then you may think, the self is not in any of these individual parts, but in the collection. The whole of the form skandha, for instance.

Then we should analyze, “What is a collection?” A collection does not exist without parts. When we go through the parts of the body and see that they are not self, we exclude them. How does a collection of no-self become a self? That is not reasonable.

So if none of the individual parts are a self, it is impossible to create a self out of parts that have no self.

“Collection” is a concept. From each individual part there are just parts. We put them together as a collection in our mind.

If a collection of all together is a self, if you lose one part of the skandha of form, then you lose part of yourself as an individual. So when you look at this notion of a collection, it is very conceptual.

You can analyze the form skandha down to the particles, but when you do according to modern physics, you divide more and more until you get to quarks and so on, and then space. So there is no solid basis for a form which could be the object of self-clinging.

So we should analyze the form skandha in terms of whether it is permanent, singular, and autonomous.

Singularity

There are a lot of problems that come about if we think ourself is one thing. If our self was one thing and we had a headache, and we said, “I have a headache,” then that only our head was ourself. No other part of the body would be would be allowed to be ourselves. The same with any part of the body that we identified with.

But we don’t think of ourselves as being that way. We think of ourselves as being all the parts of the body.

Therefore it is not singular. In such a way we should analyze ourselves in our contemplation.

So we will do a contemplation now:

When we do the analysis, it becomes helpful to first do a little shamatha meditation to calm the mind. Within that calmness, then you reflect on this notion of self-clinging, clinging onto oneself as “I.”

The basis of such clinging can be realized as the five skandhas. And when you see the five skandhas, go through each skandha. First, try to find the self in the form skandha.

Guided Meditation

• First, calm your mind.
• From within this calm mind, look at the apprehension toward a self... the thought that thinks “I,” “me.”
• Give rise to this thought that thinks “I” or “me” in a very clear and vivid way and observe it.
• The first basis for this vivid thought that thinks “I” and “me” is the body -- the form aggregate -- so we should look into how this thought of “I” or “me” arises in relation to the body.
• We should look into where this clinging to an “I” arises in our body.
• Is this clinging to the “I” found in our head? Our torso? In any of our limbs?
• When we’re looking at our skandha which is the object of our fixation on a self, we should intersperse this with brief moments of looking at the mind that clings to a self.
• When we speak about fixation on a self, this is none other than thoughts that think, “I” or “me.”
• We don’t need to look for anything else. We simply need to look at that kind of thought.
• Is the self the same as the aggregate we’re looking at?
• Or are the self and the aggregate different things?

Now we’ll sing a song about selflessnes.

Song: From The Verses on the Middle Way

(from the Noble Condensed Prajnaparamita Sutra)

Know the five skandhas are like an illusion.

Don’t separate the illusion from the skandhas.

Free of thinking that anything is real,

This is perfect wisdom’s conduct at its best.

How does illusion arise on the basis of so many parts and fixations? What Buddha taught in the sutra is that what we experience as a self or the clinging that we experience is simply an illusion, a wonderful illusion.

As long as we want this illusion, don’t analyze, then it’s fine. When you analyze, it’s hard to find the solid existence of this illusion.

Verse by Nagarjuna: Knowledge Fundamental to the Middle Way

Like a dream, like an illusion

Like a city of gandharvas,

That’s how birth, and that’s how living,

That’s how dying are taught to be.

For homework, do the meditation as described above.

First, shamatha,

Then analyze the form skandhas.

If your mind starts getting too far out, come back to your breathing and do some shamatha,

then resume your analysis.

Don’t keep going on with your discursiveness.

Look at the skandha of form and the notion of self-clinging, analyze together, and have the sense of calmness and analysis together.